1 . If life can be compared to a meal, I think the mistakes are like salt and the success is a candy.

“Hey,” said the boy whose name I couldn’t remember, sitting next to me. “Don’t worry. Take your time.” And so I did. But I still couldn’t pronounce my Chinese name that was given by the teacher. I was so embarrassed on my first day of learning Chinese.

I took Chinese classes during my summer vacation. Every morning I walked for 25 minutes to the class while having a Chinese pancake from one of the breakfast carts(推车) on the way. Learning Spanish in school was a cushy job for me, because I could speak French and Italian which helped me with it. However, learning Chinese was difficult at first. As a boy who was born in America and grew up in America, I knew nothing about the language and had no experience of learning the language. I chose it mainly because my goal was to teach and work internationally.

As the classes went on, I slowly found that I was making connections. My 10 years of playing the piano has allowed me to perform for others. My several years of writing has led me to become a school reporter. I knew that my Chinese classes would allow me to speak Chinese well. As the teachers helped me build up the confidence, I soon began tasting the sweetness.

So what did my summer really taste like? It tasted like the Chinese food that, for the first time, I did not order in English, my mother language.

1. Why did the writer feel embarrassed in his first Chinese class?

A．Because he had no Chinese name.	B．Because he forgot his Chinese name.
C．Because he had bad Chinese pronunciation.	D．Because he couldn’t write his Chinese name.

2. The underlined word “cushy” in Paragraph 3 most probably means “________”.

A．common

B．easy

C．popular

D．interesting

3. The writer’s first language is ________.

A．French

B．English

C．Italian

D．Spanish

4. What do we know about the writer according to the passage?

A．He is good at playing the piano.	B．He doesn’t like Chinese food at all.
C．He is interested in writing and painting.	D．He wants to be a Chinese teacher in the future.

5. What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．An unpleasant day at school.	B．How to get on with Chinese teachers.
C．How to develop an interest in Chinese.	D．A sweet experience of learning Chinese.

2 .

Rotorua Grammar School Holiday Clubs Do something different. Don't just watch TV. Come and join us and have some real fun! There are lots of different ways to spend your free time. You can choose as many clubs as you like. You don't need to have any special skills to join us. They are also FREE for all our students.

Photography Club Join us to learn about choosing a camera and advice on taking successful photos. We will also teach you how to use your PC to store and print your photos. 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday Room 308 Science Club Einstein, Edison, Newton—they learnt about science when they were young. If you want to try out new ideas, come to our club. We do lots of things in the lab to see what happens. We meet twice a week in the science club. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday & Friday

Art Club If you like art, spend a day in the Art Room. During the day, we'll use different things: pencils, watercolors, oil paints. We'll also have a special lesson from a guest cartoonist, who will teach us how to draw cartoons. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday Collecting Club If you like collecting stamps, tickets, or postcards, come to our club! You can share what you collect and swap（交换） things with other members to build your collection. We have lots of ideas about what to do to add to your collection without spending lots of money. Meet in Room 510 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday

1. If students join the clubs, they        .

A．don't need to pay	B．can't choose over two
C．must go every day	D．must have special skills

2. Why do members in the Collecting Club swap things?

A．To make postcards.	B．To make money.
C．To make friends with each other.	D．To make their collection better.

3. Members of the Science Club spend a lot of time         .

A．trying out their new ideas	B．learning about scientists
C．studying science textbooks	D．watching science TV programs

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Collecting Club meets in Room 308.	B．Members learn how to paint on Friday.
C．Art Club has a special lesson on Monday.	D．Members can print photos in Science Club.

3 . People depend on plants. We use plants for food, cloth, shelter (住处), and even the air we breathe (呼吸).

Plants keep our air and water clean. Green plants give us oxygen (氧气). Oxygen is part of the air we breathe.

Plants are also part of the water cycle (水循环). Most of the water that a plant takes in goes back into the air.

Plants give us a lot of the food on the earth. Fruits, vegetables, and grains (谷物) come from plants. Without plants, we would not have bread, rice, carrots, apples, oranges, or bananas! Many people are growing plants to eat in their own gardens at home. Having your own garden helps the earth as well.

When you grow your own fruits and vegetables, you help cut down on pollution because big trucks don’t need to take your food to shops. You also help reduce the amount of rubbish because you don’t need to use bags for packing your food. You can just pick it out of the ground or off a plant and put it into a basket!

Trees are an important plant resource (资源). Trees provide wood to build homes and furniture. Trees are used to make lots of things around your home and at your school. And trees provide fruits that are good for you. Without trees, the earth would be a very different place.

1. ________ is part of the air we breathe.

A．Sunlight

B．Water

C．Food

D．Oxygen

2. What happens to most of the water that a plant takes in?

A．It goes back into the air.	B．It stays in the plant.
C．It goes into the ground.	D．It stays in the river.

3. What does the phrase “cut down on” mean in Paragraph 5?

A．Cause.

B．Accept.

C．Reduce.

D．Expect.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．A Different Place	B．The Uses of Plants
C．Food on the Earth	D．Gardens at Home

5. You would find the passage in ________.

A．an interesting novel	B．a book about animals
C．a popular play	D．a book about nature

4 . What Will You Do with A Dollar？

■ I will hide the dollar in the most beautiful place that I can find, and then create a map to the dollar. I hope someone will discover this map years later and have a magic travel to go on.

Philip Stockton

■ I will buy a cup of coffee for the most successful person in New York and ask for his/her secret of success.

Patrick Martine

■ A single dollar gets me almost nothing, so I will get my friends together and ask each of them to give a dollar. We will give an open-air concert in our town. I hope the show can brighten the day of the town.

David Andrew

■ In my travels, I find people need clean drinking water most. I once saw in Africa 40 to 50 people travel 25 miles for water. So I will use the dollar to provide free drinking water for people in need.

Ben Harrison

Follow us on https://justforfun.com/art of living for more.

1. What will Patrick Martine do with a dollar?

A．To create a tourist map.	B．To go on a magic trip.
C．To ask for the secret of success.	D．To give an open-air concert.

2. Who wants to help people in need of free drinking water?

A．Philip Stockton.	B．Patrick Martine.
C．David Andrew.	D．Ben Harrison

3. Where does the text probably come from?

A．A film magazine.	B．A science report.
C．A website.	D．A travel guide.

5 .

Life is competitive - some kids can do something faster or better than other kids. This might not seem fair, but all people are different and how well you can do something is different to others. This means there are “winners" and “losers", and lots of people are neither winners nor losers but in-between. You can choose to be a good winner or an even better loser whether you are competing against others or yourself. Being a “good” winner No one likes a “show off”. No one likes someone who takes all the praise for the efforts of a team. No one likes people who put others down to make themselves look good. To be a good winner you need to: ◆Be modest(谦虚的). ◆ Thank those who helped you for their efforts. ◆ Keep trying to improve your skills. ◆Aim for the next step up in whatever you are doing well. Being an even better loser Of course it’s disappointing to lose, especially if you are close to winning. Behaving badly or angrily, name-calling and going on about things being “unfair” won’t change the final result and will only make you look like a bad sport. And no one likes bad sports either. To be an even better loser you need to : ◆ Behave politely, nicely and kindly. ◆ Congratulate the other team. ◆ Keep any negative (消极的) thoughts to yourself - at least until you are away from the game. It’s Ok to let out your negative thoughts to your best friend or parents later. And if you don’t do very well in a game, try harder to learn for the next one. Improving yourself makes you a winner too.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．We are either losers or winners.

B．We should face winning and losing properly.

C．We can do nothing about winning and losing.

D．We are always competing with others not ourselves.

2. What should a better loser do when losing?

A．Let out his anger to his parents at once.

B．Express his negative feelings in the game.

C．Try harder to improve himself in the next game.

D．Behave badly to his team members or competitors.

3. Which one is not proper if we succeed?

A．Going on improving our skills.

B．Telling our team members to aim higher.

C．Thanking our team members for their efforts.

D．Putting down others to make ourselves look good.

4. Who is probably a bad sport?

A．Tom keeps saying the game is unfair when he loses.

B．Jim encourages his teammates after their team loses.

C．Anna thanks her coach for what he has done though she fails.

D．Cindy shows her congratulations to other competitors even if she fails.

5. What is the passage written for?

A．Telling us what we can learn from losing.

B．Offering advice on what we can do to win.

C．Encouraging us to become a winner instead of a loser.

D．Giving advice on how to deal with winning and losing.

6 .

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1. Where can you buy these things according to the ad?

A．In a shop.

B．In a mall.

C．On the Internet.

D．In a supermarket.

2. From the ad, you can buy the children bicycle for a child of __________.

A．2

B．5

C．8

D．10

3. The best birthday gift for your grandpa is __________.

A．some buttons

B．a handbag

C．a tea pot

D．a children bicycle

4. My mother ordered some fashion buttons, and she can get them __________ days later.

A．three

B．five

C．seven

D．ten

5. If you have Y 400, you can buy __________.

A．two handbags	B．500 buttons
C．a handbag and a bicycle	D．a tea pot and a handbag

7 . Do you believe that only boys do well in science? Does it seem to you that girls have better language skills than boys? In your opinion, are boys better at building things? If your answer to each of those questions is “Yes,” you are right, according to an article in Current Science." There are exceptions(例外), but here are the facts.

Usually, boys score higher on tests about math, while girls do better in tests about words, spelling and memory. But these differences may not always be true. In the future, a person’s abilities may not be decided by sex. As one scientist says, “Nothing is impossible for a person to be or do.”

A recent study by Jerome Kagan, a scientist at Harvard University is studying the watching ability of children 10 months old. Baby boys and baby girls are watching a “show” while seated on their mothers’ laps. In Act One of the show, an orange-colored ball is lifted from a blue box and moved slowly. Then it is returned to the box. This is repeated six times. Act Six is almost the same, except that the orange ball is smaller.

Baby boys do not seem to notice the difference in the size of the ball, but girls immediately become excited and begin to make noises that sound like language.

It’s also known that baby girls usually talk at an earlier age than baby boys do. Scientists believe that the left side of the brain develops faster in girls than in boys. As a result, by the time they start to school, little girls have an advantage that boys don’t have, but what have the boys been doing in the year before starting school? They have been developing something called aggression. An aggressive person feels strong and independent. He is often the first one to start a fight. It is said that aggression is caused by hormones (荷尔蒙). Scientists believe that hormones are not the only cause. They say aggression in boys is also caused by mothers.

1. According to the article in Current Science, what are girls better at?

A．Finding facts

B．Using language

C．Learning science

D．Building things

2. Which is right about Jerome Kagan’s study?

A．Girls don’t like the show.

B．Boys are strong enough to lift a blue box.

C．Boys and girls have the same watching abilities.

D．Girls quickly notice the difference in the size of the ball.

3. Why do girls have an advantage when they start to school?.

A．Girls become independent earlier.	B．Mothers teach girls more patiently.
C．Girls’ hormones develop more completely.	D．The left side of the brain develops faster in girls.

4. What does the underlined word “aggression” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．An angry feeling.

B．A good habit.

C．A friendly action.

D．A strong person.

5. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The research on girls’ advantages.	B．The result of school education.
C．The differences between boys and girls.	D．The children’s abilities to memorize.

9 . 根据短文内容，从各题所给的四个选项中选择一个最佳答案。

A college student stayed up all night studying for his zoology(动物学) test the next day. The following morning, ______ he entered the classroom, he saw ten birds on the desks. Each bird was ______ with a sack(麻布袋) and only the legs were outside.

The teacher told the students that the test would be to watch each pair of bird legs and write down the name and the living habits of each bird.

The student looked at each pair of bird legs. ______ of them looked the same to him. He began to get upset. He stayed up all night studying, but now he had to name birds by their legs. The more he ______ about it, the sadder he got.

He ______ not think of any answers after a long time. He went to the teacher’s desk and said, “What a strange test! ______ could anyone tell differences among birds by their legs? I’m afraid I have to take the exam later. ” ______ these words, the student put his test paper on the desk and walked to the door.

The teacher was______.The class was so big that he didn’t know every student’s ______, so when the student reached the door, the teacher ______ out, “One moment, boy, what’s your name?”

The student pulled up his trouser legs and said, “My dear teacher, can you guess my name by my legs?”

1.

A．before

B．while

C．after

D．since

2.

A．covered

B．served

C．connected

D．shared

3.

A．Both

B．All

C．Neither

D．None

4.

A．talked

B．asked

C．thought

D．heard

5.

A．could

B．must

C．might

D．should

6.

A．How

B．Why

C．When

D．Where

7.

A．Against

B．Through

C．With

D．About

8.

A．happy

B．surprised

C．thankful

D．satisfied

9.

A．name

B．address

C．hobby

D．future

10.

A．blew

B．put

C．cut

D．called

10 . It was last January, when I’d just finished a charity(慈善) and was on the train back home, that I put down my phone and started writing thank-you notes to people who had helped.

When I got off the train, I felt amazingly good. The next day, I wrote more thank-yous and the same feeling of happiness hit me again. I suddenly had the idea: Why not keep on doing this for every day of the year?

To keep on task, I decided to pick out a different theme for each month. January was charity.

February would be neighbors, I decided. And I thought of a number of names right away: the owner of our local bookstore, who let me and my little son in before the store opened and offered to play his favorite songs; our babysitter, who dropped off a bag of old board games for our kids to play; …

While writing the notes, I realized how often I had spent my time on the phone moving from app to app, appreciating(欣赏) other people’s lives. Writing thank-you notes allowed me the time to do something different, paying more attention to my own life.

In the following months, I wrote to my friends, doctors, teachers and parenting role models. In July, my “food” month, I wrote to Julie, who used to cook at my favorite restaurant. It went like this:

Dear Julie,

I’ve been finding myself missing you lately. Thank you for hosting and cooking beautiful and thoughtful food. Jake and I will never forget when you sent out biscuits shaped into the number VI for our sixth anniversary (周年纪念日）. We talk about it every year.

Thank you. We miss you.

Love,

Gina

I was happy to receive a note back from her. Julie replied, “I don’t think I’ve ever received such a touching letter before. I’m going through a hard time right now, and this helps.”

On December 31, I wrote my last card — to Jake, my husband, and our two kids. And I took a picture of us, so I could remember the feeling welling up inside me. Gratitude.

1. The underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 means ________.

A．writing thank-you notes	B．putting the phone away
C．taking the train back home	D．raising money for charity

2. How did Julie most probably feel after reading the note from Gina?

A．Shy and surprised.	B．Pleased and relaxed.
C．Nervous and excited.	D．Moved and encouraged.

3. The theme of the December notes might be “________”.

A．photos

B．family

C．holidays

D．community

4. What did Gina get by doing her task according to the passage?

A．Many thanks from her neighbors.	B．More time to appreciate her own life.
C．More help from people around her.	D．Happy moments to be with her friends.

5. The best title for the passage can be ________.

A．My Thank You Year	B．An Amazing Trip
C．Happiness inside Us	D．Important People in Our Life