This year is the Year of the Cock．Just like other Chinese zodiacs（生肖） the cock means a lot．Do you want to know more about it？Read on．
☆Cock in Chinese culture
In ancient times，there were no clocks．The cock （old people it
was time to get up and start to work．So hard﹣working ancient
Chinese people were big fans of the cock．
Traditionally，people thought the cock was a bird that could avoid evil （邪恶的） things．The story says once cocks make their morning calls，all the evil things at night will leave．
The cock is popular with people for its courage．In ancient China，a lot of people liked to watch cockfighting （斗鸡） because the game was exciting．
The pronunciation of"cock"in Putonghua is the same as that of"chance"and"good luck'
☆What it means to be a cock
Those who are born in the Year of the Cock are said to be active．"They like to be the center of attention and always look beautiful"，the China Highlight website noted．
☆Big events in the Year of the Cock
On January 20，Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States．
☆In the first half of 2017，China launched （发射）its first cargo spacecraft （货运飞船）
Tianzhou﹣l，to dock （对接） with Tiangong﹣2．
☆On July 1，1997，Hong Kong returned to China.2017marks the 20th year of its return．
☆At the end of 2017，China will launch its fifth lunar probe （月球探测），Chang'e﹣5．
36．The cock could people in ancient times．
| A． |
wake up |
| B． |
lift up |
| C． |
fight with |
| D． |
talk with |
37．Chinese people like the cock for reasons
| A． |
two |
| B． |
three |
| C． |
four |
| D． |
five |
38．The people born in the Year of the Cock may be
| A． |
shy |
| B． |
quiet |
| C． |
brave |
| D． |
active |
39．One event in 2017is that
| A． |
Tiangong﹣2was launched |
| B． |
China will launch Chang e﹣5 |
| C． |
Hong Kong returned to China |
| D． |
Trump became the new president of the UK |
40．The best title of the passage may be
| A． |
The Culture of the Cock |
| B． |
Big Events in the Year of the Cock |
| C． |
Talk about Cocks in the Year of the Cock |
| D． |
Different Zodiacs，Different People． |
More Chinese universities are opening their libraries to the public，allowing people to enjoy reading during normal time and the vacations．
But for some students，including Wang Ling，21，in Sun Yat﹣sen University，this practice has caused headaches．"Members of the public come to our libraries more for sightseeing than reading，"said Wang．
"They sometimes even bring their kids along，and take photos as if it were a place of interest．"
Wang has found it hard to get a seat during busy times．Being short of space is a common problem for university libraries in China．
However，this is not the only reason why students dislike their libraries being open to members of the public．They fear that the quietness of the libraries will be influenced because of visitors' rude behavior．
Chen Jie，18，a student in Tongji University，is one who would be against opening to the public．"I have been to a public library before．People were chatting loudly or speaking on cell phone so you can hardly read，"Chen said．She notices teachers doing serious reading and feels their concentration（专注）has influenced her．"If too many strangers stay here，the whole library will be a noisy place and it's difficult for us to study quietly，"she said．
Will there be alternative（可替代的）ways to share those libraries？Some experts consider that university libraries can stop the public from entering certain areas．"We might keep magazines for academic research only for teachers and students，"said Zhu Lina，library director in Jinan University．
Working together with the community library is another solution（解决方法）．"It's possible that a member of the public can order a book in our library over the Internet，"Ge Jianxiong，the library director in Fudan University said．"We'll send it to a public libraries close to their home．"
38．We can see from the passage that Wang Ling ．
A．hates to study in the library
B．prefers sightseeing to reading
C．feels good to play with kids
D．is a university student aged 21
39．In Chen Jie's opinion，visitors to university libraries may ．
A．take up too much space
B．break the peace there
C．make teachers relaxed
D．get students to read more
40．The writer quotes（引用） two libraries directors' words to help explain how to ．
A．manage libraries online
B．keep the public polite
C．do scientific research
D．share university libraries
41．Where is the passage most probably taken from？
A．A newspaper．
B．A notice board．
C．A diary．
D．A story book．
Sydney Fredette has a lot of things to deal with．Not only is she a high school student，but she has also set up her own organization，Beary Merry Christmas．She volunteers to serve poor kids and families in Orange Country（县） in California，US．
To remember her best friend who died of cancer nearly 10 years ago，Fredette decided to serve those in Orange Country who are less lucky than she is．
She began with the simple idea of collecting donated（捐赠的）Build﹣A﹣Bears，the popular toy animal that is made by children themselves in the stores' workshops．Fredette then gave them as gifts to the homeless children in California during the holiday season．
With donations at more than 100 bears a year，Fredette and volunteers host activities every year，where volunteers not only give out the bears，but also clothing，meals，and other things．
Not wanting to limit（限制）the giving to just the holiday months，Fredette now hosts other activities for Valentine's Day，Mother's Day and Halloween，providing the chance for her volunteer team to make a difference through the year．
"I love making relationships with the people I serve，"Fredette said．"The thanks they have，hearing their stories and seeing how happy they are，it's so cool．"
Future plans for Fredette include building a public food bank and providing a self﹣development class for students in her school who will soon attend college．
Heading to college herself in the autumn，Fredette is looking to stay local and continue to help out in her county．In fact，she was regarded as a "Dreamer & Doer" not long ago for her work in improving her community，along with 32 other high school students．
34．Fredette started her own organization to ．
A．keep her life busy
B．thank her best friend
C．look after the sick
D．help poor people
35．What can we learn about Beary Merry Christmas？
A．It holds one activity a year．
B．It offers service around America．
C．It buys bears from the stores．
D．It gives out other things besides bears．
36．It can be inferred（推断）that Fredette ．
A．likes telling people stories
B．dreams of being a teacher
C．is pleased with what she does
D．plans to leave California for college
37．What can be the best title for the passage？
A．Giving back to society
B．Getting on well with others
C．Providing a food bank
D．Improving community colleges．
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A．lie in the North Island
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32．The text tells us that LSNZ ．
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Stuffy Pete sat down on a bench in the New York City Park．It was the third bench to the left as you enter the park from the east．
Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years，an Old Gentleman had come to find Stuffy there at one in the afternoon．He led Stuffy to a restaurant and watched him eat a big dinner He was trying to make it a tradition．
Stuffy had just come from a dinner so big that he had almost no power to move．How he expected that gentleman would not come this year! Then his eyes grew wider and his breath stopped．
The Old Gentleman was thin and tall，dressed all in black．He wore eye﹣glasses．His hair was whiter and thinner than it was last year．His legs did not seem as strong as they had seemed the year before，but he moved，straight and proud，to Stuffy and toward the tradition that he was building．
"I am glad to see everything's fine with you．For that blessing you and I can give thanks on this day of thanksgiving．If you will come with me，my man，I will give you a dinner that will surely make your body feel as thankful as your mind，"said the gentleman．The words themselves were almost a tradition．
Stuffy was very full，but he understood that his desire for food on Thanksgiving Day was not his own．It belonged to this kind gentleman．
The gentleman led Stuffy to the restaurant and to the same table where they had always gone．He sat at the table，watching．
The turkey and all the other food were gone almost as quickly as they appeared Stuffy saw the look of happiness on the gentleman's face．He continued to eat to keep it there．
In an hour the battle was finished．
"Thank you for my Thanksgiving dinner，"Stuffy stood up heavily．
They said goodbye，as they did each year，at the door．
Stuffy went around the first corner，stood for one minute，and fell．He was picked up and taken to a hospital．
An hour later，the Old Gentleman was brought to the same hospital．
"That nice old gentleman over there，"a doctor was talking to another．"Do you know what's wrong with him？He's almost dead for the need of food．A very proud old man，I think，He told me he hadn't eaten anything for three days．"
37．How many Thanksgiving dinners had the Old Gentleman invited Stuffy to have？
A．One．
B．Two．
C．Nine．
D．Ten．
38．Why did Stuffy's eyes grow wider and his breath stop when he saw the Old Gentleman coming？
A．He felt awful because he was too full．
B．He was afraid to have another big dinner…
C．He felt excited to see the gentleman was fine．
D．He was surprised to meet the gentleman there．
39．What does the underlined word "it" in the story refer to？
A．The gentleman's need of food．
B．Stuffy's effort to finish all the food．
C．Stuffy's thanks to the gentleman．
D．The happiness on the gentleman's face．
40．Why did the Old Gentleman still offer Stuffy the big dinner after he had been hungry for three days？
Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to believe or what to do．According to a report on the World Economic Forum （2016），critical thinking，creativity，and their practical application are widely accepted as the top three skills that young people need to possess*in their future career．
A good critical thinker usually takes the following steps before he decides what to do．Whenever he needs to do something，he would，first of all，reason．He checks why he needs to do it and whether he really needs to do it．Then，analyze．He tries to find out what it really is and the best way to do it．After that，evaluate．He makes sure whether he is able to do it and how to do it well．Finally，he makes the decision and takes action．Take the "Double 11"（a popular online shopping day in China） as an example．A few days before it，he checks carefully what he needs and whether he really needs them，and makes a shopping list．He goes to the online shops to compare the quality and the prices of the things that he is going to buy．He compares the shops that sell these things．
Then he checks whether he can afford them and in which shops he is going to buy them．Although it takes him some time to make the decisions，he would not regret after the shopping．
Then what would happen if he didn't think critically before he made the decisions？After the crazy "Double 11"，there were usually a lot of complaints on the Internet．There were regrets about buying more things than they needed．There were complaints about the poor quality and the prices of the things they bought．There were also complaints because they received wrong things or simply received nothing．There were all kinds of regrets and complaints．Why so？They had not thought critically before they made the decisions．
Critical thinking helps you make wiser decisions．It helps you avoid wasting time，money and so on．Therefore，do look before you leap．
33．According to the passage，critical thinking is a thinking skill that ．
A．helps make better choices
B．will appear in the future
C．helps make quick decisions
D．makes us spend more money
34．In Paragraph 2，how does the critical thinker analyze the things he may buy？
A．He checks what he needs to buy．
B．He studies the quality and the prices．
C．He makes a proper shopping list．
D．He checks how much money he has．
35．The underlined word "complaints" means that the people ．
A．are not satisfied
B．are not confident
C．are not interested
D．are not responsible
36．Which of the following examples is the use of "critical thinking"？
A．Daming did a new science experiment before reading instructions．
B．Lingling's parents became very angry when they knew her bad marks．
C．After looking at the other team﹣s weak points，the coach made a new plan．．
D．After hearing the stranger s words，the girl followed him into a supermarket．