1 . My name is Eivind Trodden, I’m 42 years old and on Svalbard in the North Pole. My background was originally software engineering, and years later I decided to go ahead and get my pilot license. This year I tried my hands at technology and got a job at Svatsat, the northernmost Satellite (卫星) Ground Station in the world. Now I work as a pilot and an operations engineer.

Originally, I moved here for the job. This was the first pilot job I got. After a while, I was attracted by the place, and right now the most important thing for me is to live here.

It is wonderful and full of differences. The polar night is balanced with the midnight sun. Here the year is much like a day. The winter is night. In the morning there is ice, snow and then spring. Then there is the endless day of summer, and finally, the town settles in with the sunset of autumn.

The summer is the most difficult. It is harder to create darkness than light. You have to have good blinds on your bedroom windows. A good trick is to create your own evening. I like to close the blinds and sit down in relative darkness with a good book or a movie before I go to bed.
The dark season is the favorite of many people living here. There are fewer tourists, and people have a chance to get together and be social after the busy summer. You have to be self-controlled though, and not start lighting candles in the middle of the day. Don’t underestimate (低估) the cost of living here. You need a large number of tools to experience Svalbard to the fullest.
1. The author’s present work is probably connected with ________.

A．training the pilots	B．software engineering
C．satellite controlling technology	D．researching the coldest place

2. What made the author settle in the North Pole?

A．The simple lifestyle.	B．His love for the place.
C．Better living conditions.	D．Chances to get a job.

3. Why do many people living at Svatsat like winter most?

A．They have spare time to relax.

B．There are less rules to follow.

C．There are no kids to disturb them.

D．They needn’t light candles any longer.

4. Which can best describe the life in Satellite Ground Station?

A．Busy but boring.	B．Simple but exciting.
C．Colorful and comfortable.	D．Great and different.

2 . Last Monday, I visited Jalan Besar to find a new fan blade (风扇叶片) for a standing fan that my daughters had broken.

I worked in the Jalan Besar area 30 years ago and remembered that there were lots of small hardware shops selling unusual things so I thought that I would have no problem finding a fan blade. However, after walking around for almost an hour, I found out that these shops were no longer around.

When I was ready to give up and go home, I spotted an old-fashioned hardware store. After being greeted by a woman, I explained my predicament. She immediately asked me to show her the broken blade. Out of nowhere, a man who looked to be in his 60s came out.

He asked to see the blade and then disappeared into the shop. He came back with a blade but it did not look the same as what I had in my hand. We compared the two blades and he said that it might work.

I asked him how much it was. He told me that he had taken the blade off an old fan that someone had brought in for repair. He said, “It didn’t cost me anything, so why should I charge you for it?” That really touched me. I took the blade home and it worked perfectly! My daughters got a “new” fan for nothing.

When I told my wife (almost in her 60s) this story, she said this reminded her of the kind aunties and uncles who used to run small shops and were always ready to help others when she was growing up.

1. Why did the author go to Jalan Besar?

A．To visit his old friends.	B．To apply for a job.
C．To fix the broken fan.	D．To buy a new fan.

2. What does the underlined word “predicament” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Nervous mood.	B．Difficult situation.
C．Anxious waiting.	D．Boring moments.

3. Which of the following can best describe the old man?

A．Kind and brave.	B．Honest and helpful.
C．Determined and curious.	D．Open-minded and humorous.

4. How did the author’s wife react to his experience?

A．She remembered the old days.	B．She was greatly surprised.
C．She couldn’t believe it.	D．She thought little of it.

5 . Children should do housework. That’s a controversial (有争议的) idea, though not everyone will admit it. A few parents will say that their children are too busy for housework. Many more of us believe in our children, but the housework just doesn’t get done.

That’s a problem. For starters, housework is good for kids. Being a part of the routine work of running a household helps children develop an awareness of the needs of others, while at the same time contributing to their emotional well-being.

One small study, done over a period of 25 years, found that the best thing for young adults’ success in their mid-20s was whether they took part in housework at age 3 or 4. Those early shared responsibilities extended to a sense of responsibility in other areas of their lives.

But for all that their help matters, few kids are doing much around the house at all. In a survey of 1,000 American adults, 75 percent said they believed regular housework made kids “more responsible”. Yet only 56 percent of those with children said they required them to do housework.

Sports and homework are not get-out-of-housework-free cards. The goal, after all, is to raise adults who can balance a caring role in their families and communities with whatever lifetime achievement goals they choose. Housework teaches that balance.

What should you do when getting children to do housework? Accept no excuses. Don’t worry if you must repeat yourself again and again. If you’re spending more time getting the child to do this job than it would take to do it yourself, then you’re doing it right. Can a payment help? Maybe. But if you’re trying to teach kids to share the responsibility of a home, paying them for routine housework is not the right message.

1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A．Very few children get housework done.	B．Children are very busy with housework.
C．Housework is a must-do for parents.	D．Family members should respect each other.

2. What do we know about the small study in paragraph 3?

A．Housework helps a man live a happy life.	B．A man’s success depends on his housework.
C．Housework benefits a sense of responsibility.	D．A child must start doing housework at age 3.

3. What does the author advise parents to do in the last paragraph?

A．Balance housework and study.	B．Help the child do housework positively.
C．Do housework by themselves.	D．Pay the child for doing housework.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Adults do less housework at home in the US.	B．It is important for children to do housework.
C．Parents should do housework for their children.	D．Children need more time to do sports at home.

7 . In school we learned about the Earth. We learned that rivers flow from higher ground to lower ground. They usually end at a bigger river or go into a lake or ocean. I can see that every day in Chicago.

Our river goes into the lake. It’s a giant lake. We used to go fishing on the river every summer. Most days you would find me and my grandfather there, fishing. My father was busy working for the city. I did not know what his job was. He said it was in the Sanitary and Ship Canal.

My grandfather would take me to the river. “In the old days,” he said, “this was a clean stream. Now look at it. It is dirty.” Sometimes we even saw dead fish floating on it.

When we brought the fish home, my mother would throw them out. “We can’t eat this. This is dirty, bad fish.” She sounded angry. So my grandfather and I stopped bringing the fish home. Sometimes we would go to fish and throw them back. But mostly we just stayed at home. We were sad about it.

Then one day my father was so busy that he was not at home. That New Year’s Day he worked, too. My mother was worried, “It is too cold.” But he went anyway.

Then two days later the newspaper said, “It is a miracle!” That was the headline. I read the article. It told how the workers on the Sanitary and Ship Canal had done something impossible. They had changed the Chicago River completely. They dug such a great hole that the river rushed away from the lake. It now went to the west. I was excited. So was my grandfather. He said, “Now we can go fishing this summer.”

We both laughed. So did my mother. My father smiled a lot, all day long.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To show the miracle of nature.

B．To explain the concept of the Earth.

C．To introduce the topic of the article.

D．To test readers’ knowledge about rivers.

2. Why did the author stop bringing home fish?

A．The fish in the river were all dead.	B．His mother disliked eating fish.
C．He wanted to protect the river.	D．The fish were too dirty to eat.

3. What miracle did the author’s father and his co-workers create?

A．They saved all the fish in the Chicago River.

B．They kept the Chicago River incredibly clean.

C．They changed the direction of the Chicago River.

D．They dug a huge hole to store the polluted water.

4. Which of the following words can best describe the author’s father?

A．Serious.

B．Devoted.

C．Open-minded.

D．Out-going.

9 . “Colour” and “color”, “favourite” and “favorite”, “honour” and “honor”… Have you ever wondered why Americans spell those words without a “u”? Is it because they are lazy? Of course not. In fact, the difference in spelling was started by Noah Webster (1758-1843). He was a teacher who reformed (改革) English to make American identity (特征) stronger. Linguists (语言学家) celebrate his birthday on October 16 every year.

After the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Webster believed that Americans should have their own dictionary, rather than rely on British dictionaries. He dropped the British “u” in some words. And he changed “centre” into “center” for children to learn English by spelling words more like what they sounded. He used “subway” instead of British word “underground”. Some other examples are “soccer” and “football”, “fall” and “autumn”.

Webster wasn’t shy about expressing his opinions. In defining (定义) preposterous (unreasonable), he wrote: “A republican government in the hands of female is preposterous.”

Webster spent 28 years on the project before completing the 70,000-word dictionary with his American-style spelling in 1828. He also added local words.

His dictionary was widely used in schools. Linguists believed it helped a new country achieve unity (统一) and cultural independence at a time when most people cared about political freedom.

“He was the creator of our language and the creator of American identity,” said Joshua Kendall, who is working on a book about Webster. “He at last brought us together through our language.”

1. Which is NOT true about Webster’s dictionary?

A．It has local words in it.	B．It is a 70,000-word dictionary.
C．All the words are spelled without “u”.	D．Its words are in American-style spelling.

2. What does the underlined phrase “rely on” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．depend on

B．believe in

C．stand for

D．give up

3. What do people think of Webster’s dictionary?

A．It is the only dictionary that Americans still use today.

B．It helped to bring Americans together besides its cultural influence.

C．It has no influence on the development of American English.

D．It helped to make American English more useful than British English.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．The development of the British English.

B．American English is better than British English.

C．Noah Webster added local words to the dictionary.

D．Noah Webster wrote an American English dictionary and reformed English.

10 . Animals grow up in different ways. Some newborn animals are helpless, but their mothers protect them. A newborn kangaroo is very small. It is only a few centimeters (cm) long. It closes its eyes and doesn’t have hair. It stays safe in its mother’s pouch (育儿袋) for a long time. A newborn monkey cannot walk. Its mother carries it everywhere.

Other baby animals can walk soon after they’re born. They learn to run with their mothers when danger is near. A baby zebra can run, an hour after it is born.

Some baby animals are born in a place that is safe. Baby wolves are usually born in big holes with little light. Other baby animals are born in the open. A baby elephant is often born on open land.

Animals that drink their mothers’ milk are called mammals. A mother bear’s milk is rich. Baby bears have milk for a few months. This is the same as baby zebras. As baby animals grow, they need solid (固体的) food. Baby lions eat what their mother can catch!

1. According to the passage, many newborn animals need their mothers’ help because the babies can’t _________.

A．look after themselves	B．eat any food
C．walk by themselves	D．drink water

2. A newborn monkey’s mother carries it everywhere because _________ .

A．it is very small

B．it can’t walk

C．it closes its eyes

D．it is very weak.

3. Newborn mammals’ main food is _________.

A．mothers’ milk

B．solid food

C．smaller animals

D．water

4. How many kinds of baby animals are mentioned in this passage?

A．six

B．seven

C．eight

D．nine