1 . In 2010, Barack Obama was to pay a visit to Mumbai’s Gandhi Museum, where palm trees full of me dotted the grounds. Before his visit, Indian authorities removed every last sign of me from the premises for fear that the president of the United States would be taken out by one of me landing on his head.

Let’s get this out of the way: My reputation as the killer fruit of countless innocents was then and still is a myth. A repeatedly misinterpreted 1984 study greatly exaggerated the number of deaths I caused by hitting and the vicious rumor spread. Today, the only things about me to die for are the sometimes too-delicious foods you humans make with me, which include macaroons, pi a coladas, rich curries, and custard pies. A decade ago, health experts briefly gave me a halo because some of my saturated fat (饱和脂肪) called medium-chain triglycerides, can raise beneficial HDL cholesterol. And no wonder: I’m a long-lasting source of food and water, and my fibrous flesh is used to make rope, mats, mattress stuffing, and fishing nets. My shell can be turned into charcoal for fire or used as a bowl or musical instrument. My leaves are used for thatching roofs and making brooms and baskets, while my trunks are used for building houses, boats, and drums. My tree’s roots have many folk medicinal uses and produce pigments that become dyes — and their frayed ends have even been repurposed as toothbrushes.

In World War II John F. Kennedy was trapped on an island. He scratched a message for help into a coconut shell, and two coast-watchers delivered it to Allied forces, who managed to rescue him. The coconut shell sat on JFK’s desk in the Oval Office throughout his presidency and now is a center-piece of the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston — as proof that we coconuts don’t take lives, we save them.

1. What did Indian authorities do to welcome Barack Obama?

A．They took down all the coconuts.

B．They tried to protect him from being attacked.

C．They prepared a lot of coconut juice to treat him.

D．They got rid of the potential natural threat to safety.

2. How did coconuts get the bad reputation as the killer fruit‖ ?

A．It has always remained unknown.

B．A research in 1984 was overestimated.

C．Fake statistics were believed by many people.

D．News on coconut accidents in 1984 travelled on wings.

3. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?

A．The flesh outside the shell is eatable.

B．Coconut roots can be turned into furniture.

C．Coconut appeals to people a lot as a delicacy.

D．Coconut is yet to be proved beneficial to health.

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．Coconut — A Welcome Fruit

B．Coconut — A Mistaken Fruit

C．Coconut — A Life-saving Fruit

D．Coconut — A Multi-function Fruit

2 . Trees are one of the oldest "citizens(公民)" of our Earth. They keep our air clean, reduce noise pollution, improve water quality and provide food and building materials.

Just like us, trees change a lot as they grow. At 1 to 3 years old, young trees learn how to protect themselves. For example, many trees grow thorns(刺) to warn animals not to go near. Most young trees have large, deep green leaves so that they can catch enough sunlight and change it into their food and energy.

When trees are 4 years old, they begin to grow very rapidly and become strong enough to face challenges later in life. At the age of 15, trees become young adults. They grow more slowly and begin to produce flowers and fruit.

It is not until the tree is 20 to 25 years old that it becomes a real adult. The tree reaches its largest size. The adult tree gives us shade, oxygen and natural beauty; it is also a great place for a tree house, or a place for us to read a book, listen to music and so on. If we give the adult tree proper care, it will go on to live healthily for many years.

Gradually, trees begin to grow older and older and even die. At this time, they still have their important place in nature. When a tree becomes hollow(空心的) or part of it becomes dead, it provides a home to small animals and is a source of food for many other animals.

In many ways, the life of a tree is similar to our own life experience. When we are looking at the life of a tree, we learn about that each period of life brings its own form of joy and challenge. Enjoy every minute of the life of the trees and take care of the trees!

1. When the trees are very young, some of them grow thorns to ________.

A．become more morgeous	B．protect themselves
C．catch eough sunlight	D．produce food and energy

2. Put the following in the right order according to the passage.
① Grow very rapidly.             
② Become a real adult             
③ Have large, deep green leaves.             
④ Grow older and die.             
⑤ Produce flowers and fruit.

A．②①③④⑤.	B．③⑤①②④.
C．①③⑤②④.	D．③①⑤②④

3. Why should we enjoy every minute of our own life according to the passage?

A．Because our life is becoming better and better.

B．Because trees give us so much and make our world beautiful.

C．Because the life of a tree is similar to our own life experience.

D．Because each period of life brings its own form of joy and challenge.

4. The best title for the passage should be "______".

A．The Life of a Tree.	B．The Kinds of Trees.
C．The Mystery of a Tree.	D．The Advantages of a Tree.

3 . How to grow tomatoes?

Given the proper climatic conditions, you can grow tomatoes nearly anywhere. Before you grow tomatoes, check if your area has the right climatic conditions for this purpose.     1     And if it doesn’t, just give up this idea.

    2    One is to grow them from seed and the other is to grow them from the plants. The seeds usually take six to eight weeks to grow. If you don’t know how to grow tomatoes from seed, you can consider buying the plants directly. Many of these plants can be found at most garden centers.

Tomatoes don’t grow well in cool conditions.     3     Tomatoes require areas with full sun and should have enough protection from strong winds as well, that’s more, they require a lot of water; therefore, you had better water your tomato plants regularly.    4    

Check tomato plants daily for any ripe produce. Picking often helps more to grow. Once the end of growing season is coming, it’s helpful to remove any flowers as well.     5    If you still have a lot of green tomatoes during this time, go ahead and pick them. These can be stored in a warm area up to four weeks, and then they will turn red.

A．It's not that difficult to grow tomatoes.

B．Doing this can help existing fruits grow.

C．If it does, find some land for growing some.

D．There is one popular way to grow tomatoes.

E．There are two ways for you to grow tomatoes.

F．Pay attention to all these things to grow tomatoes well.

G．They require an average temperature of 65 °F or higher to grow well .

4 . My neighbor has a beautiful lawn. He hates to see even one weed(野草)in it. I understand his feelings but accept a little more of a natural look. Every year, the spring rains caused weeds to appear where they were not planted, especially in the lawn. He then starts to mix up all his different poisons in his garage. There is one weed killer for killing weeds in paths, another for killing weeds in flower beds, another for killing grass in flower beds and yet another for killing weeds in grass.

One day when I got home from work, he was killing the dandelions(蒲公英) growing at the side of my house. “ I'm sure that you will be happy with me killing these weeds for you,” he said.

Knowing he meant well, I said thanks to him. However, deep inside, I felt saddened. I happen to like dandelions. For me, even in something as simple as a dandelion, there is art. In fact, there is even poetry in a dandelion!

Dandelions can be used for many different purposes. They certainly do grow where nothing else does, like along the side of my house where I do not water. The flowers are a pretty bright yellow. They form their own picture of golden color around my washing line, something like a crazy artwork.

The flowers also add fine flavor and color when dropped in ice water. Do you know that the leaves can be used in a salad to spice it up? They also add vitamins. I've been told that the leaves and roots contain vitamins A, B and C as well as minerals such as iron and calcium. It does not taste that great, but it certainly is good for you.

If dandelions weren't so tough and hardy, gardeners would raise them carefully in greenhouses. They'd be expensive in the shops and people would form dandelion societies to show them off and teach others about their benefits. But they are not rare and delicate, so we label them weeds and kill them.

But I say that they are works of art, carefully made by nature's magical hand. As the season progresses, the flower turns into light puffy seeds that can float in the wind. If you blow the round head of seeds gently but firmly, the seeds fly away in every direction, forming a kind of art on the move.

So in the dandelion are both art and poetry. Let nature's art and beauty never stop to fill you with joy and amazement.

1. How did the author feel about his neighbor killing dandelions for her ?

A．She was very grateful and thanked him.	B．She didn't pay much attention to it.
C．She had mixed feelings about it.	D．She hated his neighbor for the trouble made.

2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 refer to ?

A．Dandelions can serve different purposes.

B．Dandelion flowers form a beautiful picture in the author's garden.

C．Dandelions can be added to salad, improving the flavor.

D．Dandelions are free of charge, just like poetry.

3. What makes dandelions weed ignored by people ?

A．Dandelions are not as beautiful as other flowers.

B．They are too tough to arouse gardeners' desire to raise them carefully.

C．They are so expensive that people can't afford to buy in the shops.

D．They are very strong and uncommon in nature.

4. What adjectives can be used to describe dandelions according to the author ?

A．Nutritious and tasty.	B．Common but delicate.
C．Tough but rare.	D．Artistic and poetic.

5 . The Bridegroom's Oak, a 500­-year-old tree just outside of Eutin, in Germany, has its own postal address and receives around 40 letters every day. They're sent by love seekers from around the world, in the hope that someone will read them and write back.

With so many dating apps and services available nowadays, sending letters to a tree hardly sounds like the best way to find love. However, there's something charming about sending a letter and allowing fate (命运) to work its magic, so the Bridegroom's Oak remains popular even now.

In 1890, a local girl named Minna fell in love with a young chocolate maker named Wilhelm, but her father didn't allow her to see the boy. Instead of giving up on each other, the two started exchanging love letters secretly, by leaving them in a knothole (节孔) of an oak tree. After about one year, Minna's father found out about their continued relationship, but instead of punishing them, he gave them permission to marry. The two lovers got married on June 2, 1891, under the oak tree that helped keep their romance (罗曼史) alive.

The couple's story spread around Eutin, and soon, people unable to find love started writing romantic letters and leaving them in the tree's knothole. By 1927, it was already known as Bridegroom's Oak and was so popular that it had its own address and postal code, allowing people from all over Germany and even abroad to send in their letters.

Love seekers visiting the Bridegroom's Oak need respect only one simple rule. They can check all the letters in its knothole, and take with them the one they wish to reply to, but they have to put the others back for other people to find.

So far the Bridegroom's Oak has been responsible for at least 100 marriages and many other romantic relationships.

1. What's the Bridegroom's Oak popular for?

A．Its long life.

B．Its special function.

C．Its good position.

D．Its rare species.

2. What is Para.3 mainly about?

A．The best way to find love a century ago.

B．What sufferings the two lovers experienced.

C．How the two lovers kept their romance alive.

D．The love story behind the Bridegroom's Oak.

3. What can love seekers do with the letters in the Bridegroom's Oak?

A．Reply to all the letters in its knothole.

B．Read each letter in its knothole.

C．Put their name at the top of each letter.

D．Take as many letters away as they like.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Writing to the Bridegroom's Oak does work.

B．Germany needs dating apps and services.

C．Germans hold a firm belief in fate.

D．Foreigners have little idea of the Bridegroom's Oak.

6 . Hundreds of native North American plants, often dismissed as weeds, deserve a lot more respect, according to a new study. These plants, distant cousins of foods like cranberries and pumpkins, actually represent a botanical treasure now facing increased threat from climate change, habitat loss and invasive species.

The crops that the human race now depends on, including grains like wheat and tree fruit like peaches, originally were selected or bred(培育) from plants that grew wild hundreds or thousands of years ago. And those ancestral plants like the small wild sunflowers that can be found across the United States, still exist. “If you see them growing along roadsides, those are the ancestors,” says Colin Khoury, a research scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. Khoury says wild lettuce(莴苣) plants grow along roads, or in backyards, but go unrecognized. “They look nothing like lettuce,” he says. “They are scratchy, thorny, little and ugly.”

Khoury loves these wild relatives of food crops, not just for emotional reasons. “These wild plants are of great value,” he says. That wild sunflower, for instance, can survive in a salty environment that would kill most plants. So plant breeders cross-pollinate(使异花传粉) it with commercial sunflowers and create new varieties that can grow in places where the soil contains more salt. Other wild relatives may be hiding similarly remarkable gifts, Khoury says, such as genes that could help their domesticated(家养的) relatives survive diseases, deal with pests, or adapt to disruptions in the climate.

Khoury and some of his colleagues just finished a survey of about 600 wild crop relatives that grow in North America, and published it this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found that the survival chances for most of these plants are being undermined because of things like fires, farming and commercial development. The scientists argue that these endangered species deserve more protection. “It’s more just being aware that these plants actually exist,” Khoury says. “They need protection.”

1. What is the characteristic of wild lettuce plants?

A．They can be commonly seen.	B．They look the same as lettuce.
C．They are selected from grains.	D．They are smooth and beautiful.

2. Why does Colin Khoury consider wild relatives of food crops valuable?

A．They can improve soil quality.

B．They can slow down climate change.

C．They can kill most dangerous wild plants.

D．They can help with domesticated plants’ growth.

3. Which of the following best explains the underlined word in the last paragraph?

A．Assessed.	B．Destroyed.
C．Obtained.	D．Offered.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Distant Cousins of Food Crops Are What We Really Need

B．Scientists Have Found a New Way to Increase Our Food Crops

C．Wild Relatives of Food Crops Deserve Respect and Protection

D．Everyone Should Take Action to Protect Botanical Treasures

7 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Rick Howells is the arborist (树木栽培家) for the Shade Tree Commission in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He manages the care of all of the trees in the city,     1    (include) the trees that line the streets.

Trees can make a city prettier, sure. But that’s not    2    (they) only advantage, Howells explained. Trees can save lives by absorbing (吸收)    3    (pollute) from cars and   factories. Trees can also help slow climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, one of the main    4    (cause) of climate change. In cities, trees provide a home    5    birds and bees. They also offer a calming effect on the community. That is one reason why there    6    (be) less crime in tree-lined areas.

“Trees must be trimmed (修剪) and, if they are diseased, cut down so that they don’t become a risk to the community. It isn’t     7    easy task,” Howells said. “You have to know types of knots (结) for the ropes and    8    (difference) kinds of rigging (索具).” Rigging equipment is tied to trees so that they can be trimmed and cut    9    (safe).

To Howells, taking care of trees isn’t just a job. It’s also a hobby. He loves trees and    10     they bring to a community. “If you take good care of a tree,” he said, “everything around it becomes beautiful, too.”