1 . Tony is playing hide-and-seek with his friends now! Where are his friends? Can Tony find them? Please look at the following information.

	Name	Where are they?	How does Tony find them?
	Gina	She is under the table.	Tony sees her red jacket.
	Tom & Mike	They are under the bed.	Mike’s hat is on the bed.
	Jane	She is in Tony’s grandmother’s room.	There is no furniture (家具) in the room, so Jane can’t hide.
	Jack	He is not under the desk. He is not under the sofa.	Tony can’t find him. Where is he?

Have you been finding yourself in hot water with just about everyone in your life? Have your parents gotten angry with you because you didn’t clean up your room even after they had told you to do so? Have your teachers been criticizing (批评) you for not handing in your homework on time? Maybe you are even in trouble with yourself. Are you yawning (打哈欠) all the time?

Do you answer “yes” to some or even all of these questions?       1     If so, then maybe it’s time to turn off your computer and read this letter carefully.

More and more research has proved that too much gaming can change your brain structure (构造).     2     Your love for games is taking away your freedom to control your own future. This is not a joke!

Luckily, there are ways for you to help yourself. Follow them, you can start feeling good about your life again. The first step is to accept that you’ve got a problem. You can say this to your friends. Next     3     As soon as you win a round, do your hands move to start a new game without thinking about it? This is a clear sign of addiction (上瘾) —a brain disease.

In order to fight against this disease, you may have to change yourself.     4     You can also get help from your friends. They can, for example, help you to take up some hobbies.

Have you ever heard of a game of “catch”? It     1     (play) between two people. They throw     2     ball back and forth (来回地). The two people are close enough to talk, but too far to touch.

They might have baseball gloves, or they might use their     3     (hand). In fact, playing catch is part     4     baseball practice to make you get used to using a ball and a glove. But any American kid will tell you it’s more than that.

Playing catch is a time for kids to be with their fathers. When they play catch, they are     5     (worry) about nothing except catching a ball. It’s a time when words move as     6     (smooth) as the ball itself back and forth, easy and relaxing. It’s the     7     (good) excuse to spend time together.

When you ask some Americans     8     (talk) about the good memories of their dads, they nearly always say something about playing catch. Why? Probably     9     their dads are usually very busy. A catch game is a time that is only for one thing. This is a time when a kid has his or her     10     (dad) attention. There is no work, no phone and no other people to take your dad away from you. For the time that it takes to play a game of catch—your dad is all yours.

As modern games come out, people forget about the old ones. Teachers at a primary school ask their students to write games they know. They are surprised that many students know more about online games.

It is easy to see many of today’s school children don’t know those traditional games like hide-and-seek (捉迷藏) and jump rope games. They like to play computer games, go to the Internet, and play online games.

A teacher says, “Children forget those old games. It’s sad.”

The old games are usually outdoor activities. Children can play in breaks and after school. They often need friends to play with. They feel happy.

Jump rope games are always popular in countries all over the world. People like playing in different ways.

When a parent talks about her primary school, she says, “Rubber band (橡皮筋) jumping is so interesting. Girls love playing this game. This game can help children learn their jumping skills and make friends.”

But most primary school students today take their breaks in the classroom. They are busy with their studies.

“I think children should play many different outdoor games, but most of them don’t know what to play or how to play it,” a 40-year-old mother says. “Online games are bad for their eyes and these children don’t know what team work is.”

Schools, teachers and parents are trying to encourage (鼓励) children to play more traditional outdoor games.

Today, many children spend a lot of their free time playing games on the Internet. In the UK, 99% of kids aged 8 to 15 play video games. They spend almost 14 hours gaming a week. This information tells us that the benefits and dangers of video games must be carefully considered.

For many people, video games are fun. They have bright lights, funny cartoons and exciting stories. Everywhere you look, you can see children playing these games. They play on buses and trains, in restaurants and even at school.

Video games are educational too. They make kids think in a creative way and they have to move their hands and eyes quickly. This can improve the way that a child’s brain works. What’s more, video games make children use their imagination. The player has to do many creative things, like drawing, telling stories and building things. Video games are also good for children to learn about technology because they can learn how computers and other devices work while they play.

However, a recent study suggests that video games can also be bad for children. First, children can download many games for free. This means that parents often don’t know if their children are playing violent (暴力的) or scary (恐怖的) games. Second, many children spend too much time playing games on computers and this can lead to health problems. Third, if children spend too much time playing games instead of doing homework, they can have problems at school and get bad grades. Finally, video games can affect children’s social skills. If children spend too much time playing video games by themselves, they might not learn how to play with their friends.

In conclusion, it seems clear that video games have some advantages and some disadvantages. Parents should know what games their children are playing and how much time they spend on them. Parents should also make sure their children get enough exercise and spend time with other children.

7 . Long long ago, a king loved riddles. Once a year he made a new riddle and offered a ________ to the person who could first solve it.

Bob, a young man, was famous for his fine ________. Bob had almost everything he needed except for ________. He wanted to sell his products to every corner of the kingdom.

One year the king made a new riddle. People came from far and wide. He drew a line on the courtyard. “Make this line shorter without erasing (清除) any part of it. Whoever wins can pick one of my strongest horses! Yet, is there anyone smarter than me? I doubt it!” the king ________ the crowd.

People looked at the line in different directions. “How can you make a line shorter without erasing any part of it?” the crowd asked each other. Some of them ________. The dressmaker kicked dirt over the end of the line to ________ it. The farmer poured water over the line to make it ________. None of these efforts worked.

Then Bob came with a bag of flour (面粉) from his shop. “Your Majesty, this riddle is just a piece of cake. ” ________, Bob opened his bag of flour and poured out a line of flour right next to the king’s line. The line was ________ than the king’s line.

“Now, my king,” Bob smiled, “your line is shorter.”

“Such a clever trick!” the people were ________. The king laughed. “You made it. Now you can have any horse you like.”

10 . In ancient times, children didn’t have smart phones, iPads or computers to enjoy themselves.     1     Let’s take a look.

Playing stone balls. During the Qing dynasty (朝代), kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China.     2     Stones were made into small balls. And then kids kicked them.

    3     Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the world. There are two ways to play: cover a child’s eyes while other kids ran around to make fun of him or more commonly, some kids hide and one child must try to find them.

Watching shadow plays.     4     Shadow puppets were made from the leather of donkeys (驴皮). There was light behind a large white screen on the table. The player controlled puppets and told stories. People could see the movement from the other side of the screen.

Playing diabolo (空竹). Diabolo passed down to common people during the Ming dynasty.     5     Throwing and catching the high-speed turning diabolo on ropes always makes a sound.