It is a country, in northern Europe. It is home to Santa Claus and the game Angry Birds. And it was recently said to be the world's happiest country. It's Finland（芬兰）!
According to this year's United Nations World Happiness Report, Finland topped 156 countries and regions to get the title of the world's happiest country. The ranking（排名）considers six key factors（因素）—income（收入）, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy（预期健康寿命）, social support, and generosity（慷慨）.
What made Finland stand out? Why are its 5. 5 million people so happy?
One reason is the country's history of equality（平等）, the Guardian reported. The Finnish government has worked hard to reach a balance between men and women, workers and bosses, and foreigners and locals.
Finland successfully cut the size of its homeless population between 2014 and 2016. The lifestyles of the rich and poor in Finland are not too different, The Economist noted.
Making sure of equality encourages people to build trust, over 80 percent of Finns trust the country's police, education and healthcare systems. People there live in a pleasant and safe environment.
The Finns also have a positive attitude（态度）toward life. There is a word that describes this attitude—"sisu". It means the ability to stay strong during difficult times. This helps the Finns deal with stress and worry, as well as keeps them happy and energetic.
1.The best title to describe the main idea of the passage is “__________”.
A.Home to Santa Claus B.Keep happy and energetic
C.Find joy in Finland D.Enjoy safe environment
2.How many key factors does the ranking about the world's happiest country consider?
A.Three. B.Four. C.Five. D.Six.
3.One of the reasons why people in Finland are so happy is that__________.
A.they got the title of the happiest country
B.men and women have the same work
C.the Finnish government has worked hard
D.Finland owns the history of equality
4.The writer seems to tell us that Finland spent about three years in__________.
A.reducing the number of the homeless successfully
B.reaching a balance between workers and bosses
C.topping 156 countries and regions
D.making people live a pleasant life.
5.The Finnish people's attitude toward life during difficult times is __________.
A.to feel stressed B.to keep strong C.to be worried D.to stay healthy
Here are the stories about two famous explorers（探险家）.
Zheng He
Zheng He was a famous Chinese explorer. In 1405. he set off from China on the first of seven great voyages（航行）.
From 1405 to 1433. Zheng He went on seven trips and visited South-East Asia, the Middle East and even the east coast of Africa. These voyages allowed China to trade valuable goods like gold, silver and silk. At the end of each voyage, Zheng He returned with many things that were seen in China for the first time. Besides developing trade, the voyages also encouraged the exchange of cultures and technologies.
Zheng He died in 1433 during his last voyage. However, his voyages were such a huge achievement that people still remember him.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo grew up in the city of Venice, in present-day Italy. In 121, when he was 17 years old, he set off on a journey to Asia with his father and uncle and did not return home until 24 years later.
When Polo finally returned to Venice, there was a war and he was captured. While he was in prison, he told the stories of his travels to another man there. This man wrote the stories down in a book called The Travels of Marco Polo.
The stories gave many Europeans their first look at the life and culture of the people in Asia. Polo told of many amazing things that were unknown to Europe, such as paper money. His book made Europeans more and more interested in the East. It also influenced many other explorers, including Christopher Columbus.
Polo died in 1324. His last words were: “I did not tell half of what I saw.”
1.According to the passage, Zheng He went on voyages nearly as far as ___________.
A.Asia B.Europe C.Africa D.America
2.In which year do you think Zheng He was in his last voyage?
A.1405. B.1271. C.1324. D.1433.
3.From the passage, we know that Europeans knew more about Asia ___________.
A.before Polo came back to the city of Venice
B.after The Travels of Marco Polo came out
C.before Polo set off on a journey to Asia
D.after Polo told the stories of his travels
4.From Polo's last words，we can infer（推断）that ___________.
A.Polo liked to tell stories
B.what Polo saw is less
C.Polo still had lots of new things to tell
D.Polo had nothing interesting to tell
5.The common advantage of the two explorers' trips is ___________.
A.to help the exchange of cultures B.to influence many other explorers
C.to write down exciting stories D.to go on a journey to Asia
Last year I went and stayed with my English penfriend, James Groves. I have written to James for nearly three years, but it was the_________time I had had a chance to visit his home. His family is_________than most Chinese ones. James has an elder sister_________Alice, and a younger brother, Luke.
Everyone has their own bedroom, but_________I visited, they spent most of the time in the living room, watching TV and_________with me. Sometimes Alice made long phone calls to her friends as well._________activities surprised me. In China, my parents do not_________me watch a lot of TV or make long phone calls.
Sometimes the three children had to_________some jobs around the house. Alice would wash the dishes and_________the bathroom. James and Luke would usually work together to wash the floors in__________living room and iron some clothes. If they all did a good job,__________parents would give them some pocket money.
James and his brother got along very__________most of the time, but sometimes they argued（争论）about__________channel（频道）to watch on TV. James said I was lucky to be a（n）__________child because I could watch anything I wanted. I didn't__________James because in China we are not allowed to watch much TV anyway. Besides, I would love to have a brother or sister to talk to. I think James is very lucky.
1.A.first B.second C.third D.fourth
2.A.wider B.smaller C.bigger D.newer
3.A.phoned B.called C.shouted D.wanted
4.A.before B.if C.when D.though
5.A.talking B.dealing C.studying D.walking
6.A.All B.Neither C.Both D.Each
7.A.let B.allow C.tell D.advise
8.A.find B.plan C.lose D.share
9.A.build B.clean C.break D.use
10.A.a B.an C.the D.（不填）
11.A.his B.your C.her D.their
12.A.well B.badly C.hard D.deeply
13.A.where B.when C.whose D.which
14.A.just B.only C.honest D.brave
15.A.agree with B.join in C.take in D.depend on
—It`s raining, isn't it?
—__________! I've never seen it rain this hard before!
A.No problem B.That's all right
C.It sure is D.No, it isn't.
He __________his voice in order that everybody could hear him.
A.rose B.grew C.dropped D.raised
You may wonder __________stress is a serious matter or not.
A.that B.whether C.who D.where
