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My wife and I were on our honeymoon in our homeland, visiting my parents-in-law. My wife Helen was making a film and my job was to make up the music, but I didn’t bring my guitar with me. I locked myself in the barn toilet, and carved a guitar neck from a scrap(废弃的) piece of wood. In the barn, I found a drum, which used to be part of an old tape-recorder, It’s like a guitar, but it has four strings. So is it a balalaika or a guitar? They have something in common (共性), we call it a balalaika but it’s played differently.
Our daughter Kitty had just started school, so she needed a place to do her homework. There isn’t much room except a table in the kitchen. When my wife cooks, she needs to use the table. One day I walked past a rubbish bin and saw a folding (可折叠的) table lying there. I thought I could make something out of it. It was just the right size a bigger one wouldn’t have fitted into the room. I fixed a slab of board for the desk and made the back of the seat softer, then I oiled the screws so it is easier to fold.
Our dad’s friend made the Little House for his daughter. It was made of wood and bricks which were thrown away. And when she grew up, he offered it to us. So how long has it been standing here? I’m forty years old now, so it must be at least fifty. The man’s name was Bob. He’s not alive any more but I still remember the nice time in the Little House. When my children were growing up, they used to say “We’re going to play in the Little House!”or “Where are you? I’m in the Little House!”
It’s a go-kart for my son Tom to ride down the hill. He wanted to make one so I helped him. I had bought him one, but he wasn’t satisfied with that. I just made it from pieces lying around. The wheels were from two different scrapped carts. My father-in-law had them in his barn. He doesn’t throw anything away. I only used cart parts, some wood, a cushioned seat, and a rope. It cost nothing. My son likes it so much. I feel so happy.
1.Which of the following was given by a friend?
A.
B.
C.
D.
2.What do the four stories have in common?
A.The children in the stories were good at DIY.
B.Fathers made the four objects for their children.
C.Some scrap materials were made good use of.
D.The four objects were made just for pleasure.
3.From the passage, we can infer (推断) that _________.
A.Kitty's father did not have money to buy a new table
B.at least four children once played in the Little House
C.Helen and her husband were good at making instruments
D.Tom enjoyed making things like his father and grandfather
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Resting her phone on a stand and making the light more suitable, 49-year-old Lyu Min started her livestreaming session — her daily job during the COVID-19 outbreak. Dressed in a qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, Lyu started the livestreaming session from her workshop at 10 in the morning, sharing the art of making Chinese knots with many handicraft(手工艺) lovers. Lyu, an inheritor(继承人) of the art of making Chinese knots, which is listed as an intangible(非物质) cultural heritage, became a livestreaming host.
“Though the sales of Chinese knots have dropped a lot, I’m still confident that I can get out of the trouble brought by the outbreak. I can make full use of this period to improve my skills and develop this traditional handicraft online,” she said. Lyu is quite new to the world of livestreaming, having bought all the necessary equipment(设备) after following her friends advice. She practises livestreaming every day and records a large number of educational videos. As face-to-face interaction is still impractical for many, even as the outbreak has been largely brought under control in China, she thinks livestreaming classes can meet more Chinese knot lovers’ needs to learn the handicraft.
She has integrated the anti-epidemic spirit into her works, expressing the determination(决心) and confidence of the Chinese people to win against the COVID-19. “I love Wuhan, where I showed my works in 2019. Chinese knots are popular among many local people, and I made lots of friends there,” Lyu said. She designed a special Chinese knot to express her thanks to the medics who were sent to support Wuhan several months ago.
She has more than 200 followers right now. There are more and more Chinese knot lovers on her online platform. She is using a length of colored string and determination to keep this traditional art of Chinese knots alive online and help more people understand the culture.
1.The underlined word “livestreaming” in Paragraph 1 is close to “_______”.
A.sending out while happening B.equipment for recording videos
C.sending out after recording D.equipment for making handicrafts
2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Lyu Min advised her friends to livestream traditional handicraft online.
B.Lyu Min’s friends provided the necessary equipment for her to livestream.
C.Chinese knots sell very well in Lyu Min’s workshop through the Internet.
D.More Chinese knot lovers want to learn the handicraft because of Lyu Min.
3.What does Lyu Min think of the future of Chinese knots?
A.Unexpected. B.Hopeful. C.Difficult. D.Doubtful.
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A.Having online classes during the outbreak
B.Introducing an intangible cultural heritage
C.Livestreaming the art of making Chinese knots
D.Expressing thanks to the doctors and nurses
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Do you like Physics or Chemistry? Matter (物质) is always changing, either physically or chemically. If a material goes through a physical change, it is still the same material. During a chemical change, one kind of matter changes into another completely different kind of matter. For example, when we burn wood or cook fish, materials change. People use chemistry every day in the kitchen. The food we eat has many different natural chemicals. Many of the chemicals in food are necessary parts of a healthy diet.
Much of the food we eat has been changed in some way from its original form. The changes that food undergoes may be chemical or physical. If a change does not affect the food’s chemical composition, we call it a physical change. For example, melted (溶解的) cheese has gone through a physical change. It gets softer when it is heated but it is still the same type of material. Any change that changes the chemicals in the food is a chemical change. Bread contains carbohydrates, which are chemicals made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. When bread is baked (烘焙), the carbohydrates break down into black carbon and water. The carbon gives the bread a dark color and a crunchy texture (质地). The water goes into the air.
To get a closer look at the chemistry of baking, let’s watch how a carrot cake is made. The main steps of baking any cake are mixing the ingredients (材料) and baking them together. In the course of making cakes, the dry ingredients are mixed first. They are flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Flour gives the cake structure. Sugar helps to make it sweet. Salt strengthens the cake batter. Baking powder and baking soda make the cake rise.
Next, the carrots may be added to the cake. These help give the carrot cake its flavor, texture, and color. The other ingredients in the carrot cake are oil and eggs. The oil makes the cake tender and moist. Eggs serve two purposes—the whites help the cake to rise, while the yolks (蛋黄) give it a creamy texture. All of these ingredients form a mixture. This mixture can be separated into its different components (成分) although it is very difficult. Once the cake mixture is formed, it’s poured into a cake pan and baked in an oven. The heat from the oven has caused chemical changes to take place. The cake is finished and the ingredients cannot be separated.
1.The material doesn’t change when we _______.
A.melt ice cream B.burn paper C.bake apple pies D.cook beef
2.What’s the correct order of baking a carrot cake in the passage?
a. Carrots, oil and eggs are added. b. The dry ingredients are mixed.
c. The mixture is baked in an oven. d. Baking powder and soda make the cake rise.
e. Preparing some dry ingredients. f. The heat from the oven causes chemical changes.
g. The ingredients cannot be separated. h. The mixture is poured into a pan
A.b-a-h-f-g B.b-h-c-d-f C.e-d-c-a-g D.e-c-a-g-d
3.After reading the passage, we know that ________.
A.water and carbon can give the cake a dark color and a crunchy texture
B.people can separate the mixture of eggs and oil into different components
C.chemicals in different kinds of food that people eat are bad for their health
D.sugar and salt can’t be put into the mixture to make a cake at the same time
4.The passage mainly helps us to _______.
A.look at the steps of baking cakes closely
B.learn how to make carrot cakes at home
C.have a healthy diet with natural chemicals
D.understand physical and chemical changes
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Herman planted the hot peppers (胡椒) in his five-hectare field in his town. The 36-year-old man put up a sign reading “Africa Hema Village” in Chinese, English and his native language. His first harvest will start this
month. Herman studied in China from 2011 to 2018, receiving his master’s degree and a doctorate in environmental science. He returned to Rwanda in 2018 with his wife, Yang Hong, who is from China, and started his own business. Hema Xiansheng CEO Hou Yi visited Rwanda to find quality products to bring to the Chinese market. Hot peppers were one of his discoveries. The couple helped Hou’s team, from research to field trips, testing production processes (加工) and so on. They also helped Hema Xiansheng’s purchasing (采购) manager, Chen Huifang, when she led a team of eight to visit Rwanda to research the possibilities of making hot pepper products that suit Chinese preferences.
“We wore rubber gloves when we touched them. Our fingers still felt hot the next day,” Chen said. Their research and development team spent four days studying and cooking the peppers. Transporting fresh hot peppers to China proved difficult, so the fresh peppers can’t be imported (进口) into China. Then Chen’s team decided to perform basic processing in Rwanda before shipping. Processing requires a careful balance. Too much salt will make the peppers less delicious. Too little, and the peppers may go bad. Because plastics mustn’t be used in Rwanda, they had to find proper ways to carry the pepper sauce. The material they first used couldn’t stand the long flights. Now Chen is happy to see that the pepper sauce has sold well in Hema’s offline and online stores.
Herman pointed out that few local farmers grow hot peppers because the market is small. A small amount is sold to Europe. And local need is limited due to its spiciness. So, about half the harvest is wasted every year. A young man in Rwanda will only make 10 yuan ($1.4) a day by working in the cities, but if they grow hot peppers due to Hema’s orders, they can make 50 to 60 yuan a day. Herman expressed his willingness to introduce more people to make more money by farming, rather than working for lower incomes, when e-commerce (电子商务) can bring greater needs and sales.
“It’s a chance for Rwandan people to join the new field and change their lives,” Herman said, “Through building more Hema Villages, Rwanda has the chance to become a country of digital agriculture.”
1.“Africa Hema Village” in Paragraph 1 is a place _______.
A.called Hema in Africa B.where Herman’s wife was born
C.providing hot peppers for Hema D.for Africans to buy hot peppers
2.Why should the peppers be processed before shipping to China? Because _______.
A.a balance is needed when the processing is done
B.fresh hot peppers mustn’t be imported into China
C.in Rwanda, people are not allowed to use plastics
D.during shipping, fresh hot peppers are easy to go bad
3.If a young man in Rwanda grows hot peppers for Hema, he may get about ______.
A.10 dollars a week B.1,600 yuan a month
C.500 dollars a year D.16,000 yuan half a year
4.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Many types of products have been offered in Africa Hema Village.
B.Hot peppers from Africa have a large market all around the world.
C.Hema Xiansheng paid for Herman’s seven-year education in China.
D.Herman hopes to do something to improve people’s lives in Rwanda.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
