1 . Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee. In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.
Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法) to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.
But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.
In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.
1. What can we learn about the Character Hero?| A．It’s open to people of all ages and all walks. |
| B．It’s the most-viewed TV programs in China. |
| C．It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world. |
| D．It draws great public attention across the country. |
| A．Chinese people don’t refer to dictionaries very often. |
| B．Chinese people no longer use brush pens or practice calligraphy. |
| C．Chinese people are using the Latin alphabet instead of the characters. |
| D．Chinese people needn’t write by hand as often with the help of technology. |
| A．necessary for adults to survive in China |
| B．a requirement made by the Education Ministry |
| C．helpful to keep Chinese tradition and culture alive |
| D．an ability to be developed only when you are students |
| A．A news report. | B．A science report. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．Children’s literature. |
2 . I was eleven years old standing outside in just my underwear while I watched the house that I grew up in rapidly burn to the ground.
A few minutes earlier I had been in bed when a scream woke me up. My grandma’s bedroom was just next to mine and my elder brother’s. A fire had broken out there and awakened her. Hearing her scream, my elder brother jumped to action, running from room to room quickly to wake everyone in the house. However, before we could do anything, the fire had consumed (烧毁) the old and wooden house.
I stood there shivering (颤抖) while the fire destroyed my books, clothes, and toys. I watched helplessly while my Mom cried and my Dad sighed. I wondered what was going to happen to us now that we had lost all of our things. As I looked around, though, I realized something for the first time: What matters aren’t things. I saw my elder brother running across the swinging (摇摆的) bridge by our house to get help. I saw my eldest brother who was on crutches (拐棍) from an earlier accident standing unsteadily on one leg. I saw my grandma and dad wrapped in each other’s arms and my mum holding our little dog. I realized at that moment that we were all alive. Everything that was essential had survived the fire. Our lives would continue. We would survive without the “stuff” that was burning. We would all be around to love each other for many years to come. And that was all that mattered.
I still think of that fire at night. It helped me to become who I am today. It showed me for the very first time what is truly essential in life. It helped me to learn that the love we share is far more important than the things we possess.
Live your life then for the things that matter, not for the things you own. Love others. Let the fire inside of you make this world a warmer place. Let your soul shine bright.
1. Who first found the house was on fire?| A．The author. | B．The grandma. |
| C．The elder brother. | D．A passer-by. |
| A．Exited and worried. | B．Worried but lucky. |
| C．Unhappy and upset. | D．Happy but worried. |
| A．Important. | B．Perfect. |
| C．Amazing. | D．Unique. |
| A．We all have each other | B．The magic of a fire |
| C．Growing up with memory | D．Ways to be a better man |
3 . Kid-friendly attractions & hands-on museums
National Geographic Museum
Animal lovers young and old will look forward to a visit to the National Geographic Museum, which is near Farragut West. There are changing exhibits that always feature work by great photographers, as well as exhibits that show the efforts of international scientists to protect the natural worlds resources (资源) and animals. Children under 5 are free.
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall offers daily programs involving science experimentation. Kids are welcome to make and fly their own paper airplane, look through a real telescope (望远镜) with astronomy experts, watch a show at the Planetarium, climb in an aircraft, or watch an IMAX film.
National Building Museum
Kids can learn how engineers construct architectural wonders by using soft blocks in the Great Hall of the National Building Museum. Little ones will love the Building Zone, where they can drive a bulldozer (推土机) and build a house.
Renwick Gallery
Take the kids to the Renwick Gallery, which hosts the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s amazing collection of decorative art, and start a completely new conversation between kids and art.
1. What is special about the museum near Farragut West?| A．It enables kids to build a house on their own. |
| B．It houses a vast collection of paintings. |
| C．It teaches kids about the environment. |
| D．It is free for both parents and kids |
| A．Architects. | B．Animal enthusiasts. |
| C．Art lovers. | D．Astronomy fans. |
| A．A news report. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A geography textbook. | D．A culture magazine. |
4 . Somewhere in the warm, clear waters off the coast of Australia, a mature bottlenose dolphin is swimming with her daughter. It's dinnertime. But, instead of chasing down a fish in open waters like she usually does, mom swims over to a basket sponge (海绵)growing on the ocean floor. In a quick move, she breaks off a piece of the sponge, then fits it closely over her mouth. It's hard not to wonder what that watchful youngster might be thinking about all this. Are you going to eat that sponge? Are we playing?
With the sponge secured on her beak, the older dolphin starts sweeping her head back and forth across the ocean floor. She's looking for fish like the sand perch （沙鲈），which hide themselves on the floor of the sea under the sand. As for the sponge stuck onto her mouth, it allows her to clear away the sand without injuring herself on broken pieces of coral, or maybe even suffering the sting （刺痛）of the scorpion fish. The extra work it takes to catch a fish like the sand perch is worth it because they tend to be fattier. And for a dolphin, fattier means more nutritious.
Sure enough, after a few minutes, a sand perch comes out. The fish dashes off for a few yards and then hesitates, waiting for a moment before burying itself in the sand again. In that brief pause, the elder dolphin shakes off the sponge, surfaces for a breath, and then comes down and catches the sand perch before it can rebury itself. She then passes it to her daughter. And with that, the younger dolphin hasn't just gotten a good meal ； more importantly, she's learned a powerful hunting technique - one that years from now, she'll pass along to her own children.
1. Which word best describes the young dolphin's feeling in the first paragraph?| A．Anxious. | B．Curious. |
| C．Scared. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．To chase down fattier fish. | B．To play with her children. |
| C．To protect herself from being hurt. | D．To hide herself under the sand. |
| A．She waits for the right time. | B．She hides under the sand. |
| C．She sets a trap for it. | D．She makes use of space. |
| A．Guidance of an experienced elder. | B．Reliance of a young dolphinonher mom. |
| C．Theprocess of catching fat fish. | D．The powerful hunting technique. |
5 . One of our biggest problems many of us feel is having too much to do and not feeling like we have enough time to do it.
Of course, having “not enough time” is just a feeling. The fact is that we all have the same amount of time, but we often fill up the container (容器) of our days with too many things..
The problem is having too many things to fit into a small container (24 hours). If we look at task and time management simply as a container organization problem, it becomes simpler.
How do we fit all of the things we have to do into our small container? We do that by simplifying what we have to do.
Pay attention to all the things you should do today and tomorrow, and try to notice all the things you're fitting into the container of your day. What games are you playing on your phone? What are you reading? What work are you busy doing? How much time are you spending on Facebook of Twitter? How much TV are you watching? How much time do you spend cleaning, taking care of other people?
What you might realize is that you're fitting a lot of junk into the container. Throw some of that out. Prevent yourself from using certain sites or apps until you've done a few really important tasks.
Now ask yourself this: Which task would you do if you could only do one task today? That should be what you put your focus on next. So just focus on one important task. By picking your tasks carefully, you're taking care of the container of your time. You can pick important tasks or joyful ones, but you're being conscious (意识到的 ) about the choices. You're treating it like the gift of great value, for it is limited, valuable, to be filled with the best things, but not overstuffed.
1. How can we deal with the big problem mentioned at the beginning of the text?| A．By filling up our days with too many things. |
| B．By simplifying everything we have to do. |
| C．By having a bigger container of our days. |
| D．By improving our skills of doing tasks. |
| A．To prove that many people are enjoying playing games. |
| B．To help us learn the importance of balancing work and life. |
| C．To show there are many things which are not worth doing. |
| D．To tell us that there are no really important tasks to do. |
| A．Learn what the container of our days is. |
| B．Prevent ourselves from feeling time is not enough. |
| C．Try our best to do as many things as we can. |
| D．Focus on something that is really important. |
| A．First things first. |
| B．Easier said than done. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. |
| D．Don’t put all your eggs into one basket. |
6 . It is surprising that eating three meals a day—breakfast, lunch and dinner—has been a custom only since 1890. Before this time, people only had two meals a day—breakfast and dinner.
In the 16th century, breakfast was only to break one’s fast(随便吃一点). But 200 years later it had become a large meal, not just for family, but for numbers of guests as well. It was a social event. It began at 10 a.m. and lasted until 1 p.m. Then breakfast began to be less popular. It became, instead, a lighter meal and was taken at a much earlier hour. By 1850 it had been pushed back to 8 a.m. and became a family meal.
Dinner，however，went to the other way. In the 16th century it was eaten at 11a.m. Years later, it had moved to the early afternoon, then to 5 p.m. By 1850 dinner time had reached 7 p.m. Lunch is a recent idea. It first appeared as a snack to fill the gap between breakfast and dinner.
1. People did not have lunch ________.| A．until 1890 | B．after 1890 |
| C．since 1890 | D．by 1890 |
| A．Dinner didn’t go there with breakfast. |
| B．Dinner took the same way with breakfast. |
| C．Dinner is different from breakfast. |
| D．Dinner is the same with breakfast. |
| A．17th | B．18th | C．16th | D．19th |
| A．what people eat for breakfast. | B．what people eat for dinner. |
| C．the history of supper. | D．the history of the three meals. |
7 . Chinese tourists prefer hotels and restaurants that offer free Wi-Fi when traveling abroad. Most Chinese tourists instantly update their social networks using their mobile phones. They send photos and short videos to friends and family when traveling abroad.
About 10 percent of outbound (出境的) Chinese tourists get expensive marring charges (漫游费) by using 4G-powered smart phones. About 90 percent of Chinese travelers consider free Wi-Fi indispensable when traveling abroad. They often use phone apps to create travel routes and book hotels, which requires large data flows that can be expensive without Wi-Fi.
But free Wi-Fi is not always available, even in regions with advanced telecommunications, such as the United States and Europe. Portable Wi-Fi costs 15~50 yuan a day, depending on the country. It’s cheaper in South Korea, Japan and Thailand. The Wi-Fi services increase rapidly thanks to reasonable pricing and smooth surfing.
More than 100 million Chinese went abroad last year, and the10 percent who used Wi-Fi services spent an average of 150 yuan, and it’s expected to grow largely. But the travel agencies business may become out of date in five to eight years, because more locations are offering free Wi-Fi. In the meantime, it is reported that more for-profit models should be introduced and offer more services for outbound travelers in the future.
1. Why do Chinese travelers prefer hotels and restaurants with free Wi-Fi when traveling abroad?| A．They want to have their phones updated. |
| B．They are fond of using phone apps to create their travel routes. |
| C．They prefer to experience the Wi-Fi service in different countries. |
| D．They'd like to share what they have seen with their friends and-family. |
| A．Necessary. | B．Useless. | C．Expensive. | D．Amazing. |
| A．Travel websites will stop offering free Wi-Fi services to travelers. |
| B．Travel website Tuniu intended to compete with Ctrip and launched its Wi-Fi phone service. |
| C．The Wi-Fi costs less when traveling in some Asian countries than in European countries. |
| D．The demand for Wi-Fi transmitters is growing in pace with 4G-smart phones. |
| A．It will be useless when for-profit models are introduced. |
| B．It will be used by more than 100 million Chinese next year. |
| C．It will grow in the future but will be outdated in a couple of years. |
| D．It will offer more non-profit services for outbound travelers. |
8 . Writing letters to relatives was once what most children did before Christmas and birthdays. Surprisingly, half of teenagers have never written a thank-you letter. They think they have no need to write when they communicate with family and friends on e-mails or social media. Most of teenagers complain handwriting is too slow and 17 per cent insist it is outdated. People are worried that the decline could mean the art of handwriting may one day die out even though many still consider it a key skill.
Yet most say that their relying on social media has a negative impact on their writing. More than two thirds of teenagers admit that using their smartphones and social media is, in fact, detrimental to their writing. Meanwhile, some believe typing on a phone makes spelling worse — and seven per cent say their grammar suffers. And a further 7 per cent confess that using text speak in messages means they find writing normally harder as a result. Of those who have actually written a letter,30per cent say they last did so purely because a teacher made them do. Meanwhile, more than one in ten concede it was because his parents forced them to do so. This may seem surprising given the study showing that many believe a handwritten letter is more heartfelt. Almost two thirds say receiving a handwritten letter would mean so much more.
It is showed that, outside of school, many don’t even have the means to write at home. Nine per cent do not own a pen. And 56 per cent do not have letter paper at home. However, 73 per cent have an iPad and 89 per cent own a smartphone.
The government has now launched a Just Write campaign, aiming to encourage people of all ages to pick up a pen and start writing. Handwriting is one of the most creative abilities we must have. Youngsters should be encouraged to put pen to paper.
1. Why aren’t the teenagers fond of writing?| A．Because their way of communication has greatly changed. |
| B．Because they are not fond of Christmas and their birthdays. |
| C．Because they don't consider it an important skill to master. |
| D．Because the writing will make people think of good things. |
| A．Helpful. | B．Cool. |
| C．Harmful. | D．Careful. |
| A．It is tiring. | B．It is moving. |
| C．It is troublesome. | D．It is frightening. |
| A．The children have written too much at school. |
| B．The children are very busy with smartphones. |
| C．The children think that writing is out of date. |
| D．The children don't have the tools to write with |
9 . When on vacation, what do you look for in a hotel? Maybe you want a comfortable bed, luxurious facilities or a convenient location. However, if you want something out of the ordinary and wish to go beyond the ordinary,these spectacular hotels offer a stay you won't soon forget!
Hippo Point
For those who prefer an overnight stay with some four-footed-or two-winged-guests, Hippo Point in Kenya offers unique housings on the East African plains. The nine-storey tower on a private estate and wildlife sanctuary rate as one of the top 10 resorts in the world. Guests enjoy incredible views of Olodian Bay while observing the densest population of hippos in Africa. More than 520 species of birds flock around the lake, their calls echoing in the air. After a restful night's sleep, you'll find a delicious breakfast waiting on an outside patio.
The Poseidon Undersea Resort
Nestled in a Fijian lagoon, the Poseidon Undersea Resort boasts the world's first seafloor suite 12 meters below the surface of the ocean. By day, people enjoy golf, tennis and water sports or learn to pilot a three-passenger Triton submarine to explore the pristine(原始的)ocean depths.
1. The first paragraph talks about_______.| A．comment | B．argument | C．background | D．explanation |
| A．can’t sleep well for the calls of birds |
| B．can climb a nine-story tower too bserve hippos |
| C．can walk around the lake to catch birds |
| D．can enjoy the beauty of Olodian Bay |
| A．the Poseidon Undersea Resort | B．Hippo Point |
| C．the Magic Mountain Hotel | D．Sala Silver mine |
10 . SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Captain Good Fellow
Do your children enjoy interesting stories, funny games, and exciting dances? Captain Good Fellow will be ready to teach all these things to children of all ages at the City Theatre on Saturday morning at 10:00, Free.
Walking Tour of the Town
Forget your worries on Saturday morning. Take a beautiful walk and learn about local history. Meet at the front entrance of City Hall at 9:30. Wear comfortable shoes!
Films at the Museum
Two European films will be shown on Saturday afternoon at the Museum Theatre. See Broken Window at 1:30. The workers will be at 3:45. For further information, call 4987898.
International Picnic
Are you tired of eating the same food every day? Come to Central Park on Saturday and enjoy food from all over the world. Delicious and not expensive. Noon to 5:00 pm.
Do You Want to Hear “The Zoo”
“The Zoo”, a popular rock group from Australia, will give their first US concert tomorrow night at 8:00 at Rose Hall, City College.
1. You can probably eat Chinese, Italian, and Arab food_____________.| A．at the front entrance of City Hall | B．at the Ballgame |
| C．at 5:00 pm | D．at Central Park on Saturday |
| A．the City College | B．the Museum Theatre |
| C．the City Theatre | D．the Central Park |
| A．your worries | B．your beautiful walk |
| C．your learning about local history | D．your comfortable shoes |
| A．a park with lots of animals | B．US concert |
| C．a music group | D．going to give the concert at 8:00 am |
