“Fish stories” are stories of the greatest fish that a fisherman has almost caught, but for some reason, the fish always get away. Usually, these stories do not have much truth to them. One of the biggest fish stories in history was about a whale.
In 1891, a ship hunting for whales in the South Atlantic Ocean found a very large whale. While the hunters were trying to kill the whale, it sank two small boats. One man drowned, and another man, James Bartley, was lost in the ocean. However, after the hunters finally killed the whale, they cut open the whale’s stomach and found Mr Bartley inside. He was not dead!
Several weeks later, Mr Bartley seemed to have gotten over his terrible experience. The only thing he could remember was that while he was inside the whale, it was very hot. The liquid (液体) from the whale’s stomach had turned all of his skin snow white. Mr Bartley had to live with the effect from the whale for the rest of his life.
Today, many people have heard about the strange experience of Mr Bartley and do not buy it. Not one real fact has been found to prove that the events ever took place described by the sailors. No scientist or newspaper reporter was ever able to talk to Mr Bartley, and all of the stories told in magazines about Mr Bartley’s experience were explained by other sailors on the boat. Mr Bartley was probably not even a real person at all.
In 1928, after the captain (船长) of the whaling ship had died, one man asked the captain’s wife about Mr Bartley’s story. The wife said that no man who had sailed on her husband’s ship was ever swallowed by a whale.
However, this has not stopped James Bartley’s story from being repeated, and many people today still believe that it is true.What made Mr Bartley’s skin white?
| A．The ocean water. | B．The whale’s teeth. |
| C．The heat inside the whale. | D．The liquid in the whale’s stomach. |
Who may have talked to Mr Bartley?
| A．A scientist. | B．The captain’s wife. |
| C．The sailors on the ship. | D．A newspaper reporter. |
The captain’s wife said that .
| A．the story was not true | B．her husband told her the story |
| C．the whale was never found | D．Mr Bartley didn’t work for her husband |
Today, many people have heard about the strange experience of Mr Bartley and do not buy it. Here “buy” means .
| A．明白 | B．相信 | C．购买 | D．证明 |
In paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 we may know that Mr Bartley .
| A．became a writer later | B．died when he was young |
| C．told his story to a magazine reporter | D．was not even a real person at all |
"Colour" and "color"， "favourite" and "favorite"， "honour" and "honor"…Have you ever wondered why Americans spell those words without a "u"？Is it because they are lazy？
Of course not.In fact，the difference in spelling was started by Noah Webster（1758﹣1843）.He was a teacher who reformed（改革）English to make American identity（特征）stronger.Linguists（语言学家）celebrate his birthday on October 16 every year.
After the Revolutionary War（1775﹣1783），Webster believed that Americans should have their own dictionary，rather than rely on British dictionaries.
He dropped the British "u" in some words.And he changed "centre" into "center" for children to learn English by spelling words more like what they sounded.He used "subway" instead of British word "underground".Some other examples are "soccer" and "football"， "fall" and "autumn".
Webster wasn't shy about expressing his opinions.In defining（定义）preposterous （unreasonable），he wrote： "A republican government in the hands of female is preposterous."
Webster spent 28 years on the project before completing the 70，000﹣word dictionary with his American﹣style spelling in 1828.He also added local words.
His dictionary was widely used in schools.Linguists believed it helped a new country achieve unity（统一）and cultural independence at a time when most people cared about political freedom.
"He was the creator of our language and the creator of American identity，" said Joshua Kendall，who is working on a book about Webster. "He at last brought us together through our language."
（1）Why do Americans spell some words without a "u"？
A.Because the Americans are very lazy.
B.Because the American English developed when people used it.
C.Because the American government reformed the spelling of words.
D.Because a linguist named Noah Webster started the reform in spelling.
（2）Which is NOT true about Webster's dictionary？
A.It has local words in it.
B.It is a 70，000﹣word dictionary.
C.All the words are spelled without "u".
D.Its words are in American﹣style spelling.
（3）What does the underlined phrase " rely on" in Paragraph 3 mean？
A.依赖.
B.信任.
C.容忍.
D.放弃.
（4）What do people think of Webster's dictionary？
A.It is the only dictionary that Americans still use today.
B.It helped to bring Americans together besides its cultural influence.
C.It has no influence on the development of American English.
D.It helped to make American English more useful than British English.
（5）What's the main idea of the passage？
A.The development of the British English.
B.American English is better than British English.
C.Noah Webster added local words to the dictionary.
D.Noah Webster wrote an American English dictionary and reformed English.
A river is a flowing（流动的），moving stream of water.Usually a river feeds water into an ocean，lake，pond，or even another river.Rivers can differ in size and there is no strict rule on how big a flow of water must be to be called as a river.Here are the five longest rivers in the world.
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The Nile River The Nile River is 4，135 miles long.It is located in the continent of Africa，mostly in the countries of Egypt and Sudan.It flows north into the Mediterranean Sea. |
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The Amazon River The Amazon River is 3，980 miles long.It is located in the continent of South America and flows through several countries including Brazil，Venezuela，Bolivia，and Ecuador.It ends at the Atlantic Ocean. |
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The Yangtze River Located in China，the Yangtze River is 3，917 miles long and flows into the East China Sea. |
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The Mississippi River and the Missouri River The river system of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River is the longest river system in North America at 3，902 miles.It flows south into the Gulf of Mexico. |
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The Yenisei River The Yenisei River starts in Mongolia and flows through Russia to the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean.It's 3，445 miles long. |
There are 76 rivers in the world over 1，000 miles long.A lot of people think that rivers always flow south，but 4 of the 10 longest rivers in the world flow north.The United States alone has around 3.5 million miles of rivers.Four of the top 10 longest rivers flow through China at some point.
（1）The Nile River is longer than the Yangtze River.
A.155 miles
B.218 miles
C.233 miles
D.690 miles
（2）Which is the second longest river in the world？
A.The Nile River.
B.The Mississippi River.
C.The Yangtze River.
D.The Amazon River.
（3）The Mississippi River ends at .
A.the Mediterranean Sea
B.the East China Sea
C.the Gulf of Mexico
D.the Arctic Ocean
（4）According to the passage，how many rivers are there in the world over 1，000 miles long？
A.10.
B.76.
C.4.
D.35.
（5）What is the last paragraph mainly about？
A.Fun facts about world rivers.
B.In which direction most rivers flow.
C.Rivers over 1，000 miles long in the world.
D.Four longest rivers flowing through China.
Everyone has his or her own living habits.Building good living habits is important.Why are some habits better than others？Let's find out.
（1）
Corn，sweet potato，soybean and oats are all coarse food grains （粗粮）.Eating coarse food grains is good for your health.They have a lot of dietary fiber （食用纤维）.It's good for your stomach.You can cook them in porridge or make drinks with them.
Why shouldn't we bend our heads for a long time？
Keeping your head bent down for long is not good for your neck.Why is that？It's because you put too much pressure on your neck.It's like putting two watermelons（about 27 kilograms）on your neck.（2）
Why shouldn't we rub （揉） our eyes？
Your hands are much dirtier than you think.When you rub your eyes，the bacteria （细菌） on your hands might go into your eyes.（3） Clean them with running water instead.
（4）
After exercising，your skin is sweating （流汗） and your heart is beating fast.A cold ﹣ water bath will stimulate （刺激） them too much.（5） .You'd better wait for a while until your body cools down.Then you can take a warm﹣water bath to relax.
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A.Why is a cold﹣water bath after exercising bad？ B.You might have neck and shoulder pain by doing that. C.It might make you sick. D.If something gets in your eyes，do not rub them. E.Why do we need to eat coarse food grains ？ |
One day，a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas.The father said， "Look!There is a horseshoe.Pick it up and put it in your bag." Thomas said， "It isn't worth the trouble." His father said nothing but picked it up himself.
When they got to a nearby town，they had a rest.There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with a few pennies he bought some cherries （樱桃）.The father and the son continued their way.The sun was well up in the sky.And there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest.Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on.At this time，his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it.After a while，his father dropped another cherry and once again，his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.And so they went on.The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up.
When Thomas had eaten all the cherries，his father said to him， "My dear son，if you had bent（弯曲）down earlier to pick up that horseshoe，it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries.Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things."
（1）Why didn't Thomas pick up the horseshoe ？
A.He didn't want to waste time on the small thing.
B.He didn't want to listen to his father.
C.He was too lazy to bend down.
D.He had trouble in picking it up.
（2）What can we infer （推测） from the father's behavior of buying cherries？
A.He thought cherries were easy to take.
B.He thought they might be thirsty on the way.
C.He had no money to buy anything else.
D.He liked cherries very much.
（3）What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 2 mean？
A.The sun was rising.
B.The sun went behind a cloud.
C.The sun was setting.
D.The sun was shining brightly.
（4）Thomas bent down so many times on their way to .
A.pick up horseshoes
B.pick up cherries
C.pick up pennies
D.have a rest
（5）What can we learn from the passage？
A.Practice makes perfect.
B.Where there's a will，there's a way.
C.Detail（细节） is the key to success.
D.No pain，no gain（收获）.
An amazing theme park：Happy valley
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Location |
Gift shop and snack bar |
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• In Overseas Chinese Town，Shenzhen City，Guangdong Province. |
• Lots of books，T﹣shirts and toys. • You will love our ice cream and fresh fruit juice. |
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Tickets |
How to get there |
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• All﹣day ticket of Happy Valley： ￥180/person. • Night ticket of Happy Valley： ￥60/person. valid （有效的） between 18：30 and 22：00. • Ticket of Happy Train： ￥40/person. • Tickets of Happy Valley + Happy Train：￥200/person. • Tickets are free to the people over 70 and under 3. |
• By tourist bus No.1 running between Luohu Railway Station and Happy Valley. • By bus No.20，21，26，27，then get off at Window of the World Station and walk for about 3 minutes to Happy Valley. • By subway Line 1 （running between 06：30 ﹣ 23：30），get off at the stop of Window of the World Station and leave from Exit A，then walk for about 3 minutes to Happy Valley. |
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Groups
• School groups are welcome on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. • The theme park is also available to rent （租用） for birthday parties. • The park is totally accessible （可到达的） to people with disabilities. • Visit us on the website to place your order for a group in advance. |
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（1）How many kinds of ways to get to the theme park are talked about in the passage？
A.3.
B.4.
C.5.
D.6.
（2）Which of the following statements is true according to the passage？
A.On Tuesdays and Thursdays，school groups are welcome.
B.Birthday parties can be held in the theme park at 23：30.
C.You can get to the park by tourist bus No.21.
D.A person in a wheelchair can visit the park.
（3）How much should a couple with a child under 3 pay for the All﹣day tickets？
A. ￥ 540.
B. ￥ 360.
C. ￥ 600.
D. ￥ 120.
（4）What cannot be bought in the gift shop and snack bar？
A.Books.
B.T﹣shirts.
C.Toys.
D.Fruits.
（5）Where can we possibly find this kind of information？
A.In a story book.
B.In a travel brochure （手册）.
C.In a language book.
D.In a magazine.
