1 . Some teens are disapproving of compulsory BMI (body mass index) （身体质量指数） checks in PE classes. Do BMI checks at school do more harm than good? Two teens take sides.
Maya Meade, a high school freshman in Ohio, says yes. “I understand that schools want to weigh students because they are concerned about their physical health. That’s not a bad thing! But what about their mental health? For many students, appearance and self-image are huge sources of stress. Forcing teens to be weighed at school will only increase the pressure they feel to fit a certain mold (模子)”, says Maya.
In Maya’s opinion, weight is a personal matter that should stay between a doctor and a patient. She says, “Just imagine someone who struggles with body image being told that his or her BMI is too high as classmates look on! Even if other kids can’t hear, no student wants to feel judged by his or her teacher. That’s not why we go to school.”
Maya thinks if a school wants to have an impact on a student’s physical health, there are better ways to do it, such as providing healthy but filling meals, encouraging physical activity and teaching students about nutrition.
Ben Bagbek, a second-year student in a high school in New York, holds a different opinion. “There is no reason why a school should not be allowed to weigh its students and teach them how to calculate BMI! Obesity (肥胖症) is a huge public health concern in our country. And schools are in a position to help students understand what their weight means to their health -- before they’re at risk of life-threatening conditions.”
“A school’s job is to help students reach their full potential, and your health undoubtedly plays a role in your academic performance. BMI is not a perfect measurement, but it can help you identify the need for healthier eating habits or more physical activity.” says Ben.
The bottom line is: When you feel good, you learn better. As long as the actual number on the scale stays private, it should be viewed as an important part of your health education.
1. What are the two teens debating?| A．Whether students are enjoying PE classes. |
| B．Whether schools are body-shaming students. |
| C．Whether students should pay attention to weight. |
| D．Whether schools should help students lose weight. |
| A．Healthy diets. | B．Emotional stress. |
| C．Fierce competition. | D．Positive self-awareness. |
| A．It’s private. | B．It’s important. |
| C．It’s hard to lose. | D．It’s not a big deal. |
| A．Most school students are overweight. |
| B．BMI checks are of little help to students. |
| C．Schools have the right to weigh students. |
| D．It’s not schools’ duty to help students keep fit. |
2 . We spoke to three students from around the world about different national holidays. There are different customs for each festival.
Tan Xiaodong, 15, Hong Kong, China
“It’ll soon be the Chinese New Year. Before it, we’ll clean the house and decorate (装饰) it for good luck. Every shop is going to close for a few days and we’ll go out a lot to celebrate on the streets. We might go and see the lion and dragon dances in the city center. I love this festival.”
Wendy, 16, Sydney, Australia
“Australia Day is on 26th January and it’s an important holiday here. We always have a Monday off, so we celebrate for three days. My parents and I go to the countryside for a picnic and friends always come over. Many people go to beach parties or street parties and there’s lots of music and dancing. What fun!”
Amy, 14, New York, the USA
“The first Thanksgiving was celebrated hundreds of years ago when Europeans who came to America thanked God for his help. It’s still a very important day for family members to be together. This year we’re going to visit my grandparents and we’ll eat a delicious meal of turkey. Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November every year.”
1. How many festivals are mentioned in the passage?| A．Two. | B．Three. |
| C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．do a lot of shopping | B．eat turkey |
| C．go to beach parties | D．see lion and dragon dances |
| A．have a picnic in the countryside |
| B．go to a swimming pool |
| C．have a party at school |
| D．clean the house and dance |
| A．A country. | B．A festival. |
| C．A kind of food. | D．A kind of drink. |
| A．Amy is from Sydney, Australia |
| B．different festivals have different customs |
| C．many people go out for a picnic with friends before the Chinese New Year |
| D．Thanksgiving Day is on 26th January in the USA |
3 . Ray Tokuda,a 54-year-old Japanese American,takes pride in the title his school has already given him.He is a Shifu,a Chinese word literally meaning a master,mentor or senior practioner of martial arts.
Surely, he has reason to be proud.He has been involved with Chinese martial arts for almost 40 years.After learning them at the martial arts school in New Mexico State,he is among the most experienced kung fu teachers of the school today.
Practicing martial arts two to three hours and helping students improve their skills have become Tokuda’s daily routine.He expects to practice and teach martial arts for the rest of his life.“I’m still learning.It’s worth more than a lifetime to learn Chinese martial arts,”he said.“Once I started,I just couldn’t stop.I think it’s also the magic of Chinese culture.”
Tokuda was sent to the martial arts school when he was 10.He still remembers how unwilling he was when starting out.“I remember my father had always wanted to learn Chinese martial arts but never got the chance,so he put his kid in,”he said.“I was so afraid at that time because I thought kung fu was all about fighting.”
But things changed after he learned that martial arts were more than punching and kicking.
“One of the things martial arts teach me is to overcome adversity,”Tokuda said.“As a little kid,my first lesson was like,oh,look,this is a thing that I can get through by diligence,perseverance（毅力）and dedication,and that was priceless for my life.”
Learning Chinese martial arts opened a gateway for him to better understand the culture of China.
Meanwhile,Tokuda has also been invited to various events in his home state to showcase traditional Chinese culture,including the dragon dance and lion dance,which he also learnt at the martial arts school.Because of this,he is now considered a cultural envoy(使者)in the eyes of the public.
1. At first,Tokuda weren’t willing to learn kung fu because he had thought it was______.| A．practical | B．magical | C．violent | D．difficult |
| A．He learnt martial arts from his mother. |
| B．He is the founder of the kung fu school. |
| C．He learnt from martial arts how to solve difficulties. |
| D．He is the most experienced kung fu teacher of his state. |
| A．Modest and friendly. |
| B．Persevering and devoted. |
| C．Talented and humorous. |
| D．Motivated and considerate. |
4 . Darwin, the world-famous scientist, developed a habit in his later years that seldom changed, even when guests were present. The following shows his daily schedule during that time.
Time | Activities |
7:00 a.m. | got up and took a short walk |
7:45 | a.m. had breakfast alone |
8:00 a.m.—9:30 a.m. | worked in his study (He considered this period his best working time.) |
9:30a.m.—10:30am. | went to the sitting room and read letters |
12:00 | had a walk, starting with a visit to the greenhouse, the number of times depending on his health, usually alone or with a dog |
12:45 p.m. | had lunch with the family; read The Times and answered letters |
3:00 p.m. | rested on the sofa in his bedroom and listened to a novel read by his wife |
4:30 p.m.—5:30 p.m. | worked in his study, clearing up matters of the day |
6:00 p.m. | rested again in the bedroom with his wife reading aloud |
7:30 p.m. | had tea while the family were having dinner |
10:00 p.m. | went to bed |
1. According to Darwin, what was the best time to work?
| A．8:00 a.m.—9:30 a.m. | B．9:30 a.m.—10:30 a.m. |
| C．10:30 a.m.—12:15 p.m. | D．4:30 p.m.—5:30 p.m. |
| A．Four and a half hours. | B．Three hours. |
| C．Two and a half hours. | D．Two hours. |
| A．He was very ill. | B．He ate meals a day. |
| C．He disliked reading. | D．He lived regular (有规律的) life. |
5 . We all need Vitamin （维生素）D because it helps to build and keep strong bones. A lack of it can lead to some bone diseases. As studies show, sunlight is great for making Vitamin D. When you're outdoors, your body will create the Vitamin D you need from direct sunlight on your skin.
In order to get enough Vitamin D, you should get 10-30 minutes of sunlight at a time, several times a week. However, people with darker skin may need a little more time than this. Besides, your exposure （暴露）time in the sunlight should rely on how sensitive your skin is to sunlight. Too much sunlight can be dangerous, for it may cause some bad results, including sunburn, eye damage, and skin problems. If you have to stay in the sunlight for a long time, you should be careful not to let sunlight hurt your skin, so take care to protect your skin with sunscreen before it starts to turn red.
In a word, your ability to make Vitamin D from sunlight depends on the time of day, your skin color, where you live and so on. Keep those in mind when you go out for Vitamin D from sunlight.
1. Why do people need Vitamin D according to Paragraph 1?| A．To keep their hair healthy. | B．To make their teeth white. |
| C．To make their faces pretty. | D．To keep their bones strong. |
| A．doing some exercise | B．losing much weight |
| C．staying in the sunlight | D．walking in the moonlight |
| A．Lung diseases. | B．Skin problems. |
| C．Heart diseases. | D．Breath problems. |
| A．防晒霜 | B．防水服 | C．防尘罩 | D．防腐剂 |
| A．A story book. | B．A telephone book. |
| C．A health magazine. | D．A music magazine. |
6 . A one-armed 13-year-old basketball player in a video moves China. He is Zhang Jiacheng, from Guangdong Province. In the video, facing a taller, stronger, and older opponent （对手），he isn't afraid at all.
Attracted by his good skills in the video, many people even fail to know that Zhang Jiacheng has only one arm. Although the young boy lost one of his arms in an accident, he became crazy about playing basketball at 12. "Work hard or just give up," he always says. Thus, he spent all of his free time on it without considering his body condition.
People's attention has encouraged him to work harder towards his goal---to become a top basketball player "I just keep practising every day to improve myself whether at home or in the playground, he says, "My biggest challenge is to control the ball much better." After only a year of hard practising, Zhang Jiacheng has improved his skills greatly. Through patience, confidence and determination, the young basketball player is getting closer to his life goal.
His effort and courage finally caught the attention of Yi Jianlian, a Chinese professional （MR 业的）basketball player, who shared the video on his own Weibo.
1. Why do people fail to know the boy has only one arm?| A．Because his good skills attract people. |
| B．Because his life goal encourages people. |
| C．Because he jumps to an amazing height. |
| D．Because he hides the other arm carefully. |
| A．Controlling the ball better. | B．Keeping his balance. |
| C．Making some more friends. | D．Getting closer to his family. |
| A．To live a comfortable life. | B．To become a top basketball player. |
| C．To set up a basketball team. | D．To build a large gym for his school. |
| A．Humorous. | B．Confident. | C．Careless. | D．Noisy. |
| A．Yi Jianlian's cute pets. | B．Yi Jianlian's courage. |
| C．The video's influence. | D．The video's quality. |
7 . I am an active playgoer and play-reader, and perhaps my best reason for editing this book is a hope of sharing my enthusiasm for the theater with others. To do this I have searched through dozens of plays to find the ones that I think best show the power and purpose of the short play.
Each play has a theme or central idea which the playwright(剧作家) hopes to get across through dialogue and action. A few characters are used to create a single impression growing out of the theme. It is not my intention to point out the central theme of each of the plays in this collection, for that would, indeed, ruin the pleasure of reading, discussing, and thinking about the plays and the effectiveness of the playwright. However, a variety of types is represented here. These include comedy, satire, poignant drama, historical and regional drama. To show the versatility(多面性) of the short play, I have included a guidance play, a radio play and a television play.
Among the writers of the plays in this collection, Paul Green, Susan Glaspell, Maxwell Anderson, Thornton Wilder, William Saroyan, and Tennessee Williams have all received Pulitzer Prizes for their contributions to the theater. More information about the playwrights will be found at the end of this book.
To get the most out of reading these plays, try to picture the play on stage, with you, the reader, in the audience. The houselights dim(变暗). The curtains are about to open, and in a few minutes the action and dialogue will tell you the story.
1. What do we know about the author from the first paragraph?| A．He has written dozens of plays. | B．He has a deep love for the theater. |
| C．He is a professional stage actor. | D．He likes reading short plays to others. |
| A．Stating the plays’ central ideas. | B．Selecting works by famous playwrights. |
| C．Including various types of plays. | D．Offering information on the playwrights. |
| A．Control their feelings. | B．Apply their acting skills. |
| C．Use their imagination. | D．Keep their audience in mind. |
| A．A short story. | B．An introduction to a book. |
| C．A play review. | D．An advertisement for a theater. |
8 . Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.
The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.
The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.
1. What can a Jibo robot do according to Paragraph 3?| A．Communicate with you and perform operations. |
| B．Answer your questions and make requests. |
| C．Take your family pictures and deliver milk. |
| D．Obey your orders and remind you to take pills. |
| A．A language teacher. | B．A tour guide. |
| C．A shop assistant. | D．A private nurse. |
| A．train employees | B．be our workmates |
| C．improve technologies | D．take the place of workers |
| A．A new design idea of household robots. | B．Marketing strategies for social robots. |
| C．Information on household robots. | D．An introduction to social robots. |
9 . They're life jacket orange, they’re robots and they're capable of sailing the high seas without human intervention.
On Tuesday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched a pair of Saildrones(海洋无人机) in Pacific Northwest waters for the first time. Their summer long sailing journey will stretch from Vancouver Island to California. The Saildrone operators will collect data to help set future fishing seasons. The government wants to see whether seagoing. robots can extend fishery surveys now performed by expensive manned ships.
Nora Cohen from NOAA said,“The 23 foot tong seagoing robots can follow a remotely programmed course for up to a year at a time. And they don't require any fuel. We use wind and solar power to drive the sensors.”He added,“It means that we're able to go to places where we don't really want to send people, and go into weather that we really don't want anyone ever to be in, and be able to send back measurements.”
The primary mission is to investigate the species and number of fish in existence and the places where they are. Larry Hufnagle, scientist of NOAA Fisheries in Seattle, said a traditional big NOAA research ship-based survey costs around $25，000 per day. By comparison, one Saildrone runs $2,500 per day.
“It could be a significant saving,”Hufnagle said. “But like anything else, there is a tradeoff in what you get and what you don't get. On the manned ship, we have limited time. It takes a lot of people. We spend a fair amount of money. But there is one thing the Saildrone can't do that humans can: cast a net to catch and positively identify the fish detected below. The Saildrones are going to give us additional data, not replacement data.”
Nora Cohen said Sail Drone, a venture capital-backed company based in Alameda, California, expects to launch a total of 11 of its seagoing robots to survey different water bodies for NOAA this year. The Bering and Arctic seas, coastal California and Gulf of Mexico will be the locations of additional missions.
1. What is the purpose of collecting fish data?| A．To explore the ocean. |
| B．To assist fishing industry. |
| C．To learn the habits of fish, |
| D．To improve fishing skills |
| A．Its advantages. |
| B．Its appearance. |
| C．Its power systems. |
| D．Its primary mission. |
| A．Debate. | B．Reason. |
| C．Reality. | D．Balance. |
| A．The Saildrone has a promising future. |
| B．Hufnagle thinks little of the Saildrone. |
| C．Manned ships will be completely replaced. |
| D．Production of seagoing robots is restricted. |
10 . Last weekend, my kids and a few other kids from the neighborhood volunteered to help me wash my car. My 10-year-old daughter came up with the idea of washing other people's cars as well. It was very hot outside. And she wanted to give juice for a low cost but not free. I felt happy and decided to help her.
She asked me, “What if we make this ‘a smile car wash’， mommy? ” I couldn't hold back my tears and encouraged her and other kids to go inside the house and come up with ideas. While I kept myself busy in drying the car, the kids walked up to me with a board of beautiful signs of smiles. They had “Free Car Wash” written on it and the theme of their exercise was “Smile”. It was natural to see a team of kids 5 to 11 years with the task to do something for others.
All that seemed natural and came right from their heart. Nothing seemed to matter to them: their playtime, and the heat outside — they just wanted to help and do something nice!
I helped them make some fresh juice and brought out some waste materials to help clean cars. Passers-by were amazed and one even shouted at them saying “Good kids”. One of them even tried giving them 5 dollars, which they refused. What a heart-warming scene(场景)!
The following weekend, I saw the idea of the week, the theme of which was “Global Kindness”. I was moved by such wonderful and loving kids. They made me smile!
1. Who came up with the idea of washing other people's cars for free ?| A．The mother. |
| B．One of the passers-by. |
| C．The writer's 10-year-old daughter. |
| D．One of the writer's neighbors' kids. |
| A．She was moved by her daughter's kindness. |
| B．She felt sorry for those passers-by in hot day. |
| C．She was sorry for not helping the kids. |
| D．She thought it was very hard for the kids. |
| A．They wanted to earn money. |
| B．They were asked to do that by their teacher. |
| C．They just wanted to help and do something nice. |
| D．They wanted to exercise in smiling. |
| A．She supported the kids' ideas. |
| B．She made some fresh juice for the passers-by. |
| C．She brought out some waste materials to help the kids. |
| D．She gave the kids some money. |
