When my family moved to America from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect(尊敬) elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.
I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.
In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.
However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire(退休) or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.
After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.Jack brought the couple their food very fast because______.
| A．the manager asked him to do so | B．he respected the elderly |
| C．the couple wanted him to do so | D．he wanted more pay |
In Jack’s hometown, ______.
| A．people dislike being called “old” |
| B．people are proud of being old |
| C．many people reach the age of seventy or eighty |
| D．the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants |
After this experience, Jack ______.
| A．lost his job in the restaurant |
| B．made friends with the couple |
| C．no longer respected the elderly |
| D．changed his way with older people |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got. |
| B．Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience. |
| C．The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple. |
| D．From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture. |
Which is the best title for this passage?
| A． Different countries, different customs | B． Old people, old customs |
| C． Different restaurants, different services | D． Differences between old and young |
Do you want to know how and why a fall leaf changes color? We first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.
Leaves are the world’s food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots and take CO2 from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and CO2 into glucose(葡萄糖), a kind of sugar. Plants use it as food for energy and growing.
A chemical called “chlorophyll” in the leaves gives plants their green colour. As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter, and trees “know” to begin getting ready for winter.
During winter, there is not enough sunlight or water. Trees rest during this time and live on the food they store during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. As the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, we begin to see yellow and orange leaves.
The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in autumn. In some trees, like maples, sunlight and the cool nights of autumn turn the glucose in the leaves into a red colour. And we can enjoy the beautiful red leaves during autumn.
Which should be in the box?
| A．air | B．sugar | C．water | D．wind |
The underlined word “chlorophyll” means __________.
| A．叶绿素 | B．脂肪 | C．蛋白质 | D．淀粉 |
The leaves turn yellow because they are short of(缺少) __________.
| A．water and CO2 |
| B．glucose and energy |
| C．sunlight and water |
| D．sunlight and CO2 |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．When autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. |
| B．During winter trees live on the food they store in summer. |
| C．During winter some of yellow and orange colors are still in the leaves. |
| D．Trees begin to stop making food in summer. |
This passage tells us_____________.
| A．the plants can grow well only with the sunlight |
| B．there are all kinds of plants on the earth |
| C．not all the colors of the leaves are from chlorophyll |
| D．maple leaves change the color as other trees |
Gabriel Garcia Marquez , who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, passed away at the age of 86 on April 17, 2014. The world paused (停顿) to remember the cultural giant.
Garcia Marquez was born in Colombia, but he spent most of his adult life in Mexico City. As one of the most famous writers, he was widely regarded as “a giant of 20th- century literature.” Garcia Marquez wrote in a style called “ magical realism(魔幻现实主义).” In such works, people live a daily life in a certain period of time in history. But meanwhile , magical things happen to them.
Garcia Marquez is best known for his 1967 novel, One hundred years of Solitude （《百年孤独》）, which has sold about 50 million copies. It tells the tale of the small and isolated town of Macondo which was separated from the outside world- of its founding and its troubled history over a hundred years. The story is a metaphor(暗喻)for the development of Colombia since the 19 century. As Colombian President Juan Manuel Santons said, Garcia Marquez wrote about “the essence(本质) of the Latin American beings.”
Garcia Marquez was born in _________.
| A．1914 | B．1928 | C．1967 | D．1982 |
We can know from paragraph 2 that Garcia Marquez __________.
| A．was born in Mexico City. |
| B．spent most of his adult life in Colombia. |
| C．had a writing style called “magical realism.” |
| D．was famous but lived a simple daily life. |
The underlined word “ isolated “ means _________.
| A．隔绝的 | B．安逸的 | C．喧嚣的 | D．繁华的 |
Which of the following is NOT true about Garcia Marquez？
| A．He was the writer of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. |
| B．His novel One Hundred years of Solitude was a great success. |
| C．He was widely known as “ a giant of 20th- century literature.” |
| D．Magical things happened to him during his stay in Mexico City. |
The writer quotes （引用）from the President to __________.
| A．Praise Garcia Marquez for his achievement. |
| B．show the deep sadness of the President. |
| C．explain the writing style of Garcia Marquez. |
| D．describe the character of Garcia Marquez. |
Famous Museums
| Name |
The Palace Museum |
British Museum |
New York Museum |
| Country |
China |
The UK |
The USA |
| Address |
Chang’an Street |
New Oxford Street, London |
Chestnut Street, New York |
| Feature |
The largest ancient palace buildings with many kinds of collections in China |
One of the largest museums with collections of any time and any area in the world |
America’s largest museum on American history |
| Ticket |
￥60 ( Spring＆ Summer) ￥40 (Autumn ＆Winter) |
Free |
Monday free |
As one of the largest museums in the world, British museum is in _______ .
| A．Beijing | B．London |
| C．New York | D．The USA |
According to the form, if you want to see ancient Chinese collections, you can visit ____ at most.
| A．one museum |
| B．two museums |
| C．three museums |
| D．fore museums |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the information above?
| A．Each ticket for the Palace Museum costs the same in the whole year. |
| B．You don’t have to pay for tickets if you visit New York Museum on Monday. |
| C．British Museum lies in Chestnut Street, London. |
| D．New York Museum is the largest in the world. |
Scientists are trying to make the deserts(沙漠) into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts，so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.
Some places on the earth don't get much rain. But they still don't become desert. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very helpful to dry places. Plants don't let the hot sun make the earth even drier. Plants don't let the wind blow the earth(泥土) away.When a little bit of rain falls，the plants hold the water.Without the plants，the land can become a desert much more easily.Why can the land become a desert?
| A．Some places don't get much rain. |
| B．Plants don't let the hot sun make the earth even drier. |
| C．People are doing bad things to the earth. |
| D．Scientists haven't learnt enough about the deserts. |
Scientists ______to make the deserts into good land again.
| A．carry water | B．grow food |
| C．do nothing | D．study a lot |
Which is NOT true?
| A．The land never stops becoming desert. |
| B．Scientists ask the people to live in the deserts and grow food there. |
| C．People do bad things to the earth. |
| D．Scientists may not be able to change the deserts. |
Why are green plants and grass helpful?
| A．They can hold the water. |
| B．They can stop the wind from blowing the earth away. |
| C．They can keep the earth wet. |
| D．All the above are right. |
Which is the best title(题目) for the passage?
| A．The Desert Problem. |
| B．People Make Deserts. |
| C．Green Plants and Grass. |
| D．The Desert，the Tree and theWater. |
Toby and his friends are talking about what they want to do in the future. Toby wants to be an engineer. He wants to build roads, bridges and houses. David is interested in math and science, but he is going to study medicine. He wants to be a doctor.
Laura is good at music. She wants to be an artist. She is going to sing and dance for people. Lisa wants to be a reporter. She says, “I am going to talk with many famous people and I can learn a lot from them.” “What do you want to be?” Lisa asks Tina. Tina says, “Oh, I want to be an interpreter. So I must study hard at my foreign languages. Then I can help people communicate with foreigners.” What are you going to do when you grow up?How many students are talking about their future work?
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
Who wants to be an artist?
| A．Toby. | B．Laura. | C．Tina. | D．David |
What does David wants to be?
| A．A doctor. | B．An engineer. | C．An artist. | D．A teacher. |
What does the underlined word “ interpreter” means in Chinese ?
| A．助理 | B．经理 | C．口译工作者 | D．导游 |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Why should we study hard? |
| B．How to study well? |
| C．What are they going to do? |
| D．How to be a famous person? |