If you go to an American middle school on Wednesday morning, you will hear kids talking about the American idol(美国偶像)show from the night before. Some have called it the most influential show in the history of television.
American Idol has been extremely successful in the country since 2002. The show was number one for six years! The most popular episode（剧集）had nearly 38 million viewers. But why is the show so popular?
The idea of the show is this: everyday people get a chance to show their singing talents to the world and become an “American Idol”, a famous pop star. Anyone in the country(between the ages of 15 and 28) can have a try—a chance of becoming world famous.
In fact, everyday people are the ones who are allowed on the show. If you are a professional singer—you cannot be an American Idol. The winners are regular people from small towns—people who sang in churches or bars（酒吧）but had bigger dreams.
The winners of the contest don’t get a prize of money. Instead, they get to record an album. Famous stars such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood gained fame(获得名声) from winning the show. So, it seems the contest really works.
It is the idea that anyone can be a super star that draws people to this program. All those hours of practicing in front of the mirror could lead to fame and fortune（财富）.Even you could be the next “American Idol”.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案，将其标号填入题前括号内。On Wednesday morning, US middle school kids often ____________.
| A．play ball games to keep fit |
| B．watch the American Idol show |
| C．talk about TV shows |
| D．perform on TV shows |
The underlined word “viewers” means _____________ in Chinese.
| A．听众 | B．观众 | C．评委 | D．制片人 |
According to the story, only ________ allowed on the show.
| A．professional singers | B．famous pop stars |
| C．primary school kids | D．ordinary people |
___________ attracts people to watch and take part in the shows.
| A．The prize of lots of money |
| B．The idea that anyone can be a pop star |
| C．The chance to record an album |
| D．The dream of becoming a professional |
What does the story mainly tell us about?
| A．How US kids spend their spare time. |
| B．Why the American Idol show is so popular. |
| C．What America’s most successful show is. |
| D．How the American Idol show creates pop stars. |
What’s the meaning of “dark horse”? It’s someone who wins when no one expects it.
Han Xiaopeng took China’s first gold on snow. He became an Olympic “dark horse” last Thursday by winning the gold medal in men’s freestyle aerial skiing(自由式滑雪空中技巧) at Turin in Italy. He made two almost perfect jumps for the highest score. Han had never won a world gold medal before, let alone(更不用说) in the Olympics!
“I never thought this would happen,” said the 23-year-old. “I feel like I’m in a dream.” It’s China’s second gold medal at the Turin Olympics. But more important, Han’s gold was the country’s first ever in a snow sport. In 2002, China’s Yang Yang won the gold for speed skating at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, US.
Just because Han’s win was unexpected doesn’t mean that he didn’t work hard.
Han grew up in Jiangsu Province. Before he started his training on snow, he used to be an acrobat(杂技演员) at a circus. In 1995, a coach found his talent(才能). The coach, Yang Er’qi, said Han had the agility(灵活性) and courage to be a ski jumper. When Yang first took the 12-year-old to northern China, the boy couldn’t swim, skate or ski. But he wasn’t afraid of the high platform(跳台) and kept on training.
Han almost left the sport after hurting his knee months before the Salt Lake Games. In that Olympics he only got 24th. “I was hopeless at that time, but my family and the coach stood firmly(坚强地) behind me, helping me through,” he recalled.
Han Xiaopeng worked so hard that he won the gold medal in the Olympics at last. Because of his success, more and more people in China are becoming interested in skiing. We are proud of him and we hope he will have another big success in the next winter Olympics.What does ‘dark horse’ mean? It means _____________.
| A．a horse which is dark |
| B．someone who is expected to win |
| C．a horse which likes living in the dark |
| D．someone whose win is unexpected |
Where did Han Xiaopeng take China’s first gold on snow?
| A．In China . | B．In Italy. | C．In America. | D．In Australia. |
What made the coach, Yang Er’qi, choose Han Xiaopeng to be a ski jumper?
| A．He had the agility and wasn’t afraid of the high platform. |
| B．He was good at skiing though he was only 12 years old. |
| C．He was born in the north of China and liked sports on snow. |
| D．He had the talent and he had won a world gold medal before. |
Which of the following sentences is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．He was 23 when he won the gold medal at the winter Olympics. |
| B．He made two almost perfect jumps and got the highest score. |
| C．No one had won the gold before Han Xiaopeng at the winter Olympics. |
| D．He never gave up even though he had faced many difficulties. |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．A Dark Horse at the Winter Olympics |
| B．A Wonderful Match |
| C．A Hopeless Snow Game |
| D．An Exciting Horse Race |
Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Most Chinese hotels often provide guests with things like disposable (一次性的) toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and slippers. Many guests like the idea because they don't have to bring their own. But, if you travel to Beijing, remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposables. They want to ask people to use less disposable things.
Many disposable things are made of plastic. People throw them away after only using them once. It is a waste of natural resources and is very bad for the environment. Do you know, one Chinese person makes as much as 400kg of waste a year! Most of that waste comes from disposable things. In Beijing, people throw away about 19,000 tons of plastic bags and 1,320 tons of plastic lunch bowls every year! Plastic can take between 100 and 400 years to break down. So the less plastic we throw out, the better the environment will be. So, wherever you travel, bring your own things and use them again and again.
Back at home and school, you can also do something to make our world a better place. Try to do these things in your daily life: Use cloth shopping bags, not plastic ones. After using a plastic bag, wash it out and let it dry. Then you can use it over and over again. Do not use paper cups. At your school canteen（食堂）, use your own bowl and chopsticks instead of disposable ones.Why do many hotels provide guests with some disposable things?
| A．Let their guests be convenient during their travelling. |
| B．Hope their guests use less disposable things. |
| C．Wish their guests to save money. |
| D．Want their guests to use more disposable things. |
Some Beijing hotels will no longer provide guests with _______.
| A．cheap food and drink | B．disposable things |
| C．good service | D．free TV programmes |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Many disposable things are made of plastic. |
| B．Throwing disposable things away is a waste of natural resources. |
| C．Plastic is very bad for the environment. |
| D．Plastic breaks down easily. |
What can we do to make our world a better place at home and school?
| A．Use shopping bags made of plastic. |
| B．Do not throw away paper cups. |
| C．Use disposable plates, bowls and chopsticks. |
| D．Do not forget to reuse daily necessities（日用品）. |
We can tell from the story that _________.
| A．people don't like disposable things at all |
| B．we can't use paper or plastic bowls at school |
| C．we should use less plastic things and protect our environment |
| D．hotels won't provide disposable things because they want to save money |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。
If it is 8:00 a.m. in western Canada, the time is _______ in eastern Canada.
| A．12:00 | B．2:00 p.m. | C．12:30 p.m. | D．4:00 a.m. |
While Canadian children are waking up, children in Scotland are ________.
| A．having lessons | B．sleeping | C．watching TV | D．playing games |
Who needn’t go to work on Fridays?
| A．Canadians. | B．Scots. | C．Japanese. | D．Egyptians. |
Which country will welcome Saturday first, Canada, Japan, UK or Egypt?
| A．UK | B．Japan | C．Egypt | D．Canada |
What does “ahead of” mean in English?
| A．earlier than | B．later than | C．after | D．until |
Imagine the situation. You are driving along a desert or on a mountain. You have no idea where you are. You passed the last house two hours ago. Then your car breaks down. It is night and it is cold. You have no mobile phone. What do you do? Well, next time take a GPS with you. This invention may be able to help you. It is a device which uses satellites to find the user’s position. It can find your position to within 20 metres. A GPS cannot start your car, but at least you will know where you are. 
GPS, which means Global Positioning System, is a small radio receiver. It looks like a mobile phone. You can hold it in your hand, or put in your pocket. It is sometimes put into a watch or a telephone. We also find GPS devices in cars, planes, or boats. Some of these devices have electronic maps, so you know where you are. For example, in a city they can tell you the name of the street.
There are three parts to the Global Positioning System. The first part is the receiver. You can hold it in your hand, or have it fixed into your car, plane, etc. The second part is a group of satellites orbiting the Earth. The receiver contacts at least four of the satellites and calculates (计算) its position. The third part of the system is a network of ground stations. They are all over the world. They control the satellites and make sure they are working well.
Some people think that in the future the GPS will be as common as the mobile. They are becoming cheaper and more and more accurate (精确的). There are also new uses for the GPS. Perhaps they will become like watches. Everyone will have one and you will never be lost again.According to the passage, with the help of the GPS, people ______.
| A．can’t be lost in a new city |
| B．can’t find their way in different countries |
| C．can learn about the culture of an unknown place |
| D．can spend the least time getting to another place |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．there are three parts to the GPS |
| B．a GPS can’t be put into a watch |
| C．a GPS can help you start your car |
| D．the GPS are becoming more and more expensive |
The underlined word “They” in paragraph 3 means “______”.
| A．Receivers | B．GPS devices | C．Satellites | D．Ground stations |
The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．the history of the GPS | B．the introduction of the GPS |
| C．the shape of the GPS | D．the three parts of the GPS |
What can we infer(推断) from the passage? ______
| A．All GPS devices have electronic maps. |
| B．People in many countries will use the GPS for free. |
| C．The receiver of the GPS contacts at least five of the satellites. |
| D．The GPS will become more and more common in everyday life. |
What are you going to do if you are in a burning house? How will you escape? Do you know how to save yourself? Please read the following passage.
Escaping a fire is a serious matter. Knowing what to do during a fire can save yourself. It is important to know the ways you can use and to show them to everyone in the family, such as stairways (楼梯) and fire escapes, but not lifts.
From the lower floors of the building, escaping through windows is possible, learn the best way of leaving through windows with the least chance of serious injury (伤害).
The second floor windows are usually not very high from the ground. An average (普通的) person, hanging by the finger-tips will have a drop of about six feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course, it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building.
Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed, or smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may have leaked (渗入) into the room.
On a second or third floor, the best windows for escaping are those which open onto a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely, dropping onto stones might end in injury, bushes and grass can help to break a fall.From the beginning, we know that it is important to______.
| A．know the way to escape a fire |
| B．put out a fire in a burning house |
| C．jump out of a burning house |
| D．keep the door closed |
It is possible to escape through the windows ______.
| A．if there are some stones on the ground |
| B．if there is some grass on the ground |
| C．if you live on a higher floor |
| D．if you have a short enough rope |
Which of the following is RIGHT according to the information in the passage? ______
| A．You can escape through lifts. |
| B．You can choose fire escapes. |
| C．You can’t escape through stairways. |
| D．Keep your head high at the window to be sure you get fresh air. |
Keep the door closed so that ______ if the building is on fire.
| A．smoke and fire can’t be drawn into the room |
| B．you can call for help |
| C．you can get fresh air |
| D．you can be sent first |
The best title for the passage is ______.
| A．Escaping through the windows |
| B．Saving yourself from a burning house |
| C．Knowing on fire |
| D．Waiting for help |
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