2 . Looking for a way to connect with nature but you're not sure how to when you live in the city? Here are a few ways to live in harmony with nature and reduce your pressure.
Go on a wildlife walk.
There’s lots of urban wildlife for you to discover, so you can reach out to your city park departments to get some valuable information.
Nothing will make you feel as closely connected with the earth as walking without shoes on grass for a couple of minutes. This very direct connection with nature will make you realize that you're part of the huge world, helping you to relax and feel calmer.
Attract nature yourself.
One of the best ways to connect with nature is to make it come to you.
Create a small garden.
Plants and flowers are part of nature as well and even the tiniest amount of space can be turned into a beautiful garden. If you’ve got a balcony (阳台), fill it with pots full of flowers.
Use these tips for connecting with nature and living a more comfortable lifestyle in a big city.
| A．Have a walk in a park |
| B．Take off your shoes and walk barefoot (赤脚地) |
| C．You can grow your own vegetables on it as well |
| D．You can put a bird feeder (喂食器) on your balcony or by your window |
| E．Meantime, this is the best method of improving your health and well-being |
| F．They often offer guided walks to help you enjoy the natural beauty in your cities |
| G．It's a different way of experiencing nature helping you to enjoy it from a different viewpoint |
3 . In high school, Edward’s teacher noticed Edward, a 6.5-foot-tall teen, always sat sadly in the back of the classroom. He had no friends and
The night when the teacher
The teacher looked into his sad
The teacher’s words gave Edward
The story shows that there is so much power in that small
| A．sometimes | B．seldom | C．always | D．never |
| A．encouraging | B．criticizing | C．noticing | D．influencing |
| A．saw | B．counted | C．read | D．marked |
| A．so | B．and | C．but | D．because |
| A．looked at | B．turned to | C．discussed with | D．agreed with |
| A．common | B．high | C．special | D．low |
| A．luck | B．power | C．future | D．goal |
| A．situations | B．eyes | C．past | D．heart |
| A．confident | B．hungry | C．careful | D．sure |
| A．enjoy | B．remember | C．create | D．change |
| A．challenging | B．watching | C．questioning | D．praising |
| A．hope | B．time | C．fortune | D．task |
| A．personality | B．ability | C．energy | D．grade |
| A．problem | B．cause | C．part | D．truth |
| A．As | B．When | C．If | D．Where |
4 . How to be a safe and smart searcher
Some keywords will help to find better results.
Exact symbols can help you find what you’re looking for. If you are looking for an exact phrase or sentence, for example, “seagull are very clever”, type it between inverted commas (引号).
Check your spelling. Make sure you spell spell every word correctly.
Have a filter (筛选). It’s a good idea to filter your online searchers, especially when you are searching for pictures.
Reliability is very important when you are searching on the Internet. Always ask yourself, “Is this reliable?”
| A．So add a filtering system to your computer. |
| B．Then only exact information will be shown. |
| C．Make sure that you’re using the safest search setting. |
| D．The smallest typing mistakes can bring unwanted results. |
| E．Use more than one keyword when you are doing a research. |
| F．Don’t make the mistake of believing everything as soon as you see. |
| G．But finding the right information among thousands of websites can be a real challenge. |
5 . Do you know what you’d like to be when you grow up? It takes most people many years to find out. For the young artist Alexandra Nechita, it never really seemed to be a question. From the day she began drawing at the age of two, she was an artist. Alexandra Nechita was born in Romania in 1985 and moved to California when she was still a baby. As a little child, she loved colouring in her colouring books. Her parents hoped she could spend more time playing with other children, so they took away her colouring books. Alexandra began drawing her own pictures and colouring them in.
By the time Alexandra was seven years old, she had begun painting with oil paints. When Alexandra took a local art class, her teacher was amazed at the young artist’s unusual style of painting. Alexandra’s work was similar in some ways to the paintings by famous artists like Picasso. These artists did not use a realistic style of painting. They allowed their imaginations to play an important part in their work. The interesting thing was that little Alexandra had never seen the work of these artists. People called her “Little Picasso”. This was a great honour, but Alexandra’s style of painting was all her own.
Alexandra’s first public show was held at a Los Angeles public library when she was only eight years old. People were amazed at how young Alexandra was, but mostly they loved her imaginative artwork. It did not take long for Alexandra and her work to become famous. She appeared on television programmes and in newspapers and magazines all over the world. The sale of a single piece can earn the young artist thousands of dollars. But that is not why Alexandra creates artwork. She just cannot imagine doing anything else that would bring her such joy and satisfaction.
Today, Alexandra is a full-time artist. She also works to help support the arts in schools. Alexandra is a strong believer in the power of art as a tool of communication and a bridge to building peace throughout the world.
1. When did Alexandra begin drawing pictures?| A．At the age of eight. | B．At the age of seven. |
| C．At the age of two. | D．In the year of 1985. |
| A．she learned to paint from Picasso |
| B．her style of painting was like Picasso’s |
| C．she was one of Picasso’s big fans |
| D．her style of painting was unusual |
| A．Only painting can make her so happy and satisfied. |
| B．Only money can make her so happy and satisfied. |
| C．Anything can make her feel happy and satisfied. |
| D．Nothing can make her feel happy and satisfied. |
| A．Polite. | B．Generous. | C．Patient. | D．Creative. |
6 . From Asia to America and everywhere in between, Swing — an energetic form of dance that includes six-step and eight-step rhythms (节奏) — has taken the world by storm. Making a recent comeback, swing dance floors have popped up all over the world. Many clubs make fans of Swing happy by holding nights when swing music is played, and sometimes even offering classes to attract customers.
Though Swing is now popular worldwide, it first appeared alongside the jazz movements of the 1920s and 1930s in New York City. While listening to jazz, the young black people of that time developed the movements of the Lindy Hop — a style of dance that is best known for a break away or “swing out” move and sudden improvisation (即兴表演).
It was reportedly given this name when a reporter was interviewing a person at the dance hall who was watching other couples dance. When asked what that dance was called, the watcher looked at a newspaper next to him that had an article about Lindbergh — the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic (大西洋) — which was titled, “Lindy Hops the Atlantic”. Then the watcher announced that “Lindy Hop” was the name of the dance, and it has stuck since then.
In 1926, the Savoy Ballroom was the first large business to offer a place for people to listen to swing music and dance. With its huge dance floor, the Savoy became a big success overnight, attracting some of the best dancers and musicians in the New York area.
Within ten years, the Lindy Hop was sweeping through the United States and became a symbol of unity, as young people of all racial (种族的) backgrounds crowded into dance halls to swing the night away. Traditional dance teachers did not welcome it because they thought it was not even a real dance and were quite sure about its demise but Swing has proved them wrong; it continues to be one of the world’s most fun dances.
1. What’s the purpose of this passage?| A．To introduce a popular form of dance. |
| B．To discover the fun secrets of a dance. |
| C．To tell stories about an energetic dance. |
| D．To describe the special moves of a dance. |
| A．Challenge. | B．Change. | C．Development. | D．Death. |
| A．It’s a lively dance with strict rules. |
| B．It has a close connection with a pilot. |
| C．It has a history of over 90 years. |
| D．It attracts mostly young black people. |
| A．The dance style will soon be accepted by traditional dance teachers. |
| B．The name was changed from “Lindy Hop” to “Swing” in the 1940s. |
| C．The movements of different Swing dancers always look the same. |
| D．The dance might have become unpopular sometime in its history. |
7 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to __________.| A．show his magical power | B．pay for the delivery |
| C．satisfy his curiosity | D．please his mother |
| A．He wanted to have tea there. | B．He was a respectable person. |
| C．He was treated as a family member. | D．He was fully trusted by the family. |
| A．Nobody wants to be a milkman now. | B．It has been driven out of the market. |
| C．Its service is getting poor. | D．It is not allowed by law. |
| A．He missed the good old days. | B．He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
| C．He needed it for his milk bottles. | D．He planted flowers in it. |
All our supply of food has
It took them about one month to
10 . King Tut, Egypt’s famous boy king, was buried with many valuable objects. A dagger (匕首)discovered in his tomb has recently attracted extra attention. Researchers have concluded that the dagger was probably made from a special material.
King Tut was only about nine years old when he became ruler of Egypt more than 3, 300 years ago. The young king died when he was just 19, His body was buried in a tomb filled with objects that people believed he would need in the afterlife.
In 1922, Howard Carter discovered Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Up to now, it was the best preserved ancient Egyptian tomb ever found. In 1925, Carter found the dagger which has a gold handle and an iron blade (刀片).The blade had confused experts because iron was hardly used at that time in ancient Egypt. In fact, it was so rare that it was considered more valuable than gold. Where did the iron for the blade come from?
Around the time of King Tut, ancient Egyptians started using a new word for iron that translates as “iron from the sky”. This led some experts to believe that the iron for the blade came from a meteorite (陨石).But studies of the dagger carried out in the 1970s and 1990s didn’t support that idea.
That’s where modern technology comes in. Researchers used a new technique to examine the blade. They discovered that it was made up of iron and other materials found in meteorites. After comparing it to several meteorites, they even found its possible match — a meteorite that landed in northern Egypt thousands of years ago.
Scientists hope the new study will lead to more discoveries about other ancient Egyptian relics, “It would be very interesting to analyze more Pre-iron Age objects and we could gain precious discoveries.” Daniela Comelli, who is a professor, said.
1. What do we know about Tut’s tomb?| A．It was perfectly kept when discovered. | B．It was built when he was 9. |
| C．It has a lot of iron objects in it. | D．It was the first tomb to be found. |
| A．it is King Tut’s favorite object | B．its blade is made of iron |
| C．it was more valuable than gold | D．it leads to more discoveries |
| A．The iron. | B．The material. | C．A meteorite. | D．The blade. |
| A．more valuable objects are hidden in the tombs |
| B．iron is widely used in ancient Egypt |
| C．Tut’s dagger was likely made from a meteorite |
| D．ancient Egyptian objects are excellent |
