1 . Do you have a talented young artist, photographer, or designer in your life? It’s never too early to start helping them get their work out there! We’ve rounded up the top art contests for kids and teens that can help these young creators share their first masterpieces with the world. Best of all? Most of them are totally free to enter!

Global Canvas Art Competition

Ages: 16 and under

Mediums: Drawing, painting

Global Canvas is all about the environment. Launched by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, this art competition wants to inspire the next generation to be more mindful of how we take care of the earth. The judges are looking for artists to capture the wonderful places that wildlife call home.

Toyota Dream Car Art Contest

Ages: Four to 15

Mediums: Drawing, painting

Time to design a dream car! Toyota wants to get junior artists thinking about what the future of transportation might look like. Prizes include cash and a chance to tour one of the Toyota manufacturing plants.

Advena World’s art   Competition

Ages: 15 and under

Mediums: Drawing, painting

Advena World’s art competition aims to promote creativity and self-expression. Instead of a theme, they ask the participating artists to simply express their feelings — anything from sadness or joy to anger or excitement — through their chosen medium,.

Progressive Young Artist Awards

Ages: 13 to 19

Open to: All international applicants

Mediums: Painting, drawing, photography, mixed media, sculpture

Cost to enter: $5 USD

PYAA is all about expressing and celebrating progressive values. So, if there is a creative teen in your life who wants to do good in the world, sign them up for this art contest for teens. The prize is a scholarship which they can put toward their post-secondary schooling.

1. Which focuses on the environment?

A．World Wide Kids Drawings.	B．Global Canvas Art Competition.
C．Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.	D．Progressive Young Artist Awards.

2. What prize can the winner get at Toyota Dream Car Art Contest?

A．dream car.	B．A scholarship.
C．A plant tour.	D．Cash crops.

3. What is the special about Advena World’s art Competition?

A．It has no fixed theme.	B．It has entrance fee.
C．Its entry can be photos.	D．Anyone can join it.

2 . With more recognition than Halloween and less than Christmas,Valentine's Day as an imported festival faces a dangerous situation in China, where it's caught between forces of tradition and fashion.Valentine’s Day has a natural enemy in China.And it is not the Chinese equivalent, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar, usually around half a year away from Feb.14. It is the Spring Festival,also known as the Chinese New Year, that will influence the Feast of Saint Valentine.

The real disagreement between East and West probably took place over a century ago,when China’s door was forced open by Western powers and Chinese scholars supported westernization as a means to strengthen our nation’s ability to compete.

The introduction of the solar calendar and Western measurements was both an acknowledgment of their influence and an effort to be accepted by the world order.

For a full century, we have had two systems running in parallel. When it comes to the eventual outcome, practicality usually beats all other concerns. Laws can help, such as the three traditional festivals of Tomb Sweeping, Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn gaining legal status in 2008 and giving every Chinese citizen a day off, but laws cannot push what people have no feelings for. So, the celebration or boycott of imported holidays or homegrown ones should be no cause for worry. If they are irrelevant, no social media will change the public’s mind; and if they are accepted, there must be a need which they happen to satisfy.

Since we have no global Qin Shihuang to force one system on every country,we can always rely on a dual (双重的) approach by which we share with the outside world on the one hand but preserve our own ways of life on the other.

1. What does the author think about Valentine's Day in present China? ______

A．It meets with a natural enemy.	B．It is better known than Christmas.
C．It strongly attacks Chinese culture.	D．It is more popular with young people.

2. The underlined word “equivalent” in the first paragraph refers to ______ .

A．the Dragon-boat Festival	B．the Spring Festival
C．the Mid-autumn Festival	D．the Chinese Valentine's Day

3. According to the author, the leading factor to decide what to celebrate is ______ .

A．current laws

B．people’s needs

C．public media

D．age-old tradition

4. The author believes that ______ .

A．the conflict between the East and the West will last long

B．Chinese festivals are to be paid more attention to in years

C．both Chinese and foreign systems of festivals can co-exist in China

D．this cultural shock is normal and will be received by more people in the future

3 . I woke up by my dog barking in the early morning. I went outside to find a koala (考拉) at the yard gate wanting to enter. It was the first time that I had _______ a koala in my neighbourhood. What a welcome _______! 

I was wondering why he was here, as koalas _______ came down from the trees and didn’t like walking, either._______, there was no eucalyptus (桉树) around. Was he hungry or lost? Or maybe the bushfire across Kangaroo Island _______ him here? 

He just sat there, apparently _______, and sort of looked at me with a look, like helping me out of my suffering. At a(n) _______ look, I discovered a long cut at his back with bloods,_______ of attacks or cuts of something sharp in some other way. 

I rushed into my room and came out with some iodophor (碘伏药水). It was not a _______ problems as I was a nurse. This poor soul seemed to quite ________ my kindness when I ________ the cut with the liquid. It ________ me that he came to seek my ________! 

After the treatment, I watched the koala finally ________ in the wild, hoping he was able to ________ the hard time and live his life as he should.

1.

A．caught

B．encountered

C．searched

D．missed

2.

A．chance

B．relief

C．surprise

D．message

3.

A．frequently

B．slightly

C．mostly

D．rarely

4.

A．Once more

B．Ever since

C．Just then

D．Then again

5.

A．sought

B．drove

C．followed

D．cast

6.

A．in pain

B．in order

C．in comfort

D．in disappointment

7.

A．quick

B．close

C．eager

D．anxious

8.

A．features

B．symbols

C．signs

D．series

9.

A．crucial

B．small

C．distinct

D．tricky

10.

A．ignore

B．answer

C．understand

D．expect

11.

A．touched

B．felt

C．patted

D．treated

12.

A．appealed to

B．referred to

C．occurred to

D．addressed to

13.

A．help

B．advice

C．approval

D．fortune

14.

A．exploring

B．rushing

C．jogging

D．disappearing

15.

A．experience

B．survive

C．escape

D．have

5 . A few weeks ago, I sat with a California farmer named Dave Ribeiro. I asked him what he wished more people knew about farmers. He smiled and said, “That we walk among you. We look like you and talk like you. We have advanced degrees and hobbies, just like you.”

Take Dave: He’s a young man with a music degree. And if you walked past him on the street, you’d never think, “There goes a farmer.”

Is someone like Dave who you picture when you think of a farmer? Probably not. I think that most people would picture a man in his overalls. I can tell you, that does not represent Dave or any of the many other farmers I have gotten to know.

Not only do we have to throw out our stereotypes of farmers, but farming as a whole doesn’t look much like it used to either. We recently sent a team out to see what modern farming looks like, and they found farmers to be completely different from our usual ideas about them and also came across them in some unexpected places.

In a parking lot in a neighborhood of Brooklyn, they met a new crop of young farmers who are trying to bring fresh greens closer to eaters in the city by growing them in high-tech indoor vertical farms. In a Florida field under the flight path of an airport, they discovered farmers with university degrees growing algae (藻类) that might someday fuel our cars. And in a modern farm in California, they observed how farmers are using technology to take the best possible care of their animals.

These farmers all spend their days in very different ways — none of them looks like the stereotypical farmer we have in our mind — but they’re all working on new ways to feed our planet. Not only do we need to change our idea of what farming looks like, but we also need to change our view of where solutions can come from. Feeding all of us is going to take all of us working together.

1. How does Dave describe today’s farmers?

A．They often walk on the street.	B．They are leading a very busy life.
C．They are similar to ordinary people.	D．They have little time to make friends.

2. How does the author think most people see farmers?

A．They usually wear overalls.	B．They have interesting hobbies.
C．They are skilled at growing crops.	D．They know modern farming practices.

3. What was the purpose of the team?

A．To deepen connections among farmers.

B．To study different technologies in farming.

C．To report on the new developments of farming.

D．To encourage farmers to use new farming methods.

4. What do the farmers mentioned in Paragraph 5 have in common?

A．They all work in the city.	B．They all use high technology.
C．They all do hard physical work.	D．They all work with universities.

6 . Tyrion was asked why he reads so much? He answered, “I have a realistic grasp of my own ______ and weaknesses. My mind is my________. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his war hammer (战锤)… and a mind needs ______ as a sword needs a whetstone (磨石), if it is to preserve its edge.” George R.R. martin once said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he   _____. The man who never reads lives one.”

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early ______ at the kitchen table reading his book. One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the book just like you but I don’t   _______ it, and what I do understand I forget ______ I close the book. What good does reading the book do?”

The grandfather ______ turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water ______ before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time.” and _____   him back to the river with the basket to try again. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket ______ . The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough, ” and he went out of the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was ______ , but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water _______ escape before he got back to the house. Tiredly, he said, “See Grandpa, it’s useless!”

“Look at the basket carefully,” the old man said. The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that he basket was _______. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean. That’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be _______, inside and out.

1.

A．strengths

B．profits

C．virtues

D．benefits

2.

A．hammer

B．life

C．sword

D．weapon

3.

A．messages

B．accesses

C．books

D．experiences

4.

A．balances

B．dies

C．hesitates

D．approaches

5.

A．rising

B．standing

C．seating

D．sitting

6.

A．understand

B．confuse

C．acknowledge

D．confirm

7.

A．unless

B．once

C．though

D．until

8.

A．curiously

B．anxiously

C．quietly

D．embarrassedly

9.

A．checked out

B．leaked out

C．cashed out

D．faded out

10.

A．required

B．controlled

C．asked

D．sent

11.

A．instead

B．yet

C．though

D．however

12.

A．important

B．necessary

C．possible

D．impossible

13.

A．would

B．should

C．might

D．must

14.

A．same

B．equal

C．distinguished

D．different

15.

A．changed

B．motivated

C．concentrated

D．reflected

7 . It was Mother’s Day, but our mother was far away from us. I decided to drive to the ______ with my wife and our children to gather flowers.

After we arrived, we went hiking, played games, and collected all kinds of flowers and so on.How happy we were! Finally, though, we had to ______ our car and got ready to go back home. While the kids chatted and I drove, my wife sat behind me, surrounded by her flowers, a(n) ______look in her eyes.

Suddenly my wife ______to me, “Stop the car.Stop right here!” ______ I could ask her what had happened, she was out and went up a nearby grassy hill with the lilacs (丁香花) still in her arms. At the ______ of the hill was a nursing home and, because it was such a beautiful spring day, the patients were outdoors talking with relatives.

My wife went up the hill, where an elderly patient was sitting in her ______, alone with her back to most of the others.My wife ______the flowers to her and said something. The patient raised her head and smiled. They talked for a few ______before my wife ran back. As the car ______ away, I found in the mirror the woman ______ with the lilacs.

“Mom,” the kids asked, “Who was that? Why did you give her our _______ ? Is she somebody’s mother?” My wife said, “I didn’t know the old woman. But it is Mother’s Day. And she seemed so ______. Who wouldn’t be cheered by flowers? ______,” she added, “I have all of you, and I still have my mother, even if she is far away. That woman needed those flowers more than I did.”

Now, every May, our own yard is _______ with lilacs. Every Mother’s Day we drive to the countryside to gather flowers and sow more seeds in our yard. And every year I remember that lonely old woman in her wheelchair, and her smile on her face.

1.

A．downtown

B．street

C．supermarket

D．countryside

2.

A．push

B．run

C．take

D．start

3.

A．amazed

B．bored

C．tired

D．pleased

4.

A．apologized

B．called

C．shouted

D．talked

5.

A．As

B．Before

C．When

D．Until

6.

A．back

B．foot

C．top

D．edge

7.

A．yard

B．wheelchair

C．garden

D．room

8.

A．packed

B．threw

C．handed

D．showed

9.

A．years

B．weeks

C．minutes

D．days

10.

A．put

B．sped

C．pulled

D．dragged

11.

A．waved

B．danced

C．circled

D．ran

12.

A．money

B．food

C．gifts

D．flowers

13.

A．sick

B．weak

C．kind

D．lonely

14.

A．Surely

B．Besides

C．However

D．Generally

15.

A．grown

B．planted

C．decorated

D．painted

8 . Before I turned 10, I lost my parents. I lived alone in a room that a family member allowed me to use rent-free. To support myself, I began to deliver newspapers.

I would be up every morning by 5 am and walk five kilometers to the newspaper office. By 6 am, I would collect 50 copies of Urdu Daily — the bundle must have weighed over 5 kilograms. My working area spanned 3 kilometers. After distributing the copies, I would rush home — another 3 kilometers — quickly eat and be off to high school.

One morning when I got home after my deliveries, I found a boy my age at my doorstep. He introduced himself as Afzal and said his father wanted to see me.

I was greeted at the door by Afzal’s mother, Naseem. She served tea and snacks as Afzal’s father, Mr Kader, joined us.

Later, as I was about to leave after thanking them, Mr Kader asked me to wait. Naseem asked me, “How many miles do you walk every day?”

“A little more than six,” I replied.

My reply shocked her. I saw Mr Kader emerge again, wheeling a new bicycle. It was a Hercules, quite expensive in pre-Independence India.

“This is for you!” he said.

It took a few seconds for the love to sink in. It felt warm, like home, as if my mother were there for me. I didn’t realize tears were rolling down my face.

Mr Kader said, “Your newspaper editor is a friend of mine. He gave me your address, so I knew you lived close by. Then Afzal told us more about you.”

Confused, I asked Afzal how he knew so much about me. His reply surprised me. “Everybody, not just in school but the whole of Kachiguda, does!” he said.

I bowed, gratefully, shook hands with Afzal and left. This time I did not have to walk — I had the bicycle.

The bicycle saved my life for many years thereafter and taught me a life-long lesson: Help should always be need-based. Never try to feed a person who is dying of thirst.

1. Why did Afzal’s father want to meet the author?

A．He wanted to help the author.

B．The author’s parents used to be his friends.

C．He wanted to know more about the author.

D．The author reminded him of his own childhood.

2. How did the author feel after Afzal’s father offered him the bicycle?

A．Satisfied.

B．Interested.

C．Touched.

D．Confused.

3. To the author, the bicycle was_______.

A．a long-desired gift	B．a childhood toy
C．something that offers extra convenience	D．something that got him out of difficulties

4. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?

A．Sometimes helping others can hurt your relationships.

B．Try your best to help others even if you cannot.

C．Know what the person needs when giving help.

D．It’s difficult to find out what a person really wants.

10 . I stood in the front of the classroom like a specimen (标本) under examinations of 23 pairs of eyes. I began stuttering (结巴) and gave wrong answers to some questions.

In the summer of 2016, I worked as an assistant teacher at a children’s day camp. Lacking in experience, I _______ to create weekly lesson plans. Kids shouted at each other in class. Sometimes, I had to pull apart kids who were _______ each other. The rare moments of silence came only after my booming calls for attention. Every day was a _______ between me and these wild little creatures.

One day I suddenly _______ that I was supposed to teach them instead of being led by the nose. It was time to do something to change the _______. I was older, more knowledgeable, and most importantly, I had more authority. The next day, I firmly _______ into the classroom and stood in the front _______. The students studied me curiously. But I did not stutter this time. It _______ me that the class went smoothly without being disturbed for the first time. From that day on, they gradually started to pay attention. Some _______ started calling me “Ms. Amy”. Seeing a sign of respect in their wild eyes was like getting ________ for my achievements. I was finally acting as an authority figure. The respect I received also increased my self­confidence. It made me believe that I had the ________ to overcome difficulties.

One month after my summer job ________, I went back to visit the students. I saw the same kids running around in the classroom. ________, their playful shouts were a different kind of music to my ________ now. Instead of the unpleasant sound I heard the first day, this was a ________ song that played during my march to self­confidence.

1.

A．refused

B．failed

C．struggled

D．hesitated

2.

A．calling on

B．fighting with

C．staring at

D．learning from

3.

A．battle

B．difference

C．link

D．joke

4.

A．hoped

B．realized

C．regretted

D．remembered

5.

A．suggestion

B．occasion

C．situation

D．decision

6.

A．burst

B．slipped

C．rushed

D．stepped

7.

A．anxiously

B．cautiously

C．eagerly

D．calmly

8.

A．surprised

B．embarrassed

C．disappointed

D．amused

9.

A．just

B．even

C．ever

D．still

10.

A．recognition

B．information

C．evaluation

D．discussion

11.

A．chance

B．right

C．ability

D．intention

12.

A．continued

B．ended

C．started

D．returned

13.

A．Therefore

B．However

C．Besides

D．Otherwise

14.

A．heart

B．eyes

C．ears

D．soul

15.

A．popular

B．complex

C．strange

D．unique