2 . Some people say that friendship is the only channel through which human beings can ever experience the value of life. In our daily life, it is likely that you share some common interests with others-they may like the same sport, go to the same school or like the same kind of music as you do. Since you often meet them, they become your acquaintances（相识的人）. Although some people develop many acquaintances, only a few become their good friends in their lifetime because there are differences between acquaintances and friends.

It is said that true friendship begins when someone knows what you are really like, but still likes you anyway. A true friend shows loyalty（忠诚）from the very beginning of the relationship. A friend will go through challenges to help you without expecting anything in return. A “friend” today may probably become a “true friend” tomorrow when they get involved in unexpected circumstances（条件）together with you-for example, when you are going through a difficult experience and your friend is there to help you out. However, some acquaintances might leave you when you badly need their help. At this time, you can experience what true friendship is.

In our life, some people seem to go through life with plenty of friends. They may be funny or they may have a bright and pleasant personality（性格）. For these people, wherever they go, people seem to like them and welcome their company. But when they go through challenging life experiences, some of their friends are not there to help them. Therefore we can say some of their friends are not real friends and their friendship is just skin-deep.

However, others seem to go through life with no friends at all. They like to be alone, to travel by themselves or to do their own things. It’s a pity that few of these people find success in life because they have no friends. They lack the best gift in life-friendship.

1. What can we learn about acquaintances from the passage?

A．You seldom meet them in your life.

B．Not all of them can become your friends.

C．They are sure to become your good friends.

D．They have all of the same interests as you do.

2. You may get to know the meaning of friendship better when you ______.

A．get into trouble	B．see your friend often
C．go to the same school as your friend	D．enjoy the same kind of music as your friend

3. According to the passage, we can know that ______.

A．it’s easier to lose a friend than to get one

B．people without friends are always successful

C．it doesn’t matter whether one has friends or not

D．people with bright personality are easy to have friends

4. What does the underlined word “skin-deep” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Very deep.	B．Not deep at all.
C．As precious as skin.	D．Hidden under the skin.

5. What is the author’s attitude towards people without friends in their life?

A．Interested.	B．Angry.
C．Hopeful.	D．Regretful.

3 . Diwali（Deepavali）is a festival of lights observed in October or November each year in Canada. During the festival, various community groups, businesses, schools and associations celebrate it in different ways. Some companies have Diwali dinners and some communities organize gatherings that feature firework displays, dances, street lighting, and plays.

Many women wear fine jewelry and silk outfits to celebrate Diwali. Some women and girls use Mehendi, a dye decoration which can last a limited time, on their palms, and then they will finally get colorful hand paintings. Many homes that celebrate Diwali have various types of sweets, salty and spiced food as well as Diwali herbs （香料）. Various lights, candles and sparklers are lit inside and outside homes, particularly in courtyards, on Diwali. Diwali is not a nationwide public holiday in Canada but it is a prevalent festival celebrated in many towns and cities. There may be traffic jams and parking places may be full in areas where events are held to celebrate Diwali. Some Indian businesses may close early on Diwali.

Diwali is called the "Festival of Lights" and is celebrated to honor Rama, a hero who once fought and won a battle against the demons（恶魔）. In the past, people lit their houses to celebrate his victory over demons（light over darkness）. At the same time, every household did careful and complete cleaning at home in advance. It is believed that the goddess of happiness and good fortune, Lakshmi travels around the Earth on this day and enters the house that is pure, clean, and bright.

Diwali celebrations may vary in different communities but its spiritual meaning is generally "the awareness of the inner light". As the word “Deepavali” means “a row or cluster of light”, the festival symbolizes the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness.

1. What can we learn about Diwali from the first two paragraphs?

A．It is celebrated on a fixed day.

B．It centers on various local food.

C．People stay up late to prepare for It.

D．People from all walks of life enjoy celebrating it.

2. What does the underlined word "prevalent" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Popular.	B．Free.
C．Serious.	D．Funny.

3. According to Paragraph 3, why did people make their houses bright and clean on Diwali?

A．To pray for good journey.

B．To expect joy and good luck.

C．To create a romantic atmosphere.

D．To welcome their friends to visit.

4. What's the present meaning of Diwali?

A．Showing respect for others.

B．Staying straight and positive.

C．Valuing your family members.

D．Improving your living environment.

5. What is the author's purpose in writing this passage?

A．To stress the importance of a public holiday.

B．To tell an interesting story about a Canadian festival.

C．To briefly introduce a traditional festival in Canada.

D．To show different holiday celebrations in Western cultures.

4 . Great Barrier Reef Choking on Pollutants

Attempts to protect the Great Barrier Reef are failing. A report released Monday by the government in Australia says water quality in the Great Barrier Reef is far below what it should be. It showed that pollution have decreased, but not enough to reach environmental targets.

Sediment (沉淀物) and chemicals can weaken coral, hurting its ability to feed and grow. Coral are live animals that take root in the ocean floor, but they are not plants. Reefs are the hard skeletons (骨架) left at the bottom of the sea by small marine creatures called polyps (珊瑚虫). The polyps then form the larger structure of a reef. Corals also are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the entire planet. They can make a home for invertebrates, crustaceans, fish, and sea snakes.

Steve Miles is Queensland’s environment minister. He says the research shows the Reef needs more protection. “Over that five-year period, we did see some progress towards our targets. Sediment is down 12 percent and pesticides (杀虫剂) loads are down 30 percent. But what is most disturbing is that these results are far from our targets. Progress towards these targets flat-lined in the period 2013-2014. If one of my kids came home with a report card like this, I would be a bit disappointed. There is more bad news here than good news. ” said Steve Miles.

The report also found that fewer than one-third of Queensland’s sugar plantations used techniques to reduce the use of pesticides. Only 28 percent of land managers managed their land properly. They had reduced harmful water run off to protect the health of the Reef. The official target is a 90 percent reduction in pesticide use within three years.

Scientists at the University of Queensland and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences published their findings Wednesday, July 18 in the journal Science Advances. It found between 1992 and 2010, the recovery rate dropped by an average of 84 percent. But there is hope. The study also found some corals can recover quickly if “acute and chronic stressors” are lessened.

Meanwhile, the Australian government released its updated reef protection plan Friday. It clearly states global temperatures must be stopped from rising in order to save the world’s largest living structure.

1. What does the underlined word “They” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Diverse ecosystems.	B．Sediment and chemicals.
C．Reefs and corals.	D．Small sea creatures.

2. What can be learned from what Steve Miles said?

A．He is satisfied with the protection of the Reef.

B．He thinks that the Reef needs more protection.

C．He feels angry with what his children did.

D．He is very happy about the Reef progress protection.

3. What does the underlined word “flat-lined” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Not increase significantly.	B．Disappear.
C．Speed up.	D．Miss the chance.

4. The report found the majority of land managers in Queensland   ________.

A．were tough to deal with	B．failed to manage their land properly
C．reduced the amount of harmful water	D．were eager to quit pesticide soon

5. Where is the passage most likely to have been taken from?

A．A news report.	B．A science fiction.
C．A book review.	D．A guide book.

5 . If I could give today's young people three wishes, they would be: More hugs. More time outside in nature. More belief in their own power to change the world. While most people understand the importance of the first two wishes, the third one leaves some folks wondering why young people's belief in their own power is so essential.

Let's start with the idea that all of us-especially young people-need heroes. We need them to be our guides on the difficult trail(足迹)we call life and to show us just how far we can go. And we need heroes today more than ever. Our modern society is terribly confused about the difference between a celebrity and a hero. And the difference: is vital. A celebrity is all about fame(名望)-temporary, superficial fame, usually for qualities that are easy to see: a pretty face, a great dance move. A hero，by contrast, is about character-qualities under the surface that aren't visible until they take action.

Heroes are all around us. They truly hold our world together, through their unselfish devotion to helping others, teaching children, and protecting the environment. They don't want fame, or glory; they just want to help. In so many ways, these unsung heroes pilot the boat in which all of us sail.

Yet, young people hear a lot more about celebrities than about heroes in the media. The hidden message they get from all this is that their self-worth comes from what they buy-which shoes, which cell phone--not who they are down inside. What gets lost in this? Young people's sense of their own potential for heroic qualities--their own power to make a positive difference in the world. Truth is, there is a potential hero, a future difference maker, in every young person. Each of them, from whatever background, is a positive force who can do something. All it takes for that to be true is belief.

How do we help young people believe in their own power? The best way is simply to share examples, of other young people who have made a difference.

Ryan, age 11, has worked tirelessly to raise money to provide clean drinking water to African villages. When he first heard about the plight(困苦)of African children who died from impure water, Ryan was only six years old. In the next five years, he raised over $500,000-enough to build over 70 water wells.

Barbara, age 17, grew up on a farm in Texas. When she realized that local farmers were pouring their used motor oil into rivers, causing pollution, she organized the creation of a recycling center for crude(未加提炼的)oil. Her project has grown to include 18 recycling centers in Texas.

The list could continue.These are but a few examples of young people who have discovered that they can build on their own energy to do something great.

1. What is the author's purpose in writing Paragraph 2?

A．To give examples of celebrities and heroes around us.

B．To discuss the differences between celebrities and heroes.

C．To provide definitions of the words “celebrity” and “hero” .

D．To explain the details about being celebrities and heroes.

2. Read the origin of the underlined word“superficial”.

from the Latin super-("on top of")and -facies("face")

Based on this information, what is the meaning of the word “superficial” in Paragraph 2?

A．Not known.

B．Unexpected.

C．Undeveloped.

D．Without depth.

3. What could be inferred from Paragraph 3?

A．Heroes make the world go round.

B．Heroes must believe in themselves.

C．Heroes focus on social welfare programs.

D．Heroes promote cooperation between people.

4. What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

A．Heroes and celebrities are both valued today.

B．Society doesn't support the development of heroes.

C．The media turn ordinary celebrities into real heroes.

D．Young people don't have the belief in their own strength.

5. How does the author advance his view that young people have the potential to be a hero?

A．By defining the qualities that make a young person a hero.

B．By contrasting the achievements made by different young people.

C．By giving examples of young people who show the qualities of a hero.

D．By providing examples of qualities that have made young people famous.

6. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．More heroes are needed in the world.

B．Celebrities are reported too much in the media.

C．Adults should become role models for young people.

D．Young people should believe in their ability to make a difference.

6 . To grow sugary dates in the sand, Siwa’s farmers must first make the desert suitable for farming. An oasis (绿洲) in Egypt, Siwa has been home to humans for thousands of years. Since ancient times, the oasis has hosted farms producing some of the most valuable dates in Egypt, and sugary dates have appeared on Egyptians, tables.

The desert environment in Siwa is not quite fit for plants to grow. For example, the water there contains much salt. However, with local people’s efforts, the Siwa oasis contains complex agricultural fields, where date trees, crops and other plants grow in harmony. That impressed me a lot during my visit to the oasis. To make a new piece of field, farmers first remove the top soil and replace it with a mixture of sand and waste matter from animals. The first plants are medicinal plants. Then, farmers plant date trees and olive trees. These farming skills are passed down from generation to generation.

To grow date trees is demanding. And it takes 10 years for a new date tree to mature, but once it does, the tree produces generous fruit: around 110 pounds of dates per year. Each farmer picks dates with the skilled hands. They climb the trees using nothing more than a belt. In total, Siwa grows more than 25,000 tons of dates from 280,000 trees per year.

The dates can be eaten fresh, or made dry. Every part of the date tree is significant in Siwa, from leaves made into beds and boxes to wood used to build houses. And then, of course, there’s the fruit itself. The dates can be cooked with goat meat or mixed with eggs for breakfast. They can also be mixed with flour, water, and olive oil, and boiled slowly to make a local dessert.

Local farmers once developed many unique date varieties, which their camels carried to Cairo. But later many of those varieties perished. And today only several major varieties remain and some have become quite rare and been at risk. The 1985 construction of a road in the oasis made the survival of local agricultural tradition even tougher.

1. What can we learn about sugary dates from Paragraph 1?

A．They can adapt to tough environment.

B．They have existed for a long time.

C．They’re introduced to Egypt from abroad.

D．They’re the most valuable fruit in Egypt.

2. What impressed the author a lot during his visit to Siwa?

A．The great variety of plants grown there,

B．The hard but happy life of local people.

C．The great complexity of the local agriculture.

D．The local farmers’ wisdom and contribution to farming.

3. What do the figures mentioned in Paragraph 3 show?

A．It’s worthwhile to make an effort to grow date trees.

B．It’s easy for farmers to pick dates from the trees.

C．It costs a lot to grow date trees in the basis.

D．It’s necessary to develop agriculture in Siwa.

4. What’s Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．People’s preference for dates.

B．The introduction to local food,

C．The usage of date trees’ different parts.

D．The locals’ high expectations of date trees.

5. What does the underlined word “perished” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Died out.	B．Spread out.
C．Got created.	D．Became known.

7 . Students are sitting in a classroom at P.S.54, a public elementary school in Brooklyn, New York. When their teacher, Adrienne Heim, strikes a bell, they take a deep breath.

The kids are practicing mindfulness. That means they are learning to pay attention to the present moment. Why?

Being mindful can help people stay calm and focused, according to Heim. She is the founder of Green Generations. The organization brings mindfulness classes to eight schools in New York City.

Isafye Lewis, 10, has been taking in the class at P.S.54 for two years. "Mindfulness teaches me to relax, " he told TFK. "It really helps me feel better when I'm sad or angry."

At P.S.54, students practice mindfulness through deep breathing, movement, and relaxation exercises. But Heim says that mindfulness is about more than just staying calm. It also boosts confidence. "It helps children have a right attitude, " She says, "so they can make healthy decisions."

Recent research published in Developmental Psychology supports this view. The study also found that mindfulness training can help kids succeed in school. That's because it trains the brain to pay attention and manage stress.

"It doesn't solve math equations for kids," Mariam Gates, author of This Moment Is Your Life, told TFK. "But what mindfulness does for all of us is help us focus on the moment we're in, which is the only place we can learn, change, or grow."

But you don't have to be in a classroom to practice mindfulness. Gates says, "You can always bring your attention to this moment and change how you experience it."

1. Why do the students take a deep breath when the teacher strikes a bell?

A．They are afraid of the teacher.	B．They are practising mindfullness.
C．They are taking an exam.	D．They are having singing class.

2. What does Isafye learn from mindfulness?

A．How to take it easy.	B．How to stay focused.
C．How to stop being sad.	D．How to get high grades.

3. What does the underlined word "boosts" in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．shakes.

B．studies.

C．raises.

D．requires.

4. What did Mariam Gates say about mindfulness?

A．It does little to help kids' studies.	B．It helps kids make decisions.
C．It makes kids less stressful.	D．It helps kids pay attention.

5. What is this text mainly about?

A．An organization centered on mindfulness.	B．A new study on mindfulness.
C．An introduction to mindfulness.	D．The influences of mindfulness.

8 . Although it has been revealed in recent years that plants are capable of seeing, hearing and smelling, they are still usually thought of as silent.But now, for the first time, Itzhak Khait and his colleagues at Tel Aviv University in Israel found that tomato and tobacco plants made sounds at frequencies humans cannot hear when stressed by a lack of water or when their stem is cut.Microphones placed 10 centimetres from the plants picked up sounds in the ultrasonic(超声波的) range of 20 to 100 kilohertz, which the team says insects and some mammals would be capable of hearing and responding to from as far as 5 metres away.A moth(蛾) may decide against laying eggs on a plant that sounds water-stressed, the researchers suggest.Plants could even hear that other plants are short of water and react accordingly, they guess.

Plants exposed to drought stress have been shown to experience cavitation—a process where air bubbles(气泡) form, expand and explode inside tissue that transports water.These explosions produce sound, but they have only ever been recorded using devices directly connected to the plant.

On average, drought-stressed tomato plants made 35 sounds an hour, while tobacco plants made 11.When plant stems were cut, tomato plants made an average of 25 sounds in the following hour, and tobacco plants 15.Unstressed plants produced fewer than one sound per hour, on average.

The researchers trained a machine-learning model to distinguish differences between the plants’ sounds and the wind, rain and other noises of the greenhouse, correctly identifying in most cases whether the stress was caused by dryness or a cut, based on the sound’s intensity(强度)and frequency.Water-hungry tobacco appears to make louder sounds than cut tobacco, for example.

Enabling farmers to listen for water-stressed plants could “open a new direction in the field of precision agriculture”, the researchers suggest.They add that such an ability will be increasingly important as climate change exposes more areas to drought.Anne Visscher, working at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK, warns that the results can’t yet be broadened out to other stresses, such as salt or temperature, because these may not lead to sounds.In addition, there have been no experiments to show whether moths(飞蛾） or any other animal can hear and respond to the sounds the plants make, so that idea remains speculative for now, she says.

1. What does the new study find about plants?

A．Stressed plants tend to lack water.

B．The stressed plants can make sounds.

C．Some plants can take in humans’ sounds.

D．Some plants can have a bad effect on animals.

2. What can we learn about cavitation according to paragraph2?

A．It may contribute to the plants’ sounds.

B．It may lead to plants experiencing drought.

C．It is determined by the number of air bubbles.

D．It was identified and recorded for the first time.

3. How many sounds does the tobacco plant make one hour on average when cut?

A．35

B．11

C．25

D．15

4. What does paragraph4 mainly talk about?

A．why some tobacco makes louder sounds.

B．why the surroundings are vital to plants.

C．how important the sound’s intensity and frequency are.

D．how to distinguish between the sounds to know what the stress is.

5. What can best replace the underlined word “speculative” in the last paragraph?

A．reasonable

B．tentative

C．inspiring

D．ridiculous

9 . A new study has found no evidence that sunscreen, commonly used to reduce the risk of skin cancer, actually increases the risk.

Researchers from the University of Iowa based their findings on a review of 18 earlier studies that looked at the associstion between sunscreen use and melanoms(黑素瘤). They said that they found flaws in studies that had reported associations between sunscreen use and higher risk of melanoma.

Most health experts believe that by protecting the skin from the harmful effects of the sun, sunscreen helps prevent skin cancer, which is increasing in incidence (发生率) faster than any other cancer in the United States.

But questions have been raised about sunscreen and whether it may have the opposite effect, perhaps by allowing people to remain exposed to the sun longer without burning.

The researchers said that among the problems with some earlier studies is that they often failed to take into account that those people most at risk for skin cancer—people with fair skin and freckles（雀斑）, for example—are more likely to use sunscreen. As a result, it may appear that sunscreen users get cancer more often.

The studies, which generally relied on volunteers to recall their sunscreen use, were also unable to prove how well the products had been applied, said the new study.

1. What is the meaning of the underlined word “flaws” in the 2^nd paragraph?

A．Evidences

B．Facts

C．Faults

D．Failures

2. Which of the following is true about people with fair skin and freckles?

A．They seldom use sunscreen.

B．They are more in danger of skin cancer.

C．They can be free from the harm of the sun.

D．They often expose themselves to the sun.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Sunscreen users get skin cancer more often.

B．The volunteers have proved the effect of sunscreen.

C．The new study was based on the experiences of volunteers.

D．The number of skin cancer patients is increasing in America.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A．Sunscreen to Prevent Skin Cancer

B．Sunscreen to Increase Skin Cancer

C．Skin Cancer Caused by Sunscreen

D．Skin Cancer Caused by Freckles

10 . If you have ever talked about your dreams with your friends, you may have noticed something interesting. Some of your friends rarely remember their dreams, while others can describe their dreams very clearly. Why do people remember dreams differently?

The answer is simple: they are two different types of dreamers --- low—recall dreamers and high-recall dreamers.

According to researchers at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center in France, high-recall dreamers reported they remembered their dreams almost every day while low — recall dreamers said they only remembered their dreams once or twice a month, reported Live Science.

Perrine Ruby, a lead scientist at the research center in Lyon, studied 41 people （21 high-recall dreamers and 20 low-recall dreamers） and recorded their brain activity.

She found that a part of the brain called the temporo-parietal junction （前颞顶叶交 界处）was more active in high-recall dreamers. This was true both when they were sleeping and awake.

This area of the brain is responsible for collecting and processing information from the outside world. This means that high-recall dreamers are more sensitive to what is happening around them. For example, when they are awake, they respond more strongly to hearing their own names. When they are sleeping, they tend to be woken up more easily by sounds and movements.

By closely studying people's brain activity, Ruby found that high-recall dreamers have twice as much "wakefulness during sleep as low-recall dreamers do. And it is during these short periods of wakefulness that the brain memorizes dreams.

This is not hard to understand. Just try to think of your own sleeping experience. If you are restless during the night, you are more likely to remember your dreams, but if you sleep well and soundly, you tend to remember very little in the morning. This is because “you never get a chance to remember”, Robert Stick gold, a Harvard Medical School researcher, told The Washington Post.

As another research project at the University of Turku in Finland showed, dream content can also affect our memory. Negative dreams are easier to recall than ordinary dreams. Nightmares （噩梦）are often recalled because they are emotionally negative, and such dreams evoke fear.

1. What can we know about high-recall dreamers according to the article?

A．They have very little brain activity when they sleep.

B．They can remember their dreams clearly.

C．They don't know how to describe their dreams.

D．They remember their dreams twice a week.

2. Compared to high-recall dreamers, low — recall dreamers.

A．have higher quality sleep

B．have more sleepless nights

C．are more easily woken at night

D．respond faster when hearing their names

3. What is the main purpose of the 8^th paragraph?

A．To explain Ruby's findings.

B．To attract readers' interest in future studies.

C．To show the advantages of being a low -recall dreamer.

D．To suggest what to do to become a low — recall dreamer.

4. What did the research project in Finland find?

A．Ordinary dreams can help our brain rest.

B．Dreams are often affected by our emotions.

C．Nightmares often happen when we don't sleep well.

D．Negative dreams are more likely to be recalled.

5. What does the underlined word "evoke" in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．approve of

B．define

C．result in

D．extend