Once a shoemaker worked very hard, but he was still very poor. He had only one piece of leather (皮革) to make a pair of shoes at last.
He cut the leather and put it on his table to make shoes. To his surprise, the shoes were already been made by others the next morning. A rich man came into the shop and gave the shoemaker two coins to buy them.
The shoemaker used the two coins to buy leather for two more pairs of shoes. In the morning, the shoemaker found two pairs of shoes had already been made. Soon two customers came in and bought the shoes. He got four coins. This thing lasted for a few days.
The shoemaker and his wife would like to see who the maker was, so they hid (躲藏) behind a curtain (窗帘). Two little elves (精灵) came in at midnight. They worked until all the shoes were done and left quietly.
“I will make them clothes to keep warm. And you can make each of them a pair of shoes.” the wife said seriously.
One night the shoemaker left the nice clothes and shoes on the table. When the elves came in and saw the clothes, they put on the clothes and danced. They danced out of the door happily.
1. The shoemaker was very poor because he didn’t work very hard.2. The leather for a pair of shoes needs four coins.
3. The shoemaker and his wife hid behind the curtain to know who made the shoes for them.
4. The elves put on the shoes and danced out of the door.
5. This story tells us to learn to be kind-hearted and do something nice to others.
Making Shadow Plays (皮影戏) on the wall is a great play. You need a light, hands and good ideas for a good show. Shadow Plays have been a play for hundreds of years in China.
People said that Shadow Plays were from a story. In about 141 B.C. the great Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty in China started his country. He was great and did a lot for his country. But then his favorite woman died. It made him very sad. He wanted her to be back, so he asked his officials(官员) to bring the woman back to life! Of course, this was not possible, but they had to find something to help him feel better.
The officials decided to make a model of the woman. They used donkey leather(皮革) to make her shape and dressed it nice clothes. Then they used a light to cast (投射) the shadow onto a wall when it moved. The Shadow Plays made the emperor happy and a new entertainment (娱乐) was born.
1. You will need a light, two hands and clothes to make Shadow Plays on the wall.2. The Emperor Wu in Han dynasty was unhappy after his favorite woman died.
3. The Emperor Wu asked his officials to find another beautiful woman for him.
4. The Emperor Wu finally became very angry for he didn’t like the Shadow Play.
5. This passage is talking about how Shadow Plays came into being.
3 . A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, “I am blind. Please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized (听说) his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”
The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day; I can not see it.”
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective (有效的)?
1. The boy in the passage can not __________.| A．see | B．walk | C．hear | D．speak |
| A．He gave the boy a lot of money. | B．He brought the boy back to his home. |
| C．He wrote some new words on the sign. | D．He sent the boy to a special school. |
| A．阻碍 | B．举着 | C．承受 | D．坚持 |
| A．The boy still got a few coins in the hat. | B．The boy got much more money. |
| C．No one gave the boy coins any more. | D．The boy became healthy. |
| A．Time means life; time is money. | B．You should be brave even though you’re blind. |
| C．If we want to be rich, we should be honest. | D．Treating a thing differently brings a different result. |
4 . We have noticed our life becoming a little easier these days. Now, when you go to a certain shopping mall, you can enjoy its free WiFi there. When you want to take a taxi, you can book one with your phone. In fact, all these can be seen as the basic parts of a smart city.
The idea of a smart city was brought up by US company IBM in 2010.Gernally, a smart city is a city that uses digital(数字的) technologies such as the Internet to improve city planning, save money and resources, and make our life convenient. How smart can a city be? Here are great examples that we can learn from.
In 2009, Dubuque became the first smart city in the US. The city used smart water meters to take the place of traditional water meters. They can examine water waste and leakage(泄露) and send data to let the house owner know. The same system is used for other city resources like electricity and natural gas. This way, people know how they use their resources and are glad to help reduce waste.
Santander in Spain also gives us a look at the future. If people point a phone toward a nearby bus stop, the phone quickly shows all bus lines that serve the stop as well as their arrival times. The government organized a research team and provided an App that collects data on almost everything: light, temperature, and the movements of cars and people. Opening the APP near a supermarket provides immediate information on special offers.
1. A smart city improves city planning, save money and resources and makes our life convenient by ______.| A．using a robot. | B．the government. | C．using digital technologies. | D．working hard |
| A．An English Company first raised the idea of a smart city. |
| B．Digital technologies are used in smart cities. |
| C．A smart city is mainly made up of free WiFi and phones. |
| D．A smart city is still an idea and hasn’t come into being. |
| A．cleaning water. | B．supplying water. | C．saving water. | D．producing water. |
| A．health care. | B．business. | C．traffic controlling. | D．public transportation. |
| A．Digital technologies help improve city planning. |
| B．Smart cities will make our future life better and smarter. |
| C．Smart cities are very common in both Dubuque and Santander. |
| D．Spain and the US take the leading position in building smart cities. |
5 . It’s reported that much attention has already been turning to the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics（残奥会）in Tokyo, and reporters indicate that facial recognition（人脸识别） will be used as a security method at these games.
The Japan Times reported that the technology would be used when athletes, officials and reporters enter the sports centers. The number of people that will be screened(识别) with facial recognition could be up to between 300,00 and 50,000,according to the report.
The organizing committee（委员会）tested the technology at the Japanese group’s living places during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They achieved some success though people were complaining the long waits. They hope to solve the long waits and other problems over the 2 years ahead of the Tokyo Games, which will start in late July 2020.
NEC, the company dealing with the technology, also tested out their products at two Brazil airports during the 2016 Olympics and is behind many other similar projects, including technology used by the Chicago Police.
Facial recognition is becoming more and more popular and the Olympics are just the latest field to use them for security purposes. Other examples of using or planning to sue facial recognition technology include robot police in China, bridges in New York city, and more widespread uses by the FBI.
1. What's the meaning of the underlined word “indicate” in paragraph 1?| A．估算 | B．测试 | C．表明 | D．识别 |
| A．Officials. | B．Athletes. | C．Reporters | D．Audiences. |
| A．Tokyo. | B．New York. | C．Rio de Janeiro. | D．Sydney. |
| A．China uses facial recognition at its two airports. |
| B．The Olympics is the first field to use facial recognition. |
| C．Facial recognition has been tested in the 2016 Summer Olympics. |
| D．The long wait is the only problem they need to solve. |
| A．300,00 and 50,000 people will be in the 2020 Summer Olympics. |
| B．Facial recognition will be used in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. |
| C．Facial recognition is becoming more and more popular only in China. |
| D．All people know and like Facial recognition. |
Overnight, TF boys, a boy band including three middle school students, became the talk all over China. The oldest member of TF boys now is only 17, but the number of their followers on Sina Weibo has reached 100 million.
Some say that TF boys has become popular only because of their faces. But take a serious look at the three boys, and you may find out what has helped them win so many people.
Wang Junkai
What did you do when you were 8 years old? Wang had become a trainee(受训者) at TF company at that age. He still went to school like other kids on weekdays. But his weekends were filled with training classes. Many boys gave up, but he didn’t. Before finally became a TF boys, the tough guy has been practicing for 5 years.
Wang Yuan
Fans like to call Wang “Er Yuan”because he is a funny guy who’s always telling dry jokes. But when he starts to sing, you’d be shocked by his clear voice. The cheerful boy doesn’t like to compare himself with others. He just wants to be the best himself.
Yiyang Qianxi
Yiyang Qianxi is the shortest of the three boys, but he has the most excellent resume(履历). He is a top student. He takes part in TV shows. He has many different roles in many movies. He is even good at calligraphy(书法). How can he do well in these things? “I’d practice dancing and writing while others were playing games,” he said.
1. The underlined word “Overnight”in the first paragraph means in Chinese.
| A．通宵 | B．一夜成名 | C．突然 | D．昨晚 |
| A．had training classes on weekends |
| B．played computer games all day |
| C．gave up the schoolwork |
| D．learnt English, math and dancing on weekends |
| A．Yiyang Qianxi | B．Wang Yuan |
| C．Wang Junkai | D．the TF boys |
| A．Singing and dancing. | B．Telling dry jokes. |
| C．Calligraphy. | D．Playing computer games. |
| A．the TF boys always work hard |
| B．the TF boys are tired of their training classes |
| C．the TF boys always try to be famous |
| D．the TF boys have become popular not only because of their good looks but also their hard-working |
Some young people have very interesting and high-paying jobs. Many young athletes are very successful. Football and tennis players are usually under 35 years old, for older people can’t play these sports very well. They can’t move fast enough. Golf, however, is a good sport for older people. Many golf players are quite old, but they can still play golf very well.
Most people work until they are about 60 years old. Then they retire and have a lot of free time. Some people never retire. These people usually have interesting jobs. Writers, artists, scientists and actors usually work till they are very old.
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。
1. One should study for at least _________ years to be a doctor.
| A．three | B．four | C．five | D．six |
| A．Football. | B．Tennis. | C．Basketball. | D．Golf. |
| A．锻炼 | B．学习 | C．退休 | D．养老 |
| A．Some people have interesting jobs, but some don’t. |
| B．People usually stop working when they are about 60 years old. |
| C．Football and tennis players can work as long as they like. |
| D．According to the passage, writers, artists and doctors have interesting jobs. |
| A．Good jobs. | B．Interesting jobs. |
| C．Different jobs. | D．High-paying jobs. |
