1 . The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms (节气). Start of Autumn, the 13th solar term of the year, begins this year on Aug 8 and ends on Aug. 22. Start of Autumn means the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.     1    . The following are four things you should know about Start of Autumn.

Gathering crops

    2    . It is time to gather crops. There is a saying: “If it rains on the day of the Start of Autumn, a good harvest is expected.”

Eating peaches

In Hangzhou, people eat peaches and pray health on the Start of Autumn day. The peach stones are kept until New Year’s Eve and thrown into the stove, burned into ash. People believed that in this way,     3    .

Eating dumplings

In Shandong province, people make dumplings during the Start of Autumn, and they call it “Eating the Autumn”. On the day of Start of Autumn, senior members of the family will stand in the middle of the hall, they worship (敬奉；信奉) a bowl of cereal, and     4    . Most of the families will eat dumplings together after Start of Autumn day and have the thirst for more crops.

Eating gourds (瓜)

Although Start of Autumn indicates the beginning of autumn, hot weather will not come to an end. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), people would put gourds outside for a day before the Start of Autumn, and     5    . Today people in Tianjin believe that eating melons such as towel gourd, white gourd and bitter gourd can prevent diarrhea (腹泻) in autumn and the coming winter and spring.

A．they pray for the harvest in autumn

B．The fruitful season is coming

C．they eat them on Start of Autumn day to drive off the summer heat

D．Start of Autumn is a big solar term for farmers

E．they sincerely pray for god

F．plagues (瘟疫) could be prevented for the whole year

G．they will get away from ghosts

2 . Many pupils in school think of science as just another subject on the time-table containing more facts to be learned. This is wrong. Science does not mean believing and remembering what other people tell us. The real scientist examines facts in order to find out the truth for himself. This is called the scientific method.

Let us see how scientists work and what is meant by the scientific method. In these days we hear a lot about science, but scientists, the men and women, who do the work and make the discoveries, seem distant and strange to us. Science often appears to be very difficult, and sometimes even a kind of magic. Certainly we feel we shall never be able to understand how it works. It is difficult of course, but I think we are wrong if we believe that we can not understand it. The important thing about the scientific method is that we get answers to questions by making tests. We do not just guess the answer or believe what anybody tells us. In fact, in simple ways we all use the scientific method every day.

We can see from very simple examples that the scientific method is not only for the use of a few people called scientists, but something we can all use with advantage. But patience and hard, careful work are necessary to find out the truth.

1. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．The scientific method.	B．The science subject.
C．The scientific discoveries.	D．The real scientists.

2. Which of the following does the author agree with?

A．We all understand how science works.

B．We are familiar with most scientists.

C．We sometimes feel science confusing.

D．We know answers by making guesses.

3. Who can use the scientific method?

A．The scientists.

B．School pupils.

C．The Scholars.

D．Everyone.

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．The scientific method is too difficult to use.

B．We can find out the truth from very simple examples.

C．Care and diligence is important for the scientific method.

D．The scientific method is only for the use of a few people.

3 . Make a booklet

A booklet (小册子) is a small thin book with information about one theme. It is easy to carry and easy to find what you need. Have you ever tried to make a booklet by yourself? If not, have a try with the following information.

Decide how to show information

•Use maps, lists, charts to show facts clearly.

•Use drawings, cartoons, photos, etc. to make your booklet interesting.

•Use your own stories to give examples and opinions.

Design the booklet

•What is the title?

•How many pages?

•What size? A4, A5 or even smaller?

•What shape? Square, round or some special shape?

•What the front and back covers should be like?

Remember to check

•Make a contents (目录) page.

•Divide the text into paragraphs. Choose right words and sentences.

•Match words or sentences with correct pictures.

•Check for grammar, spelling mistakes.

1. What is the advantage of a booklet according to Paragraph 1?

A．It is interesting.	B．It is cheap.
C．It is easy to make.	D．It is convenient.

2. How can you make your booklet interesting?

A．By using lists.	B．By using your opinions.
C．By using drawings.	D．By using right words.

3. How many points should be considered to design a booklet?

A．3.

B．4

C．5

D．6

4 . WHY SHENNONGJIA?

As we know, in 2016, Shennongjia made it on to the UNESCO World Heritage List. But there are so many important places not yet on this list. So you might ask: why Shennongjia?

UNESCO awarded Shennongjia this status because it meets two criteria required by the list. It contains a naturally-balanced environment that allows the many and various species to live and prosper. It is also one of the rare locations in the world where scientists can observe in real time the ecological and biological processes that occur as the plants and animals develop and evolve.

For the first criterion, Shennongjia is apparently one of the most “complete” natural areas in the world. The region rises from about 400 metres to over 3, 000 metres above sealevel, giving it the name the “Roof of Central China”.

For the second criterion, we can see that Shennongjia has incredible biodiversity. Look at this slide. According to official statistics, over 3, 000 plant species have been recorded there. This represents more than ten percent of China’s total floral richness.

It is a challenge to look after so many species. In winter, scientists brave heavy snow and freezing temperatures to supply food to the Golden Snub-nosed Monkey. Thanks to their efforts, the monkey’s population has doubled since the 1980s.Their number reached over 1, 300 in 2015 and continues to grow.

But the most impressive aspect of Shennongjia is the local people, who take things from nature without causing damage. I visited a local village which is known for its home-made honey. What is special about the honey is that it is produced by the earliest species of Chinese bee. All of this explains why Shennongjia earned—and deserves—its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as well as highlighting how understanding, awareness and hard work have contributed towards protecting a unique and wonderful part of our natural world.

1. Why is Shennongjia included in the UNESCO World Heritage List?

A．Because its forests stretch on and on like great green seas.

B．Because it is the legendary father of Chinese herbal medicine.

C．Because it satisfies the two requirements for the status.

D．Because it has the mysterious creature called “Yeren”.

2. Shennongjia is also called the“          ”.

A．Roof of Central China	B．Roof of Northern China
C．Roof of Eastern China	D．Roof of Southern China

3. How does the author think of the scientists in Shennongjia?

A．Patient.

B．Careful.

C．Confident.

D．Hard-working.

4. According to the text, what impressed the author most?

A．A local village.	B．The local people.
C．Some special monkeys.	D．The wild bees.

5 . In 1670, two Scottish doctors set up a garden in the city of Edinburgh to find out connections between plants and medicine. That first garden wasn’t very big — about the size of a tennis court. Fast-forward 350 years, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) now covers an area bigger than 1,000 tennis courts. The RBGE’s goal is to “explore, conserve and explain the world of plants for a better future”.

After doctors and distant cousins Robert Sibbald and Andrew Balfour graduated from university in the mid-17th century, they shared the goal of improving Scottish medicine by looking into botanical (plant-related) research. They found some land near Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh and started to collect plants. They taught students how to grow exotic (外来的) plants and use them to make medicines. As the collection expanded (增加), the garden moved to different sites, including what is now Edinburgh’s Waverley Station.

In 1823, the garden was moved to its current location in Inverleith, a suburb of Edinburgh. It took three years to move the collection of plants and trees using specially built machines. The Tropical Palm House was built in 1834, and it was joined by the larger Temperate Palm House in 1858. Both are still popular with visitors. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the RBGE continued to search for new specimens (标本) from around the world.

The RBGE has about 13,500 species of living plants in its collection today. The herbarium — a collection of dried and protected species — includes more than three million plant samples, which represent more than half of the world’s known plants. The oldest specimen dates back to 1697. Experts continue to recognize new species each year, as well as growing plants that are extinct in their own habitats. The RBGE also works with botanical gardens around the world, including in Africa and South America, and supports them with conservation projects, education and training.

1. Why did Robert and Andrew build up the garden?

A．To teach people some knowledge about exotic plants.

B．To do research on plants and medicine.

C．To protect endangered wildlife.

D．To practice their tennis skills.

2. When was the Tropical Palm House set up?

A．In the mid-17th century.	B．In the 20th century.
C．In1834.	D．In1858.

3. What do we know about the RBGE?

A．It has made achievements in growing extinct plants.

B．It has collected less than half of all known plants.

C．It is going to expand its sites in other countries.

D．It collects native plants only.

4. What is this text mainly about?

A．How the RBGE has expanded.	B．The progress of saving endangered plants.
C．Why a botanic garden was built.	D．An introduction to the RBGE.

6 . A lot of people think Scotland is a part of England, but, as any Scotsman will tell you, it certainly is not. In fact, until the eighteenth century, Scotland was an independent country, with a parliament of its own. The English had tried many times over many centuries to bring Scotland under their rule. They succeeded at last in 1707, and some Scots have never forgiven them.

Scotland is now governed from London, but in some ways it is still a separate nation. It has its own capital city (Edinburgh), its own law, and its own stamps, it even has a language of its own, spoken now by only a few people in the islands.

In some ways Southern Scotland is like England, with his good farmland and low green hills. Central and Northern (the Highlands) have high mountains and deep valleys, fast rivers and cold lakes. These days, of course, there are good roads and railways all through Scotland. Aberdeen, the northeast city where the oil from the North Sea comes to land, is especially easy to reach. But it can still be quite different to travel in the winter when the hills are covered with snow. It always takes a long time to visit the beautiful but far-off islands on the west coast. One reason why Scotland has stayed so different from England is the wildness of the land. It has always been difficult to get around there.

1. From the history of the Great Britain we can know Scotland_____________.

A．had been an independent country by the 19th century

B．had been a dependent country by the 18th century

C．was a separate country before the 18th century

D．was a dependent country before 18th century

2. The first paragraph tells us ______________.

A．the Scots used to fight against the rules from England many times

B．the Scots defeated the English at all the battles

C．the Scots never defeated the English at all the battles

D．it was quite easy for the English to occupy Scotland

3. Scotland has a language of its own, ______________.

A．which is spoken by all the Scots	B．which not many people speak now
C．which is almost the same as English language	D．which the English prevent from being spoken

4. From the third paragraph we can infer ______________.

A．there are no good roads in Scotland because of high mountains

B．there are no railways in Scotland because of deep valleys

C．England has not any rivers and lakes in the center and the north

D．England has good farmland and low green hills

7 . When Alex Lin was 11 years old, he read an alarming article in the newspaper about e-waste. The article said that people were throwing away their e-waste in places it should never go. This was dangerous, the article said, because e-waste contains poisonous chemicals and metals like lead. These harmful substances (物质) can leak into the environment, getting into crops, animals, water supplies — and people.

Alex showed the article to a few of his classmates. They were worried too. But what could they do about this problem with e-waste? How would they even start? “The first thing we did,” Alex says, “was to learn more about the problem.” Alex and his friends spent several weeks gathering information about the chemicals in e-waste and their effects on humans. They learned how to dispose (处理) of e-waste properly and how it could be recycled. “Then,” he says, “we had to find out what the situation was in our town. So we sent out a survey.”

What they found shocked them: Of the people who answered the survey, only one in eight even knew what e-waste was, let alone how to properly dispose of it. Alex and his friends went into action. They advertised in the local newspaper and distributed notices to students, asking residents to bring their unwanted electronics to the school parking lot. The drive lasted two days, and they collected over 21,000 pounds of e-waste.

The next step was to set up an e-waste drop-off center for the town and to find a responsible company to recycle the waste. That was when Alex and his friends learned another scary fact about e-waste — some irresponsible recycling companies don’t break down the e-waste and dispose of it safely themselves. Instead, they ship it overseas to countries such as China and Nigeria, where local environmental laws are not applied. “We checked carefully online to make sure the company we chose didn’t do this,” Alex says.

Because of the work of people like Alex and his team, more and more people are getting the message about safe disposal of e-waste. As Alex says, “Today’s technology should not become tomorrow’s poisonous trash.”

1. What can we learn about Alex from paragraph 1 and paragraph 2?

A．He was curious about chemistry experiments.

B．He possessed a strong sense of responsibility.

C．He set out to solve the problem individually.

D．He formed the habit of reading newspapers.

2. What does the underlined word “drive” mean?

A．Campaign.

B．Imagination.

C．Performance.

D．Technology.

3. Why did some companies transport the e-waste to other countries?

A．Lack of available space was the reason for shipping.

B．Recycling was totally banned in their own country.

C．They were running their companies on a tight budget.

D．They were not charged with insecurely disposing it.

4. What’s the suitable title for the text?

A．Reusing School Computers	B．Recycling Electronic Waste
C．Meeting a challenge	D．Doing Scientific Experiment

8 . How Weather Affects Our Mood

The weather supplies many metaphors (隐喻) for our changeable minds. Moods can brighten and darken, futures can be under a cloud, and relationships can be stormy.    1    , but does it also influence our moods?

Of the many aspects of weather, sunshine is the most closely tied to mood. Although the link is weaker than many people imagine, sunlight has repeatedly been found to increase positive moods and reduce tiredness.    2    . Happy people tend to be more favorable toward one another, and people are more helpful when the sun is shining. One study even found that diners in Minnesota, US, tipped more generously on sunny days.

    3    . A study showed that university admissions officers stressed the academic qualifications of applicants more on cloudy days, and their non-academic qualities more on sunny ones.

    4    . The more it departs (偏离) from an ideal of around 20C, the more discomfort we feel. One study found that rates of helping others decreased as temperatures dropped below or rose above this value.

Indeed, the effects of weather on mood depend on our behavior and on how we think.     5    . A study by US psychology researcher Matthew Keller and his colleagues showed that beneficial effects of warm and sunny conditions on mood were only seen in people who had spent more than 30 minutes outdoors that day. Good weather even had negative effects on mood for people confined (限制) indoors, who perhaps looked enviously (嫉妒地) outside at the solar fun they were missing.

A．Similarly, grey weather may encourage serious and calm thinking

B．Aspects of weather beyond heat and sunshine have also been shown to affect mood

C．Weather provides a vivid language for describing our emotional atmosphere

D．Temperature can also affect our mind and behavior

E．But the effects of weather on mood are not entirely biological

F．Anything that changes our moods can affect our behavior

G．Basically, weather will only influence us if we are outdoors experiencing it

9 . Literary festivals are held annually in many corners of the globe and attract large numbers of readers, writers, playwrights (剧作家) and publishers.

Miami Book Fair

For eight days each year in November, the campus of Miami Dade College hosts over 500 outstanding authors during the Miami Book Fair. The fair offers young writers a unique opportunity to attend creative writing courses and workshops. Readers can listen to famous international authors talk about their latest books. Most of the events are offered free of charge to encourage a love of literature across all income groups.

Cheltenham Literature Festival

The festival runs for 10 days every autumn in Cheltenham. It’s the world’s first literature festival, leading the way in celebrating the writ- ten and spoken word. The fair offers something to everyone-you can attend reading activities and debates, and bring your children to see their favorite storybook characters brought to life.

Paraty International Literary Festival

It’s held each year in the city of Paraty, Brazil. Visitors can meet many local and international authors, poets and playwrights, and attend literature workshops. As part of the festival, Flipinha is mainly for children where young readers can meet writers and relax with a book in a special space. A further arm of the festival is called FlipMais. A series of free events about live theatre, music and cinema are held throughout the city of Paraty.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

The festival lasts for over 16 days every August and usually features around 900 events where you can meet your favorite authors, and bring your children to attend magical story-telling sessions and special workshops for children with learning disabilities. In most years, the festival attracts over 1,000 authors, poets and educators.

1. What can young writers do at Miami Book Fair?

A．Enjoy wonderful live shows.	B．Get the latest books for free.
C．Develop their writing skills.	D．Receive training in public speaking.

2. What’s special about Paraty International Literary Festival?

A．It includes different forms of art.	B．It organizes a debate for writers and readers.
C．It gives children a chance to make up stories.	D．It allows readers to offer writers suggestions directly.

3. Which festival is the most helpful to kids with poor school performance?

A．Miami Book Fair.	B．Cheltenham Literature Festival.
C．Paraty International Literary Festival.	D．Edinburgh International Book Festival.

10 . Four Cool Languages

Chinese

Around 1.4 billion people speak Chinese. Chinese is a tonal (声调的) language, meaning that changing the tone of just one syllable (音节) can affect a word’s meaning. Chinese writing has ancient roots, which is thought to have developed starting around 2000 B. C.

Arabic

Over 370 million people speak Arabic. Written Arabic uses a cursive-style font (连笔) that looks more like artworks than writing. Arabic is written from right to left rather than left to right, making it different from many other languages.

English

Around 379 million people speak English as a native language. It’s an official language in a huge number of other countries.

English is the most widely spoken second language, with over a billion people speaking it as a non-native language. That means around twice as many people speak English as a second language than people who speak it as a first language.

Italian

Nearly 68 million people speak Italian. If you play music or sing, chances are that you already know a lot of Italian because many familiar musical terms are actually Italian.

Not only will learning Italian help you pick up vocabulary, but it will also help you understand the meanings of musical terms in greater depth.

1. What is a feature of Arabic?

A．It doesn’t have cursive-style fonts.	B．It helps artists with their artworks.
C．It is written from right to left.	D．It is closely related to music.

2. Which language is the most widely used as a second language in the world?

A．Arabic.

B．English.

C．Chinese.

D．Italian.

3. What’s the number of people who speak Italian?

A．Nearly 68 million.	B．Around 370 million.
C．Over 379 million.	D．Around 1.4 billion.