－Have you tried the pizza?

－Yes, It _________ delicious.

A.looks B.tastes C.feels D.sounds

He told us a very funny story. All of us can't help _________.

A.laughing B.laugh C.to laugh D.laughed

The New Year is coming. The children are _________ the days.

A.putting down B.learning from C.hearing from D.counting down

－Excuse me. I can't enter the museum. Could you help me?

－Sorry, the museum __________ today. It will be open tomorrow.

A.doesn't open B.hasn't opened C.open D.opens

One day, I took an underground to work, I saw something that made me very sad.

On the tube（the underground in London）, a mother kept looking at her phone screen and playing a game with her daughter sitting beside her. The little girl, about 5 years old, was talking to her mother about her day, repeating the next stop's name cheerfully, praising her mother's long nails, trying to ______ her mother's attention. Her mother just nodded and mumbled （含糊地說(shuō)）"Mm, hm" with her eyes glued to the screen, busy passing the levels of the game. I watched the girl give a final try to at least get her mum to ______ her, but it was no use. Then the little girl turned _____ , and was in low spirits. It was a shame the mother didn't notice that.

It broke my heart and got me wondering what kind of ______ would make the mother forget she has the most beautiful thing in the world, the human she created, the person she loves with all her heart? What it meant when she couldn't look into her daughter's eyes and even stop to listen to the girl?

Some parents are almost like the teenagers, always on their phones with mindless games or going through Facebook. Perhaps parents have many things to deal with, but sometimes they are ______ to their kids.

This is not an isolated example. I've seen too many such examples. I might not be a parent myself, and probably still have a long way ______ becoming one, but I know what I saw isn't right.

The scene used to be seen among teenagers very often when parents complained how their children were crazy about their mobile phones. Look how the situation has ____! The parents have become "technology slaves", that is to say, they can't ______ themselves while using mobile phones. Now some middle-aged parents hold their smart phones and play the simple games every day. I'm uncertain whether to laugh or to cry. But my hope is that this storm passes.

1.A.give B.pay C.draw D.hold

2.A.look at B.think about C.talk to D.care for

3.A.excited B.silent C.surprised D.noisy

4.A.program B.computer C.phone D.game

5.A.something B.nothing C.everything D.anything

6.A.before B.after C.since D.until

7.A.developed B.improved C.changed D.monitored

8.A.control B.enjoy C.trust D.behave

Have you collected anything since you were young? These people have!

1.What does Tony collect?

A.Dolls. B.Key rings. C.Pens. D.Erasers.

2.Who collects Barbie dolls?

A.Tony. B.Angelika. C.Ron. D.Zhu Yue.

3.How many key rings has Ron collected?

A.290,000. B.100,000. C.24,000. D.1,125.

Giving a Hand

Jaime, a new immigrant（移民）of the USA, was going to watch his daughter's first show in a school play. His daughter, Carol, was five years old. She was a student at the local public school. Carol did not have a very big role in the school play. She was just playing a rain cloud in a play about the drought in California. Carol had just one line. Her line was, "I am sad enough to cry about how dry the state is."

Jaime and his wife made sure to arrive early so that they could get a good seat to watch the show. They found seats in the front row. Before the show began, the schoolmaster made an introductory speech. The speech was about how hard the students and teachers worked together to make the play possible. At the end of the speech, the schoolmaster said, "Let's give the school staff a hand".

Jaime, whose English was not very good, stood up when the schoolmaster said this. He knew that when people said "to give someone a hand" they meant they needed help. Jaime always wanted to help, especially at his daughter's school. Jaime thought maybe they needed help backstage.

Jaime's wife put her arm in front of her husband. "Where are you going?" she asked in a low voice. "They need a hand," Jaime replied. His wife explained that "to give someone a hand" could also mean to applaud（鼓掌）someone. When you applaud someone you clap your hands（拍手）after their performance. You are not supposed to stand up and try to help others. "They don't need help. They just want us to clap," Jaime's wife explained. Jaime felt a little embarrassed. He sat back down and began clapping along with the rest of the audience.

Jaime thought to himself that someone needed to give the English language a hand. How could one phrase mean two different things? He meant the English language needed help.

1.Why did Jaime and his wife arrive at the play early?

A.To talk to other parents. B.To wish their daughter good luck.

C.To get good seats to watch the show. D.To listen to the speech of the schoolmaster.

2.Jaime thought "giving someone a hand" meant __________.

A.helping someone B.clapping your hands

C.holding someone's hand D.giving your hand to someone

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A.Jaime stood up to applaud. B.Jaime is a warm-hearted man.

C.Jaime was better at English than his wife. D.Jaime's daughter played an important role in the show.

Money is what people use to buy things they need or want. A long time ago, people didn't use money. So how did they get the things they wanted? Well, there is a long and interesting story about this.

At first, they would exchange something they had for something they needed. For example, if the shoemaker needed some bread, he would give the baker shoes and the baker would give him bread. This was called "bartering". Bartering worked fine for a while. But after the baker had too many shoes, the shoemaker still needed more bread. What could they do? The solution to this problem was money.

Money is basically an agreement among people. People agree that some metal or paper will be worth a certain amount of bread or a certain number of shoes. There were many earlier forms of money, such as cattle, salt, grain（谷物）and shells. But it was not easy to move them or store them.

So coins began to take the place of things. Coins had a set value and could be stored long. A coin says right on it how much it is worth. Different coins are worth different amounts. It became possible for people to trade in a standardized（標(biāo)準(zhǔn)）way.

About three hundred years ago, paper money came into wider use. Paper money is cheaper to make than coins. It is also easier to carry around. Now people use paper money and coins in most countries. We call these kinds of money cash.

Cash has been popular for hundreds of years. But these days, things seem to have changed. Cashless payment（無(wú)現(xiàn)金支付）has come into our lives and changed our world.

China was the first country in the world to use paper money. Now, centuries later, analysts（分析家）believe that China may soon become the first cashless society. Cashless payment apps such as Alipay and WeChat Pay are becoming more common in China. The buyer just scans（掃描）the quick-respond code（二維碼）of the seller, or the other way around. Then they can get the things they want. No physical money is needed in this process. Is tomorrow already here?

1.Which is the correct order of the development of money?

①Coins

②Bartering

③Paper money

④Cashless payment

⑤Cattle, grain and shells

A.②⑤①③④ B.⑤③②①④ C.②⑤①④③ D.⑤④③②①

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A.Coins are the earliest form of money in the world.

B.People cannot buy things by showing the quick-respond code.

C.Both coins and paper money are very popular around the world.

D.Paper money costs more to make than coins because they are worth more.

3.What does the author want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A.China is the first cashless country in the world.

B.People will start using cashless payment tomorrow.

C.People won't use any physical money in the future.

D.Cashless payment is the new stage of money development.

Superhero movies and TV shows are very popular today. A new study shows something is missing from superhero stories, though. Most popular superheroes are men. The new study says kids want to see more superheroes who are women.

The study was done by two groups. One is the Women's Media Center. The other is BBC America. The Women's Media Center is a charity（慈善）group. It fights for fair treatment（待遇）of women in things like TV and movies. BBC America is a TV channel.

More than 2,000 people took part in the study. Some were kids aged from 10 to 19. Others were the parents of younger children.

Not Enough Strong Woman Characters

The study shows that most girls feel there are not enough female role models in entertainment（娛樂(lè)）. They think there should be more strong female characters. They want to see superheroes that look like them. Boys answered questions in the study, too. Most agreed with the girls. They want to see more female superheroes, like Wonder Woman.

Julie Burton runs the Women's Media Center. She said TV and movies had to make changes. They must provide more role models for girls. Female characters should reflect（反映）girls of all different backgrounds, she said. It is important for all to see people who look like them in entertainment.

Helping Girls Feel More Brave and Confident

Burton said seeing strong female characters is important for girls. It helps them build confidence. These characters give girls someone to look up to, she explained. This can inspire girls. It can also help them to feel brave.

Sarah Barnett agrees. She runs BBC America. "If you can't see her, you can't be her," Barnett said.

The study asked girls how they feel when they see powerful female characters on screen. The results were interesting. They showed that seeing female characters has a big effect on girls. Boys like seeing male superheroes on screen. But the study showed the effect on boys was smaller. Maybe that is because seeing male superheroes is pretty common. Female superheroes are rarer. Seeing them is more exciting.

More Women in Entertainment

The report is a part of a new plan at BBC America. It is called #Galaxy Of Women. The goal is to improve how women are shown in entertainment.

The study came out the day after BBC America started a new season of "Doctor Who". It is a popular science fiction show. The Doctor is an alien（外星人）who can travel through time and change bodies. Twelve different actors have played the Doctor since the show started in 1963. This season, the Doctor is a woman, played by Jodie Whittaker. This is the first time the Doctor has been played by a woman.

1.What can we learn from the passage?

A.The study was done by Men's Media Center and BBC.

B.There are enough women superheroes in entertainment.

C.Julie Burton believes TV and movies need to make changes.

D.More than 2,000 kids aged from 10 to 19 took part in the study.

2.What do the underlined sentences mean? Maybe that is because _________.

A.male superheroes are strong, and female superheroes are pretty.

B.there are more chances to see male superheroes compared to female ones.

C.seeing male superheroes is more exciting than seeing female superheroes.

D.it is less likely to see male superhero characters than female ones on screen.

3.Why did BBC America start the #Galaxy Of Women?

A.To make sure there was a woman Doctor on screen.

B.To better the way women appeared on TV and films.

C.Because BBC America had a new plan and it was a part of it.

D.Because the new season of science fiction "Doctor Who" was popular.

4.What's the best title for the passage?

A.Is It Good to See Superheroes? B.More Superheroes, More confidence

C.More Strong Female Characters or Not? D.Science Fiction and Women Characters

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A Lesson

Joe was a farmer. His farmland was so poor that he hadn't had good harvests for years.

"If God lets me control the weather, then everything will get better," he complained. "I'm a farmer. I know what's the best for crops to grow than God does."

God told him that he would control all kinds of weather. "Let's see what your crops will grow like." God said.

On hearing this, Joe was excited and immediately shouted, "Sunny!" Suddenly the clouds went away.

He was pleased and shouted again, "Rainy!" The sky was covered with dark clouds right away, then after a while, heavy rain poured down.

Watching the seeds growing bigger and bigger and becoming crops, Joe felt much satisfied. Then, the harvest season came.

He went to the field to get his crops. But his heart suddenly sank（下沉）when he found the strong crops even hadn't grown a grain. He was quite confused and started to cry. Once again, God heard him.

"Do you want to know why you still don't get the good harvest you want?" God asked. "That's because you never asked for wind, rainstorm, snow and ice, or anything that could make the air fresher and the roots stronger. Without strong roots, of course the crops won't grow any fruit. "

After he realized this, Joe asked God to take back the power. It turned out that only through life's challenges would we reap（收獲）the fruit of life.

1.Was Joe a farmer?

_____________________________________________________________________

2.Why was Joe so excited?

_____________________________________________________________________

3.What kinds of weather did Joe ask for?

_____________________________________________________________________

4.What can we learn from the story?

_____________________________________________________________________