Can you remember a morning when you’ve woken up to the ring of your alarm clock and wished you could stay in bed? You haven’t slept well, your hair is a mess. Worse, you can’t stop yawning. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans do! Yawning is an involuntary(無意識(shí)的,不自覺的) action during which you open your mouth and breathe deeply. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.
The purpose and cause of yawning are still a mystery. Scientists are not sure what causes a yawn. People yawn when they are tired or bored, but they also yawn when they aren’t. There are many ideas explaining why we yawn.
One idea is that yawning is a way for the body to become more alert by taking in more oxygen. A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream, and brings oxygen to the brain. But one study showed that volunteers given a lot of oxygen did not yawn any less than before, while those given a lot of carbon dioxide did not yawn more.
Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication. If one decided it was time to sleep, they would tell the others by yawning and they would do it in return to show they agreed.
A third explanation comes from psychology professor Gordon Gallup of University at Albany in New York. He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains. “Brains are like computers.” he said. “They only operate efficiently and effectively when they’re cool. Many things connected to yawning, like being tired, make the brain hot, and yawning can reduce the heat.”
Scientists have sent people into space, and created terrible nuclear weapons, but there are lots of seemingly simple things, such as why we yawn, or hiccup（打嗝）, that they can’t figure out. Next time you are in class in the morning, let out a big yawn and watch to see how many of your classmates yawn in response!
【小題1】What’s the purpose of the description of how bad you may feel when you’re woken up in the morning?

A．To explain why humans yawn.

B．To explain how humans start yawning.

C．To lead into the topic of yawning.

D．To complain about being woken up by the clock.

【小題2】Which is not among the possible reasons for yawning mentioned in the passage?

A．A way to show that you feel hot.

B．A way to get rid of carbon dioxide.

C．A way to cool off your brain.

D．A way to communicate.

【小題3】In which situation are you likely to yawn?

A．When you feel frustrated.

B．The weather is hot.

C．Someone else yawns near you.

D．When you breathe in a lot of carbon dioxide.

【小題4】What can we learn from the passage?

A．The real reason why humans and most animals yawn.

B．Hiccups are an involuntary human action similar to yawns.

C．The more an action can be studied, the easier it is to research.

D．Finding out why humans yawn should be easier than sending people into space.

Dealing with a jealous friend isn’t easy. It can be very frustrating. Find out how to make the best of the situation, be fair to yourself and your friend, and, if possible, preserve the friendship. It can be done!

Try to find out why your friend is jealous. Is it something you said? Is it something you have little or no control over, such as your looks or your family? Is it something your friend should be supportive of, such as your grades or a special talent of yours? 

Once you know where the jealousy comes from, try to be empathetic: Imagine you're your friend or how you'd feel in the same situation.

Find out what your friend really wants to have. Do they wish they felt smarter or had more supportive parents? Maybe you can be helpful. Let them know that you believe in them and ask what you can do help them get what they want.

Try not to brag, show off or make things that would make your friend feel frustrated. This will only fan the flames of the jealousy.

Show that you're happy about your life, but be sure to show interest and excitement about things going on in your friend's life, too. Take some time to point out some of their unique strengths and good qualities.

Sometimes jealousy is mixed with a lot of anger. If your efforts to listen to your friend and encourage them aren't working, give them some time to cool off. They may need to work out their feelings alone or with someone who's not the object of their jealousy.

Call up some extra support for yourself, too. Another friend, a relative or a girlfriend/boyfriend may be able to help you sort out your feelings about being the object of your friend's jealousy. A lot of people feel bad about making someone else jealous, so be sure to remind yourself why you're a good person!

1．What’s the passage mainly about?

A．What you should do when your friend needs help.

A．How to make a close friend.

C．The best way to deal with a jealous friend.

D．how to deal with a jealous friend.

2．According to the author, dealing with a jealous friend        .

A．is an easy thing for everyone  B．is sure to damage the friendship

C．doesn’t need anyone’s help     D．may cause you to feel bad.

3．The first step for you to deal with a jealous friend is to        .

A．understand your friend’s feelings

B．show that you’re happy about your life

C．find out what your friend really wants to have

D．find out where the jealousy comes form

4．The underlined sentence in paragraph 5 probably means that      .

A．jealousy makes your friend unable to tell right from wrong

B．this will just make your friend more jealous

C．it is easy to put out the flames of your friend’s jealousy

D．you should help deal with your friend’s frustration

 

I heard the bees long before I saw them.

It was a very hot afternoon, and we decided to    21   in the river near my home. As we climbed down a small rocky hill toward the water, my boyfriend John    22   started to shout and then jumped into the water below. Peter and Mary quickly    23    but I was too far away to jump. I was    24  .

I heard a low hum, which was growing louder. From a    25  , the group of bees looked almost like a cloud of smoke. As it got closer, I realized it was actually thousands of bees flying towards me.

All I could do was    26   my face with my hands.    27  , I thought that if I sat very 28  , the bees would think I was just another rock.

After a few seconds, I knew my    29   had failed. The bees were attacking me. I could hear my friends shouting at me to get down.

But it wasn’t so easy. The only way I could    30   was to use my hands to climb down the rocks. However, I was afraid to do that at first because my face would be    31  .

The noise the bees made was so loud and    32  , and I had no choice.

I rushed down the rocks and jumped into the pool. I was just so happy to be free from the pain and the water felt so    33  .

But we still weren’t out of    34  . Every time we tried to climb out, the bees flew back over our heads. We spent the next three hours in the water until the bees finally lost    35  .

1.                A．call off         B．get off          C．cool off   D．turn off

 

2.                A．eventually      B．suddenly        C．happily   D．hurriedly

 

3.                A．climbed        B．followed        C．dashed   D．helped

 

4.                A．lost            B．forgotten        C．trapped   D．fooled

 

5.                A．hill            B．rock           C．river D．distance

 

6.                A．cover          B．hide           C．find D．lose

 

7.                A．Finally          B．Joyfully         C．Crazily    D．Immediately

 

8.                A．quietly         B．still            C．relaxed   D．gracefully

 

9.                A．face           B．friends         C．plan D．shout

 

10.               A．pass away       B．get away        C．look away D．take away

 

11.               A．exposed        B．unwanted       C．lost   D．protected

 

12.               A．a(chǎn)nnoying       B．frightening      C．a(chǎn)mazing   D．boring

 

13.               A．wonderful      B．painful         C．hot   D．strange

 

14.               A．breath         B．control         C．danger    D．doubt

 

15.               A．hope          B．interest         C．time D．control

 

 

  Water goes around and around Earth in a never ending journey called the water cycle（循環(huán)）. The sun heats up lakes, oceans, and other wet places on Earth. When the water gets warm enough, it changes into vapour. Plants also give off lots of water vapour. Some of this water vapour cools off high in the sky and becomes clouds. Then it falls back to Earth in a new place as rain or snow. This cycle happens over and over again.

 The ground can absorb water like a sponge (海綿). If you could see this groundwater, it wouldn’t look like a lake or river. The groundwater is mixed in with the rocks and sand that lie in layers(層) below Earth’s surface.

 Groundwater moves along slowly. How slowly? Maybe 1.5 kilometres in one century. Some of this water has been underground for thousands of years. And once groundwater is pumped out of the ground from a deep well（井） by people, it may take hundreds of years for another water to take its place.

In which order does water go around Earth?

   a .Fall down as rain or snow.  b. Heated up by the sun on lakes, oceans and other wet places.

   c. Cool off high in the sky.     d.  Form clouds.     e.  Change into vapour.

   A. dacbe                B. becda           C. caebd          D. bceda

The groundwater seems to________.

   A. be just on the ground        B. be pure water like that in a lake or river

   C. exist in rocks and sand       D. flow along like rivers or streams

The underlined word “pumped” in the passage can be replaced by________.

   A. run                       B. pushed            C. drawn             D. picked

What conclusion（結(jié)論） can we draw from the passage?

   A. Groundwater can be quickly replaced by other water once pumped out.

   B. Groundwater is very valuable.

   C. Groundwater has nothing to do with human beings.        

   D. Groundwater travel in an unknown way.

Water goes around and around Earth in a never ending journey called the water cycle（循環(huán)）. The sun heats up lakes, oceans, and other wet places on Earth. When the water gets warm enough, it changes into vapour. Plants also give off lots of water vapour. Some of this water vapour cools off high in the sky and becomes clouds. Then it falls back to Earth in a new place as rain or snow. This cycle happens over and over again.
The ground can absorb water like a sponge (海綿). If you could see this groundwater, it wouldn’t look like a lake or river. The groundwater is mixed in with the rocks and sand that lie in layers(層) below Earth’s surface.
Groundwater moves along slowly. How slowly? Maybe 1.5 kilometres in one century. Some of this water has been underground for thousands of years. And once groundwater is pumpedout of the ground from a deep well（井） by people, it may take hundreds of years for another water to take its place.
【小題1】In which order does water go around Earth?
a .Fall down as rain or snow. 
b. Heated up by the sun on lakes, oceans and other wet places.
c. Cool off high in the sky.
d. Form clouds.
e. Change into vapour.

A．dacbe

B．becda

C．caebd

D．bceda

【小題2】The groundwater seems to________.

A．be just on the ground	B．be pure water like that in a lake or river
C．exist in rocks and sand	D．flow along like rivers or streams

【小題3】What conclusion（結(jié)論） can we draw from the passage?

A．Groundwater can be quickly replaced by other water once pumped out.

B．Groundwater is very valuable.

C．Groundwater has nothing to do with human beings.

D．Groundwater travel in an unknown way.