Thousands of years ago, people didn’t know that the Earth moved. They thought the sun really did move across the sky. The Greek god Helios was said to drive the sun around the sky with his chariot（战车）. But now, these ideas have all changed. Nowadays, it is the sun that drives our “chariot” around the sky.
So what does all this mean? Well, quite simply, there is now a plane （or “chariot”） that is powered by the sun. It has special parts in its wings. These parts absorb power from the sun. They absorb so much power that they can carry on flying at night. In the Greek myths（希腊神话）, Helios had to take a break at night. It seems we’re finally even more efficient than the gods themselves.
This plane is called Solar Impulse （“太阳驱动”号）. It will fly across the US in May. This is very important for the future of the world.
So why is solar energy so good for us? Well, other kinds of energy cause a few problems. If you live in China, you’ve probably noticed the pollution. This is caused by burning coal or gas to make energy. The heat and chemicals（化学制品）from this make things work. But if we use the heat from the sun, we don’t have to burn anything, and there’s no pollution.
Solar energy is not all there yet. It needs to be improved. But the best thing about it is that, unlike coal and gas, it doesn’t run out. Solar Impulse could keep flying forever. Well, actually, the sun will run out too, one day, but not for another 5 billion years. That’s a pretty long flight.What does “chariot” really refer to in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?
| A．The Earth. | B．The Greek god. | C．Solar Impulse. | D．Birds. |
Which of the following is TRUE of Solar Impulse?
| A．It can only fly at night. | B．It has already flown across the US. |
| C．It is powered by the sun. | D．It needs gas to work. |
In the passage, what is mentioned as the cause of pollution in China?
| A．Overpopulation. | B．Burning coal or gas. |
| C．Using solar energy. | D．Heavy traffic. |
What does the writer mean by “That’s a pretty long flight”?
| A．It takes a lot of time to get Solar Impulse going. |
| B．Solar Impulse moves very slowly. |
| C．Solar Impulse will be in use for a long time. |
| D．Solar Impulse has a long way to go to take the place of the sun. |
The passage is most probably taken from___________.
| A．a Greek myth | B．a science fiction | C．a story-book | D．a science magazine |
You want to know about life in the past. Right? I can tell you. When I was a boy, things were different. I had to get up at six every morning. That was not very bad in summer, but in winter it was cold. And we didn’t have any hot water in the house. We had to wash in cold water. We didn’t have a bathroom（浴室）. My dad had some chickens. I had to feed（喂养）them every morning and then I had to walk to school with my little sister. It was about two miles （英里）to school and about two miles back in the evening. But it always seemed longer in the morning when we were going to school. There was a bus, but we didn’t have any money. And we had to goto bed at eleven o’clock every night because I had too much homework and housework to do. We couldn’t watch TV because there wasn’t any. On Sundays we had to go to church （教堂）three times － morning, afternoon and evening. And we couldn’t play outside on Sundays. But it wasn’t all bad. We had some g ood times（时光）. We could go out and our parents didn’t have to worry about us. There weren’t so many cars on the roads then, so the streets were safe to play in. And ther e were not many robbers and thieves in those days. We had to work hard and we weren’t able to buy all those things in the shops today. Life was hard, but it was simple and people were hap pier. I don’t think I’d like to be young today.The writer usually went to bed _________ every night.
| A．at six | B．at eight |
| C．at nine | D．at eleven |
The writer walked about ________ every day.
| A．two miles | B．three miles |
| C．four miles | D．five miles |
Every morning the writer had to feed _______.
| A．his little sister | B．his lovely dog |
| C．his chickens | D．his father’s chickens |
The writer had a _______ but _______ family.
| A．rich; happy | B．poor; happy |
| C．hard; poor | D．rich; hard |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE?
| A．The writer had a little sister. |
| B．T he writer couldn’t take the school bus. |
| C．The writer and his sister never had any good times |
| D．The write had to get up at six |
Life in the future will be different from life today. Between then and now many changes will happen. But what will the changes be?
The population(人口) is growing fast. There will be many people in the word and most of them will live longer than people live now.
Computers will be much smaller and more useful. And there will be at least one in every home. And computer studies will be one of the important subjects in school then. People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and traveling. Traveling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.
There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be u sed for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat meat every day. Instead they will eat more fruit and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier.
Work will be different in the future, too. Robots will do dangerous and hard work. Because of this people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.In the future there will be__________.
| A．less fruit | B．more people |
| C．less vegetables | D．less people |
Every family will have at least a ____ in the family.
| A．robot | B．cow |
| C．TV set | D．computer |
People may not eat _______as much as they do today.
| A．fruit | B．fish | C．meat | D．rice |
Which of the following is not mentioned (提到) in the passage?
| A．Computer. | B．Food. |
| C．Pollution. | D．Population. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．The changes of the Population in the future. |
| B．The changes of food in the future. |
| C．The changes of computer in the future. |
| D．The changes of our life in the future. |
Some children wish to be writers some day. They want to write stories or books for people to read. That's good! It's good to write something for people to read! But they should know that they need to be good readers first before they are really good writers. They should read a lot of books, instead(代替) of watching TV and spending a lot of time playing games when they are free.
There is more fun in reading, you want to look for more books to read.
Before you decide(决定) to be a good writer, you'd better say to yourself, "I must read more and more!"
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。This article mainly tells us that ________.
| A．some children wish to be writers some day |
| B．it is good to write something for people to read |
| C．reading can be helpful for us to become a good writer |
| D．writers like to read more books for fun |
Some children want to be writers ________.
| A．because they want to be good readers |
| B．to write stories or books for people to read |
| C．to find good work some day |
| D．to get more money to keep a family |
It's good for children ________.
| A．to do a lot of reading |
| B．to watch TV in the evening |
| C．to have wishes only |
| D．to be good writers right now |
Reading can ________.
| A．help you to be a good player |
| B．help you write well |
| C．make you work better |
| D．make you watch more TV at home |
From the passage we know that ________.
| A．all children like to be writers |
| B．people like to read for children |
| C．all writers are children |
| D．children need to read more and more book |
任务型阅读
In classroom, your teachers will talk about topics that you are studying. The information they provide will be important for you to know when you take tests. So you must be able to take good written notes from what your teachers say.
Here are the three stages(阶段) of taking notes and what you should do during each stage.
1. Before Class
Review your notes you have taken before you come to class. This will be good for remembering what was covered. Get you ready to understand new information your teacher will provide.
2. During Class
Keep your attention on what your teacher is saying and “the signal words” that tell you what your teacher is going to say and it is important to write in your notes. Examples of signal words are “The most important point…” and “Remember that…”. Be sure to include in your notes information that your teacher repeats or writes on the blackboard. Write quickly so that you can include all the important information in your notes. Do this by writing abbreviations such as med for medicine, using symbols such as % for percent, and writing short sentences.
3. After Class
Rewrite your notes to make them more complete and accurate(准确的) by changing abbreviations into whole words, symbols into words, and shortened sentences into longer sentences. Use them to answer your questions. If necessary, ask your teacher for help.
| Taking notes |
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| The information that is provided by the teachers about studying topics is useful for your tests, so it is |
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| Stages |
Review the notes you have taken to |
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| During Class |
Be sure to Write them down |
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| After Class |
Make your notes more complete and accurate to Ask for your |
Do you see many signs around you? Do you know the signs are an important part of our daily life? They can be in pictures or in words to give people information. What do people think are good signs? If you are thinking about making signs for others, what should you know?
The most important thing is that signs should be simple and easy to understand. It is important to use clear language. On the other hand, the words should be easy to write and you just need to write down what you want to do. “Keep off the grass” is a very good example. It means “Don’t touch or walk on the grass”.
Nowadays, there is a saying that “A picture paints a thousand words”. Perhaps that’s why we are seeing more and more signs in pictures, or a combination of pictures and words. However, that’s the difficult part, because picture signs may have different meanings in different countries. First, a good sign should be ____.
| A．clear | B．beautiful | C．funny | D．interesting |
The writer uses “A picture paints a thousand words” to show that ____.
| A．a word sign is as easy as a picture sign to make |
| B．a picture sign often has more information than a word sign |
| C．a word sign has more information than a picture sign |
| D．a word sign and a picture sign have the same information |
What does the underlined word “combination” mean?
| A．分开 | B．结合 | C．并列 | D．平行 |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Word Signs | B．Picture Signs |
| C．The History of Signs | D．Signs Are Important |