1 .
| Wuhan Marathon surprised us again! As one of the most important events in Wuhan in 2023, Wuhan Marathon (马拉松) attracted lots of people this April. Along the way, runners could enjoy many beautiful sights, such as the Yellow Crane Tower, the East Lake, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and Snake Hill. A young man from Hangzhou, said, “Though I didn’t do well today, I am really excited and moved by what those volunteers (志愿者) and citizens did for us. They are really warm and friendly. I hope to come again next year.” Another interesting thing was that among the runners, there were young mothers pushing a stroller (婴儿推车), disabled men in wheelchairs and old men over 70. Li Xiang, a student from Wuhan University, said, “It’s really moving to see and feel their passion and love for marathon!” __________ This April, people from over 59 countries and areas (地区) gathered as usual in Weifang, “the capital of kites.” This city is famous for Weifang International Kite Festival. A man from Mexico said, “It’s incredible! This is my first time to see so many kites flying in the sky, the dragon, the dolphin, the bear, the policeman, the crocodile, the Monkey King…” No wonder (难怪) many people say that nothing can’t be flying in the sky here. As long as you look up into the sky, there are always surprises. This festival really makes it possible to bring kite lovers close to each other from all over the world. Zibo barbecue goes viral! This April, one small city in Shandong, called Zibo, unexpectedly shines bright as the most popular destination (目的地). After the news and videos of “College students visit—Zibo—to try barbecue (烧烤) in groups” go viral on social media, people from all over the country flock to this city.Why is it worth (值得) traveling so far? The Zibo barbecue is not only delicious, but it also draws common people to come and feel the relaxing and down-to-earth atmosphere (氛围). A young girl from Hunan says, “I am a barbecue lover and the local people are really warm. Even strangers can feel free to sing or dance together. I really have many sweet memories. ” |
1. In which section of the newspaper can we read the news?
| A．SPORTS AND GAMES. | B．FOOD AND DRINKS. |
| C．AROUND CHINA. | D．FUNNY WORLD. |
| A．It usually takes place every April. |
| B．Only people in Wuhan can take part in this big event. |
| C．Many volunteers give support to Wuhan Marathon 2023. |
| D．Runners can choose to pass all the beautiful sights. |
| A．Famous Festivals in Weifang! | B．Nothing Can’t Be Flying! |
| C．How do People Fly Kites? | D．Make Your Dreams Come True! |
| A．Li Xiang is also a runner in Wuhan Marathon 2023 |
| B．you may do it well if you have passion for something |
| C．only strangers can feel free to sing or dance in Zibo |
| D．people over 70 mustn’t take part in Wuhan Marathon |
| A．To ask Chinese people to play sports |
| B．To tell interesting things from different parts of China |
| C．To draw people around the world to come to China |
| D．To show Chinese people’s love and kindness |
2 .
| Ancient picture books on show tell the story of China What are Chinese culture and traditions? The answers to this question are shown in all kinds of ancient (古老的) works of arts including picture books. More than 200 picture books are on show by the International College of Central Academy of Fine Arts (中央美术学院) in Beijing. Picture books were not something introduced to China from abroad in modern time. Instead, they have always been a part of the lives of Chinese people. They were used for both fun and education. They told stories of fairly tales, heroic figures (英雄人物) and so on. |
| ________ When he was a kid, every time the bell rang, Li Zhi couldn't wait to run out of the classroom with his schoolbag. He went straight to the garbage bins (垃圾桶). For Li, these were more than just garbage. They were quite special. He would pick up unwanted things, such as old clocks, bicycle chains (链条), metal barrels (金属桶) and so on. Then he would change them into something artistic. “During festivals, the villagers would throw many things away, making it the best time for me to look for something wonderful,” recalls (回忆) Li, 51. |
| Hebei farmer carves fragile works of art on eggshells Whenever he has time, a farmer in Handan, Hebei Province will lose himself in the art of egg-carving, a traditional folk art that needs carving (雕刻) and painting. Long Changqing can draw all kinds of things on the shells of ostrich eggs (鸵鸟蛋), including people, animals and natural environment. He also put Chinese cultural elements (元素) into the carvings, so his works are welcome at home and abroad. |
1. In which section of the newspaper can we read all the news above?
| A．STORY. | B．ANIMAL. | C．LIFE. | D．ART. |
| A．They came from abroad. | B．People only made them for fun. |
| C．They were about the lives of Chinese people. | D．They are a part of the Chinese culture. |
| A．Turning garbage into works of art. | B．Special garbage. |
| C．Kind villagers. | D．Childhood memories. |
| A．Surprised. | B．Excited. | C．Scared. | D．Worried. |
| A．He likes to draw things on the shells of chicken eggs. |
| B．He is very busy because he carves eggs all the time. |
| C．His works are not only about his life but also about culture. |
| D．His works are only famous in China. |
3 . It’s December 4th. The weather is sunny. Lin Li and her classmates from Longjianglu Primary School, Chengdu are very happy. A very great man comes to their school. It is British Prime Minister (英国首相) David Cameron. Cameron and the students have a nice day. Well, what do they do? Do you want to know? Please look at the two photos and then you’ll know the answer.
In the first photo, you see Cameron talking with the students. From the talk, the students learn Cameron is forty-seven years old. His birthday is on October 9th. He has two daughters and a son. Cameron likes sports. Every day he rides his bike to work. From the second photo, you learn what Cameron likes doing. Do you see the photo? Yeah! Cameron is playing ping-pong with a student.
1. The weather is ________ in Chengdu on December 4th.| A．rainy | B．windy | C．cloudy | D．sunny |
| A．October 1st | B．October 9th |
| C．December 4th | D．December 12th |
| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
| A．by bus | B．on foot | C．by car | D．by bike |
| A．ping-pong | B．bascekball | C．volleyball | D．soccer |
4 .
Learning in the Field
A fun farming class took place in the fields! On Sept 15, Grade 7 students from Jinan No.34 Middle School, Shandong, went on a field trip. They learned about farming, reported Qilu News. At the grain base (粮食基地), teachers talked about grains with students and answered their questions. The students saw millet and soybeans (小米和大豆). They touched the wheat (小麦) and learned that people usually harvest (收获) the wheat at the end of September.
Young Reporters Put on a Show at School
Students at Johnson Middle School in US, are reporting their school’s news in their own news program. The students take turns to make the program. They set up a green screen, sit down and give their classmates the headlines (新闻提要) of the day. They include (包括) what’s going on in the school and news about future events. They share the lunch menu of the day. “The kids come in excitement. They love being on the news and sharing the news with other kids. They are eager (渴望) to know what’s happening around them.” said B.J. Burke, the school teacher.
________
On Nov 8, students from Nanjing Foreign Language School have a special class. During the class, they have a hands-on experience of making folk clothes. The students took on the challenge (挑战) making their own bags through tie-dyeing (扎染). It is a dyeing skill to make blue calico (印花布). The dye and the cotton material (材料) used to make blue calico all come from nature. “Tie-dyeing is a magical art. Everyone does it a bit differently, and you never know exactly how it will look in the end.” said Ma Qianyu, a grade 8 student, happy with her work. The students will later go to Nanjing Museum to get more knowledge about life in Jiangsu and the folk customs there.
1. In which section of the newspaper can we read the news?| A．CULTURE. |
| B．SCHOOL. |
| C．HISTORY. |
| D．ART. |
| A．what real soybeans look like |
| B．how soybeans grow |
| C．how grains turn into snacks (小吃) |
| D．when people harvest the wheat |
| A．Get Close to Nature |
| B．Tie-dye Fun in School |
| C．Long History of Jiangsu |
| D．A Visit to Nanjing Museum |
| A．is connected to (与……有关联) their real life |
| B．makes them famous |
| C．can help develop their acting skills |
| D．helps them make good friends |
| A．Only Grade 7 students in Jinan No.34 Middle School can learn in the fields. |
| B．Ma Qianyu might have fun in the special class. |
| C．Students at Johnson Middle School don’t like their school lunch. |
| D．Students buy the dye and the cotton material (材料) from clothes stores. |
5 .
Caring about fish A three-minute film made by Andrew Older, a 13-year-old student from the US, recently won an award at the One Earth Young Filmmakers Asian Contest. He used maps to show how invasive (入侵的) goby fish came to the local river and how they are making the water too crowded (拥挤的) for other fish. “Through this film festival, I hope to share my worry for fish. I also want to learn more about how it affects the environment (环境).” he told the local newspaper.  __________________ People throw trash (垃圾) on the beach and even into the ocean. The trash has become the “home” of hermit crabs (寄居蟹). These “trash shells” can bring danger to hermit crabs. It usually has bright colors, so predators (捕食者) can find hermit crabs more easily. The crabs could also find it difficult to get out of the bottles or the tires and starve to death (饿死).Would you wear your hair?  People wear wool sweaters in winter. But did you ever think of making a sweater with your own hair? A Dutch company did it. It also makes coats and other clothing with human hair. The company makes these clothes to save the environment. According to the company, European landfills (垃圾填埋场) receive 72 million kilograms of human hair waste every year. Making it into clothes is more friendly to our Earth. |
1. In which SECTION of the newspaper can we read the news?
| A．ANIMALS | B．SCIENCE | C．WORLD | D．ENVIRONMENT |
| A．can be made into clothes | B．saves the environment |
| C．is bad for the Earth | D．all goes to the landfills |
| A．Dangerous ocean trash | B．Terrible “home” for crabs |
| C．Trash brings danger to crabs | D．Crabs are in danger |
| A．cutting her hair short | B．making a sweater out of trash |
| C．wearing a sweater made of hair | D．working at a Dutch company |
| A．Their homes become too crowded. | B．More kinds of animals live with them. |
| C．Predators can find them more easily | D．They have no food to eat. |
Tim: Today, we are talking about forest fires. Our reporter, Penny Wang, is in Indonesia (印度尼西亚).
Penny: It is now three o’clock in the afternoon but I can’t see the sky. Thick smoke is covering most of South-East Aisa. It is causing thousands of people to have eye or breathing problems. Some people may even die.
Tim: Why don’t firemen put out these fires?
Penny: The firemen can’t put out the fires. They are too big. Only a lot of rain can put them out. But the weather is very dry here and it may not rain for a few weeks.
Tim: How did these terrible fires start?
Penny: They were started by farmers. They use fires to clear the land before they plant new crops (农作物) such as rice. Also, a drought (旱灾) started many months ago, so the land is very dry.
Tim: What other problems are the fire causing?
Penny: Well, of course they are very bad for people’s health. And no tourists are coming here. People don’t want to take a holiday in a bad environment. But the most serious (严重的) problem is that fire is destroying the forests. They are thousands of years old. As you know, trees are very important to the world and now millions of them are burning. This will cause air pollution in many other places.
1. Where may Tim possibly be?| A．In the studio (演播室). | B．In Indonesia. |
| C．At the farm. | D．In an office. |
| A．Thousands of people have eye or breathing problems. |
| B．A drought started many months ago. |
| C．The fires are too big. |
| D．Trees are very important to the world. |
| A．Clearing the land and destroying the forests. |
| B．Destroying the forests and a drought. |
| C．A drought and clearing the land. |
| D．Pollution and destroying the forests. |
| A．a little | B．a lot of | C．no | D．some |
| A．People’s health. | B．Destroying the forest. |
| C．Air pollution. | D．Taking a holiday. |
Teachers in the sky On Dec. 9th, three Chinese astronauts (宇航员) give a science lesson 400 kilometers above the earth! They show students their life there. During the lesson, Zhai shows their clothes—“penguin suit”. Sometimes they wear them to keep strong. Wang also shows another way to keep healthy—they exercise with bikes every day! ________ When you see: it for the first time, you may think it’s the famous painting Girl With a Pearl Earring《带珍珠耳环的少女》. But it’s not, it’s just a picture made by designer Julian using artificial intelligence (AI). The AI—made artwork shows up at a museum (博物馆) in March. ChatGPT causes storm A survey shows that over 89%students in US use ChatGPT OpenAI (a smart AD) to help with homework, so some American schools stop the use of ChatGPT. However, not all the schools say “no” to ChatGPT. Some Canadian universities are making rules on its use, for students and teachers. |
1. In which section of the newspaper can we read the new? ________
| A．Sport. | B．Science. | C．School. | D．Art. |
| A．Exercise with bikes every day. |
| B．Wear the penguin suits all the time. |
| C．Eat vegetables and fruit. |
| D．Give lessons to students. |
| A．Art without AI |
| B．AI changes the world |
| C．Girl With a Pearl Earring |
| D．AI art works |
| A．Students don’t need teachers anymore. |
| B．ChatGPT may help students a lot. |
| C．Students use ChatGPT to do homework. |
| D．Students may not go to the university. |
| A．the Chinese astronauts want students to study harder |
| B．Julian shows the real Girl With a Pearl Earring |
| C．ChatGPT will only change education |
| D．using ChatGPT makes some students lazy in thinking |
 Cheese from Norway Wins the International CompetitionIn November, Nidelven Bla from Norway wins the World Cheese Award 2023. It is a blue cheese (蓝纹奶酪). Why are cheeses from Norway so good? Some people think it is because of the strong cows and sheep. The animals there eat clean food and stay healthy. People can get fine milk from them for making the cheeses. Now, cheese becomes an important food in the country. People eat it in their meals every day.  ________________________In Shanghai’s busy streets, you can sometimes see something very unusual (不常见的). A man dresses himself (装扮) as a sunflower. He calls himself Xiao Gang. He is a street artist. He always smiles (微笑) happily and tries to make people feel happy or laugh. Many people like what Xiao is doing. One grandfather even calls on young people around him to join in. “Even at my age, I’m enjoying the fun,” he says. But some are worried. They say some people may not be glad to see this.  Meet the Kangaroo ‘Rockstar’Do you know how to play the guitar? If you do, you can play with a kangaroo. This November, the winner of the 2023 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (搞笑野生动物摄影奖) is Jason Moore from Australia. He finds a kangaroo very funny and takes a picture of it. It looks just like it is playing an air guitar. “When I see this kangaroo ‘playing the guitar’, it brings a smile to my face and I know that I take a special photo,” Moore says. |
| A．PEOPLE. | B．WORLD. | C．FOOD. | D．ANIMAL. |
| A．the cows and sheep there eat expensive food every day |
| B．people use a lot of milk to make cheeses |
| C．the milk for making cheeses is good |
| D．the color of the cheeses is beautiful |
| A．A Sunflower in the Park | B．A Group of Sunflowers |
| C．Giving People Sunny Smiles | D．Dressing Yourself as a Sunflower |
| A．can play the guitar | B．likes making poses |
| C．always makes people laugh | D．makes a pose like playing the guitar |
| A．people in Norway like eating cheese |
| B．all the people like Xiao Gang’s actions |
| C．the grandfather wants to do the same thing as Xiao Gang |
| D．Jason always takes photos of kangaroos |
①There was a football game in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province on Saturday evening. People called it “Cun Chao”. Cun Chao was so popular that it interested the famous football player, Michael Owen. He made a video to show his wish.
② “I want to send congratulations (祝贺) to Cun Chao for all your success, forgetting all the good results in football and I wish Cun Chao all the very best for the future. I’m sure you can get better and better,” he said.
③Many people are interested in football and they have joined in Cun Chao. The football players work as drivers, students and workers. They come from different groups such as Miao, Dong, Shui, Han, and Yao. Their ages are from 15 to over 40 years old.
④According to reports, about 50,000 people went to watch the game on Saturday. Among the sea of people, ladders (梯子) became the best tool for people to watch the game clearly. The well-known Chinese commentator (解说员) Han Qiaosheng also climbed a ladder to talk about the game.
⑤The football ground became a joyful meeting place. Before the game, villagers (村民) from each village team, wearing beautiful clothes, carried local specials, played loud music, and danced as they went into the playground with the football players. What a great night of football!
1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Saturday evening. | B．The football game. |
| C．Guizhou Province. | D．Rongjiang County. |
| A．Paragraph 2. | B．Paragraph 3. | C．Paragraph 4. | D．Paragraph 5. |
| A．To have a seat. | B．To talk about the game. |
| C．To see Han Qiaosheng. | D．To watch the game clearly. |
| A．Many people enjoy football and join in Cun Chao. |
| B．The ages of the football players are from 15 to over 50 years old. |
| C．For the villagers, the football ground became a joyful meeting place. |
| D．According to reports, about 50,000 people went to watch the game on Saturday. |
| A．Farming. | B．Schooling. | C．Sports. | D．Science. |
10 . Many students in China don’t have time to help with housework. They are always asking, “Could you get this for me?” or “Could you help me with that?” Usually, they need parents to wash clothes and even clean their rooms. Many parents are worried that kids don’t have basic (基本的) life skills (技能) .
From September last year, many students have one labor (劳动) class every week. Students from Hope School have interesting life skill classes and try all kinds of labor. Doing housework also becomes their homework. The third graders must learn how to make the bed, the sixth graders wash the clothes, and the seventh and the eighth graders cook meals.
In some middle schools, students learn to plant vegetables. “It’s exciting to pick fresh beans (豆子) and eat bean rice with my family. I really enjoy my labor class,” says Wang Yuan, one of the students in No.1 Middle School.
A labor teacher says in an interview (采访) , “We’re happy that lots of students are now spending time learning life skills. Learning life skills helps them get ready for future life.”
Do you help your parents do housework at home? If not, maybe you can get started now.
1. In Hope School, what life skill should a student in Grade 7 learn?| A．Cooking meals. | B．Making the bed. | C．Making dumplings. | D．Washing clothes. |
| A．Many students don’t have basic life skills because they are lazy. |
| B．Few students like planting or cooking in labor classes every week. |
| C．Chinese students often do housework at home if they aren’t busy. |
| D．Learning life skills in labor classes is useful and important in life. |
| A．My important life skills | B．Learning to do housework |
| C．Small things in our life | D．Parents’ worries about housework |
