1 . Are you troubled by housework, such as cleaning tables or tidying your room? Do you need a helping hand? Recently, the robot Mobile Aloha made by scientists at Stanford University in the US became popular online. In the videos posted, we can see the robot preparing dishes on its own. It’s also good at watering plants, petting cats, cleaning the floor and washing clothes.
Sounds good? Well, another video posted by researchers may disappoint some people. Mobile Aloha isn’t good at doing housework on its own. Instead, it learns from human actions before doing each kind of housework. When the situation changes, it can’t work well without a human “teaching” it. So it may break dishes, bump into (撞上) things and even burn a pot.
The robot can successfully move chairs 80 percent of the time, said the team after they did more research on it. For cooking dishes, it’s only 40 percent. In short, it’s far from perfect.
In fact, AI robots are good at tasks such as math and playing chess, but they face challenges when it comes to simpler actions like cleaning. And it’s the same for Mobile Aloha. For example, if its body doesn’t move correctly — even just with a small mistake, its arm may move too far to pick up a glass.
“Robots are not ready to take over the world,” the team posted online.1. How does the writer begin the passage?
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By asking questions. |
| C．By showing a finding. | D．By imagining a scene. |
| A．To show the latest findings of the team. |
| B．To prove that robots can do nothing right. |
| C．To support an opinion that robots are far from perfect. |
| D．To explain the main function of Mobile Aloha is moving chairs. |
| A．The importance of robots to the world. | B．The latest research on robots. |
| C．Some disadvantages of robots. | D．Some ways to produce perfect robots. |
| A．EDUCATION. | B．CULTURE. | C．PEOPLE. | D．TECHNOLOGY. |
During ancient times, children didn't have smart phones, iPads or computers to entertainment them. Instead, they came up with interesting games to play in their childhood. Let's take a look.
| Hide and-seek is a traditional game for children. It's popular around the nation. There are two ways to play: covering a child's eyes while other kids run around to play a trick on him or more commonly, others hide and one child must try to find them. |
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| Kites have quite a long history in China. The earliest kites weren't made of paper. They were made of wood instead. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite. Tianjin kite and Weifang kite. Each has its own style. For example. the bird-shaped kite with long wings is a special kind of the Beijing kite. |
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| The most similar thing to watching a film during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. The artists controlled puppets behind the screen to make them move like people and tell stories. People liked listening to the music and enjoyed the beautiful puppets. |
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| During the Qing Dynasty (1644 — 1911). kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in the winter to keep warm. Stones were carved into small balls and kicked along with feet. |
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1. How can hide-and-seek be played?
| A．One plays and others watch. | B．On must cry and others laugh. |
| C．Others hide and one tries to find. | D．One runs and others try to catch. |
| A．kicking stone balls | B．flying kites |
| C．watching shadow plays | D．playing hide-and-seek |
| A．Artists. | B．Puppets. | C．People. | D．Stories. |
| A．Tianjin is famous for the bird-shaped kite with long wings |
| B．all the children must cover their eyes while playing hide--and-seek |
| C．the puppets couldn't move like people with the artists' controlling |
| D．kicking a stone ball was popular in the northern part of China during the Qing Dynasty |
3 . The summer vacation is coming. It’s time to relax. Come to join us!
World Youth Alliance (青年联盟) Asia Pacific SUMMER CAMPJUNE 30~JULY 4,2024 Subic Park Hotel, Zambales, the Philippines (菲律宾) | |
| WHAT TO EXPECT ·Develop your leadership and social skills through our all kinds of team-building activities. ·Have the chance to communicate with other young people and make new friends from different Asia-Pacific countries. ·Get the chances to take part in other WYA interational acivities. ·Understand that you have your own importance and value through our WAY training program, | HOW MUCH TO PAY ·Local teenagers: $125 each person ·Teenagers from other Asia-Pacific countries: $170 each person HOW TO APPLY (申请) ·Download the application form on our website wya, net/apsummercamp and email your form to wyaap. summercamp @ gmail, com. ·Please apply before April 30, 2024. CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION wуаар.summercamp@gmail.com +639210890 |
1. How long will the summer camp last?
| A．For four days. | B．For five days. |
| C．For a week. | D．For a month. |
| A．125. | B．170. |
| C．1,020. | D．750. |
| A．People of all ages can take part in the summer camp. |
| B．People from any country can apply for the summer camp. |
| C．People can only call to learn more about the summer camp. |
| D．People should apply two months before the summer camp starts. |
| A．A geography magazine. | B．A research paper. |
| C．A travel guide. | D．A sports magazine. |
4 . Birds usually build their nests with sticks, leaves or grass. But do you know that birds are also building their nests with rubbish these years? The rubbish includes cigarette butts（烟头）and plastic bags.
A group of European scientists looked into（调查）about 35,000 studies on bird nests. They found that birds have used man-made things in nests almost everywhere on Earth except Antarctica. Some rubbish seems to be helpful. This is why birds “like” putting it in their nests. For example, cigarette butts have a special smell, so they can keep insects away and protect the baby birds. Plastic bags are useful in keeping the animals warm, and other hard things, such as paper cards, can make nests stronger.
However, in the end, human rubbish may only bring more harm to birds. The toxic（有毒的）chemicals in cigarettes hurt the baby birds. They may get sick or have shorter lives, according to a study.
To make matters worse, if the cigarette still burns when the bird brings it back to its home, it may set fire to the nest. Pieces of fishing net may also trap birds, and it’s impossible for them to get out by themselves. If the baby birds eat other kinds of rubbish by accident, they will also get hurt. Our bird friends in the air are feeling the bad effects of humans polluting the environment.
1. What did the European scientists find?| A．Some people help birds build their nests. |
| B．There is rubbish in the nests of many birds. |
| C．There is almost no bird living in Antarctica. |
| D．Birds can help clean the environment. |
| A．Paper cards. | B．Cigarette butts. |
| C．Plastic bags. | D．Wooden boards. |
| A．They can burn other harmful rubbish. |
| B．They can make nests stronger. |
| C．They can keep insects away. |
| D．They can keep birds warm. |
| A．Human rubbish may bring more harm to birds. |
| B．The harm that the environment brings to the wild animals. |
| C．The reason why birds like using rubbish to build their nests. |
| D．The harmful activities that humans have done to the environment. |
5 . One day, a woman bought a parrot (鹦鹉) from a pet store. However, the woman decided to send the parrot back to the store the next day. “This bird doesn’t talk,” she told the pet store owner. “Does he have a mirror?” the owner asked. “Parrots enjoy watching themselves in it.” So the woman bought one and left.
The next day, she came back, saying that the bird still didn’t say anything. “How about a ladder (梯子)? Parrots love ladders,” the owner said. The woman bought a ladder and left.
But the next day, she went back a third time. “Does your parrot have a swing (秋千)? No? Well, once he starts swinging, he’ll talk a lot happily,” the owner said. The woman then bought a swing and left.
When she walked into the store the next day, she began to cry and said sadly, “The parrot died.” The pet store owner was surprised at what she said. “What? I’m sorry. Tell me, did he say anything?” he asked. “Yes, right before he died,” the woman answered in a low voice, “he asked me weakly, ‘Don’t they sell any food at that pet store?’”
Sometimes we forget what’s really necessary in life. We sometimes have lots of things to do at once, but we forget to do with the most important things first. We have to remember to “feed the parrots” in our lives.
1. The woman bought ______ for the parrot from the pet shop owner.①a cage ②a mirror ③a ladder ④a swing ⑤some food
| A．①②⑤ | B．②③④ | C．①②③ | D．②③ |
| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
| A．the woman gave him nothing to eat | B．he couldn’t enjoy himself in the mirror |
| C．he couldn’t fly in the sky like others | D．the woman was angry and killed him |
| A．喂养鹦鹉 | B．放飞鹦鹉 | C．做最重要的事情 | D．让鹦鹉唱歌 |
6 . Have you ever heard of the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”? Well, in Chinese, we have an expression called “yi mao qu ren”.
Imagine you meet someone new at school. They might look different from you in hair, clothes, or looks. It’s important not to make any judgments about them just because of how they look.
Sometimes, people make a mistake by judging others by their looks. They might think someone is mean or unfriendly just because they have a serious face or wear unusual clothes. But what meets the eye isn’t always the truth!
In fact, people are like books with many, many pages. We need to read more and more pages to understand them. That means getting to know them, talking to them, and learning about their interests and personalities.
Think about your best friends. When you met them at early time, you might not have known they would become your best friends. But as you spent time together and got to know each other, you realized how amazing they are.
By not judging people by their looks, we open our hearts to new people in our lives. We start to understand and treasure the distinctions between us, like different cultures, backgrounds, and ways of thinking.
So, let’s keep an open mind and be nice to everyone we meet. Let’s treat others with kindness and fairness, no matter how they look. When we do that, we make a world where everyone feels important and accepted for who they are. After all, the most amazing things are hidden—within every one of us!
1. How does the writer begin the text?| A．By listing numbers. | B．By showing a saying. |
| C．By giving an example. | D．By making an expectation. |
| A．Cultures. | B．Differences. | C．Successes. | D．Advantages. |
| A．With a happy mind. | B．With a serious face. |
| C．With kindness and fairness. | D．With some doubts. |
| A．Try to Read More Books | B．Try to Understand Others Better |
| C．Don’t Be Unfriendly to Others | D．Don’t Judge People by Their Looks |
7 . Have you read The Tale of Peter Rabbit? It’s a very famous children’s book, written by Beatrix Potter.
Beatrix was born in 1866. She and her brother kept many small animals as pets — rabbits, mice, frogs and even bats! They both liked to draw their pets, but Beatrix liked drawing animals from her own imagination most. She also loved enjoying and drawing nature when they visited beautiful places like Scotland and the Lake District.
To make some money, Beatrix started drawing cards with animals. She liked writing and illustrating (图解) letters too. One day, she wrote a letter to her friend’s son, and told the story of Peter Rabbit. She decided to make the story into a book. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902, and it was a great success! She wrote, illustrated and published many more books. She also created dolls, painting books, games and other things according to her characters.
Three years after The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published, Beatrix bought a farm in the Lake District. She learned about farming and bought more farms and land to help protect the landscape. She enjoyed country life very much, and was very active in protecting the environment.
When Beatrix died, she left almost all her farms and land to the National Trust, an organization which protects historic places and landscapes. You can even visit Hill Top Farm today, which is exactly like it was when Beatrix lived there!
So if you haven’t read The Tale of Peter Rabbit, or other Beatrix Potter’s books, why not visit your local library or bookshop today?
1. What inspired Beatrix Potter to write “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”?| A．Her love for farming. | B．A letter to a friend’s son. |
| C．Her interest in the environment. | D．A visit to the Lake District. |
| A．She taught art classes. | B．She created dolls and games. |
| C．She worked for the National Trust. | D．She became a professional farmer. |
| A．By writing books about it. | B．By delivering speeches. |
| C．By donating money. | D．By buying farms and land. |
| A．They were sold to private investors. | B．They were left to the National Trust. |
| C．They were turned into public parks. | D．They were used for agricultural research. |
8 . Last May, my 15-year-old son Ben, informed his mother and me that he would like to attend an upcoming rap concert of Kendrick Lamar. We told our son that he was too young to go to a concert in Toronto alone. But my son refused to take no for an answer.
A few weeks later I happened to be in Ottawa visiting my mother and her sister, Martha. I complained to them about the absurdity (荒唐) of my situation: a man in his fifties attending a rap concert so that his son could go! Then they told me a story.
In the summer of 1964, my aunt Martha, then an 11-year-old girl begged her father, Cuthbert, who was 61, to attend a concert of the Beatles. Cuthbert had to drive Martha from Ottawa to Montreal to see the Fab Four. Once the band came on the stage, the crowd exploded. Poor old Cuthbert didn’t know what had hit him. But as the band started to sing, Cuthbert found he was getting into it. His foot was tapping (轻拍). By the time McCartney started to sing, Cuthbert appeared to have forgotten that he was a respected lawyer.
If Cuthbert could attend a Beatles concert without embarrassing his daughter, I could do something similar for my son. The first thing to do was to learn something about Mr. Lamar and his music. I downloaded and listened to all his albums. I even had some discussions with Ben about what to wear.
The truth is the concert was great. While Kendrick Lamar may still not be my favourite, I’m glad my son introduced me to him, and I’m glad I went.
Often, we don’t keep an open mind to new things and new experiences. Fortunately, we have children, like Ben and Martha, to help us do that.
1. What did the author complain about to his mother and aunt?| A．He was too old to go to a rap concert. |
| B．His son argued with him again. |
| C．His son was so crazy about travel. |
| D．He had too many questions to answer. |
| A．He got a bad headache. |
| B．He began to enjoy the concert. |
| C．He forgot the time for his work. |
| D．He was knocked off his feet. |
| A．The Beatles concert. |
| B．The author’s feelings about the concert. |
| C．The author’s preparation for the concert. |
| D．Differences between the two concerts. |
| A．New Information About My Family |
| B．How a Rapper Lifted My Day |
| C．What My Grandfather Did for His Kid |
| D．How My Son’s Determination Changed Me |
 Learn With Homer Price: Free Skill: Comprehension, Phonics(拼读法) Grade level: Pre-K, K Device: iPad |
It’s a learn-to-read app for kids aged 3-6 that includes drawing, voice recording, songs, ad more, along with traditional phonics exercises. This app can be helpful for kids who have production problems and language organization problems. |
 Inspiration Maps Price: $9.99 Skill: Comprehension, Writing Grade level: 4th and above Device: iPad |
It is a mind-mapping tool that helps kids visually(视觉上) organize ideas. They can create maps, organizers, brainstorms and text outlines. Outlines can be changed to maps, and maps can be changed to outlines. Users can share creations by emailing, printing, or saving to iTunes, Dropbox, Photos or the app (as PDF or PNG files). The lite version (简化版本), which is free, lets kids create up to five mind maps with no sharing choices. |
 Aesop’s Quest Price: $0.99 Skill: Comprehension Grade level: 2nd, 3rd, 4th Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch |
Aesop’s Quest, based on Aesop’s Fables, is a learning game where the student must remember parts of a story to complete a level. At the end of each story level, the student is rewarded with tests. After solving the tests, the story is complete and the student can continue to read the next story. Developed together with the Virginia Department of Education. |
 LightSail Price: Free Skill: Comprehension Grade level: Pre-K, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and above Device: iPad |
LightSail is an e-reading platform that helps teachers support their students’ independent reading. Students can use LightSali to check out texts from their schools’ online libraries and read the books directly on their iPad. As students progress through a book, questions appear to check their comprehension. As students complete these assessments(评定), they earn prizes. |
| A．singing songs | B．reading stories |
| C．making speeches | D．learning foreign languages |
| A．Aesop’s Quest. | B．Learn With Homer. |
| C．LightSail. | D．Inspiration Maps. |
| A．Remember every part of the previous story. |
| B．Retell the previous story completely. |
| C．Solve the tests of the previous story. |
| D．Finish reading the previous story. |
| A．It is developed mainly for teachers. |
| B．It has no access to school libraries. |
| C．It helps users complete school assessments. |
| D．It develops users’ comprehension through games. |
10 . Our mother has to leave home every day before we go to school. She has to walk twelve blocks to take the bus to work. We think it’s terrible that there is no bus that comes closer to our street.
I said to my mother, “This is a public transportation system. It is our system. It should come closer to our home. I do not want you to walk that far to get to the bus.” She agreed, but she said it would take more than one family to get the bus line to change. I told my mother I would ask my teacher about it. We could do a study and maybe start a petition (请愿书).
My teacher liked the idea. He said we could do the survey. So our class surveyed all our parents. We collected our survey data and made a table. We found that 90% of all the parents would use the bus more if it was easier to get to. We also found that only 20% of the parents could get to it easily, just by walking five blocks. For all the others, it took between 6 and 12 blocks.
We made a map to show how the bus route (路线) could be changed to reach people in our community more easily. Then my teacher called the alderman (市议员) to see if we could meet to talk about our study.
The alderman was impressed. She said we had done a really good job of thinking out the problem and a solution. She promised she would talk with the head of the transportation system about it.
Now my mother can leave later, and she only has to walk four blocks to get to the bus. When she leaves in the morning, she always says, “Son, I’m so glad you got the bus route changed.”
1. According to the first two paragraphs, the author wanted to ______.| A．get the public transportation system improved |
| B．walk with his mother to the bus stop |
| C．invite more families to take the bus |
| D．ask his teacher about a study plan |
| A．90% of the parents took the bus to work because it was easier to get to. |
| B．20% of the parents lived within five blocks to the bus stop. |
| C．Most parents used to wait for the bus to pick them up. |
| D．Only a few parents sent their kids to school by bus. |
| A．Worried. | B．Annoyed. |
| C．Moved. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．We should take notice of our family life. |
| B．We should communicate with others. |
| C．The harder we study, the greater progress we’ll make. |
| D．As long as we make efforts, we’ll make a difference. |
