The royal family is a part of British history and cultural identity.

Up until the 17th century, people believed that the British king or queen had a “divine(天赐的)right” to rule. This was the idea that God chose the king or queen and that he or she was therefore above the law. However, this idea was challenged during the English Civil War, when King Charles the First was put in prison and then killed in 1649.

So what role does the British royal family have today?

The Queen is head of the UK and the Commonwealth. She has important formal duties that go with her different titles. As Head of State, for example, she represents the UK on visits abroad and invites other world leaders to visit the UK；as Head of the Armed Forces in name, only she can declare when the UK is at war or when a war is over. She has to sign many government and Commonwealth documents every day.

Although the royal family does the work for the UK, there are British people called“anti-monarchists(反君主制者)”who do not believe there should be a royal family. One criticism(批评意见)is that the British people should not have to pay for the royal family with their taxes(税).

Today, the royal family works hard to be relevant(相关的)in the modern world. The Queen still gives a speech to the nation on television at Christmas, but it gets less and less formal every year；now it is even available as a podcast(播客).

In 2005, after graduating from university, Prince William spent time teaching English in Uruguay, the sort of work many ordinary young British people do in their gap years.

1.What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?

A．The British king or queen is considered above the law.

B．The English Revolution put an end to the British royal family in 1649.

C．The British king or queen is no longer believed to rule by divine right.

D．The royal family didn’t play an important role in Britain in the 17 th century.

2.Which of the following is among the formal duties of the Queen?

A．Traveling around the UK.

B．Declaring when the world is at war.

C．Inviting other leaders to have dinner with her.

D．Signing Commonwealth documents every day.

3.With the example of Prince William in the last paragraph, the author intends to show that         .

A．Prince William is very popular in the UK

B．the royal family is trying to connect better with ordinary people

C．Prince William has made an effort to win young people’s admiration

D．many young British people do voluntary work

4.It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.

A．the royal family doesn’t have to pay taxes

B．the British people are all in favor of the royal family

C．the British people can talk to the Queen through a podcast

D．the royal family attacks republicans through media and press

 

Diary of a Do-It-Yourself Book

This book based on Greg Hefley's own "diary" lets kids express themselves in an exciting way．In the book, kids will be asked: What was the best dream you have ever had? The worst thing you have ever eaten? The best secret you have ever heard? This Do-It-Yourself Book is unique and special because it has blank pages for readers to write their own stories and keep their own diaries．

Author:       Jeff Kinney

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Train to Somewhere

Marianne, heading west with fourteen other children on a train, is sure her mother will show up at one of the stations along the way. Stop after stop goes by, and there is no sign of her mother in the crowds that come to look over the children. No one shows any interest in adopting shy Marianne, either. But th at is all right. She has to he free for her mother to claim her. Then the train stopped at its final stop, a town called Somewhere…

Author:        Eve Bunting

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Chinese Children's Favorite Stories

This volume of beloved Chinese stories contains a delightful selection from the store of Chinese legend. Discover many delightful animal characters as well as Change and Guan Yin. Retold for an international audience, the stories with beautiful pictures will give children aged ix to ten in other countries a chance to learn about both the tradition and culture of China.

Author:         Mingmei Yip

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The Way Science Works

The perfect introduction to show how science explains the world around us! Eye-opening experiments and extraordinary photography bring science to life．Discover science in action from the principles that explain everyday facts to the theories behind the technology in today's fast-moving world. Full of facts about famous scientists, technology news and more．                                   

Author:        Robin Kerrod

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1.Diary of a Do – It – Yourself Book is different from other books because you can     .

A．ask the author questions	B．write your own stories in the book
C．have a chance to see beautiful photos	D．read many interesting stories about the author

2.Amazon．com gives no discount on              .

A．Diary of a Do-It-Yourself Book	B．Train to Somewhere
C．Chinese Children’s Favorite Stories	D．The Way Science Works

3.Based on Train to Somewhere, how many children head west on the train．

A．15.

B．14.

C．13.

D．16.

4.Chinese Children's Favorite Stories is written for____

A．Chinese children aged 6 to 10	B．teenagers in other countries
C．junior students in other countries	D．foreign children aged 6 to 10

5.Whose book would you like to read if you are interested in science and technology?

A．Jeff Kinney’s．	B．Eve Bunting's．
C．Mingmei Yip’s．	D．Robin Kerrod’s．

 

How old is “old”?  The answer has changed over the years. Two hundred years ago，you were old at 35.At the beginning of the 20 th century，the average life span（平均寿命）was 45. In 1950，70-year-olds were really old.Today，a healthy 70-year-old is still thought young.
So，how old is old? The answer is one you’ve heard many times，from all kinds of people.“You are as old（or young）as you feel.”Your age simply tells you how many years you have lived.Your body tells you how well you’ve lived.
“Nobody grows old by living a number of years.” wrote a writer.“People grow old when they don’t have their ideas.”
People shouldn’t have the wrong ideas about aging.Sometimes，older minds can be as bright as young minds.Alice Brophy once said，“It makes me unhappy when people say，‘You look young for your age。’ What does that mean?You know you can die old at 30 and live young at 80. ”
【小题1】In 1950, the average life span was       .

A．35

B．45

C．50

D．70

【小题2】People grow old when        according to a writer.

A．they don’t have their ideas.	B．they live many years.
C．They can’t live longer.	D．they have their ideas.

【小题3】The meaning of the underlined word “aging” is “        ”

A．growing old	B．staying young
C．keeping healthy	D．feeling unhappy

【小题4】Which question is NOT answered in the passage?

A．Can older people be as bright as young people?

B．What’s the wrong ideas about aging?

C．How old is “old”?

D．what is the average life span today?

【小题5】The passage is mainly about __________ .

A．the average life span	B．aging
C．the 20th century	D．older people and young people

In the modern world more and more people meet the problem of identity．The most interesting example is that of a so – called “banana”, which refers to an American who has an Asian face but holds Western values．

In Shanghai, there now live a group of people from abroad．They look no different from the locals and speak fluent Chinese or even Shanghai dialect, but when it comes to writing Chinese characters, they are almost illiterate（文盲）．Jack is such an example．He never learned to read or write Chinese characters, which he finds mysterious and difficult．From time to time, he files to the US as he does not feel Shanghai is where he comes from．“But when I am in the States, I feel that’s not my home either,” he said．

At De Gaulle Airport in France, there is a Swiss man who has been living in the waiting – room for a long time because he lost h is passport during his travels．He was refused entry into several countries．But when he was eventually allowed to return to Swizerland, he refused to leave the airport．His reason was very simple—“I am sure who I am．I need no acknowledgement from others,” he said during an interview．For th is reason  he was honored by the Western media as “the Hero of identity．”

As the Internet becomes more and more popular, the problem of identity becomes more serious．In a virtual world, people can have different addresses registered with different names．In the Internet chat room, even one’s gender（性别） is hard to determine．It seems that in the glohal village, people are saying hello every day to each other without knowing whom they are talking to．

What will be the next crisis（危机） of identity? With the development of cloning technology, it might be: who is the real “I”?

1.What does the passage mainly talk about?

   A．The importance of identity．

   B．The crisis of identity．

   C．Differences between Eastern and Western cultures．

   D．Difficulty in living in foreign counties．

2.The Swiss man had to live in De Gaulle Airport in France because       ．

   A．he needed to board a plane at any time

   B．he couldn’t afford to live in a hotel

   C．he needed others acknowledgement

   D．he couldn’t prove who he was

65．A “banana” in the passage is in fact an      ．

   A．American traveling to Asia                                          B．American keeping Eastern culture

   C．American born in Asia                                               D．America – born Asian

3.We can infer from the passage that the author believes       ．

   A．there will be more problems relating to identity in the future

   B．Internet technology helps solve problems of identity

   C．only people traveling abroad have problems of identity

   D．people don’t need to worry about identity

 

Talking on a mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages. Text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it cheaper by making the words shorter. You can do this by taking out “unimportant” letters in the words and using numbers instead of words (2 = to, 3 = free, 4 = for, 8 = ate, so h8 = hate, etc.). You can also keep away from using punctuation (标点). Here is an example: Do U wnt 2 g 2 th cnma tnite (Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?)

What do you think these text messages mean?

Whr hv U bn? Iv bn wtng hrs fr a cll.

Im hm nw, why nt gv me a cll.

I gt a txt mssge frm my frnd. Shes hvng a prty on Strdy.

Mobile phone users have developed a group of symbols (符号) to show how they feel. They are called emoticons, and there are some examples below. To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideways. For example, if you say something in a text message that is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face. Like this: Why didt u call me? I’m so sad.   (

Here are some others. Can you think of text messages where you could use them?

) laughing     ( sad     ＜ really sad

Ⅴ shouting    |·| asleep    ：0 shocked

8·| surprised    \·o bored

Why are text messages popular?

A. Because they are expensive.             B. Because they are cheap.

C. Because they are hard to write.          D. Because they are not important.

The first paragraph tells us that we can make the text messages shorter in             ways.

A. one          B. two          C. three          D. four

What does this text message “Do U wnt 2 cm?” mean? It means “                    ?”.

A. Do you want to come                      B. Do you wear two caps

C. Do you want two cakes                    D. Do you go home early

Why do people use emoticons?

A. Because they can show how users feel.  B. Because the symbols are beautiful.

C. Because text messages are short.         D. Because the users can’t make the words shorter.