We can write a report to tell people basic information about a story and then give our opinions of it.
This is a report on the story Tom Sawyer paints the fence by Mark Twain.
This story has three main characters: Tom Sawyer, his Aunt Polly and Ben Rogers.There are also some boys from the town who play n small part in the story.
Aunt Polly wants Tom to paint their fence. However, Tom is lazy. He would prefer to play games. Tom is also quite clever. He pretends that painting the fence is not hard work but fun. He tricks Ben Rogers and other boys in the town into painting the fence for him.
The story is enjoyable and full of fun. It helps readers understand Tom Sawyer’s character better.
1. Who wrote the story “Tom Sawyer paints the fence”?2. How many main characters are there in this story?
3. What does Aunt Polly want Tom to do?
4. How does Tom trick Ben Rogers into painting the fence for him?
5. Does a report only tell people basic information about a story?
2 . In 1909, China built a railway on its own for the first time. It was the Beijing—Zhangjiakou railway. At that time, the steam—powered(蒸汽动力的) train could only run at 35 km/h.
It has been over 110 years since then. On Dec 30, 2020, a new version (版本) of the old railway started operating. On this new high—speed railway, the trains can run as fast as 350 km/h.
The railway will support the 2022 Winter Olympics. It cuts the travel time between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the host cities of the games, from over three hours to only 47 minutes.
Some of those who took the train for the first time recently shared their excitement on social media. One passenger took a video of a small coin standing on its edge on a table inside the train. The short video quickly became a hit online. People were amazed by how fast and steady(稳定的) the train was.
Among those who rode the first train there was one special guest —Zhan Yong. He is the great grandson of Zhan Tianyou, the chief engineer and designer of the first Beijing—Zhangjiakou railway.
“I am very excited and even kind of emotional(动情的). The railway is not only a glorious(辉煌的) part of my family’s history, but most importantly a great achievement for our country, Zhan said.
The Beijing—Zhangjiakou line has represented(代表) the development of China’s railways over more than a century. It also represents a leap(飞跃) in China’s overall national strength.
1. At what speed did the steam—powered train run in 1909?| A．470 km/h. | B．350 km/h. | C．47 km/h. | D．35 km/h. |
| A．中心 | B．边缘 | C．背面 | D．正面 |
| A．the designer of the first Beljjing—Zhangjiakou railway |
| B．a special engineer of the new Beijing—Zhangjiakou railway |
| C．the son of Zhan Tianyou |
| D．one of those who rode the first train |
| A．slow | B．surprising | C．funny | D．usual |
3 . Calligraphy (书法) is an old and important art in China. But did you know that the handwriting of English letters also has n rich history?
People believe that handwriting can show your personality. In English schools now, there are certain styles of handwriting with different meanings. For every English child, learning how to do “joined up writing(写连笔字)” is one of the most important events in their education.
In the Victorian times, the police would sometimes look at people’s handwriting to decide if they were guilty(罪犯). People wrote letters every day, and handwriting was very important. Today, however, we live in a computer age, and handwriting is getting worse. A patient died in an English hospital recently because the doctor’s handwriting was impossible to read and the patient got the wrong medicine.
People around the world are now worried that handwriting itself will die out. South Korea for example, wants to replace all textbooks and paper with computers by 2023. Do you think it’s important to keep on handwriting?
1. What’s the best title of the text?| A．An old and important art | B．A new kind of handwriting |
| C．Hold on to the old-fashioned way of writing | D．Start to use computers to replace all papers |
| A．Showing their personalities. | B．Learning to use computers. |
| C．Looking at people’s handwriting. | D．Learning to do “joined up writing”. |
| A．Because people practise their handwriting less. |
| B．Because people like living in a computer age. |
| C．Because people’s handwriting is impossible to read. |
| D．Because the police are easy to know they are guilty. |
| A．China. | B．South Korea. | C．England. | D．America. |
Looking Through Books in the Bookstore
On a sunny spring day, there is nothing I enjoy more than looking through books in a book store. It is the perfect place to relax the body and excite the mind. As I hang out through the hallways, I can feel my blood pressure drops by 10 points and that my IQ rises by 10 points.
In recent years, competition from e-books and online booksellers has heated up. Many people predict bookstores will disappear. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened. One reason is that bookstores have made buying books a more pleasant experience. They are bigger, brighter and more comfortable. Take the recently opened Duoyun Bookstore as an example. It is located on the 52nd floor of the Shanghai Tower. It has comfortable chairs and a café. You can relax and look at the city skyline while reading a wuxia novel. You may also meet and make friends with other young readers.
Adventure, science fiction and romance（言情小说）are all available at your favorite bookstore. The prices are usually reasonable. And, yes, you should buy books. It supports the bookstore and the writers who have written the books we enjoy.
April 23 is World Book Day. It’s a day to show our appreciation of books and bookstores. The date, April 23, is the day William Shakespeare was born and died. Luckily, there were 52 years between those two dates (April 23, 1564—April 23, 1616). Or, the world would have missed out on the 37 plays and 154 sonnets（十四行诗）by this great English writer!
1. What can we infer（推断）when the writer enters a bookstore from the first paragraph?2. Has the bookstore disappeared according to the passage?
3. What do you think is the reason why the bookstore is kept?
4. What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
5. What’s the passage mainly about?
Australia is a famous Ocean country. The country is famous for its wool production and seashore tour. As the climate there is warm and comfortable, many people spend vacations there every year. I’m a super fan of water entertainment, so I choose it as my destination（目的地）.
In Australia, the sky is bluer than blue, the clouds are whiter than white, and all the local people enjoy an optimistic（乐观的）and active life. They also show their kindness and friendliness to the tourists.
The first stop should be the Sydney Opera House that is among the most brilliant and splendid（壮观的）architectures in the world. Many world-class plays are put on in it. The surface and shape of it is like a seashell with wonderful decorations inside.
Then Melbourne is a good choice to be the next stop. In Melbourne, skin cream is a must to take with you as the sunshine may burn your skin. The most attractive thing to me is the Australia Open, which is one of the biggest world-class tennis competitions. Many great players such as Roddick Federer and its local player Hewitt etc. gather to compete.
Australia is also home to one of the most challenging and exciting surfing and diving projects. As we know, it is always called “a country riding on the back of sheep”. From the interesting saying, we can know something about the rich wool-production country. If you love animals, kangaroos and koalas are a good choice to you. So don’t forget Australia if you plan a trip.
1. What is Australia famous for?| A．Its ocean and wool production. | B．Its wool production and seashore tour. |
| C．Its seashore tour and climate. | D．Its climate and water entertainment. |
| A．Optimistic and active. | B．Brilliant and splendid. |
| C．Kind and friendly. | D．Attractive and famous. |
| A．景点 | B．建筑 | C．项目 | D．站点 |
| A．Skin cream can protect your skin from the sunshine. |
| B．The Sydney Opera House is a good place to visit. |
| C．The writer likes water entertainment very much. |
| D．Australians like riding on the back of the sheep. |
| A．Australians enjoy an optimistic and active life. | B．Australia is a famous ocean country. |
| C．Australia is a good choice for your trip. | D．Australia has many stops and competitions. |
6 . China’s Green Beat is the first green media in China. It provides enjoyable short films to make people care for environmental problems. It has created more than ten short films in order to teach people about environmental problems through these stories.
Shanghai: Over-packaging
In recent years, the packaging for certain products, for example, mooncakes, has become very beautiful but excessive（过分的）. The cost of the packaging（包、盒）is often higher than that of the product. The over-packaging of goods creates a lot of waste, seriously wastes our natural resources and pollutes our environment. This new video, produced in Shanghai, visits markets.
Kunming: No Car Day
September 22 is “No Car Day” around the world, but Kunming is the only Chinese city to have “No Car Day” every month. It is on the last Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The policy requires that only taxis, buses, bikes and special purpose vehicles（交通工具）are allowed to travel anywhere in the city. On September 22, the air quality in Kunming was reported to be much better because pf fewer vehicles.
1. China’s Green Beat is ________.| A．a farm that produces green vegetables |
| B．a factory that produces short films |
| C．an organization that takes people to protect the environment |
| D．a media that produces short films about environmental problems |
| A．too many packages |
| B．large package |
| C．use too many materials（材料）to make the goods look wonderful |
| D．use too many materials to protect the goods from damage（损坏） |
| A．Kunming is the only city without vehicles every month. |
| B．Only taxis, buses, bikes and special vehicles can go on the road on that day. |
| C．All vehicles are not allowed on the road on that day. |
| D．No parking was allowed on the streets of Kunming that day. |
| A．Green life. | B．Historical events. | C．Cultural differences. | D．Animal & Nature. |
7 . Do You Know When Basketball Was Invented?
Basketball is a much-loved and active sport that is enjoyed by many for fun and exercise. It is over 100 years old and is played by more than 100 million people in over 200 countries. It is believed that the first basketball game in history was played on December 21, 1891. Then in 1936 in Berlin, it became an event at the Olympics.
Basketball was invented by a Canadian doctor named James Naismith, who was born in 1861. When he was at college teacher, he was asked to think of a game that could be played in the winter. Dr. Naismith created a game to be played inside on a hard floor. Dr. Naismith divided the men in his class into two teams and taught them to play his new game. Players on the same team must work together to get the ball in the other team’s basket. At the same time, they need to stop the competing team from getting the ball into their own basket.
Today, the popularity of basketball has risen around the world, with many young people dreaming of becoming famous players. In China, you can sometimes see people playing basketball in parks, schools and even factories. Basketball has not only become a popular sport to play, but it has also become a popular sport to watch. Although America’s NBA games are the most famous, the CBA games are becoming popular in China. The number of foreign players, including Chinese players, in the NBA has increased. There are also more and more foreign players in the CBA. Many young people look up to these basketball heroes and want to become like them. These stars encourage young people to work hard to achieve their dreams.
1. How popular is basketball?
2. Was basketball invented by James Naismith ?
3. When and where did basketball game become an Olympic event?
4. What are the professional basketball groups in America and China?
5. What do the basketball stars encourage young people to do?
Red walls, golden roofs, great halls and valuable treasures—the Forbidden City is already over 600 years old. But it holds many stories about Chinese culture and wisdom that remain with us today.
Built in 1420, the palace is the largest wooden palace on Earth. It covers more than 720, 000 square meters and has 1,050 buildings and more than 8,700 rooms. It’s famous for its symmetrical structure (对称结构). “It’s planned along important Chinese culture beliefs of harmony (和谐), balance (平衡) and order,” China Daily reported.
Many little things in Forbidden City can be examples of ancient Chinese culture. For example, there are mythical (神话的) animals standing on the palace’s roofs. The number of animals shows that the status of a building—the more animals, the more important the building is. The Hall of Supreme Harmony (太和殿), he palace’s most important hall, has 10 mythical animals, more than any other building in the palace. There are also other practical designs that have protected the palace from over 200 earthquakes in the past 600 years. The complex bracket (复杂的支架) can support the whole building and it’s so strong that the palace can bear lots of weight.
“The Forbidden City stands as a testimony (证明) to the world as Chinese culture’ greatness,” China Daily reported.
The Forbidden City | |
| A brief introduction | the largest has the history of more than covers more than 720,000 square meters. has 1,050 buildings and more 8,700 rooms. |
| Wonderful designs | The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important building because of The complex bracket is strong |
| Value | The Forbidden City stands for Chinese culture and |
Do you take your own shopping bag with you when you go shopping? Most people don’t. It’s easier to just ask for a plastic bag when you’re checking out. But the truth is that most of these bags will end up in the ocean, killing wildlife and even ending up in the seafood that we eat.
But two sisters from Bali are doing their part to prevent this from happening. They started a global campaign (全球化运动) called Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB). Its members encourage people to use fewer plastic bags. They also convince local leaders in their area to ban (禁止) the bags.
Melati Wijsen, 17, and her sister Isabel, 15, started BBPB in 2013 after learning about some leaders like Nelson Mandela and Lady Diana in school. According to their official website, they asked themselves, “What can we do as children living in Bali, now, to make a difference?”
The Wijsen sisters have spoken to 20,000 young people about the dangers of plastic. They also created two educational booklets for primary schools in Indonesia. They are passionate (有激情的) about their work, especially when it comes to protecting Bali. Their hard work convinced (使人相信) officials in Bali to make the island plastic bag free by 2018.
The sisters have no plans to stop any time soon. Though they know there will be difficulties along the way, they think their hard work will pay off. “We’re not telling you it’s going to be easy. We’re telling you it’s going to be worth it,” Isabel said.
1. Why did the two sisters start BBPB?2. When did they start the global campaign?
3. What did they do for primary school students?
4. What do the sisters think of their work?
5. Why is it important to take your own shopping bags when you go shopping?
10 . Have you ever eaten at a restaurant that serves Western food? If so, do you remember what the menu looked like? Western restaurant menus are quite different from Chinese restaurant menus. But how are they different?
Most Western restaurant menus do not have as many pictures as Chinese ones do—with a picture, you can tell what is in a dish. In some fancy（昂贵的）Western restaurants, a menu may not have any pictures at all.
But most Western menus show a list of ingredients（原料）for each dish. If you order a burger, the menu might tell you that the burger has cheese, ketchup and mustard（芥末）. The menu can also tell you how the food is cooked—for example, whether it is fried or steamed （蒸）.
Western restaurants use many different methods to design their menus and make them more attractive. In fact, there is a whole industry called “menu engineering”, according to the BBC.
Menu engineers are experts at designing menus. Their menus can increase sales and influence customers’ thoughts.
A well-designed menu can encourage customers to eat certain dishes. It can even make them believe that your restaurant’s food is of higher quality, even if they haven’t eaten the food yet.
For example, using descriptive（描述性的）words like “juicy” or “cheesy” can help dishes sell better. Instead of just writing “steak（牛排）” in their menu, a restaurant might write “sizzling steak”. This makes the steak sound more delicious.
Also, it is known that people pay the most attention to items at the top of a page. This is the best place for dishes that you want to promote.
As you can see, menus are not just simple lists of food!
1. The passage mainly compares the restaurant ________ between China and western countries.| A．food | B．menu | C．price | D．service |
| A．What is in the dishes. | B．How the dishes are cooked. |
| C．When your dishes will be ready. | D．Whether a burger has ketchup. |
| A．useful | B．useless | C．beautiful | D．real |
| A．How Western people make their menus. |
| B．Why Western menus have no pictures. |
| C．Why Western menus list ingredients for each dish. |
| D．What Western menus are like. |
| A．It is easy to design a successful Western menu. |
| B．A well-designed menu can attract more customers. |
| C．Good menus depend on how well each dish is described. |
| D．Dishes at the top of a menu page are the most delicious ones. |
