Shlander is a man from space. He thinks the people and things on the earth are very strange. He is now writing a letter to his friend at home. Here is part of his letter. Read it and answer the questions.
Now I am in a strange world. It is very nice. There are many new things here. There are many earth monsters here, too. The earth monsters look very funny. They have just one head, two arms and two legs. They have thin black strings on their heads. Some earth monsters have brown or yellow strings. The earth monsters have a hole in their face. Every day, they put nice things and balls from the trees into the hole. They put water into the hole, too. The earth monsters do not walk very fast. They move from place to pace in tin boxes.
At night, the earth monsters like to look at a square window box. This box has very small earth monsters in it.Shlander thinks the people and things on the earth are very ________.
| A．strange | B．nice |
| C．different | D．beautiful |
Shlander thinks man on the earth is ________.
| A．a monkey | B．a earth monster |
| C．a tin box | D．a strange world |
The earth monster doesn’t have ________.
| A．heads, arms and legs |
| B．brown or yellow strings on its head |
| C．a hole in its face |
| D．a swing on its body |
The earth monsters don’t put ________ into their holes.
| A．nice things | B．balls |
| C．fire | D．water |
The square window box is ________.
| A．a car or a bus | B．a very small earth monster |
| C．a TV set | D．a radio |
If we find a bird nest (巢), we will have a good place of watching and knowing about birds. Birds sit on eggs and take care of their babies from April to June. Because the baby birds are too young to leave the nest, parents often go to look for food and come back in several minutes. So it is good to watch birds. When we watch birds, we'd better hide ourselves in a close place to the nest, and it's better to use binoculars
But how do we make a bird nest? A good bird nest must be very fine, strong, thick and comfortable. If you want to make one, please follow these:
a) Each nest must have six boards (木板) for its cover and floor, for its left and right sides, and for its front and back sides. Don't make the boards too slippery (滑的).
b) Dig a small hole in the front of the nest as a "door". The "door" is big enough so birds can fly in or out easily.
c) Make sure the rainwater can't go into the nest.
d) One piece of the board should be easy to open.
e) Don't forget to colour the nest.We need ______ near a bird nest if we want to watch and know about birds.
| A．a good place | B．some trees |
| C．to sit on eggs | D．to make a bird net |
When we’re watching birds, we have to ______.
| A．look after the birds more often |
| B．use the binoculars to catch the birds |
| C．hide ourselves to make the birds do everything as usual |
| D．catch the birds at last |
We should leave a hole in the front of the nest so that ______ easily.
| A．we can clean the nest | B．birds can fly in or out |
| C．we can hang it | D．we can make it |
According to the text, we can make a bird nest like Picture ______ with the boards.
Long long ago, a donkey(驴) fell into a well(井). The animal cried for hours as the farmer tried to think out what to do. Finally, the farmer thought the animal was too old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, so he decided not to save the donkey.
The farmer invited his neighbours to help him. They began to shovel(铲) dirt into the well. The donkey cried harder. But a few minutes later, he became quiet. The farmer looked into the well, and was surprised by what he saw.
While every shovelful of dirt hit his back, the donkey would shake it off and take a step on the new layer of dirt. As the farmer’s neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, the donkey would shake it off and take another step up. Soon the donkey stepped up out of the well and ran away, to the surprise of all the neighbours.
The lesson we get from this story is that if life shovels some dirt on us, we must get out the well and not let it cover us. We must learn to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping-stone(踏脚石). We can get out of the deepest well by never giving up!The farmer is ________.
| A．careless |
| B．kind to the donkey |
| C．ready to give up the donkey |
| D．friendly |
When we are in trouble, we have to learn from _______ in the story.
| A．the farmer | B．the neighbours | C．the donkey | D．all of them |
the story tells us ________.
| A．never to give up even if we’re in great trouble |
| B．the donkey is a clever animal |
| C．the man has to be kind to the animal |
| D．the man is the most cruel(残酷的) animal |
阅读理解。阅读下列内容，从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。
If visitors cannot see the animals, the animals may be______.
| A．playing | B．eating | C．acting | D．sleeping |
Jack is eight years old. He goes to the zoo with his 58-year-old grandfather．How much should they pay for visiting the zoo?
| A．$18. | B．$22. | C．$28. | D．$32. |
What should we do in order not to frighten the animals?
| A．We should ride bikes. |
| B．We should keep quiet. |
| C．Ｗe should feed the animals. |
| D．We should keep the zoo clean. |
If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.
The study also found the effect is greater when the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density (密度) in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists.
It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的),” he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.The main subject talked about in this passage is ________.
| A．science on learning a second language |
| B．man’s ability of learning a second language |
| C．that language can help brain power |
| D．language learning and maths study |
The underlined word “bilingual” probably means _______.
| A．a researcher on language learning |
| B．a second language learner |
| C．an active language learner |
| D．a person who can speak two languages |
We may know from the scientific findings that ________.
| A．the earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is |
| B．there is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn’t know a second language |
| C．the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people’s brain |
| D．the ability of learning a second language is changing all the time |
In the last two paragraphs, the author wants to tell us that _________.
| A．learning a second language is the same as studying maths |
| B．early learning of a second language helps you a great deal in studying other subjects |
| C．Italian is the best choice for you as a second language |
| D．you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you.” he said, “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
| A．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
| B．She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
Why did her father listen to her quietly?
| A．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
| B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
| D．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend |
| B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father |
| D．My Childhood |