1 . In Britain, Australia, Canada and a few other English-speaking countries, people don't stop celebrating when Christmas Day is over. They also celebrate the following day, known as Boxing Day. It is a popular day for giving additional（另外的）gifts. It has been celebrated for so long, but nobody exactly knows how it started.
Some people believe Boxing Day began in the Middle Ages. In those days: in some special places there were special collection boxes where people threw money for the poor.
The day after Christmas the boxes were opened and the money was counted. Then the money went to helping the poor in the area.
Others believe Boxing Day started about 300 years ago when some rich people had Christmas feasts (盛宴). They offered lots of food to their guests. Because many servants (仆人）were needed to make and serve the food, they could not celebrate Christmas with their families. To thank them, the rich people would put food into boxes for their servants to take home.
Now Boxing Day has become a public holiday in some countries. Some people spend the day boxing up old or unwanted things and donating（捐赠）them to the poor. Many people are active in helping service organizations(组织)like the Red Cross.
No matter how Boxing Day got its start, it's a wonderful time to donate things or give small gifts to people. By doing so, you cam make someone's holiday much happier.
1. From the first paragraph we know that Boxing Day ___________.| A．has a long history | B．is before Christmas Day |
| C．is celebrated in only three countries | D．is the day for buying gifts |
| A．unwanted things | B．food | C．old things | D．money |
| A．They took the food home. | B．They had Christmas feasts. |
| C．They made and served the food. | D．They celebrated with their families |
| A．to thank the rid people | B．to make the guests happy |
| C．to give people help or small gifts | D．to remember the old days |
| A．Christmas Day | B．Boxing Day | C．The Red Cross | D．The Middle Ages |
2 . How do you feel about nature? After spending hours indoors, do you feel better when you visit your local park? Most people think that nature is good for our bodies and brains. However, humans are spending more time inside and less time outside. For example, the number of visitors to Canada’s national parks is getting lower every year. And in countries such as the USA, only 10% of teenagers spend time outside every day. Many doctors feel that this is a problem in the twenty—first century.
As a result, some doctors are studying the connection between nature and health: one example of this is the work of Dr Matilda in Sweden. The doctor gave people a maths test. During the test, their heart rates (心率) were fast. After the test, one group of people sat in a 3D—virtual—reality (虚拟现实) room for fifteen minutes with pictures and sounds of nature. Their heart rates were slower than people's in the other group.
The virtual touch with nature helped them feel more relaxed. Another good example of how nature is good for health comes from Canada. In Toronto, researchers studied 31,000 people living in the city. In general, they found that healthier people lived near parks.
Because of studies like these, some countries and cities want nature to be part of people’s everyday life. In Dubai (迪拜), for example, there are plans for a new shopping mall with a large garden so shoppers can relax outside with trees, plants and water. In Switzerland, “forest schools” are popular. Schoolchildren study their subjects in the forests and do lots of exercise outside. And South Korea (韩国) is another good example: it has new forests near its cities and around 13 million people visit these forests every year. So after building cities for so long, perhaps it’s now time to start rebuilding nature.
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly talk about?| A．Teenagers’ problem in the 21st century. | B．How much time we spend outdoors. |
| C．Visiting your local park. | D．Feeling about nature. |
①the USA a. Children study in the forests and do lots of activities outside.
②Dubai b. About 13 million people visit new forests near its cities every year.
③Switzerland c. A new shopping mall with a large garden will be built.
④South Korea d. 10% of teenagers spend time outside every day.
| A．①—a ②—d ③—b ④—c | B．①—d ②—c ③—a ④—b |
| C．①—a ②—c ③—d ④—b | D．①—d ②—c ③—b ④—a |
| A．More and more Canadians will live near parks. |
| B．The maths test is difficult and makes people nervous. |
| C．Nature can help people feel more relaxed and be healthier. |
| D．People's heart rates get slower in a 3D—virtual—reality room. |
| A．Nature is more important than cities. | B．Country life is healthier than city life. |
| C．People have lived in the cities for so long. | D．Nature should be part of people’s daily life. |
3 . I LOVE FOOTBALL. I started playing when I was nine years old, and football got me through difficult periods. It helps make me who I am today. And even though I did not reach the National Football League, I sometimes think I got more from achieving that dream, without realizing it.
My romance with football started when my dad drove me, kicking and screaming, to join a league. I didn’t want to be there at first. I was naturally weak and small. Fear turned to awe (敬畏) when I met my coach, Jim Graham, a huge and strong guy. And he was really strict and old-school.
Coach Graham used to drive me hard. I remember one practice in particular. “You’re doing it all wrong, Pausch. Go back! Do it again!” I tried to do what he wanted. But it wasn’t enough. “You owe(欠) me, Pausch! You’re doing push-ups after practice.
When the practice was over, one of the assistant coaches came up to me. “Coach Graham drove you pretty hard, didn’t he?” he said.
“Yeah.”
“That’s a good thing,” the assistant told me. “When you’re doing badly and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.”
That conversation has been with me closely my whole life. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s willing to tell you anymore, that’s a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but those who always push you hard in your life are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.
There’s a lot of talk these days about giving children self-respect. It’s not something you can give; it’s something they have to build. Coach Graham knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to make it stronger: You give them something they can’t do; they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating.
When Coach Graham first got hold of me, I was a weak kid with no skills and no physical strength. But he made me realize that if I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can’t do today. I really felt thankful to Coach Graham for what he had done to me, though it surely didn’t feel good at that time to do so many push-ups after practice.
根据上文内容判断正(T)误(F)1. In the writer’s eyes, Coach Graham was strict and wise.
2. The writer believes that those who are quite strict with you actually think ill of you.
3. The writer was thankful to Graham because the coach encouraged him to do better.
4. From the passage, we can learn “Never offer to teach fish to swim”
5. Coach Graham knew the method to teach kids how to build self-respect.
4 . All about Electric Cars
Electric vehicles(电动车辆) have been around for more than a hundred years. But they have really been liked by a large number of people over the last ten years. More than three million all-electric cars trucks and vans are now on the road worldwide.
Helping the Environment
Most cars run on gasoline(汽油). Burning gasoline and other fossil fuels(矿物燃料) produces greenhouse gases. Electric vehicles don’t burn gasoline. Instead, strong batteries run their electric engines. So, electric vehicles don’t directly produce greenhouse gases.
Poop Power!
Electric vehicles are better for the environment. But they are not perfect. Their batteries often use electricity(电) that was made by burning fossil fuels. But an electric vehicle uses less energy than a vehicle that runs on gasoline. Plus, some of the electricity comes from “greener” sources, such as solar and wind power. And some may soon come from a new source — cow poop(牛粪)! An electric car company has worked together with a large dairy farm. They plan to make electricity using a greenhouse gas from cow poop.
Always Improving
One of the problems for electric vehicles is their limited range. This is how far they can travel before their batteries need another charge(充电). But now their range is improving. Some new electric vehicles can travel almost three times as far as older ones did. Another problem is finding a place to recharge the batteries. But the number of charging stations is going up as well. China now has thousands more charging stations than it did ten years ago. In Sweden, engineers have even designed a road that will charge electric vehicles as they drive along.
1. Which of the following truly describes electric vehicles according to Paragraph 1?| A．Useless. | B．Popular. | C．Cheap. | D．Perfect. |
| A．Parts of an electric car. | B．Ways of driving a car. |
| C．Wheels on an electric car. | D．Batteries in an electric car. |
| A．By burning gasoline. | B．By burning fossil fuels. |
| C．By using a gas coming from cow poop. | D．By using solar and wind power. |
| A．Reasons for buying new electric cars. |
| B．Importance of electric cars in our life. |
| C．Ways to produce more electric vehicles. |
| D．Problems and improvements of electric vehicles. |
5 . Yun Siqi from Beijing is a 19-year-old young pianist（钢琴家). He started to learn the piano at age 4 and it has been his favourite hobby since then. Before that, he often heard his elder sister playing the violin and he loved the classical music she played. "I wanted to beat her in something and I chose the piano," Yun said.
At 4, several minutes of practice a day was enough. As Yum grew up, at ages 7 and 8, he had to practise for four hours a day. The time kept going up after Yun was 12. Now, he needs to practise at least seven hours every day. He sleeps for only five to six hours a day, but he is still full of energy(活力).
Yun never got tired of the piano. In fact, he had great fun playing it. "Music is my special luck, and it is a real enjoyment to be with it every day," he said.
Yun worked hard and soon he stood out. From 2013 to now, Yun shone at different music festivals, concerts and competitions. Yun said successes or failures（失败）were not important and they would not affect his understanding of music or his plan for the future. "If you lose, think carefully about it, and if you win, just work harder," the young pianist said "I still need to practise more to become better, to bring out the real beauty of classical music through the piano. It may take a lifetime."
1. Yun Siqi began to learn the piano in___________.| A．2003 | B．2005 | C．2007 | D．2009 |
| A．he was not able to play the violin |
| B．it was easy to learn to play the piano |
| C．he wanted to be better than his sister in something |
| D．his sister refused to play his favourite classical music |
| A．He lived a happy life at the age of 4. |
| B．He was not good at playing the piano. |
| C．He practises playing the piano very hard. |
| D．He doesn't have enough sleep but he is healthy. |
| A．允许 | B．维持 | C．放弃 | D．影响 |
| A．Yun played the piano really well. |
| B．Yun was tired of playing the piano. |
| C．Yun didn't think he needed more practice. |
| D．Yun said one should work harder if he lost. |
6 . Trip to Moonlight Island
| Day 1（Oct.4） 9:00 Meet at Red Star Airport ◇The Old Town ◇The Historical House 12:30 Lunch（The famous fish） ◇Windmill Park ◇Dolphin watching 18:00 Dinner（Rice noodles） ◇Rainbow Bridge | Day 2（Oct.5） 9:00 Breakfast（Bread and milk） ◇Rose Mountain 12:30 Lunch（A BBQ） ◇Waterside Farm ◇Back 18:00 End at Green Bush Airport Have a nice trip! |
| Cost:$200 each person *If you book（预订）the trip before Farmers’ Harvest Festival（Sept.23），you can get 20% off. *Kids under 9 are free. | |
1. Tourists will meet at Red Star Airport __________ on Oct. 4.
| A．at 8:00 | B．at 9:00 | C．at 10:00 | D．at 12:30 |
| A．bread and milk | B．a BBQ | C．fish | D．rice noodles |
| A．Windmill Park | B．Rainbow Bridge | C．Waterside Farm | D．Rose Mountain |
| A．$40 | B．$160 | C．$200 | D．$320 |
| A．by plane | B．by boat | C．by train | D．by car |
7 . Hardship comes in different shapes and sizes: losing a job, bills overdue, illness, injuries or the death of a loved one.
Every kind of difficulty takes its toll. But few things in life are as heartbreaking as feeling cut off from the people we love.
Recently, while "sheltering in place" against the coronavirus, I've started reading to my grandchildren via Face Time before they went to sleep.
Mostly, I read to them because I love doing it. But I also do it for their parents' mental health. Besides having to stay indoors, they are forced to homeschool the kids, who can't go to school or to the park or play with their friends.
As a mother, I didn't do everything right. Far from it. But when my three children were small, most nights before bed, I would read to them.
There is something important — something comforting and healing — about the age-old ritual of reading to each other. Sometimes the words we read are so powerful that they will never be forgotten. But hearing them read is a different experience.
When we read to ourselves, we see the words with our eyes. But when someone reads to us, we just need to be still and listen. Sometimes, the voice and the love it carries mean far more than the words.
Today, I read the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, a book my kids loved long ago. Randy, 9, and Wiley, 7, thought it was funny. Elle, who's 5, usually prefers to read to me, but this time she just wanted to talk. Next, Randy played a song for us on his guitar, the very first song he has written. Finally, I Face Timed with Jonah, who is almost a year old. I read MOO, BAA, LA LA LA! He liked it so much that he gave me kisses over the phone, then we said goodnight.
Now, more than ever, while keeping a safe distance, we all need to hold on to each other.
Word Bank
take its roll造成重大损失 sheltering in place就地避难 via通过 healing能治愈的 ritual惯例
根据短文内容选择最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
1. Which is not the reason why the author reads to the kids?
| A．She loves reading to kids. |
| B．She wants to hold on to her family. |
| C．She wants to help the kids' parents. |
| D．She wants to homeschool the kids. |
| A．Judy. | B．Jonah. | C．Randy. | D．Elle. |
| A．Serious. | B．Healthy. | C．Loving. | D．Talkative. |
| A．The author has been a good mother who always does things right. |
| B．The kids' parents are under great pressure to help them study at home. |
| C．Wiley loves reading and usually reads to her grandma. |
| D．Randy will be a musician when he grows up. |
| A．Bedtime Reading. | B．Special Homeschooling. |
| C．Safe Distance. | D．Kisses over the Phone. |
8 . Do you want to eat every delicious food in the world? Then do you watch the popular program? "A Bite of China(舌尖上的中国)" is a documentary on Chinese delicious food which has been broadcasted by Chinese central television. Is there any holiday that isn't celebrated with a special festival food? Here are several traditional Chinese foods.
Eggs hold a special meaning in many cultures. The Chinese believe eggs mean producing something new. After a baby is born, parents may hold a "red egg and ginger party," where they pass out eggs to announce the birth. In some areas of China the number of eggs represents(代表)the sex of the child, for example, an odd number(1,3,5,..) for a girl, and an even number(2,4,6…) for a boy .
Noodles are a symbol of long life in Chinese culture. They are a part of a Chinese birthday celebration as a birthday cake in many countries. Since noodles represent long life, it is considered very unlucky to cut it off.
In China a whole fish is a symbol of richness. In fact, at a party it is traditional to serve the whole fish last. Fish also has a special meaning because the Chinese word for fish sounds like the word for richness or plenty, and it is believed that eating fish will help your wishes come true in the year to come.
A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat Festival is Zongzi. This tasty dish is made of rice dumplings with meat, peanuts or other delicious food in bamboo leaves. Zongzi will remind us of the great man Qu Yuan.
The 50-minute program tries to bring something new by presenting more cultural elements(元素),such as eating habits and the quality of eating.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. A Bite of China is _______________.
| A．a book | B．a documentary | C．a magazine | D．a newspaper |
| A．two | B．three | C．four | D．five |
| A．two eggs | B．none | C．three eggs | D．six eggs |
| A．We can cut birthday noodles off in China if we think they are too long. |
| B．It is impolite to serve a whole fish last at a party in China. |
| C．The program lasts for one hour. |
| D．There are many kinds of Zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival. |
| A．The writer thinks the program is too long. |
| B．The writer thinks there is Chinese culture in the program. |
| C．The writer thinks everyone can have a good eating habit after watching the program. |
| D．The writer thinks the program has only brought many kinds of delicious food to us. |
9 . A few days ago, I received a letter from my Aunt Loraine.
It was a handwritten letter thanking me for some Shanghai cookies I had sent her. Aunt Lorraine is ninety-one years old and she has wonderful manners. That is why she sent me the “thank you” letter. She also has wonderful handwriting. Her penmanship (书法) is smooth. It is a pleasure to read.
Aunt Lorraine was educated half a century ago. At that time, penmanship was considered an important skill. Now, it is the age of e-mail and social media. Few people have the time or hope to practice their penmanship or write letters by hand.
This is not good. in my view, good penmanship still counts. This is especially true in school. If you want to get good grades, keeping your writing clean and beautiful will be important. Your writing might be full of good ideas. However, terrible handwriting can turn an A into a B. Awful handwriting can get you a D!
Good penmanship has other advantages, too. Since it's a skill, it trains your brain and develops your learning abilities. It also helps you organize your thoughts. And, believe it or not, that slow process of pushing a pen along paper improves your reading, spelling and even your pronunciation of English.
Apart from all these educational advantages, good penmanship also has personal advantages. A beautifully written letter to a friend is something he or she will treasure forever. A letter that looks as if a chicken bad danced across the paper will be quickly thrown away. I have kept the letter from my Aunt Lorraine. It's a great treasure!
1. Why did Aunt Lorraine write a letter to the author?| A．To express her thanks. | B．To show her wonderful manners. |
| C．To make herself pleased. | D．To set a good example to the author. |
| A．Getting good grades on your writing. | B．Organizing your thoughts. |
| C．Making your writing full of good ideas. | D．Improving your English pronunciation. |
| A．a boring letter | B．a great treasure | C．bad handwriting | D．good penmanship |
| A．To express the importance of clean and beautiful handwriting. |
| B．To share her pleasure of hearing from her aunt. |
| C．TO talk about her experiences of practicing penmanship. |
| D．To encourage people to write litters by hand instead of e-mailing. |
10 . Are you happy most of the time? Or do you easily get angry sometimes? Everyone has a different temperament. It is usually believed that both genes and environment may influence people’s temperaments in different ways. Scientists have found that the season of the birth also plays a role.
Scientists from Budapest, Hungary, studied 400 university students. In the study, the students needed to finish some questions to know which of four kinds of temperaments they most had. From the questions, scientists found that the students always answered something like “My mood often changes for no reason.” and “I love to deal with new projects, even if it is risky.” These answers were then connected with their birthdays.
They discovered that people born in summer easily change between sad and happy moods compared to people born in winter. Those who always feel positive are mostly born in spring and summer.
The study also found that those born in fall less probably had a mood of depression which may easily drive them to cry, while those in winter were not easier to be angry.
Scientists said that this was probably because the seasons had an influence on certain chemicals in the human body. And the chemicals are important to control people’s moods even in adult life. “It seems that when you are born may increase or decrease your chance of developing certain mood disorders.” scientist Xenia Gonda told the Telegraph.
根据上文内容判断正（T）误（F）1. Ages probably may influence people’s temperaments according to paragraph 1.
2. The underlined word “depression” most probably means sadness.
3. The answers to the questions of the study were matched with their birthdays.
4. People born in winter get sad or happy more easily.
5. The best title of this passage is “The Influence of Genes”.
