The Mayan（玛雅的）Indians lived in Mexico for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. The Mayan achievements were many. They had farms, beautiful palaces, and cities with many buildings. The Mayan people knew a lot about nature and the world around them. This knowledge helped them to live a better life than most people of that time, because they could use it to make their lives more comfortable and rewarding（值得的）. Knowledge about tools and farming, for example, made their work easier and more productive.
The Maya believed in many gods, including rain gods, sun gods, and corn gods. The people built large temples to honor the Mayan gods. Skillful workers built cities around these temples. It was difficult for them to build these cities, because they had no horses to carry the heavy stone they used to build with. Workers had to carry all of the building materials themselves. Today, many of these ancient Mayan cities and temples are still standing.
Although the cities that the Maya built were beautiful, and the people worked hard to build them, very few of the people lived in them. Usually, only the priests（牧师）lived in the cities.
The other people lived in small villages in the forests. Their houses were much simpler than the elaborate buildings in the cities. They lived in small huts（小屋）with no windows. The walls were made of poles covered with dried mud, and the roof was made of grass or leaves. Most Maya lived a simple life close to nature.
The Mayan priests studied the Sun, the Moon, stars, and planets. They made a calendar from what they learned. The year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each with five days left over. The Mayan calendar was far more exact than the European calendars of the time.
Around the year 800, the Maya left their villages and beautiful cities, never to return. No one knows why this happened. They may have died from some disease. They may have left because the soil could no longer grow crops. Archaeologists（考古学家）are still trying to find the lost secrets of the Maya. What does the underlined word “elaborate’’ mean?
| A．easily built | B．carefully made | C．slowly fixed | D．quickly designed |
From the passage we can infer（推理）that .
| A．most Maya lived in beautiful cities |
| B．many Mayan cities and temples are still standing |
| C．the Maya were intelligent and culturally rich people |
| D．the Mayan calendar was the same as European calendars |
Why it is said that the Mayan people lived a better life than most people of that time?
| A．They had better building skills and housing conditions. |
| B．They believed in many gods, and honored the Mayan gods. |
| C．They had knowledge about tools and faming. |
| D．They studied about nature and the world around them. |
What can be the best title for this article?
| A．Mayan Gods | B．Mayan Buildings |
| C．Productive Maya | D．Mysterious（神秘的）Maya |
My friend’s grandfather came to America from a farm in Thailand. After After arriving in New York, he went into a cafeteria(自助餐厅) in Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for someone to take his order. Of course nobody did. Finally, a woman with a big plate full of food came up to him. She sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked.
“Start out at that end,” she said, “Just go along the line and choose what you want. At the other end they’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”
“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend later, “Life’s a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want as long as you want to pay the price. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself. ”My friend’s grandfather came from .
A．Thailand B．Manhattan C．New YorkThe grandfather went into a cafeteria to .
A．wait for someone
B．get something to eat C．meet my friendThe woman in the cafeteria might be .
A．a waitress
B．a friend of grandpa’s
C．a customerWhat should we do to get food in a cafeteria?
A．Wait for the waiter.
B. Ask someone for help. C．Get it ourselves.What can we learn from the grandfather’s words about the life in the US?
A．Get up early and you can succeed.
B．Act and get what you want on your own.
C．Nobody brings you anything unless you pay the price.
We are collecting more news for our school English newspaper. Would you like to be reporters for it? Welcome! Here are two pieces from the news page.
The BestRunner
We had a sports day at school yesterday. Last year’s best runner, LiYu, only won the second prize in the 800-meter race. Instead, Yang Liufrom Class 2 came first by two seconds. Next year the race is going to bemore Interesting! Who will be the best runner? Iwonder.
Good-bey, Mr.White!
Our Englishteacher, Mr. White, has finished his two years’ teachingat our school and will leave next month. Mr. White is an excellent teacherand he’s always friendly to us. We’ll never forget his lively andinteresting teaching. We are lucky to be his students. We thank him for all his hardwork and wish him a nice journey home. We will miss you, Mr.White!You are welcome to be reporters for our school English newspaper.
Li Yu won the second prize in the 800-meter race yesterday.
Yang Liu was the best runner last year.
Mr. White will teach us English for two years at our school.
We’ll always remember Mr. White’s lively and interesting teaching.
Countries like France, Brazil and even Japan have their own hip-hop culture. But where did this strange speaking-singing style come from? Many centuries ago, in West Africa, traditional storytellers played musical instruments while they were telling stories. When this tradition travelled from West Africa to the USA, it developed into different musical styles. For example, blues and jazz.
And in the 1970s, there were many poor areas in New York. There wasn’t any money for music lessons in schools, so kids made their own music. Teenagers Afrika and DJ Here played their records outside in the streets. Everybody joined in. MCs had rapping（说唱） competitions. Every week, there were talented new dancers, new DJs and new MCs. Hip-hop culture was born.
It was 1980. I was at a party in New York. There was a young DJ at the party. He was playing records. While he was putting a record on, a kid picked up a microphone（话筒） and begantapping. Some other kids were break-dancing to the music. It was loud and boring, and I
hated it. I preferred jazz.Today’s successful American artists like Missy and her friend Tim heard it on the radio when they were growing up.
The last time I heard hip-hop, I was in West Africa. I was going to interview a traditional storyteller when I met a young hip-hop artist, He told me there are hundreds of rap groups in Africa today. We live on a hip-hop planet.
| A. I remember the first time I heard hip-hop. B. You can find hip-hop everywhere you go. C. I was writing a book about African-Americans. D. Many Americans gave music lessons to poor children. E. These styles all started in poor African-American areas. F. During the 1980s, hip-hop became popular all over the USA. G. Some people don’t like hip-hop because of its spoken words. |
The first part of a new science-fiction series （系列剧）was shown on NBC last night. Star Trek is about a spacecraft（宇宙飞船）which travels faster than the speed of light. The show is developed from three ideas about the 22nd century. First, we’ll find other life forms great tools which will make amazing things possible.
Let’s think about these predictions. If we find life forms on other planets, will they be intelligent? I hope so. But we human beings might not be friendly – I don’t think we’ll believe in the idea of peace one hundred years from now. But this is science fiction, so we can be optimistic! And Star Trek’s idea of life in the future is ‘communicators’. And we will be ablt to have conversatins with people who are on because you’ll have an electronic notebook. And if you get ill, the doctor won’t have to examine you – a machine will ‘read’ your body. The strangest manchine includes a ‘teleport’ which will take people to a different placein a second!
The ideas are interesting, and in my opinion there’s only one problem with star trek: the acting. The TV company （公司）will have to get better actors. If they do that, the show might be a success. If the acting doesn’t improve, Star Trek won’t last for more than one series. Of course, my prediction may be wrong. I can’t see into the future!What is Star Trek?
| A．A TV play. | B．A popular song. |
| C．A spacecraft. | D．An alien. |
What does the underlined word “optimistic” mean?
| A．Lucky and happy. | B．Hopeful and confident. |
| C．Helpful and creative. | D．Thankful and popular. |
What’s the writer’s opinion about Star Trek?
A. The life forms on other planets are stupid.
B. Interesting ideas make a new series popular.
C. The new series might not be successful without better actors.Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Aliens on Other Planets. | B．The Idea of Human Life. |
| C．A Science Fiction. | D．A New Series about Future. |
Today there are many fires than in the past. Over 100,000 wildfires burn each year in America. Russia has 20,000 to 35,000 wildfires every year. Australia has on average 60,000 each year. These fires destroy（损害）huge areas of forests and burn hundreds of homes.
Many experts believe there are several reasons for this sudden increase in fires. The first reason is climate（气候）change. Recent weather has been warmer and drier. This leads to dangerous fire conditions. When lightening strikes（发生雷电），dry grass easily catches fire. Hot winds add to the problem. The wind spreads a fire quickly. In 2010, Russia had the hottest and driest summer in a century. In just one month, 500 fires destroyed over 2,000 homes. Some people lost their lives.
Traditional fire-fighting practices are another reason for the increase in fires. In America, firefighters used to quickly put out every fire. They didn’t allow the grass and trees to burn. As a result, today many forests have thicker vegetation（植被）.Thicker vegetation means more fuel（燃料）for fires. Also, without fires from time to time, forests become overcrowded and unhealthy. Some trees are dead. The dead wood then easily catches fire. So surprisingly, America has many more fires today partly because of its past fire-fighting practices.
Scientists now understand that a fire can be a natural part of a healthy forest. As a result, countries like Australia allow more fires to burn naturally. Sometimes, fire fighters even start fires to get rid of（去除）dead wood. Of course, they carefully control the fires. The fire thins out old trees. This allows sunlight to reach the ground. As a result, fires help new trees to grow. Therefore, if a fire is not a serious threat（威胁）to people, firefighters may let it burn naturally.Why did Russia have so many fires in one month in 2010?
| A．Because lightening spread the fire. |
| B．Because there was much fuel for fires. |
| C．Because there were not enough firefighters. |
| D．Because it was unusually hot, dry and windy. |
What happens because of the traditional fire-fighting practices in the USA?
| A．There are fewer wildfires. |
| B．Trees and grass become thicker. |
| C．The weather becomes warmer and drier. |
| D．Sunlight reaches the ground to help forests. |
What is the main idea of Paragraph 4?
| A．Fires are serious threats to human beings. |
| B．Australian firefighters don’t put out fires. |
| C．Fires can play an important role I forests. |
| D．It’s difficult for firefighters to control the fires. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Not all the fires in the forests must be put out.
B. People’s carelessness leads to dangerous fires.
C. Australia allows all the fires to burn naturally.
D. There are more fires in Russia than in the USA.