Lots of young people like reading magazines in their free time for fun. Of so many different magazines, Reader’s Digest is famous and popular.
Reader’s Digest is a monthly magazine. Before the 1980s, it belonged to a privately held company, which was started in 1922 by Lila Bell Wallace and Dewitt Wallace. This magazine is small and easy to carry, it’s just half the size of most American magazines, which caused a phrase in 2005, “America in your pocket”. It is the best selling magazine in the USA. At present, its circulation in the USA has reached 10 million copies and the number of the readers there is 38 million. Outside the USA, another 40 million people throughout more than 70 countries also read this magazine in 21 languages.

This magazine’s focus is not news but more of cultural views because the editors think people now can get timely news from somewhere else such as TV and newspaper. They hope this magazine can give readers something that is about special personal experiences, or something the readers can share with their families. In different countries, this magazine provides a window to the world for the local readers. Some parts of the magazine are about the local customs and interests of the local readers. The other parts give the local readers information from all over the world.
This magazine actually used to be a public business until the Wallaces died in the 1980s. Because they had no children, there was no one to take over the company. Sixteen years ago, this company went public and became a public company.
【小题1】How often does Reader’s Digest come out in the USA?

A．Once a year.	B．Once a month.
C．Once a week.	D．Once a day.

【小题2】How many people all over the world read this magazine?

A．38 million.

B．40 million.

C．78 million.

D．108 million.

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT the focus of Reader’s Digest?.

A．Timely news .	B．Personal experiences
C．Cultural views	D．Local customs

【小题4】Which of the following is true?

A．Reader’s Digest is the name of a newspaper.

B．Reader’s Digest is big and not easy to carry.

C．Reader’s Digest can open people’s eyes.

D．Reader’s Digest is still a family business today.

Time to Dance

    Are you the kind of person who likes to move with music? It's a natural thing to do. Even little children start jumping up and down when they hear music.

    Scientists say that animals dance, too_____1.______ . The "dances" of animals send messages to other animals. But when people dance, they express feelings about life and love, or about these very human experiences.

    Dances are good for you in many ways. For one thing, dancing is good for you physically. It makes your heart work and makes you breathe fast. _____2.______. If you go dancing often, you can keep physically fit. You may feel very tired after dancing, but you’ll probably also feel relaxed and happy. This is another important point about dancing. It gives you a chance to express your feelings and feel better about yourself_____3.______, dancing helps those feelings go away.

  _____4.______ Some dances are for couples and some are for groups. But all kinds of dances give you a chance to meet new people or to do something enjoyable with friends.

A. But their dancing is different

B. And finally, it's a social activity

C. If people like dancing very much

D. If you are angry or upset about something

E. It also makes you use your arms and your legs

 

Canberra is the capital of Australia. It is a modern and lively city with a population of over 345 000.

History Canberra is the eighth largest city in Australia. It is 238 km from Sydney and 507 km from Melbourne. Melbourne was once the capital of Australia. Sydney people also wanted to make their city the capital. It was difficult for the government to make the decision. Then in 1911, the government chose a place to build the new capital. It was between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities in Australia. It took more than 14 years to build the city. In 1927, the city was set up. It became the capital and was named Canberra. “ Canberra” means “a place for friends to get together”.

Culture Canberra is a beautiful city with trees and flowers everywhere. There’s a Flower Festival in September each year. People can enjoy all kinds of beautiful flowers and welcome the spring to arrive. A man-made lake --- Lake Burley Griffin is in the center of the city. It’s about 25 km long. People like to ride bikes, walk or run around the lake. In Canberra, there’re many famous universities like the Australian National University and the University of Canberra. The National Library and the National Museum of Australia are also famous places that people like to visit.

【小题1】How far is Canberra from Sydney ?

A．25 km.

B．238 km.

C．345km.

D．507 km.

【小题2】The word “ Canberra” means ____________.

A．the largest city	B．a beautiful man-made lake
C．the old capital city	D．a place for friends to get together

【小题3】Canberra Flower Festival is a festival to ____________.

A．ride bikes	B．visit universities
C．welcome the spring	D．walk around the lake

Reading newspapers has become an important part of everyday life. Some people read newspapers as the first thing to do in the morning; others read newspapers as soon as they have free time during the day so that they can learn what is happening in the world. Sometimes, we do not have enough time to read all the news carefully, so we just take a quick look at the front page. At other times, we may be in such a hurry that we only have a few minutes to look at the headlines of the passages.
Newspapers can be found everywhere in the world. We can get many different kinds of newspapers in big cities, but in some mountain villages we can see few newspapers. Some newspapers are published once a week, but most of the papers are published once a day with many pages, some even published twice a day. You know different people enjoy reading different newspapers. Some like world news and others prefer short stories. They just choose what they are interested in.
Today newspapers in English have the largest numbers of readers in the world. The English language is so popular that many Chinese students are reading English newspapers such as China Daily or 21st Century. Also they bring us more and more information with Internet.
【小题1】People read newspapers in order to _____________.

A．learn the latest (最新的) news

B．meet their own different needs

C．read the short stories

D．find the morning news

【小题2】From the passage we can see that __________ when people get newspapers.

A．they read them very carefully

B．they just read the headlines

C．not everyone reads all the pages

D．they have no time to read them

【小题3】Newspapers have so many pages because _______________.

A．more and more people like to read them

B．people enjoy reading something different

C．newspaper become cheaper

D．more pages mean more money

【小题4】The most popular in the world are newspaper ____________.

A．in English	B．in Chinese
C．in other language	D．with many pages

【小题5】According the passage, besides newspapers, people also get information from ___.

A．magazines	B．advertisements
C．e-mail	D．Internet

Penguins are lovely animals. Most people like them. But now as many as 10 of the 17 kinds of penguins are in danger of disappearing. The number of penguins has decreased by ( 减少了) 30% since 1987.

Penguins are black and white birds that live in the southern part of the world. They are common in the Antarctic Continent (南极大陆) ,New Zealand, Australia and South America. Many live near cold waters (水域). But some live near warm waters in Galapagos Islands. Penguins  cannot fly, but  they are fine swimmers. The shape of their body helps them to survive. Penguins eat fish and krill  (磷虾). They have short wings that help them to dive up to 900 feet to catch larger fish. They can swim 10-15 kilometers an hour which lets them protect themselves. They also have lots of body oil that helps in keeping them dry in the water.

The warming of the earth is the reason for the decrease in the number of penguins. The hotter and hotter air has caused ocean waters to become warmer. Higher water temperature has decreased the fish and krill. Some years later these birds are completely unable to reproduce. And many adult penguins die of hunger.

Too much fishing, exploration for oil and oil leaks (泄漏) also make penguins be in danger. Poisonous things in ocean waters are another danger. Penguins also have their enemies, including sharks, seals and sea lions.

1.Penguins can do the following except________.

A．diving

B．flying

C．swimming

D．catching fish

2.Which of the following is NOT the reason for the decrease in the number penguins?

A．The warming of the earth.	B．Too much fishing.
C．Natural disasters.	D．Poisonous things in ocean waters.

3.What does the underlined word "reproduce" mean?

A．繁殖

B．灭绝

C．迁徙

D．觅食

4. What's the passage mainly about?

A．Fish and krill have decreased.

B．Ocean waters are polluted.

C．Sharks and seals are the enemies of pen­guins.

D．The decrease in the number of penguins.