1 . 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. |
2 . An ancient species of great ape likely disappeared hundreds of thousands of years ago when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists recently reported.
The species is known as Gigantopithecus blacki. It once lived in southern China. It stood 3 meters tall and weighed up to 295 kilograms. It represents the largest great ape known to scientists.
“It’s just a massive animal — just really, really big,” said Renaud Joannes-Boyau, a researcher at Australia’s Southern Cross University. He helped write the study, which recently appeared in Nature. But its size may also have been a weakness. Joannes-Boyau said, “When food starts to be scarce, it’s so big that it can’t climb trees to explore new food sources.”
The huge apes likely looked similar to the modern orangutans (红毛猩猩). They survived for around 2 million years in Guangxi. They ate plants that included fruits and flowers — until the environment began to change. Starting about 600,000 years ago, Guangxi’s forests began producing fewer fruits. The area was experiencing more periods of dry weather. Researchers examined pollen (花粉) and sediment (沉积物) found in caves to learn more about the changes and their effects. The giant apes did not disappear quickly, the researchers say. They likely went extinct sometime between 215,000 and 295,000 years ago.
As the climate changed, smaller apes may have been able to climb trees to search for different food. But the researchers found that the giant apes ate more food that provided less nutrients. “When the forest changed, there was not enough food preferred by the species,” said Zhang Yingqi of China’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. He helped write the study.
1. What is Gigantopithecus blacki?| A．An ancient giant ape. | B．A recently found ape species. |
| C．A modern orangutan. | D．An endangered species. |
| A．dangerous. | B．rare. | C．important. | D．necessary. |
| A．It made them easy to be sick. | B．It made them unable to find mates. |
| C．It made them difficult to climb trees for food. | D．It made them struggling in adapting to climates. |
| A．Competition for food. | B．Climate change. |
| C．Spread of diseases. | D．Human activities like hunting. |
3 . The campaign to reduce food waste is in its third week, and we’re already seeing some great results. We’d like every student and teacher to join in the campaign, so if you haven’t started yet, read our blog and join in!
Stop wasting food at school.
“The children are making a big effort to think in a sensible way about the food they put on their plates. We now have about 15% less waste and we think this percentage grows as more children join in the campaign,” school lunch director Marge Kaplan said. The school canteen now offers two portion (份) sizes for all main meals: small and large. This week they’ll replace single bread rolls with slices of bread. You can take as many slices as you want, but one at a time.
Latest news!
From next week you’ll be able to put any waste from fresh fruit and vegetables into the special green bin at the back of the canteen. Miss Norris, the school gardener, will empty the bin each day into a giant compost (堆肥) container in the school’s vegetable garden. That can be used to improve the quality of soils.
Stop wasting food at home.
Every year, we waste about a third of our food. In the UK, more than 97% of food waste ends up in a landfill (废物填埋) site. That’s a lot! Come to a special meeting with supermarket owner Carlos Rodriguez to learn how we can save food and money at home!
Campaign meeting!
When: Friday 12 May, 5-6 p. m.
Where: School hall
What: Top tips on how to store food, measure sensible portion sizes and cook tasty meals from leftovers
Students and families are welcome!
1. What change was made in the school canteen to reduce food waste?| A．Offering only healthy meals. | B．Serving meals in reusable containers. |
| C．Releasing some new punishment rules. | D．Introducing two sizes for main meals. |
| A．Donate it to food banks. | B．Improve the quality of soils. |
| C．Send it to recycling. | D．Feed school pets. |
| A．To plan a landfill visit. | B．To discuss the environmental impact. |
| C．To teach saving food and money. | D．To introduce new recycling ways. |
| A．The Internet. | B．A textbook. | C．A research report. | D．A storybook. |
Holidays play an important part in our life. We work hard during the year, so we feel tired and stressed at times.
However, holidays also have bad aspects. For example, many people said that they couldn’t enjoy shopping or travelling because there were so many people shopping and travelling, too. Anyway, most people realize that they need holidays.
1. 写信目的；
2. 三点建议；
3. 提出希望。
注意：
1. 语句通顺，条理清楚，行文连贯，可适当发挥；
2. 词数80 左右（开头已给出，不计入总词数）；
3. 文中不得出现真实的地名、校名和人名。
| Best ways to learn | Examples |
| immerse (沉浸在) yourself in Chinese media | watch movies, listen to music, and read books |
| engage in language exchange to practice speaking | use language learning apps like HelloChinese for interactive lessons |
| spend time writing and reading Chinese characters daily | … |
I’m thrilled to hear about your interest in improving your Chinese!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Yours,
Li Hua
6 . 假定你是李华，你们班最近在英语课上就What Makes a Good Student这一主题进行了讨论。
请综合你们小组的以下观点进行发言，并且倡导全班同学做好学生。
A: A good student should be active in class and enthusiastic about his or her study.
B: A good student should be hardworking and independent. He or she loves to explore.
C: A good student should be able to communicate with others easily. He or she enjoys teamwork.
D: A good student should be healthy both physically and mentally.
E: A good student should be helpful and creative.
注意：1. 词数100左右，文章开头已给出，不计入总词数;
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
What Makes a Good Student
We have just discussed what makes a good student. Here are some of our ideas.
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7 . The Chinese paddlefish (白鲟) living in the Yangtze River was declared extinct (灭绝的), according to a paper from Chinese experts at the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute. Wei Qiwei, an author of the paper, says that the fish has not been seen in the wild since 2003, nor do artificially bred (人工繁殖) individuals exist.
The Chinese paddlefish is one of the world’s largest freshwater fishes, which can grow up to 7 metres long. People call it “the Giant Panda of Rivers” because it is rare and native to China under first-level national protection, and its ancestors date back to more than 100 million years ago.
From the middle of last century, the population of the Chinese paddlefish declined rapidly due to overfishing, habitat degradation (毁坏) and pollution. The construction of Gezhou Dam in 198l on the Yangtze River also created a barrier to the migrating (迁徙) fish, contributing to the sharp decline of it.
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China announced a 10-year fishing ban along key areas of the Yangtze River to protect biodiversity in the country’s longest waterway. It started to come into effect this year.
1. What does the author intend to do in the first paragraph?| A．To draw our attention to a ban. | B．To introduce some Chinese experts. |
| C．To share his experiences in China. | D．To inform us of the Chinese paddlefish. |
| A．neither wild nor artificial Chinese paddlefish have been seen |
| B．it is one of the world’s largest freshwater fishes |
| C．it is rare and native only to China |
| D．its ancestors lived as long as the giant panda |
| A．Overfishing. | B．The Chinese paddlefish. |
| C．Water pollution | D．The construction of Gezhou Dam. |
| A．A newspaper article. | B．A public advertisement. |
| C．A Chinese student’s paper. | D．An expert’s book. |
·The Green Farm: managed by the Sanhe Village
·Its location: in the west of the city, about 16 kilometres from the city centre
·Its area: the largest green farm in the city
·Its major activities: seeing many poultry, like pigs, cows and goats, and various flowers; fishing in the lake, having a picnic or barbecue on the hill and picking tasty fruits
·Some words for welcome
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
An Introduction to the Green Farm
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9 . 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. |
10 . When my friend suggested we join the Tai Chi Club at school, I
The first few
Eventually, tai chi
| A．agreed | B．hesitated | C．stopped | D．cried |
| A．rich | B．poor | C．young | D．old |
| A．wrong | B．concerned | C．wise | D．slow |
| A．fighting | B．teaching | C．practicing | D．explaining |
| A．classes | B．suggestions | C．times | D．words |
| A．found | B．made | C．lost | D．caught |
| A．Next | B．However | C．Therefore | D．Besides |
| A．jobs | B．ways | C．moves | D．manners |
| A．looks up | B．puts on | C．brings about | D．comes from |
| A．benefits | B．views | C．lives | D．muscles |
