The San Diego Zoo has been a lovely home for giant pandas since two of the black-and-white bears came to visit in 1987. This week there was snow in San Diego—well, at least for a lucky group of giant pandas.

Over 15 tons of snow was blown into the San Diego Zoo's panda area on Tuesday morning to give the endangered bears a chance to play. They would experience the snow just like living in their natural habitat.

The snow day was a first for Xiao Liwu whose name means "Little Gift." He was the sixth baby panda born to Bai Yun. Xiao Liwu was jumping on Mom, playing with her and getting used to being thrown in the snow by mama bear. Jennifer Becerra, San Diego Zoo keeper said, "He was really enjoying the snow and running around. I've never seen him so happy."

All the San Diego Zoo’s giant pandas are from China, as part of a long-term captive breeding(人工养殖) program. Four of Xiao Liwu's brothers have already been moved from California to China.

Today there are 44 giant pandas living in zoos outside of China, where the bears' only natural home is. As just 1,600 pandas are thought to be left in the wild, researchers insist that captive breeding is an important way to study and protect the endangered pandas. Not only because of the habitat loss from human activities and low reproductive rates(繁殖率), giant pandas' survival is also affected by climate change. A study showed that global warming could kill much of the bears' main food, bamboo, over the next century.

1.Why was the snow blown into the San Diego Zoo's panda area?

A．To stop the bamboos from dying.

B．To give the pandas a chance to play.

C．To help the pandas live in their natural habitat.

D．To make Xiao Liwu happy.

2.What’s the relationship between Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu?

A．Wife and husband.

B．Father and daughter.

C．Sister and brother.

D．Mother and son.

3.What is NOT the factor that influences the giant pandas' number?

A．The loss of habitat.

B．Low reproductive rates.

C．Human research.

D．Climate change.

4.Which of the following is the best title of this passage?

A．Giant pandas in San Diego Zoo

B．Giant pandas in danger

C．Xiao Liwu’s happy time

D．How to protect giant pandas

5.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Captive breeding is the most useful way to protect giant pandas.

B．More than 44 giant pandas live in zoos outside of China now.

C．China is the only natural home of giant pandas.

D．Xiao Liwu was afraid of being thrown in the snow by mama.

Tea is a popular drink in China. Many people can’t live if they don’t have it. Chinese tea has a long history going back more than 5,000 years. A famous person over 1000 years ago wrote a book about how to make tea. Its name is The Classic of Tea.
Today, China has different kinds of tea: white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and dark tea. People in different places have different tea drinking habits. People in Guangdong and Fujian love “Kung Fu Tea” in small tea cups. People in Beijing like flower green tea. In Lasha, people like to drink salty butter tea (酥油茶) to be healthy.
There are rules for making tea for friends. It’s not good to make the cup full(满的）, because the cup will be too hot for people to hold.
【小题1】Did we have tea around 5,000 years ago?
A. Yes, we did.            
B. No, we didn’t.             
C. I don’t know.
【小题2】How many kinds of tea are there in China now?
A. There are five.             
B. There are six.              
C.There are seven.
【小题3】 What kind of tea do people in Guangdong love?
A.Salty butter tea.            
B.Flower tea.                  
C. Kung Fu tea.
【小题4】 Why do the people in Lasha love salty butter tea?
A. To get thin.                
B. To keep warm.               
C. To keep healthy.
【小题5】 What is the rule of making tea for friends?
A. Make the cup full.          
B. Don’t make the cup too full.
C. Don’t make it too hot.

China has offered much help to Japan since it ______ by the earthquake and tsunami（海啸）.

   A. hits            B. is hit          C. was hit          D. will be hit

B
Sun Liping, 6 , lives in a small village in Yunnan. Her biggest wish is to have running water in her home. All 35 families in Sun’s village have a serious problem--- they don’t have enough water. Every day, the villagers have to walk 20 minutes to get water.
Last year, the worst drought since the 1950s hit Yunnan, making more than 2 million people short of drinking water. This year, the drought is even worse.
Not only Yunnan, but many other provinces in China are short of water as well, such as Gansu and Qinghai.
According to a report on February 17, each Chinese person has about 28% of the world’s average（平均的） person’s amount of available(可用的) water. Two thirds of China’s cities are short of water and nearly 300 million people in rural areas don’t have safe water for drinking.
Every drop of water is important. Waste a drop of water a day and you lose a bucket(桶) a year. How can we use water in a smart way? Here are some tips for you to save water in your daily life:
1. Put plastic bottles of water in your toilet to cut down the water waste when you flush (冲洗) your toilet.
2. Don’t keep the water running while you’re brushing your teeth or washing your face and hands.
3. Use low-flow(低流量) shower heads .
4. Use a bucket to collect shower water while you wait for it to warm up.
5. Make your shower time shorter.
6. Set up a rain bucket to collect rainwater for watering plants or flowers.
【小题1】 What is the problem in Sun’s village?

Teahouses in Chengdu
There is a saying, “China has the best teahouses in the world and Chengdu has the best teahouses in China.”Chengdu has not only many teahouses but also the special ways of serving and drinking tea.
As soon as the visitors enter the teahouses, the waiters or waitresses will greet them with teapots and cups in their hands. The cups often have special covers and saucers(茶碟). The covers can keep the water warm.
People who go to the teahouses are not all thirsty. Retired(退休)people pay a little money to the teahouses and then sit there all day long to chat with others. Sometimes, people have parties in the teahouses. They eat fruit and sunflower seeds(瓜子)while they chat and return home when they are tired. Teahouses are also good places for people to talk about businesses. Some of the teahouses even have stages for performances, such as storytelling, cross talk and Sichuan Opera. Sometimes when people have a quarrel, a mediator(调解员)will bring them to the teahouse. After their problem is solved, the person who is wrong will pay for the tea. It is interesting that as soon as the quarrelers enter the teahouse and sit down to drink tea, they have almost calmed down. With the help of the mediator, their problems can be easily solved then. Maybe we can say the teahouses have some special social functions.
【小题1】Chengdu has the best teahouses in China because _____.