Every week in China,millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero,which is a Chinesestyle spelling bee (拼写大赛) .In this challenge,young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition,the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

Perhaps the show's popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper,many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy (书法) to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately,all over the country,Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smartphones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is cho?sen from a list. The result? It's possible to recognize characters without remembe?ring how to write them.

But there's still hope for the paint brush. China's Ministry of Education wants children to spend more time learning how to write.

In one Beijing primary school we visited,students practise calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher's examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. "If adults can survive without using handwriting,why bother to teach it now?" we ask the calli?graphy teacher,Shen Bin. "The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradi?tion and culture," she reasons. "Students must learn now so they don't forget when they grow up”, says the teacher.

5. What can we learn about the Character Hero?

   A. It's open to people of all ages and all walks.

   B. It's the mostviewed TV programme in China.

   C. It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world.

   D. It draws great public attention across the country.

6. Why are Chinese people forgetting how to write the characters?

   A. Chinese people don't refer to dictionaries very often.

   B. Chinese people no longer use brush pens or practise calligraphy.

   C. Chinese people are using the Latin alphabet instead of the characters.

   D. Chinese people needn't write by hand as often with the help of technology.

7. According to Shen Bin,being able to write characters by hand is      .

   A. necessary for adults to survive in China

   B. a requirement made by the Ministry of Education

   C. helpful to keep Chinese tradition and culture alive

   D. an ability to be developed only when you are students

8. Where does this text probably come from?.

   A. A news report. B. A science report.

   C. An advertisement. D. Children's literature.

John and Mary had a nice home and two lovely children,a boy and a girl. John had a good 1      and had just been asked to go on a business trip to another city and it was 2        that Mary needed an outing and would go along too. They 3       a reliable woman to care for the children and made the4      ,returning home a little earlier than they had planned.

5      they drove into their hometown,they found a home in flames. Mary said, "Oh well,it isn't our fire;let's go home."

6       John drove closer and exclaimed (惊叫) ,"That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn't be 7      work yet. Maybe there is something we could do."

John drove up and they were both 8        to see the whole house in flames. A woman on the lawn was in hysterics 9       ,"The children!Get the children!They are in the basement."

10       Mary's protests (反对) ,John grabbed the water hose and soaked (浸湿) his clothes,put his wet handkerchief on his head and 11        for the basement which was full of12       . He found two nearly suffocated (窒息的) children and af?ter carrying them to safety,he asked how many more children were 13        there. They told him two more and Mary 14        his arm and screamed, "John!Don't go back!It's 15       ! That house will cave in any second!"

But he shook her off and went back by 16        his way down the smokefilled hallway and into the room. It17      a long time before he found both children and started back and at last when they came out into the18      and fresh air,he found that he had just 19        his own children.

It turned out that the babysitter had 20        them at this home while she did some shopping.

1. A. job   B. family   C. wife   D. boss

2. A. known   B. believed   C. decided   D. hoped

3. A. asked   B. hired

   C. intended   D. reminded

4. A. preparations   B. promise   C. decision   D. trip

5. A. Before   B. As   C. Once   D. Since

6. A. And   B. So   C. Now   D. But

7. A. off   B. on   C. out of   D. at

8. A. heartbroken   B. consciencestricken   C. horrorstricken   D. povertystricken

9. A. coughing   B. screaming   C. whispering   D. weeping

10. A. Apart from   B. In case of   C. Instead of   D. In spite of

11. A. reached   B. searched   C. dashed   D. sent

12. A. smoke   B. darkness   C. children   D. danger

13. A. up   B. away   C. out   D. down

14. A. pulled   B. took   C. grabbed   D. held

15. A. dangerous   B. useless   C. over   D. stupid

16. A. pushing   B. feeling   C. j        umping   D. moving

17. A. meant   B. spared   C. spent   D. seemed

18. A. shade   B. sunlight   C. shadow   D. crowd

19. A. helped   B. found   C. recognized   D. rescued

20. A. left   B. charged   C. removed   D. forgotten

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