Amazing Chocolate
Do you like chocolate? Most people love its sweet, creamy flavor(味道). But where did chocolate come from?
About 2,600 years ago, people first made use of chocolate. These people lived in Central and South America. They used the cocoa beans to make a special drink. However, this drink was not sweet. It was very bitter. As time passed, they started putting other things to their cocoa drink. They thought this could make it taste a little better. Later, when Europeans arrived in South America, they started to import this popular drink to their home countries. Milk, cream, and sugar were added, and finally chocolate, as we know it, was born. The first chocolate house opened in London in 1675, and chocolate milk was developed in Jamaica in 1689.
Chocolate is now one of the most popular flavors in the world. Nowadays, we enjoy the chocolate flavor in chocolate bars, ice cream, cakes, pies, and many other foods. Scientists tell us that dark chocolate is good for our health. They say small but regular amounts of dark chocolate can lower the possibility of a heart attack(心脏病). This is perhaps another reason for the popularity of chocolate.
According to the scientists, if we eat large amounts of any high calorie food, including chocolate, we’ll become very fat. However, with its delicious flavor, chocolate will keep popular. The secret of enjoying chocolate is to try not to eat too much of it.
1.When did people first make use of chocolate?
______________________________________________________________________
2.Why did people put other things to their cocoa drink?
______________________________________________________________________
3.Where did the first chocolate house open?
______________________________________________________________________
4.Why is chocolate popular in the world?
______________________________________________________________________
5.What’s the secret of enjoying chocolate?
______________________________________________________________________
Just don’t want to work
Summer holiday is over. How many of you have stayed up late to finish your homework over the last few days? What about the school day? Do you start working on your homework right away when you get home from school?
A lot of people often put off difficult or big tasks until they must be done. They’re called procrastinators(拖延症患者). Procrastination is a common problem for many people, in fact. Sometimes it just feels easier to wait until the last minute to do certain things. However, this is not a good thing, as you have to work harder and faster if you wait until there is little time left. This means procrastination makes you in hurry, so you can’t do things better. For example, you will have a test tomorrow morning, you chat with your friends online, thinking about you still have time to prepare. But at last, you have to go over your lessons in a short time because it is very late when you take out your book. Of course, it cut down the quality of work. You should have done your work better, don’t you?
I myself am a bit of a procrastinator. But every morning when I wake up, I list three important things I want to do or I have to do, then write them down on paper. I kept on trying this for a long time and it really helps me a lot. It can be hard to get started sometimes. But once I do, the work gets done quickly and with little stress(压力).
Everyone procrastinates from time to time. It’s a natural thing to do. You don’t have to blame(责备) yourself. After all, we still need time to relax and take a break from our busy lives. Just make sure you still get your homework done on time!
1.Procrastinators are people who _______.
A.don’t do their homework during holidays
B.often finish their tasks earlier than others
C.put off their work until the last minute
D.are not responsible for their own work
2.The third paragraph is mainly about _______.
A.what the writer does to stop procrastinating
B.why people should finish their work earlier
C.how people procrastinate their work with stress
D.when the writer starts to list the important things
3.The writer probably agrees that _______.
A.it is hard for people to finish work on time
B.procrastination is not a serious problem
C.people feel sad after putting off their work
D.people should relax before doing their work
People usually think that cats are not very friendly. Unlike dogs, cats play with people less than dogs. They like to stay alone for hours. However, a new study shows that cats like people just as much as dogs.
Scientists at Oregon State University, US, studied cats’ relationships(关系) with their owners. They invited 117 cat owners to take a test. In the six-minute test, cat owners walked into a new room with their pets. After two minutes, the owners left the room, leaving the cats alone. When the owners came back two minutes later, the scientists looked to see what the cats would do. About two-thirds of the cats came to greet their owners right away when they came back. The cats then went back to looking around the room, but still came back to their owners now and then.
These cats, the scientists said, saw their owners as a source of security(安全的来源) in a new place. In the same test, 58% of dogs acted just like the cats. “This idea that cats like to stay alone or don’t really care about people isn’t holding up,” said Kristyn Vitale, a scientist who work on the study. “The more we find out about cats, the more we’re seeing that they’re social animals,” said Kristyn Vitale.
1.People usually think that cats _______.
A.are more friendly than dogs
B.are likely to stay by themselves
C.like people as much as dogs
D.remember their owners well
2.Scientists made the test to find out _______.
A.the main difference between cats and dogs
B.the reasons why cats don’t care about people
C.the relationship between cats and their owners
D.the ways which cat owners take care of their pets
3.The phrase holding up in the last paragraph probably means _______.
A.different B.clear C.new D.true
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A.Cats Like to Be Alone
B.Dogs Love Their Owners
C.Dogs Are More Friendly
D.Cats Are Our Friends
One day, I took my daughter to the playground in the park. As soon as we got there, my daughter ran to the swing and asked for a push. When I was helping my daughter, I saw another girl trying to make her own swing go high by herself. Her old grandmother was sitting on the chair nearby and smiled at me.
I gave my daughter one big push and then walked to the little girl. I asked if she wanted me to give her a push. She smiled and said “Yes”. For the next two hours, I pushed the swings, and played with my daughter and the little girl. When we went home, I was very tired. But my heart was flying much higher than the swings.
One day two years later, I was a little tired after working for eight hours. But I needed to pick up my daughter before going home. While I was waiting outside the school gate, a little girl came over and smiled sweetly at me. What a surprise! She was the girl I helped in the park. She gave me a big hug before catching her school bus. As I watched her running away, I didn’t feel tired anymore.
In life, the love we give others will find its way back to us. The love we share, the kindness we give, and the happiness we create will always come back to us with a pleasant surprise.
1.How long did the writer push the swing?
A.For two hours. B.For eight hours.
C.For one day. D.For one week.
2.When the little girl saw the writer two years later, she .
A.found her way back B.gave the writer a hug
C.gave the writer a kiss D.walked to her school
3.The story mainly tells us that .
A.helping others is to enjoy yourself
B.hugging the girl brings kindness
C.working for hours keeps us healthy
D.pushing swings makes people happy
I was in fifth grade. One day, my dad’s car was broken into and all of the things inside were stolen(偷), including my schoolbag. It had my binder, my textbooks and my notebooks where I used to write stories. I was really ______.
I had to go to school with nothing the next day. My teacher, Miss Taylor, was very kind to me. She gave me a new binder(活页夹) after I told her what had happened. She also ______ me some crayons and asked me if I’d like to color the front of the binder. I really appreciated her kindness.
But I never did ______ the new binder because something even better happened later that same day. Miss Taylor got a call from the office. After she hung up the phone, she said ______, “Zoe, a miracle(奇迹) has happened! Someone found your schoolbag!” I ran to the office and got my ______. When I opened it, I saw that all my things were still inside. The teacher in the office said it had been ______ to the school by an old woman. She found my schoolbag on the side of the road and brought it to the school office because she found the
______ in my binder.
There are lots of people out there who are ______. There is no need to lose faith(信心) in society just because of one bad apple.
1.A.happy B.nervous C.tired D.sad
2.A.posted B.made C.handed D.kept
3.A.forget B.color C.buy D.spread
4.A.quietly B.slowly C.excitedly D.angrily
5.A.textbook B.notebook C.crayon D.schoolbag
6.A.brought B.guided C.headed D.sent
7.A.address B.story C.grade D.call
8.A.careful B.kind C.simple D.proud
Giraffes _____ my favourite animals. They have big eyes on a small head and they can see very well. They are very tall so they can eat from tall trees. They can run fast with their thin legs but they ______ run for a long time. They often ______ for long hours to find food in places far away.
1.A.is B.was C.are D.were
2.A.can B.can’t C.must D.mustn’t
3.A.walk B.will walk C.walked D.is walking
