Even though global warming may have made the weather more mild, many animals are still hibernating（冬眠）. It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past, farmers in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation. So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French farmers. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over the France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed since the invention of lighting.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ continuous sleep is a modern invention.
In the past, without the artificial light, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves up around midnight. The late night period was known as “The Watch”. It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbors.
According to some sleep researchers, a short of insomnia（失眠）at midnight is not a disorder. It is normal. Humans can experience another state of consciousness（清醒狀態(tài)）around their sleeping, which happens in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning. This period can be a creative time for some people.
Playing with your sleep rhythms（節(jié)奏）can be dangerous, as worry may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need.
【小題1】The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people ______.

A．to set time to catch animals

B．to remind others of the time

C．to guard against possible dangers

D．to wake up their family and neighbors

【小題2】We can infer from the last paragraph that people should ______.

A．sleep in the way animals do

B．follow their natural sleep rhythms

C．keep to the eight-hour sleeping way

D．a(chǎn)sk doctors for help if they can’t sleep

【小題3】What is the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To throw new light on human sleep.

B．To encourage people to sleep less.

C．To give some suggestions on insomnia.

D．To find out people’s hibernating history.

The ocean can be a great place to swim and play, it may also be useful in another way. Some scientists think that waves could help make electricity.
“Have you ever been on a surfboard or boat and felt yourself being lifted up by a wave?” asked Jamie Taylor of the Wave Energy Group in Scotland. “There is certainly a lot of energy in waves.”
Scientists are working on using that energy to make electricity. The United States and a few other countries have started doing research on wave energy, and it is already being used in Scotland.
Most waves are created when winds blow across the ocean. “The winds start out by making little ripples (波紋) in the water, but if they keep on blowing, those ripples get bigger and bigger and turn into waves,” Taylor said. “Waves are one of nature’s ways of picking up energy and then sending it off on a journey.”
When waves come towards the coast, people can set up dams(大壩) to block the water and send it through a large wheel called a turbine(渦輪). The turbine can then power an electrical generator(發(fā)電機(jī)).
We will never run out of wave power. Besides, wave energy does not create the same pollution as oil and coal do.
Oceans cover three quarters of the earth’s surface. That would make wave power seem perfect for creating energy around the world. But there are some disadvantages that need us to pay more attention to.
Jamie Taylor said that wave power still cost too much money. He said that its influence on animals in the sea is still unknown. Besides, wave power would get in the way of fishing and boat traffic.
With more research, “Many of these problems might be solved,” Taylor said. “Finding more energy sources(資源) is very important, for traditional sources of energy like oil and gas may run out some day.”
In the future, when you turn on a light button, an ocean wave could be providing the electricity!

【小題1】We can learn from the passage that__________________.

A．a(chǎn)lmost every country is making use of the wave power at present

B．it is necessary for us to develop wave power instead of oil and coal

C．wave power will be sure to make some bad influence on sea animals

D．scientists are making efforts to find new ways of fishing and boat traffic

【小題2】What does the fourth paragraph tell us?

A．Why scientists are doing the research on wave power.

B．What experience that scientists have achieved so far.

C．How the wave energy forms and grows bigger.

D．Which countries are trying out wave power.

【小題3】What’s the writer’s attitude towards wave power?

A．The writer believes that wave power will be used widely by man.

B．The writer doubts if wave energy can be changed into electricity.

C．The writer is sure the experiments will come to the end some day.

D．The writer thinks that wave power isn’t worth researching at all.

【小題4】What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Sea Animals and Wave Power.

B．How Do We Get Wave Energy?

C．The Advantages of Wave Power.

D．Can Waves Make Electricity?

We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping, writing letters, talking to people, finding information, and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There’s no real word for it yet, so we’ll call it e-talk. People don’t like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases (短語) into a few letters called acronyms(首字母縮略詞). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms.
Some of them are:
BTW(by the way)     BRB (be right back)
LOL (laughing out loud) IMO (in my opinion)
People also use many abbreviations. They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations are:
info (information)    puter (computer)    pic (picture)      sec (second)
We usually don’t see people when we communicate on the Net, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keyboards to draw “feeling”, such as:
: ) (happy)     :-( (sad) ;    : P (joking)   : O (surprised)
These days, many forums have picture feelings. For example:
happy          sad         angry        cool
There are even whole new words, like ‘newbie’ (someone who is new on a chat board or forum). When you write something bad about someone else, it’s called ‘flaming’ the person.
It takes time to get used to e-talk. Also, different groups in the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbies sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.
【小題1】 Why do people type acronyms?

A．To show their feelings.

B．To make jokes.

C．Because people can type them quickly.

D．In this way, newbies won’t understand them.

【小題2】What does “My puter is not working well. :-( ” mean?

A．The person is happy about getting a new computer.

B．The person has to go away from their computer.

C．The person is angry at somebody.

D．The person is sad that his computer is having problems.

【小題3】If someone is angry, what may he type?

A．

B．

C．LOL

D．BRB

【小題4】E-talk will probably_________.

A．keep changing

B．stay the same

C．be used by people on the telephone

D．be easy for newbies to understand

【小題5】People can do the following through the Internet except _________.
A. doing shopping                B. writing diaries
C. eating foods                   C. playing games

It’s important to learn about protecting our environment. Here is a 5R rule for us:
1. Reduce
If you want to reduce waste, you should use things wisely. Millions of trees are being cut down to make paper. If everyone uses a little paper carelessly and throw it out, soon we would not have any trees left. Other things are also being wasted, and people don’t know what to do with the waste in big cities. So it is necessary to reduce the waste
2. Reuse
You should always think of reusing the usable things before throwing them out. Give your clothes you do not use or the ones which are too small to the poor. With a family, you may pass on such clothes to younger brothers or sisters.
3.  Recycle
Bottles, cans and paper can easily be recycled. By doing so, we save lots of time and money. For example, coke cans are sent to a factory, where they are smashed flat（壓平）and melted (融化) and the melted things are made for new coke cans.
4.  Recover
When you buy a box of apples, there may be a few rotten（腐爛的）apples. You have two choices: one is to throw the whole apple away, or you could cut off the rotten parts and eat the good parts. In this way, you are recovering the eatable parts of food.
5.  Repair
If one of the legs of your table is broken, you can repair it instead of throwing it away. If you want to change for better ones, It is better for you to sell the old things or give them to other people who can use them after doing some repair. It is true that North America is a “throw-away” society（社會）. But the time has come to change our way of life so that we can protect our environment. Every one of us should try our best.
【小題1】_______ can be recycled.

A．Only hard things

B．Many things

C．Few soft things

D．All things

【小題2】The “recover” rule mainly requires us _______.

A．to throw waste things away

B．to cover waste things with earth

C．to get back the useful parts

D．to throw the whole things away

【小題3】We can infer（推斷） that the writer of this passage may live in _______.

A．China

B．Japan

C．Australia

D．America

【小題4】Which of the following is true?

A．We will have no resources（資源） of nature unless we can do with the waste.

B．Recycling is the best way to save resources.

C．If we waste less, we can save more resources of nature.

D．More things are wasted in developed countries than in developing ones.

Napoga is a 12-year-old girl in Ghana(加納)，Africa. It is hard for her family to get clean water. Every morning，she leaves home at half past five to get clean water for her family in a village far away. It takes her six hours to get enough clean water for daily cooking and drinking. She has no time to go to school or to play with her friends. Millions of people in the world are like Napoga. They can't get enough clean water to keep healthy.
Earth Day is April 22. But on all other days，we must also remember it. The water we use is the most important natural resource(自然資源) on the earth.
Water covers 70% of the earth's surface. But most of that is sea water. We can't use it for very many things. Fresh water covers only 1% of the earth's surface.
You probably feel lucky that your life isn't as hard as Napoga's. But that doesn't mean you don't have to worry about water. We all face serious water problems. One of them is water pollution. All kinds of things from cars，factories，farms and homes make our rivers，lakes，and oceans dirty. Polluted water is very bad for people to drink. And dirty water is bad for fish，too. Now, 34% of all kinds of fish are dying out.
How do cars and factories make our water dirty？First，they pollute the air. Then，when it rains，the rain water comes down and makes our drinking water dirty. Dirty rain，called acid rain(酸雨)，is also bad for plants，animals and buildings.
Scientists say that in 30 years，more than half of the people in the world won't have enough clean water. We have to learn how to save more water for ourselves and our children. Here is some advice for saving water：
●Turn off the water while you brush your teeth. You can save as much as 450 liters(升) each month.
●Leaky taps(漏水的龍頭) waste a lot of water. Fix them right away！
●You can easily cut your 10-minute showers in half----and you'll be just as clean.
●When you wash dishes，don't let the water run.
●Only wash clothes when you have a lot to wash. If your washing machine isn't full，you're  wasting water！
【小題1】On the earth，_______.

A．sea water is more widely(廣泛地) used than fresh water

B．there is very little water for our living

C．there is 71% of fresh water

D．we don't need to worry about water

【小題2】Acid rain _______.

A．is only bad for living things

B．can be produced in factories

C．doesn't do harm(傷害) to people，but it's bad for plants，animals and buildings

D．doesn't just do harm to human beings but to animals，plants and buildings

【小題3】Which of the following wastes water？

A．We need ten minutes if we want a clean shower.

B．We should put in enough clothes when we wash them in washing machines.

C．You can keep yourself clean by having a shower for five minutes.

D．Don't let the water run when we brush our teeth and wash dishes.

【小題4】What's the main idea of the passage？

A．Something must be done to prevent water from being polluted.

B．Clean water means much to human beings and living things around us.

C．It's time to take care of the water we use.

D．Water is the most important natural resource on the earth.

Is your schoolbag too heavy to carry? The e-schoolbag will help you. In fact, the e-schoolbag should perhaps be called an e-textbook. It is a small computer for students. Heavy schoolbags have been a serious problem for them for a long time. But the e-schoolbag will change everything.    
It is much lighter than a usual schoolbag. Also, it is as small as a usual textbook, an exercise book and so on. They can be made into chips that are as small as a stamp. The students can read the text page by page on the “screen”, take notes, or even send e-mails to their teachers. All they have to do is to put the right chip into the e-schoolbag and press the button.
It is said that e-schoolbags have been put into use in some Chinese middle schools. In 2012, some students in Shanghai started to use e-schoolbags in the new term. Some say that e-textbooks can be easily broken. Some say it is not good to students’ eyes. But only time will tell us all.
【小題1】An e-schoolbag is _____.

A．a(chǎn) kind of computer chips	B．a(chǎn) small computer
C．bigger than a textbook	D．much heavier than a usual schoolbag

【小題2】We can use e-schoolbags for _____.

A．our study

B．our work

C．the buttons

D．stamps

【小題3】Students can’t _____ when they use e-schoolbags.

A．send e-mails	B．read the text
C．take notes	D．play computer games

【小題4】The underlined word “chips” means _____ in Chinese.

A．薯條

B．芯片

C．屏幕

D．電池

【小題5】What’s the best title of this passage?

A．To Put the Right Chips In.	B．The Big Problems.
C．A New Kind of Schoolbag.	D．How to Use the E-schoolbag?

Can you make animals work for us? Some scientists think that one day we can teach animals to do a lot of things for people. In a film shown on TV, you may see elephants, monkeys, tigers or some other animals are always given a little food to eat after they have done something. Scientists say that people can teach many different animals to do some of the easy work if they know they will get something to eat. We all know elephants can carry large logs(圓木)，and dogs can look after houses. And we even teach animals to work in factories. In America, for example, people have used apes to help make cars and scientists think that those large monkeys may drive trains one day. Now people are trying to get them to do the same thing that man does.
【小題1】Scientists think animals can help people to do something _____ .

A．if they know they will get food after doing something.

B．because animals are so clever.

C．if they know the work is easy enough

D．because most animals are friendly to man

【小題2】_______ can do some heavy work because they are so strong.

A．Tigers

B．Elephants

C．Monkeys

D．Dogs

【小題3】What does the underlined word “apes”   mean in Chinese?

A．獵豹

B．猿猴

C．孔雀

D．獅子

【小題4】Scientists are planning to make big monkeys to________.

A．make trains

B．carry logs

C．drive trains

D．work at school

【小題5】If we teach animals carefully, ________.

A．some animals can do the same things as man does.

B．a(chǎn)ll the animals can work for us.

C．many animals can do all the work as we do.

D．we may get many animals to work without giving them food.

What does a UFO look like? Do you believe there are aliens outside the earth? Maybe nobody can tell us exactly, but some of us believe that we humans are not alone in this world. We have friends living outside the earth. And a lot of people in the world think they really have seen a UFO flying in the sky. Now many scientists are trying to understand the origin of the UFO sightings. Scientists even try to draw pictures about aliens and aliens’ life according to their imagination.        
Because we don’t really know about it, we call it UFO or Unidentified Flying Object. Many of us are curious(好奇的) about it and interested in it very much.
While scientists have no same ideas about whether there is an alien or not, it seems that China has been home to some UFO sightings recently.
On August 20^th,2011, a UFO was seen at 21:00 by the pilot on the plane which took off from Pudong International Airport to Changchun. At almost the same time, many astrophiles(天文愛好者)took pictures of it. Later, reports from some cities said that the UFO was seen. The pilot said the UFO was small at first, then expanded(擴(kuò)大),moved north, and disappeared(消失)several minutes later. However, he couldn’t exactly make sure about what he had seen.
【小題1】What do scientists know about the aliens according to this passage?

A．Scientists know about the aliens’ life well.

B．Some scientists try to imagine aliens’ life.

C．Scientists have the same idea about the UFO.

D．Many scientists have already understood the origin of the UFO sightings.

【小題2】What happened on August 20^th,2011?

A．A UFO took off from Pudong International Airport.

B．A pilot took pictures of the UFO.

C．Many astrophiles saw the UFO.

D．The UFO was small when it moved north.

【小題3】Which of the following sentences is NOT true according to this passage?

A．UFO is short for Unidentified Flying Object.

B．Some people from some cities said that they saw the UFO on August 20th,2011.

C．The pilot could exactly make sure what he had seen.

D．Many of us are interested in the UFO.

Dreams are expressions of thoughts, feelings and events that pass through our mind while we are sleeping. Everybody dreams. But only some people remember their dreams. Our dreams often include all the senses—smells, sounds, sights, tastes and things we touch. We dream in color. Sometimes we dream the same dream over and over again. These repeated dreams are often unpleasant. They may even be nightmares—bad dreams that frighten us.
Early in the twentieth century, two famous scientists developed their personal ideas about dreams. Australian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud published a book called The Interpretation(詮釋) of Dreams in 1900. Freud believed people often dream about things they want but can't have. These dreams often have something to do with sex and aggression(侵犯). Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung worked closely with Freud for several years, but he believed dreams could help people grow and understand themselves. He believed dreams provide solutions(解答) to problems we face when we are awake. He didn't believe dreams hide our feelings about sex or aggression. Today we know more about the science of dreaming because researchers can take pictures of people's brains while they are sleeping.
Other researchers are studying how dreaming helps our bodies work with problems and very sad emotions(感情). Robert Stickgold is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard University in Massachusetts. Doctor Stickgold says that when we dream, the brain is trying to make sense of the world. He does not agree with Sigmund Freud that dreaming is the way we express our hidden feelings and desires．
Scientists believe it is important to keep researching dreams. Doctor Stickgold says it has been more than one hundred years since Sigmund Freud published his important book about dreaming. Yet there is still no agreement on exactly how the brain works when we are dreaming or why we dream.
【小題1】Dreams  ________. 

A．a(chǎn)re remembered by everyone

B．express all that we think in our mind

C．include few senses and things we touch

D．a(chǎn)re sometimes nightmares that repeat and frighten us

【小題2】A book on dreaming was published by  ________.

A．Sigmund Freud	B．Robert Stickgold
C．Carl Jung	D．the writer

【小題3】In the passage, all the psychiatrists  ________.

A．believe dreams can help people understand all the problems that they face

B．think dreams always hide someone's feelings about sex or aggression

C．study dream and dreaming and have their own ideas

D．have the same idea that people often dream about the things they want

【小題4】From the passage, we know that  ________.

A．Jung thought dreams provide solutions to problems we face when we are sleeping

B．Freud developed the idea that dreams are expressions of people's hidden feelings

C．Scientists have known quite well why we dream because they can take pictures of our brains

D．Other researchers have discovered how dreaming helps our bodies work with problems and very sad emotions

When we talk about intelligence(智力)，we do not mean the ability to get good scores on certain kinds of tests or even the ability to do well in school．By intelligence we mean a way of living and behaving(表現(xiàn))，especially in a new situation．If we want to test intelligence，we need to find out how a person acts instead of how much he knows what to do．
For example，when in a new situation，an intelligent person thinks about the situation，not about himself or what might happen to him．He tries to find out all can be，and then he acts immediately and tries to do something about it．Probably he isn’t sure how it will all work out，but at least he tries．And if he cannot make things work out right，he doesn’t feel ashamed(羞愧)that he failed，he just tries to learn from his mistakes．An intelligent person，even if he is very young，has a special outlook(看法)on life，a special feeling about life，and how he fits into it．
If you look at children，you’ll see the great differences between what we call “bright” children and “non-bright” children．They are actually two different kinds of people，not just the same kind with different amount of intelligence．For example，the bright child really wants to find out about life, and he tries to get in touch with everything around him; while the unintelligent(不聰明的) child keeps more to himself and his own dream-world：he seems to have a wall between him and life in general．
【小題1】According to this passage，intelligence is the ability to_________．

A．get some high scores on some tests

B．do well in school

C．deal with life

D．have a lot of book knowledge

【小題2】In a new situation，an intelligent person________．

A．knows more about what might happen to him

B．is sure of the result he will get

C．cares more about himself

D．keeps his mind on what to do about the situation

【小題3】If an intelligent person failed，he would_______．

A．try not to feel ashamed

B．learn from his mistakes

C．try to find all he could

D．make sure what result he would get

【小題4】Bright children and non-bright children________．

A．a(chǎn)re two different types of children

B．a(chǎn)re different mainly in their degree of cleverness

C．have differences only in their way of thinking

D．have different knowledge about the world