Life is speeding up (加速). Everyone is getting unwell.
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown person who lived in Rome in AD (公元) 53 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting , amazing and can even change our lives.
But have all these developments really improved the quality (品质) of our lives?
Picture this: you’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel?
Inventions have sped up our lives so much that we often live feeling stressed (有压力的) and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no car, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they live simpler lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents , with their daughter and grandsons Benjamin, 10 and Thomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes.” The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer . Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy (时髦的), beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things”.The writer uses the quote (引用) at the beginning of the story to _________.
| A．tell us a truth about our life |
| B．tell us what life was like long time ago |
| C．point our what causes such a thing to happen |
| D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same |
In the passage the writer describes a picture to show that new inventions ________.
| A．have speeded up our lives |
| B．have improve the quality of our lives |
| C．may make people feel very happy |
| D．may bring people some trouble |
The family chose to spend some time in a 1940s house because _______.
| A．they loved to live simple lives |
| B．they wanted to know how people lived without modern inventions |
| C．they were troubled by modern inventions |
| D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them |
According to the passage, which is NOT right?
| A．People who live far away from noisy cities often seem to be happier. |
| B．An unknown Roman was sure that the quality of life would get better. |
| C．The family had some changes when they lived in a 1940s house. |
| D．With the improvement of our lives, we often feel stressed and tired |
The passage is mainly about_______.
| A．problems with technology |
| B．improvement of our lives with technology |
| C．changes happening to technology |
| D．the importance of technology |
Mrs. Smith is an unusual teacher. Once she told each student to bring along a few potatoes in plastic bag. On each potato the students had to write a name of a person that they hated And the next day, every child brought some potatoes. Some had two potatoes；some three；some up to five.
Mrs. Smith then told the children to carry the bags everywhere they went, even to the toilet, for two weeks. As day after day passed, the children started to complain(抱怨)about the awful smell of the rotten（腐烂的）potatoes.
Those children who brought five potatoes began to feel the weight trouble of the bags. After two weeks, the children were happy to hear that the game was finally ended. Mrs. Smith asked,“How did you feel while carrying the potatoes for two weeks?” The children started complaining about the trouble loudly．
Then Mrs. Smith told them why she asked them to play the game. She said,“This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred（仇恨）for somebody inside your heart. The terrible smell of the hatred will pollute your heart and you will carry something unnecessary with you all the time. If you cannot stand the smell of the rotten potatoes for just two weeks, can you imagine how heavy it would be to have the hatred in your heart for your lifetime? So throw away any hatred from your heart, and you’ll be really happy．
根据短文内容，选出最佳选项。Mrs．Smith asked her students to write _____on the potatoes.
| A．numbers | B．names | C．time | D．places |
How did the students feel while carrying the potatoes for two weeks?
A. Unhappy． B. Happy． C. Hungry． .D Emb arrassedThe children complained about_______besides the weight trouble.
| A．their classmates | B．the plastic bag |
| C．the smell | D．their parents |
Which of the following is True according to the passage?
| A．The teacher just wanted to play a game with her students. |
| B．If a kid hated four people,he or she had to carry four potatoes. |
| C．The kids ate all the rotten potatoes. |
| D．The game went on for two months. |
We can learn from the passage that we should＿＿＿＿．
| A．forget the names of those we hate |
| B．complain about the names of those we hate |
| C．throw away the rotten potatoes |
| D．throw away the hatred inside |
Now teachers are beginning to worry about students’ English handwriting(书写).They write carelessly and make the words or sentences ugly to look at. Is your English handwriting beautiful?
If not, here are four steps that really work!
Use paper with lines
Using paper that has lines can keep you writing well when you write English words or sentences. Those lines on the paper can help you to write words in the right size. Be sure to fill the lied space completely.
Slow down
If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. For some kids, writing slowly makes handwriting clear. If you write too fast, it is hard for you to stop where you should, and even worse you may make more mistakes.
Hold your pen right
When you hold your pen in the correct way, writing is much easier .Some students press(按压)down really hard when they write. That makes the handwriting not nice. Try to relax yourself and don’t hold the pen so hard. Let your writing appear nice and clean. If you do so, people will guess you are a student with a good habit.
Draw more pictures
Drawing can improve your handwriting. You need to use the skills to control your pencil better when you are drawing pictures. Even though you have no chance to draw at school, you can practice by yourself at home.
根据短文内容，判断以下句子的正误。你认为正确的句子请在答题卡的相应位置内涂“T”,错误的句子涂“F”。（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）Students handwriting i s making their teachers worried.
There are five steps in this passage.
Lines on the paper can help you write fast.
It’s easier to write if you hold your pen right.
Drawing is also good way to make your handwriting better．
John and Jack met at the old bench every afternoon. Then they played football. But they didn’t have enough money to buy a real football. So Jack made a ball out of old socks covered with a piece of plastic. Every time, the two friends didn’t stop kicking and running until very late.
On Monday afternoon, John and Jack met again at the old bench. Soon the home-made ball was running across the grass. The boys laughed and shouted happily. The ball was stopped by a boy wearing a nice pair of sports shoes. John was upset when he saw it was Steven.
The next morning, John’s mother gave him a bill. “Your uncle sent you a birthday present.” She smiled. John’s eyes grew big when he saw the ＄100 bill. Later that day, his mother bought a pair of new sports shoes and a real football.
That afternoon Steven invited John to play football. Steven did not want Jack to join them only because Jack’s sports shoes were dirty. When the game was over, John and Steven walked past the old bench where Jack was sitting. Steven picked up a stone and threw it at him. John, holding his new football in his hands, walked on and did not look back.
Several days later, as John walked past the old bench, he saw something lying under it. He looked closer and saw it was the home-made ball. John was full of sadness when he saw the ball. As his sadness turned to anger, he picked up his new football and kicked it into the air. Then he walked to the beach, sat down and waited.When John and Jack were playing with their home-made ball, they felt .
| A．sad | B．glad | C．unfair | D．angry |
What present did John get from his uncle?
| A．A bill. | B．A football. |
| C．A home-made football. | D．A pair of new shoes. |
Why didn’t Jack play football with John and Steven?
| A．Because he was ill. |
| B．Because he hated Steven. |
| C．Because he didn’t wear sports shoes. |
| D．Because he wasn’t invited by Steven. |
John sat on the beach and probably waited for .源:
| A．his mother | B．Jack |
| C．Steven | D．his uncle |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．A birthday present | B．A football match |
| C．A home-made football | D．A new football |
Can plants eat people? Probably not, but there are many plants that eat meat. Some of them are big. And thay can eat small animals. One famous meat-eating plant is Venus Flytrap(捕蝇草).
Venus flytrap is a very strange plant. It grows in dry parts of the United States. Its leaves are like the pages of a book. They can open and close very quickly. Inside the leaves, there are three small hairs. If a fly touches one of the hairs, the leaf closes quickly， so the fly cannot get out. In about half an hour, the leaf presses the fly until it is dead. Then, the plant covers the fly and slowly eats it.
Why do plants do that? Most plants get what they need from the sun, the air, and the ground. In some places, the ground is very poor. It doesn't have all these important things, especially nitrogen (氮). Animal meat has a lot of nitrogen, so some plants eat meat to get what they need. Let's hope that bigger plants don't get the same idea!Venus flytrap is a kind of______.
| A．plant | B．animal | C．food | D．meat |
Venus flytrap grows in______.
| A．most parts of the world |
| B．parts of Africa |
| C．dry parts of the United States |
| D．wet parts of England |
From the passage, we learn that______.
| A．all plants can eat people |
| B．all plants can eat animals |
| C．some plants can eat people |
| D．some plants can eat animals |
The underlined word"presses"probably means______ in Chinese.
| A．挤压 | B．关上 | C．打开 | D．松开 |
—Why do some plants eat animal meat?
—Because______.
| A．plants are dangerous to animals |
| B．animals are dangerous to plants |
| C．plants want to get what they need from animal meat |
| D．plants want to protect themselves against animals |
An eighty-year-old couple were having trouble with their memories. One day, they decided to see a doctor. The doctor told him that there was nothing serious, but he suggested that they should start writing things down to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and left.
Later that night while watching TV, the old man got up from his chair and his wife asked, “Where are you going?”
“To the kitchen.”
“Will you get me an ice-cream?” asked the wife.
“Sure.”
Then his wife asked him to write it down.
“No, I can remember that,” replied the husband.
“Well, I also want some strawberries and cream on top. You’d better write it down, or you will forget that,” said the wife.
“No, I can remember that,” the husband got a little unhappy and went into the kitchen.
After about 20 minutes, the husband returned with a plate of fish. The wife laughed, “Haha! Your bad memory! I wanted some bread with cream.”How old was the wife?
| A．Eight | B．Eighteen | C．Eighty | D．Eighties |
Why did the couple go to the doctor’s?
| A．Because they had a headache. |
| B．Because they had bad memories. |
| C．Because the docor was their son. |
| D．Because the old man was ill. |
What did the husband give to the wife?
| A．An ice-cream |
| B．Some strawberries and cream |
| C．Some bread with cream |
| D．Some fish |
What did the wife really want?
| A．Some bread with cream |
| B．An ice-cream with some strawberries and cream |
| C．A plate of fish |
| D．Some strawberries and cream |
Which sentence is right?
| A．The couple often forgot things. |
| B．Only the husband had a bad memory . |
| C．The couple were ill . |
| D．The doctor also had a bad memory. |