A safari park is a park in which wild animals are kept. They are mainly located in east or central Africa. They often occupy a very wild area, with mountains and rivers. To visit the park and look at the animals, people have to drive around in a car for a few of hours because the park is huge.

In south Africa there is a safari park, which contains all sorts of wild animals like lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, zebras, wild pigs, deer and giraffes.

There is a wild road leading through the park, but nobody is permitted to walk on the road. Anyone traveling in the park has to go in a car because wild animals may fiercely attack people. From the car he may see almost every types of African wildlife. Some of these are getting rare because people kill them for various reasons. For example, rhinoceroses are killed for their horns, which are used in traditional Chinese medicines for colds and headaches. Perhaps they will be seen only in museums and books one day.

Travels may purchase food for the animals. They can feed them when they tour the park. Of course, they should not feed them in a close distance because the wild animals may attack people. In addition, they should only give proper food to the animals.

A traveler may carry a gun with him in his journey. The gun is given to him by the government. However, it is not used for hunting. In fact, a seal(封条) is fixed to it. The traveler may fire at a wild beast to defend himself in case he is attacked. However, he has to prove to the government that he has been attacked and that he has not fired at a harmless animal.

1.When travelers feed the animals, they should _________.

A. give nutritious food         B. stay away from the animals

C. stand close                   D. use tools

2.The government knows whether the gun is fired by the traveler or not by ___________.

A. checking the seal              B. hunting the animals

C. following the traveler         D. observing the traveler

3.What is the best title of this passage?

A. Protecting Wild Animals

B. Traveling in South Africa

C. A Safari Park in South Africa

D. Wild Animals in South Africa

Years ago there was a group of kids who would hang around at some local ponds（池塘） in the woods near their houses in Warwick, Rhode Island. In summer they caught frogs and fish. When winter arrived they couldn’t wait to go skating. Time passed, and the ponds became the only open space for the kids to enjoy themselves in that neighborhood.

One day a thirteen-year-old boy from this group of kids read in the local newspaper that a developer wanted to fill in the ponds and build over a hundred small houses called apartments. So the boy went door to door and gathered more than two hundred signatures to stop the development. A group of citizens met and decided to support him.

At the meeting of the town planning organization，the boy was quite nervous at first and spoke very softly. But when he saw the faces of his friends and neighbors in the crowd and thought about what was happening to their favorite ponds，his voice grew louder. He told the town officials that they should speak for the citizens. He also insisted that they should leave enough space for children. A few days later，the developer stopped his plan.

Nine years later, when that teen was a senior in college, he was informed that the developer was back with his proposal to build apartments. Now twenty-two years old, he was studying wetlands ecology. He again appeared before the town planning organization. This time as an expert, he used environmental protection laws to explain restrictions on development in and around wetlands and the knowledge of wetlands ecology to help to improve the development. Finally some apartments were built, but less than half the number the developer wanted. The ponds where those kids used to hang around were protected by a piece of natural land, and are still there today.

1.The kids liked to ___________ at the local ponds in winter.

A. make a snowman                B. throw snowballs

C. go skating                    D. go skiing

2.The boy thought that the town officials should be ___________ for the citizens.

A. responsible      B. modest       C. anxious         D. thankful

3.Which statement is true according to the passage?

A. The apartments were built as the developer had planned.

B. The grown-up boy helped to protect the wetlands as an expert.

C. The developer stopped the boy’s plan at the meeting years ago.

D. The ponds were filled in and some apartments were built on them.

4.The underlined word “restrictions” in the last paragraph probably means________.

A. rules           B. plans

C. advantages      D. limitations

If you dream of going to someplace warm to escape the cold winter weather, a trip to a recently discovered planet would certainly warm you right up. The planet, named OCLE-TR-56b, has temperatures of more than 3,000 °F. “This is the hottest planet we know about,” says Dr. Dimitar Sasselov, a scientist who led the discovery team, “It is hot enough to have an iron fog and to rain hot iron droplets（细沫）”

The new planet is 30 times farther away than any planet discovered by scientists before. It is in the Milky Way（银河）but it is not in our solar（太阳的）system The new planet moves around a star much like our sun, however. Scientists discovered the planet by using a new planet-searching method, called“transit technique” They were able to catch sight of the planet when it moved in front of its star, causing the star’s light to dim（变暗）.Scientists compare the method to discovering the shadow of a bee flying in front of a searchlight 200 miles away. “We believe the door has been opened wide to go and discover planets like Earth,” says Sasedlov.

1.We can infer from the passage that_________.

A．there is iron on the new planet

B．we could go to the new planet in winter

C．the star could block our view of the new planet

D．scientists are studying the weather on the new planet

2.The “transit technique” can_________.

A．help dim the light of a star.

B．help scientists with a searchlight

C．help discover a bee on a planet

D．help find a planet moving before its star

3.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．New Planet-searching Technique

B．New Distant Discovery

C．Space Searching

D．Dream Planet

A group of graduates, successful in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor．Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life．

Before offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of cups — porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking and cheap, some extremely expensive — telling them to help themselves to the coffee．

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones．While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress．The fact is that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee．In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink．What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously(有意识地） went for the best cups．．．And then you began eyeing each other's cups．

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups．They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not change the quality of life we live．Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us．"God makes the coffee, not the cups．Enjoy your coffee!"The happiest people don't have the best of everything．They just make the best of everything．"

Live simply．Love generously．Care deeply．Speak kindly．Leave the rest to God．

1.What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．the nice-looking cup

B．the ordinary-looking cup

C．the coffee of good quality

D．the coffee of poor quality

2.Why did the professor offer his students coffee with varieties of cups?

A．To give his students many more choices．

B．To teach his students how to enjoy coffee．

C． To tell his students the right attitude to life

D．To show the students his collection of cups．

3.According to the professor, the happiest people are the ones who _____．

A．get the best type of coffee cups

B．care about social status and wealth

C．have a wide range of coffee cups

D．make the best of what they have

Life affects (影响) friendships. As we grow, marry, fight in wars, move across the country or change jobs, old friendships fall away and new ones form. As long as we live, the things around us change, and as long as things change, friendships are affected.

When we were children we had best friends. No matter what happened we were still friends. We live our lives, however, and do what life calls for us to do, and as we get older, memories fade (逐渐消失), faces blur (变得模糊不清), and even friends' names from childhood are forgotten.

Do you have a question about friendship? Do you wonder what to do with a friend who is no longer friendly? Perhaps you will see that you can't control others. If someone wants to be your friend, it is their choice. All you can do is treat them well and do the best for them when you are with them. Then you wish them well when they leave.

You can talk to old timers and they will tell you that life is full of incredible (难以置信的) joy and incredible sorrow, and that what bothers you today will one day become a memory and the sting (痛苦) will be gone. Seniors might tell you that you will learn more as you get older. They will tell you that friendships come and friendships go.Sometimes when they go it will hurt, but you will be okay with it.It's the way life works, after all.

1. The text is most probably taken from a __________

A. science newspaper   B. novel

C. health magazine    D. Psychology book

2.  What can we learn about friendship, according?

A. Friends in childhood are sometimes forgotten by bus.

B. Friends are always around us and will never go away.

C. Friends in childhood ae the best no matter what happens.

D. Friendship can not be easily affected by one’s family.

3. What does the underlines words “old timers” mean in the last paragraph?

A. Rich people   B. Old People

C. Kind People   D. Smart People

4. The text mainly tells us__________

A. How to deal with unfriendly People

B. that childhood friendship is valuable

C. how to face the change in friendship

D. how to share happiness with friends

You want to have fun and adventure and so you decide to travel somewhere to do it. Sounds like a simple enough thing. And basically it is. But what is adventure? That is the key here and the answer can be different for different people.

For those who love sports, adventure travel can have a whole different meaning than for those who like history. The physical travel types that you can find include such adventure travel as white water rafting (白浪漂流), kayaking or climbing and hiking to some mountains somewhere. To the hiker, backpacking across Ireland might be their adventure. For this type of person, adventure travel almost always includes something physical. Often the goal is to push their body’s limits and test their individual endurance (耐力).

For those who less want to climb mountains, adventure travel might mean traveling to Nepal and taking in the local festivals. Wine tasting in Italy is also vacation adventure for the more relaxed traveler who enjoys peace and comfort. Anything that is opposite to the normal scope (范围) of the traveler’s lifestyle defines (定义) adventure.

Adventure travel is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all type of vacation. Adventure depends on the person’s physical limits, how much money the person has and what the person enjoys doing. Going beyond the normal is adventurous for many. If your life is quite busy, then sitting on a beach in the moonlight with your family might be adventure for you. The point is not what you do but that you have a good time and that it is an adventure for YOU — not for the person next to you.

Do not sit home this year when vacation time rolls around. Go beyond your normal routine and try something new. If you usually spend your vacation sun-bathing on a beach, try hiking, instead, through the mountains. Look around you, think beyond your comfort zone and head out on an adventure vacation.

1.For a quiet traveler, he is most likely to choose _________.

A．backpacking across a country

B．wine tasting in a bar

C．hiking to some mountains

D．white water rafting

2.To have an adventure travel, the most important is _________.

A．whether you enjoy yourself

B．whether you try something dangerous

C．where you go for the traveling

D．what you do in the traveling

3.The underlined word “beyond” in Paragraph 4 probably means “_________”.

A．according to       B．later than          C．more than         D．less than

4.From the passage, we can make a conclusion that _________.

A．adventure travel always includes something dangerous

B．adventure travel will cost you a large sum of money

C．anything that goes beyond the normal is adventure travel

D．adventure travelers like to do things to the limits of their body

5.The best title for the passage may be “_________”.

A．Tips on adventure travel

B．Who is interested in adventure travel

C．What is adventure travel

D．Popular places for adventure travel

Along the seashore(海边)，the tall coconut(椰子)trees waved in he wind. The sand was white in the bright sun, and the ocean was dark blue. The houses in the town near the shore, were painted white. The boats had been pulled up on the shore. Usually they would all be in the water with hard-working fishermen. But today was a holiday, and everyone was  preparing for the celebration that was going to take place that evening.

In the distance, men could be seen climbing the coconut trees. They were singing as they worked. There were monkeys in the trees, too. The monkeys were jumping up and down and screaming angrily.The climbers just laughed at the monkeys and continued to pick the fruits.

1.What is this passage about?

A．It tells us a story of the monkeys.

B．It describes the scene on the seashore.

C．It talks about the life of the fishermen.

D．It is about how the people celebrated a holiday.

2.The boats had been pulled up on the shore because_________.

A．it was a holiday

B．the weather was too hot

C．there was going to be a storm

D．it was not the season for fishing

3.The men climbed the coconut trees to_________.

A．pick the coconuts

B．catch the monkeys

C．look at the ocean far away

D．see who could climb high and fast

4.The word "screaming" in Paragraph Two probably means _______.

A．singing and working

B．jumping up and down

C．running here and there

D．shouting in a high voice

5.The monkeys were angry because________.

A．the men were trying to catch them

B．the men wanted to drive them away

C．the men got the coconuts , which were their food

D．the men climbed higher and faster than they did

Want to find Bigfoot? Matt Moneymaker, president of Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot, says the creatures have been seen in every state but Hawaii.

Redwoods State Park, California

With its towering redwoods and thick forest, it's hard to beat the  atmosphere at this  Northern California park.Moneymaker recommends taking a walk along the Smith River on Howland Hill Road.“We heard of lots of different sightings and sounds in there，”he says.“I've found tracks crossing that road.”707­465­7335.

Salmon­Huckleberry Wilderness, Oregon

You don't have to go far to find Bigfoot.This area 20 miles east of Portland in the Mount Hood National Forest is prime spotting territory.Bigfoot apparently has a sweet tooth and goes ape for huckleberries, which grow in the area.Scores of campers have been scared off by noises and have had rocks thrown at them.503­668­1700.

Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico

The high density of deer attracts Bigfoot to this place.The creatures may use the park's mountainous lookouts to watch over deer in spring.Even when there's no wind, dead trees often topple mysteriously, with their roots above the earth.“They let you know that they're there.”505­661­3333.

Bird Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Vermont

This prominent mountain peak outside the town of Rutland has had its share of activity, including a trail­cam picture famous in Bigfoot circles of what appears to be a female one carrying her offspring (后代). Centuries ago，American Indians reported seeing an apelike creature and，more recently, hikers say that they have come upon a Bigfoot.800­756­8880.

Fahnestock State Park, New York

There's a long history of Bigfoot in this mountain park a mere 90 minutes from New York City. Moneymaker says investigators have found mysterious markings in the snow.845­225­7207.

Ponca Wilderness Area, Arkansas

Moneymaker says he had several good Bigfoot moments on a recent expedition in this area along the Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas.Most of the Bigfoot action centered on the area near Steel Creek Campground.870­439­2502.

1.Visitors are likely to see Bigfoot in the following places EXCEPT________.

A．California　B．New Mexico

C．Hawaii　D．Arkansas

2.If people want to see Bigfoot in Fahnestock State Park，they should phone________.

A．503­668­1 700　B．845­225­7 207

C．505­661­3 333　D．800­756­8 880

3.What can we learn about Bigfoot from the passage?

A．Bigfoot is often attacked by human being.

B．Bigfoot doesn't like eating animals like deer.

C．Bigfoot is afraid of inhabiting in a thick forest.

D．Bigfoot likes eating sweet fruit like huckleberries.

4.Where did Moneymaker have several good Bigfoot moments?

A．In Valles Caldera National Preserve.

B．In Salmon­Huckleberry Wilderness.

C．In Ponca Wilderness Area.

D．In Bird Mountain Wildlife Management Area.

5.The underlined word “topple”  in the passage can be replaced by“________”．

A．fall down　B．eat up

C．move over　D．burn down

“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,” said David Belle, the founder of parkour(跑酷).

Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond’s wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide.

Yes, that’s parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is considered an extreme sport. As its participants dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop.

Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see parkour much more than that.

Overcome all the obstacles on the course and in life it is part of the philosophy(理念) behind parkour. This is the same as life. You must determine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life to reach the destination successfully. A parkour lover said, “I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything.”

Another philosophy we’ve learnt from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself that you earn energy and confidence.

1.Parkour has become popular throughout the world because of     .

A．its founder, David Belle                   B．the film, Casino Royale

C．its risks and tricks                       D．the varieties of participants

2.The underlined word “obstacles” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to “   ”.

A．streets           B．objects           C．barriers           D．roofs

3.Which of the following is true of parkour?

A．It challenges human abilities.               B．It is a good but boring sport.

C．It needs special training.                  D．It is a team sport.

4.As its participants move around a city,     .

A．they can ask for help                     B．they may choose to escape

C．they should run to extremes               D．they must learn to survive

5.Which of the following is the philosophy of parkour?

A．Sports and extremes.                    B．Excitement and freedom.

C．Dreams and success.                     D．Determination and freedom.

Every American family has its own traditions on Thanksgiving Day, and mine is no different. Once the national holiday arrives, my mom rises early to make the meal. She puts a turkey in the oven, chops carrots and bakes pies. I’m sorry to say that the men in the family – my dad, my younger brother and myself – rarely pitch in to help. Our job is to wash the mountain of dirty dishes after the meal is over.

Around 2 pm every Thanksgiving Day, family members seat themselves around the kitchen table. Plates of turkey, vegetables, salad, rolls and pies cover it. At this point, we can hardly keep ourselves from drooling (流口水) all over our fancy clothes, but it’s not yet time to eat.

First, we must bow our heads, close our eyes and say a prayer of thanks aloud to God for giving us everything we have. Under normal circumstances (情况), I would have no problem making a list of things I am thankful for. I grew up in a loving family. My parents, who aren’t wealthy, took out loans to help me pay for university.

But, the funny thing is, every time I sit down for Thanksgiving dinner and try to say a prayer of thanks, my mind usually goes blank. I think it has something to do with my growling (咕咕叫) stomach and all of that food sitting right there under my nose.

Eventually, though, we all finish our short prayers and dig in. To be sure, the day includes other highlights – visiting with family and watching football. But usually around 6 pm we are all ourselves stuffed like turkeys and thankful to have a nice warm bed to sleep in.

1.The purpose of the text is to ________.

A．tell what the family do for Thanksgiving Day

B．tell how the family spends Thanksgiving Day

C．introduce foods served on Thanksgiving Day

D．introduce the American Thanksgiving Day

2.On Thanksgiving Day the author’s family do the following except ________.

A．watching a movie                       B．making visits

C．having a big meal                        D．watching football

3.Why does the author’s mind usually “go blank” when saying a prayer of thanks?

A．He is too thankful to say a word.            B．His mind is on the food before him.

C．He feels too excited to speak.              D．He is shy to speak in public.

4.The underlined phrase “dig in” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.

A．chat with others    B．make a hole        C．mix things up       D．start eating

5.What can we conclude from the text?

A．On Thanksgiving Day, men do nothing but eat.

B．The author is a middle school student.

C．The author’s family is not rich, but it’s a loving one.

D．Thanksgiving Day falls on Thursday of December.