1、初一英语课外阅读训练Week15 (620期)(A)Scouts for everyone In the US, boys join the Boy Scouts (男童子军), while girls go to the Girl Scouts. Its like a club for them to learn all kinds of things. Boys go hiking and build fires. Girls sell cookies and do crafts (手工). But there has been a big change. Girls can now jo
2、in the Boy Scouts! The new program has about 3,000 girls across the country. Starting this summer, all programs for boys aged 5 to 10 will be open to girls as well. Next year, girls aged 11 to 17 will be able to join Boy Scouts. In fact, as the Boy Scouts have said before, older girls have had the c
3、hance (机会) to join some of its programs for years. Parents often brought daughters to family camping trips for scouts. Surveys (调查) show that 90 percent of parents said they wanted the chance for girls to be able to join Boy Scouts. They wanted their daughters to learn more outdoor and real-life ski
4、lls. However, this has raised (引起) discussion. The Girl Scouts are against it because they will lose more members. They believe that girls can learn things more easily in Girl Scouts, as there are no boys to distract (分散注意力) or compete (竞争) with them. 1. Which is TRUE about the Scouts in the US? A.
5、Only boys can take part in the Scouts. B. Boys sell cookies and do crafts. C. Boys over 11 cant join the Scouts. D. Boys and girls are in different Scout groups. 2. What is the big change for the Scouts this year? A. Girls cannot join the Scouts. B. Boys can join the Girl Scouts. C. Girls aged 5 to
6、10 can join the Boy Scouts. D. There is only one Scout group now. 3. Many parents want their daughters to join the Boy Scouts because _. A. their daughters like to play with boys B. they can go camping with their daughters C. girls can learn outdoor skills and real-life skills D. the Boy Scouts acti
7、vities are more interesting 4. The Girl Scouts are against the change because _. A. girls wont like Boy Scouts B. they will lose some members C. the Boy Scouts will compete with them D. the Girl Scouts cant compete with the Boy Scouts (B) Teen idols gain fame in China What is the hottest reality sho
8、w (真人秀) in China right now? It is probably Produce 101(创造101). It is called an “idol training reality show”. A total of 101 young women compete (竞争) against each other. The winners of the final round will make a new idol group. This show has drawn a lot of attention (关注) to “idol culture”. Idol cult
9、ure started in Japan and then took off (大获成功) in South Korea. It is now becoming popular in China, too. But what exactly is an idol? Idols are different from actors and singers. The most important job for actors and singers is to make great works, such as movies and albums. But for idols, it is to w
10、in the hearts of their fans, according to Sohu News. The famous Japanese idol group AKB48 is a good example of this. The group has more than 100 members. Every year, it holds a general election (总选举). Fans choose their favorite members. The winners will then record (录制)the groups next song. Followin
11、g this idea, Produce 101 viewers are called “idol founders (偶像创始人)”. It is they, not the judges (评委), who decide which idols leave and which ones stay. This shows how much the idols care about their fans. After all, as Japanese idol Sakurai Sho (樱井翔) once said, the job of idols is “to sell dreams”.A
12、 snapshot of fansFans are the foundation (基石) of idol culture. If there are no fans, there can be no idols, either.Are fans always loyal (忠诚的)? Idols interact (互动) with their fans. Fans spend time and money to support their idols.However, this close relationship can sometimes become weak. Idols can
13、lose their fans because of many things. For example, they may put on some weight or fall in love with someone. Many people think idols have a duty to live up to their fans dreams. So if they fail, they are “disqualified from being an idol (偶像失格)”.What things shouldnt fans do? Its easy and natural fo
14、r teenagers to become fans of idols. You are free to be a fan, but try not to do things below: l Spend too much time or money on idol-related (偶像相关的) things, such as concert tickets. l Bully (霸凌) people who dont like your favorite idol. l Stalk (跟踪) your idol or break into his or her house. l Cause
15、crowding (拥堵) or traffic problems in public places. 1. What is Produce 101? _ 2. How does it work? _ 3. Where did idol culture start? _ 4. What is the idols main task, according to Sohu News? _ 5. Who will choose the winning idols on Produce 101? _(C) Sitting like a god fromWhy do Chinese call sitti
16、ng cross-legged “erlangtui”?It is said that erlangtui comes from the name Erlangshen. In Chinese folk stories, Erlangshen was a god who could stop floods. He was said to be the second son of Li Bing, an official (官员) in Sichuan during the Warring States Period (战国时期). Li built the Dujiangyan Irrigat
17、ion Project (灌溉工程) to help local people. Erlang helped his father build it. To remember the father and son, local people built a temple (庙). In the temple, Erlangshens statue (塑像) used to sit cross-legged.But why? It has something to do with Dayu, a legendary (传说的) ruler in ancient China. Dayu was a
18、lso able to stop floods. He worked very hard and became crippled (跛腿的) as a result. When he sat, he usually put his crippled leg on his knee of the other leg. People made Erlangshens statue sit this way to show respect to Dayu. However, in the 1980s, the cross-legged statue of Erlangshen was changed
19、. Now he sits in a more normal way.1. According to Chinese folk stories, Erlangshen _. A. liked to create floods B. was the oldest son of Li Bing C. was an official in Sichuan D. helped Li Bing build dujiangyan 2. What did local people do to thank Li Bing and Erlangshen? A. They wrote stories about
20、them. B. They built more irrigation systems. C. They built a temple for them. D. They made Li Bing their new ruler. 3. Sitting cross-legged is called “erlangtui” because _. A. Erlangshen used to sit that way B. Erlangshens statue sat that way C. Erlangshen came up with this term D. Erlangshen hurt h
21、is leg while working 4. What can we learn from the story? A. There are no Li Bing statues in temples. B. Erlangshen was a real man living in Sichuan. C. People believed Dayu was a great leader. D. Li Bing learned how to stop floods from Dayu.(D) Animals acting odd After an earthquake (地震), you might
22、 see some interesting reports on the internet. They talk about the strange things that animals do before an earthquake. For example, a dog might bark (吠叫) for a long time. Or mice may move their nests to other places. Many people believe that animals can predict earthquakes. Is this true? To find ou
23、t, a group of German scientists did some research. They studied more than 700 reports about strange animal behavior before earthquakes. But they didnt find many connections (联系) between the behavior and the earthquakes. Some animals started acting unusual months before the quakes. Others acted stran
24、gely just a few minutes before the quakes. Also, the animals were usually not even in the same area as the origin points (发源地) of the earthquakes. These reports are not enough to say if animals can predict earthquakes, LiveScience reported. Instead, these animals may feel foreshocks (前震). Foreshocks
25、 usually happen before big quakes. They are mild (微弱的). Humans usually dont feel them. But some animals can, Heiko Woith, the German teams lead scientist, told LiveScience. 1. What is the story mainly about? A. What animals do before an earthquake. B. How to stop earthquakes. C. How to predict earth
26、quakes. D. Whether animals can predict earthquakes. 2. How did the German scientists do their research? A. They asked 700 people about their experience. B. They visited places where earthquakes had happened. C. They studied reports about animal-earthquake connections. D. They did some research on wh
27、y animals behave strangely. 3. What was the result of the research? A. The reports werent enough to prove the connections. B. Some animals can predict big earthquakes. C. Animals can tell where earthquakes are going to happen. D. Animals can tell how long earthquakes will last. 4. What are foreshocks like? A. They happen after big quakes. B. They are usually very small. C. They happen in the wild. D. They are several big quakes.