How could we tell time if there were no watches or clocks anywhere in the world?
The sun might be the world's first“clock”，except in the far north，where the Eskimos（爱 斯基摩人）live．There，it's dark most of the winter，and light most of the summer．But in most
of the world, if you don't have a clock that shows time, you still know that when the sun shines, it's day, and when it's dark, it's night. The sun can not only tell you whether（是否）it's day or night but also it's morning, noon, or afternoon. When the sun is almost directly（恰好）overhead, it's noon.
People who live near the sea learn from the tides. In the daytime, for about six hours, the water rises higher and higher on the beach. And then it goes down and down for about six hours. The same thing happens again at night. There are two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours.
Seamen on a ship know time by looking at the moon and the stars. The whole sky is the clock.
In some places in the world the wind comes up at about the same time every day or changes
direction or stops blowing. In these places the wind can be the clock.
A sand clock is an even better clock. If you had fine dry sand in a glass like the one in the picture, you would have what is called an hourglass. The sand in the hourglass goes from the top part to the bottom part in one hour. When the hourglass is turned over, the sand will take another hour to go back again.
| A．they know very little about the sun |
| B．the sun there never goes down in winter. |
| C．it’s too cold for them to go out to watch the sun |
| D．there are long dark winters and long light summers in the far north |
| A．ocean current |
| B．storm |
| C．a regular rise and fall of the sea |
| D．wave |
| A．News | B．Science |
| C．Business | D．Advertisement |
| A．Different Ways to Tell Time |
| B．Useful Machine to Tell Time |
| C．The History of the Clock |
| D．The Development of the Clock |
| A．Five | B．Four | C．Six | D．Three |
How would you feel if moving to a new town meant losing track of your friends？ What if the only way of getting news from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be delivered（递送）？ This was how things worked not very long ago． Thanks to advances in technology， how we make friends and communicate with them has changed greatly．
Nowadays， we can move around the world and still stay in touch with our friends．Social media tools （社交媒体工具） let us see what our friends are busy with and maintain friendships．
The digital（数字）age also enables us to find people who share our interests．Whatever our hobbies are，the Internet can connect us with others who also enjoy doing them， even if they live on the other side of the world．
But when you"friend" people online， does this mean that they really are your friends？ It depends．
If people always exchange true personal information online， then yes， these friendships can be real and meaningful． But we need to remember that what we see on social media is often not the whole truth about a person． Sometimes smiling photos can hide real problems．On the Internet，nobody knows you're a dog． A young person could be old； a woman could be a man； we could even be sharing our information with criminals．
But this doesn't mean that we should throw the baby out with the bathwater． Although technology has changed the way we acquire （获得） friends， the meaning of friendship and our longing for friends remain the same． As Aristotle said， no one would choose to live without friends，even if he had all other goods．
（1）Ways of making friends and communicating with them have changed greatly because of ．
（2）To stay in touch with our faraway friends， we can ．
（3）Online friendships can be real and meaningful if people with each other．
（4）The phrase "throw the baby out with the bathwater" means" " in Chinese．
（5）This passage mainly talks about of making friends online．
Nirmal Purja has set several world records after climbing the world's 14 highest mountains in less than seven months．
（1） Though he was born 1，600 meters above sea level，he didn't climb any serious mountains until he was 29．
But Mr． Purja， now 36， was trained to be strong． He used to be a soldier in the British army， where he had special training for fighting in very cold weather．（2）
There are only 14 mountains in the world that are higher than 8，000 meters． Mr．Purja had already climbed several of them．（3） The old record for climbing the 14 mountains was seven years，ten months and six days． It was set by South Korean climber Kim Chang﹣ho in 2013．
Mr．Purja named his challenge"Project Possible"．（4） On October 29，just a little more than six months after he started， Nirmal Purja had finished climbing the 14th mountain．
Though Mr． Purja completed his challenge unbelievably quickly，it wasn't easy．For example，during one day of climbing Shishapangma， Mr． Purja and his team climbed for 15 hours nonstop．
（5） Mr．Purja believes his strong physical condition and his training as a soldier helped him．He hopes his efforts will inspire others．"People are only limited（限制） by their imagination，" he says．"If you don't dream， then you won't do it"
|
A． Mr． Purja was born in Nepal， in the Himalayas． B． He had completed five more climb in Pakistan． C． He began on April 23， by climbing Annapurna in Nepal． D． His goal was to climb all of them in less than seven months． E． They had to deal with winds as fast as 75 kilometers per hour． F． In 2018， he left there to follow his dream of mountain climbing． |
In the town of Lampang in northern Thailand， there is an unusual group of musicians． They play many different kinds of music﹣ ﹣from traditional Thai songs to music by Beethoven． Both children and adults love this group． What makes themso popular？ Is it their music？ Their looks？Yes， it's both of these things，but it's also something else： they're elephants．
These musical elephants are from the Thai Elephant Conservation Center （TECC） in Lampang． The TECC protects elephants． It teaches people to understand and care for these huge，but gentle， animals．And， like many zoos around the world， the TECC encourages elephants to paint．
Richard Lair works with the TECC． He knew that elephants hear better than they see．So he had an idea：if elephants are intelligent and they have good hearing， maybe they can play music．To test his idea，Lair and a friend started the Thai Elephant Orchestra． During a performance， the elephants play a variety of instruments， including the drums and the xylophone． The animals also use their voices and trunks to make sounds．
But can elephants really make music properly？ Yes， says Lair． They 're very creative． Humans may encourage the animals to play instruments， but the elephants make their own songs； they don't just copy their trainers or other people． There are now CDs of the group's music， which make money for the TECC． And the music these artists create is pretty amazing．
（1）What can be the best title for the passage？
| A． |
Musical Elephants |
| B． |
An Introduction to the TECC |
| C． |
Richard Lair's Achievements |
（2）What does the underlined word "them" refer to in the passage？
| A． |
Musicians． |
| B． |
Children． |
| C． |
Adults． |
（3）What can be inferred （推断） from the passage？
| A． |
Richard Lair started the Thai Elephant Orchestra by himself． |
| B． |
The elephants in the TECC can only play traditional Thai songs． |
| C． |
The CDs of the Thai Elephant Orchestra are popular with people． |
（4）The writer wrote this passage to ．
| A． |
ask people to save the elephants |
| B． |
invite more people to join the TECC |
| C． |
introduce the elephants' special talents to people |
（5）Where can we most probably read this passage？
| A． |
A medical newspaper． |
| B． |
An animal magazine． |
| C． |
A story book． |
An Experiment Report on Growing Potato Plants
Things prepared：
a potato that has sprouts
a flower pot with soil
a camera to record progress
Observation：
Day One
The color of the soil looks darker because I have just watered it． In the center of the pot， I can see a tiny sprout that has grown from the potato under the soil． I'll call it Buddy． Buddy is green and yellow． I wonder how fast it will grow．
Day Six
Without much change in the past six days， I finally see some new progress on Buddy as it has grown taller It's exciting to see new life like this． I hope Buddy can grow faster．
Day Eleven
Buddy is getting larger! Three more new sprouts have grown around Buddy! Green leaves have grown on the new sprouts， but they have not fully grown yet． I guess I need to be a bit more patient．
Day Thirteen
Buddy continues to grow taller． The leaves on the new sprouts have grown a bit．I'm also excited to see more new sprouts that have grown from under the soil．
Day Fifteen
Finally， the leaves on the other sprouts are 3 cm tall． They' re so green． I hope they will soon grow into new potatoes．
What I have learned
It's really interesting to grow potatoes． During these fifteen days， I have learned that growing potato plants needs plenty of water． If the soil is dry， the potato will fail to grow． I have also learned that the temperature needs to be right． If it is too cold， it won't grow．
I feel that growing plants is just like trying to succeed with anything in life ﹣ it takes not only time， but also lots of efforts and patience．
（1）The reading material is an experiment report about ．
| A． |
chemistry |
| B． |
physics |
| C． |
biology |
（2）How many things did the writer prepare before her experiment？
| A． |
Three． |
| B． |
Five． |
| C． |
Seven． |
（3）How did the writer feel when she saw the progress of the potato plants？
| A． |
Excited． |
| B． |
Nervous． |
| C． |
Surprised． |
（4）What can we know from the writer 's experiment report？
| A． |
"Buddy" grew very fast in the first six days． |
| B． |
Plenty of water is necessary for growing potato plants． |
| C． |
The writer got new potatoes on the fifteenth day of the experiment． |
（5）What has the writer learned from the experiment？
| A． |
Old habits die hard． |
| B． |
Rome wasn't built in one day． |
| C． |
Knowledge comes from questioning． |
Can you imagine a sea of sand three times bigger than India？ This is the Sahara Desert． The largest desert in the world． It covers 1l countries in North Africa and is over 9 million square kilometers．
In the Sahara， temperatures are very different during the day and at night． It is much hotter during the day than at nigh．During the day， the hottest time is between 2 pm and 4 pm﹣when temperatures rise to 33℃． But it is very cold at night， the coldest time is at 4 am， when temperatures fall to ﹣1℃．
Because of the extreme temperatures in the desert， it is a very difficult place to survive（幸运）．Marco Rivera， our survival expert， has some tips．
Take warm clothes and a blanket． You will need a hat， long trousers and a thick sweater to keep you warm at night． During the day， cover your body， head and face． Clothes protect you from the sun and keep water in your body． You will also need a warm blanket at night． It can get cold rapidly． When the temperature drops， it can be a shock and make you feel even colder．
Try to drink some water at least once every hour． You need your water to last as long as possible． Drink only what you need． If you eat， you will get thirsty and your water will run out soon．You can eat a little， but only to stop you from feeling very hungry． Eat a small amount of food slowly．
It's important to stay out of the sun during the day． Make a hole under your car and lie there． This will keep you cool and help you sleep． Find a warm place to sleep at night． A small place near a tree or a rock will be the warmest． But be careful before you decide where to sleep． Dangerous animals like snakes also like to sleep in these places． Look carefully for animals before you lie down．
（1）The Sahara， the world's largest desert， is more than in size．
（2）In the Sahara． The between the day and the night is pretty big．
（3）In Paragraph 4， Marco Rivera tells us are necessary for our survival in the Sahara．
（4）We should at least once every hour and try to make our water last longer in the Sahara．
（5）In the Sahara， we should stay out of the sun during the day and find to sleep at night．
