With the Chinese language growing in popularity, the UK government plans to invest(投资) 10 million pounds to help more kids learn Mandarin(普通话). Do you think it is necessary for the UK pupils to learn Mandarin? Some people share their opinions online.

Ted(UK): The learning of any language can be valuable and rewarding, but it is not suitable for everyone. Chinese is a difficult language to learn and the UK has a poor reputation for teaching foreign languages. Why should they learn Chinese when most people in the world speak English?

Mark(US): I studied French for 2 years in high school and German for 4 years in college. I studied Mandarin informally for about 4 months before moving to China. Now I speak Mandarin every day as my wife doesn’t speak English. But it is far from being fluent. Learning additional languages is a great thing, which offers a different perspective on the world around us. Nowadays, it’s almost necessary to be able to speak more than just your native tongue.

George (UK): No, unless they’re taught from a very early stage of childhood. Mandarin is so difficult. If China really is going to dominate the world, it’ll have to do so by speaking the world’s dominant language---English.

Sam (UK): I don’t think Chinese will become as widely spoken throughout the world as English. It is too difficult to learn as a second language. To learn Chinese you completely have to devote yourself to learning how to write and read it. If you have to learn it besides other subjects you can’t be good at it. But Chinese will become more popular, and that is a good thing.

1．What is probably Mark’s main motivation（动机）for learning Chinese?

A. Further education.                                B. Effective communication

C. His frequent travel                   D. The official policy

2．What does Sam think of learning Chinese?

A. It’s necessary.                                     B. It’s of little use.

C. It takes too much time.                             D. It’s not popular.

3．What seems to be the major problem when foreigners try to learn Chinese?

A. Its difficulty as a language                 B. Misunderstanding about China

C. The great popularity of English         D. A lack of learning resources.

  Sure, human dads can play games with their kids and help with homework, but can they give birth? Daddy sea horses can! This Father’s Day, while you’re praising your daddy, you may also

remember that some of the best dads in the world can be found in the animal kingdom:
Sea horses: The “Mr. Moms” in the sea, male sea horses, carry up to 2,000 fertilized eggs in small bags in their stomachs until they hatch. Even after the babies are born, they stay inside the bag until they are ready to live by themselves.
Darwin’s rheas: Thought your dad was overprotective? Darwin’s rheas, also known as South American ostriches (鸵鸟), are so protective of their children that they have even been known to attack small airplanes on the ground if they get too close to their home!
Marmosets: These little monkeys do everything but give lectures on how to give birth! Devoted dads assist during their babies’ birth. They also let Mom get some rest by taking care of the kids when she’s not nursing them.
Sand grouse: These pigeon-like birds live in areas where water is rare, so fathers fly as many as 50 miles to get water for their kids. After they dip their breast feathers in the water, they fly home and let their chicks suck the water from their bodies.
   Fathers in the animal kingdom are not that different from our own beloved dads. This Father’s Day, when you are honoring your dad, honor animal dads, too, by practicing kindness toward all

animals.

4. The underlined “they” in paragraph 2 refers to ________.
A. fertilized eggs   B. their stomachs    C. male sea horses    D. baby sea horses

5. According to the passage, which animal is the most protective?
A. A sea horse   B. A Darwin’s rhea     C. A marmoset    D. A san grouse

6. The passage mainly tells readers ________.
A. how clever and brave animals are 
B. how to honor animal dads on Father’s Day
C. animal dads are different from human dads
D. some interesting facts about male animals

   It’s been just over a year since 9-year-old Zion Harvey received a double-hand transplant(移植), and now, what he really wants to do is playing football. “I feel happy about my new hands, and I don’t feel different. I like that now I can throw a football further than when I didn’t have hands,” he said.

   The nation’s youngest hand-transplant patient has been working hard to learn how to use his new hands. He lost his hands and his feet 7 years ago after suffering from a serious infection. In August, the boy showed off his new abilities by throwing out the first ball at a baseball game. Dr. Scott Levin, team leader of Zion’s operation, said Zion was faced with the operation much braver than many adults. “I’ve never seen Zion cry,” Levin said. “He’s just an amazing boy. He has such courage and determination and gives us all inspiration.”

    Zion said his courage came from the two most amazing people: his mom and his grandma. His mother, Pattie Ray, said, “It’s been a long journey but now I feel like I am living in my dream. It’s his dream, and it’s mine, too. I’m just living through him, and I’m just here to support him in any way and help him do whatever he wants to do.”

    However，Zion told reporters his mom wouldn’t let him try out for football. His mom said it’s too dangerous. She also pointed out that he might be playing against little kids, not professionals, and she told him they would discuss it later. Zion tried to counter her argument. “My next goal: convince Mom to let me play football,” he said.

7. What is Zion’s attitude towards his transplanted hands?

A. He likes them a lot                           B. He tries to ignore them

   C. He accepts them unwillingly                   D. He has mixed feelings about them.

8. What did Dr. Scott Levin think of Zion?

   A. He was unusually quiet.                       B. He was well worth praising.

   C. He was cleverer than expected.             D. He was a talented football player.

9. Which of the following words can best describe Pattie Ray?

   A. Sensitive and strict.                      B. Devoted and supportive

   C. Optimistic and active                    D. Open-minded and outgoing.

10. What does the underlined word “counter” in the last paragraph mean?

   A. accept              B. prove              C. be against               D. comment

    What would you like to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? An astronaut? What do you need to do to achieve your dream job? Perhaps you think that studying well and then going on to work hard will get you successful career you want. We are constantly taught that our hard work will eventually pay off.

    But a government survey has shown that hard work is not the only thing that will help you to move up the ladder. Two thirds of people believe that who you know matters more than what you know when it comes to social activity. So are the connections that you have more important than your education?

    76% of the people in the survey believed that family background is important in influencing your chances of success. They believe that if you are privileged from birth, you are more likely to have a successful career, especially if your family is wealthy.

    Even if you don’t have a privileged background, the people you know can still make a difference to your career. Networking is a skill which is encouraged by many career advisers. Some companies run networking workshops to try and encourage staff to meet other people, to communicate and build relationships. It’s a valuable skill.

    But the survey also showed something quite interesting. Although most people believed that networks are more important than education, many people put their own career success down to talent, rather than background. 41% of the people said that their parents’ income had influenced their life, but at the same time, another 41% believed that they had achieved their own success.

    So which is more important, what you know or who you know? It seems that by working hard and making lots of connections, the answer may be that both are very important.

11. Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined part?

A. Practice makes perfect                                                B. Nothing is impossible

C. Hope for the best                                                        D. No pains, no gains

12. According to the government survey，the most important factor to help people move up the ladder

is _________.

   A. hard work           B. education           C. social relationship             D. social activity

13. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

   A. 76% of the people think social relationship is most important.

   B. 41% of the people believe parents’ income is most important.

   C. 76% of the people think family background ranks first.

   D. 41% of the people believe they gained their own success.

14. From the passage we can infer that the writer writes the article to _____.

   A. stress the importance of education

   B. challenge the traditional belief

   C. make lots of social connections

   D. encourage people to work hard.

15. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

   A. the Way to Success                                

B. Keep Your Dream in Mind

   C. A Wealthy and Smooth Career              

D. A Survey on People’s Dreams

We all hope to achieve success in many areas of our lives, but sometimes the road to success seems to be paved with difficulties and events that we haven’t planned for. The following steps will help you to clearly define what it is that you hope to achieve in life so that you can make your goals and dreams become a reality.

●16 _________. Make sure that you’re motivated and committed to what you hope for so that you are willing to take the necessary steps to achieve it. 

●17_________. If you truly desire to achieve success in life, you must be wiling to clear away what prevents you from reaching your goals and dreams.  

●Approach your goals and dreams with a positive attitude. Having a negative attitude and thinking you can’t accomplish your goals and be successful in life only slow you down. Stay positive even if the road gets tough.18_________．

●Be flexible and creative. Things may not always turn out the way you hoped or planned, so sometimes you’ll have to think of new, more efficient ways to reach your goals.

●Communicate effectively. 19_________. So knowing how to be clear and kind when dealing with others is a skill that will greatly serve you on your path to success. 

●Take care of your mind and body. Eat healthily, exercise regularly, get adequate sleep and allow your mind to rest from time to time. 20_________.

A. Set a clear goal for yourself.

B. This isn’t a one-man show.

C. Overcome difficulties 

D. Thus you’ll be much closer to achieving success.

E. Imagine living your dreams. 

F. This way you’ll be in top physical and mental shape when seeking success.

G. Then enjoy your new shape and become more content with your appearance.