1 . Tomatoes taste great. With a lot of vitamins, they are good for you, too! People all over the world enjoy this amazing fruit.
Not all tomatoes are red. They can be yellow, orange, pink, or white. All tomatoes are green before they are ready to be picked. Then the tomatoes turn their true color. That’s when they’re ready to eat!
Tomatoes first grew in the Americas. The Incas grew them over 1,000 years ago. They were introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the early 16th century. The Spanish and Italians seem to have been the first Europeans to accept them as food. In France, people grew. Tomatoes in the garden just to enjoy their beauty. Many people there thought tomatoes would make them sick. It was years before some of them would eat tomatoes.
Tomatoes are fruits. They grow from seeds. They won’t grow in cold weather. But with water, sunlight and warmth, tomatoes grow fast. They can grow in pots or in the ground. As the plant grows taller, people may tie it to a stick. Next is the blooming stage. Flowers appear. The flowers turn into fruit. Some kinds of tomatoes can be picked in about six more weeks. Some tomatoes are large. One kind of tomato can weigh as much as two pounds.
You can eat raw tomatoes. First, wash them. Then, cut them up for salads or sandwiches. Tomatoes can be cooked, too. They can be grilled, boiled, or even fried. Do you use ketchup? It is made from tomatoes. Tomatoes don’t have a smell. But they taste great in foods around the world. Many dishes from India use tomatoes. Spaghetti sauce and pizza from Italy use them, too. Raw tomatoes are in Mexican salsa.
1. From the passage, we know that tomatoes ________.| A．come in different colors |
| B．grew in Europe first |
| C．can grow in all weathers |
| D．have a special smell |
| A．some people in Inca |
| B．some people in Italy |
| C．some people in France |
| D．some people in Spain |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
4. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．Value of Tomatoes | B．All about Tomatoes |
| C．Incas and Tomatoes | D．Growing Great Tomatoes |
"Well, I'll eat the cake," Alice said. "If I get taller, I can reach the key on the table. And if get smaller, I can go under the door into the garden. "Then she finished the cake very soon.
"I shall be as tall as a house in a minute," she said. She tried to look down at her feet, and could only just see them.
Just then her head hit the ceiling （天花板） of the room. She was now about three meters tall quickly, she took the key from the table and hurried to the garden door. But she was too tall to go through the door. She began to cry. The tears （泪水） ran down her face, and soon there was large pool of salt water all around her on the floor. Suddenly she heard a voice, and she stopped crying to listen.
"Oh, the Duchess （公爵夫人）, the Duchess! She'll be very angry! I'm late, and she's waiting for me. Oh dear, oh dear!"
It was the White Rabbit again. He was hurrying down the long room, with a pair of white gloves in one hand and a fan in the other hand.
Alice was afraid, but she needed help. So she said in a low voice, "Oh, please, sir."
Her voice frightened （使惊恐） the Rabbit. He dropped the gloves and the fan, and ran away quickly.
Alice picked up the gloves and the fan. The room was very hot, so she cooled down with the fan. She said, "Oh dear! How strange everything is today! Shall I get smaller during the night?"
She began to feel very unhappy again, but then she looked down at her hand. She was wearing one of the Rabbit's white gloves. "How did I get it on my hand?" she thought." Oh, I'm getting smaller again! I'm already less than a meter tall and getting smaller every second! How can I stop it?" She saw the fan in her other hand. "It must be the fan!" she thought, and quickly she dropped it.
She was now very, very small, and the key was still lying on the table.
"Things are worse than ever," thought poor Alice. She turned away from the door, and fell into salt water, right up to her neck. At first, she thought it was the sea, but then she saw it was the pool of her own tears.
"Oh, why did I cry so much?" said Alice. She swam around and looked for a way out, but the pool was very big. Just then she saw an animal in the water near her. It looked like a large animal to Alice, but it was only a mouse.
"Shall I speak to it?" thought Alice. "Everything is very strange here, so perhaps a mouse can speak."
Then she began, "Oh, mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming."
But the mouse looked at her with its little eyes and said nothing.
"Perhaps it doesn't understand English," thought Alice. "Perhaps it's a French mouse." So she began again, and said in French, "Where is my cat?" （This was first sentence in her French book.）
The mouse jumped half out of the water and looked at her angrily.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" cried Alice quickly. "Of course, you don't like cats, do you?"
"No. I don't like cats," the mouse replied.
（Adapted from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland）
1. What did the White Rabbit drop when he heard Alice's voice?| A．The cake and the fan. |
| B．The cake and the key. |
| C．The gloves and the fan. |
| D．The gloves and the key. |
| A．Bored. |
| B．Excited. |
| C．Unhappy. |
| D．Curious. |
a. Alice fell into the salt water.
b. Alice ate up the whole cake.
c. Alice met a mouse and spoke to it.
d. Alice took the key and hurried to the door.
| A．b﹣a﹣d﹣c | B．c﹣b﹣d﹣a | C．c﹣d﹣a﹣b | D．b﹣d﹣a﹣c |
| A．The key was taken away by a French cat. |
| B．The fan made Alice get smaller and smaller. |
| C．The mouse couldn't speak French or English. |
| D．The White Rabbit was waiting for the Duchess. |
| A．The White Rabbit's house |
| B．The ceiling of the room |
| C．A cute mouse and a lazy cat |
| D．Alice's strange experience |
3 . ①Chemistry is everywhere in our daily life. Sometimes it's easy to see. At other times, it can be very hard to see the everyday chemistry at work, but nearly everything you touch has some chemicals (化学物质) in it.
②Chemistry helps to make products for use. Something as simple as toothpaste has at least three chemicals that keep your teeth clean. Other things in your daily life are created by chemistry, such as hair products and soap. Without chemistry, we would never have known that we need soap to get the oil out of clothes.
③Chemistry also helps us understand the world around us. Thanks to chemistry, we know bleach (漂白剂) can't be mixed with vinegar (醋), because the mixture can produce harmful gas.
④Chemistry plays a big role in food preparation. Cooking food causes it to go through a chemical change. That is the reason why cooked food often tastes different from uncooked food. Too much or too little of any chemical material makes a difference to the result of baking (烘焙). For example, the cake can be too soft or too hard.
⑤Chemistry isn't something that just lives in a laboratory; it's something that you meet hundreds of times in life. Knowing how chemistry works will give you a greater understanding of the life.
1. What can the chemistry in soap help us?| A．To clean the teeth. | B．To make the teeth strong. |
| C．To clean the oil off clothes. | D．To make the clothes new. |
| A．we can mix bleach with vinegar | B．the mixture can produce useful gas |
| C．we can't mix bleach with vinegar | D．chemistry can't help us make products |
| A．cooked food is much better than uncooked food |
| B．chemistry plays a big role in food preparation |
| C．there are no chemical changes while we are cooking |
| D．the cake can't be too soft or too hard with chemistry |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Chemistry and food. | B．Chemistry around the world. |
| C．Chemistry and products. | D．Chemistry in everyday life. |
4 . Traffic lights are red, yellow and green. They are very important signals (信号). Traffic lights are usually placed at busy street corners to help control traffic. Sometimes, they are on streets near schools and shops, too. Most young children are taught what each of the colored lights means, so everybody can stay safe.
The first traffic signals were used for trains. The signals were put alongside railway tracks (轨道). The color red was used to mean “stop” because it warned people of danger. A red light was also the easiest color to see from a distance. Train drivers could see the red “stop” light ahead and had enough time to slow down and stop their trains. A green light was used to mean “take care” and a white light meant “go”.
However, there were many dangerous accidents on the train tracks. Some train drivers thought a star shining in the night sky was a white light that meant “go”. So the signals were swapped. The “go” light was changed to green and the “take care” light was changed to white.
During these times, people travelled by train or in carts pulled by horses. Years later, when cars were built, people began to drive them because they could travel much faster than horses. However, the road rules for drivers were not very clear and many people were hurt crossing the roads. Yellow warning signs had to be placed beside the roads to remind drivers to take care and allow people to cross safely.
Today, towns and cities all over the world have traffic lights. Red and green lights match the signals used on the railways. Yellow lights are easy to see, so they are used to warn drivers that they should slow down and prepare to stop.
1. Why was the color red used to mean “stop”?| A．It reminded people of traffic rules. |
| B．It helped trains run smoothly. |
| C．It gave people a warning of danger. |
| D．It was the first color people thought of. |
| A．Designed. | B．Exchanged. | C．Suggested. | D．Compared. |
a. A white light b. A green light. c. A yellow light.
| A．a一c一b | B．b一c一a | C．a一b一c | D．b一a一c |
| A．The advantages of traffic lights. | B．The history of traffic lights. |
| C．The importance of traffic lights. | D．The meanings of traffic lights. |
5 . How would you feel if someone decided to take away your park? Well that's what's happening in my community. There's a park that some people want to turn into a golf course (高尔夫球场). Let me tell you why I think it's a bad idea.
First, a park is meant to be for the whole community. Not everyone likes golf, so not everyone will get to use the park. This isn't fair. A community park should have open spaces for everyone to use.
Second, to make way for the golf course, lots of playground equipment (设施) will have to be moved or knocked down, which is a waste of time and money. It's also a waste of perfectly good equipment. The swings, for example, will probably just end up as litter.
Third, what about giving young people something to do? Not all kids are crazy about golf. At the moment, the park has a skating place and a playground. These attract lots of kids from the community. If you turn the park into a golf course, these kids won't have anywhere to go and they won't have anything to do.
This means that they will stay at home and turn on a video game rather than get some exercise. It also means that they might be out on the street causing trouble. Wouldn't it be better to give them something to do at the park?
Finally, golf is expensive. Building a golf course and maintaining (维护)it costs a lot of money. Who is going to pay to maintain the golf course? What about those people who can't afford to join a golf club? That means that the golf course will only be available to people with lots of money.
Turning our park into a golf course is a bad idea. I suggest we have a community meeting before plans go any further.
1. Some people want to change the park into __________.| A．a golf club | B．a golf course | C．a park | D．a skating place |
| A．go to get some exercise | B．fall in love with golf |
| C．play video games at home | D．go to the street and make friends |
(P=Paragraph)
A． | B． | C． | D． |
4. What is the writer's purpose in writing this passage?
| A．To help carry out further plans. |
| B．To make the park more beautiful. |
| C．To encourage children to go skating. |
| D．To stop the golf course from being built. |
People have told stories about Robin Hood for over 700 years. Nobody knows if he was a real person or an invented character. In the legends, Robin was extremely smart and humorous, he helped strangers, and later his kindness paid off.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood was just a young man, who was good at archery (射箭术). One day he was walking through Sherwood Forest, a royal hunting forest near Nottingham in England. There he got into trouble with a group of men. Among them, he killed the cousin of the Sheriff (郡长) of Nottingham. Robin became a legendary outlaw, and soon the leader of one hundred outlaws, known as his "Merry Men".
Robin and his "Merry Men" always looked for rich people and asked them to their camp in Sherwood Forest. When they arrived, Robin gave them a good meal and played music for them. Then he took their gold away to help the poor. Robin became most famous for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. "
The Sheriff of Nottingham was Robin’s greatest enemy. He was cruel and treated the poor badly. It was his job to keep the woods safe and to make sure that nobody stole the king’s deer. He hated Robin because Robin was an outlaw. But most of all, he hated Robin because everyone else loved him. The Sheriff of Nottingham kept trying to catch Robin Hood and his "Merry Men", but never succeeded.
1. What was Robin Hood like according to the passage?| A．Clever and full of fun. | B．Smart and serious. |
| C．Cruel to the poor people. | D．Good at telling stories. |
| A．enemy | B．criminal | C．king | D．fighter |
| A．Playing beautiful music for the rich. |
| B．Robbing the rich and helping the poor. |
| C．Stealing the king’s deer in Sherwood Forest. |
| D．Killing the cousin of the Sheriff of Nottingham. |
① Robin became the leader of a group of outlaws.
② Robin asked the rich people to Sherwood Forest.
③ Robin killed the cousin of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
④ Robin gave poor people the gold he took away from the rich.
| A．①④②③ | B．②③①④ | C．③①④② | D．③①②④ |
| A．Robin Hood was a real man who once lived in England. |
| B．People can only read stories of Robin Hood from books. |
| C．The stories of Robin Hood are still very popular nowadays. |
| D．Robin Hood didn’t get help from strangers who he once helped. |
7 . Isn’t spring a beautiful season? Flowers of all colors and shapes can be seen everywhere. They make our world look and smell better. So, it is no surprise that people love flowers! Well…except for one—dandelions(蒲公英)!
In order to have a tidy garden, we try our best to kill all dandelions or dig them out—only to see these unwanted plants grow right back. But that’s not bad because we have good reasons to leave them alone.
In fact, a 2014 study lists dandelions as one of the top 41 healthiest foods. Dandelions are full of vitamins (维生素)K, A,E and C. They have long been used as medicine.
Another great thing about dandelions is that you can eat every part of them, either cooked or
uncooked. You can also put flowers or roots (根) in hot water to make dandelion tea. Great! Nothing goes to waste!
Besides, dandelions are fun for kids! Pick the white top, close your eyes, make a wish and blow! If you blow all of it off in one breath, your wish will come true! This game is played all over the world.
Still unwanted plants? Of course not! Dandelions are good for human health as well as our kitchen. They also provide kids with free toys! So next time when you are blowing them, blow harder —you’re helping this great plant grow in the wild, even if your own wish does not come true!
1. The first paragraph is mainly to draw reader’s attention to _______.| A．flowers | B．colors | C．shapes | D．dandelions |
| A．have no flowers | B．cannot be eaten | C．are easy to kill | D．are healthy plants |
| A．kill them | B．have fun | C．make tea | D．have everything |
( ①=Para.(自然段)1 ②=Para.2 ③=Para.3 ④=Para.4 ⑤=Para.5 ⑥=Para.6)
| A．①②;③④⑤;⑥ | B．①②;③④;⑤⑥ |
| C．①②③;④⑤;⑥ | D．①;②③;④⑤⑥ |
Although people everywhere seem to enjoy drinking coffee, they don’t all have the same coffee culture. In Europe, for example, coffee shops are common places for people to meet friends and to talk while they drink coffee. On the other hand, places like this were not as common in North America in the past. Instead, people in North America liked to drink coffee in their homes with friends. The coffee culture in the USA changed when Starbucks (星巴克) coffee shops spread across the country.
The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in downtown Seattle, Washington, in the USA. It was a small coffee shop that cooked its own coffee beans. The coffee shop’s business did well, and by 1981 there were three Starbucks stores in Seattle.
Things really began to change for the company in 1981. That year, Howard Schultz met the three men who ran Starbucks. Schultz worked in New York for a company that made kitchen equipment. He noticed that Starbucks ordered a large number of special coffee makers, which caused his great interest. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did. In 1982, the original Starbucks owners hired Schultz as the company’s head of marketing (市场营销).
In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy. The special environment of the espresso (浓咖啡) bars there caught his eyes. Back in the USA, Schultz created an environment for Starbucks coffee shops that was comfortable and casual, and customers everywhere seemed to like it. Starbucks began opening more stores across the USA. Then the company opened coffee shops in other countries as well. Today, there are more than 16,000 Starbucks coffee shops all over the world.
However, that does not mean Starbucks has not had problems. In fact, many Starbucks stores have been closed over the past few years. On the one hand, this is because there were too many coffee shops competing for business in one small area. On the other hand, stores in some countries were closed because the coffee culture there did not match with the “feel the same everywhere” environment offered by Starbucks.
1. The underlined word “ran” in Paragraph 3 probably means “ ”.
| A．closed | B．managed | C．left | D．sold |
a. Schultz helped to make Starbucks a huge coffee company.
b. Starbucks began as a small coffee company in Seattle in the USA.
c. Schultz went to Seattle to learn about the company and later worked for it.
d. Schultz noticed Starbucks ordered lots of special coffee makers.
| A．a-b-d-c | B．c-a-b-d | C．b-d-c-a | D．d-c-a-b |
| A．Because the coffee in these places was too expensive. |
| B．Because the style of the coffee stores seems the same. |
| C．Because people like to drink coffee at home with friends. |
| D．Because there were too many coffee shops in one place. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
9 . 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 |
International Poetry Competition  World Poetry Day is celebrated on 21 March. Its purpose is to improve people’s ability to read, write, and teach poems all over the world. This year, the International Poetry Centre is holding a poetry competition to celebrate the festival! The competition is open to all the poets(诗人)aged 18 and over from all over the world, and they will be divided into two groups: Open Group (open to all the poets aged 18 and over) ESL Group (open to all the poets aged 18 and over who can write in English as a Second Language) The winners of each group will receive￡1000.  RULES: All the poems must be unpublished (未出版的) works. Poems will not be returned, so please keep a copy. The poem(s) must be in English and created by the poet himself/herself. Poems can be written on any proper subject. No subject on violence(暴力) or drugs. The competition begins on 3 March, 2017 and ends on 28 August, 2017. To enter the competition, please visit the Centre Shop to pay ￡5 for each poem. Once the payment is made, please email the poem(s) to poetrycomp@center.uk. Remember to mark Open or ESL in the top right-hand corner of the document(文档) to show which group to enter before emailing your poem(s). Questions about the competition can be emailed to poetrycomp@center.uk. |
1. The World Poetry Day is on_____.
| A．March 28th | B．March 3rd | C．March 21st | D．August 28th |
| A．to encourage the British to write poems |
| B．to teach children how to read and write poems |
| C．to raise money for the poets from all over the world |
| D．to help people to read, write and teach poems better |
| A．that poets can write poems in any language |
| B．that poets must use their unpublished poems |
| C．that poems can’t be taken back after the competition |
| D．that poems can’t be written on the subject of violence or drugs. |
| A．they win in the group | B．their poems are published |
| C．they enter the competition | D．their poems are written by themselves |
①Pay￡5 for each poem.
②Visit the Centre Shop.
③Email their poem(s) to poetrycomp@center.uk.
④Mark Open or ESL in the top right –hand corner of their document.
| A．①②③④ | B．②①③④ | C．②①④③ | D．③④②① |
