My friends say that I’m good at English, because I always get good marks in English tests. They think I’m a talented girl and I’m clever at English.
But in fact, I’m not a talented girl. I’m just a common girl. I’d like to say something about my experience of learning English.
I didn’t do well in English in the beginning. I started my English course at the age of 10. Maybe you can’t imagine I couldn’t say a whole sentence at that time. I was sad, but I wasn’t afraid of it. I just learned English hard. I spent almost all of my free time practicing English by listening to the tape and repeating after it. Soon I found I had made great progress in my English. At last, I could understand what the teacher said in class. Then slowly, I could get good marks at times. I knew that studying isn’t easy, so I spent much time reading more, listening more, writing more and talking more every day.
I have some other advice as well.
Don’t be nervous and try to be relaxed when you write articles or talk to foreign teachers or your own English teacher. Remember: Don’t pay too much attention to details when you are talking. If you have some mistakes, that’s all right. Think and talk in English and never give up. It’s never too late to practice English.
1. The writer thinks she is a talented girl.2. In the beginning, the writer was afraid to learn English.
3. The writer spent almost all of her free time practicing English.
4. Try not to make any mistake when you talk to the teacher.
5. The writer mainly tells us her experience of learning English and how to learn English well.
The tradition of Afternoon Tea is a very special part of English culture. Afternoon Tea is served mid-afternoon, intended as refreshment between lunch and a late dinner. The idea came from Anna, the Seventh Duchess of Bedford, in 1840. At the time, kerosene(蜡油) lamps were introduced in wealthier homes, and eating a late dinner(around 8 p.m.) became fashionable. This increasingly late dinner was one of only two main meals each day, the other was a mid-morning, breakfast-like meal.
With a long period of time between breakfast and dinner, Anna would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon. It is around this time that Anna is said to have complained of “having that sinking feeling”. This was likely fatigue from hunger during the long wait between meals. Thus, she requested a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.
Later, friends were invited to join her in her rooms at Woburn Abbey. And this practice proved so popular that the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for “tea and a walking the fields”.
Others quickly picked up on the idea. The practice became respectable enough to move it into the drawing-room. Before long this pause for tea became a fashionable social event.
Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty sandwiches, scones served with clotted cream. Nowadays however, afternoon tea is likely to be just a biscuit or small cake and a mug of tea.
1. The underlined phrase “That idea” in Para.1 refers to Afternoon Tea.2. According to the passage in 1940s people only had two main meals a day in Bedford.
3. The underlined word “fatigue” in Para.2 means “悲伤” in Chinese.
4. From Para.3&4 we know the development about Afternoon Tea.
5. Para.5 mainly tells us today’s afternoon tea is different from traditional one.
Everyone listened attentively as the woman spoke.
“If you want to say ‘OK’, don't make a circle with your thumb and first finger,” the woman began. “That means OK here in the United States, but in Russia it’s an obscene gesture.”
The audience(观众) of 300 Americans chuckled, a few people took notes.
“It’s all right to admire something,” the woman continued, “but don’t be too enthusiastic (热情的). Don’t say, ‘I really like your tablecloth.’ Your Russian friend will offer you the tablecloth and will be offended(冒犯) if you don’t take it.”
The woman was preparing the Americans for their trip to Russia. In Russia, the language, customs, and food would be different. Even simple things, like making a phone call, would be different. The Americans wanted to learn about these differences before their trip. They didn't want to experience culture shock.
When they arrived in Russia, the Americans were glad that they had prepared for their trip. Most of them experienced only a little culture shock. They enjoyed their visit and made a lot of Russian friends.
Making friends was, in fact, the purpose of the trip. The trip was planned by The Friendship Force, an international organization that develops world peace. The Friendship Force believes that people who are friends will not fight wars. So, to help people from all over the world become friends, it organizes exchanges of people.
The US-Russian exchange was one of the largest exchanges it has ever organized. The Friendship Force sent 300 Americans to Russia and 300 Russians to the United States.
The Russians, like the Americans, prepared for their visit by learning about life in the other country. Still, they, too, experienced a little culture shock.
The Russians knew that Americans were fond of pets, but they were shocked to see pets inside homes. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw dogs eating in the kitchen and sleeping on people's beds.
The Russians knew that Americans liked to eat fast food in restaurants, but they were disappointed to see that Americans ate fast meals at home, too. In Russia, the evening meal often lasts an hour or two because families sit at the table and talk. When American families eat together—if they eat together — they often eat quickly and don't take time for long conversations. The Russians thought that was a shame.
In spite of their differences in language and culture, the Russians and Americans became friends. The two women in the picture became friends, even though the Russian woman couldn't speak a word of English and the American woman couldn't speak a word of Russian. For two weeks they communicated through sign language and dictionaries.
Some of the Americans who traveled to Russia were schoolchildren from a sixth-grade class. When they returned to the United States, their teacher asked them to write about their trip. One 11-year-old girl wrote, “I have learned a lot from this experience. I learned to adapt(适应) to a different culture. And I learned that people all over the world are more alike than they are different.”
正确涂A，错误涂B。
1. An obscene gesture is not polite.
2. People who are offended are a little angry because their feelings are hurt.
3. The Friendship Force believes that people who live in Russia do not have comfortable lives.
4. Although their languages and cultures were different, the Russians and the Americans became friends.
5. The text is mainly about the language, customs, and food in Russia.
It’s the lunch break at Shanghai Xinhua Middle School. No mobile phones can be heard ring anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short messages has disappeared.
A grade 2 student said, “I couldn’t concentrate（集中精力）during classes. If the cellphone was with me, I always wanted to check if there were messages or missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes.”
The school leaders say not allowing bringing mobile phones is helpful to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile phones to school. More than 96 percent of parents say they welcome the school decision. The school is also being flexible（灵活的）in carrying out the plan. Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to contact their parents. But they still have to turn them off in classrooms.
Medical experts have also welcomed the school decision. They say too much dependence on mobile phones can cause many psychological problems in teenage students.
1. Lots of students used to be busy using their mobile phones during lunchtime breaks.2. The grade 2 student thinks that it is good to play cellphone games sometimes.
3. Medical experts and most parents disagree with the school decision.
4. No one is allowed to bring a mobile phone to school.
5. The passage mainly tells us students shouldn’t be allowed to bring the mobile phone in a middle school.
5 . There are several ways from which to choose for you to keep your kids safe in your neighborhood. But the first step is to know your neighbors.
Knowing your neighbors can save you a lot of worry. It lets you know that the car that has just driven down the street belongs to “the yellow house on the corner”, or the truck that has just driven by the playground looks unfamiliar, but the guy in the passenger seat resides（居住）two doors down. It’s these simple things that keep you from going out of your mind whenever you see someone driving by where children are playing.
But you shouldn’t just know what they look like. The next step is to know them well. What do they do? How do they act? You might be OK with them driving by the playground since they live in the neighborhood, but are you OK with them being on the playground? Knowing your neighbors solves several things. First you find out what kind of people they are. This helps you know if you should let your child go out in an area where they gather. Let us face it: you do not want your child to play around people or people’s children that curse（咒骂）or hit each other. Sometimes you have to protect you child against your own neighbors.
Knowing them also makes them know you. Being neighbors is an interesting thing. You might not like them or have the same views as them, but we all usually protect those that we consider our own. If you know your neighbors, they know you. They are more likely to look after the child of the nice lady down the street in the brick （砖）house, than the people, in the house on the corner, who no one ever sees.
1. This passage is mainly to tell us .| A．how to keep your child safe in the neighborhood |
| B．how to set a good example to your neighbors |
| C．how to get along with your neighbors |
| A．studies at the same school with your kid |
| B．often comes to the neighborhood to offer help |
| C．lives in the same neighborhood as you |
| A．becoming very excited |
| B．becoming very worried |
| C．becoming very embarrassed |
| A．it is important for you to be polite to your neighbors |
| B．people in the same neighborhood are quite different |
| C．knowing your neighbors helps to keep your kids safe |
| A．the neighbors are likely to help the nice lady |
| B．the neighbors would like to help people they know |
| C．we should like and have the same views as the neighbor |
6 . Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York. “Teaching means everything to us,” Tim would say. In April 1998, be learned be would need a heart operation It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's purpose.
Not long after the operation, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton's foundation(基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee. “I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire,” Tim recalls. He placed the brochure on his desk, “as a reminder.”
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library.com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. “We didn't want to give the children rubbish,” says Linda The books—reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members—included classics(杰作) such as Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books I've never heard of.”
The Richters spend about $ 400 a month sending books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die,” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”
1. led Tim think seriously about the meaning of life.| A．Tim's health problem | B．Tim's love for teaching | C．The news from the Web |
| A．retire from being a teacher |
| B．do something similar |
| C．write books for children |
| A．a well-known doctor |
| B．a mother of a four-year old |
| C．a singer born in Tennessee |
| A．to avoid signing up online |
| B．to make sure the books were the newest |
| C．to see if the books were of good quality |
| A．He considers his efforts worthwhile. |
| B．He wonders why some people are so busy. |
| C．He tries to save those waiting to die. |
You will have a lot of reading to do in this grade this year. You can do more of it in less time if you learn to read rapidly.
Perhaps you have been told about some habits which keep a person from reading fast and have been strongly asked to break those habits which you might have.
Do you still have any of these bad habits? Check yourself by answering “yes” or “no” to these questions.
(1) Do you move your lips (嘴唇) when reading silently?
(2) Do you point to words with your finger as you read?
(3) Do you move your head from side to side as you read?
(4) Do you read one word at a time?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, start at once to break the habit. If you move your lips, hold your fingers over them, or hold a piece of paper between your lips while you are reading. Then if your lips move, your will know it and can stop them.
If you point to words, hold the two sides of your book, one side with your left hand, the other side with your right hand. Then you won’t have a free finger to use in pointing while reading. If you move your head, place your chin (下巴) in one hand and hold your head still (静止不动的).
If you read no more than one or two three words at a time, you need to work very hard in learning to take in (吸收) more words at each glance (一瞥) as your eyes travel across the lines of words.
Even if you do rather fast now, you can learn to read even faster. As you probably have been told, the set of fast reading is to take in whole groups of words at each glance. Read in thought groups and force (迫使) your eyes along the lines of words at fast as you can make them go. Anyone who practices doing these things will be able to read faster.
1. You may hold your fingers over your lips while reading so as ________.| A．to tell others to be silent |
| B．to feel whether your lips move or not |
| C．to hold a piece of paper between them |
| A．don’t keep your head still |
| B．don’t hold your books with your hands |
| C．don’t use your finger to point to words |
| A．you can read more in less time |
| B．you can write faster |
| C．you can understand better |
| A．have | B．get rid of (改掉) | C．keep |
| A．the way of reading fast |
| B．the importance of fast reading |
| C．the bad habits in reading |
8 . Lively music, singing and the sound of beating drums fill the room. As an orchestra（管弦乐队）plays, performers dressed in colorful costurnes move across the stage（舞台）. Welcome to Chinese opera.
Chinese opera is an important element（元素）of Chinese culture. Most operas are based on stories from long ago. The amazing stage performances are often set against grand backgrounds. Beautiful paintings, hand movements and martial arts（武术）help tell these famous stories.
There are more than 300 forms of Chinese opera, including Beijing Opera, Yue Opera, Yu Opera, Ge Zai Xi and many other forms. Of all of them, Beijing Opera is the most famous. Beijing Opera combines（合并）singing, dancing and acrobatics. Instruments such as drums, bells and cymbals accompany（伴奏）the performances.
Facial design
Traditionally, performers used masks（面具）for their facial design. Today, however, performers use makeup. They paint colorful designs on their faces. These colors and designs help to create each character. For example, a brave character has a red face, while a black face means bold. A yellow and white face represents（代表）someone who is dishonest.
Costurnes
Costurnes give clues（线索）to the performers’ characters and roles. Audiences（观众）that are familiar with opera will get to know a story by the masks and costurnes. Costurnes usually have many designs and colors. The same costurne can be used in different shows, however, it will represent a different character.
Promoting the arts
Many colleges and schools in China desire（渴望）to keep the art of Chinese opera alive. They provide an education system for talented students. Applicants（应试者）must pass a written test, an audition（试镜）and an interview and only the most promising students are accepted to study at these colleges and schools. Once accepted into the program, students begin a seven-to-twelve-year journey through the school. After graduation, many go on to work as professional actors on stage or in the movies.
1. Of all forms of Chinese opera, which is the most famous?| A．Beijing Opera | B．Ge Zai Xi | C．Yu Opera |
| A．brave | B．dishonest | C．bold |
| A．诚信的 | B．热情的 | C．有前途的 |
| A．Anyone who likes Chinese opera can be accepted into the program. |
| B．If a person knows opera well, masks and costurnes will help know the story. |
| C．Once in the program, you have to study for 7 to 12 year at school. |
| A．Chinese culture | B．Beijing Opera | C．Costurnes and facial design |
9 . Social media(媒体)is a big part of most people’s lives. There are social apps and sites like WeChat and Sina Weibo, as well as video apps like Douyin and Kuaishou. How do you behave when you use these apps?
Recently researchers at the University of Sussex, UK, studied social media users ranging from 10 to 15 years old. They found that they can be divided into four personality types.
Geeks(极客)
Geeks are active social media users，but they find it mush more difficult to deal with the life in the real world. Most of them are boys who like playing computer games and making music and videos. They often post creative works online, using fake(假的) names. In fact, they should avoid spending too much time on the Internet.
Internet celebrities
Internet celebrities like sharing as well , but they are much more visible (看得见的) than geeks. They might become well-known for their singing or dancing. But many of them, especially teenagers ,share almost every side of their lives in order to own more fans. Being a teenage Internet celebrity can sometimes cause problems in the real world.
Lurkers(潜伏者)
The first two groups are lucky to find a place to show their talent. But most teenagers fall into the third type---- “lurkers”, or people who are neither too active nor visible. This group prefers WeChat over Sina Weibo, as WeChat has private groups. They can’t express themselves well but at least they make sure to protect their personal information.
Victims(受害者)
Victims don't have enough knowledge to keep themselves safe online Their personal information can be made public and cause problems for them. To avoid being a victim, you should check your personal settings on social media.“Friends only” is a good choice for your posts. Don’t share your personal information.
1. What does the underlined word“they" in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Researchers at the University of Sussex, UK. |
| B．Social media users ranging from 10 to 15 years old. |
| C．Researchers and social media users ranging from 10 to 15 years old. |
| A．They share almost every side of their lives. |
| B．They share their personal information. |
| C．They post creative works. |
| A．网络用户 | B．网络名人 | C．网络博主 |
| A．They would rather use WeChat than Sina Weibo. |
| B．This group is both active and visible. |
| C．Lurkers don’t have enough knowledge to keep their personal information safe online. |
| A．offer tips for social media users. |
| B．teach social media users to use different apps. |
| C．describe four personality types of social media users. |
Perhaps the most famous clothing brand name(服装品牌名称)in the world is Levi’s. Levi Strauss & Co. is the producer of blue denim jeans. Here’s how it happened.
In the mid 1800s many people went to California to look for gold. A young German named Levi Strauss traveled to San Francisco to help his brother on business. He sold canvas (帆布)to the workers for tents. But the workers said they needed pants more, because their pants were easy to wear out. Instead of selling his canvas for tent-making, he turned it into pants. These kinds of pants were very popular with workers. He was very happy and named the kind of pants “denims”. And in 1853 he founded Levi Strauss ＆ Co.
Twenty years later the company began using a design with pockets. During the working, Strauss developed the process for putting metal rivets (铆钉)in the jeans for strength.
On May 20, 1873, they received the U. S. Patent No.139, 121 for the process and that date is now considered the official birthday of “blue jeans”.
Today the company still has its factories in San Francisco, California. Over 11, 000 people work in them and bring in over $4 billion a year.
1. Levi Strauss went to San. Francisco___________.| A．to look for gold | B．to sell canvas | C．to help his brother |
| A．the work was too hard |
| B．they couldn't get enough food |
| C．their pants were not strong enough |
| A．研制 | B．想象 | C．了解 |
| A．150 | B．170 | C．200 |
| A．who invented jeans | B．how jeans were invented | C．why jeans are so popular |
