There was once a wise old lady who lived on a hill． All the children used to go and ask her questions． She always gave them（1） answers．
There was a little boy among the children． One day he caught a little bird and held it in his hands without anybody seeing it． Suddenly he had an idea and asked his friends to（2） ．
"Let's（3） the old lady，" he said． "I'll ask her what I'm holding in my hands． Of course， she'll answer that I have a bird． Then I'll ask her if the bird is alive or dead． If she says the bird is dead， then I'll（4） my hands and let the bird fly away． If she says the bird is alive， I'll quickly（5） it and show her the dead bird． Either way， she'll be（6） __ "．
The children agreed this was a clever plan． So（7） the hill they all went to the old lady's house．
"Granny， we have a（8） for you，" they all shouted．
"What's in my hands？" the little boy asked．
"Why， of course it must be a bird，" the old lady replied．
"But is it alive or dead？" the boy asked（9） ．
All the boys（10） her answer and got ready to laugh at her．
The old lady thought for a moment and then replied， "It's up to you， my child． If you' re kind enough， it'll be alive．"
（1）A． funny |
B． perfect |
C． impolite |
（2）A． play with it |
B． go back home |
C． go with him |
（3）A． play a trick on |
B． make friends with |
C． pay a visit to |
（4）A． open |
B． raise |
C． shake |
（5）A． save |
B． free |
C． kill |
（6）A． right |
B． wrong |
C． wise |
（7）A． up |
B． down |
C． across |
（8）A． question |
B． bird |
C． present |
（9）A． calmly |
B． worriedly |
C． excitedly |
（10）A． listened to |
B． waited for |
C． thought of |
Smartphones and e﹣readers have become more common in recent years． Some people think that the days of paper books will be gone． But recent surveys have shown that traditional books are still popular （1）
a readers．
Research company Nielsen found that in the UK， sales of e﹣books are （2）f while sales of paper books are rising． More surprisingly， it's young people who are buying the most physical books． Another survey of university students from the United States．Slovakia（斯洛伐克） and Japan also showed that 92 percent of （3）t preferred paperbooks．
So what is（4）b paper book comeback（回归）？
The most popular reason given was： I like to hold the product．It' s true that paper books bring a very different reading experience． Slovakian students said that they liked the smell of paper books． Other students said that they could get a （5）s of accomplishment （成就） when they finished reading a paper book．
Paper books can also be very personal objects to lovers of reading． Many people like to sign their name on the（6）i cover． If the cover gets bent（ 弯曲）or there is a stain （污点） made on the pages from coffee， all the better． The （7）a make the book even more personal． It's as if readers of paper books make friends with them．
This" friendship" people（8）d with books isn' t just sentimental（情感的）． Research has shown that readers remember more information reading from paper books （9）t e﹣books． People also more （10）e end up with headaches or sore eyes while reading e﹣books．
So why not pick up a book and start reading？
A：Hello，Bob!How is it going？
B：Hello，Kate!（1） And you？
A：Very well．What's your plan for the summer？
B：I had a Chinese course last year，and I'd like to go on with it this summer．
A：How was the course？（2）
B：Yes．It seemed that way at first．But after a while it became easier．
A：You were the best in the class，right？
B：I did get an A．Well，could you tell me your summer plan？（3）
A：No，not this summer．（4）
B：That sounds very interesting．Can I go with you？
A：（5） Oh，here comes the bus!Goodbye!
B：Goodbye!
A．But I plan to go to Africa next summer．
B．Will you travel somewhere interesting？
C．Where do you come from？
D．Is Chinese very difficult？
E．I'm OK．
F．Travelling is very expensive．
G．No problem．
NAO is a 58cm﹣tall robot． He is small，cute and round． You can't help but love him! NAO is created to be a friendly partner around the house． He moves，recognizes（识别）you，hears you and can even talk to you．
Since his birth in 2006，he has been better and better at pleasing，understanding and loving you．Maybe one day he will become your friend．His cute look and wonderful communication skills make him really lovely and popular．
He can be a good helper．Ask him to do something and he does．For example，ask NAO to wake you up in the morning，to watch your home during the day or to teach you new things whenever you want．You no longer need a keyboard，a computer or a mouse to communicate with technology．All you have to do is to talk to him．
He can be a sweet family member． He can learn to read your moods，so that he always knows the right thing to say．He can recognize your family members and call them by their first names．You can teach him how to choose the music， food and film you like best．
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Information card |
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Appearance |
（1） ：58cm tall Look：small，cute and round Age：13 （2） old |
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Abilities |
He is created to please， understand and love you． He has wonderful （3） skills． |
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A pleasant partner |
A good helper： 1． He can wake you up and watch your home during the day． 2． No matter （4） you want him to teach you new things， all you have to do is talk to him． |
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A sweet family member： 1． He can always say something right and recognize your family members． 2． You can teach him how to choose your （5） music， food and film． |
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Ali and Albert were brothers．Their parents （1） away early and left them a cow．The brothers were going to share the cow．Albert is an （2） [' ɒnɪst] man and he listened to everything that his elder brother said．But Ali was cunning（狡猾的）．
One day，Ali said，"I will be very （3） （公平的）with you，Albert．You take the front part of the cow and I will take the hind（后面的）side of the cow．Each of us can use （4） we get．But we can't kill it．"
Albert gave the cow grass and water every day．The cow made lots of milk．Ali （5）s the milk and got a lot of money．But he did not share the money with Albert．Albert felt a bit（6）u ．
A （7） （邻居）knew about this and said something to Albert．The next day，when Ali was milking the cow，Albert hit the cow in the head．The cow started （8）k ．Ali shouted to Albert，"Don't you see me milking the cow？"
"The front part of the cow is （9） ， and I can do anything I want．"Albert said angrily．
Ali knew he was wrong and said sorry to Albert． From then on， the brothers fed the cow（10） [ tə' geðə] and shared the money fom selling milk． Both of the brothers lived happily after that．
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but； time； help；write； method； proper； believe； explain；mistake；dictionary |
Tips for Writing Better Articles
Many of us don't spend a lot of time improving our writing skills． This can be a problem when we hand in our articles． Good writing skills will help us improve our grades and be good for us later in life．The following tips can be（1） ．
Make good word choices． When we are not sure which word is the right one for a sentence， look it up in a （2） ． Many of us choose words in a hurry and don't think over if they' re （3） ．
Good word choices are necessary for good writing．
Check facts．If we want people to （4） what we write，we must make sure our facts are true．We should use dependable（可靠的）facts．
Rewrite．A common problem is that we don't like to rewrite．In fact，rewriting is the best way to find out and correct some （5） ，like bad grammar and spelling．Rewriting makes our writing better than before，though it takes more （6） and more work．
Read aloud． It is a good（7） to learn English well． Sometimes it's easier to find problems with spelling， word usage， and grammar when we read aloud． Reading aloud helps us not only find out our problems （8） develop our writing．
Prepare a list． It is very important for writing a good article． Such a list includes： Is there a proper title？ Have we （9） every point？ Are all the parts of the article included？ This can help us make sure that we have covered everything．
It is not easy to become a better （10） ． But with a few simple steps， we can improve our writing skills and learn how to write better articles．