Have you ever thought of taking a train and having an adventure (奇遇)？Riding the train can be a real adventure.That is how I feel every time I take Amtrak.I often take a four?hour trip to visit my children.Every time I take this trip I never know what will happen.

Last week when I was on the train and over an hour into the train ride，there was a man sitting by himself in the back of the train carrying on a mobile phone conversation— in another language.It was loud and disturbed most of the people on the train.I think it was annoying.

Fortunately I sat next to a wonderful old lady who was taking a two?day trip by train.She said her two daughters were distraught at the thought of her driving for three days to reach her home，although she had no trouble driving.The train ride was the only choice for her.She loved to look out of the window and watch the world go by on the train.

She was fun to talk to and asked me when my children started being parents.That is a very good question.Both of us are old and have children.She asked that same question from time to time.

There are always many people on the train from all walks of life，different countries，and many languages.Riding the train is a great way to increase your knowledge and take in all kinds of cultures.If you get hungry，you can buy food in the food car at any time.If you need to use the restroom there is always one available.

It sure beats driving the car，which has to stop for food and restrooms.And it is better than taking the bus.

1．According to the passage，the purpose of the author’s train ride was________.

A．to do business　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．to see her children

C．to visit places of interest 　　　　　　　　　 D．to see her old friends

2．Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “distraught” in Paragraph 3?

A．Disappointed. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．Satisfied.

C．Worried. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．Pleased.

3．Which of the following is TRUE about the old lady sitting next to the author?

A．She is too old to drive now.

B．She does not like to take trains.

C．Although she is old，she has a good memory.

D．Her daughters live far away from her home.

4．In the author’s opinion，on the train Amtrak________.

A．the services are quite good

B．the food is terribly expensive

C．all the passengers are polite

D．all the passengers are American

5．What is the best title for this passage?

A．Train ride—a cultural experience

B．A painful experience on the train

C．The history of Amtrak

D．A wonderful lady

Have you ever rubbed your hands together when they get cold? Why do we do that? We do that for friction. Friction happens when two things that aren’t very smooth rub together to make heat energy. The faster you rub two things together, the more friction (and heat) you can make. Let’s discover friction!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: ● Soap           ● Water          ● Your hands! WHAT TO DO: 1. Make sure your hands are dry. 2. Rub your hands together until you feel the heat of your hands. 3. Now, use soap and water to get your hands very slippery (滑的). 4. Try to make friction happen while your hands are slippery. 5. Please write down what has happened. LET’S TALK! Friction is an energy that happens when two things rub together. When friction happens, it makes heat! When your hands are slippery, they won’t make very much friction and your hands won’t get so hot. DID YOU KNOW? 1. Friction happens when you stop your fast running bike. 2. Ancient people made fires by rubbing two pieces of wood together. Friction happened though they didn’t know it.         ?        Friction is everywhere. Have you ever noticed situations where friction is happening? If not, ask your parents to take you out in a car. If it is not too hot, touch the tires (轮胎) of the car before and after a short drive to see how much warmer they get from friction.

根据表格内容，选择正确答案。
【小题1】 You’d better make your hands                 to get heat when you rub them.

A．slippery

B．dry

C．wet

D．smooth

【小题2】 What does the word “friction” in this text mean in Chinese?

A．摩擦

B．冷却

C．膨胀

D．震动

【小题3】                        is NOT an example of friction.

A．Bike riding

B．Car driving

C．Hands rubbing

D．Friction discovering

【小题4】 What’s the last column (栏目)?

A．THINK IT OVER!	B．WHAT HAPPENED?
C．EVERYDAY ACTION:	D．WORK WITH PARENTS!

【小题5】This text is most probably                         .

A．a science report	B．a car advertisement
C．a rubbing introduction	D．a chemistry programme

A habit is any action that we have performed so often that it becomes something that we do almost without thinking. Some of them are thought to be bad habits. People spend countless hours and dollars each year trying to get rid of these bad habits but often fail. Why? Change is hard work and there is no shortcut to achieve it. However, there is still some advice for you to follow.
First, look at why you do it. In other words, what’s the result of doing this thing? If your bad habit is shouting at people when you are unhappy or under pressure, what do you get from it? It may make you feel a little better for the moment. Or maybe you have a bad habit of leaving your homework undone. The result could be that you get more time to spend on the Internet!
Next, take a look on the other hand. What are you losing because of your habit? Shouting at other people is a bad habit because it makes people around you feel bad and unhappy. Leaving your homework undone is a bad habit because you may be punished by your teacher. Having more Internet time means that you are losing the chance to learn the things that you need to learn. When you think that way, you’ll find that it’s not wise to keep your bad habit! Now it is time to make a decision. What will you choose? I’m sure you will choose to do what you think is more important.
【小题1】From the first paragraph we know that __________.

A．a habit is a terrible thing that we can never change

B．people take countless hours and dollars to get rid of habits

C．none of the people who try to break bad habits are successful

D．though it is difficult, we can still do something about our bad habits

【小题2】The underlined sentence “there is no shortcut to achieve it” means that ____.

A．it is not easy to get rid of bad habits

B．there is a long way and a short way

C．something dangerous may happen

D．we must cut it in a short time.

【小题3】Which does NOT happen because of a bad habit according to the reading?

A．You are punished later.

B．Making people around you feel unhappy.

C．You feel a little better after shouting at others.

D．You leave your homework at home by accident.

【小题4】The main purpose of this passage is to __________.

A．introduce and describe	B．complain and disagree
C．explain and advise	D．discuss and argue

Have you ever wondered?
1.      Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?
It can take five hours to go west-east from New York (NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon (大气现象) known as the jet stream (气流). The jet stream is a very high altitude (=" above" sea level) wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. So the planes moving at a constant air speed go faster from the west to the east when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite.
2.      What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?
Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures（建筑物）float away? What happened would depend on (依靠) how strongly the things were attached (吸附) to the earth. The earth is moving at quite a speed, moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something around your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. ‘Turning off’ gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attached to the earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling (=" top" surface of a room). Most things outside would fly off into space.
【小题1】What information can we get from the first passage?

A．It is the jet stream that affects how fast airplanes fly.

B．Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

C．It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

D．The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atlantic.

【小题2】The underlined word “shoot” in the 2nd paragraph means “_________”.

A．send for

B．move quickly

C．come out

D．grow quickly

【小题3】It can be known that without gravity _________.

A．buildings and other structures would float away

B．trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

C．something around your head would not float away

D．everything outside buildings would fly off into space

【小题4】Where can we read this passage?

A．In a research paper.	B．In a short story.
C．In a travel magazine.	D．In a student’s book

Have you ever wondered?
1. Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?
It can take five hours to go west-east from New York (NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the jet (喷射) stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. The planes moving at a constant air speed thus go faster in the west-east direction when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.
2. What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?
Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures (建筑物) float away? What happened would depend on how strongly the things were attached to the Earth. The Earth is moving at quite a speed, moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something around your head on a string (细绳), it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. ‘Switching off’ gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attached to the Earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. Most things outside would fly off into space.
【小题1】What information can we get from the first passage?

A．It is the jet stream that affects how fast airplanes fly.

B．Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

C．It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

D．The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atlantic.

【小题2】The word “shoot” underlined in the 2nd passage probably means “__________”.

A．send for	B．move quickly
C．come out	D．grow quickly

【小题3】It can be inferred that without gravity __________.

A．buildings and other structures would float away

B．trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

C．something around your head would not float away

D．everything outside buildings would fly off into space

【小题4】Which of the following statements is not mentioned in the passage?

A．It takes seven hours to travel from London to New York.

B．The earth is moving at a high speed

C．Everything on the earth will float away if there’s no gravity.

D．Everything not attached to the earth would fly off in a straight line.

【小题5】Where can we most probably read this text?

A．In a research paper.

B．In a short story.

C．In a travel magazine.

D．In a student’s book.