1 . Friendships can be equally demanding and rewarding, whether you’ve been friends for a long time or have just started communicating with one another.
You can text each other frequently. Texting is a great way to keep up with each other’s daily events and routines. Although you may be apart from one another, texting is a great way to get immediate access to each other’s lives.
You can mail each other handwritten letters. Sending handwritten letters is a great way to keep connected while also adding a personal and thoughtful touch. Taking the time to write a letter shows your appreciation for the relationship.
| A．You can plan a visit when possible. |
| B．You can find things you can do together while apart. |
| C．So it’s in your best interest to stay in touch with your friends. |
| D．Handwriting their birthday card every year is a smart choice. |
| E．It can also be an opportunity to learn more about each other’s experiences. |
| F．There are many effective ways to keep in touch, stay connected and develop your friendship. |
| G．For example, you can watch the same shows at the same time and share feelings afterwards. |
2 . There has recently been a lot of arguments about homework. As a teacher, I strongly believe in the benefits of quality homework. Besides preparing students for university life, it teaches important life skills that will benefit students for the rest of their lives.
Some people argue that homework is causing stress and depression to rise in children. But to blame homework for these health problems is wrong. Social pressures cause more stress for teenagers than homework. If people are really concerned about the health of students, they would spend more time solving the problems that cause pressure in schools rather than complaining about homework.
In addition, those who are opposed to homework believe that students end up hating the time spent instead of enjoying learning. However, the problem is the type of homework being assigned (布置). It is the quality not quantity (数量) of homework that will improve students’ learning and their enjoyment. Repetitive worksheets where students memorize historical dates and names or solve math problems over and over again are less beneficial than more creative project-based homework.
Primary students will eventually be in middle and high school where homework will be assigned. If they have no preparation in primary schools, they will have the stress of suddenly trying to adjust to life with homework later. The important thing is to assign just enough homework to help students learn.
In fact, homework allows parents to be aware of what their child is doing at school and how well their academic and thinking skills are developing. If they notice that their child is taking an unreasonable amount of time completing their homework, parents can call the teacher’s attention to the problem.
Finally, homework helps to teach students important study and life skills that will set them up for future success. They learn how to manage their time so that they can finish their homework and other activities. At times, they might struggle to complete the homework, but by working through it, they learn not to give up. These are skills that will not only benefit them in their academic life but in their adult lives as well.
We should recognize quality homework can help to show children the connection between what they are learning in school and how it can be applied outside of schools, and it should allow the students to have fun while doing it. Learning should not only be contained within a classroom; it should be extended to all areas of our lives.
1. According to the passage, quality homework can ________.| A．only be assigned at high school |
| B．cause pressures to rise in teenagers |
| C．have influence on students in many ways |
| D．draw parents’ attention to the problems it brings |
| A．Supportive. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Against. | B．Worried about. | C．Tired of. | D．Favor. |
| A．Pressures Caused by Homework |
| B．The Benefits of Quality Homework |
| C．Quality and Quantity of Homework |
| D．Different Opinions about Homework |
3 . Saihanba is a green miracle passed on from generation to generation.
The Saihanba Forest Farm is the world’s largest manmade forest, a 750-square-kilometer barrier (屏障), 300 kilometers north of Beijing, planted to save the Chinese capital from desertification (the gradual change of habitable land into desert, which is usually caused by climate change or by destructive use of the land).
Today, overlooking the sea of green, it would be hard to imagine that a half century ago, the area was wasteland.
The big change began 59 years ago with the effort of a group of foresters and engineers who were determined to turn the area into a forest. In 1962, the Ministry of Forestry Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm was formally established. Some 369 young people from different parts of the country went all the way north to Saihanba.
Food and shelter was in short supply, so the group grew their own potatoes and corn and set up simple shelters and tents, sometimes using only brunches and straw that gave little shelter from the freezing wind.
In the beginning, planting trees on the very cold highland was an impossible task due to the high winds. Over 90 percent of the young seedlings planted in the first two years died and the forest farm was nearly shut down. After trying different ways of planting trees, the survival rate of the newly planted young trees topped 90 percent in 1964.
Planting trees is not enough. Carefully protecting the woods and managing well the whole forest farm is even harder. That is what later generations will do.
During fire prevention periods in spring and autumn, they check the vast expanse of forest every 15 minutes during the day, and once an hour at night.
Now as third-generation tree planters in Saihanba, they need to solve even more difficult problems in the never-ending effort of planting more trees. Since there is much less flat land left for planting trees, they have to work on the rocky mountain slopes (斜坡) where the topsoil is only 10 centimeters thick. But before giving the young trees a home, they need to dig holes about 40 centimeters deep.
Three generations of hard work have turned Saihanba from a nascent (新生的) stand of trees into a million acres of forest, from a desert into an oasis.
1. The author showed the difficulty of planting trees in Saihanba by ________.| A．telling stories | B．showing causes | C．listing numbers | D．giving examples |
| A．was changed by 369 engineers |
| B．used to be a 750-square-kilometer farm |
| C．provided good living conditions for people there |
| D．was turned into the world’s largest manmade forest |
| A．how people created a green miracle |
| B．why it was hard to manage the forest well |
| C．what people did to deal with climate change |
| D．what measures were taken to protect the capital |
4 . I opened my eyes and started to stretch, wishing it was just a dream, but of course it wasn’t! I was extremely tired from staying up late the night before because I was so anxious for the big day. I dragged myself out of my bed to do my normal routine. As I was brushing my teeth, I looked up at the mirror and it hit me that I was about to graduate from high school. This was the first time that I’d been so happy and extremely sad at the same time and the only thing running through my mind was that this was really happening.
All I had was English that day because my other teachers let us have a free day to catch up on late homework or just hang out with our friends. After suffering through eight hours of boring classes, it was time to get ready for graduation night. As my friends and I were getting our caps and gowns on, my favorite teacher Ms. Sue walked up and said to me, “Congratulations to you, Lily!” She gave me a special book. I looked down at it and it said, “The places you’ll go!” I read it right before I headed up to gym for practice.
I never knew a book could give me such inspiration. I just kept on thinking to myself that this was finally it! I was so happy that it was time to move on to a new chapter in my life. As everyone was taking their seats, I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles, I was so nervous. Once and for all it was time they called out my name. I started walking up those stairs and it felt like the whole entire world was behind me. All I could see was a beautiful future ahead. This opened up many possibilities for me, like going to college, moving out on my own, and paying bills. I’ve never felt so proud of myself and the person I’ve become. This experience has made me become a better person.
1. What was the main cause for Lily’s anxiety?| A．Her bad dream. | B．Her normal routine. |
| C．Her graduation day. | D．Her extreme tiredness. |
| A．Angry. | B．Uninterested. | C．Confident. | D．Thankful. |
| A．decide to get prepared for the ceremony |
| B．learn about the harm of too many wishes |
| C．taste the sweetness of a good relationship |
| D．begin to think about fighting for her future |
| A．Every book must be chewed carefully to get out its nice juice. |
| B．Something very magical can happen after reading a good book. |
| C．Reading books removes sorrows from someone’s breaking heart. |
| D．When you read a book for a second time, you meet an old friend. |
As a nature photographer, I enjoy working outside in the wild. Last summer in Yellowstone National Park, I followed a path that took me through a dark forest.
6 . Carter Evans, a 16-year-old boy, was camping in a tent with friends in a parking area near Pascagoula River in July when a car with three teenage girls inside fell off a boat ramp (匝道) and into the river, then sank. The driver had blindly
It was around 2:30 a.m. when Evans and his friends got to the river’s edge. In the darkness, they could
Evans took off his shirt and shoes, threw his phone down and dived into the water, a river he knew crocodiles called home. He helped the first girl he saw and, keeping her head above water, led her to the
Just then, Garry Mercer, a police officer, arrived. He
There was still one girl, Cora Watson, in the water. She was
“I just knew my last
Evans was taken to the hospital. The three girls are alive because Evans risked his
| A．followed | B．studied | C．seen | D．kept |
| A．finally | B．clearly | C．certainly | D．hardly |
| A．fighting | B．shouting | C．swimming | D．quarrelling |
| A．riverbank | B．car | C．tent | D．park |
| A．walked | B．fell | C．dived | D．sank |
| A．excited | B．surprised | C．scared | D．disappointed |
| A．sand | B．crowd | C．darkness | D．water |
| A．waiting | B．struggling | C．considering | D．lying |
| A．challenge | B．choice | C．breath | D．dream |
| A．health | B．life | C．job | D．fortune |
