I have a good memory of my grandfather，Jack. He was sitting in his armchair in the front room.
I sat next to him. We were reading aloud，our heads bent over the page in front of us，a finger marking the words；separated by seven decades，brought together by words. It's a common scene in British families；however，in our case，the usual order of things is reversed（颠倒）．Granddad had been blind since I was tiny，so I was reading to him.When reading aloud，people usually read something that's of interest to the listener. So I didn't read children's books；I read the sorts of things Granddad liked to hear about. Much of the vocabulary in Granddad’s reading material was far beyond me. When I met unfamiliar words，I'd spell them out.
Granddad would help me. It must have been painful for him to hear news；but he never hurried me along or complained. Our reading wasn't really about getting knowledge. It was a way for us to spend time together.
My grandfather wasn't always blind. He had been a good carpenter（木匠）．The first Christmas of my parents' marriage，he built my mother a bookcase，which now belongs to my son Jonah，providing a link between four generations.
I was a fortunate child；I spent a lot of time with my grandfather，and he opened the world to me in a particular way. Reading was our way of building a relationship that has had a lasting effect on me. In the school holidays，I sometimes accompanied him on trips to the seaside with the local association for the blind. This might seem strange，but I felt that my personal value was realized because I could finally do something for Granddad.
A decade later，I found a position in a nursing home，which reminded me of my early experiences；reading to senior citizens was a connection back to Granddad. More than simple conversation，reading aloud is a connection between two individuals and it can have a big emotional（情感的）effect on elderly people.What can we know from the first paragraph?
| A．The author's grandfather was born blind. |
| B．The author is seventy years younger than her grandfather. |
| C．The author often sat opposite to her grandfather while reading. |
| D．It's quite common in Britain that children read to their grandfathers. |
Why didn't the author choose to read children's books?
| A．To expand her knowledge. |
| B．To make her vocabulary bigger. |
| C．To show off in front of her grandfather. |
| D．To satisfy the needs of her grandfather. |
How did the author feel during the trips with Granddad?
| A．Proud. | B．Troubled. |
| C．Curious. | D．Embarrassed. |
Do you enjoy reading? Do you read newspapers or magazines? Chances are, if you do any of these activities, your pre-school child is on his way to becoming a reader.
The process of learning to read is complex, and one of the most important things to know is that parents can help their children learn to read. As children have conversations with adults, they hear both new and familiar words and their vocabulary grows.
There are many opportunities for adults and children to talk together, such as when riding in the car or in a bus, doing housework like fixing dinner, or bathing and getting ready for bed. A major part of conversation is listening. When children talk, adults listen and respond. Then children listen and respond, and so the flow of conversation happens.
Have you watched you pre-school child pretend to read to his younger sisters or brothers? Have you read his favorite story over and over? These experiences tell children that reading is fun. And when things are fun and they are repeated, your child will see letters. He begins to connect them to familiar words, especially the letters that make up his name. A natural next step for him to take is to write the letters.
When children see parents make a grocery list, they want to use a pencil and paper to make their own list. To encourage these beginning writing activities, have pencils, markers, crayons and scrap paper within your children’s reach.
The more children get connected with talking, listening, reading and writing, the easier it is for them to become active readers. While you as a parent have a big influence on these early behaviors, it is important to remember that opportunities for literacy experiences happen when you and your child share in the basic routines（日常生活）of everyday life. The third paragraph tells us that parents can talk with their children__________.
| A．during daily routines | B．only in quiet places |
| C．in their spare time | D．when they are eager to walk |
During the process of learning to read, children may _________.
| A．copy the action of the adults. |
| B．prefer to talk with those of their own age. |
| C．show no interest in reading at all. |
| D．waste a lot of paper and other materials. |
When do children want to learn to write?
| A．When their parents ask them to do so. |
| B．When they believe they can write well. |
| C．When they know what they want to know |
| D．When they can connect letters with familiar words. |
The passage is written to _____________.
| A．talk about parents’ influence on their children’s behavior |
| B．encourage parents to set a good example to their children |
| C．advise parents to make reading a part of their children’s daily life |
| D．make parents believe in the importance of early reading |
Language is always changing. In a society where life continues year after year with few changes, the language does not change, either. The earliest known languages had difficult grammar but a small, limited vocabulary. Over the century, the grammar changed, and the vocabulary grew. For example, the English and Spanish people who came to America during the sixteenth century gave names to all new plants and animals they found. In this way, hundreds of new words were introduced into English and Spanish vocabularies. Today life is changing very fast, and language is changing fast too.
There are several major language families in the world. Some scientists say there are nine main families, but other scientists divide them differently. The languages in each family are connected, and scientists think that they came from the same parent language About 3 percent of the people in the world speak languages that are not in these major families. The early language had ______.
| A．a lot of problems | B．words and easy grammar |
| C．words but no grammar | D．grammar but not many words |
In the next few hundred years we can expect language to ______.
| A．stay exactly the same | B．change a great deal |
| C．change only a little | D．add more words and drop some grammar |
What this article shows is that ______.
| A．languages change fast | B．languages really don’t want to change |
| C．language changes with changes of society | D．Spanish and English change |
From this article we can see that ______.
| A．language can change very slowly or very quickly |
| B．Though our life changes, our language won’t change. |
| C．we should give our plants new names |
| D．English and Spanish are the only languages that have changes |
More and more often we heard of people talking about Karaoke (卡拉OK). But what on earth it is about still remains a question for many people. Karaoke is a sort of acoustic (听觉的) equipment which was invented in Japan around the middle of the 1970's. It means "a band without people" in Japanese. In fact, it is just a music tape without words. This equipment first appeared in some public houses and snack bars, and mainly for the customers to enjoy themselves. Most of the music in Karaoke was popular music. Therefore, at times, when anyone felt like it, he might sing songs to the accompaniment (陪伴) of the music that came from the equipment. Shortly after its invention, Karaoke was spread to the whole world. It was introduced to China and was welcomed by many people. Although you are not a good singer, or even sometimes you may sing out of tune, you can always enjoy yourself by singing Karaoke.In this passage "band" means "group of persons ________."
| A．who play games on the sports ground |
| B．who play music together |
| C．living in the same neighborhood |
| D．doing things together under a leader and with a common purpose |
Karaoke is just a ______.
| A．cassette tape with only music | B．cassette tape recorder |
| C．band from Japan | D．voice recording equipment |
Karaoke was spread to the whole world ________.
| A．as soon as it was invented | B．long before |
| C．not long after it was invented | D．before long |
Welcome to Adventureland!
Everyone loves Adventureland! The Parks and Exhibitions were built for you to explore（探索）, enjoy, and admire their wonders. Every visit will be an unforgettable experience. You will go away enriched, longing to come back. What are you going to do this time?
The
Travel Pavilion
Explore places you have never been to before, and experience different ways of life. Visit the Amazon jungle（丛林）village, the Turkish market, the Tai floating market, the Be
rber mountain house and others. Talk to the people there who will tell you about their lives
, and things they make. You can try making a carpet, making nets, fishing…
The Future Tower
This exhibition shows how progress will touch our lives. It allows us to look into the future and explore the cities of the next century and the way we’ll be living then. Spend some time in our space station and climb into our simulator（模拟装置）for the Journey to Mars!
The Nature Park
This is not really one park but several. In the Safari Park you can drive among African animals in one of our Range Cruisers: see lions, giraffes, elephants in the wild. Move on to the Ocean Park to watch the dolphins and whales. And then there is still the Aviary to see…
The Pyramid
This is the center of Adventureland. Run out of film, need some postcards and stamps? For all these things and many more, visit our underground shopping center. Come here for information and ideas too.The Travel Pavilion is built to help visitors.
| A．realize the importance of travelling |
| B．become familiar with mountain countries |
| C．learn how to make things such as fishing nets |
| D．learn something about different places in the world |
If you are interested in knowing about what people’s life will be, you may visit.
| A．The Travel Pavilion | B．The Future Tower |
| C．The Safari Park | D．The Pyramid |
If you want to get a toy lion to take home, where will you most likely go?
| A．The Pyramid. | B．The Nature Park. | C．The Future Tower. | D．The Travel Pavilion. |
It is natural that children are curious about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.
As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.
Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world．Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry.
These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world．For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutriti
on and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.
Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.
We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true
?
| A．People of different ages are interested in different things |
| B．People in different countries are interested in different things. |
| C．Men and women are curious about different things. |
| D．People are curious in the same way. |
Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.
| A．the earth , the oceans and the sky | B．plants and animals |
| C．man-made things | D．ocean water |
When you run, your muscles need ____.
| A．more nutrition and oxygen | B．more signals | C．more salt | D．water |
A rock cracks _____.
| A．in wet regions |
B．in dry regions |
| C．at very high or very low temperatures | D．when salty water falls in |
People are always curious because ____.
A．they cann ot explain many things |
B．they know nothing about the world |
| C．they know little about the world |
D．they want to be scientists |