1 . What do you think of your Chinese? If you think your Chinese is good enough, you can take part in the competition named Chinese Characters Dictation Competition（中国汉字听写大会）.
Today teenagers are using more and more smart phones. They spend too much time in shopping, chatting, playing games and so on. Many of them cannot stop using smart phones to help with their study. Overuse of smart phones will make students too lazy to think and write. Some of them even forget how to write Chinese characters by hand. Teachers and parents are very worried about it.
In order to draw people’s attention to the problems above, in 2013 CCTV held the first Chinese Characters Dictation Competition. About 200 students from 32 teams took part in it. They stood on the stage to write down Chinese characters by dictation. Lu Jialei, a 14-year-old girl from Zhejiang, got first place.
Since then, the competition has been popular among teenagers. Many people are interested in this kind of competition, too. They like to write down the characters while the competitors（参赛者）are writing them.
Can you be the next winner?
1. From Paragraph 2, we know that teenagers are using more and more _____．| A． cars | B．money | C．books | D．smart phones |
| A．eating too much | B．walking too much |
| C．using too much | D．singing too much |
| A．About 400. | B．About 300. | C．About 200. | D．About 100. |
| A．Lu Jialei, a girl from Zhejiang. | B．Lu Jialei, a girl from Guangxi. |
| C．Liao Yilin, a girl from Zhejiang. | D．Liao Yilin, a girl from Guangxi. |
2 . World Book Day falls on April 23 every year. It was set up in 1955 to encourage people to discover the pleasure of reading.
Many countries celebrate World Book Day. In the UK, the government has introduced a rule that a book token(购书券)is a passport. Every year 15 million tokens are given out to students in Britain and Ireland. With a token, students can go to any bookshop to choose a free book according to their taste and hobby. It is believed that 15% of the UK children don’t have a book of theirs. This mainly results from the high book prices. A book token will help them realize their dream to have their first book.
Reading helps us become more knowledgeable and more intelligent(智慧的). Reading helps us to follow the latest developments of science and technology. Reading provides us with information about other culture and places of the world. When we read, we may learn many things that are off our beat to us. We would have to use our brain to think about them or do more reading to find out the answers. The more we read, the more we know. The more we know, the smarter we become.
Reading is also one of the most important ways to learn a foreign language like English. we all know that we can’t learn everything at school, for example, the ways English people are speaking and writing today.“Reading makes a full man.”Books, magazines, newspapers and other kinds of reading materials can help to know more about the outside world and perfect us. Therefore, it is necessary to form the habit of reading every day.
1. How does the UK celebrate World Book Day?| A．By writing more books for kids. |
| B．By building more public libraries. |
| C．By introducing book token system. |
| D．By opening free bookshops for kids. |
| A．Unknown. | B．Familiar. | C．Difficult. | D．Traditional. |
| A．Reading helps to develop science. |
| B．Reading is good for people in many ways. |
| C．Reading can help to create a new culture. |
| D．Reading can help find a way to learn well. |
| A．Suggestions on Reading |
| B．World Book Day in China |
| C．World Book Day in the UK |
| D．World Book Day and Benefits of Reading |
3 . I received a private message on Facebook. It began harmlessly enough: “Hey, girl. Wanted to invite you to join my next challenge group—we’ll be focusing on fitting in 30 minutes of exercise and balanced nutrition.”
It was all becoming too much. Facebook was running my life, not me.
But what killed Facebook for me was when I posted a photo, and five minutes later my son asked me how many “likes” it had got. His question was a wake-up call.
“Likes” are signs of acceptance and approval. I had forgotten that acceptance and approval need to come from within and had unknowingly set him a bad example.
Before Facebook, surfing the internet was an occasional distraction and I spent a lot more time reading books and magazines. I checked in with friends through texts, emails and phone calls.
To recreate the simplicity of those days and set a healthier example to my son, I deactivated my Facebook account.
I’d been in the habit of checking Facebook many times a day, so I had to come up with some new habits. I carried a novel and a crossword puzzle book around with me. I rediscovered knitting. I started taking yoga classes.
I started to remember a few things. My body is fine just the way it is. I have friends who will help me out when I’m in trouble, and I will help them out. I do my best to be a good mother, and our son is happy and healthy. We are very lucky to be able to afford two vacations a year.
I stopped looking at the world through my cellphone. I felt completely present in the moment.
The break left me feeling better about myself, my family, my home and my life.
After a few weeks, I returned to Facebook. Now I look at the photos of my friends’ kids growing up and treasure how social media allows me to keep in touch with family far and wide. I look in on a daily basis, but no longer with the desire constantly to post updates.
It is not an addiction any more.
1. What was the author’s life like before her break from Facebook?| A．She enjoyed reading in her free time. |
| B．She spent much time on social media. |
| C．She didn’t get along well with her son. |
| D．She didn’t care what others thought of her. |
| A．close | B．update | C．keep | D．check |
| A．She went to the gym as often as she could. |
| B．She developed some healthy habits. |
| C．She tried to make money for her holidays. |
| D．She traveled around a lot for a year. |
| A．Critical. | B．Supportive. | C．Objective. | D．Indifferent. |
