1 . The Bridge Home

By Padma Venkatraman

Runaway sisters Viji and Rukku arrive in the Indian city of Chennai, and it isn’t what they expected. The girls must depend on each other to survive until they meet two homeless boys, Muthi and Arul. As a team, they search around the city for food and shelter while making the most of a terrible situation.

Otherwood

By Pete Hautman

Best friends Stuey and Elly Rose share a birthday and a love of the woods near their homes. When playing in their favorite place deep in the woods, Stuey tells Elly Rose a story—a secret he has learned about his great-grandfather and hers. Something unexpected happens, and Stuey must work out how to repair the damage that was caused long ago.

Where the Watermelons Grow

By Cindy Baldwin

Della’s mama has been sick before. She has an illness that cause her to hear voices that aren’t there. But this summer, her mama seems worse. With daddy working hard to save the family farm from bad weather, Della believe that she needs to fix what’s wrong with mama.

Planet Earth Is Blue

By Nicole Panteleakos

Nova loves astronomy(天文学), an interest she shares with big sister Bridget. The space shuttle Challenger is days from launching(发射),and Bridget has promised to watch it on TV with Nova. But Bridget left their last foster (寄养的)home, and Nova is with a new family. Nova, who is autistic(患孤独症的)and doesn’t use words, hopes that Bridget—the only one who truly understands her—will find her way to Nova in time for liftoff.

1. What happens to Viji and Rukku?

A．They are homeless.

B．They are seriously ill.

C．They are lost in the woods.

D．They are separated from their friends.

2. Which of the following shows family love?

A．The Bridge Home.

B．Otherwood.

C．Where the Watermelons Grow.

D．Planet Earth Is Blue.

3. Who is Bridget?

A．Nova’s sister.	B．Nova’s teacher.
C．Nova’s classmate.	D．Nova’s neighbor.

2 . Lapland's reindeer (驯鹿) grow well in winters of -30℃ and even colder. So when rain falls instead of snow during the coldest months in the Arctic,it makes food hard to get for them. Now one of the best-loved symbols of Christmas is probably dying out. Numbers have fallen by over half in the last two decades as the place warms at four times the global average rate.

The animals are used to pull sleigh (雪橇) rides for tourists. The rides are part of Lapland winter wonderland experiences in thousands of British tourists each year. But this year the working herd had to be moved 60 miles further north due to the absence of snow. As a result, they can't be provided in some areas, making it hard for people to earn a living.

Lapland is often described as Europe's last great wilderness, home to lynxes, brown bears, wolverines and golden eagles. Tourism is a big part of the economy, and the town of Rovaniemi is also the "official home of Santa Claus". But changing climate (气候) is threatening its tourism industry. A report by The Finnish Climate Change Panel warns of flooding and increased rainfall, with Rovaniemi most at risk. Firms that rely on snow "will have great effects on visit levels" and these industries may be forced further north.

Erkkila of the Arctic Husky Park in Rovaniemi says: "Tourists see pictures of the Santa Claus village covered in snow and when they get here they think, 'Is this the winter wonderland?'." The Husky Park bought a wheeled cart (车) six years ago as a replacement for sleigh rides when the snow fails.

In the past it was thought the Arctic was warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. But a report published last week by scientists showed the rate is actually four times the global average.

1. What causes the drop in Lapland's reindeer population?

A．Cold winter.	B．Polluted habitats.
C．Heavy snow.	D．Rising temperatures.

2. What does the underlined word "they" in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Rides.

B．Animals.

C．Experiences.

D．Tourists.

3. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．Lapland is home to various wildlife.

B．Increased rainfall threatens Rovaniemi.

C．Rovaniemi is official home of Santa Claus.

D．Changing climate affects Lapland's tourism.

4. What does Erkkila say about tourists to Rovaniemi?

A．They feel excited.	B．They are disappointed.
C．They enjoy themselves.	D．They prefer wheeled carts.

3 . 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。

Apple Farming Earns City Wide Recognition

Yuncheng kicked off     1     agriculture show on Oct 15. The highlight was a famous fruit     2     (grow) in the city, the apple.

In Yuncheng, the planting area of apples reaches 166,000 hectares, with an average annual output of about 6 million tons. However, what makes the local people     3     (pride) is not the output but the quality of the produce.

The city     4     (know) for selenium- rich apples. Selenium (硒) is a trace element that’s beneficial     5     human health. Selenium-rich apples can sell at prices about 15 percent     6     (high) than ordinary varieties.

The latest information technology is also used for     7     (improve) the output and quality of apples. An intelligent operational system,     8     is linked with various sensors on the farm, monitors the conditions of soil and air.

    9     (help) farmers expand their sales, the city has registered the “Yuncheng Apple” brand name. Meanwhile, the collective marketing strategy has improved the recognition of the produce among consumers both nationwide and across the world.

Yuncheng’s apples have been sold to 75     10     (country) and regions. The total export volume is about 300,000 tons a year, accounting for about 80 percent of Shanxi’s total exports of apples.

4 . Engineers at Deakin University have developed a new smart generation schoolbag that will end the days when students end up forgetting their homework, particularly since the smart schoolbag is capable of completing its own morning checklist.

According to a recent press release, the smart schoolbag comes with built-in hardware and software that works to ensure it is packed correctly for each day’s timetable, including lunch and sports equipment.

The bag was designed by Dr Hamid Abdi alongside Masters students at Deakin University. It uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags (标签) to detect items in the bag and Internet of Things (IOT) technology, which extends Internet connectivity to everyday objects. “RFID technology allows any user to detect items in the bag in a contactless way,” Dr Abdi says. The Internet of Things (IOT) technology is employed to check its contents against the daily school plan. Schools or parents can enter data about the activities of each day to the system’s IOT server. The server then links these activities to the RFID tags placed on the items needed. The smart school-bag can tell what items are not required, ensuring that the bag is no heavier than it needs to be.

The smart schoolbag will save a lot of time and stress that occurs when homework, hats or lunches are left home by mistake, especially if that requires parents to quickly race home to collect the missing item.

While the system can be fitted to any schoolbag, the team have designed a sample of the smart schoolbag that includes the smartphone application. Dr Abdi and his team are looking for commercial partners to take the project to the next level.

1. Why do the engineers develop the smart schoolbag?

A．To give a morning call.	B．To help homework correcting.
C．To reduce study pressure.	D．To remind pupils of school items.

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly tell us about the smart schoolbag?

A．Its application.	B．Its working principle.
C．Its advantage.	D．Its characteristics.

3. What does Dr Abdi expect of the smart schoolbag?

A．I’ll replace parental duties.	B．I’ll ensure academic progress.
C．I’ll reach consumers soon.	D．I’ll be environment-friendly.

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

A．A Smart Schoolbag Saves Time and Stress

B．A Smart Schoolbag Will Replace an Ordinary Bag

C．The Latest System of Detecting Missing Items

D．The First Generation of a Smart Schoolbag

5 . From littering the highest mountain peak to the deepest sea, we have messed up the environment and not left a single spot clean. Plastic pollution was also the theme for the last year’s Environment Day, but has anything changed?

With a “hope” to change things, a 150 feet long and 12 feet high “Wall of Hope” has been constructed using 15,000 discarded bottles collected from various sources such as streets and roads in Mussoorie and the surrounding region, which encourages the tourists to keep the surroundings clean.

Mussoorie attracts armies of visitors from neighboring cities every month so that it sometimes gets choked by over-tourism. But then, people hardly paid attention to the “saving the environment” cried these days. So, in order to convey this message in a meaningful and beautiful way, the locals of Mussoorie came up with this unique concept to remind travelers of the litter they leave behind.

The wall was built by over 50 volunteers that are basically school and college students who stepped forward to help bring this idea to life. For establishing this, plastic bottles of different shapes, sizes, and colors have been collected and fixed in this wall. Seeing their tireless efforts, the village locals also joined in later to help turn this project into a success story and then it spread like wildfire. They are actually admiring this new addition to the landscapes of Mussoorie, saying that the town looks even more beautiful now!

The wall was designed by Subodh Kerkar, founder of the private art gallery Museum of Goa. Talking to Hindustan Times, Kerkar said, “The wall will draw structural strength from steel pillars (柱子) being fixed two feet deep into the ground. The structure is completely rain and wind proof. I hope the wall will inspire a sense of beauty and will add color to the peaceful background of the hills.”

1. What is the function of the question mentioned in Paragraph 1?

A．To introduce the topic of the passage.

B．To remind readers of the climate change.

C．To show the theme of the Environment Day.

D．To stress the bad effect of plastic pollution.

2. What does the underlined word “discarded” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Abandoned.

B．Decorated.

C．Broken.

D．Donated.

3. What can we know about "Wall of Hope" from the passage?

A．It was made of certain equal- sized bottles.

B．It was designed by some college students.

C．It attracts fewer tourists to visit Mussoorie.

D．It raises tourists’ environmental awareness.

4. Which of the following best describes “Wall of Hope”?

A．Towering and less known.	B．Common and well-received.
C．Unique and far reaching.	D．Huge and money consuming.

7 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Xu Yuanchong was a famous Chinese translator, best known for translating Chinese ancient poems into English and French. Xu was born in 1921 in Nanchang, Jiangxi. His mother, who was well educated and good at painting, had great impact on Xu in his     1     (pursue) of beauty and literature. When studying at Provincial Nanchang No. 2 High School, he excelled at English. In 1938, he     2     (admit) to the Department of Foreign Languages, Naitonal Southwest Associated University, a school     3     graduates have played a central role in modern China. At university, Xu gave outstanding performances in English, Russian, French, while even hosting Shakespeare classes, clearly showing a gift for translation.

After his graduation, Xu devoted     4     (him) to education and translation. He was the first Chinese translator     5     (translate) Chinese poetry into English and French verse. He also translated many     6     (masterpiece) into Chinese including The Red and the Black and Jean-Christophe.

In his last days, the hundred-year-old scholar was still working on the translation of Shakespeare’s complete works. Seven hours of work in front of a computer every day is     7     unbearable task for young adults.    8     (surprising), this 100-year-old scholar is never bored with his work, passionately typing his translation word by word, day after day.    9     the morning of June 17, Xu passed away in Beijing at the age of 100. The respectable translator enjoyed a life worth     10     (remember).

8 . Reading is good for more than just entertainment.    1    . And the positive effects can be felt at any age: Even before they’ve fully developed their reading skills, kids can benefit from having access to materials and being read to on a regular basis.

Reading can boost intelligence

People who exhibit strong reading skills early in life grow up to be more intelligent. That was the finding of a study published in 2014 that measured the cognitive development of 1, 890 sets of identical twins. When two twins shared the same genes and home environments, early reading skills appeared to be the factor that decided which twin would be better at both verbal tests (like vocabulary( and non-verbal (like reasoning tests).     2    , the study authors concluded that more emphasis should be placed on teaching strong reading skills to young children.

Reading helps increase empathy

    3    — it can make you a kinder person as well. According to a study published in 2013, people who consume literary fiction have an easier time sensing and relating to emotions in other people. This effect likely has something to do with the way such books are written: Great literature forces readers to steps outside themselves and empathize with the characters they’re reading about. Reading can lower stress

Feel stressed at the end of a long day?    4    . A 2009 study found that reading for just 30 minutes has similar stress-reducing effects to doing 30 minutes of yoga.

    5    

Even after you put down a book, the effects of reading it are still present in your brain. A 2013 study discovered that when people read books, their brains continue to behave differently hours and even days later. The brains of readers show increased connectivity in the left temporal cortex — the region responsible for language receptivity — even hours after they’ve stopped reading. This suggests that reading can train the mind and boost neural function through a process that’s similar to muscle memory.

A．Reading improves your passion

B．Reading may change your brain

C．Since reading is of significance

D．Reading books doesn’t just make you smarter

E．Opening a book is a good way to wind down

F．Because reading ability is something that’s learned

G．Committing part of every day to reading books can make you smarter, kinder, and more relaxed