1 . Twenty years ago in Costa Rica, three girls found a baby sloth (树懒) on a road. The little animal’s mother was killed by a car. These girls took the baby sloth to Judy, the owner of a hotel. Judy wanted to help, but she didn’t know how to look after the sloth, so she called the zoo. With the help of the zoo, Judy took good care of the baby sloth. She named the baby sloth Bettercup.
After her first success, more people brought Judy wounded (受伤的) sloths or baby sloths they found. Judy then opened a help centre. Today, the help centre has saved over 500 sloths.
Sloths live in the forests of Central America and South America. They hang onto the trees with their claws (爪子). There are two main types of sloths. You can know them by the number of their claws. Sloths hardly move. They spend most of their time sleeping in the trees.
But now, with an increase in population, human beings( 人类 ) cause a lot of problems for these slow and quiet animals. The main problem is that the forests are becoming smaller and smaller. When trees are cut down, sloths will fall and hurt themselves. Some sloths live near human beings and they sometimes are hit by cars or killed by dogs.
1. What happened to Buttercup’s mother?2. Why did Judy open a help centre?
3. Where do sloths live?
4. Can the sloths run very fast?
5. What is the main problem for sloths?
6. What can we learn from the passage?
No one is quite sure when people first worked with dogs, but one thing is certain---dogs and people have worked side by side for thousands of years. Dogs can do a lot of jobs, and their coolest job is: police dog!
A brief history of police dogs:
European police forces(军队) were used as early as the 18th century. During World War I, countries like Germany began to train and use dogs. In the 1950s, K-9 (一个著名的警犬编号) programs began in London and other cities across Europe. Later, the program entered the U.S. Today, police dogs are a very important part of police forces.
What can police dogs do?
Dogs come in different shapes and sizes, and not every kind of dogs is used for police work. Most police dogs used around the world are German Shepherds(德国牧羊犬). Police forces use them to track criminals(寻找犯人线索), sniff out(嗅出) drugs, search buildings, and do the jobs that policemen can’t do.
1. How long have dogs and people worked side by side?2. Was Germany or England the first country to train and use dogs?
3. Which dogs do most people use for police dogs?
4. What jobs can police dogs do? (List at least two things)
5. Give a proper title(适当的标题）to the passage. (No more than 5 words)
3 . Bamboo is one of the nature’s most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist recorded one bamboo plant that grew almost 1.5 meters in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1,000 kinds of bamboo that grow around the world on both mountains and plains (平原).
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters(厘米) wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.
Many Asian countries have been using bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for building new buildings. As a matter of fact, the cables (绳索) that hold up the hanging bridge across the Min River in Sichuan are made of bamboo. The bridge has been in use for more than 1,000 years, and is still holding strong.
In Africa, engineers are teaching poor farmers how to use bamboo to find water. These African countries need cheap ways to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water. It seems that bamboo is one of the best things they can use. Bamboo pipes and drills (钻) can help to make the poor thirsty fields be watered.
| A Plant—Bamboo | |
| Type | Bamboo isn’t called a tree, but it is a kind of |
| Place | Over 1000 kinds of bamboo grows around the world on both |
| Color | Bamboo grows in different colors, such as yellow, |
| Usage | Bamboo was used for Engineers are trying to teaching poor countries how to use bamboo |
There are two mice called Bill and Paul. They are good friends. One mouse lives in the country; the other one lives in the city. On a sunny day they meet in the street.
Paul: Hi, Bill! Have a look at my house in the country. I'm sure you can enjoy yourself.
Bill: I'd love to. But I hear that the food is not delicious and your house is not good. Is it so?
Paul: No, that's not true. Go and see!
Then Bill goes to the countryside with Paul.
Bill: Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone(石头). You would have better(更好的) food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city.
Paul: Thanks! Maybe you are right. I'll visit your house one day.
Several days later, Paul goes to Bill's house in the city. The house is big and beautiful. They are sitting in the dining room, having a big dinner comfortably. Suddenly, there is a great noise.
Bill: Run! Paul! Run! Run! The cat is coming!
Paul: Oh, no! It's terrible! Both the house and the food are nice, but I do not like living in the city. I prefer to live in my hole in the country, for it's nice to be poor but happy than to be rich but afraid.
Information Card
The number | The story talks about |
The place | The mice meet in the |
The times | Paul visited Bill's living place only |
The feeling | Bill is living in a big and beautiful house and always have a big a dinner but he is |
The name |
 My dog By Julia W. Cohen My dog and I take long walks, And we have very many talks. I tell him all about my dreams, About how big I’ll be some day. And then, I’ll have to go away. To study life and history, So life won’t be such a mystery（神秘）. Then I’ll travel far and wide, With him always at my side. For in all the world there couldn’t be a better pal than he. |
Questions 1-3: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D according to the poem. （根据诗歌内容, 从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。）
1. What does the underlined word "dreams" in the poem mean in Chinese?
| A．爱好 | B．梦想 | C．趣事 | D．友人 |
| A．Because they’re easy for her. |
| B．Because they’re difficult for her. |
| C．Because she’s good at these fun subjects. |
| D．Because she wants to learn something that is unknown. |
| A．Her father. | B．Her brother. | C．Her dog. | D．Her classmate. |
Questions 4-5: Decide whether the following statements are true（T）or false（F）according to the poem. （根据诗歌内容, 判断下列句子正、误。正确的涂T，错误的涂F。）
4. The writer often talks with the dog when they go for a walk.
5. The word “he” at the end of the poem refers to（指）the writer’s pen pal.
6 . Dogs are known as human’s friends. But in the British woman Caroline’s eyes, her dog Sam means more. This special dog has completely changed her life.
Caroline had some hearing problems when she was a child, but she lived a normal life. However, when she was in her twenties, her hearing got worse and even simple conversations could be very tiring. Since 2007, she has lived in a quiet world with no sound.
One day when Caroline was shopping in a big shop, suddenly she found she was the only person here. All the other people left as soon as the fire alarm went off. But she couldn’t hear it at all. She knew that it was the time for her to ask for help.
Caroline wrote to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a famous charity in the UK, to apply for a hearing dog. Later the hearing dog Sam came into her life. Since then, her life has been different. Sam alerts(向...报警) Caroline to the alarm clock in the morning. This helps her get to work on time. He also alerts her to the doorbells, fire alarms and smoke alarms. With Sam’s help, Caroline can go out whenever and wherever she wants to go.
“With Sam by my side, I now have got my confidence back. He looks at me as if to say ‘It’s fine. I can hear. I will let you know what you need to know.’” said Caroline excitedly. “I feel safe. I cannot imagine the life without him.”
1. How long has Caroline lived in the quiet world?___________________________________________________________________
2. What was Caroline doing when the fire alarm went off?
___________________________________________________________________
3. Where did Caroline get a hearing dog?
___________________________________________________________________
4. How can Sam help Caroline? (at least two examples)
___________________________________________________________________
5. How can we help disabled people, like the blind or the deaf?
___________________________________________________________________
7 . There are all kinds of animals in the world. Now let’s talk about some animals.
The largest animal on Earth is the blue whale. (A) It weighs around 80 tons. It is more than 30 metres long. A new baby whale weighs as much as a big elephant.
Cats won’t die if they fall off very high places because they can turn themselves up to protect themselves. One cat fell off 32 floors onto the street, but it was (B) just hurt a little.
(C) 一只熊能和一匹马跑得一样快。
A new-born panda is smaller (D) ________ a mouse and weighs around 100 grams. Elephants are the most careful animals in their love. A male elephant may show his lady love (E) ________ up to three years until the female elephant accepts his love. They often (F) show their love by touching each other’s body.
1. 将文中划线部分(A)改写为：It is around 80 tons2. 写出文中划线部分(B)和(F)的同义词或近义词：
3. 将文中划线部分(C)译成英语：
4. 在文中(D)和(E)的空白处填入适当的单词：
5. 从文中找出表示性别的两个单词：
8 . A rabbit weighs between 0.4 and 2 kilograms and can live for up to 12 years.
However, a rabbit in the wild can seldom live for more than a year.
At birth, a baby rabbit cannot see. An adult rabbit cannot see very far, but it can see behind itself without turning its head.
Adult rabbits can give birth to many baby rabbits, and their population can grow very quickly. This can cause problems for farmers, because rabbits like to eat the farmers’ vegetables.
1. How much does a rabbit weigh at least?2. What kind of rabbit can seldom live for more than a year?
3. When can a rabbit see nothing?
4. Can an adult rabbit see behind itself without turning its head or with turning its head?
5. Why are rabbits bad for farmers?
9 . Animal United is a 3D German cartoon. It is a story about animals that get together to find water. Along their journey, lots of funny things happen, and of course, they have a lot of adventures.
The animals in the grasslands in Africa are waiting for the coming flood. However, this years flood seems to come later than that in other years. The animals become worried. At the same time, some animals from other places come to the grasslands to look for peace. However, the situation seems worse because the water is becoming less and less. So they decide to look for the river.
Finally, they find the reason why they don’t have any water to drink. A dam (拦河坝) has been set up so that humans can have a better life. After a long fight with humans, they let the world know that animals are in danger.
This film is about environmental matters. The humans are bad and the animals are good. This film is to give humans a warning. Humans should know that animals also belong to the world.
1. Where is the 3D cartoon Animal United from?2. Why does the situation seem worse?
3. What do the animals find along their journey to look for the river?
4. Is the film produced to give humans a warning?
5. What is the film about?
10 . Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse are two of the most popular cartoon characters in the world. In the short cartoons, Tom is always trying to catch Jerry, but he never has any success. Almost every cartoon ends (A) ________ Tom in trouble and Jerry laughing at him. (B)这些故事充满乐趣 and have a long history.
William Hanna and Joseph Barbera both worked for MGM in the late 1930s. Their boss told them to make (C) funny cartoons. Together they thought of the idea of a cat and a mouse. They thought it would be funny (D) ________ the mouse was clever and always got the cat into trouble.
The first Tom and Jerry cartoon was shown in cinemas in 1940. It was a great success. Over the next 17 years, they made (E) a number of Tom and Jerry cartoons. Most of them are around seven minutes long.
In total, Hanna and Barbera made 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons. (F) They were such good cartoons that they won many awards. The famous cat and mouse remain popular today, as the cartoons are still shown on television around the world.
1. 在文中(A)和(D)的空白处填入适当的单词：2. 将文中划线部分(B)译成英语：
3. 写出文中划线部分(C)和(E)的同义词或近义词：
4. 将文中划线部分(F)处改写为：The cartoons were good
5. 从文中找出想出猫和老鼠的主意的两个人：
