One day, Jack’s parents told him that his grandpa would retire (退休) after working for forty years. Jack said in surprise, “I’m only seven, so it means Grandpa has been … err… A really long time!”
His parents said, “Yes. That’s why we are going to have a surprise party for him.”
Jack loved his Grandpa and wanted to do something special for him. He remembered the business card his grandpa had given him two years before. He knew that his grandpa would no longer have the position (职位) on that card, so he decided to build a new one for his grandpa.
When the big day came, Jack was ready. But he didn’t want to put his gift together with others’. He carried it around with him the whole evening.
When all the other people left, he took his grandpa’s hand and brought him over to a chair and gave him the gift.
His grandpa smiled, “Well, it must be a beautiful gift. May I open it now?”“Sure!” Jack said excitedly.
As Grandpa opened the gift, tears came into his eyes. Jack gave him the greatest gift he had ever got! They were business cards with his new position: FULL-TIME GRANDPA! Jack said, “Now your full-time job is my grandpa!”
“Well, how much do I get paid?” his grandpa asked, smiling. “As many hugs (拥抱) as you want!” With these words, Jack gave Grandpa a hug. “Well, I guess that means I’m the richest man in the world!” said Grandpa.What did Jack decide to do for his grandpa?
| A．To build a new position for him. | B．To hold his hands warmly. |
| C．To give him a new business job. | D．To give him a warm hug. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Grandpa would be forty-one years old next year. |
| B．Jack was the last one to give the gift to his grandpa. |
| C．Others didn’t want to put his gifts together with Jack’s. |
| D．Jack’s parents give Grandpa some money for his job. |
Why were there tears in Grandpa’s eyes?
| A．Because he would lose his position. |
| B．Because others didn’t like him at all. |
| C．Because he was moved by Jack’s gift. |
| D．Because Jack wasn’t with him that evening. |
What is your favorite English letter? Many of you will say QQ.Why? Because so many of you chat with your friends on QQ. What do you like about QQ?What do you talk about? The CCTV reporter, Miss Wang interviews three kids. Let’s listen to what they say.
When do you chat on QQ? What do you talk about?
Lin Yuhan, Xi’an: On weekends, we talk about homework and chat with each other.
Tang Xuting, Shanghai: At weekends and when I don’t have much homework. We exchange test answers and chat.
Yang Yuhang, Dalian: Our class goes online together at 4—6 pm at the weekends. We complain about homework, chat and talk about computer games.
What do you put on your QQ blog(博客)？
Lin: I put good articles I have found online on my blog. I also write articles myself. They are about funny things that have happened in my class.
Tang: I put pictures on my blog. Not my own photos, but pictures from my favorite Japanese cartoons(卡通片)like Tennis Prince and Conan.
Yang: I put DV films on my blog. I shoot (拍摄)them during sports meetings and school parties. The most popular one is about a dancing teacher. It is so funny that everyone watches it.
How do you like QQ?
Lin: It’s a good space for us to make a record of our lives, of both good times and sad times.
Tang: My friends and I may not have time to chat at school. But we can do it on QQ. It’s very helpful to our friendships.
Yang: If you chat with friends on the telephone, your parents sometimes can hear your conversation. There is no such problem with QQ. You can relax and talk freely.What does Yang Yuhang talk about on QQ at the weekend?
① homework②chat③test answers④computer games
| A．①② | B．②③ | C．①②④ | D．②③④ |
What does Lin Yuhan put on her QQ blog?
| A．Some pictures. | B．Good articles. |
| C．DV films. | D．Japanese cartoons. |
Which one is TRUE according to this article?
| A．Lin says QQ is very helpful to their friendships. |
| B．Yang says he can chat freely with many friends and relax on QQ. |
| C．Tang says QQ is a good space for them to make a record of their lives. |
| D．Tang says he chats on QQ on weekdays though he has lots of homework. |
At last, the mid-term exams are over. You’ve done the hard work, but you can’t relax. You have to prepare for the next exams. Do you hate exams? If you do, you are not alone. Students in other countries hate them as well.
Luckily for them, British students have fewer exams than Chinese students. And they only have them once a year. Every summer they take a test in each subject. Each test lasts about an hour. These exams don’t count for much, even if a student does really badly they still progress to the next grade. When the results come out, they are then placed in an end-of-year report. The report is sent to the child’s parents. It describes how the student studied at school.
This report is private, so only the teacher, the student and his or her parents see it. This means that the students don’t know how other students scored(得分) in the test. Some students choose to tell each other, but others keep it secret.
Parents’ meetings are held twice a year, at the end of winter term and then at the end of the summer term. Children go along with their parents to meet their teachers privately and discuss their performance at school.For British students, the school life is than that of Chinese students.
| A．more relaxing | B．much tenser | C．more boring | D．much harder |
The underlined phrase “don’t count for much” means
| A．难以计数 | B．不太重要 | C．期望不多 | D．难度不大 |
Which of the following is NOT true for British students?
| A．They have exams once a year. |
| B．They don’t know their classmates’ scores. |
| C．Parents’ meetings are held at the end of the terms. |
| D．They like to tell each other their scores |
You might have noticed that the cost of food has gone up.In fact the price of wheat and rice has nearly doubled in the past few years.It’s thought that right now，850 million people—that’s more than 10 times the population of the UK—are short of food because it’s too expensive or there’s not enough of it.
The price of basic food such as wheat and corn has stayed the same for quite a long time，about 30 years.But as the world’s population is getting bigger，there’s more pressure to feed more people，plus there’s less land and water to go round.
Another reason is climate（气候）change.Droughts and floods make it hard to grow crops like rice and grain.The price of oil has gone up and that makes it more expensive for farmers to run their tractors and to transport the food they make.And lots of fields are being used to grow crops to make other things that can’t be eaten—which is bad news for hungry people.
The main losers are poor people who live in cities in poor countries，who are facing higher prices for food.Some people are doing well out of the food crisis（危机） though.Farmers in rich countries like the US，Canada and Australia are getting record prices for their harvests.
World leaders are meeting in the Italian capital Rome to talk about the problem of rising food prices.Some countries are helping out with the cost of foods and international aid agencies have called for more money for food production in poor countries.The price of food goes up because all of the following EXCEPT _____.
| A．there are more and more people in the world. |
| B．American farmers are getting richer and richer. |
| C．many farm lands are used to make other things rather than food. |
| D．climate change makes it harder to grow food. |
Who lose the most because of the food crisis?
| A．Farmers in rich countries. |
| B．Farmers in developed countries. |
| C．Poor people in cities in poor countries. |
| D．Poor people in cities in developed countries. |
What does the food crisis mean to farmers in Canada?
| A．They can get a lot of money from the government. |
| B．They have to save a lot of money. |
| C．They can make more money from the high price. |
| D．They are losing a lot of money. |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Why is the Price of Food Going Up？ |
| B．How Many People are Short of Food? |
| C．What Can We Learn from the Food Crisis? |
| D．Who Can Benefit（受益） from the Food Crisis? |
（By CCTV correspondent Vanessa Duffy 04/28/2013 08:36）
It’s been eight days since a 7.0-magnitude strong earthquake hit China’s Lushan Ya’an Sichuan Province.How the earthquake has affected one of Sichuan Province’s special residents（居民）—pandas.How are the animals living? And do they have enough food to eat?
There are more than 80 pandas living here at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Base（繁育基地）.The quake was felt strongly in Chengdu.Fortunately，all of the pandas here were out on the grounds when the earthquake hit，so they were very safe.
Several days have passed and the earthquake seems to have made no negative（不利的） impact on the pandas.These two baby pandas Chengshuang and Chengdui are playfighting with each other and climbing trees.When they climbed too high，the breeders have to rescue them from the trees.
The quake zone is not only the home of these pandas，it’s also the source of their food.Fortunately，enough bamboo(竹子) has been stored away in five bamboo storehouses for the pandas，so there are no worries about food supplies.
Wu Kongju，Breeder，Chengdu Panda Breeding Base，said，“When the Wenchuan earthquake happened on May 12，2008，we were unprepared and had a shortage of bamboo.But we’ve been able to handle this earthquake event more smoothly.There are no problems with the food supply.”When did the 7.0-magnitude earthquake happen in Lushan Sichuan Province?
| A．On April 28，2013 |
| B．On May 12，2008 |
| C．On April 20，2013 |
| D．On May 20，2013 |
The underlined word “ rescue” in this passage means ______ in Chinese.
| A．保存 | B．阻止 | C．放任 | D．营救 |
How did the Panda Breeding Base deal with the food supply after the earthquake in Wenchan in 2008?
| A．They built 5 bamboo storehouses to store food for pandas. |
| B．They were unprepared and had a shortage of bamboo. |
| C．They handled this earthquake more smoothly. |
| D．They let pandas out on the grounds. |
My problems started after I went to a boarding（寄宿） school.I was only 14，and at first I missed my family a lot.I often called them and cried on the phone.But after two weeks，I found I enjoyed being with my classmates at school. I had many friends who were boys.I thought of them as my best friends-but only friends.I never guessed my friendships with boys would become a problem.
Then，three months later，my friends told me that some teachers and girls said I was hanging out with boys all day long in order to get attention from them.Seven months after that，the head teacher Mr.Wang asked the class to choose some students to join the Student Union（学生会）.I thought I could win for I was doing well in school.I’d already won prizes for the best math and English exams.A week later，the list came out and it didn’t include me.I was sad.
Mr.Wang came to me and said，“Don’t be sad.I know you’re excellent! Maybe you are a little distant（疏远的）from the girls in our class.They don’t know much about you，so some of them didn’t choose you.It doesn’t matter.Do your best to get along well with everyone and I think you’ll make it next time.”What was the writer’s problem when she first entered the boarding school?
| A．She didn’t like her new school. |
| B．She didn’t get along well with her classmates. |
| C．She missed her family very much. |
| D．She didn’t like her new teacher. |
Why did the writer fail to join the Student Union?
| A．Her teachers didn’t like her. |
| B．She was a poor student. |
| C．Some girls didn’t choose her. |
| D．She likes showing off herself. |
Which of the following is NOT true，according to the passage?
| A．The writer won prizes for the best science and English exams. |
| B．The writer didn’t realize that her friendships with boys would cause problems. |
| C．The writer was sad because she failed to join the Student Union. |
| D．The teacher thought she was an excellent student. |