“In my day, we had to walk a mile to school—uphill, both ways.” That may sound like an old joke. Today, only 13 percent of kids walk to school, down from 66 percent 30 years ago.
Studies show that fewer children are walking and biking to school, and more children are at risk of becoming overweight. Changing behaviors of children and parents require creative ways that are safe and fun.
A walking school bus can be both.
It works like a bus, picking up ‘passengers’ along the way at designated(指定的) ‘bus stops’ except everyone is walking!
The Walking School Bus works as a supervised group of children walking to and from school along a safe and enjoyable set route. There are at least two parents in a group. One parent ‘drives’ at the front of the bus, while the other parent supervises at the back. The same of different supervisors go with the children to and from school. Additional(增加的) parents may be needed depending on the walking environment.
The ‘bus’ can go as often as parents want to ‘drive’ it and children want to use it. This means that it can even work as little as one morning or afternoon each week. All children are welcome to join the bus even if their parents cannot be drivers. And the service is free.
Socially, it’s great because the children meet other children, otherwise they would only know by sight.
“My children have formed some good friendships because of the Walking Bus. The parents get to know other parents too!” a parent said. “From our experience of the Walking Bus, it has only been a meaningful thing. It gets all of us walking more and the children do not complain about walking like they used to. ”
Some kids said compared to walking school bus, it’s boring in a car when they were asked why not get into a car.
Besides these, it might have a good effect on heavy traffic.
| A．66 percent. | B．13 percent. | C．30 percent. | D．53 percent. |
| A．controlled | B．explored | C．required | D．improved |
| A．make more friends | B．reduce the risk of being overweight |
| C．exercise more | D．complain about walking |
| A．A new way to exercise | B．A new school bus |
| C．A walking school bus | D．Parents’ driving school bus |
3D printing is becoming more and more popular． We are now able to print things such as clothing， musical instruments and even cars． People and businesses are able to create the things they need very quickly and easily by using 3D printers．
But can you imagine printing food？ Some scientists are trying to change the dining experience completely by doing this． They hope that having a 3D printer in the kitchen will become as common as the blender or microwave． Scientists say that they are easy to use ：you simply have to choose a recipe（食谱） and put the uncooked food "inks" into the printer to make the food you want． This means that it would be very quick and easy to create tasty and healthy meals．
Using 3D printers to create your meals would also be saving the environment． There would be less need for traditional growing， shipping and packaging steps as food production would be a lot quicker and better． For example， tree leaves and insects could be turned into tasty products! Printing food could also help people who have a swallowing（吞咽）trouble． They could program the printer to print softer kinds of their favorite foods so that they would not have difficulty swallowing them．
However， some people think that a future of 3D﹣printed food would be a disaster． It could take away many jobs， including those for growing， shipping and packaging food． Imagine a world where there was no need for farming or growing crops and the same tastes and structures could be printed from an uncooked "food ink "． Traditional cafes and restaurants might lose business， too．Also， there are worries about the healthy value of printed food： is it really possible to get what we need from food﹣based "inks" or something like that？
As we know， cooking and eating together with family and friends has long been a tradition and enjoyable activity． It is hard to imagine a world where the pastime of cooking is dead and meals can be created at the touch of a button．
（1）The second paragraph mainly tells us ．
A． we can change our recipes by 3D food printing
B． there are many ways of printing food on the 3D printer
C． 3D food printing has become very common in the kitchen
D． some scientists are trying to make 3D food printing used widely
（2）The writer gives the example in Paragraph 3 in order to ．
A． show us how 3D food printing works
B． tell us why we should use 3D food printing
C． help us to know what we can use to print food
D． let us understand when to use 3D food printing
（3）How many disadvantages of 3D food printing are mentioned from the last two paragraphs？
A． Two．
B． Three．
C． Four．
D． Five．
（4）What is the writer's opinion about 3D food printing？
A． 3D﹣printed food is tasty and necessary．
B． It is difficult to understand 3D food printing．
C． Cooking food is more pleasant than printing food．
D． It is happy to see the change of the dining experience．
My parents run a small store in San Francisco． They always keep a big box by the entrance where people can donate（捐赠）something to our local food bank．
"For some reason， our food﹣donation box just isn't filling up recently， "said my dad．
"Maybe it's time to think of a way to remind people about the food bank， "said my mom．
"What about a talent show？ " my dad suggested．
"OK ， " said my mom．
So while my parents posted information online， we kids made some signs． My friend Mareya came over to help out．
"I' d like to do an act in the show， but I don' t know what to do，"I told Mareya．
"well， since the food﹣ bank thing is about sharing，" said Mareya， "why not write a song about that？"
"Writing a song is not a problem，" I said．"But it's hard for me to sing it alone!"
She said．" What if we sang it together？"
Since Mareya has the world's prettiest voice and also happens to play the guitar， I agreed．
Mareya and I practiced and practiced， and I was feeling pretty good about our act． But the morning of the performance， Mareya called that she had a stomachache and was not in any shape to perform．
"There' s no way I' m going on without you，" I told her．
"You've worked so hard，" she said．"You'll be great!"
But great is the last word anyone would choose to describe my performance! Without Mareya's guitar and voice to guide me， my song was completely in a mess． And I even forgot half the words．
Remember the sick， heart﹣racing， hot﹣faced feeling I was talking about？ Well， that's what I was experiencing﹣more than I ever had before．
Once I was off the steps， my mom gave me a big hug．
"I want to disappear! I've never been so embarrassed（尴尬的） in my life，" I said．
Ollie smiled． "I think you are really brave．"
Indi added， "I now know that you truly can survive （幸存）a lot more embarrassment than you think．"
（1）The family decided to have a talent show because
A． they wanted to show thanks to donators
B． they would like to make the neighborhood happy
C． they planned to run a bigger store in San Francisco
D． they hoped more people could care about the food bank
（2）Which of the following is the best to fill in " " in the passage？
A． but there is no way．
B． what if we do it alone？
C． let's get the words out．
D． why not sing a song ？
（3）The changing of the writer's feelings to the performance can be described as ．
A． embarrassed → encouraged → nervous → confident
B． confident→ nervous→ embarrassed→ encouraged
C． nervous→ embarrassed→ confident→ encouraged
D． encouraged → confident →embarrassed→ nervous
（4）What will most probably happen in the following part of the passage？
A． More people came to know about the food bank．
B． Mareya came and continued the performance．
C． Fewer people donated because of the performance．
D． Indi and Mareya went to other places for donation．
WHICH FAMOUS PERSON IN HISTORY WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE MET AND WHY？
For me it would clearly be Leonardo da Vinci． I'd love to have met him． He was such a creative talent and not just an artist． He seems to have predicted a number of inventions that only came about hundreds of years later， like flying machines and so on． I' d like to tell him he really did see the future． Naomi， Chicago |
I'd choose Cleopatra﹣the last king of ancient Egypt（埃及）． She is thought to have been very beautiful and is generally considered to have developed some really useful political alliances（政治同盟）．Not many women were that powerful in ancient times． I'd like to have seen how she did it． Lucinda， Nairobi |
I'm Latin American， so I would name Simon Bolivar as the person I would like to have known． He's supposed to have been a very great， brave leader and is accepted to have helped achieve independence for several countries in Latin America in the nineteenth century． Patricia， Caracas |
I studied philosophy（哲学）， so I would like to have spoken face﹣to﹣face with the Chinese philosopher Confucius． I'd like to have discussed with him his political philosophy and his idea about family values． He seems to have had a lot of respect for older people， and even though he lived over two thousand years ago， some of his opinions are still meaningful． Li Yun， Shanghai |
（1）Whose ideas about inventions have come true？
A． Leonardo da Vinci's．
B． Cleopatra's．
C． Simon Bolivar's．
D． Confucius'．
（2）Which of the following is TRUE from the passage？
A． Leonardo da Vinci invented a flying machine hundreds of years ago．
B． Lucinda would like to have met Cleopatra because she was pretty．
C． Simon Bolivar was a person who encouraged independence of women．
D． Li Yun would like to have talked with Confucius about his family values．
（3）In which part of a magazine can we read the passage？
A． Art．
B． Movie．
C． History．
D． Technology．
Are You Ready For High School？
If you can do these things by the time you go to high school， you'll get on well with others in high school．
（1）
A little respect （尊重） goes a long way． Don't help yourself to her personal things in the room， and let her know if you plan to treat friends there． If you don't feel like you're being treated fairly， have a talk face to face．
（2）
The first meeting with someone really does matter． To make an immediate connection， look a person in the eye and give a firm handshake． Keep eye contact while you're chatting and mention the person's name when saying goodbye．
（3）
One study found that holding something in can make you feel lonely and sad． So for your health and friendships， write down the secret in a safe place instead of talking about others in public．
（4）
If someone did something nice for you﹣a gift， some help， now's the time to take out your pen! Sending the person a handwritten note card within 48 hours afterward is a sign that you really have it together．
A． Keep a Secret B． Be the Best Roommate C． Make a Great First Impression （印象） D． Write a Fantastic Thank﹣You Note |
（5）Please give one more suggestion on how to get on well with others．（回答不多于5个单词）
Technology is everywhere． We see it any place we go and， in fact， almost all of us carry some piece of technology with us every time we leave the house． What I always forget， though， is just how useful and powerful technology can be when we want to help others．
There is not a single room in my house that does not have some electronic devices （设备）lying around in it． Whenever I am at home， I am almost always using at least one electronic device． If you walked into my living room on any given day， you would find that， first， I have the television on． At the same time， I usually have my laptop resting on my knee， or I will be using my mobile phone． Even when I'm not at home I am always using my phone， and at work or in cafes， I sit down and connect to the local wireless network on my laptop．
I must say that I waste a lot of time on the computer and the time I spend on it could be much better spent if I were to take up a little online volunteering．
The technology we carry about everywhere can have a great power to do good for the world and to help others and recently I discovered just how much online volunteering there is to do in the world． From using your language skills to do translations， to developing and managing projects and helping with IT work， there is so much that so many people can do to help people in their own countries and across the world． The United Nations， in fact， has a huge page with "Volunteers Recruited" on its website．
This work can support the poor and help charities who cannot pay for staff members． Many organizations only require you to work an hour a week﹣some even less． And the support provided by online volunteers can really help make a difference to those in need．
（1）From Paragraph 2， we can know that the writer ．
A． uses technology a lot
B． works in a cafe
C． is a computer engineer
D． likes modern music
（2）The underlined word" Recruited" in Paragraph 4 means " "．
A． Ordered
B． Wanted
C．Visited
D． Warned
（3）In the writer's opinion， people should spend more time with technology．
A． working on computer programs
B． keeping the Internet safe
C． inventing electronic products
D． helping people in need
（4）What can be the best title for the passage？
A． Website Design
B． Internet Organizations
C． Online Volunteering
D． Online Translation
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