“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 Darabont in 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 Shawshank 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.
Night Noodle Markets
|www.niftynoodlesatnight.com.cn
Dreaming of some fantastic family entertainment? The Night Noodle Markets could be just what you and your family are looking for.
Tasty food. Delicious smell at the Night Noodle Markets. Enjoy the Asian-style street food.
Great locations. Top outdoor dining at all the main squares of your city.
Take a look at the menus on offer. Click on the icons below.
When? Monday to Saturday,5 pm to 11 pm.
Where? Click HERE to find a Night Noodle Market in your city.
1.What is www.niftynoodlesatnight.com.cn?
A.The name of the owner. B.The address of the website.
C.A collection of food. D.The name of the markets.
2.When can people go to the markets?
A.At 3 pm on Monday. B.At 11 am on Tuesday.
C.At 9 pm on Sunday. D.At 10 pm on Thursday.
3.The main purpose of the advertisement is to ________.
A.encourage people to go and eat at the markets
B.tell people the features of delicious Asian food
C.ask people to choose the food pictures they like
D.introduce some supporting companies to people
— Through 5G, people in two different cities can even “shake hands” on the same screen.
— _________
A.What a mess! B.Don’t mention it. C.With pleasure. D.Wonderful, indeed.
Kunqu Opera is ________ thought to be one of the symbols of Suzhou. Don’t miss it during your stay here.
A.hardly B.widely C.suddenly D.badly