Don’t you think your schoolbag is too heavy to bear? The e-schoolbag will free you from the weight.
It is said that e-schoolbags are going to be brought into use in Chinese middle schools soon. An experiment with several hundred e-schoolbags will begin in seven cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang. And the e-schoolbags are going to cover all over China if the experiment proves to be successful. In fact, the e-schoolbag should perhaps be called an e-notebook. It is a small hand-held computer for school students.
Heavy schoolbags have long been a serious problem for school students. The average schoolbag of middle school students weighs up to 5 kilos. But the e-schoolbag will change everything. It is much lighter than a usual schoolbag, weighing under 1 kilo.
Also, it is no bigger than a usual book, but it can still hold all the things for study, such as a textbook, a notebook and exercise book. They could be made into chips that are as small as a stamp. The students can read the text page by page on the screen. They can still take notes using a special electronic pen. If they want to know the meaning or the pronunciation of a new word, or even e-mail their teachers, it’s just a press of a button.
In some foreign countries, it is becoming common. But it is hard to tell when people will receive this new form of study. Some say that e-textbooks can be easily broken, some say that it is not good to students’ eyesight to look at the screen for long. But only time will tell. The e-schoolbag has many functions EXCEPT ________.
| A．It can pronounce the words. |
| B．It can send e-mail. |
| C．It can be used as a dictionary. |
| D．It can phone somebody. |
According to the passage, the e-schoolbag ________.
| A．is not heavy as before but still large |
| B．is used as an experiment in Tianjin |
| C．is made of metal |
| D．is going to cover China if it proves to be successful |
Which of the following statement is TRUE?
| A．All the students in China will be required to use this new schoolbag soon. |
| B．All the people think highly of e-textbooks. |
| C．E-notebooks are very convenient to students. |
| D．We will not make notes because the e-notebook can make all by itself. |
The best title for the passage should be ________.
| A．An Experiment In China |
| B．Please Change Your Schoolbag |
| C．A New Invention, A New Schoolbag |
| D．Chips |
The baby boy, born at two minutes past midnight Thursday in a Beijing hospital, counted China’s 1.3 billionth citizen and the date, January 6, 2005, became the 1.3 Billion Population Day of China.
With 3,600 grams and 52 cm, the boy is in good condition. So far, the boy has no name. His mother is Lan Hui in her 31 with the Shell Group of Companies and the boy’s father is one staff from Air China.
"I am very happy, and I am the happiest man in the world," the boy’s father said.
Gu Xiulian, Vice-Chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee and President of the ACWF, visited the hospital to see the new coming citizen. Zhang Weiqing, director of National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) of China, awarded him the certificate and gifts.
China mainland would reach 1,299,880,000 by the end of 2004, with a daily net increase of 20,800 on average. Based on this statistics, on January 6, this population would top at 1. 3 billion. NPFPC had determined in advance that the first baby born in this hospital after midnight would be the symbolic 1.3 billionth Chinese.
On the same day, more than 20,000 other babies were added to China’s population list.
The nation’s population policy over the past 25 years has contributed to balanced development, delaying the date of the landmark figure by four years.
1. The baby is regarded as China’s 1. 3 billionth citizen because ________.
A. our population was just one less than 1.3 billion before his birth
B. he was the first baby China had on January 6,2005
C. he was lucky enough to be born at the right time and place
D. he was the healthiest of all born on the same day
2. The baby’s birth is worth so much attention because ________.
A. 1.3 billion is a landmark figure in China’s population statistics
B. 1.3 billion is a turning point in China’s population growth
C. the birth symbolizes China’s success in family planning
D. the birth makes China’s population large enough for celebration
3. Which statement is correct according to the statistical data?
A. In 2004 China had 20,800 babies born on an average day.
B. China’s population reached 1.3 billion by the end of January 5.
C. The exactly 1.3 billionth citizen should be born on January 5.
D. China’s actual population became over 20,000 larger on January 6
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10. Who will be interested in this passage?
A. Doctors who treat diabetes. B. People who like free books.
C. Patients with heart disease. D. People who suffer diabetes and raise cholesterol.
11. What information will the booklet provide for its readers?
A. When to see a doctor. B. How to cure your diabetes.
C. How to know the level of your cholesterol. D. How to get the free book.
12. The word ChoLESterol in the passage probably means
A. keeping cholesterol steady B. making cholesterol fall down
C. the level of cholesterol D. curing your diabetes
13. The purpose of this advertisement is ________.
A. to help doctors get more patients B. to help people with higher level of cholesterol
C. to obtain benefit from the booklet D. to make the organization well known
People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories according to pictures.
About 5,000 years ago the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as a kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet(字母表).
The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picture-writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modem comic-strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic-strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.
By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area a-round the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.
These days we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawings, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the streets, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.
6. Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ________.
A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures B. the painters were animal lovers
C. the painters wanted to show imagination D. the pictures were thought to be helpful
7.The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons EXCEPT that ________.
A. the former was easy to write B. there were fewer signs in the former
C. the former was easy to pronounce D. each sign stood for only one sound
8. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.
B. The Egyptians liked to write comic-strip stories.
C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.
D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians.
9. In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures __________.
A. should be made comprehensible B. should be made interesting
C. are of much use in our life D. are disappearing from our life
We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it’s an ingredient(配料) in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices(香料) like chili peppers.
Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say “Ugh!” and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.
The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.
When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too.Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.
In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.
Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.
1. It was ________that discovered sugar could remove the bitter taste of cacao.
A. The workers in the chocolate factory B. The Spaniards
C. The people in England D. The owner of a chocolate factory
2. According to the passage which of the following statements is true?
A. Nobody had the idea of adding sugar until the sixteenth century.
B. The word “chocolate” comes from a Mexican word.
C. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys like them.
D. Workers must dry and roast the beans to remove the bitter taste.
3. The Spaniards think that cacao was a medicine because________
A. it was strong and bitter. B. it was good for digestion.
C. it cured man’s diseases. D. it was a kind of drink for good health.
4. Which is the right time order of the events regarding chocolate?
a. Chocolate became a cheap and popular drink in England.
b. A factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate.
c. The Spaniards started drinking cacao.
d. It was found that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao.
e. A factory mixed milk and chocolate together.
A. a-b-c-d-e B. c-d-e-b-a C. c-d-a-b-e D. c-d-b-e-a
5. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or a candy bar
B. Mexicans like chocolate very much
C. chocolate is a product of the cacao tree
D. people liked the taste of chocolate mixed with milk
Fire can help people in many ways. But it can also be very harmful. Fire can heat water, warm your houses, give light, and cook food. But fire can burn things too. It can burn trees, houses, animals, or people. Sometimes big fires can burn forests.
Nobody knows for sure how people began to use fire. But there are many interesting, old stories about the first time a man or woman started a fire. One story from Australia tells about a man a very, very long time ago. He went up to the sun by a rope and brought fire down.
Today people know how to make a fire with matches. Children sometimes like to play with them. But matches can be very dangerous. One match can burn a piece of paper, and then it might burn a house. A small fire can become a big fire very fast.
Fires kill many people every year. So you must he careful with matches. You should also learn to put out fires. Fires need oxygen. Without oxygen they die. There is oxygen in the air. Cover a fire with water, sand, or in an emergency, with your coat or something else.This keeps the air away from a fire and kills it.
Be careful with fire, and it will help you. Be careless with fire, and it will burn you.
8. According to the passage which of the following is true?
A. Where there is oxygen there is fire.
B. It is an Australian who started a fire.
C. We are not sure how people started to use fire.
D. Nobody knows how to make a fire.
9. The reason why children mustn’t play with matches is that ________.
A. they don’t know how to make a fire with matches B. it is not interesting
C. matches can be dangerous D. matches burn paper
10. If you are going to put out a fire, you________.
A. must be careful with matches B. have to know fires kill many people every year
C. have to cover it with water only D. should keep air away from it
11. We must be careful with fire, or it ________.
A. can die B. warms our houses C. might burn us D. will help us
12. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Fire can help people in many ways. B. Fire can be both helpful and harmful.
C. Fire can burn things and people. D. We must be careful with matches.