1 . It was a very cold day and the wind was blowing. But Li Yungang didn’t feel it. He even felt hot. After all, this 14-year-old student from Beijing Jingshan School was cutting grass for three hours.
This was the first time this city boy had done any farm work. “It was not that easy. My legs and arms were sore,” he said.
From now on, more Beijing middle school students will have a similar experience. More than 5, 500 students from 13 city middle schools will take part in a one-week farm work program in the autumn and spring, according to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission.
About 250 students from Beijing Jingshan School took part in it from Oct. 25th to 30th. They dug peanuts (花生), cut grass, swept fallen leaves and did other farm work.
Lin Ruohan, 13, thought the work was hard, but she also felt it was very enjoyable. “When we dig peanuts out, we must be quick to pick them up. If not, they may be covered in the ground again. We must be patient and work as a team,” she said.
But when she tasted the fresh peanuts, she felt happy. “I had never eaten such sweet peanuts before,” she said.
Some of her classmates also learned what kind of fruits and peanuts grow in the ground. “We learned a lot about farming by seeding (播种 ) them rather than just reading about them in textbooks,” she said.
The farm not only gave them knowledge but also gave them a new view. “I didn’t see high buildings, but instead colorful leaves and endless fields. I felt very comfortable, and I felt closer to nature,” said Qin Yupeng, 14.
1. What did Li Yungang think of the farm work?| A．Difficult and tiring. | B．Easy but boring. |
| C．Easy and interesting. | D．Difficult but enjoyable. |
| A．The Beijing Municipal Education Commission. | B．Seeding. |
| C．A farm work program. | D．Cutting grass. |
| A．the help of farmers | B．the guide of teachers |
| C．interest and courage | D．patience and teamwork |
| A．To introduce a helpful program. | B．To show us how to do farm work. |
| C．To praise some students from city. | D．To tell us knowledge about farming. |
| A．In a storybook. | B．In a newspaper. | C．In a science book. | D．In a travel magazine. |
2 . Mobile phones(手机) have become a problem for middle schools. Some middle schools in Australia have stopped students from carrying mobile phones during school hours. The mobile phone use among children has become a problem for the school this year. Several children have got mobile phones as Christmas gifts, and more students will want them.
Mary, a teacher, said the mobile phone use is a distraction(分心) to students during school hours and it also gives teachers so much trouble in their classmates. Teachers also said that sometimes students might use phone message to copy during exams. She said some school tried to stop mobile phones. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t get in touch with their children.
Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school, but if there was a good reason, they could leave their phones at the school office. They also said there were many reasons why the students should not have mobile phones at school, they were easy to lose and were a distraction for studies.
Many people say that they understand why parents would want their children to have phones, but they think schools should let the students know when they can use their mobile phones.
1. Some middle schools in Australia have stopped students from carrying mobile phones ___________.| A．because they are students | B．when they are free |
| C．when they are at school | D．because they are children |
| A．the makers and sellers | B．the teachers |
| C．their parents and friends | D．some mobile phone users |
| A．use their mobile phones |
| B．leave their mobile phones at the school office |
| C．help the teachers with their work |
| D．get in touch with their children |
| A．students shouldn’t have mobile phones at school except（除……外）some special reasons |
| B．it is impossible to stop students from using mobile phones at school |
| C．some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t use their phones at school |
| D．parents should teach children how to use mobile phones during school hours |
3 . How can you remember a song from your childhood to this day? Why do your teachers use songs to teach you English? It seems there is a scientific reason for this.
Researchers are now studying the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language. They find that remembering words in a song is the best way to remember even the most difficult language.
“Singing could be a new way of learning a foreign language. The brain likes to remember things when they are used in a catchy and meaningful way” said Dr Karen Ludke. The findings may help those who have difficulty leaning foreign languages. On his blog Dr Ludke wrote “A listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language leaning and open the door for future research in this area.”
Many language teachers know the value of using and singing. Hua Zhuying a teacher at a Chinese language school in Washington D. C. depends heavily on songs in teaching Chinese. She says “I use music all the time to teach children Chinese. For little kids usually we use English songs but teach them the Chinese lyrics. So it's easy for them to start because they know the music. Not only does it work but it is fun for the kids.”
“Sometimes I think if I were taught English that way maybe I would speak much better English than now” Hua Zhuying adds.
Our brain likes music especially for remembering. So if you're still struggling in learning a language why not try singing it out?
1. According to the passage the best way to remember a foreign language is to________.| A．read and write more | B．listen to the teacher carefully |
| C．copy the words many times | D．remember words in a song |
| A．晦涩难懂的 | B．悦耳易记的 |
| C．枯燥乏味的 | D．震耳欲聋的 |
| A．using the listen-and-repeat singing method | B．listening to all kinds of famous music |
| C．writing songs with the language | D．reading the lyrics again and again |
| A．is interested in writing English songs | B．teaches children English by using music |
| C．teaches Chinese in an American school | D．is a researcher in a language school |
| A．many researchers realize the importance of language studying |
| B．your brain remembers a language better if you sing it |
| C．many language teachers know the value of famous music |
| D．you will never learn a language well unless you can sing |
4 . “How are you?” is a nice question. It’s a friendly way that people in the USA greet each other. But “How are you?” is also a very unusual question. It’s a question that often doesn’t need an answer. The person who asks “How are you?” hopes to hear the answer “Fine”, even if the person’s friend isn’t fine. The reason is that “How are you?” isn’t really a question and “Fine” isn’t really an answer. They are simply other ways of saying “Hello” or “Hi”.
Sometimes, people don’t say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks “Do you agree?”, the other person might think, “No, I disagree. I think you’re wrong...” But it isn’t very polite to disagree so strongly, so the other person might say “I’m not sure.” It’s a nicer way to say that you don’t agree with someone.
People don’t say exactly what they are thinking when they want to finish talking with other people. For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says “I’ve to go now.” Often, the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse: “Someone’s at the door.” “Something is burning on the stove.” The excuses might be real, or not. Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn’t want to talk any more, but it isn’t polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn’t hurt the other person.
Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people don’t say exactly what they are thinking. It’s an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it’s part of the game of language.
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。
1. When a person in America asks“How are you?”, he or she wants to hear“ ________ ”
| A．How are you? | B．Hello. | C．I don't know. | D．Fine. |
| A．You are wrong. I disagree. | B．I'm not sure. |
| C．I’m sure I disagree. | D．I don’t agree with you. |
| A．You have to go now. | B．I want to hang up. |
| C．I have to go now. | D．I don't want to talk any more. |
| A．giving an excuse | B．hurting someone’s feelings |
| C．talking to a person at the door | D．going to another place |
| A．“Always say what you mean.” | B．“Don’t disagree with people.” |
| C．“Never say exactly what you’re thinking.” | D．“Be polite.” |
5 . At the age of six weeks, Lilo seemed to be a perfect family pet. But as he grew up, he became aggressive ( 富于攻击性的). One day, as his 9-year-old owner went close, Lilo jumped at her angrily. The girl’s arm got hurt badly. It’s unusual for a family pet to hurt its loving owner. But Lilo should never have been anyone’s pet. He was actually a tiger.
There are thousands of tigers, lions and other big cats kept as pets in American homes.“People love the idea of owning something wild and special,”says Nicole Paquette of the Animal Protection Institute.“But they have no idea how hard it is to take care of them.”
Tigers like Lilo can grow to weigh 650 pounds. They are strong and powerful. Each year many people are hurt or killed by pet tigers and other big cats.
The situation can also be deadly for the big cats themselves. They often end up in small and dirty cages. Living in dirty conditions, the cats become sick and often more aggressive. Many of them die. Others are sold to roadside zoos or to hunting ranches (狩猎牧场).
Shirley Minshew works to help send some big cats to sanctuaries ( 鸟兽保护区). But as Minshew says,“Most of these sanctuaries are already full.”So are big city zoos.
The only way to solve the problem is for people to stop buying these animals.“Although they can be kept in cages, they will never be like a dog or a cat,”says Paquette.“They are wild — and they should be allowed to stay that way.”
1. Lilo was a(n)________ .| A．pet tiger | B．6-week-old baby | C．aggressive lion | D．9-year-old child |
| A．Americans should keep more pets. | B．It’s unusual to see the big cats as pets. |
| C．It’s difficult to keep wild animals as pets. | D．Americans should give more care to their pets. |
| A．Where to buy the big cats. | B．How to protect the big cats. |
| C．Sad situation of the big cat pets. | D．Importance of keeping the big cat pets. |
| A．being wild | B．living in sanctuaries |
| C．living in big city zoos | D．being like a dog or a cat |
| A．warn people not to keep pets | B．share a story about a pet tiger |
| C．let people know more about the big cats | D．ask people to stop keeping the big cats as pets |
More than 95 percent of people in the world have phones today. Phone calls and messages help us easily keep in touch with others. It means that we seldom write letters now. But a TV show, Letters Alive is bringing back this old habit.
Letters Alive got its idea from a UK program with a similar name. Both shows invite famous actors and actresses, but there are no funny jokes or different competitions. Instead, it’s just one person walking up to microphone and read the letter.
The letters were written by people from different times in history. Guan Zhengwen, the director of the TV show, said, “Every letter opens another world for us. It seems that we can experience the real lives and feelings of the writers.”
Since its first episode（集）on December 5th, Letters alive has been widely praised. Many audiences-- the people who watched the TV show, said that it has provided a breath of fresh air to today’s TV shows.
Besides Letters Alive, some other cultural TV shows have also been well received by Chinese audiences. They include Chinese Poetry Conference, a classical Chinese poetry competition, and Readers, a program that invites people to read poems and articles they like or wrote.
“This means that our audiences are not only looking for entertainment like gossip（八卦）and eye-catching games, ” reported China Youth Daily. “Cultural values and true feeling are the keys to winning praise.”
1. According to the passage, people seldom ________to keep in touch with others today.| A．write letters | B．make calls | C．send messages | D．send e-mails |
| A．funny jokes | B．different competitions |
| C．eye-catching games | D．the real lives and feelings of the writers |
| A．导演 | B．作者 | C．观众 D,朗读者 |
| A．a game | B．a program | C．a director | D．a competition |
| A．It has the similar name as a UK program. |
| B．It can express the feelings of the readers. |
| C．Gossip and eye-catching games in it are funny. |
| D．There is the value of Chinese traditional culture in it. |
7 . Listening test is one of the most important parts of the English exam. Here are some tips for you.
Before you start to listen, you need to-relax. Don’t be stressed out. And try to read the questions. These questions usually help you understand the conversation or the passage.
Then listen carefully to the first sentence. It usually tells you the main idea of the passage. When you’re listening, try to do some thinking and take some notes, such as:
☆What happened
☆When, where, and how
☆What does the speaker want to tell us
In this way, you may understand the passage better,
Please remember not to think about one or two words for a long time. When you hear some words you don’t know, don’t spend too much time on them. Very often, you’ll find out what they mean later when you go on with the listening.
1. This passage mainly talks about _________.| A．tips on listening | B．tips on speaking | C．tips on reading | D．tips on writing |
| A．excited | B．relaxed | C．stressed out | D．worried |
| A．the answers to the questions | B．where to write the answers |
| C．the main idea of the passage | D．how much time left (剩余) for the listening test |
| A．remember every word | B．take some notes |
| C．understand all the words | D．think about one or two words for a long time |
| A．questions | B．first sentence | C．notes | D．A, B and C |
8 . As an English, I can speak three languages—English, German and French, so do you think the British people are very good language learners? The fact is that they aren’t.
Some statistics (数据) from the survey done by the European Commission (欧盟委员会) showed that 62% of the British people only speak English. 38% speak at least one foreign language and 18% speak two or more. Compared with the British people, 56% of the people in other European countries speak at least one foreign language and 28% speak two or more. From this you can see that the British people are famous for not speaking foreign languages and that they are not good language learners in Europe.
And the survey also showed that English is the most widely-spoken foreign language. Many European people can have a conversation in English. That’s why my people don’t think it is necessary to learn a foreign language.
In Britain, students are not required to learn a foreign language. That means learning a foreign language is only an option at school. In UK schools it is common for children to start learning a foreign language at 11 and many of them give it up at 14. So why don’t students continue learning foreign languages at school? Because they think it is more difficult to get good marks in languages than in other subjects such as science or history.
To solve this situation, the British government is looking for different ways to improve language learning at school. One way is to start learning it at a much younger age. Another one is to give school children more choices.
Changing the British attitude (态度) to learning foreign languages may be a hard task but the government decides to try!
1. Which country does the writer come from?| A．America. . | B．China. . | C．Britain. . | D．Egypt. |
| A．They are good language learners. |
| B．62% of them speak two or more languages. |
| C．They are famous for speaking foreign languages. |
| D．More than half of them only speak English. |
| A．science or German . | B．history or German |
| C．science or history . | D．German or French |
| A．a choice . | B．a game . | C．a mistake . | D．a conversation |
| A．Speaking English . | B．Foreign Language Learning in UK |
| C．Schools in UK . | D．Young English Learners |
It’s very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a group of friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend much time on the phone. This communication (交流) is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can be the right one to talk about something with. These things are difficult to say to the family.
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them. Some parents even ask their children not to meet their good friends.
根据短文内容,选择正确答案.
1. Many teenagers think that can understand them better.
| A．friends | B．brother |
| C．sisters | D．parents |
| A．To make friends | B．To fight with brothers |
| C．To stop meeting friends | D．To phone parents |
| A．stay alone at home |
| B．fight with their parents |
| C．talk to their friends |
| D．go to their brothers and sisters for help |
| A．Parents should choose everything they like. |
| B．Children should choose everything they like. |
| C．Parents should understand their children better. |
| D．Teenagers should only go to their friends for help. |
| A．How to make friends. |
| B．The communication is important in children’s growing up. |
| C．Parents should ask their children to meet then friends. |
Happiness is for everyone. You don’t need to envy（羡慕，妒忌）those people who have beautiful houses with large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country road in their free time.
In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends will help you; when you study hard at your lessons, your parents will always take good care of your life and your health; when you get success, your friends will say congratulations to you; when you do something wrong, people around you will help you to correct（纠正）it, and when you do something good to others, you will feel happy, too. All these are your happiness. If you notice these things, you can find that happiness is always around you.
1. Happiness is always around rich people.2. People are happy because they can walk on the country road in their free time.
3. When you get success, people around you will help you correct it.
4. When you are in trouble, your friends will help you. We can say “You are happy.”
5. You can find our happiness everywhere if you notice good things.
