The next time you take medicine when you’re ill, you may eat a cone snail(芋螺). At least that’s what some scientists are hoping. Scientists have found that cone snails can help with backache, as well as toothache and other body problems.
There are over 600 different kinds of cone snails. This family is especially found in warm and hot waters in the oceans. They catch and eat small fish and even other cone snails. The snails have venom that they’ll give out and use to kill small animals they have caught because cone snails are slow-moving. Sometimes the venom can even kill people. But some scientists have discovered that the venom can also be used as medicine.
The shells of cone snils are often brightly colored, and have interesting shapes, many people think the shells are so beautiful that people kill them, collect lots of shells, and sell them around the world. The environment is also very dangerous for them because of fishing and boating.
Scientists want to help save the cone snails. They hope to make new rules to stop them from dying. If they die out, scientists may never discover what kinds of medicines they can give us.
We can find a cone snail in ________ .
| A．a warm river | B．in a hot ocean |
| C．a cold ocean | D．a lake |
What does the underline(下划线) word “venom” mean in the second paragraph ? ________.
| A．盔甲 | B．毒液 | C．螺纹 | D．鳞片 |
People kill the cone snails in order to ________ .
| A．sell their shells | B．study their venom |
| C．save the environment | D．kill animals |
The best title of the passage may be ________ .
| A．A Special Medicine | B．Great Venom |
| C．Cone Snails | D．Saving the Cone Snails |
Swimming and English Learning
Can you swim? Do you like swimming? Yes? Well, how can you learn to swim? I think the best way is to go into the water and learn. I’m afraid you’ll never learn to swim just by reading books about swimming or looking at others swimming. It’s the same with the English study. We must practice, practice and practice.
Listening and speaking are very important for beginners. The children in English-speaking countries first listen to others. Then they try to imitate and speak. We can listen to English programs on radio. You may just understand a few words. It doesn’t matter. Just be relaxed, try to catch every word.
Somebody may be a good listener. But he dare not speak. He’s afraid of making mistakes. You know we sometimes make mistakes when we speak Chinese. Don’t be afraid. We must be brave. If you really want to learn English well, you must try to speak with everyone so long as he knows English. Whether you know him or not is not important when there’s nobody to talk with, you can talk to yourself in English. It’s interesting and also a good way to practice your spoken English. Remember, the more you speak, the fewer mistakes you’ll make.
Reading and writing are more important for senior school students. First we must choose the books we’re interested in. A lot of reading will improve your language sense. This is the most important.
Keep writing English diaries. We can also write English articles. You may even post them to English magazines. Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is the mother of success.
Easier said than done. Well, let’s do more practice from now on. I’m sure you’ll learn English well in this way.You can learn to swim by_______.
| A．reading books about it |
| B．looking at others swimming |
| C．having lessons on it |
| D．going into the river and learning |
We should learn English by _______.
| A．listening and speaking |
| B．reading and writing |
| C．A and B |
| D．swimming |
What will you do with mistakes when you speak?
| A．Don’t make mistakes. |
| B．Study hard |
| C．Try not to speak English |
| D．Don’t be afraid. |
What’s more important for senior school students?
| A．listening | B．speaking |
| C．reading and writing | D．learning |
We can listen to English ______, according to the passage.
| A．by train | B．on the radio |
| C．every minute | D．now and then |
If you could see a movie of your life before you lived it, would you want to live it? Probably not. The excitement of living is that you don’t know what’s coming.
Sure, it’s hard to see uncertainty(不确定) in such positive（积极的）light when you’re out of work, or when you feel like you’re failing. But uncertainty is really another word for chance.
When Allison graduated from Harvard, she had chances all over the place but had no idea what she wanted to do. She took a job in consulting（咨询）, but she knew she wouldn’t stay there. She took the GRE and scored so high that she was able to increase her income（收入）by teaching students. Still, she didn’t think she wanted to go to graduate school（研究院）. Allison knew she wasn’t doing what she wanted, but she didn’t know what she wanted.
She worried. All her friends were going to graduate school or starting their own businesses. She was lost and felt that she would never find anything out. After six years, Allison, by having a general（全面的）plan in mind, got married, moved to the Midwest and used her consulting experience to get a great job. Allison realized that she spent her years finding her way: time well spent.
The only way to lead an interesting life is to face uncertainty. Otherwise your life is not your own—it is a path someone else has chosen. Moments of uncertainty are when you create your life, when you become who you are. Uncertainty usually begins with a job hunt, but it doesn’t end there. Every new role we take on means another round of uncertainty. Instead of fearing it, you should find some ways to deal with uncertainty.From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that.
| A．being out of work is a sad thing |
| B．uncertainty is what makes life interesting |
| C．life in a film is more exciting than real life |
| D．chance never appears when we need it |
What troubles Allison after graduation?
| A．She couldn’t find a well-paid job. |
| B．She had no money to start a business. |
| C．She was not sure what to do. |
| D．She didn’t score high enough for graduate school. |
How did Allison feel about her six years’ working experience?
| A．Uncertain. | B．Amazed. |
| C．Sorry. | D．Satisfied. |
What may be discussed in the following paragraph?
| A．How to deal with uncertainty. |
| B．What role uncertainty plays in life. |
| C．Why people fear uncertainty. |
| D．Whom to go to when facing uncertainty. |
When a cake is brought to the table at a birthday party, it is usually decorated with candles. It is said that the tradition of lighting birthday candles was invented by the ancient Greeks; it has taken on different meanings through the years. Today, one of the most popular birthday traditions is to blow out the candles all at once to make a secret wish come true.
In order to please Artemis, the goddess of the moon, the ancient Greeks arranged something special for birthdays. A moon-shaped cake was baked and decorated with lit candles. They thought the smoke from the candles would carry an offering(祭品) up into the sky, where they believed Artemis lived.
The tradition of lighting birthday candles continued in Europe, where candles were sometimes kept burning all day on a person’s birthday, partly as celebration and partly to keep away evil spirits. It was believed that the blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers(祈祷) to the gods. Some cultures believe it is a bad luck to blow out the candles until after the evening meal is eaten.
Traditionally, one candle represents a year of the person’s age. Some families prefer to add an extra candle for good luck. But that practice is improper when a very young child is celebrating a third birthday. Generally, older people’s birthdays are celebrated by placing just a few candles to represent, such as an eight for 80th birthday.
Today’s birthday candles are made in different shapes, like animals or flowers. One or two candles in the shape of numbers are sometimes used instead of lots of candles; for example, a four-shaped and a zero-shaped candle would represent 40.Why did the ancient Greeks arrange something special for birthdays?
| A．To make their dreams come true. |
| B．To celebrate a person’s birthday. |
| C．To protect themselves from evil spirits. |
| D．To please the goddess of the moon. |
What is the tradition of lighting candles for birthdays like in Europe?
| A．The candles were always kept burning all day on a person’s birthday. |
| B．The blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers to the god. |
| C．Some cultures believe it is right to blow out the candles before the evening meal. |
| D．The Europeans sometimes keep burning the candles all day just as a celebration. |
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
| A．In some families, people would add an extra candle without any special meaning. |
| B．It is common to see a cake with four candles on a three-year-old child’s birthday. |
| C．Traditionally, people can use an eight-shaped and a zero-shaped candle to represent 80. |
| D．Usually one candle is placed on a cake for each year of the person’s age. |
To write a great news story, you have to make sure it is correct, relevant and fresh.
For a start, all the information in a story must be correct. Not only the spelling and grammar, but also the facts.
Any mistakes that appear in a story can get a newspaper into big trouble. For example, if a newspaper said that Yang Liwei was the first man to go into space, it would be wrong. He wasn’t the first. The newspaper would probably lose lots of readers because of that mistake.
A news story is not only correct，but also relevant to its readers . People are mostly interested in news that happens near to them. That is why you care more about what happens at your school than at American schools. It is also why newspapers in Beijing don’t talk about much news in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
Finally, news must always be fresh. When you pick up your evening newspaper, you want to read about news that happens that day. You don’t want to read about news from last week!
So, now you know what makes a good news story. Have a good look at our newspaper and see if it is full of good news. You can try writing a news story for our newspaper like a real reporter.What is the meaning of the underlined word “relevant”.
| A．有趣的 | B．相关的 |
| C．最新的 | D．正确的 |
According to the writer, newspapers in Wuxi should talk much about news in __________.
| A．Wuxi | B．Hong Kong |
| C．Shanghai | D．Beijing |
Which of the following is true?
| A．A small mistake can’t get a newspaper into trouble. |
| B．A lot of people like reading about news from last week. |
| C．The passage doesn’t tell us who was the first man to go into space. |
| D．People are mostly interested in news that happens far away from them. |
Some top students are giving advice.
| Bill, Canada When taking tests, relax. If you’re worried that you’ll fail the test, you’re sure to get a low score. If you have studied for it long enough, you shouldn’t be worried about getting a low grade. |
| Lily, America Remember the most important advice to get good grades is very simple; do well on tests to get an A or an A-. Do what your teacher says, and the chances are fairly good that you’ll get an A+. Don’t stress yourself. Act cool! |
| Betty, Britain Write good notes. Coloured pens are fun to write with if you want to get more creative with your notes, but use them only for parts of your notes that will probably be on a test or that are important. It makes them stand out. Go over your notes before you take the exams. |
| Tom, Australia In order to get good grades, try to do your homework immediately after school. Time management is important. If you’re told to do the homework next week, get started the same day you know it. Before you start, you’d better make clear what to do and how to do it. |
Who gives advice on homework?
| A．Betty. | B．Bill. | C．Lily. | D．Tom. |
Lily tells uswhen taking tests.
| A．not to worry |
| B．not to stress ourselves |
| C．to get more creative |
| D．to make clear what to do |
The top students are giving advice on _______.
| A．how to get good grades |
| B．how to start learning |
| C．what to do when taking tests |
| D．what to take when going to school |