The new high-speed railway line between Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur self-governing region，and Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province，has cut train travel time by half to less than 12 hours.
The dramatic improvement will benefit many families planning reunions for Spring Festival.
“For the first time，I feel home is not that far away after all，”said Liang Shaofu as he boarded a high-speed train in Urumqi with six members of his family．
The 35-year-old left Lanzhou to set up a dry fruit business in Xinjiang eight years ago，and he has now settled in Urumqi．
The 1,776-km line, which passes through Qinghai province and is the country’s first high-speed railway to be built in a high-altitude region, came into service on Dec 26.
“We normally drive home for Spring Festival to avoid the difficulties of buying seven train tickets for the whole family during the peak season.” Liang said. “Driving can be very tiring and dangerous sometimes，so one year we even decided not to go back to Lanzhou simply to avoid the trip.”
More than 600,000 passengers traveled on the line during its first month，and the Urumqi Railway Bureau said the introduction of high-speed services will ease transport pressure during the Spring Festival peak season.
The existing usual railway line could no longer support Xinjiang’s development. All passenger trains will gradually shift to the new link，leaving the old one to be used for goods. As a result，Xinjiang’s annual goods ability could reach 200 million metric tons from the current 70 million．
The line passes through areas that experience high winds, and it also crosses parts of the deserted Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the bone-dry sands of the Gobi Desert．
The project could help China to promote its high-speed railway technology abroad，said Ma Xi zhang, director of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway project’s management department in Xinjiang.
How long did it take to go from Urumqi to Lanzhou by the usual train before?
| A．about 12 hours | B．About 6 hours |
| C．About 18 hours | D．About 24 hours |
What’s the main advantage of the new high-speed railway?
| A．It takes more time to go to Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| B．It will be more convenient for people all over the country to Xinjiang. |
| C．All the people in Lanzhou can return home on festivals. |
| D．It helps to improve Xinjiang’s development. |
From the passage we can learn________.
| A．Xinjiang’s annual goods ability can increase nearly four times |
| B．the new railway technology may help more railway lines to be built abroad |
| C．the high-speed railway lines can’t be built across the bone-dry sands |
| D．the old railway lines can only carry goods now |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The new high-speed railway line is good for all people to go home. |
| B．The new high-speed railway line benefits businessmen to carry goods. |
| C．Taking the new train is safer than driving home from Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| D．Businessmen seldom went home for Spring Festival before. |
Every day when I enter the classroom, I will take a look at the wall beside my seat. You will find nothing special about this old wall if you just look at it. But for the students in my class, it is a special wall. Take a good look at it, and you will get to know the real feelings and thoughts of us, the 9th graders.
In the middle of the wall, there is a big "VICTORY". It was written in pencil. I guess it must have been written by someone who got a good mark in an exam.
A little higher above the formulas, there is a poem. It only has two sentences. It reads: All those sweet memories have disappeared. Like tears dropping in the heavy rain. Oh! It must have been written at the end of the last semester in middle school. Classmates had to leave school and good friends had to part. What a sad poem!
If you "explore" the wall more carefully, you will find many other interesting things, like a crying face, or a happy face, and other patterns(图案). There are still some patterns and letters that I can't understand, but they all show the feeling of the students who drew them.
For years, the wall has witnessed(目睹) all the things that have happened in the classroom. I don't know how it will be next year, two years from now, or even ten years from now. But I hope more smiling faces will be drawn on it.There is ____ special on this wall.
| A．something | B．anything | C．nothing | D．everything |
What was the "VICTORY" written in?
| A．Chalk | B．Pencil | C．Pen | D．Brush |
When has the poem been written?
| A．At the beginning of the last semester. |
| B．At the end of the year. |
| C．At the end of the last semester. |
| D．At the beginning of the last month. |
What's the meaning of the underlined word?
| A．部分 | B．分离 | C．和好 | D．聚集 |
What's the title of the passage?
| A．The Pictures of the Wall |
| B．The Feelings of the Students |
| C．The Patterns of the Classroom |
| D．The Hope of the Writer |
Do you know what the White House is? Perhaps some of you do，while others don't.
The White House is a house in Washington. The president of the U.S.A. lives in it. It's really white. But do you know why the White House is white? The story happened in 1812. That year England was at war with America. The British army got to Washington and set the president's house on fire. In 1814，in order to hide the marks of the fire，the stone walls of the president's house were painted white and it has been the "White House” ever since.White House is a house for ___________.
A. the American people.
B. the soldiers of U.S.A.
C. the presidents of U.S.A.
D. the patients of U.S.A.England fought with America in ____________.
| A．1810 | B．1812 | C．1814 | D．1916 |
The house is called "White House" because ____________.
| A．it's covered with snow |
| B．the house is very clean |
| C．the stone walls of the house were painted white |
| D．they like white colour |
The White House was painted white because ____________.
| A．the house is old |
| B．the house is new |
| C．it was once on fire and was with marks |
| D．they have enough paint |
"ever since" means ___________.
| A．never | B．once | C．from then on | D．Before |
Jack is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, when he finished middle school, he found work in a shop. Usually he works until ten o'clock in the evening. He is very tired when he gets home. After a quick supper he goes to bed and soon falls asleep. His grandma who lives downstairs is satisfied with (满意) him.
One day, on his way home, he met Mary. They were both happy. He asked the girl to his house, she agreed happily. He bought some fruit and drinks for her. And they talked about their school, teachers, classmates and their future (未来). They talked for a long time.
"Have a look at your watch, please," said the girl. "What time is it now?"
"Sorry, something is wrong with my watch," said Jack. "Where's yours?"
"I left it at home."
Jack thought for a moment and found a way. He began to stamp his foot on the floor, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The sound woke his grandma up. The old woman shouted downstairs, "It's twelve o'clock in the night, Jack. Why are you still jumping upstairs?"Jack was ________ when he finished middle school.
| A．sixteen | B．eighteen | C．twenty | D．fifteen |
The old woman is satisfied with Jack because ________.
| A．he's her grandson | B．he's clever |
| C．he can keep quiet | D．he gets home on time |
From the story, we can know that Mary is Jack's ________.
| A．classmate | B．colleague (同事) | C．aunt | D．wife |
The word "stamp" in the story means ______ in Chinese.
| A．盖印 | B．跺 | C．贴邮票 | D．承认 |
Jack stamped his foot on the floor in order (为了) ________.
| A．to wake his grandma up |
| B．to make his grandma angry |
| C．that his grandma was going to tell him the time |
| D．that his grandma was going to buy him a watch |
After a serious earthquake happened, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to his son's school, only to find that the building where his son studied had collapsed and looked like a pancake.
He was shocked. He didn't know what he should do for a while, then he remembered the words he had said to his son, "No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you! "And tears began to fill his eyes. He started digging through the ruins (废墟).
As he was digging, other helpless parents and the firemen arrived and tried to pull him off the ruins, saying, "It's too late! They're all dead! There's nothing you can do! " To them he replied with one line, "Are you going to help me now? " And then he kept on digging.
No one helped, however. He went on alone because he needed to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead? " He dug for eight hours. . . 12 hours. . . 24 hours. . . 36 hours. . . then, in the 39th hour, he pulled back a rock and heard his son's words. He shouted his son's name, "ARMAND! " He heard back, "Dad!?! It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised, 'No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you!' You did it, Dad! "
"What's going on in there? How is it? " the father asked.
"There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We're frightened, hungry, thirsty and thankful you're here. When t he building fell down, it made a triangle (三角) , and it saved us. "
"Come out, boy! "
"No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me! No matter what happens, I know you'll always be there for me! "The underlined word "collapsed" probably means " ".
| A．break down | B．shake away | C．stand by | D．fall into |
Who came to help the father when he was digging?
| A．His wife. | B．Other parents. | C．The firemen. | D．No one. |
Other parents and the firemen wanted to pull him off the ruins because they thought .
| A．he was mad |
| B．all the children had died in the earthquake |
| C．he was too dangerous to others |
| D．it was not his job to dig |
How many students were already dead when the father found them in the ruins?
| A．Fourteen. | B．Thirty-three. | C．Forty-seven. | D．Nineteen. |
We can learn from the passage that .
| A．it took the father one day to find his son and other students |
| B．his wife died in the earthquake |
| C．his son was the last one to come out of the ruins |
| D．the son didn't believe his father would come to save him |
Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.
For example, if an American boy asks his mother what's for dinner tomorrow, she may say "I'll play it by ear", that means she doesn't have plans for dinner and she will decide later. "Play by ear" used to mean playing music using the sheet music, but now people often use it when they're not talking about music.
There're many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, "Give me a hand", you don't necessarily stretch out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It's not about the color of your hand! You're a green hand when you are very new at your work and don't have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely work together very well.
Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?An idiom is _______.
| A．a phrase or a sentence that means exactly what the words say |
| B．a phrase or a sentence that doesn't mean exactly what every word says |
| C．so difficult that nobody can understand |
| D．something to do with parts of your body |
If a mother says "I'll play it by ear" to talk about the dinner, she means _______.
| A．she will cook dinner while listening to music at the same time |
| B．she doesn't hear what others are talking about. |
| C．she will play music using the sheet music instead of cooking dinner |
| D．She doesn't have plans for dinner and will decide later |
When one says "Can you give me a hand?", he means _______.
| A．he needs to hold your hand. |
| B．he works well with you |
| C．he needs your help |
| D．he is a new comer and can't help with the situation |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．People use English idioms more in spoken English than in written English. |
| B．To understand the culture behind an idiom is important in understanding the idiom. |
| C．Idioms make your English more vivid and colorful so they are easy to remember. |
| D．You may not understand an idiom even though you know the meaning of each word. |
Here are 4 common English idioms to do with parts of your body and their meanings. Can you match them?
1) to learn something by heart a. to depend on oneself
2) to have sticky fingers b. to know something very well
3) to stand on one's own feet c. to do something secretly
4) to go behind someone's back d. to have the habit of stealing
| A．badc | B．bdac | C．cbad | D．cdba |