Here are some tips on listening. We hope it can help you in one way or another.
●Relax yourself.
Before you start to listen to something, You need to relax.
{#blank#}1{#/blank#} This will help you with your listening.
●Listen carefully to the first sentence.
{#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, if eyou hear“Many shops in many parts of China have decided to take away all kinds of Japanese goods off their shelves, but some people say it's not a good idea. Our reporter says…”,you know you will hear a piece of news, not a children's story or a science report.
●Think when you're listening.
{#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, you can think of the following questions: What happened? When , where and how? What was the result and what does the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may undersrand the passage better.
●Listen for important facts.
{#blank#}4{#/blank#} For example, if the passage is a science report, you should try to remember its findings , and how the scientists got their results.
●Don't think about one or two words for too long.
You may hear some words that you don't know. But don't spend too much time on them.
{#blank#}5{#/blank#} But you can remember some words or sentences that you think are important, and you can use them when you're answering the questions.

　　 Have you read any books by Washington Irving？Now I will tell you a story written by him. The name of the story is Rip Van Winkle, and it is also the name of the hero in this story. There are three characters in this story, Rip Van Winkle and his wife, Dame Van Winkle and their dog, Woof. Dame Van Winkle is a sharp-tongued (说话尖酸的、刻薄的) woman. Both Rip Van Winkle and the dog are terrified of her, even of her voice.

        There is a scene that can describe how Rip Van Winkle and his dog feel in front of Dame Van Winkle:

          Rip had just one way of replying to his wife's talk:  he only put his head back on his shoulders, looked up toward heaven, and said nothing. . . True, in the woods, Woof was as brave as an honorable dog should be， but as soon as Woof entered the house, his head bent low, his tail lay on the ground or curled between his legs. He went around the house with a guilty look, watching Dame Van Winkle out of the corner of his eyes, ready to run from the room at the slightest sign of her displeasure.

       This was the time when England ruled America. One day, Rip Van Winkle went into the mountain with his dog for an escape of his wife. He drank something given by some strangers and fell asleep. That was 20 years! His wife died and America got freedom from England, and I think that's what the story wants to tell us:  both the poor man's independence and nation's independence.

         Why does Irving's story attract people?  Because he wrote so vividly（生动地）. That sets me thinking:  How he observed things so carefully?  If you read through this story, you can't help smiling or laughing from time to time!

March 24^th

    This morning, we had a school trip to the Dashan Collection House, a building of two floors． It is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm． We took the school bus and arrived at 9:00． When we entered the collection house, our eyes were caught by a collection of old photos of the town on the walls of the front hall． Those photos told us something about the history of the town． And then in the Art Room, we saw many pictures of the countryside． The colors of the flowers and trees are rich and bright． All at once, I lost myself in the beauty of nature．

    Then we went upstairs． On the left, there were over one hundred different clocks． The oldest clock was already more than two hundred years old． To my surprise, the clocks all worked well and they could tell the right time． It was then ten o'clock, and some clocks produced different beautiful sounds． It seemed to be a concert． How amazing!

    On the right there was also a stone collection． The stones were from all over the country． They were in different sizes, colors and shapes． Some looked like different kinds of animals． I really liked one stone that looked like a little monkey． It looked very nice．

    The collections there were wonderful． So they stayed there until 11:30 in the morning． I had a great time and really liked the school trip．

    One cool April 22 morning, people started the day as usual. Yet it was not a normal day. What's so special about April 22? The answer is because it is Earth Day. People all over the world celebrate this important day. The idea of having a special day to celebrate the Earth began in 1960s. Life was very different then. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Most people had no idea how dirty our air and water were.

    On April 22, 1970, twenty million Americans joined the first Earth Day activities. This showed that people really want to do something for the environment. Since then laws have been passed   to protect the air, water, land, and animals. The vehicles(汽车) such as cars and buses you ride  in must pass tests to make sure they don't cause too much pollution. Thanks to it, cars today give out about half as many bad chemicals as they did in the past. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It's a good thing because they have got a lot of help. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio was so polluted that rubbish and oil on the river even caught fire! Today, the river is cleaner. It no longer burns. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Now the celebration has spread to other countries. More than 175 countries take part each year.

    In 2007, people in China paid much attention to this big problem. People were throwing away one million plastic bags( 塑料袋) a day! People had "Bye-Bye Throwaway Culture Week." They wanted everyone to see how polluted it was to throw away so many plastic bags. In 2008, China passed new laws against them.

    Every April 22, millions of people get together to clean and protect the Earth. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Our job is to put this knowledge to work. You can help keep our planet healthy, too!

Frank正在向大家介绍他家的新客厅，请根据他的介绍，把所给物品的图片放在适当的位置上。

    Hello! I'm Frank. This is my new living room. It's quite big. There is a chair and two big sofas. There are some flowers beside the sofa. Between the sofas, there is a lovely cat. There aren't any pictures but a clock on the wall. There is a computer on the desk next to the sofa. There is a TV set on the TV stand(电视柜) under the window. I often watch TV in my living room. What a nice living room!

A.     B.

C.     D.

E.     F.

⒈{#blank#}1{#/blank#} ⒉{#blank#}2{#/blank#} ⒊{#blank#}3{#/blank#} ⒋{#blank#}4{#/blank#} ⒌{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Connor Bloom had an amazing two weeks at Stanford University this summer. Eyery part of the experience was amazing. The particle accelerator(粒子加运器), the chance to meet like minded kids from across the world? You guessed it. . .

    Bloom, 14, an eighth-grader at Whitefish Middle School in Montana, US, participated in a special camp at Stanford University. The camp holds many different classes for students who want to challenge(挑战)themselves.

    When Bloom looked online and saw that Stanford was to hold the "Gified Youth" program, he signed up(报名). "I like physics and math. 1like to study new things and find out everything about them, "said Bloom. " That's what made me want to sign up. "

    He handed in his test scores from fifth grade on, wrote an article and got recommendation(推荐)letters from teachers. Bloom stood out among thousands of students and got the invitation.

    Bloom had a great time with 86 students from all over the world. On the first day, they learned college-level math. Over the next four days they got to work in laboratories(实验室). They even touched a dead body to learn about how the human body works.

    In the second week, they saw the school's particle accelerator, "I never saw such a machine before, "said Bloom. " But it was just the mental workout(智力测验)1 was hoping for. "

    Bloom did more than just study for two weeks. He made friends with students from China, India and Japan. He worked together with other students in class to learn better. He spent his free time with kids who were also music fans.

    "Once we got to know each other, we helped each other out, "he said. " We learned a lot from each other. that's for sure. "