1 . There is a day every year that most people look forward to because of a cake, balloons, presents and sometimes a party. Yes, this is your birthday. A "birthday" is described as the name given to the date of the annual event of a person's birth. It is a global tradition for people to celebrate this specific day.

In the beginning, people did not have birthday celebrations, because people did not keep very good birth records. They weren't even sure what year they were born. And when people started to celebrate the birthday, there was no tradition of bringing gifts, and guests attending the birthday celebrations would bring good wishes for the birthday person. However, if a guest did bring gifts it was considered to be a good sign for the person of honor. Later, flowers became quite popular as birthday gifts.

Nowadays, different cultures have their own birthday celebrations. In Chinese culture, elders and family members gather around the one-year-old child and bring toys such as books, dolls and coins. It is believed that the child's future career will depend on the object that he or she picks. The Chinese consider a child a year old at birth. In Japan, people's 3rd, 5th, and 7th birthdays are the most important, because they will get to participate in the annual "Seven-Five-Three” festival. Participants usually visit shrines (神殿)to show thanks for their health and strength.

Some in Britain still practice an ancient way of celebrating birthdays by placing thimbles (顶针)and coins in the cake. The person who will get the coin will be wealthy and the one who gets the thimble will never marry. Ireland has a funny way of celebrating birthdays. It is believed that it is for good luck that a child is lifted upside down and gets “bumped”(撞击)on the floor! These bumps will depend how old the child is. An extra bump is also added for good luck

1. What's the main purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To lead in the topic of the text.

B．To pick a way of celebrating birthday.

C．To show readers how to develop the text.

D．To introduce how to celebrate the birthday.

2. People didn't celebrate their birthdays in the beginning because______.

A．they had no money	B．they didn't have time
C．they didn't remember their birthdays	D．they thought it unnecessary

3. What does the act of bumping mean in Ireland?

A．Great wealth.	B．Long life.
C．Happy marriage.	D．Good luck.

4. What do we know about the birthday in Japan?

A．Newborn babies should be brought to shrines.

B．Children have three most important birthdays..

C．Children have to visit the church to show thanks.

D．One-year-old children pick the objects around them.

2 . I'm a geologist. I have been researching changes in the Antarctic ice sheets to help governments plan for floods and other_________of a changing climate.

I first met Tom on the tip of Antarctica. He is a professional mountaineer who_________geologists with their research. We were_________here together, hundreds of miles from anyone else, for a two-month_________. My task was simple: to_________rock samples from as many peaks as possible. It is physically exhausting work, and not without _________, as some of the crevasse（裂缝）fields we crossed left me shaking. I relied on Tom for my_________; my life was in his hands.

Trust quickly grew between us, and our_________did, too. Within a week we'd_________deep topics: the meaning of life, and what follows death.

When I got the date for my return journey, I started to feel__________. I didn't want our time there to__________. We felt we had to make the most of the final few days to plant__________.

Saying goodbye to each other was a（n）__________. I was heading off to start another mission, so I was__________the man who'd been through it with me. I looked down at him as my plane took off, knowing what we had just been through together was__________in time.

1.

A．advantages

B．consequences

C．tendencies

D．causes

2.

A．instructs

B．familiarizes

C．assists

D．presents

3.

A．stuck

B．deserted

C．locked

D．arrested

4.

A．holiday

B．treatment

C．mission

D．sentence

5.

A．distribute

B．carve

C．display

D．collect

6.

A．danger

B．pleasure

C．shame

D．reward

7.

A．health

B．safety

C．board

D．future

8.

A．friendship

B．confidence

C．experience

D．hardship

9.

A．sorted

B．shifted

C．avoided

D．discussed

10.

A．peaceful

B．considerate

C．emotional

D．embarrassed

11.

A．last

B．work

C．matter

D．end

12.

A．doubts

B．memories

C．talents

D．complaints

13.

A．option

B．struggle

C．honour

D．routine

14.

A．leaving behind

B．picking up

C．taking in

D．appealing to

15.

A．filmed

B．frozen

C．mentioned

D．forgotten

3 . Many people like to eat fruit. Here are some kinds of healthy fruit for you to choose.

Star fruit

Star fruits come from Southeast Asia. They have a sweet, yet sour flavor. Star fruits are high in vitamin C and fiber, plus they are low in calories.

Star fruits are available year round. Choose those that are yellow in color, or let green star fruits ripen a bit at home. Sliced star fruits can be added to salads or eaten out of hand.

Lychee

Lychees come from South China and Vietnam. They are high in vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, and potassium. One cup of fresh lychees has about 125calories.

Remove away the dark red skin to expose the white flesh, which can be eaten raw or added to fruit salads. Fresh lychees may be available in spring, but canned lychees are available year round. Keep in mind the canned lychees often contain extra calories and sugar.

Dragon fruit

The dragon fruit is a rather impressive thing to look at with its pink peel and seeded white flesh. Dragon fruits are native to Central America. They have a mild flavor, so they are perfect for picky eaters. Dragon fruits are high in vitamin C and vitamin B, plus they are low in calories.

Dragon fruits are available almost any time of the year. Eat the flesh or add it to fruit salads.

Sugar-apple (释迦)

Sugar-apples are commonly grown on trees in the tropical parts of South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. They are also grown in South Florida. Sugar-apples are a good source of fiber, vitamin C and vitamin B, plus they are low in calories.

1. Which fruits come from Asian countries？

A．Sugar-apples and dragon fruits.	B．Sugar-apples and lychees.
C．Star fruits and dragon fruits.	D．Star fruits and lychees.

2. What does the dragon fruit satisfy picky people？

A．Its seeded flesh.	B．Its mild flavor.
C．Its attractive color.	D．Its low calories.

3. According to the text, those who are on a diet should eat fewer _________.

A．sugar-apples

B．dragon fruits

C．star fruits

D．lychees

4 . A sleepover (过夜) program, which is designed to make kids believe that their favorite toys enjoy reading, can help encourage children to pick up more books, a new study suggests.

Toys sleepover programs are designed to get children interested in books. Children take their toys to a library for the night. At this point, workers and volunteers take photos of the toys which explore the library and read books. The next day, the children collect their toys and the photos of what the toys did during the night. They are given the books their toys chose to read.

It was found that before the sleepover the children did not spend time looking at the books in their play area at preschool. Immediately after the sleepover, the number of children who read to the toys was higher than the number who did not, but after three days the effect decreased gradually.

The researchers also tested a method for sustaining the effect. They reminded the children of the sleepover a month later, by hiding the toys and showing them the photos again the next day. This simple method brought an increase in the number of children reading to their toys.

The study proves for the first time that children who take part in sleepover programs read picture books to their toys more. “We wanted to know if there really was an effect, and if so, how long it lasts. Surprisingly, not only did the children show interest in the books, but they also began to read to their toys. This means that a new behavior pattern appeared that the children hadn’t had before. We did not expect anything like this,” said one of the researchers.

Reading is important for the development of children’s language skills and imagination. When parents read to their children, it is a passive way of reading for the child. However, when children read to their toys, it is a more active, self-directed way of reading, helping them develop into more active readers, researchers said.

1. What is the purpose of the sleepover program?

A．To develop children’s language skills.

B．To help children to sleep well.

C．To encourage children to read more.

D．To guide children to form a good sleeping habit.

2. What do children do in the sleepover program?

A．Go around the library with their toys.

B．Sleep with their toys.

C．Read together with their toys.

D．Take their toys to the library.

3. The underlined word “sustaining” in paragraph 4 can be replaced by______.

A．keeping

B．testing

C．surveying

D．showing

4. What made the researchers surprised after the study of the sleepover program?

A．Children showed no interest in the books.

B．The effect of the sleepover program could last long.

C．Children began to read to their toys on their own.

D．Whether the sleepover program had an effect remained unknown.

5 . The Nobel Prizes in science have been dominated (占主要地位) by men in previous years. But this year, women stole the spotlight!

Jennifer Doudna from the US and Emmanuelle Charpentier from France shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It’s the first time in history for two women to win the prize without having to share it with a man. At the same time, US astronomer (天文学家) Andrea Ghez became the fourth woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, which she shared with two other scientists. Its first female winner was Marie Curie (居里夫人) in 1903.

Doudna and Charpentier were awarded for developing CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors (基因剪刀), a technology that can rewrite DNA in the cells of plants, animals and micro-organisms (微生物). It has had a “revolutionary impact (革命性的影响) on the life sciences,” according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. For example, it can help us develop crops that can withstand droughts (抗旱). It could also help treat inherited diseases (遗传病) in the future.

On hearing that they were the sixth and seventh women to win the Chemistry Prize, Charpentier said that she hopes girls and young female scientists will “understand that nothing is impossible.”   They can “find great discoveries. It’s independent of the gender. ”

Ghez, who was awarded for her research on black holes, had the same feeling. “I’m delighted to be part of the change where more women visibly (明显地) succeed. I think that’s an important way in which we encourage the next generation,” Ghez said. In addition to her research, she was also one of the authors of the 2006 children’s book You Can Be a Woman Astronomer.

1. A pair of women scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in ________.

A．Chemistry

B．Astronomy

C．Physics

D．Biology

2. What does Paragraph 3 focus on?

A．How they did their research.

B．Why they were given the prize.

C．What their research was about.

D．How winning the prize has affected their lives.

3. What does Ghez think about winning a Nobel Prize?

A．It will change her life in a big way.

B．It proves that nothing is impossible.

C．It shows that women are more successful than men.

D．It can encourage the next generation of female scientists.

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Women stole the spotlight.

B．Nothing is impossible in science.

C．Female scientists win top award.

D．Female scientists are smarter.

6 . Jade lives in Australia, a country famous for kangaroos, but not for snow. Yet at 12, she_______to ski at the North Pole.

Despite the lack of________training space, Jade still built her________at the gym. She ran with giant tyres attached to her waist to________what it was like to pull a sled across ice. By the age of 14, Jade was________.

The far north is not a blank carpet of soft snow, but Jade________the tough conditions. Even though every part of her body was________, she never thought of giving up. In April 2016, Jade made________, becoming the youngest person to ski to the North Pole.

When talking about her________, she stated that every human body is________, whether you are a man or a woman. But when the talk was posted online, some Internet bullies wrote________comments like “Make me a sandwich” to make her feel________.

To prove women's place is far beyond the________, Jade and her team pushed on to the South Pole and made it. Holding a plate with a sandwich, Jade________had her photo taken and posted online. She dared the bullies, “I made you a sandwich. Now________37 days and 600 km to the South Pole, and you can eat it.”

1.

A．managed

B．decided

C．offered

D．afforded

2.

A．authentic

B．large

C．comfortable

D．private

3.

A．career

B．confidence

C．strength

D．team

4.

A．tell

B．feel

C．remember

D．share

5.

A．mature

B．determined

C．available

D．ready

6.

A．braved

B．improved

C．predicted

D．identified

7.

A．working

B．refusing

C．bleeding

D．aching

8.

A．progress

B．promises

C．history

D．efforts

9.

A．hobby

B．adventure

C．advantage

D．award

10.

A．complex

B．beautiful

C．amazing

D．valuable

11.

A．mean

B．kind

C．brief

D．fair

12.

A．puzzled

B．small

C．nervous

D．worried

13.

A．gym

B．field

C．kitchen

D．office

14.

A．unwillingly

B．casually

C．secretly

D．proudly

15.

A．ski

B．walk

C．run

D．cycle

7 . This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. As I searched the name, I found that there were two famous people having the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts(花生), while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; let the coin decide. I flipped(掷) a coin and Ah! Tails (背面)! My report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.

Weeks later, I stood in front of the classroom and proudly read my homework. But things started to get strange. I looked around the room, only to find my classmates with big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes and my stone-faced teacher. I was completely lost. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

Oh well, I dropped the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American War of Independence.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that my teacher meant that George Washington?

Of course, my subject result was awful. Sad but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to the headmaster Miss Lancelot, but she said firmly: No re-dos; no new score. I felt that it was not fair, and I believed I deserved a second chance. So I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, I sat in the headmaster’s office again, but this time a completely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the terrible moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster told me I was good enough to skip(跳过) the 6th grade and started the 7th grade next term.

1. The task I received was to find information about ________.

A．uses for peanuts

B．American War of Independence

C．George Washington

D．my headmaster Miss Lancelot

2. People in the class acted strangely because ________.

A．I was too proud of my homework

B．I mistook what the homework was about

C．the whole world suddenly became quiet

D．the teacher’s face turned to a stone

3. We can infer(推断) from the passage that ________.

A．the headmaster didn’t like the writer at all

B．the writer’s classmates felt sad at his mistake

C．the writer knew little about American history

D．the writer’s grandpa was a very wise man

4. Which of the following proverbs can best describe the main idea of this story?

A．Seeing is believing.

B．Where there is a will, there is a way.

C．One is never too old to learn.

D．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

8 . A study of 100 mobile apps for kids found that 72 broke a law aimed at protecting children's online privacy. Researchers developed a tool that can determine whether a mobile app follows the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act(COPPA). The tool was 99%right. Researchers continue to improve the technology, which they plan to make available for download at no cost.

When you download an app, it can get a lot of information on your cellphone. You have to keep in mind that all this information can be collected by these apps and sent to third parties. What do they do with it? They can pretty much do anything. We should be careful about this. Apps can get personal identifiable information, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, locations, audio and visual recordings, and unique identifiers or devices such as an international mobile equipment identity(IMEI), media access control(MAC) addresses, Android IDs and Android advertising IDs. The advertising ID, for example, allows app developers to collect information on user’s interests, which they can then sell to advertisers. What's worse, games and other apps that violate COPPA cause privacy risks that could make it possible for someone to determine a child's ID and location. A bad man could probably get the user's email ID and geographic location and try to kidnap the child.

COPPA requires that websites and online services directed to children get parental agreement before collecting, personal information from anyone younger than 13; however, as the research found, many popular apps do not follow the rule. Researchers found that many popular games designed specifically for young children showed users’. Android IDs, Android advertising IDs and device descriptions. Researchers suggest that parents should be careful when downloading or allowing children to download apps. They advise keeping downloads to a minimum. Don't download apps unless they need to.

1. What is the matter with most mobile apps for kids?

A．They lead children to do wrong.	B．They are too expensive for kids.
C．They collect children's private information.	D．They are too difficult to operate.

2. What can we learn about the testing tool?

A．It will be put online for sale.	B．Parents will get it for free.
C．Apps will find ways to deal with it.	D．Researchers will give it up after the study.

3. What will apps do with kids' privacy?

A．They will send it to others.	B．They will publish it online.
C．They will keep it a secret.	D．They will use it in social surveys.

4. What is the researchers' advice to parents about downloading apps?

A．Downloading as few apps as possible.	B．Downloading as many apps as required.
C．Downloading no apps from the Internet.	D．Downloading apps that COPPA identifies.

9 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.

But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.

One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.

“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”

Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.

1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?

A．To prevent natural disasters.	B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions.
C．To imitate volcanic eruptions.	D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels.

2. What are researchers worried about in terms of global warming?

A．More volcanoes will throw out.

B．More solar energy will go into space.

C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world.

D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm.

3. What can be inferred from Douglas’ words in an interview?

A．He thinks more research remains to be done.

B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth.

C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production.

D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention.

4. What does the underlined words “sweet spot” in the last paragraph mean?

A．The rainfall pattern of a region.

B．The modest drop in temperature.

C．The number of extreme weather events.

D．The injection amount of aerosol.