It was a summer afternoon in the countryside. Wan Bo, a university student, was painting while his classmate Tang Qi was making a wooden box by the river. A little riding on a rocking horse caught their eye by chance. It brought them back to their childhood, warm and happy.

"Why not try to make one by ourselves?" said Wan Bo. "You are good at making things and I am interested in painting."

"Actions speak louder than words," Tang Qi said. Then, the two young men began to collect some information about it. During those days, watching videos about caring(雕刻) and shaping wood into horse shapes on the Internet became an important part of their life.

Several months later, a wooden rocking horse appeared. They felt so excited that they put the picture of it on the Internet right away. To their surprise, it attracted lots of people's attention and some even hoped to order one.

The two young men thought it might be a good chance. They sent some forms to the customers to make a survey. According to the result, they made each customer a special rocking horse. These horses were quite different from those produced in other factories, and they soon became popular among the customers.

In the first year of their new hobby, Wan and Tang made thirteen rocking horses. Sometimes, they also repaired rocking horses for people. They made the old ones look new again. Wan and Tang helped those people bring back many happy memories.

Their hobby has now become a successful and busy business.

【1】How many rocking horses did they make in the first year of their new hobby?

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【2】What did the forms help Wan and Tang to know about'?

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【3】Do you think it is a good idea to start a business with the hobby like the two young university students? Why or why not?

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A THINKING MACHINE

In 1769, long before computers were invented, a man from Hungary(匈牙利)built a wonderful machine that could play chess very well. It made people all over Europe happy and beat nearly everyone it played against .including famous people like French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, and scientist and inventor Yenjamin Franklin. For years, many people believed that it was truly a thinking machine. There were people who said it was a hoax, but could not prove it or explain how it worked. About 85 years later, the secret was finally found. There was a man hiding inside the machine all the time... who was very good at playing chess!

ZOO ESCAPE(逃脱)

On November 9, 1874, New York newspaper, The Herald, ran a terrible story on its front page. It said that all the animals in the Central Park Zoo had escaped and were running around the city. It said the police were working to save people, but 27 people had already been killed, and 200 people hurt. It warned everyone to stay at home to avoid the danger. Many people in New York were terrified, and did as the paper said. If only they had read the final words of the article, which said; "Not one word of it is true. Not a single act described has taken place." It was just a hoax. The story was made up by Thomas Connery, aneditor at The Herald, who wanted to draw attention to the poor condition of cages in the zoo.

ROSIE THE RUNNER

The first woman to cross the finishing line of the 1980 Boston Marathon(马拉松)was 23-year-old Rosie Ruiz. However, as she climbed the stairs to receive her prize, people started to become suspicious(怀疑的).She didn't seem to be tired at all. Furthermore, none of the other runners remembered seeing her, and her picture never appeared in photos or TV broadcasts of the race. Later, several people said that they had seen her join the race only at the end. It turned out she had run only half a mile(about 805 meters) and taken the train for the rest of the race! Her prize was taken away, of course.

【1】Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?

A. The thinking machine used a computer to win games.

B. 200 people were killed by zoo animals in 1874.

C. Rosie Ruiz wasn't tired at the finishing line.

D. Rosie Ruiz didn't appear in TV broadcasts of the race.

【2】What is true about all the hoaxes in the passage?

A. They made people scared. B. They fooled a lot of people.

C. They made people suspicious. D. They made people happy.

【3】The title of the passage shows us that the writer thinks that hoaxes .

A. are not new B. are easily avoided

C. are always interesting D. are usually unbelievable

Lin Tao is not alone. Information from China Internet Center shows that the number of teenage Internet user in China had been about 170 million by the end of December, 2017. Many of them, like Lin Tao, spend too much time playing computer games online.

To deal with this problem, the Chinese government worked out a draft regulation(法规草案)in January this year. According to the regulation, players need to use their own ID cards to play online games. Game companies will control teenagers' online game time. They will not be able to play online games between 12:00 at night and 8:00 in the morning. If they are still playing during the time, the game companies will lock them out.

Many people think that the regulation can surely better protect Chinese young game players online, while others doubt whether it can successfully stop them from playing games too much. "More and more people come to know that playing online games too much not only brings teenagers healthy and study problems, but also makes them depressed(沮丧的)and lonely," Tong Xiaojun, director from a university, told CCTV. "We need support from the whole society to solve the problem."

【1】Which of the following is TRUE about Lin Tao?

A. He had a fight with his father. B. He dropped out of school.

C. He often arrive later for school. D. He started playing games at 14.

【2】Under the regulation, players need to if they want to play online games.

A. talk with their parent. B. pay for them

C. call the game companies D. use their own ID card

【3】We can learn from the passage that .

A. not many young people have the same problem as Lin Tao in China

B. it is impossible to control teenagers' online game time

C. the game contpanies will offer teenagers prizes if they play well

D. everyone should play a part in controlling teenagers' online game time

To celebrate our 30th birthday, we are having a big sale!

Amazing events in our birthday month:

Spend over $50 and get a chance to win a $10 gift card.

Spend over $100 and get a chance to win prizes, from Nobel membership, e-dictionaries to concert tickets!

【1】You can get the biggest discount on .

A. adults' story books B. all magazines

C. children's picture books D. all textbooks

【2】The main purpose of the advertisement is to .

A. find excellent writers B. attract more book buyers

C. celebrate Children's Day D. introduce new reading courses

一词。

【1】With the _ (发展)of economy(经济), our income(收入) has increased by 10% in less than a year.

【2】Neil has many TF boys' posters in his room so that he can see them ___ (无论何时)he wants.

【3】She's won many world competitions, ________ (包括)four gold medals in the Olympics.

【4】We are all against ________ (传播)other people's personal information on the Internet.

【5】James looks at his watch from time to time. Why is he so ________ (急躁的)?

【6】It's important to know how to ask for help in a foreign country, but it's more important to know how to ask for help ________ (礼貌地).

【7】The boy has such a good ________ that he can remember all the details clearly.

【8】―It's very kind of you to carry the box for me.

―It's my ________.

【9】―I went to have the driving test this morning, but I didn't ________ it.

―Better luck next time.

【10】―What's the weather like tomorrow?

―________ to the radio, it will snow.

―How lucky! It's a good chance to improve .

A. myself B. yourself C. herself D. himself

A. no one B. nothing C. none D. neither

A team at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, found a way to put special nanostructures (纳米结构) into clothing, which can then clean the clothes. When sunlight hits the nanostructures,they break down the dirt and stains (污渍) that don’t belong on your clothes.

The nanostructures don’t break down the actual clothing because cotton and the other clothing materials are too strong to be broken down. According to CNN, the researchers cover the clothingin a solution made of silver and copper (铜) nanostructures. All it takes is 40 minutes of sunlight and your clothes will look as good as new.

So if you spill on yourself during lunch, you can step outside for a walk, and it will be cleanby the time you go inside. It not only makes your life easier, but it can also be good for the environment.

According to the US Department of Energy, the average load of laundry uses about 25 gallons (about 94 liters) of water. Water is a very important resource, so using less of it to wash clothesis better for the environment. But one of the scientists at RMIT University knows more needs to be done.

“There’s more work to do before we can start throwing out our washing machines,” said Dr Rajesh Ramanathan, “but this is a strong foundation .”

So what’s the next step? Ramanathan wants to either start selling the solution by itself or convincing clothing makers to treat the clothing with the solution while clothes are being made.

【1】What do Paragraphs 4-5 talk about?

A. What advantages the self-cleaning clothes have.

B. How the self-cleaning clothes work.

C. How the self-cleaning clothes are made.

D. What helps the self-cleaning clothes work.

【2】What does the underlined word “solution”in the last paragraph mean?

A. Machines B. Clothes. C. Silver. D. Design.

【3】What can we learn from the passage?

A. Silver and copper sell well.

B. The solution is not put into practice.

C. Clothing makes certainly like the solution.

D. We don’t need washing machines any more.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too 【1】 (quick). So he sent them to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away in turn. The first son went 【2】 winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the【3】 (young) son in fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe【4】 they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly and bent. The second son contradicted—it was【5】 (cover) with green buds and full of promise. The third son said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful. The last son 【6】( agree) with all of them. He said it was ripe and filled with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the 【7】(tree) life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree,【8】 a person, by only one season,and that the essence of who they are—the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life—can only be judged at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the hope of your spring, the 【9】 (beautiful) of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy【10】 all the rest.

Having a cheetah （猎豹）as a pet in the house? Does it sound scary to you? But for a family in South Africa， one cheetah is treated as a VIP (Very Important Person) in the house. The big cheetah is named Jolie, after the film star Angelina Jolie.【1】. She can often be found eating from the kitchen table, taking a short sleep on the sofa, or even sleeping on Lucy and Jeff's bed. The big cat also sleeps and plays with the Browns' other pet, the more usual one--- a sheepdog. 【2】

Having a cheetah as a pet is unusual. Atfirst，Mrs.Brown wasn't willing to keep a cheetah as a pet. She said,' 【3】. But we are now happy that we did it--- she is part of the family.'

Just like her name, four-year-old Jolie has achieved a celebrity(名人) status（地位）in the Browns' hometown. Fans often come to take pictures of her.【4】.

However, a cheetah is always a cheetah.【5】. ' She makes a lot of mess in the house, urinating （小便）everywhere and chewing everything. It's her wild instincts (天性), said Mrs. Brown. There must be some problems of having a cheetah as a pet in the house, but some unusual fun must also be waiting ahead.

A. Interestingly, Jolie enjoys all the special attention that is paid to her.

B. An impossible friendship has happened between these two animals.

C. Though Jolie is now a pet in the home, she still has some wild habits.

D. She is surely the VIP at Lucy and Jeff Brown's home.

E. I was really against the idea of getting a cheetah as a pet.