John is thirteen now. He began to study in a middle school two years ago. His home is in a small village and it’s nearly five kilometers from the school. He has to get up early in the morning. After a quick breakfast， he has to run to school and get there on time. His father hopes to borrow some money to buy a bike for him, but he knows his mother is always ill and his father spends much money on medicine. He doesn’t agree with him and keeps running there every day. Now he’s very strong and never late for class and his teachers often praise him.
Last week there was a sports meeting in his school. John ran faster than any other boy and won the boys’ 800 meters, 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters. The whole school knew him. He was very happy. He told his grandma about the good news as soon as he got home.
“I broke two school records today, Granny.” called out the boy.
To his surprise, the old woman wasn’t happy. She thought for a while and said, “I’m sorry to hear that. We have no money to pay for them, you know!”John began to study in a middle school at the age of ___________.
| A．nine | B．eleven | C．thirteen | D．fifteen |
John runs to school every day in order to _________.
| A．keep healthy | B．win the boys’ race |
| C．make his teachers happy | D．get to school on time |
John doesn’t ask his father to buy him a bike because ________.
| A．he doesn’t like riding a bike |
| B．he doesn’t like his father |
| C．his home is near the school |
| D．he knows his father doesn’t have enough money |
John ________ after the school sports meeting.
| A．ran faster | B．worked harder |
| C．became famous | D．got a bike |
John’s grandma wasn’t happy because ________.
| A．she thought John had broken some things and they had to pay for them |
| B．she thought John hadn’t done well in the school sports meeting |
| C．John’s father couldn’t afford to buy a bike |
| D．John’s mother was ill and they spent much money on her |
High school life can be terrible if you get it all wrong. Find out how to survive high school with a few easy tips.
◆________.
High school is a fun time to make new friends and meet new people. Make friends with all kinds of people and not just a group which you are comfortable with. Socialize， but by judging who you can connect to. You will find friends， but stay away from the ones who don’t want to be your friends.
◆Be yourself.
Do your own things， and don’t just follow others. ________. Just be yourself and create a strong self-image.
◆Be positive (积极的).
There is nothing better than having a smile on your face whenever you can. ________. Just be brave enough to meet new people or do something you’ve never tried. Meanwhile， respect your teachers and classmates and try to be helpful if you want the same in return.
◆Be confident.
When you believe in yourself， others will believe in you. ________. And people respect you for that. Make sure you won’t easily get influenced by others.
◆Love high school.________. Make the most out of it， and you will never get those moments back. Come up with funny ideas， top your class， make the best friends， drink， go to parties， but just make as many memories as you can!
| A. Fall in love with it B. Find friends around you C. Practice positive thinking D. Don’t give in to anyone’s wants E. Confidence is a special gift in your life |
When you meet someone for the first time， you will get a general idea in your mind of that person in the first moment. Your feelings about other people， however， are really just show the way that you look at yourself. Your reactions to others say more about you than they do about others. You cannot really love or hate about yourself. We are usually drawn to those who are most like us and may dislike those who have the same characters as ourselves that we dislike.
Therefore， you can allow others to be the mirror to see more clearly your own feelings of self-worth. And， you can view the people you judge negatively (否定地) as mirrors to show you what you are not accepting about yourself.
To live peacefully with others， you will need to learn patience. A big challenge is to let your judgment of others be a lifelong research of yourself. Your task is to consider all the decisions and judgments you make onto others carefully and to begin to see whether you can use them to help yourself and become whole.
Several days ago I had a business lunch with a man who showed objectionable table manners. My first feeling was to judge him as rude. When I noticed that I was judging him， I stopped and asked myself what I was feeling. I discovered that I was nervous to be seen with someone who was eating with his mouth open and loudly blowing his nose. I was very surprised to find how much I cared about how the other people in the restaurant judged me.
Remember that your judgment of someone will not serve as some kind of protective thing against you becoming like him. Just because I judge my lunch partner as rude， it does not prevent me from ever looking or acting like him. In the same way， my patience to him would not cause me to suddenly begin eating my food with my mouth open.
When you get close to life in this manner， those with whom you hate very much as well as those whom you admire and love can be seen as mirrors， guiding you to discover parts of yourself that you dislike and to embrace your greatest characters you are proud of.In the writer’s opinion， when we judge others， we are really ______.
| A．treating them in a polite way |
| B．showing what we ourselves are |
| C．guiding ourselves to know them |
| D．telling them what they should do |
Why did the writer feel bad when he was with his lunch partner?
| A．Because he was afraid he himself might get the bad habits. |
| B．Because he was too angry to go on with his lunch any more. |
| C．Because he was afraid he might be thought badly of by others. |
| D．Because he was too nervous to speak his opinions out right there. |
The underlined word “objectionable” in Paragraph 4 probably means ______.
| A．unbelievable | B．unforgettable |
| C．unacceptable | D．unreasonable |
The writer writes the passage to ______.
| A．tell us a story that happened in a restaurant |
| B．ask us not to behave rudely in some public places |
| C．encourage us to have the right attitude towards others |
| D．advise us to know ourselves from judging others properly |
Soap is more popular in liquid form than in bars in the UK – but there are good reasons to stick with the old traditional way of keeping clean， says Gareth Rubin.
According to market research company Mintel， 87% of
Britons usually buy liquid soap， compared to only 13% who buy bars of it. And solid soap is losing the popularity. But why do some people still prefer traditional solid soap?
1. It’s what they’ve always known. 
Some people are just traditionalists. According to Mark Constantine， he thinks it’s always lovely when we’re using something that’s been about for 3，000 years. Solid soap has got a huge history and they’re very beautiful.
2. Solid soap is more pleasant.
Smelling a plastic bottle doesn’t feel very comfortable， while you can get bars of different textures and smells – some bars have sea salt， nuts， fruits or flowers in them for a bit of a surprise. Others come in beautiful or even funny shapes and sizes. You can tie attractive bars of soap up in silk ribbons (丝带) and present them as a gift to a loved one – the effect isn’t quite the same when you do this with a liquid soap.
3. Less packaging (包装) is better for the planet.
All those bottles has to come from somewhere and go somewhere. Recycling can only do so much， whereas typically a bar of soap comes in a little paper wrapper and that’s it. If you care about the environment， you can even buy bars of soap without paper around them. “And about 60% of the cost of a bottle of soap goes on the packaging and the pump (泵头).” says Constantine.
4. The bottles are a little bit difficult.
You can hold a bar of soap in one hand and it works. With the bottles you first have to use both hands to unlock the pump， and shut your eyes to the liquid slowly dropping the sticky thing onto your bathroom floor. When the bar of soap runs down， you can still use it until it is no more， but with the liquid soap it is a difficult task to get the last drop out of the bottom. According to market research company Mintel， ______.
| A．solid soap is as popular as liquid soap |
| B．more people refuse to buy liquid soap |
| C．solid soap is becoming less popular |
| D．solid soap is better for the planet |
Compared to solid soap， liquid soap ______.
| A．has less packaging |
| B．has a much longer history |
| C．is more pleasant in smells |
| D．has less funny shapes and sizes |
What can you infer from the passage?
| A．Liquid soap is not worth the price according to Constantine. |
| B．A bottle of liquid soap cannot be a present for a friend. |
| C．More people will buy solid soap without silk ribbons. |
| D．It’s impossible to use up the liquid soap in a bottle. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．People’s preference to soap is changing. |
| B．Liquid soap is still liked by many Britons. |
| C．The advantages and disadvantages of solid soap. |
| D．The reasons why some people still prefer solid soap. |
American English is full of colorful expressions. One such expression is to touch all bases.
There are four bases in baseball – first， second， third and home plate. When a baseball player hits the ball， he must run to each base – in order – and touch it with his foot. It is the only way to get a point. If the player hits the ball and fails to touch all the bases， the point will not be counted.
The importance of touching all the bases was shown at the start of the 1974 baseball seasons.
Hank Aaron was a player with the Atlanta Braves team. He was trying to find the record for hitting the most home runs (全垒打). Aaron needed just one home run to be well matched with the record held by Babe Ruth， the greatest hitter in baseball history. Aaron got that home run the very first time he had a chance to hit the ball. That gave him 714 home runs – the same as Babe Ruth. After that day， baseball fans held their breath every time when it was Hank Aaron’s turn to hit. When would he hit home run number 715?
The wait was not long. In the second week of the season， Aaron again hit the ball over the wall. He had beaten Babe Ruth’s record. But first， he had to run around the four bases. The other players on his team watched carefully to make sure he touched each one.
So， to touch all bases means to do what is necessary to complete an activity.
The expression is used to business and politics. No business deal or political events are really complete until you discuss all the problems involved. Or， as it is said， until you touch all bases.When a baseball player hits the ball， he must ______ to get a point.
| A．run to each base freely |
| B．touch the home plate first |
| C．touch all the bases with his hands |
| D．run to each base in order and touch it with his foot |
When was the importance of touching all the bases shown?
| A．At the start of the 1974 baseball seasons. |
| B．At the end of the 1974 baseball seasons. |
| C．Before the baseball rules made. |
| D．In the second week of 1974. |
Who hit home run number 715?
| A．Babe Ruth. | B．Hank Aaron. |
| C．Babe Ruth’s partner. | D．Hank Aaron’s friend. |
What does the expression “to touch all bases” mean?
| A．To do what is needed to finish an activity. |
| B．To get a chance to be the greatest hitter. |
| C．To try your best to set a new record. |
| D．To solve the problems successfully. |
| The 4 Smallest Countries In The World |
 Nauru – 21 km² Located east of Australia， Nauru is the smallest island country in the world. It is also a country with the most overweight people in the world， with 97% of its men and 93% of women being overweight. |
 Tuvalu – 26 km² Located in the Pacific Ocean， west of Australia. There are about 10，000 people， with 8 km of roads， and only 1 hospital on the main island. Since it’s a difficult place to get to， in 2010， only about 2，000 visitors came to Tuvalu. |
 Vatican – 0.44 km² The world’s smallest country is the Vatican， also known as the Holy See. This country fits within the Italian capital city of Rome. It is also home to the biggest church in the world – St. Peter’s Basilica， and holds some of the most important art works. |
 Monaco – 2 km² Located on the French Riviera， Monaco is home to the largest number of rich people per capital in the world. With a population of over 36，000， Monaco is the world’s most densely (密集地) populated country. People there are mostly French-speaking. The most popular event is the Formula 1 race， held there every year. |
Which is the smallest island country?
| A．Nauru. | B．Tuvalu. | C．Vatican. | D．Monaco. |
What’s the area of Vatican?
| A．21 km². | B．26 km². | C．0.44 km². | D．2 km². |
Which of the following about Monaco is TRUE?
| A．It’s the world’s smallest country. |
| B．It’s the most difficult place to get to. |
| C．It has the most overweight people in the world. |
| D．It’s the world’s most densely populated country. |
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