As prices and building costs keep rising, the "do-it-yourself" trend (趋势) in the U. S. continues to grow.
“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross,“ and we just didn't have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoemaking factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I've finished a car repair course; I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money, so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a DIYer, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don't have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.
We can learn from the text that many newly married people .
| A．take DIY courses by the government |
| B．have to learn to make their own furniture |
| C．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| D．seldom go to a department store to buy things |
John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to .
| A．make or repair things |
| B．run a DIY shop |
| C．save time and money |
| D．improve the quality of life |
When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim .
| A．makes shoes at his home |
| B．does extra work at night |
| C．does his own car and home repairs |
| D．keeps house and looks after his children |
Jim Hatfield decided to become a DIYer when .
| A．he could not possibly do two jobs |
| B．the car repair class was not helpful |
| C．his car repairs cost too much |
| D．he had to raise the children all by himself |
What would be the best title of the text?
| A．The Joy of DIY |
| B．You Can Do It Yourself Too! |
| C．Welcome to Our DIY Course! |
| D．Ross and Hatfield: Believers in DIY |
Welcome to the summer Palace
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Opening Hours： Apr.1一Oct.31； 6：30﹣18：00；Inside gardens：8：30﹣17：00 Nov.1一Mar.31：7：00﹣17：00；Inside gardens：9：00﹣16：00 |
Ticket Price： Adult：age 18+ ￥30 Child：age 6﹣18￥15 ◆Free for children under 120 cm（3.9 feet） ， or below 6 years old． ◆The elderly over 60 enjoy half price． （Ticket prices of Dehe Garden， Tower of Buddhist Incense， Wen chang Hall， Suzhou Street and Danning Hall are not included） |
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Online Booking： 1．The tickets are sold 7 days in advance（提前）． 2．Your Passport or ID information is required， and one person can book only one ticket per day． 3．One adult could only book one child ticket |
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Important Notice： ☆During COVID﹣19 Epidemic Control Period： 1．The real﹣time local "Health Code"will be checked before entering． 2．Body temperature over 37.3℃ or coughing and short of breath， visitors are not allowed to enter． 3．Wear masks during the visit and keep distance with others． |
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For more infromatin，you can visit：http：www．travelchinaguid．com/summer﹣palace﹣tickets﹣booking．htm |
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（1）On National Day， visitors can enter the Summer Palace at ．
A．6：00 a．m．
B．8：00 a．m．
C．9：00 p．m．
D．anytime
（2）How much will a 70﹣year﹣old lady pay at least to visit the Summer Palace？
A．￥15．
B．￥30．
C．￥45．
D．None．
（3）How much will a young couple with a 4﹣year﹣old child pay at least to visit the Summer Palace？
A．￥30．
B．￥45．
C．￥60．
D．￥75．
（4）Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage？
A．One adult could only book one child ticket．
B．One should pay extra money to visit Danning Hall．
C．Passport or ID information is needed when booking tickets online．
D．A man with a high fever can enter the Summer Palace with a mask．
（5）Where is the passage probably taken from？
A．A story book．
B．A news report．
C．A science fiction．
D．A travel guide．
Hi， Tom，
Thanks for your message and I am glad that you wrote to me for ideas．
I remember when I was learning English， I felt uncomfortable about speaking． I could remember lots of words and knew grammar rules， but speaking was difficult． I now feel a lot more confident about speaking， so here are some ideas that I have taken from my own experience．
Don' t worry about making mistakes．Other people will still know your meaning and they probably won't notice your mistakes．
Use every chance you get to speak． For example，it's a good idea to use only English in class and not to speak to your classmates in your own language． At home， you should also try practicing new words and grammar learnt in class．
Think about extra speaking practice outside the classroom． You can join a conversation group，such as the chat groups in the study centre． They are free to join．
Practice speaking online． There are lots of websites where you can communicate with someone from all around the world．
I hope this helps you and please come to me if you have other problems．
Best wishes，
Eliza
（1）How many suggestions does Eliza offer？
（2）What is Tom's problem when he is learning English？
（3）If you are Tom，will you take Eliza's suggestions？ Why or why not？
"This is John，" said Mr Turner． The boy standing next to him was tall， with a friendly face． I noticed Adam and Chen give each other the thumbs （大拇指） up． That meant they were going to invite him to join the cool group． They smiled at him and he smiled back．
Mr Turner always gave new students a buddy with the same hobbies as them． I was sure he wouldn't choose me． I wasn't one of the cool kids．
"Hyun， I want you to be John's buddy this term，" said Mr Turner． Me？ I couldn't believe my ears! Everyone in the class looked in my direction． Adam and Chen even looked unhappy．
John walked over to my desk and sat down beside me． He smiled at me．"Hello，" he said in a confident voice．
"Hello，"I replied， not looking at him．
All morning I could feel the boys in the cool group looking angrily at me， but John didn't seem to notice．
Finally the bell rang for a break． I had butterflies in my stomach． I knew that Adam and Chen were going to make fun of me in front of John， and that John would decide that he'd rather be buddies with them．
Sure enough， as soon as we got outside， Adam and Chen swaggered （大摇大摆地走） up to us．
"Mr Turner says you're a good basketball player， John，"said Adam． "How'd you like to play with us at lunch break？ Hyun doesn't know anything about basketball．"
"No thanks，" said John．"I'd rather play chess with Hyun，if he doesn't mind． Mr Turner says he's an excellent player．"
I was walking on air as John and I crossed the playground． I remembered the saying we learnt in class about not judging （判断） a book by its cover． I completely misjudged John．
（1）The underlined "him" in Paragraph 1 refers to ．
A． Adam
B． Mr Turner
C． Chen
D． John
（2）The sentence "I was walking on air…" in the last paragraph shows that the writer felt ．
A． happy
B． nervous
C． calm
D． lonely
（3）What can we learn from the story？
A． Adam and Chen were not only cool but also friendly．
B． Hyun realized appearance didn't always tell the truth．
C． John didn't want to make friends with Hyun at first．
D． Hyun was a cool kid and good at playing basketball．
I think there are several reasons that suggest developing robots is a waste of money．
In San Diego recently ＄ 325，000 was spent on inventing a robotic squirrel to do some scientific experiments． The research proved that squirrels are able to scare away snakes by wagging （摇动） their tails． Do you need a robotic squirrel to work this out？
What about AIBO，a robotic pet，developed in Japan？ In Japanese aibou means "buddy"． These pets have been developed at huge cost mainly to provide entertainment．They've been used in movies and music videos． Universities have used them for educational purposes．However， in 2006 the company stopped producing these robotic pets in order to save money． Was it worth a lot of money？
Then there's NAO， a robot which has been developed by a French company．Its main purpose is to make life easier for humans． It speaks 19 languages and has its own personality．It can tell children a story， help in the classroom or the home， or act as a companion to those people who need someone to be with．A fully developed one costs ﹩16，000． Is that value for money？ Who can afford it anyway？
There may be good reasons why it is worth developing robots， but so far I haven't thought of any．
（1）What does the underlined word "companion" in Paragraph 4 mean in Chinese？
A．公司
B．机构
C．对手
D．伙伴
（2）What is the true fact about the robots mentioned？
A． The robotic squirrel is needed by every scientist to do some research．
B． AIBO wasn't made any more because it only provided entertainment．
C． A fully developed NAO may tell kids stories in different languages．
D． All the three types of robots used to be produced at a very low cost．
（3）What does the writer think of developing robots？
A． It can help bring people a lot of fun．
B． It has advantages in many ways．
C． It may be useful but costs too much．
D．It is worth a great deal of money．
We all have our favourite music， films or books﹣but which are the most popular ever？
The most popular album （音乐专辑） Thriller by Michael Jackson At the time Jackson started writing his best﹣selling album Thriller，he hoped that his album would sell 50 million copies． He was wrong﹣ it sold over ten million more than that． Even today around 130，000 copies are sold in the USA every year． |
The most popular classical music Beethoven's Fifth Symphony When Beethoven was alive， his Fifth Symphony wasn't his most popular piece of music．But now most people know the da da da dah introduction．In the 20th century， the first four notes （音符） were used by other musicians to make different types of music like hiphop and rock and roll． |
The most popular novel A Tale of Two Cities Many people think the best﹣selling book of all time is one of the Harry Potter books．It's true that all the Harry Potter books together have sold about 450 million copies． But the most popular single novel is much older． A Tale of Two Cities was written by Charles Dickens in 1859 and has sold 250 million copies． |
The most popular________ The Shawshank Redemption The Shawshank Redemption， directed by Frank Darabontin 1994，didn't make much money at the cinema． It only became popular later on video，DVD and TV． It was based on a book by Stephen King， The writer sold the story for only a dollar． |
（1）The best word for the blank is ．
A． painting
B． film
C． poem
D． sculpture
（2）Which of the following is true？
A． Thriller turned out to be more popular than Michael Jackson expected．
B． The Fifth Symphony was used in many other music forms by Beethoven．
C． A Tale of Two Cities has sold more copies than all the Harry Potter books．
D． The Sharwshank Redemption made much money as soon as it came out．
（3）Which section of a magazine is the passage probably from？
A． Sports Time．
B． Science Study．
C． Culture World．
D． Nature Watch．
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