A four-year-old girl is lying in the arms of a doctor. She has just become motherless. The bombing(爆炸) destroyed her home and killed her mother.
Every day we see pictures like this on TVs or in newspapers. We see young Iraqi children asking for food and water from American and soldiers as they move through towns and cities towards the capital, Baghdad(巴格达). We see these children following grown-ups, carrying bags of things almost at the same size as their small bodies as they leave their homes in Baghdad.
“Dad, why are the Americans fighting us? Are we going to be killed?” asks the son of Abu Sinar, an Iraqi engineer. Abu finds it hard to explain this war to his eight-year-old son.
He tries to comfort him by saying ,“The bombs(炸弹) are far away from us. The Americans are fighting the soldiers. We are going to be all right.” Even though Abu knows this isn’t always the truth, what else can he do? In Baghdad, parents give their children sleeping pills to make them sleep so that they won’t hear the sound of bombing. And all the schools are closed.
“All we do is to listen to and hear the war,” said Abu, “We, all the people and the children, have to live in fear(恐惧). We feel hopeless and helpless. We don’t know where the next bombs are going. We can do nothing but wait to be killed.”During the war, children are ______________.
A.studying at school B.safer than their parents C.in great dangerThe children have to flee(逃离) their homes because_________.
A.it’s dangerous to stay at home because of the bombing.
B.their parents are not at home
C.they want to get food and water.Abu finds it hard to explain this war to his son, because___________.
A.he doesn’t want to tell him the real reason
B.he doesn’t want to tell a lie.
C.he doesn’t know how to explain it clearly.“sleeping pills” are __________.
A. a kind of thing to help them to be away from the war.
B.a kind of medicine to help them to fall asleep
C.a kind of food to make them strongAccording to the passage we know that__________.
A. all the children in Iraqi are looking for something to eat.
B. all the children in Iraqi are thinking about something to solve the war problem
C. the children in Iraqi are feeling fearful, helpless and hopeless during the war.
Put an ice cube from your fridge into a glass of water. You have a piece of string(线) 10 centimeters long. The problem is to take out that piece of ice with the help of the string. But you must not touch the ice with your fingers.
You may ask your friends to try to do that when you are having dinner together. There is a saltcellar on the table. You must use salt when you carry out this experiment.
First you put the string across the piece of ice. Then put some salt on the ice. Salt makes ice melt(融化). The ice round the string will begin to melt. But when it melts, it will lose heat. The cold ice cube will make the salt water freeze(结冰) again.
After a minute or two you may raise the piece of string and with it you will raise your piece of ice!
This experiment can be very useful to you. If, for example, there is ice near the door of your house, you must use very much salt to melt all the ice. If you don’t put enough salt, the water will freeze again.We must use when we carry out this experiment.
A.a fridge | B.some food | C.a table | D.some salt |
How long will it take to carry out this experiment?
A.More than three minutes. | B.Five minutes or two. |
C.Only one minute or two. | D.About ten minutes. |
We can learn something about from the passage.
A.physics | B.biology | C.chemistry | D.maths |
Old Cremona Violins
Most musicians(音乐家) agree that the best violins(小提琴) were first made in Cremona, Italy, about 200 years ago. These violins sound better than any others. They even sound better than violins made today. Violin makers and scientists try to make instruments(乐器) like the Italian violins. But they aren’t the same. Musicians still prefer the old ones.
Some people think it is the age of the violins. But not all old violins sound wonderful. Only the old violins from Cremona are special(特殊的). So age cannot be the answer.
Other people think the secret to those violins is the wood. The wood must be from certain kinds of trees.
But the kind of wood may not be so important. It may be more important to cut the wood in a special way. Wood for a violin must be cut very carefully. It has to be the right size and shape(形状). The smallest difference will change the sound of the violin. Musicians sometimes think that this was the secret of the Italians. Maybe they understood more than we do about how to cut the wood.
Size and shape may not be the answer, either. Scientists can make new ones that are exactly the same size and shape. But the new violins still do not sound as good as the old ones. Some scientists think the secret may be the varnish. Varnish is what covers the wood of the violin. It makes the wood look shiny. It also helps the sound of the instrument. But no one knows what the Italian violin makers used in their varnish.The passage is about .
A.making violins | B.musical instruments |
C.scientific ideas | D.the old Italian violins |
Other people think the Italian violin makers .
A.did not know much about violins | B.were lucky |
C.used many kinds of wood | D.knew something special |
Violins made today .
A.have the same size and shape as the old ones |
B.sound the same as the old ones |
C.are better than the old ones |
D.have the same varnish as the old ones |
Some scientists believe that the secret of the old violins was .
A.their sound | B.their colour | C.their varnish | D.the music |
Grygori Pilikian spent his 114th birthday the other day and some reporters visited him to find out the secret of a long life.
“The secret of a long life is happiness,” Grygori said. “If you are happy, you will live a long time.”
“Are you married?” a reporter asked. “Yes,” Grygori answered. “I married my third wife when I was 102. If you are happily married, you will live better. But for(要是没有) my third wife, I would have died years ago.”
“What about smoking and drinking?” another reporter asked. “Yes, they are important,” Grygori said. “Don’t smoke at all and you will feel well. Drink two glasses of wine a day and you will be healthy and happy.”Some reporters visited Grygori because .
A.he was a happy man |
B.he was a friend of them |
C.he had lived to be much longer than most people |
D.he had married three times |
The word “wine” in the last paragraph means in Chinese.
A.酒 | B.饮料 | C.汽水 | D.汤 |
The writer wants to tell us .
A.drinking much is good for our health |
B.drinking a little is helpful |
C.smoking and drinking are the most important to our health |
D.both smoking and drinking are bad for our health |
The best title for this passage is.
A.Grygori’s Birthday | B.The Secret of a Long Life |
C.Happiness and Life | D.Reporters Visited Grygori |
A lady has a problem with her daughter:
My nine-year-old daughter, Maria, is in Year Four. Every evening we get into homework battles(争执). Three afternoons a week, she has activities(netball, singing) after school and by the time we get home early, we argue(争论) about whether she should do her homework right after school, or if she should have some time to rest and play first. When Maria at last sits down to do her homework, she seems to want me there helping all the time, I do want to help her, but I’m sure that she is going to need to be able to do it on her own. And in fact, most of the time, I have other things I need to be doing. It seems that children these days have much more homework than we did, and some of it is really beyond(超越) their abilities(能力). As you can see, I’m really worried about homework and I really don’t know what I should do. Any ideas?The woman’s daughter is .
A.four years old | B.six years old | C.eight years old | D.nine years old |
Maria doesn’t have any activities after school for afternoons.
A.two | B.three | C.five | D.seven |
Maria want to first when she gets home early.
A.do her homework | B.play netball and sing |
C.have supper | D.have a rest and play |
Can you guess where this passage is from?
A.A diary. | B.A newspaper. | C.A novel(小说). | D.A story. |
When I was a foreign teacher in China,every day I taught English to my students and they taught me about China.One day the topic turned to saying “I love you”.I was shocked to learn that not one of my students had said this to their mothers,nor had their mothers said it to them.“Does your mom love you?” “Of course,”they answered.
“How do you know it?” was my logical question.They responded that their moms cooked and always told them what they were doing wrong to show their caring.I was strummed. So mom's cooking and criticizing read out as “I love you”. “Then how do you say ‘I love you’ to her?” They agreed that getting good grades, followed by good jobs would be how they showed their love.
I come from a culture where most people are expressive enough,so I repeated these queries in classes over time.Gradually,I began to get different responses.Some of them had exchanged those sentiments with their moms.
One of my favorite stories of change came from a girl.When she came home from university,her mother met her at the door and hugged(拥抱)her.This had never happened before,but her mom said,“Now that you have gone I have more time to myself.”I noticed that in some places mothers and children hug each other and I decided it was a good idea and that I would begin hugging you.”
In my family we all say “I love you” a lot.While it is true that we often say the words without having great depth of feelings at that moment,and it is almost like a blessing we give each other. Those three little words carry a world of meaning,even when said as a greeting, but most especially if they are the last words we say to or hear from those we love.The foreign teacher _________.
A.comes from America | B.is a young woman |
C.is expressive enough | D.knows much about China |
Chinese students prefer to show love by __________.
A.saying “I love you” | B.cooking |
C.getting good grades | D.doing something helpful |
In paragraph 4, what's the real meaning of the mom's hugging?
A.She is meeting her daughter at the door. |
B.She loves her daughter and misses her. |
C.She is glad that she has more time to herself. |
D.She finds it interesting to hug her daughter. |
In paragraph 5, what can we know from the sentence “ In my family we all say ‘I love you’ a lot” ?
A.“I love you.” is a daily greeting. |
B.“ Love” is the most important word in our country. |
C.They worry about each other. |
D.“I love you” are the last words we say or hear from those we love. |
What's the main idea of the passage?
A.Say “I love you” more to your family. |
B.Say “I love you” a lot to Chinese people. |
C.Say “I love you” as a greeting to others. |
D.Say “I love you” without great depth of feelings. |