Some parents are used to doing almost everything for their children. They see their older children as babies all the time! It can be a very common problem in China, because most parents only have one child in China. Some parents care so much about the safety of their children that they are afraid to let them go anywhere or do anything by themselves. So their children fail to learn social skills and become more dependent(依賴于) on them!

In fact, no children really enjoy being looked after by their parents all the time. No parents would be happy knowing that. Because of too much care, their children don't know anything about the world. Children need their own time to grow into adults and to learn how to deal with problems. Too much care damages their fun when they are growing up. And when suddenly they can't depend on their parents，these children will be in a big trouble!

It is nice that parents show their care to their children. It is nice that children know that their parents' care is out of love. And it will be nicer if the children let their parents know how much love they really need and how much love is too much.

1.According to the writer, the common problem in China is that ．

A. many children don't like to go to school

B. some parents do almost everything for their children

C. some parents don't let their children go anywhere

2.Most Chinese children know little about the world because ．

A. their parents take too much care of them

B. most parents have only one child

C. they are too young

3.The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 1 refers to(指代) ．

A. children B. parents C. teachers

4.What does the writer really want to tell us?

A. Children don't need any love.

B. Parents should give children as much love as possible.

C. Parents should let their children do things themselves.

Do you dream of being a reporter？Are you a good English writer who loves the news？We're looking for 100 students from around the world. They will join the BBC Kid Reporter team for the 2015～2016 school year. In the past, BBC Kid Reporter have：

★Interviewed leaders and other people.

★Written news stories for BBC For Kids.

★Talked about their work on television.

Next year, our team will continue to report local news stories for BBC For Kids magazine and bbcforkids.com.

How to Enter

Visit www.bbcforkids.com and fill in the entry form(報名表). Be sure to read the rules and share them with your parents, who must sign(簽名) your form. Entries must be done by June 19, 2015.

You must be OVER 13 years of age. Good luck!

1.100 students from around will join the BBC Kid Reporter team.

A. the world

B. the nation

C. the UK

2.In the past, BBC Kid Reporters have .

A. made a lot of movies

B. read letters to British kids

C. interviewed leaders and other people

3.Next year the team will go on to report local news stories for .

A. Chinese newspapers

B. BBC For Kids magazine and bbcforkids.com

C. British middle school

4.What will you do first of all to enter the BBC Kid Reporter team?

A. Visit the website and fill in the entry form.

B. Read the rules and share them with your parents.

C. Ask your parents to sign your entry form.

5.How old must you be to join the BBC Kid Reporter team?

A. 12 years old.

B. 10 years old or so.

C. More than 13 years old.

Parents can be very important teachers in our lives. However, they are not always the best teachers.

Parents may be too close to their children emotionally(感情上). Sometimes they can only see their children through the eyes of a protector. For example, a teacher might see a trip to a big city as a valuable experience. However, it might seem too dangerous to a parent.

Another problem is that parents may expect their children's interests to be similar to their own. If they love science, they may try to force(強迫) their children to love science too. But what if(要是……又怎樣) the child's true love is art, or writing, or car repair?

Parents usually want to pass on their values to their children. But should children always believe what their parents do？When children are young, they believe that their parents are always right. But when they get older, they will have different ways of thinking.

The most important thing to realize is that we all have many teachers in our lives. Our parents teach us, our teachers teach us, and our friends teach us. Books and newspapers and televisions also teach us. All of them are valuable.

1. might see a trip to a big city as a valuable experience, according to the passage.

A. A parent

B. A teacher

C. Either a teacher or a parent

2.Parents may hope that their children have the same as their own, according to the passage.

A. looks B. interests C. habits

3.The underlined phrase “pass on” in the 4th paragraph means “ ”.

A. 跨過 B. 繼承 C. 傳遞

4.When children get older, they .

A. begin to have their own way of thinking

B. should always believe what their parents do

C. believe that their parents are always right

5.What is the best title of the passage?

A. Never Grow Up

B. Believe in Your Parents Forever

C. Are Parents Always the Best Teachers

There was a boy and his family was very rich. One day his father took him on a trip to a place. He wanted to show his son how poor people were there. They spent several days on a farm. There were many poor families living on the farm.

On their way home, the father asked the son, “How was the trip？” “It was great, Dad，” the son answered. “Did you notice how poor people were there？” asked his father. “Oh, yes，” said the son. “So, tell me，” said his father. The son said, “Well, we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool in our garden, while they have a river that has no end. We have expensive lanterns(燈), but they have stars above their heads at night. We have only a small piece of land to live on, while they have the endless fields. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have high walls around our houses to protect us, but they don't need walls, because their friends will protect them.”

The father had nothing to say. Then the boy added, “Thank you, Dad, for letting me see how poor we are.”

1.The father wanted to show his son .

A. how people on the farm worked

B. how poor people were on the farm

C. how beautiful the farm was

2.How often did they go to the farm?

A. Once a week.

B. Twice a month.

C. The writer doesn't tell us.

3.When the father asked the son how the trip was, the son thought it .

A. great B. tiring C. terrible

4.According to the boy, people on the farm can see at night.

A. expensive lanterns

B. a lot of cars

C. stars above their heads

5.Which of the following is TRUE, according to the passage?

A. The boy thought that people on the farm lived a happy life.

B. The father and the son spent several weeks on a farm.

C. People on the farm have high walls around their houses.

Ironing a shirt is easy to learn. Just follow the steps in this short guide(指南), and you'll learn how to iron your shirt properly with the help of the video. The most important thing is this: Don't try to iron a dry shirt.

Get ready

You will need an iron, an ironing board and a bottle of water. Place the shirt on the ironing board. You can iron in whatever order you like, but most people like to start at the top—the collar. Have a bottle of water ready. Spray(噴) it onto the shirt to make it easier to iron.

Do the ironing

First, iron the inside of the collar. Second, turn the collar over and iron the other side. Third, iron the back shoulders of the shirt. Fourth, iron the cuffs. Iron the inside, then the outside of the cuffs. Fifth, iron the sleeves. Sixth, iron the back of the shirt. Finally, iron the front of the shirt. Do one side, and then do the other side.

Dry the shirt

Check your shirt and iron it again if you need to. Now put your shirt on a hanger and let it dry.

1.What's the most important thing if you want to iron a shirt?

A. Have a bottle of water ready.

B. Don't try to iron a dry shirt.

C. Wash your shirt carefully.

2.You will need all of the following things EXCEPT before you iron a shirt.

A. a ruler

B. an iron

C. an ironing board

3.Most people like to start with ironing of a shirt.

A. the sleeves

B. the back shoulders

C. the collar

4.How many steps are there to do the ironing, according to this guide?

A. Five. B. Six. C. Seven.

5.The writer tells us it's easy to learn how to iron a shirt by .

A. reading a book

B. watching a video

C. listening to the radio

The first day of school, our professor introduced an old lady named Rose to us.

“Why are you in college at such an age？” I asked her. She replied, “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one！” We became friends quickly.

At the end of the term I invited Rose to make a speech to our football team. I'll never forget what she taught us. She said, “There are some secrets of staying young and being happy. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You must have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you will die. There is a huge difference between growing old and growing up. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't need any talent or ability. To grow up, you must always find the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The people who are afraid of death are those with regrets.”

At the end of the year, Rose finished her college. One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep. We would always remember the great woman.

1.From the passage, we can learn that Rose .

A. went to college at an old age

B. became a professor later

C. once worked in a hospital

2.At the end of the term the writer invited Rose to .

A. go to a party

B. play football

C. make a speech

3.The underlined word “talent” in the third paragraph means “ ” in Chinese.

A. 訓練 B. 方法 C. 才能

4.If you want to stay young and be happy, ， according to Rose.

A. never grow up

B. don't be afraid of death

C. have a dream and never lose it

5.What is the best title of the passage?

A. Laughing Every day

B. Never too Old to Learn

C. Growing Old and Growing up

The word “chicken” is used in so many English idioms. Do you know the following? Don't count your chickens before they hatch．

The expression “Don't count your chickens before they hatch” means “Don't expect that all your eggs, which have been laid, will hatch.” “Hatch” is a verb, meaning the baby chicken breaks open the shell of the egg and comes out successfully. So the expression mainly means “Don't depend on things working out just as you want them to”. This saying appears in the story The Milkmaid and Her Pail in Aesop's Fables.

A chicken?and?egg situation

In history, philosophers(哲學家) and scientists have met this dilemma(困境): Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Aristotle thought that both the bird and the egg must have always been there. However, more recently, scientists such as Stephen Hawking have argued that the egg came before the chicken. In common speech, the term “a chicken?and?egg situation” means a situation where it is impossible to say which of two things appeared first and which caused the other one.

Don't be such a chicken

There seems to be an idea in English, somehow, that a chicken is a scared bird. Maybe that's not fair as most birds will probably fly away from you if you go towards them. But “Don't be such a chicken” means “Don't be so scared and get a bit more courage.” So if your friend fear to do something, you can say to him or her, “Don't be such a chicken. Just have a try！”

1.The underlined word “hatch” means “ ” in Chinese.

A. 孵化 B. 長大 C. 破碎

2.We may say “don't be such a chicken” to someone when he .

A. is good at math

B. has difficulty making a choice

C. is not brave enough to do something

3.What does someone get when he is given “chicken feed” for his work?

A. A high pay.

B. A little money.

C. A lot of food.

4.Which idiom can be used when we can't make a cause?and?effect relationship clear?

A. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

B. Chicken feed.

C. A chicken?and?egg situation.

Alice in Wonderland

Chapter 2

Alice was not hurt, so she jumped to her feet in a moment. She looked up, and found the White Rabbit was still in sight. She was close behind it when she turned the comer, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen. She found herself in a long, low hall.

There were doors all around the hall, but they were all locked.

Alice walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.

Suddenly, she came upon a little three?legged table. There was nothing on it but a tiny golden key, and Alice's first idea was that this might belong to one of the doors of the hall.

But, alas! Either the locks were too large, or the key was too small. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before and behind it was a little door.

She tried the little golden key in the lock, and she was pleased to find it fitted!

1.The hall where Alice stayed is .

A. long and low

B. big and high

C. wide and low

2.What did Alice want to do when she got to the hall?

A. She wanted to know how to get some food

B. She wanted to know where her sister was

C. She wanted to find out how to get out again

3.Where did Alice find the tiny golden key?

A. B. C.

4.How did Alice feel when the gold key fitted into a lock?

A. Tired. B. Shocked. C. Happy.

There's much to see under the sea, but you need to remember that light behaves differently in water than in air. The objects appear closer to you than they exactly are. You might find yourself reaching out to touch something and completely missing it.

Objects under water will appear larger than they would on the surface, too. Be careful not to tell any stories about the big fish that got away. That fish might not be so big after all! It's just because sometimes things can seem to be as much as about 33 percent bigger in water!

What's more, in deeper water, colors just don't seem as bright. In fact, it looks as if some colors are missing. Remember the color of an object results from the wavelengths(波長) of light that are reflected(反射) from its surface. And light is taken in as it moves down through the water.

Swimmers wear wet suits to keep warm underwater. Let's take a bright red, yellow, and blue wet suit as an example. These colors are hard to miss on the surface of water. Watch carefully the changes in color as you descend in the water. The red part now looks almost black because the red light wavelengths, the longest among these three colors, are missing. As you go down deeper, the same thing will happen to the yellow part and in the end to the blue part. Even at a place of about 6 to 9 meters underwater, you will look terrible, like a ghost(鬼怪)! And you have to wait for your return to the surface to enjoy the bright colors again!

1.You miss the object underwater when you want to touch it because .

A. your eyesight is quite poor

B. you are not quick enough

C. it is not as close as it seems

2.The underlined word “descent” probably means “ ” in Chinese in this passage.

A. 下潛 B. 漂浮 C. 屏息

3.Which of the following is true?

A. A four?meter?long fish looks three meters long underwater.

B. The wavelengths of red light are longer than those of blue light.

C. Much water will be taken in by the swimmer deep in the water.

4.The best title of this passage is .

A. The Standard of Color Underwater

B. The Direction of Light Underwater

C. The Behavior of Light Underwater

Do you want to know how and why a fall leaf changes color? We first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.

Leaves are the world's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots and take CO2 from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and CO2 into glucose(葡萄糖), a kind of sugar. Plants use it as food for energy and growing.

A chemical called “chlorophyll” in the leaves gives plants their green color. As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter, and trees “know” to begin getting ready for winter.

During winter, there is not enough sunlight or water. Trees rest during this time and live on the food they store during the summer. They begin to shut down their food?making factories. As the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, we begin to see yellow and orange leaves.

The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in autumn. In some trees, like maples(楓樹), sunlight and the cool nights of autumn turn the glucose in the leaves into a red color. And we can enjoy the beautiful red leaves during autumn.

1.Which should be in the box?

sunlight＋＋CO2→glucose

A. air B. sugar C. water

2.The underlined word “chlorophyll” means “ ”．

A. 蛋白質(zhì) B. 脂肪 C. 葉綠素

3.The leaves turn yellow because they are short of .

A. sunlight and water

B. glucose and energy

C. water and CO2

4.Which of the following is NOT true?

A. When autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter.

B. Trees begin to stop making food in summer.

C. During winter some of the yellow and orange colors are still in the leaves.