2 . Blinking is the opening and closing of the eyelid (眼睑). Usually we blink once every four seconds during the_____ hours of every day. That is about 15 times per ____. So a person who sleeps 8 hours a day blinks about 14,400 times each day! And it all ___   automatically (无意识地).

The lids of our eyes ____ much like a car’s windscreen wipers, which are used to remove rain from a windscreen. However, they move very quickly so our eyesight is not damaged. So_____ do we blink, and why is blinking so ____?

For one thing, blinking helps ____ our eyes. As we know, eyelashes (睫毛) help ____ dust and other tiny things out. However, sometimes they still ____ the eye. Blinking helps remove them to keep the eyes from becoming ____. If you start blinking fiercely, it probably ____ you have something in your eyes.

Blinking ____ keeps the eyes lubricated (润滑). Our eyes have tiny tear glands (泪腺), which can keep the eyes wet. ____ our eyelids blink, the glands produce tears. A film of tears coats the eyes and prevents them from becoming too_____.

Have you ever had your picture taken and your eyes started to blink ____? That is because blinking also protects the eyes from strong ____. You may also ____ more when cutting fresh onions. The vegetable produces a gas that makes the eyes tear up and blink.

There are other reasons why we blink. Our eyes ____ blink more during times of worry than when we are calm. ____ we often blink less when we are doing a difficult task. Tiredness, disease, and injury to the eyes can also_____ how much we blink and how often.

1.

A．early

B．sleeping

C．busy

D．waking

2.

A．second

B．minute

C．hour

D．day

3.

A．closes

B．practices

C．happens

D．passes

4.

A．begin

B．shake

C．change

D．move

5.

A．what

B．why

C．how

D．where

6.

A．different

B．strange

C．important

D．simple

7.

A．protect

B．save

C．remove

D．use

8.

A．cut

B．put

C．keep

D．work

9.

A．clean

B．catch

C．enter

D．turn

10.

A．broken

B．damaged

C．lost

D．stuck

11.

A．means

B．seems

C．decides

D．agrees

12.

A．still

B．never

C．just

D．also

13.

A．When

B．Though

C．Unless

D．Because

14.

A．dirty

B．cold

C．dry

D．empty

15.

A．easily

B．endlessly

C．weakly

D．rapidly

16.

A．forces

B．lights

C．feelings

D．pains

17.

A．produce

B．show

C．need

D．blink

18.

A．seldom

B．usually

C．once

D．hardly

19.

A．But

B．So

C．For

D．Or

20.

A．check

B．record

C．affect

D．tell

3 . Circus Returns

It’s March and that means we are again welcoming the Circus (马戏团) Under the Stars to our town.

Ringmaster (马戏表演领班) Ferdinand Diego promises that it will be full of surprises for the whole family. Diego says, “This year we are presenting forty different performers. We are especially pleased to add the Flying Montinis to our circus family. They are known throughout Europe for their dangerous trapeze (高空秋千) acts. In fact, Ernestine Montini was the first female to perform a triple flip (空翻三周), and you can see her performance nightly in our show.”

Charley Smith’s performances have been the favorite act of local children in past shows. Charley will be with the circus again this year. Smith promises to be “a little smarter, but just as silly” this time around. He will surely leave the crowd laughing.

Right after their shows here, the performers will begin a three-month tour in South America. So make sure you buy your tickets early. The circus will be in town for only one week, from Wednesday, June 5, through Sunday, June 9. There will be evening performances Thursday through Sunday at 7 P.M.

Matinees (午后场) will be held at 2 P.M. on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Performances will again be at the Civic Center, 454 Oak Street in Bakersville.

Call 555-6789 for ticket information.

1. Which part of the show will be new this year?

A．Its name.

B．Its location.

C．Charley Smith.

D．The trapeze artists.

2. When will the circus be performing on Wednesday, June 5?

A．In the morning.

B．In the afternoon.

C．In the evening.

D．In the midnight.

3. What type of writing is the text?

A．A note.

B．A diary.

C．A report.

D．A notice.

4 . With many parts of Central China’s Henan province suffering from flooding after very heavy rainfall, domestic companies are rushing their donations to help with flood relief in the province. Some companies’ actions have won the hearts of Chinese consumers.

Chinese netizens were deeply moved by a donation of 50 million yuan (US$ 7.74 million) made by domestic sportswear company Erke for Henan.

Netizens were particularly moved by the fact that Erke is a small and low-profile brand compared with international brands. The 50-million-yuan donation is a big number for the company since Erke’s business didn’t seem to be developing very well.

“It feels like you’re going out of business and you donated so much,” a netizen said.

The company’s livestream(直播) also drew a lot of attention with over two million viewers watching the video at the same time on Thursday. Previously, the same livestream had less than 10,000 viewers.

Netizens not only watched the video but also purchased the company’s products via livestream to offer their support. The livestream host even tried to persuade the audience to buy things in a rational(理性的) way when many of them said that they were happy to buy the products even with borrowed money.

In response to the great support from netizens, Erke President Wu Rongzhao suddenly showed up in front of the camera to express his appreciation at midnight on Thursday.

“It makes me feel your enthusiasm and warmth. We are very moved. We will continue to do a good job in terms of products and services,” said Wu.

Some netizens said there were not many companies like Erke which has a strong sense of social responsibility and called on others to buy more of the company’s products.

Also, netizens said they were particularly touched by the fact that Erke didn’t advertise their donation, even though some “begged” the company to do more marketing to increase their sales.

1. Why are more and more Chinese people buying Erke’s products?

A．The quality of its products has been improved.

B．They are eager to follow the trend in a crazy way.

C．The company is going out of business and its products are all on sale.

D．They want to express their support to the company for its generosity.

2. During the livestream, Erke President Wu Rongzhao appeared in order to_________.

A．introduce Erke’s products.

B．thank netizens for their support.

C．persuade netizens to buy things.

D．express his determination to do marketing better.

3. What can we infer from citizens’ attitude to Erke?

A．They hope Erke will become an international brand.

B．They are encouraging Erke to advertise its donation to increase its sales.

C．They are satisfied with the responsibility that Erke shows.

D．They will support the company forever.

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

A．Erke Wins Chinese Netizens’ Hearts After Flood Relief Donation.

B．Erke’s Sales Increase Sharply Due to Its Donation.

C．Erke Donates 50 million to Support Henan’s Disaster Relief Efforts.

D．Erke’s President is Moved by Chinese Citizens Support.

5 . A teacher in New York decided to carry out a project with her class to see how it would influence their community if they honored people for making a difference or recognized them for doing a good thing.

She gave each of her students three blue ribbons (丝带) with gold letters which read，“Who I Am Makes a Difference.” Then she instructed each student to go out and give a ribbon to a person as a way to thank them for doing something good. Afterwards, they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom, and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a manager in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. Then, he gave him two extra ribbons and asked him to do the same with someone that he wanted to honor or thank.

Later that day, the manager went to see his boss, who had been seen as a bad-tempered man. He told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised. The manager asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon. The boss said, “Well, sure.” Then he gave him the last extra ribbon and said he hoped he could pass it on to somebody else.

That night, the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and said, “The most incredible thing happened to me today. One of the managers gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon, and I thought about you. Sometimes, I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school, but you are the most important person in my life. And I love you!”

Hearing this, the boy couldn’t stop crying. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, “Dad, I was going to run away from home after you were asleep. But now I don’t need to.”

The boss went back to work and changed a lot. He was no longer getting angry, but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference.

1. What does the underlined word refer to in the second paragraph?

A．The teachers.	B．The students.
C．The persons who accepted ribbons.	D．The ribbons.

2. What do we know about the manager from the passage?

A．He helped the boy find a job.	B．He is a creative man.
C．He looks up to his boss.	D．He is difficult to get along with.

3. Which is the right order for what happened with the boy’s three ribbons?

A．The manager→ the son→ the boss.	B．The manager→ the boss→ the son.
C．The boss→ the son→ the manager.	D．The boss→ the manager→ the son.

4. What lesson can we learn from the passage?

A．Receiving gifts from others is a happy thing.

B．Your self-worth depends on how others see you.

C．Never be shy to show your love to your family.

D．Who you are makes a difference.

6 . Flying the friendly skies has been, well, not quite as friendly these days. If you’re looking not just for the best prices, most convenient times and most direct routes, but also for an airline that will treat you right, you’ll want to check these latest rankings.

We got our hands on the 2017 Airline Satisfaction Study, released this month, from J.D.Power North America, a global research firm. Here’s what they discovered about the best airlines．

Alaska Airlines take home the top honor for the 10th time. Flying anywhere and Alaska Airlines is an option? Jump on that deal! Why? For the past decade, they’ve ranked the highest among traditional carriers, with the score of 765 on a 1, 000-- point scale. Delta took home the silver but only with a seven-- point gap from its competitor Alaska Airlines. American Airlines came in for the bronze.

For budget airlines, Southwest is second to none. Since the research was divided into parts, Southwest got an honor of its own in the “low﹣cost carrier” part, defeating Jet Blue Airways by four points. This small margin (差额) is significant, since Southwest officially ends Jet Blue Airways’ winning this category constantly for 11 years.

The full list of the top 10 airlines, either in traditional carriers or the budget ones are below:

Best traditional airlines: • Alaska Airlines      • Delta Airlines • American Airlines • United Airlines • Air Canada

Best low-cost airlines: •Southwest Airlines • JetBlue Airways • United Airlines • WestJet • Frontier Airlines

1. What is the score of Delta Airlines in the 2017 Airline Satisfaction Study?

A．765.

B．758.

C．772.

D．769.

2. Which airline does well both in traditional and budget carriers?

A．Alaska Airlines.

B．Air Canada.

C．United Airlines.

D．Frontier Airlines.

3. What do we know about Southwest Airlines?

A．It narrowly beat JetBlue.	B．It took the second place.
C．It is the best traditional airline.	D．It is the safest airline.

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Once upon a time , there was a colorless tiger. His lack of color made him     1    famous that the greatest painters all over the world came to the zoo to try to put some color on him. But     2    of them succeeded.

Then along came Van Cough the painter. When he said he wanted to paint the colorless tiger, everyone had a good laugh. When entering the tiger’s cage, he began whispering in the animal’s ear, and moving his dry brush up and down the tiger’s body. And    3    everyone’s surprise, the tiger’s skin started to take on the most vivid color. Van Cough spent a long time whispering to the animal, and     4    (make) slight adjustments to his painting. The result was     5    (true) “beautiful”.

Everyone was     6    (puzzle). He explained that he had managed     7    (paint) the tiger using a phrase he kept whispering in his ear: If you didn’t follow me, you wouldn’t be free again, you shall see.”

Now you see how joyful the tiger seemed at the sight of     8    (free). The zoo authorities finally transported him to the forest and     9    (set) him free,     10    never again would he lose his color.