Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is the color of most growing plants, too.
Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe.
For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war (战争). By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today--a person who is new in a job.
About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west. Old-timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east. The greenhorn didn’t have the skills that he would need to live in the hard, rough country.
Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.
A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.
The Green Revolution (革命) is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural (农业的) scientists who had green thumbs.According to the passage, a greenhorn means________ now.
| A．a young cow or ox whose horns have not yet developed |
| B．a soldier who has not had any experience in war |
| C．a person who is new in a job |
| D．a man who doesn’t have the skills to live in the country |
The meaning of the underlined word “ripe” in the second paragraph is ________.
| A．未完成的 | B．成熟的 | C．青涩的 | D．老练的 |
Which of the following about the Green Revolution is NOT right?
| A．If there weren’t the Green Revolution, we would have no rice to eat. |
| B．The expression “the Green Revolution” appeared several years ago. |
| C．Because of the Green Revolution, we have more kinds of rice and other grains. |
| D．Agricultural scientists with green thumbs started the Green Revolution. |
We can know from the passage that _______.
| A．all growing plants is green |
| B．green is the most important color in nature |
| C．a person with a green thumb can make plants grow well |
| D．the expression “a green thumb” has a history of two hundred years |
The main idea of the passage is ________.
| A．a greenhorn | B．a green thumb |
| C．the Green Revolution | D．the word “green” and its story |
We are often asked to make a speech in life. Most of us are afraid of it and don't do a good job. Here are some simple steps to make your speech a successful one. First of all, find out everything you can about your subject and at the same time find out as much as you can about your audience. Who are they? What do they know about your subject? Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech. Then try to arrange your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible. Never forget your audience. Don't talk over their heads or talk down to them. When you are giving your speech, speak slowly and clearly, look at your audience and pause for a few seconds from time to time to give your audience chances to think over what you've said. Just remember: be prepared, know your subject and your audience, say what you have to say and be yourself so that your ideas will bring you and your audience together. During the course of a speech, it is not right for a speaker to ________.
| A．give a lot of examples |
| B．speak in a clear voice |
| C．take a short stop at times |
| D．think nothing of the audience |
What does the underlined word "pause" mean in the passage?
| A．Listen | B．Stop | C．Choose | D．Search |
"Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech." means that while preparing your speech, you must________.
| A．think more about the audience |
| B．put your shoes away and put on theirs |
| C．try on their shoes to see if they fit you |
| D．wear the shoes in the same size as theirs |
Which title best gives the main idea of the passage?
| A．How to Improve Your Speech |
| B．How to Remember the Audience |
| C．How to Pick out the Topic for a Speech |
| D．How to Prepare the Material for a Speech |
Teenagers shouldn’t eat too much junk food.
Teenagers shouldn’t eat food with too much salt. Salt can cause high blood pressure in the future.
Teenagers should eat food with less fat, oil and sugar.
Teenagers need to eat some fruits and vegetables every day. Fruits and vegetates are rich in vitamins and have little fat.
Teenagers need to drink more milk. Milk will help their bones grow.
Teenagers need to eat breakfast every day. This is good for their bodies and minds. According to the doctors’ advice, what does junk food include?
| A．Milk and vitamins. |
| B．Fruits and sugar |
| C．Vegetables and salt. |
| D．Fat, oil , salt and sugar. |
In this passage, doctors thinks that teenagers should eat more.
| A．food with no vitamins | B．fat and sugar |
| C．Vegetables and fruits | D．salt and oil |
The best title for this passage is .
| A．Bad Habits. | B．Junk Food. |
| C．Unhealthy Food | D．Advice on Healthy Eating |
Getting recognization（认可）from National Geographic, a famous US magazine, is the dream for many photographers. A lucky Chinese teenage photographer has made this dream come true just after his 14th birthday last year.
With his work Qiangtoucao (Weed on the Wall), Gong Zijie, a student from Changsha, Hunan, won the 2014 International Photography Contest for Kids in China’s competition last year. It was hosted by National Geographic Kids. Gong got the first place in the Wild Vacation part. His photo shows the shadow (影子) of a weed (野草) on the Palace Museum’s red walls. In world-famous photographer Li Shaobai’s words, “The picture is silent, but it’s also powerful.” How did Gong make it? “I just saw the weed and found it lonely and helpless,” said Gong.
Gong learned photography from his father, a photographer working for Hunan TV. Since the age of 4, he has been following his father to learn to take pictures.
Gong is a patient photographer. When he views something valuable, he can spend hours waiting for the perfect time for the picture. Compared with beautiful sights, the young photographer is paying more attention to social topic. In Gong’s pictures of Liuyang River, hundreds of dead fish show us the deadly results of pollution. He has made up his mind to document polluted rivers at least once every year to focus more people’s eyes on the environment.
“Now photography is not only a hobby, but also a duty for me,” said Gong.Where did Gong Zijie take the photo named “Qiangtoucao”?
How did Li Shaobai like Gong’s photo in the passage?
What is Gong’s father?
How long has Gong learned photography?
Did Gong decide to document polluted rivers only once a year?
We often praise the world of science.
It explains the world and makes our lives easier with technology. One of the most exciting fields in science is artificial intelligence (人工智能，AI). This is an area where scientists are working on creating machines that think like humans.
However, one of the most famous scientists has a very dark warning for us about this type of technology.
“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” said Professor Stephen Hawking to the BBC.
Hawking is a well-known British physicist and author of bestselling science book A Brief History of Time. This warning came after commenting（评论）the technology he uses to speak with. As Hawking has got a serious disease called ALS, he needs an AI computer to communicate. The computer learns how Hawking thinks and suggests the words he may want to use next.
This is a basic type of AI, which is very useful, yet Hawking fears the possibility of creating technology that can match or surpass human intelligence. And it’s easy to imagine how terrible things may be. Many TV shows and films show big, killer machines that are far cleverer than us. “Humans, who are limited（限制） by slow biological evolution (进化), couldn’t compete,” said Hawking.
But not every scientist is pessimistic (悲观的) about AI technology. “I believe we will be in control of the technology for a long time,” said Rollo Carpenter, creator of Cleverbot in the UK, which is a software program that remembers past conversations. “The advantages of it to solve many of the world problems will be realized.” In what direction do you think AI is heading? Should we be hopeful or fearful?Which of the following is TRUE about AI?
A. It makes our lives easier.
B. The technology is not very popular now.
C. Scientists haven’t controlled the technology.The writer took Hawking as an example to ______.
A. explain how AI has helped us
B. show AI has already become part of our life
C. suggest that AI might become dangerous for humansWhat does the underlined word “surpass” mean in the passage?
A. 象征 B.促进 C. 超越We can know from the last paragraph that _________.
A. Rollo agrees with Hawking
B. Rollo is a British creator
C. Rollo invented Cleverbot in the USWhich of the following can be a suitable title for this article?
A. AI: a friend or an enemy
B. The future of human beings
C. The fight between humans and AI
Recycling is a way to take trash and turn it into new products. There are a number of different recycling processes that allow materials to be used more than once.
All kinds of materials can be recycled. Some of the most common processes in use today involve（牵涉） recycling plastic, glass, metals, paper, electronics and so on. Items made of these materials include soda cans, plastic boxes, newspapers, old computers, and cardboard boxes.
There are many steps in recycling. It isn’t actually a simple process and is different for each type of material. For example, paper starts its recycling process by being mixed with water and other chemicals to break it down. This process finally turns the paper into a pulp(纸浆). Then remove the plastics and other useless materials from the pulp. After that, it gets cleaned. Now the pulp is ready to be made into new paper.
However, computers and batteries（电池） are usually recycled in order to remove harmful chemicals as well as to find again some valuable materials such as gold.
In general, we should follow different steps in the recycling process. These steps are:
·Collecting recyclable materials, like cans and plastic bottles.
·Processing(加工) the old materials and making new items.
·Buying items made from recycled materials.What is recycling?
A. It makes your heart and body strong.
B. It is to reuse anything that can be used again.
C. It means keeping the land , air and water clean.Paragraph 2 mainly tells us _____.
A. recycling is very easy
B. recycling process is different
C. what materials can be recycledWhich shows the recycling process of paper correctly?
a. cleaning it
b. removing useless materials
c. being mixed with water and other chemicals
d. turning the paper into a pulp
A. c-d-b-a B. b-a-d-c C. c-a -b-dBatteries shouldn’t be thrown into the fields because ______.
A. the chemicals in them are harmful to the fields
B. some of the batteries are very expensive
C. the batteries are good for the plants in the fieldsAccording to the passage, the first step of recycling is ______.
A. throwing cans and plastic bottles away
B. collecting recyclable materials
C. buying items made from recycled materials