Look at the center circles(中心圆) of picture A and picture B. Which of the center circles looks larger? Take a first look and you probably think that the center circle in picture A is smaller than that in picture B. In fact, they are exactly the same size.
Then look at the picture on the right. What do you see? A vase? Or two faces? Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can never see them at the same time.
“What's happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?” You may ask yourself. Don't worry. Here is how it goes: When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret(解读) the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it visual illusion(视觉错误).
Movie makers often make use of illusions. They make the things around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park(《侏罗纪公园》)and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids(《亲爱的，我把孩子变小了》) just make use of illusions.
1. The center circle in picture A looks smaller than that in picture B. That's because ________.| A．something is wrong with our eyes |
| B．the two circles are not the same size |
| C．the two pictures change quickly from one to the other |
| D．our brains interpret the information in a wrong way |
a. We look at things with our eyes. b. Our brains interpret the messages.
c. Our brains tell us what we have seen. d. Our eyes send messages to our brains.
| A．adbc | B．cabd | C．bcad | D．cabd |
| A．Paragraph 1 | B．Paragraph 2 | C．Paragraph 3 | D．Paragraph 4 |
| A．Because he loves movies. |
| B．Because readers love movies. |
| C．Because he wants to make the text funny. |
| D．Because he wants to give readers some examples. |
| A．an ICT book | B．a science book |
| C．a movie magazine | D．a story book |
2 . Getting excited over the Christmas ads becomes a big tradition for people in the UK. This year, Sainsbury, the second largest supermarket in the UK, shared its ad called Mog the Cat. Now the ad is known as "the best Christmas ad ever" according to Twitter.
The ad is about a cat of the Thomas family. In the ad, the cat blew up the Christmas tree and almost burned the house. Luckily, she succeeded in phoning the fire service and saved the house. _▲___. Mog felt sorry. As they were worried, the neighbors came together to help the family clean up and enjoy Christmas dinner. Its ending will make you feel all sweet inside. It also carries Sainsbury’s Christmas saying “Christmas is for sharing”.
Another reason why the ad is popular is that Mog the Cat is the star of a much-loved children’s book. The writer Kerr herself appears in this as a neighbor of the Thomas family. This ad also tells us some fire safety facts.
Twitters were talking about and enjoyed the ad. One little boy named Jim wrote the ad was the best Christmas gift he got this year. Jill mixed feeling with the ad. She wrote this ad made her laugh and cry at the same time. And she said: “I don’t even like cats.” Another woman wrote: “So far Sainsbury’s Christmas ad is the best I’ve seen this year.” People like the ad not only for the funny story but also for the spirit of Christmas it shows.
1. ___▲___ might be the most proper sentence to be put in the blank of Paragraph 2.| A．But she made Christmas Day even greater. |
| B．But she brought much fun to the Thomas family. |
| C．But she was ready to live with the neighbors of the Thomas family. |
| D．But she messed up Christmas Day. |
① The ad shows the spirit of Christmas.
② The writer Kerr appears in the ad.
③ That is the ad made by Sainsbury.
④ Mog the Cat is a star of a much-loved children's book.
| A．①② | B．③④ | C．①④ | D．②③ |
| A．few twitters like the ad Mog the Cat |
| B．Jill doesn’t like cats any more after watching the ad |
| C．people like the ad just because it’s really funny |
| D．the ad Mog the Cat is very popular with people |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
3 . Could the students from less developed areas in central and western China get the same educational chances as those in big cities in the east? Could the children in poor rural (农村) areas develop as well as those in rich cities? Maybe the answers were “No” in the past. But now, China is trying to change the situation.
In order to help rural students grow taller and stronger, China’s Nutrition (营养) Improvement Program started in 2011. According to the program, a lot more money was spent improving students’ meals. More than 36 million students from 134,000 primary and junior high schools in poor rural areas have benefited from the program. They are provided with healthy food like eggs and milk from Monday to Friday at school. And the result of a survey shows that the students in those areas are much taller and stronger than before.
It is true that there were differences between less developed areas and developed areas in education before. Recently, The Guideline for Popularizing High School Education (2017-2020) has come out. According to the guideline, above 90% students from all over the country will go to high schools by 2020. What’s more, the schools in central and western areas will get more support to improve their education.
Students from rural and poor areas also get more chances to receive higher education. A special college program makes it possible for more students from those areas to go to key (重点的) colleges and universities. The number will be increased by 10% in 2017.
With the guideline and the programs, we can expect a fairer and more balanced (均衡的) education in the future.
1. The number of 134,000 in Paragraph 2 is the number of _______ in poor rural areas.| A．the key schools | B．the poor students |
| C．the key colleges and universities | D．the primary and junior high schools |
| A．逃离 | B．获益 | C．受害 | D．赚钱 |
(=Para.(自然段) 1 =Para. 2 =Para. 3 =Para. 4 =Para. 5)
| A．;; | B．;; | C．;; | D．;; |
| A．Liu Xi, a student from Chongqing, can go to any high school if she wants to |
| B．Li Mei, a student from a western rural school, can get a bag of milk every day |
| C．Hu Jia, a 12-year-old rural student, will more easily receive high school education |
| D．Han Lei, a student from Beijing, will have few chances to go to key universities |
An echo is a reflected(反射)sound. Stand in a very large, empty hall with nothing on the walls. Then shout. The sounds you make will hit the walls and come back to you. The walls reflect the sounds. These reflected sounds are called “echoes”.
We can use reflected sound to make sound travel farther. Hold a watch about fifty centimeters from your ear. You cannot hear it. The sound of the watch travels a short way in all directions. It does not travel as far as your ear. You can make it travel to your ear by using a roll of cardboard(纸板筒).
Make the roll of cardboard about fifty centimeters long. Put one end over your ear and hold the watch at the other. Now you can hear the watch because the sound has not gone in all directions. It is reflected down the roll to your ear.
A megaphone(喇叭筒)works in the same way. It makes sound travel farther. It reflects the sound into a beam which can travel a long way. In the ship, the sailor uses the megaphone to make his voice travel. Without the megaphone, his voice cannot travel far.
We use reflected sound in many ways. We use it to measure the depth of the sea, for example. Among the animals, bats and whales use reflected sound to tell them where they are and what things are near them.
1. Which is the right order of hearing our echo in a very large, empty hall?
a. We hear the reflected sound b. The sound returns to us
c. The sound hits the walls d. We make a sound
| A．c, b, a, d | B．c, a, b, d | C．d, c, b, a | D．d, b, c, a |
| A．reflected sound is useful only to blind people |
| B．people haven’t made use of reflected sound yet |
| C．bats use reflected sound to fly and get food |
| D．whales don’t use reflected sound as they live in the sea |
| A．a long piece of wood | B．a roll of cardboard |
| C．a thin thread | D．a long piece of silk |
