The Amazing Kids! PenPals Program is a literacy-based (基于讀寫能力的), traditional letter-writing pen pal program, available to all children aged 5-17 worldwide.
At $10 per child, our program is a low-cost and fun way to help your children practice their literacy skills while they are making new friends. Groups of 15 or more receive a 50% discount.
Children love our program because:
●It helps them develop new (and possibly life-long)friendships.
●It allows them to practice the traditional form of letter writing and correspondence.
●They love getting letters in the mail from their pen pals!
Parents love our program because:
●It offers one of the few remaining choices for finding an established, safe and trusted traditional pen pal program to their children.
●It helps strengthen communication and literacy skills taught in their children’s classroom.
●It helps open their children’s eyes to a larger world, and other cultures and traditions outside their own.
●Many parents remember having a pen pal when they were children and want to give their children the same positive, fun learning experience.
●Parents love helping their children find new friends of their own age and gender.
Frequently asked questions
Why is there a fee?
We are a small, all-volunteer non-profit organization, and the fees help cover our cost of running the program.
How did the Amazing Kids! PenPals Program begin?
The program began as a way of reaching out to the children affected by the devastating (毀滅性的) hurricanes of 2005. Our hope was that by matching young hurricane survivors with a new pen pal, we could help them in their recovery from the trauma (創(chuàng)傷) they experienced.
The program is now available to all children worldwide. We continue to welcome teachers, youth groups or agencies who like to work with hurricane survivors.
How does it work?
Amazing Kids! will match students of the same gender and age with other students who may share similar interests and hobbies, based on the information provided on the registration form.
I’ve completed all forms and made my payment. What happens next?
Someone from Amazing Kids! will contact you once a match has been found. You will be asked to call the other parent, teacher or group leader of the pen pal Amazing Kids! has selected. If both adults agree that the pen pal match is a good one, then the students may begin writing to each other. If the match is determined not to be a good one, Amazing Kids! will try and find an alternative match.
小題1:.If a group of twenty children want to join the program, they should pay _____altogether.

A．$50

B．$100

C．$150

D．$200

小題2:.Parents may agree the program helps children_________.

A．travel around the world	B．communicate well with others
C．Meet many famous people	D．get good marks in exams

小題3: In the beginning the Amazing Kids! PenPals Program was set up for the kids who ______.

A．suffered from the hurricanes

B．were willing to make pen pals

C．were good at writing letters

D．wanted to help hurricane survivors

1.How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday? ·Finding：A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day. ·Step：Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery－operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes, at least twice a day. 2．How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday? ·Finding：Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30% wash their hands only 4 times a day—half of the number doctors recommend. ·Step：We touch our faces around 3，000 times a day—often inviting germs(病菌)to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes. Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with hot running water and soap for 20 seconds. 3．How often do you think about fighting germs? ·Finding：Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should. ·Step：Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge(海綿)that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds.

小題1:What is found out about American seniors?

A．Most of them have good habits.

B．Nearly 30% of them bathe three days a week.

C．All of them are fighting germs better than expected.

D．About one third of them brush their teeth only once a day.

小題2:Doctors suggest that people should wash their hands ________．

A．twice a day	B．three times a day
C．four times a day	D．eight times a day

小題3:Which of the following is true according to the text?

A．We should keep from touching our faces.

B．There are less than 300 types of bacteria in the mouth.

C．A kitchen sponge can carry more germs than a toilet.

D．We should wash our hands before touching a door handle.

When my daughter was five, we gave her a piano as her birthday gift, with great excitement; she began learning piano under the teacher’s guidance. However, when she was no longer curious about it, she became sick of it. After all, it is a tough job to learn piano, not to mention the daily routine of practice. Therefore, every time, I had to urge her again and again, either to force or offer her some profits for the practice. She always felt uncomfortable sitting on that stool, so she would either scratch her nose or ears, or hide in the bathroom for quite a long while.

Her first teacher left and moved somewhere else; my friend introduced me to an American teacher. The American teacher’s way of teaching was complete American style. After practicing, she would give my daughter some good comments on the excellent part (despite it being just a small one), and then point out what should be improved. What’s more, every time she came, instead of beginning the lesson right away, she would first play some music. She said, “To learn playing the piano, you should learn not only the skills of playing, but more importantly, to feel the music and love it.”
To my surprise, my daughter gradually became fond of piano lessons. Sometimes she even would like to show off a little bit in class after her skill had reached a certain level. Her confidence and sense of achievement were enhanced with the appreciation and acknowledgement from her teachers and classmates.
Surprisingly, my daughter said to me one day, “Mom, I was lucky because you didn’t give up my piano lessons.Learining piano is like climbing a mountain. You’ll feel tired when you are on the way. When you look down from where you are, you will realize that you have been making progress. But if you stop, you will never take one more step.” Hearing these inspiring words, I could not hold back my tears, thinking: that is the very thing I want to teach her, something that is more important than learning piano.                                     
56. My daughter __________ when she was not curious about piano.
A. became sick         B. got tired of it        C. felt tired          D.felt relaxed
57. According to the passage, what is most important for the children to learn to play the piano _______
A.praise            B.encourage           C.force             D.help
58. What made my daughter interested in piano again?
A. Showing off in class.                        B. Her skillful performance.
C. Her confidence and sense of an achievement.     D. Her acknowledge from classmates.
59. What is best title of the passage?
A.Piano is an useful instrument                  B. American teachers are excellent.
C.Playing the piano is very important             D. Be addicted, and you’ll succeed

閱讀理解: 閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
The traditional tent cities at festivals such as Glastonbury may never be the same again. In a victory of green business that is certain to appeal to environmentally-aware music-lovers, a design student is to receive financial support to produce eco-friendly tents made of cardboard that can be recycled after the bands and the crowds have gone home.
Major festivals such as Glastonbury throw away some 10,000 abandoned tents at the end of events each year. For his final year project at the University of the West of England, James Dunlop came up with a material that can be recycled. And to cope with the British summer, the cardboard has been made waterproof.
Taking inspiration from a Japanese architect, who has used cardboard to make big buildings including churches, Mr. Dunlop used cardboard material for his tents, which he called Myhabs.
The design won an award at the annual New Designers Exhibition after Mr. Dunlop graduated from his product design degree and he decided to try to turn it into a business
To raise money for the idea, he toured the city’s private companies which fund new business and found a supporter in the finance group Mint. He introduced his idea to four of Mint’s directors and won their support. Mint has committed around £500,000 to MyHabs and taken a share of 30 per cent in Mr. Dunlop’s business. The first Myhabs should be tested at festivals this summer, before being marketed fully next year.
Mr. Dunlop said that the design, which accommodates two people, could have other uses, such as for disaster relief and housing for the London Olympics.
For music events, the cardboard houses will be ordered online and put up at the sites by the Myhabs team before the festival-goers arrive and removed by the company afterwards. They can be personalized and the company will offer reductions on the expense if people agree to sell exterior (外部的) advertising space. 
The biggest festivals attract tens of thousands of participants, with Glastonbury having some 150,000 each year. Altogether there are around 100 annual music festivals where people camp in the UK. The events are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious.
1. “Eco-friendly tents” in paragraph 1 refer to tents _______.
A. economically desirable    B. favorable to the environment
C. for holding music performances1   D. designed for disaster relief
2. Mr. Dunlop established his business        .
A. independently with an interest-free loan from Mint
B. with the approval of the City’s administration
C. in partnership with a finance group
D. with the help of a Japanese architect
3. It is implied in the passage that _______.
A. the weather in the UK is changeable in summer 
B. most performances at British festivals are given in the open air
C. the cardboard tents produced by Mr. Dunlop can be user-tailored
D. cardboard tents can be easily put up and removed by users.
4. The passage is mainly concerned with        .
A. an attempt at developing recyclable tents
B. some efforts at making full use of cardboards
C. an unusual success of a graduation project
D. the effects of using cardboard tents on music festivals
5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Don’t Use Tents Again
B. The Advantages of Tents
C. How to Produce Tents
D. The Development of Recyclable Tents

閱讀理解: 閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes More often the doctors can’t fix the damage Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain
Dr. Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr. White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, then he operated on them. He made the monkeys’ blood back to the monkeys’ brains. When the brain’s temperature was 10℃, Dr. White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them.
1. The biggest difficulty in operating on the damaged brain is that_____.
A. the time is too short for doctors     
B. the patients are often too nervous
C. the damage is extremely hard to fix
D. the blood-cooling machine might break down w*w
2. The brain operation was made possible mainly by        .
A. taking the blood out of the brain         B. trying the operation on monkeys first
C. having the blood go through a machine      D. lowering the brain’s temperature
3. With Dr. White’s new idea, the operation on the damaged brain        .
A. can last as long as 30 minutes    B. can keep the brain’s blood warm
C. can keep the patient’s brain healthy  D. can help monkeys do different jobs
4. What is the right order of the steps in the operations?
A. send the cooled back to the brain       B. stop the blood to the brain
C. have the blood cooled down        D. operate on the brain
A. a, b, c, d       B. c, a, b, d       C. c, b, d, a       D. b, c, d, a
5. Which of the following is not true?
A. If there isn’t enough blood, the brain can live for only three to five minutes.
B. If the brain is very cold, it can live without blood for half an hour.
C. Dr. White tried his idea for thirteen times.
D. After their operations, the monkeys were healthy and busy again

閱讀理解: 閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
Imagine you’re at a party full of strangers. You’re nervous. Who are these people? How do you start a conversation? Fortunately, you’ve got a thing that sends out energy at tiny chips in everyone’s name tag (標(biāo)簽). The chips send back name, job, hobbies, and the time available for meeting-whatever. Making new friends becomes simple
This hasn’t quite happened in real life. But the world is already experiencing a revolution using RFID technology.
An RFID tag with a tiny chip can be fixed in a product, under your pet’s skin, even under your own skin. Passive RFID tags have no energy source-batteries because they do not need it. The energy comes from the reader, a scanning device, that sends out energy (for example, radio waves) that starts up the tag immediately.
Such a tag carries information specific to that object, and the data can be updated. Already, RFID technology is used for recognizing each car or truck on the road and it might appear in your passport. Doctors can put a tiny chip under the skin that will help locate and obtain a patient’s medical records. At a nightclub in Paris or in New York the same chip gets you into the VIP (very important person) section and pays for the bill with the wave of an arm.
Take a step back:10 or 12 years ago,you would have heard about the coming age of computing. One example always seemed to surface: Your refrigerator would know when you needed to buy more milk. The concept was that computer chips could be put everywhere and send information in a smart network that would make ordinary life simpler
RFID tags are a small part of this phenomenon. “The world is going to be a loosely coupled set of individual small devices, connected wirelessly,” predicts Dr.J.Reich. Human right supporters are nervous about the possibilities of such technology. It goes too far tracking school kids through RFID tags, they say. We imagine a world in which a beer company could find out not only when you bought a beer but also when you drank it. And how many beers. Accompanied by how many biscuits. w*w*When Marconi invented radio, he thought it would be used for ship-to-shore communication. Not for pop music. Who knows how RFID and related technologies will be used in the future. Here’s a wild guess: Not for buying milk.
1. The article is intended to______.  
A. warn people of the possible risks in adopting RFID technology
B. explain the benefits brought about by RFID technology
C. convince people of the uses of RFID technology
D. predict the applications of RFID technology
2. We know from the passage that with the help of RFID tags, people        .
A. will have no trouble getting data about others
B. will have more energy for conversation
C. will have more time to make friends
D. won’t feel shy at parties any longer
3. Passive RFID tags chiefly consist of        .
A. scanning devices          B. radio waves   C. batteries                  D. chips
4. Why are some people worried about RFID technology?
A. Because children will be tracked by strangers.
B. Because market competition will become more fierce.
C. Because their private lives will be greatly affected.
D. Because customers will be forced to buy more products.
5. The last paragraph implies that RFID technology        .
A. will not be used for such matters as buying milk
B. will be widely used, including for buying milk
C. will be limited to communication uses
D. will probably be used for pop music

Philo Farnsworth was a man who made it possible for one of the most important communication devices — television to be created. Philo was born on August 19th, 1906, near Indian Creek in the western state of Utah. He attended a very small school near his family’s farm. He did very well in school. He asked his teacher for special help in science. The teacher began helping Philo learn a great deal more than most young students could understand.
One night, Philo read a magazine story about the idea of sending pictures and sound through the air. Anyone with a device that could receive this electronic information could watch the pictures and hear the sound. The magazine story said some of the world’s best scientists were using special machines to try to make a kind of device to send pictures.
14-year-old Philo decided these famous scientists were wrong and that mechanical devices would never work. He decided that such a device would have to be electronic. Philo knew electrons could be made to move extremely fast. All he would have to do was to find a way to make electrons do the work.
Very quickly Philo had an idea for such a receiver. It would trap light in a container and send the light on a line of electrons. Philo called it “l(fā)ight in a bottle”.
Several days later, Philo told his teacher about a device that could capture pictures. He drew a plan for it, which he gave his teacher. Philo’s drawing seemed very simple, but it clearly showed the information needed to build a television. In fact, all television equipment today still uses Philo’s early idea.
Philo Farnsworth was only 14 years old then. He knew no one would listen to a child. In fact, experts say that probably only ten scientists in the world at that time could have understood his idea.
On September 7th, 1927, Philo turned on a device that was the first working television receiver. In another room was the first television camera. Philo had invented the special camera tube earlier that year.
The image produced on the receiver was not very clear, but the device worked. In1930, the United States government gave Philo patent documents. These would protect his invention from being copied by others.
56. Before he was 14 years old, _______________.
A. Philo had formed the idea of sending pictures and sound through the air
B. Philo had learned a great deal in science from his father
C. Philo had helped his parents on their family’s farm
D. Philo had had a very strong interest in science
57. How did Philo get the idea of inventing a television?
A. By learning from his science teacher.
B. By reading a story about the idea in a magazine.
C. By thinking hard himself.
D. By using his knowledge about electrons.
58. Philo referred to “ _________ ” when he called something “l(fā)ight in a bottle”.
A. a container sending pictures and sound through the air
B. a light box with a line of electrons in a bottle
C. a receiver that held light and sent it on a line of electrons
D. a way to make electrons send pictures
59. We can infer from the passage that _________________.
A. without his teacher’s help, he would never have become interested in science
B. he made the first working television receiver and the first television camera himself
C. Philo’s early ideas about the television could not be understood by most people of that time
D. his invention was recognized and protected immediately he made it
60. In the passage, the author mainly tells us _______________.
A. that Philo Farnsworth was a great inventor
B. when and where the television was invented
C. who made it possible to create television
D. how Philo Farnsworth invented the television

One winter evening, a storekeeper was going to close up his shop. Suddenly he saw Seth, a lazy, good-for-nothing fellow grab a pound of fresh butter and concealed it in his hat. No sooner had the storekeeper seen the act than he hit upon exactly the right revenge. He would punish the thief, and satisfy his own appetite for fun.
Seth had his hat on his head, and the butter in his hat. He was anxious to leave. However, the rightful owner of the butter offered him a cup of hot drink, took him by the shoulders and planted him in a seat close to the stove. The grocer stuffed in the stove as many sticks of wood as he could possibly fit inside.
Seth already could feel the butter settling down closer to his hair, so he jumped up, declaring that he must go. “Sit down; don’ t be in such a hurry,” replied the grocer, pushing him back into the chair again.
Streak after streak of the butter came pouring from under the poor man’s hat. The fun-loving grocer kept on stuffing wood into the stove. Then, as if surprised, he remarked, “You seem to be perspiring (排汗) as if you were warm! Let me put your hat away for you.”
“No!” exclaimed poor Seth at last, unable to stand it a moment longer. “No, I must go; let me out.”
A greasy (油膩的) waterfall of butter was now pouring down the poor man’s face and neck, soaking (浸泡) into his clothes, and trickling down his body into his boots. He was bathed in oil from head to toe.
Just as his victim darted out the door, the grocer said, “I reckon (估計(jì)) the fun I’ve had out of you is worth the money, so I shan’t charge you for that pound of butter in your hat.”
1．Why did Seth put the butter in his hat?
A. Because he just wanted to play a trick on the grocer.
B. Because he had nowhere to put the butter but in the hat.
C. Because he wanted to revenge himself on the grocer.
D. Because he didn’t want to pay for it.
2．What is not the action that the grocer took as a revenge?
A. The grocer offered Seth a cup of hot drink.
B. The grocer forced Seth to take a seat near the stove.
C. The grocer overcharged Seth for the butter.
D. The grocer offered to take off Seth’s hat.
3．What was the purpose of the grocer’s hospitality?
A. He wanted to make friends with Seth.
B. He wanted to be kind to him.
C. He wanted to take his revenge on Seth by making the butter in his hat melt.
D. He wanted to sell more of his goods.
4．What is the best title of the passage?
A. Great fun B. The right revenge C. A fun-loving grocer D. A foolish customer

I have a friend who lives by a three-word philosophy (人生哲學(xué)): Seize the moment. Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven’t thought about it, don’t have it on their schedule, don’t know it is coming or are too strict to depart from their routine.
I can’t count the times I called my sister and said, “How about going to lunch in half an hour?” She would gasp and stammer (結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說), “I can’t. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known it yesterday, I had a late breakfast, and it looks like rain.” And my personal favorite response: “It’s just Monday.” She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. From then on, I’ve tried to be a little more flexible.
Life has a way of going faster as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises made to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all have to show for our lives is repetition of “I’m going to” , “I plan on” and “Someday, when things are settled down a bit.”
When anyone calls my “seize the moment” friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you’re ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years . I love ice cream. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happily.
Now ... go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to … not something on your SHOULD DO list.
1．The example of the writer’s sister serves as ________.
A. an argument      B. an introduction      C. a support         D. a conclusion
2．The writer thinks that the excuse “It’s just Monday.” is acceptable, because ________.
A. it is still likely that they can have lunch together some time later
B. it sounds most reasonable of all the excuses
C. it shows respect for the writer’s suggestion
D. it indicates the time when they can have lunch together
3．The underlined word “contagious” in the fourth paragraph means “________” .
A. appropriate               B. influential                  C. practical                   D. evident
4．What is the purpose of the writer by writing this passage?
A. To suggest how time flies.
B. To persuade busy people to relax.
C. To advise people to keep their promise.
D. To persuade readers to be flexible on their schedule for practical joy.

Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn: scores of silent women with babies on their backs, buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a bright-blue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker goes across the dirt path that serves as a road in Kesum Purbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don’t come at all. “That water kills people,” a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of pails filled with thick, caramel (焦糖)-colored liquid. “Whoever drinks it will die.” The water was from a pipe shared by thousands of people in the poor neibourhood. Women often use it to wash clothes and bathe their children, but no­body is desperate enough to drink it.
There is no standard for how much water a person needs each day, but ex­perts usually put the minimum at fifty li­tres. The government of India promises (but rarely provides) forty. Most people drink two or three litres—less than it takes to wash a toilet. The rest is typically used for cooking and bathing. Americans consume between four hundred and six hundred litres of water each day, more than any other people on earth. Most Europeans use less than half that. The women of Kesum Purbahari each hoped to drag away a hundred litres that day—two or three buckets’ worth. Shoba has a husband and five children, and that much water doesn’t go far in a family of seven, particularly when the temperature reaches a hundred and ten degrees before noon. She often makes up the difference with bottled water, which costs more than water delivered any other way. Sometimes she just buys milk; it’s cheaper. Like the poorest people every­where, the people of New Delhi’s slums spend a far greater percentage of their incomes on water than anyone lucky enough to live in a house connected to a system of pipes.
46. The underlined word “slum” most likely means ______.
A. a village      
B. a small town
C. an area of a town with badly-built, over-crowded buildings
D. the part of a town that lacks water badly
47. Sometimes the water tanker doesn’t come because ______.
A. the weather is bad
B. there is no electricity
C. there is no water
D. people don’t want the dirty water
48. A person needs at least ________ litres of water a day.
A. a hundred          B. four hundred         C. forty          D. fifty
49. Which of the following statements is wrong?
A. a hundred litres of water a day is enough for Shoba’s family
B. Americans uses the largest amount of water each day
C. in Kesum Purbahari milk is cheaper than bottled water
D. Shoba has a family of seven people
50. The passage mainly tells us ______.
A. how women in Kesum Purbahari gets their water
B. how much water a day a person deeds
C. that India lacks water badly
D. how India government manages to solve the problem of water