1 . How do we know the time? A clock, a watch or a mobile phone can help us. However, many years ago there were no clocks and knowing the time was not so easy. Over the centuries people have developed different ways of telling the time.
About 5, 500 years ago, the Egyptians invented the sun clock. This was a tall stone building. Its shadow(影子) showed the movement of the sun. So people were able to know midday. The Egyptians made a sundial about 3, 500 years ago. It was smaller than the sun clock and could let people know the time for half a day. On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial. Water clocks were the first clocks not to use the sun. The idea is simple. Water flows(流动) from one bottle to another. When the water reaches a certain level, it shows the hours. The Egyptians used water clocks about 3, 400 years ago. These clocks were popular in the Middle East and China. But they failed to make people know the exact time.
In the 13th century, the mechanical clock was invented. This was more exact, but it was expensive to make one. Over the next few centuries it was developed. For example, springs(发条) were added around 1500. This enabled people to get the correct time and allowed clocks to be smaller. In 1927, the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It’s also cheaper for ordinary people to own a clock. People began depending on them more and more to run business, markets and so on. More recently, in 1956, came the digital clock. And nowadays satellites send our mobile phones the time to the exact second.
There has been a lot of progress in timekeeping. Clocks are always changing but some things never change. Many of us still have trouble getting out of bed on time and not being late for school or work.
1. According to the passage, we can’t use ________ to tell the time on a rainy day.| A．water clock | B．sun clock | C．digital clock | D．mechanical clock |
| A．现代的 | B．特殊的 | C．富有的 | D．普通的 |
| A．Four. | B．Five. | C．Six. | D．Seven. |
(①=paragraph 1 ②= pargaph 2,…)
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．The importance of time. | B．The development of timekeeping. |
| C．The inventions of clocks. | D．The history of a digital clock. |
2 . Today, it is a big problem for young people to get fine jobs after they leave university. It is said that there are thousands of different kinds of jobs in the world. But choosing the right one itself often worries young people.
“Finding a job” is not the same as “choosing a job”. Many young people end up in jobs that they are not suitable (合适的) for. Here are a few steps to help you think about jobs which you might enjoy doing after school or university.
First, it is important to know what kind of person you are, which special qualities (品质) make you better than others and what you are interested in. There is a difference between an interest and a skill. If you like art and enjoy looking at pictures, that is an interest. But if you can draw a horse that looks like a horse not a big dog, that is a skill.
Then ask yourself a question, “Of the following three skills-skill with people, skill with information and skill with things, which is my best skill?”
After finding out your best skill, the next step is to research (调查). To find out as many different kinds of jobs as possible, go to the library and read books, magazines and newspapers for information. Ask your friends what they think of the work they do.
The last step is to trust your own ideas and your own thinking! It is your own life, just find the job you really enjoy doing.
1. Paragraph One tells us that it’s ________ to choose a right job.| A．easy | B．hard | C．necessary | D．different |
| A．You do well in computer programming. | B．You enjoy playing the guitar. |
| C．You practice swing dance quite often. | D．You collect quite a lot of CDs. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．To tell people how to choose a suitable job. | B．To describe the problems of getting fine jobs. |
| C．To show the steps of finding out your best skills. | D．To explain why choosing fine jobs worries people. |
3 . 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. |
4 . 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. |
5 . 
It was a week before I saw Captain Nemo again. Every morning, I noticed fresh air coming into the rooms and I knew that the Nautilus had surfaced(浮出水面). I would go out and see the sunrise.
Then I received a note from Captain Nemo. He invited me and my friends to go hunting with him in the forests of Crespo Island. Ned was excited because he thought there he could find a chance to escape. When I saw Captain Nemo the next day, I asked him why he was so interested in Crespo Island. "I thought you preferred the sea to being on land."
"I do," replied the Captain. "But these forests are under the sea." During breakfast, he explained that he had made diving suits(潜水服)that used special air tanks. These tanks would allow us to stay under the water for ten hours. He had also made lights that worked in electric batteries. When Ned realized that we were not going onto land for our hunting trip, he decided not to come at all.
Conseil and I put on our diving suits, and so did Captain Nemo and one of his men. We stepped into a room and closed the door. The room was filled with water, and another door opened. We must go through it, and we were in the sea floor. It was an amazing experience.
We were about ten meters under the water. The light from the sun reached us. Everything looked very colorful. We walked over the fine sand and enjoyed the colors of the shells, fish and seaweed. Conseil and I followed Captain Nemo and his man as they crossed a large grassy area. We were going deeper and deeper. Two hours later, we were a hundred meters under the water. The suits worked very well, and it was easy to walk and breathe.
At one hundred meters deep, we could still see quite well, and Captain Nemo stopped and pointed to some dark shapes. This was the forest. The "trees" in the forest were giant seaweed, and all their branches were vertical(垂直的). We could not stop looking at them. Fish swam around the branches like birds in a forest. Small shrubs(灌木) grew under the large seaweed trees. Some of them had flowers.
We walked through this forest for about an hour, and then we lay down to rest. I was not hungry, but I was very sleepy. We all slept, and when we woke up, we walked further.
(Adapted from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea)
1. What do you think the Nautilus is?| A．A kind of ship under the sea. | B．A kind of fish in the sea. |
| C．A kind of plane in the sky. | D．A kind of transport on land. |
| A．Captain Nemo | B．Captain Nemo's man |
| C．Ned | D．Conseil |
①They visited the forest.
②They crossed the large grassy area.
③They felt sleepy and lay down to rest.
④Captain Nemo made diving suits and lights.
⑤Captain Nemo invited some people to go hunting.
| A．④⑤①②③ | B．⑤④①②③ | C．③⑤④②① | D．⑤④②①③ |
| A．Ned and Nemo were close friends |
| B．Captain Nemo enjoyed the hunting trip |
| C．there were three people visiting the forest |
| D．it took them 30 minutes to walk through the forest |
| A．a sports magazine | B．a book review | C．a science fiction | D．a travel report |
6 . Logan Guleff, a 13-year-old boy, won $1,000,000 in a TV cooking competition for kids. How could he win? Why is he good at cooking? “I practiced a lot, and I knew I had to try my best. I never looked at the prize. I just cared what to do next,” says Guleff.
Guleff loves Mexican food, hamburgers, and anything over an open fire. He also loves cooking food and trying new dishes. Let’s find out how he makes Pack Fish, his dish in the competition. This is going to be a great healthy way to eat your fresh fish.
To get ready, mix some butter and herbs (香草) together. Put the butter mix in the fridge for future use. It can get bigger in cold temperatures. It is great on fish. And you can also try other butter mix and put it on meat or chicken.
To make Pack Fish, you need fresh fish, potatoes, asparagus (芦笋), salt, pepper, and the butter mix. First, cut a small potato into thin-pieces, and clean some asparagus. Next, put the potato on a piece of aluminum foil (铝箔), and add some salt and pepper. Then, put the fish and asparagus on the potato, cover the fish with the butter mix, and add more salt and pepper. After that, fold(包) the aluminum foil around the fish and put the pack into the oven. Turn on the oven and wait for about 20 minutes. Now you can enjoy your Pack Fish!
1. What can we learn from Guleff’s words in Paragraph 1?| A．He was sure he could win the prize. |
| B．He thought he was the best kid cook. |
| C．He just planned for another competition. |
| D．He was well prepared for the competition. |
| A．The fresh fish. | B．The potato pieces. |
| C．The asparagus. | D．Some salt. |
a. Put the ingredients on the aluminum foil in order.
b. Cut a small potato into pieces.
c. Mix some butter and herbs together.
d. Fold the aluminum foil into a pack.
| A．c-b-a-d | B．b-a-d-c | C．a-d-c-b | D．d-b-a-c |
| A．Pack Fish From a TV Cooking Winner | B．How to Cook Pack Fish in 20 Minutes |
| C．Logan Guleff: The Best Kid Cook | D．Pack Fish: A Very Healthy Dish |
7 . For millions of years, the water we use today has been recycled (再循环) over and over by natural cycles that clean the water after we use it. But those natural cycles are no longer enough to clean all the waste that humans put into it, and our water has become polluted.
Man is polluting all water systems and the greatest concern is the pollution of our oceans (海洋). We are polluting the ocean in a number of ways. In fact, about 80 percent of ocean pollution has been caused by people on land. Besides the pollution from land, another 20 percent of pollution is from ocean-based activities.
First of all, large boats carrying oil cause much waste. In one recent year, our oceans had 1 serious oil spill and 7 medium-sized oil spills. Cruise ships are also big polluters. It has been found that an average-sized cruise ship produces around 1 million gallons of wastewater in one week.
What’s more, the waste from ships and land, is another major cause of ocean pollution. One type of the waste is a big problem: studies have shown that 80 percent of ocean waste is plastic (塑料). Plastic waste can easily make fish and other sea animals die, such as whales, seals, dolphins, and penguins.
Finally, other human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels (燃料), are also polluting our oceans. The CO2 produced not only pollutes the air but finally enters the ocean’s ecosystem. The world’s oceans have taken in 40 percent of the CO2 emissions produced by humans.
Changes clearly need to be made as soon as possible to help make the ocean pollution less and less.
1. The underlined word “concern” in Paragraph 2 probably means __________.| A．reason | B．resolution | C．worry | D．preparation |
| A．The natural cycles now can’t deal with all the waste. |
| B．The CO2 made by fuels only pollutes the air of the earth. |
| C．The large boats carrying plastics cause much of the waste. |
| D．Nearly all the ocean pollution comes from people on land. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．the causes of the water pollution | B．the future of the water environment |
| C．the ways to solve the water pollution | D．the natural cycles for the water environment |
8 . Do you love to eat blueberries? They grow on bushes (灌木丛). Each blueberry is small and round. Many blueberries grow on one bush. At first, the blueberries aren't blue. They are green. You can't eat the green berries. They need a lot of sun and rain to help them become fat and sweet. When the berries turn blue, they are ready for us to eat.
Some farmers grow blueberries in big fields. The people nearby can make money by helping to pick the blueberries. Each one takes a pail (桶) out to the field and fills it with blueberries. They work fast so that they can fill many pails. They want to make as much money as they can. When they finish picking, their hands are blue from the juice of the berries!
After farmers pick the blueberries, they put them into boxes and send them to stores. People buy the blueberries and take them home to eat. Some people like to wash the berries and eat them one by one. Other people like to cook with blueberries. They make blueberry pies and pancakes with them. No matter how you eat them, blueberries taste great!
1. What does a blueberry look like?| A．It looks like a bush. | B．It is big and long. |
| C．It is small and round. | D．It looks like a strawberry. |
| A．Blue | B．Green. | C．Red | D．Orange |
a. Farmers grow blueberries.
b. People buy blueberries.
c. People wash blueberries.
d. Blueberries become blue.
e. People eat blueberries one by one
| A．a-b-c-d-e | B．c-d-a-e-b | C．a-d-b-c-e | D．e-b-c-d-a |
9 . "Attention, everyone!" Miss Dalrymple looked at her class of ten-year-olds. "Today we are going to create a special card for Father's Day, which falls on this weekend." Then she busied herself with handing out the paper and art materials to her noisy pupils.
They were a mixed punch. Some came from the rich side of the town, but the majorities were from parents who struggled to get jobs. So she had not been eager to carry out this activity.
"Think about all the things that your dad does to make him special," she said loudly as she approached the last table. “You can write a poem or short story thinking of the positive characteristics that make your dad special. The written part of this activity should be completed before you start to decorate your card."
Andrew looked at the blank page. He had never met, spoken to, or been hugged by his dad, so how could he write about him? Once when he was looking at his grandma’s photo box, he had seen an old black and white photo but it was badly creased (弄皱) and difficult to recognize any clear features. She had quickly taken it from him and buried it deeply among the rest, never to be found again. After thinking for a while, he wrote:
Dear Dad,
You are a person I do not know and would probably not recognize as I only saw an old photo or you a long time ago. I think and wonder about you often, especially when I have no one to talk to about the Saturday fixtures (体育比赛). One day when I grow up I will do an Internet search to find you, but I am not sure whether I will be successful as several attempts by the Child Support Agency have not been successful. Happy Father's Day. Dad.
Love,
Andrew
1. What did Miss Dalrymple ask her students to do?| A．To hand out the paper and art materials. |
| B．To make a special card for their fathers. |
| C．To make a celebration plan for Father’s Day. |
| D．To carry out a school activity on the weekend. |
| A．The students were not willing to finish the task |
| B．The students were eager to carry out the activity. |
| C．The students didn’t get along well with each other. |
| D．The students’ family conditions were quite different |
| A．He had never seen his father | B．He had a bad relationship with his father. |
| C．His father didn’t have any special features | D．He forgot what his father looked like |
| A．Andrew's father has been dead. | B．Andrew's father can't recognize him. |
| C．Andrew is eager to meet his father. | D．Andrew is sure of finding his father |
| A．By stating opinions and giving examples. |
| B．By analyzing facts and giving comments. |
| C．By describing an event and its characters. |
| D．By explaining a phenomenon and reasons. |
10 . Humans are so creative that hundreds of inventions are coming up every day. However, do you know that there are many unknown stories behind these inventions?
One of the most famous logos in the world is the Nike logo. It was designed by an American student, Carolyn Davidson, in 1971. Ms. Davidson got the idea from the wing of a swan in her dream, but she was only paid $35 dollars for her design.
Tinned(罐装的)food was invented in 1810 in Britain by Peter Durand. Unluckily, he did not also invent a tin opener, so tins were opened with a great difficulty by using a knife or a hammer (锤子). It wasn’t until nearly 50 years later that the American Ezra Warner invented the tin opener.
The modern game of golf was invented in Scotland in the 18thcentury. It was first played only by men, and was called “golf” because of the rule “Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden”. This is how the word “golf” entered into the English language.
When people at toy company “Parker Brothers” were first shown the board game “Monopoly”, they were not interested. They said the game took too long to play. However, a few days later, the company president saw the game and took it home to try it. He stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish playing it, and the next day he wrote to the inventor, Charles Darrow, and offered to buy it!
1. What is the structure of the passage?A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Ms. Davidson made a lot of money because of her design. |
| B．Peter Duran was known for tinned food and tin openers. |
| C．Women were not allowed to play golf at the beginning. |
| D．No one liked Monopoly because it was a long-time game. |
| A．Parker Brothers | B．workers at Parker Brothers |
| C．the president of Parker Brothers | D．Charles Darrow |
| A．making comparisons. | B．giving examples. |
| C．explaining reasons. | D．following time order. |
