He didn’t _____ to what I said because his mind was on something else.

A. hold on B. take in C. catch on D. get over

_____ in Harvard is _____ most students wish for.

A. Being educated; what B. To educate; that

C. Eduacted; which D. Educating; everything

We were strongly recommended that we _____ in Malaysia.

A. didn’t travel B. wouldn’t travel C. hadn’t travelled D. not travel

Working hard is not only a _____ of great success, but it is among the essential requirement.

A. sign B. singal C. guarantee D. expectation

We should consider the students’ request _____ the school library provide more books on popular science.

A. that B. when C. which D. what

In a small open courtyard, outside a school building, there were flowers here and there. In the sunshine，a was lying on the grass，reading a book with concentration. Near her，another child was carefully watering the flowers, while a third was with his back against a tree and had a on his knees. He appeared to be drawing or writing something on it. He was in his task, like the first child.

the building, there were pleasant carpeted areas. Many children were busy with their tasks in a variety of while teachers wandered among them, talking to them, them, and encouraging their efforts.

I watched this scene on a morning in May years ago, it to me that a visitor here would have thought he had entered a formal school. He would have been even more if he had been told that the children he was came from different kinds of academic levels.

That has been staying with me ever since. I have been about some problems. Why in many schools are our children asked to acquire skills in a way from a real-life context（情境）? Why does a school child so often become a defeated school failure?

Developmental psychologist Margaret Donald once said, “ of the intellectual framework (知识框架) on which we our teaching is misleading.” In my opinion, a child learns everything in human situation. And if every child could learn in the same way as the children in the school I visited, they would develop better.

1.A. gardenerB. childC. teacherD. visitor

2.A. poor B. littleC. completeD. slight

3.A. sittingB. standingC. sleepingD. listening

4.A. toyB. pencilC. flowerD. notebook

5.A. laidB. setC. defeatedD. lost

6.A. Over B. AboveC. InsideD. Outside

7.A. waysB. ideasC. opinionsD. views

8.A. referring toB. smiling atC. pointing to D. staring at

9.A. Unless B. AsC. UntilD. Before

10.A. happenedB. wentC. occurredD. got

11.A. alreadyB. neverC. ratherD. ever

12.A. satisfied B. disappointedC. delightedD. surprised

13.A. helpingB. teachingC. encouragingD. observing

14.A. sceneB. signC. lookD. screen

15.A. dreamingB. regrettingC. wonderingD. joking

16.A. seldomB. hardly C. oftenD. badly

17.A. takenB. preventedC. learnedD. separated

18.A. slowB. livelyC. luckyD. friendly

19.A. MuchB. AnyC. LittleD. None

20.A. turnB. feedC. drawD. base

The kindly “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” wearing Han Chinese clothing and holding a fortune bag debuted(亮相) at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas. The final image of the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competition that cost millions of yuan. Its debut seems to be a sign of competition against “Santa Claus”, according to a report by Guangming Daily.

Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights, Christmas songs, Christmas trees, and the images of “Santa Claus” in recent days. As a matter of fact, foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people, particularly the youth. “Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings,” said noted writer Feng Jicai. More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day and Christmas. However, many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines(小糖人), and have never heard suona music. Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared. Under such circumstances, even the “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” is unlikely to defeat “Santa Claus”.

However, it is not a bad thing to some extent. It constantly reminds people to restore the “true face” of traditional festivals. China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays, which brings more paid leaves to the public, and helps to awaken the public awareness of traditional festivals.

In modern society, festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largely depends on their understandings and usages by people. Compared with foreign festivals, traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior(次于) in cultural meanings, but lack of fashion sought by modern people. If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals, and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important, the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance(继承) of fine traditional culture will be cut off.

1.The second paragraph implies that______________.

A. traditional festivals should co-exist with foreign festivals

B. all the Chinese festivals are disappearing in the near future

C. western festivals are constantly impacting on our festivals

D. Chinese people have the public awareness of traditional festivals

2.We can learn from the passage that _________.

A. an image design by Chinese people will be displayed

B. many foreigners know nothing about Chinese Festivals

C. the Chinese gift-giver was intended to symbolize traditional culture

D. the Chinese are beginning to exchange gifts on the Mid-Autumn Festival

3.Many Chinese youth dislike traditional festivals because they think _________.

A. traditional festivals are out of fashion now

B. the historical culture is more difficult to understand

C. western festivals contain more cultural meanings

D. the inheritance will cut off their contact with western festivals

4.What would be the best title of the passage?

A. Gone are Chinese Traditional Festivals

B. True Face of Chinese Traditional Culture

C. Foreign Festivals Popular with Chinese

D. Chinese Fortune Grandpa VS. Santa Claus

This year the selfie earned its place as the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2013 Word Of The Year. It has taken over our culture --- and our smartphones. The rise of the selfie has become universal–between presidents, celebrities(名人) and citizens alike–and the trend is only continuing to grow.

A recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 54 percent of Internet users have posted original photos online. And of those hundreds of millions of photos, many are of selfie photos.

For example, currently there are nearly 62 million posted selfie photos on Instagram, the social media tool that has significantly contributed to the personal photo’s popularity. That figure, which continues to rise every day, doesn’t even begin to include the selfies shared on Facebook and Twitter.

What makes the selfie so attractive -- and why do we feel it a must to take one? According to Dr. Pamela Rutledge, psychologist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center, the desire to take, post and get “likes” on selfies goes back to a biological behavior of all humans.

“I think it influences our sense of social connection in the same way as it does when you go to a party and people say ‘Oh I love your dress,’” Rutledge told The Huffington Post. “Biological, social recognition is a real need and there is even an area of the brain that contributes to social activity.”

There is a way to adapt to the growing selfie culture. Whether you’re a selfie novice or an advanced poster, there are always things to be mindful of when you’re posting, Rutledge advises.

She offered two main principles to follow when it comes to posting on social media:

1. The Grandmother Rule

“Don’t post anything online, whether text or visual, that you don’t want grandmother or future employer to see,” Rutledge said. “Selfies especially.”

2. The Elevator Rule

“You wouldn’t say something in an elevator that you or no one else wants to hear -- the whole world of social media is an elevator,” Rutledge said. “Be aware of the breadth (宽度) of platform. It’s easy to think you’re sharing a photo with a few people, but Instagram is public and people can come across things.”

1.What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A. The selfie is taking the lead.

B. Many people are fond of smartphones.

C. The selfie will take over everything.

D. The selfie is an important new word.

2. According to the passage, people like “selfie” so much, because they ___________.

A. want to show off their new dresses

B. need to be acknowledged in social life

C. desire to share good things

D. mean to amuse the public

3. The underlined word “novice” in Paragraph 6 probably means “________”.

A. greenhandB. publisher C. novelistD. celebrity

4.When it comes to posting on social media, Rutledge advises people to ______.

A. share photos only on Instagram

B. talk about your photos in an elevator

C. be cautious in posting things online

D. follow rules set by your grandmothers

A Smashing tradition: MIT Students Drop Piano

One of the highlights of the school year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology only lasts a few seconds but has a big influence. Residents of an MIT dormitory dropped an upright piano from their roof on 26th April to celebrate the last day students can drop classes without having them appear on their college report.

About 200 onlookers watched as the piano crashed into a second piano, a baby grand, positioned on the ground six stories below for a better smash. People scrambled (争先恐后) for souvenir pieces-keys, hammers, strings and splinters. The tradition began in 1972 at the Baker House dormitory and has been observed irregularly until 2006 when it became an annual event.

Crafton Family Comes Back Home after 7 Years at Sea

While most of us will love to go on a vacation for a week or two on a small private sailboat, without doubt, spending seven precious years on sea is something most of us will never imagine or dare to do. However, that is what an American family has done. Tom Crafton and Kathy Crafton along with their three children have traveled across the world on their 43-foot sailboat named Nueva Vida. Over the past seven years the family had sailed 30,000 miles and visited more than 20 different countries. The family has recently come back to their homeland.

_____________________________________________

Living in the limelight（聚光灯）can be difficult but as these splendid pictures show for one bear the tourist train never stops. This arctic animal loves nothing more than an audience and will even climb out of his snowy bed to give the crowd a wave. The funny poses(姿态) of the friendly polar bear were caught on camera by Swedish photographer, Hams Strand.

1.Which of the following is true about the first incident?

A. The typical style of celebration has been kept alive every year since1972.

B. Another small piano on the ground is meant to hold the falling one.

C. The students dropped the piano in celebration of their graduation.

D. The tradition became an annual event for MIT students several years ago.

2.The writer thinks Crafton family’s seven-year sailing is ______.

A. unusual B. strange C. common D. doubtful

3.What would be the best subtitle for the third incident?

A. The Limelight Makes Polar Bear Live Hard

B. Splendid Pictures of Polar Bear Attract Tourists

C. The Tourist Train Would Stop without Polar Bear

D. Polar Bear Says Hello to Tourists with a Friendly Wave

4.The passage is probably taken out of ______.

A. a novel B. a magazine C. a diary D. a report

Tiangong -- 1（or．Heavenly Palace）space module（舱）is the first step toward China’s plan to build a space station around 2020．Its launch（发射）by China has upset some countries，which are asking why China did not add on to the International Space Station that has been in place since 1998. After all, the Americans，Russians，Europeans and Japanese are using one platform to experiment in space．

Questions have also been asked about China’s final purpose in space and suggestions made that there is something as unpleasant as the theme in a James Bond movie，in which Chinese-looking enemies were at the root of some evil（邪恶的）plot to control the world．

Chinese don’t see themselves that way, and never in history have they been flag-planting settlers．Most Westerners are educated in the adventures of the great European explorers，headed by Christopher Columbus and James Cook，and followed closely by the groups of culture egotists（自大者）with a mix of guns，gold and the Bible in their hands．

In comparison，Zheng He，the great Chinese sailing master，took groups of ships to Africa and the Middle East to promote goodwill, with gifts of chinaware and art．No flags claiming（宣称） possession of distant areas．But this is strange to Western society．

In this century，it is clear that space cannot be claimed by one nation．Yet advantage of technology in space does seem to be on some minds．Former US president Ronald Reagan caused shocks and worries with his Star Wars program．So when China shot down its own satellite as a test in January 2010 there were anxieties in the West about Star Wars 1ike scenario（剧本）becoming reality in the near future．

1.The launch of Tiangong -- 1 __________．

A. is appreciated by countries like the USA and Japan

B. will bring trouble to the western countries in space

C. is part of China’s plan to set up a station in space

D. will help China be a member of the Space Station

2.It is most probable that the US，Russia，Europe and Japan ______­­­­__．

A. are competing against one another in space wars

B. feel anxious about China’s setting up a space station

C. are cooperating to compete against China in space

D. have warned the world of China’s final purpose

3.The author of the passage mentions Zheng He _________．

A. to tell people China’s will never be enemies of world peace

B. to compare him to the great European explorers like Columbus

C. to indicate that he is the pride of the Chinese people

D. to show that the Chinese people are as great as other peoples

4.From the last paragraph，we can infer that _________．

A. China’s shooting down its satellite made the scenario become reality

B. some countries are trying to be ahead of the others in space exploration

C. China will be in control of the world if she starts space exploration

D. if a nation has a better technology in space，it will start a star war