Turtle was walking around through fallen leaves when he saw many birds gather together. “What is happening?” said Turtle.

   “We will fly to the south for the winter. Summer lives there all of the time and there’s plenty of food.”

   “Can I go with you?” Turtle asked.

   “You are a turtle and you can’t fly !” said the birds.

   But Turtle would not give up. He begged and begged. Finally, the birds agreed. “Put this stick in your mouth and hold on tight. These two birds here will each grab one end of it and carry you along.”

   Turtle was so high off the ground and wanted to ask about all the lakes and hills below. He tried to move his legs and make some noise, so the birds would pay attention to him. Turtle finally started to shout, “Why don’t you listen...”

   Oops! Turtle opened his mouth and fell down on the ground. He walked into a pond, and swam to the bottom. Then, he fell asleep and slept all through the winter.

   From that day on, only birds fly south for the winter, and turtles sleep through the winter.

Reading is the key to school success, and like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly, correctly and without thinking. Educators call it “automaticity (自动性)”.

A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase. With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about the meaning of words, so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.

It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others, but also got better results in exams.

According to Rossman, the key to automaticity is the amount of time a child spends reading, not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.

You can test yourself by reading something new which is suitable (适合的) for your level. If you read aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, you probably are an automatic reader. If you read brokenly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, you need more practice.

Here are some English study skills for beginners.

★Listening

Listening is a great way to improve your pronunciation and intonation (语调). You can start by listening to short stories for children because they are usually easy.

★Reading

Reading is a good way to help you learn new words. And it will also help you learn English grammar. Children’s books are great for beginners.

★Vocabulary

When you come across new words in the reading, write them down in your notebook. You can write down thetranslationin your native language to help you understand.

★Speaking

While doing your reading exercises, read them aloud. You can also look for some articles (文章) on the Internet to read.

Learning any language needs practice — lots of practice. You don’t have to spend hours studying each day; just 30 minutes a day for four or five days a week will help you improve it.

Should children be allowed to get bored? Children need time to stand and stare*. They should be allowed to get bored so that they can develop their ability to be creative.

 Children are expected by their parents to be reading a textbook all the time. However, research shows that it mayhamper the ability to imagine, because boredom can give them opportunities to develop creativity.

 Boredom often comes with loneliness, but a writer named Meera Syal said boredom had helped her in developing her mind. She told researchers about her childhood. Having few things to do, Syal often talked with her neighbours. She also tried to do things like learning to bake cakes. "But importantly, I thought and wrote a lot, because I was bored, "Syal said. She kept a diary, filling her time with short stories and poems she made up.

 Grayson Perry, an artist, grew up in a family with little money. During his childhood, he enjoyed himself by making up stories, drawing pictures for his stories and reading many books in the library. Bored but free, he spent hours looking out of the window, watching the changing clouds and seasons. Perry filled up his free time with what he liked. He became creative, because he could think freely.

 Dr. Belton is doing researches on boredom. "Boredom could be an uncomfortable feeling, "she said. "But some young people cannot do with that boredom creatively. So sometimes they may break a classroom window, or drive a car out very fast. "

 Usually, when children have nothing to do, they would turn on the TV, the computer, or the phone. Their time on these things has increased, yet they need to have time to think about their experiences through play or just watching the world around them. It is this kind of thinking that can inspire the imagination. On the other hand, the TV or phone may cut short the thinking process. That can be bad to the development of creativity. "For developing the ability to be creative," Dr. Belton advised, "perhaps we need to stand and stare, and stay off-line from time to time. "

Learning about the environment is very important. There are many good books that will help you learn. To get started, ask your teacher or a librarian for some suggestions. You can also look at some good websites with information about the environment and climate change. Climate change may be a big problem, but there are many little things we can do to make a difference.

Driving a car or using electricity is not wrong. We just have to be smart about it. Some people use less energy by carpooling. For example, four people can ride together in one car instead of driving four cars to work. Whenever we use electricity, we put greenhouse gases into the air. By turning off lights, the television and the computer when they aren’t needed, you can help a lot.

Don’t buy products that use too much energy. Some products, like certain cars, are made specially to save energy. These don’t pollute as much, either. Products like computers, TVs, and VCRs with the ENERGY STAR label(标签)R are made to save energy. Buying products with these labels will help protect the environment.

Buy recyclable products instead of (代替) non-recyclable ones. Recyclable products are usually made out of things that have already been used. It usually takes less energy to make recyclable products than to make new ones. So when you go shopping, look for the recycle mark on the package—three arrows that make a circle.The less energy we use, the better.

 Many Americans begin to leave their cars at home and ride to work on bicycles. Andy Clark is the leader of the League of American Bicyclists. His group supports bicycling for fun, fitness(健康) and transportation.

   Andy says this is good news for the environment. He says riding a bicycle to work does not cause pollution. Experts say the effects are the most important on short trips. Shorter car trips cause more pollution for each kilometer driven. This is because the car engine will release harmful gas when it warms up.

   James is a strong supporter of bicycle use. He says cities and state governments are planning the roadways of the future. They are creating roads and paths for bicycles in cities and between communities.

   Andres Land rides his bicycle to work in Portland in the state of Oregon. He is thirty-three years old and has never owned a car. He has biked to work for twelve years. Before moving to Portland six years ago, he lived in Washington, D. C. But he was hit by a car while biking to work there. That has not happened in Portland where there are special roads for bicycles.

根据短文内容,从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。

One in three people born in UK will suffer from dementia in their lifetime, according to a recent research. Dementia is that the brain no longer works properly because of illness, old age or injury. People with dementia have problems remembering things. Their character can change and they lose their ability to do many everyday tasks. An expert said dementia would affect 27 percent of boys born in 2015 and 37 percent of girls. And he also said that this could cause a health crisis as the population gets older. There is no effective treatment to slow down or stop dementia now. The government must spend more on the research.

A British expert on dementia spoke about how serious the problem could become. Dr Matthew Norton said, “As people are living longer, more and more people will develop dementia in the future if action is not taken now.” He added, “Dementia is our greatest medical challenge and if we are to beat it, we must find new treatments and preventions.” Globally, dementia affects around 36 million people. About 10 percent of people develop the disease sometime in their lives, but this figure will rise sharply as people live longer. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s. This is when the brain loses cells, which reduces the brain’s ability to function properly.

Question 1-5 Multiple Choice Questions

There are four choices for each question. Refer to the passage and choose the correct answer.

Li Chuang is a 15-year-old boy, but he has been a smoker for three years. His teeth and fingers have turned a bit yellow.

“I first tried smoking after watching TV. It makes me feel excited and I think it looks cool,” he said.

Not all students smoke as much as Li but there are lots of child smokers.

A report says 32% of boys and 13% of girls in middle schools in China have smoked. Some are as young as 11 when they first try!

May 31^st is World No-Tobacco Day. Health expert(专家) are asking young people not to smoke.

Doctors say smoking can make people get illnesses, like lung(肺) cancer.

Not only that smoking costs a lot of money, too!

Stop smoking, children! It’s bad for your health.

根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

Michelle, a famous lady, has found that more than 25% students are too fat in her country. It is a very serious problem. So she starts a health program to deal with it. The health program is to reduce(减少)the number of fat students today and in the future.

The program will get families, schools, newspapers, magazines and TVs to join together and deal with the students’ obesity so that students will be at a healthier weight. The program includes: Food stores should sell healthier foods. Schools should serve healthier meals with less fat and should also offer gym classes.

The lady is trying to fight the students’ obesity all over the country because it can cause illnesses and higher health cost. She wants the students to eat right, exercise more and control(控制)their weight. She also wants the students to understand it is important to have less sweet food, and drink water, milk and fresh juice, but not to choose coke. At the same time she has also set a good example by planting a vegetable garden. She hopes that the garden will encourage more people to plant one too.

The health program is really helpful to the students today and in the future. As she says, we cannot always build the future for youth, but we can build our youth for the future.

Everyone knows that exercise is important. We all need to exercise. Doctors say it is good for us. It makes your heart and body strong. Children who often exercise are smarter That means they do better in tests and schoolwork than those who don’t exercise.

There aremany ways to exercise. You can walk, run, swim, skate, or play ball games. Make sure you exercise in the following ways: You have to like what you are doing. Exercise enough－but not too much. It’s best to exercise twice a week. Thirty minutes each time is enough. Try all kinds of sports till you find one, two or even three sports that feel right (适合)for you.

  You canexercise at fitness centers. They have a lot of equipment（设备）there. The equipment will help exercise your arms, legs and other parts of your body to make you healthy. Some people buy equipment for their homes. But it’s very expensive.