If Tomb Sweeping Day(清明节) gives you a holiday to go outdoors, Spring break is what teenagers in the US look forward to.
Unlike our semester, which starts in late February or early March this year, . So in late March and April, most American schools, ranging from kindergartens to colleges, give students one to two weeks off school.
What do students do during the time? , but they all beat studying!
Some kids take trips with their parents, visiting a new state or even a new country. There is one place in the US that all kids dream about going on their Spring Break — Disney World in Florida. For some kids that dream will come true. .
For many, Spring break means relaxing or family reunions. They may stay home, read and watch movies, or they may go to visit friends. Others may travel to visit family members who live far away. . On a ten-day trip, for example, students may go on a tour through Spain, France, and Italy. These trips are often expensive, but they give students a great chance to see other parts of the world.
Students in the US don’t have their Spring break at the same time. . So while students from one town are on vacation, their neighbors in the next town may have classes as usual.
| A. They’ll get to meet Mickey Mouse B. Sometimes teachers lead overseas trips for groups of students C. American schools begin as early as January D. It depends on where they live E. They like to do many things |
Now scientists have discovered that the dogs behave like their masters, too. Just like children, they use a “ look and learn” ways when they go about their tasks.
Scientists at Oxford universities designed an experiment to test if the dogs have the ability to copy humans’ actions by using a simple wooden box. 10 owners showed their dogs how to open the wooden box .Sometimes they use their heads to push it and sometimes they use their hands.
10 dogs were divided into two groups---Group1 and Group2. In the first part of the test, Group1 were rewarded with a piece of meat for copying their owner’s actions. Group2 were rewarded with food for not copying and using other ways. With each dog the experiment was repeated hundreds of times. Scientists recorded the time to see which group was first to get 85% right. They found that Group1finished the task much sooner than Group2.
In the second part of the test, all the dogs were only rewarded for copying the way that their owners used. Group1 reached the 85% mark more quickly than Group2.
So the scientists draw a conclusion: “Like humans, dogs can copy actions that they see. Dogs’ imitative（仿效的）behavior is shaped more by their interactions（互动）with humans than by evolution(进化).”
Scientists said，“A dog’s behavior is influenced much like that of a child; they look and learn similar behavior. We hope that owners understand the importance of their actions and use this knowledge to set good examples and therefore have a good effect on the behavior of their pets.”The scientists believe dog’s imitative behavior mainly comes from______________.
| A．proper rewards | B．domestication |
| C．human-dog interactions | D．evolution |
The best title may be “___________________”
| A．Dogs can finish their tasks quickly. | B．Dogs are interesting animals. |
| C．Masters always set good examples. | D．Dogs behave like their masters. |
From the experiment, we know __________________.
| A．It took the two groups of dogs the same time to finish the required task. |
| B．The dogs that copied their masters finished the required task much sooner. |
| C．The dogs that were encouraged to copy their masters finished the task more slowly.. |
| D．The dogs that were encouraged not to copy their masters finished the task more quickly.. |
According to the last paragraph, we can infer ______________.
| A．a cruel man can raise a cruel dog |
| B．dogs can be influenced by anyone |
| C．dogs always behave positively |
| D．dogs are the best kind of pets |
It has more than 845 million users worldwide. If it were a country, it would have the third largest population in the world, behind China and India. This is Facebook, a popular website from the US. It is similar to Renren in China.
Mark Zuckerber was born on May 14, 1984. As a little kid, he loved creating little fun computer programs. He set up the network in February of 2004. He was then a second-year student at Harvard University. One day, he had the idea of building a website for Harvard students to get to know each other. He set up the Facebook website. Harvard students could share photos and their personal information there. Soon, the website became very famous. Zuckerberg decided to leave Harvard to run Facebook full time. It was the biggest adventure in his life and later brought him great success. Now, the service is popular around the world.
Greetings such as “Have you checked your Facebook page today?” became a part of young people’s everyday language in the US. People can exchange message and get the latest information about their friends on Facebook. Zuckerberg’s dream is to connect people through the Internet. “Facebook is to make the world more open and connected,” he said.
What’s the young man’s secret to success? Zuckerberg believes it’s important to have an open mind and be ready to try new things. “The riskiest thing is to take no risks,” he once said in an open letter. Sometimes the simplest ideas go furthest. We hope Mar Zuckerberg can go much further, maybe even further than Bill Gates.The underlined word “ it “ in the first paragraph refers to _________.
| A．Facebook | B．Renren | C．India | D．China |
People can do the following on Facebook except __________.
| A．exchange messages | B．share information |
| C．do online shopping | D．put up photos |
Which is the correct order of the following events?
a.Zucker studied in Harvard University.
b. Facebook is popular around the world.
c. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard.
d. Zuckberg set up the Facebook website.
| A．a-b-c-d | B．a-c-b-d | C．a-d-b-c | D．a-d-c-b |
Why did Zuckerberg start Facebook?
| A．Because he wanted to collect some money. |
| B．Because he wanted to connect people online. |
| C．Because he felt bored when studying in Harvard. |
| D．Because he didn’t know his classmates very well. |
Fred Astaire was born in Nebraska in 1899. Fred and his sister, Adele, learned to dance when they were very young. Their mother took them to New York to study dance. They performed in their first professional（专业的） show when Fred was ten years old and Adele was twelve. Later, as teenagers, the two danced in many shows throughout the United States. Their first big success was on Broadway in 1917.
The Astaires -- as they were known -- quickly became Broadway stars. During the nineteen twenties, they sang and danced in eleven different shows. They also performed in England. In 1932, Adele Astaire married a British man, and stopped performing. But Fred did not forego his dream. He would go on alone, in the movies.
Fred Astaire had the best skill among all dancers in history. He danced up walls and on the ceiling in the film Royal Wedding. He danced on rooftops in The Belle of New York. He danced on roller skates in Shall We Dance?
Fred Astaire made all this look easy. But it was not. He said: "Dancing is a sweaty job. You cannot just sit down and do it. You have to get up on your feet. It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable. I always try to get to know my dance so well that I do not have to think.”
In 1949, Fred Astaire won a special award for his film work from America's Motion Picture Academy. He also won awards from the television industry for a number of his television programs.
Fred stopped dancing in 1970. He was more than seventy years old at the time. He said a dancer could not continue dancing forever. He said he did not want to disappoint（使失望） anyone, even himself. He danced again in public only once after that. It was with another great male dancer, Gene Kelly, in the movie "That's Entertainment, Part Two".
Fred Astaire and his first wife, Phyllis, had three children. Phyllis died in 1954. Twenty-five years later, Fred married race horse rider Robyn Smith. Fred Astaire died on June 22, 1987. He was eighty-eight years old. He was called the greatest dancer in the world. His dancing was called perfect. And moviegoers everywhere will remember him as a great performer whose work will live forever in his films.The first paragraph is mainly about_________.
| A．Fred Astaire’s first success | B．Fred Astaire’s education |
| C．Fred Astaire’s early life | D．Fred Astaire’s family |
What does the underlined word “ forgo” in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Get over | B．Set up | C．Go ahead | D．Give up |
What Fred Astaire said in Paragraph4 shows that ___________.
| A．he knew his dance was wonderful |
| B．he thought dancing was not difficult |
| C．he devoted much time and effort to dance |
| D．he had ways to make people remember him |
What is the correct time order of the following events?
a .Fred Astaire’s first wife died.
b .Fred’s sister Adele stopped performing.
c .Fred Astaire performed with Gene Kelly in a movie.
d .Fred Astaire won an award from America’s Motion Picture Academy.
| A．abcd | B．bdac | C．dcba | D．cbad |
These days, picture news is very popular with young people. Here are some photos chosen by Jim.
 |
China’s first Hello Kitty theme restaurant was opened on Dec 23 in the capital of China. It’s all pink and sweet inside the restaurant. The table cloth , chairs, ceiling and floor are all pink, even the lamp light shines soft and rosy. Dining at Hello Kitty Dreams Restaurant costs about 160 yuan ($25) per person. |
 |
Dustin and Sara from North Georgia &State University (NGCSU) of the United States perform Peking Opera at LiaoCheng University in East China’s Shandong Province. Eighteen students from NGCSU came to China to study Chinese culture during the summer vacation. |
 |
Located in Miyun County north-east of Beijing, Fuling Mountain is a national-level forest reserve. As the mountain is cloudy and foggy all the year round, Fuling Mountain then began to be called Wuling Mountain. It is regarded as the Yellow Mountain in North China. |
 |
Bill Gates,chairman of Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company, attended an anti-smoking event ahead of the 25th World No-Tobacco Day, in Beijing on May 29,2012. Some Chinese famous people also attended the event. World No-Tobacco Day falls on May 31 every year. |
What did Dustin and Sara do in China?
| A．They climbed Fuling Mountain in Beijing. |
| B．They visited a Hello Kitty Dreams Restaurant. |
| C．They performed Peking Opera in Shandong. |
| D．They attended an anti-smoking event. |
Which is true according to the passage?
| A．Bill Gates set up World No-Tobacco Day on May 31. |
| B．Fuling Mountain is always cloudy and foggy. |
| C．Eight students from NGCSU studied Chinese culture in China. |
| D．You have to wear pink clothes at Hello Kitty Dreams Restaurant. |
The photos may come from ______________.
| A．The Internet news | B．an advertisement |
| C．a science magazine | D．a story book |
A recent survey of 2000 parents in Britain showed that they are often afraid of science questions asked by their curious children only because they have no idea what the answer is. Here is a list of some simple questions that you can ask your parents to see if they know the answers.
Q: Why is the sky blue?
A: You probably know white sunlight is made up of seven colors. While it moves in a straight line when going through space, it starts to divide as it hits “raised area” in the atmosphere. The ones with longest wavelengths pass through easily. The blue , however , can be taken in by the gas molecules (分子) because it has a shorter wavelength , which in turn scatters (使分散) it in different directions. That’s why when you look up at the sky, it appears to be blue.
Q:Why does the moon sometimes appear during the daytime?
A: The simple answer to that is because just like any other object it is being lit by the sun. As long as it is around 45 degrees or even 90 degrees off the sun, it will receive light and be able to be seen. The only time it is not able to be seen during its 28-day orbit (轨道) around the earth is when it is right between the earth and the sun. That’s because its back , which is not lit by the sun, is facing us.
Q: Where do birds/ honeybees go in winter?
A: While the bird part is quite easy, since a lot of them get together and travel, the honeybee part is likely to puzzle your parents. It turns out that these busy insects stop being that active when the temperature drops below 50°F. Instead ,they get together in the lower central area of the hive （蜂巢）and form a ball around their queen. This helps keep both warm enough to survive the cold winter months.The sky looks blue mainly because the color blue in the sunlight_______.
| A．has the longest wavelength among all the colors |
| B．cannot be taken in by the gas molecules |
| C．doesn’t hit “raised area” in the atmosphere |
| D．cannot pass through space successfully |
How long can’t the moon be seen during the daytime in a month?
| A．2 | B．28 | C．30 | D．31 |
What do honeybees choose to do when the temperature drops below 50°F?
| A．They choose to be active in the wild. |
| B．They choose to keep themselves warm. |
| C．They choose to travel to a warm place. |
| D．They choose to get together in the upper central area of the hive. |
What is NOT explained in the passage?
| A．Why is the sky blue? |
| B．Why is the moon able to be seen during the daytime? |
| C．Why do birds travel in winter? |
| D．Where do honeybees go in winter? |