Try reading the following sentences as fast as you can. “She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I’m sure she sells seashore shells.”
Not very easy, was it? What you’ve just read is called a tongue twister (绕口令). It is an exercise made up of sounds that are hard to pronounce in order to help people pronounce words faster and more correctly. Try the next example.
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Pete Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?”
Tongue twisters usually do not have much meaning. They are just designed to improve people’s ability (能力) to pronounce words. Although they may be very difficult, these exercises are very important to people who are trying to speak English correctly. This is because tongue twisters help people to tell the differences between similar sounds.
So if you wish to pronounce words more smoothly, you’d better try picking out some tongue twisters and practicing them.
| A．listening | B．pronunciation |
| C．writing | D．communication |
A.it is very boring to read B.it teaches us a lot of knowledge
C.we don’t know who “she” is C.the sounds of “s” and “sh” are similar
| A．Story Time | B．Latest News |
| C．Study Garden | D．Lost and Found |
Have you ever been ill? When you are ill, you must be unhappy because your body becomes hot, and there are pains all over your body. You don’t want to work, and you stay in bed, feeling very sad
What makes us ill? It is germs(细菌). Germs are everywhere. They are very small and you can't find them with your eyes，but you can see them with a microscope. They are very small and there could be hundreds of them on a very small thing.
Germs are always found in dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope，we shall see them in it. So your father and mother will not let you drink dirty water.
Germs aren't found only in water. They are found in air and dust. If you cut your finger，if some of the dust from the floor goes into the cut(割开处)，some of the germs would go into your finger. Your finger would become big and red，and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs would go into all of your body，and you would have pain everywhere.What is a microscope used for?
| A．Making very small things look much bigger. |
| B．Making very big things look much smaller. |
| C．Helping you read some newspapers. |
| D．Helping you if you can't see things clearly. |
Why don't your parents let you drink dirty water?
| A．You haven't looked at it carefully. |
| B．Water can't be drunk in this way. |
| C．There must be lots of germs in it. |
| D．Water will make you ill. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Germs can be found both in water and in the air. |
| B．Germs can go into your finger if it is cut. |
| C．If your temperature is not OK，there must be germs in your body. |
| D．If your finger isn't cut，there aren't any germs on it. |
What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Germs may make us ill. |
| B．Germs are in dirty water. |
| C．Don't drink dirty water. |
| D．Take care of your fingers. |
When you finish high school or university, is learning done? The answer is “no”. In many countries, people continue learning all their lives. Why is lifelong learning important? How can it help you? Let’s look at one example of lifelong learning in Japan.
Why is lifelong learning important?
You go to school and learn. You take tests. But learning doesn’t only happen in school. And learning doesn’t stop when you graduate from high school or college. You are learning all the time. For example, learning can happen when you go to a museum. It can also happen when you get a job. You learn when you play a sport or when you take a trip. Learning is life! We never stop learning. Every day, you can improve yourself by learning something new.
Lifelong learning in Japan
In Japan, life learning is very important. People in Japan like to try new learning activities. Music calligraphy, flower arranging, and foreign languages are some of their favorite classes. The Japanese take classes to improve their skills and learn new things.
Conclusion
When we graduate from school, we can continue to learn. Make lifelong learning one of your goals!Why is lifelong learning important?
| A．It helps you improve yourself. |
| B．It’s the best way to learn. |
| C．It’s fun and easy. |
| D．It’s an important goal. |
Some people in Japan take foreign language classes to.
| A．get a job | B．learn new things |
| C．get good grades | D．finish college |
W hich of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Learning only happens in school. |
| B．When we graduate from school, learning is done. |
| C．You can’t learn anything when you play a sport. |
| D．Music, calligraphy, flower arranging and foreign languages are popular classes in Japan. |
What is the main idea of the reading?
| A．Learning can be fun. |
| B．We are always learning in school. |
| C．Finishing high school is important. |
| D．People can learn all their lives. |
Modern life is impossible without traveling. The fastest way of traveling is by air. With a modern airliner （客机） you can travel in one day to places which it took a month or more to get to a hundred years ago.
Traveling by train is slower than by air, but it has its advantages （便利）. You can see the country you are traveling through. Modern trains have comfortable seats and dining cars. They make even the longest journey enjoyable.
Some people prefer to travel by sea when possible. There are large liners and river boats. You can visit many other countries and different places. Traveling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday.
Many people like to travel by car. You can make your own timetable （时间表）. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty or one hundred miles a day, just as you like. You can stop wherever you wish where there is something interesting to see, at a good restaurant where you can enjoy a good meal, or at a hotel to spend the night. That is why traveling by car is popular for pleasure trips, while people usually take a train or a plane when they are traveling on business.From the passage (短文), we know the fastest way of traveling is _______.
| A．by car |
| B．by train |
| C．by air |
| D．by sea |
If we travel by car, we can _______.
| A．make the longest journey enjoyable |
| B．make our own timetable |
| C．travel to a very far place in several minutes |
| D．travel only fifty or one hundred miles a day |
The underlined (画线的) word "They" in the passage refers to (指的是) _______.
| A．modern trains in the country |
| B．the travelers on the modern trains |
| C．comfortable seats and dining-cars |
| D．the slower ways of traveling |
I wonder if there is any girl or boy who does not like to see a rainbow in the sky. It is beautiful. There is a story, saying that whenever you see a rainbow you should run at once to the place where it touches the ground, and there you would find a pot of gold. Of course it is not true. Neither you could find gold, nor would you ever find its end. No matter how far you run, it always seems far away.
A rainbow is not a thing which we can feel with our hands as we can feel a flower. It is only the effect(结果) of light shining on raindrops. The raindrops catch the sunlight and break it up into all the wonderful colours which we see.
It is called a rainbow perhaps because it is made up of raindrops and looks like a bow(弓).
That is why we can never see a rainbow in a clear sky. We see rainbows only when there is rain in the air and the sun is shining brightly through the clouds. Every rainbow has many colours in the same order. The first or the top colours is always red, next comes orange, then green, and last of all, blue. A rainbow is indeed one of the wonders of nature.We can not feel _______with our hands.
| A．gold | B．a flower |
| C．a rainbow | D．a raindrop |
We can see a rainbow________.
| A．when it is raining heavily |
| B．when it is snowing |
| C．in a clear sky |
| D．When it becomes fine shortly after raining. |
Which of the follow is NOT right?
| A．A rainbow is always far away from us. |
| B．A rainbow is the effect of light shining on raindrops. |
| C．A rainbow is created by scientists. |
| D．A rainbow is one of the wonders of nature. |
The first color of a rainbow is always_______.
| A．yellow | B．red | C．green | D．blue |
Fiona Famous was a very popular girl at school. She was clever and fun, and got on well with everyone. It was no accident that Fiona was so popular. From an early age she had tried hard to be kind and friendly to everyone. She invited the whole class to her birthday party, and from time to time she would give presents to everybody. She was such a busy girl, with so many friends. However, she felt very lucky, no other girl had so many friends at school and in the neighborhood.
But everything changed on National Friendship Day. On that day, at school, everyone was having a great time, drawing, painting, giving gifts. They had to make three presents to give to their three best friends.
However, when all the presents had been made and shared out among classmates, Fiona was the only one who had not received a present! She felt terrible, and spent hours crying. How could it be possible? So much she had done to make so many friends, and in the end no one saw her as their best friend? Everyone came and tried to comfort her for a while. But each one only stayed for a short time before leaving.
When she got home that night and asked her mother where she could find true friends.
“Fiona, my dear,” answered her mother, “you cannot buy friends with a smile or a few good words. If you really want true friends, you will have to give them real time and affection (情感). For a true friend you must always be there for them, in good times and bad”.
“But I want to be everybody’s friend! I need to share my time among everyone!” Fiona argued.
“My dear, you’re a lovely girl,” said her mother, “but you can’t be a close friend to everybody. There just isn’t enough time for everyone, so it’s only possible to have a few true friends. The others won’t be close friends”.
Hearing this, Fiona decided to change her ways so that she could finally have some true friends. That night, in bed, she thought about what she could do to get them. Her mother was always ready to help her. She could stand all of Fiona’s dislikes and problems. She always encouraged her. She loved her a great deal...
That was what makes friends!
And Fiona smiled happily, realizing that she already had the best friend anyone could ever want.Fiona was a very popular girl because she ______.
| A．gave her best friends presents |
| B．often made presents for her friends |
| C．was kind and friendly to everyone |
| D．invited some of her class to her birthday party |
Which of the following can be put in the blank (空白处) in Paragraph 4?
| A．She thought about her mother. |
| B．She decided to find true friends. |
| C．She talked with her classmates on the phone. |
| D．She was sad and couldn’t sleep any more. |
The right order about Fiona is ______.
a. She decided to have some true friends.
b. She tried to get on well with everyone at school.
c. She asked her mother where she could find true friends.
d. She didn’t receive any present on National Friendship Day.
| A．b-d-a -c | B．b-d-c-a |
| C．c-b-d-a | D．b-c-d-a |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Fiona tried hard to find some true friends all the time. |
| B．Fiona always spent more time with some of her friends. |
| C．Fiona found that giving gifts to every friend was important. |
| D．Fiona finally realized how she could find true friends. |