四川省眉山市2021年中考英语真题（含小段音频）

Many teenagers love mysteries, but usually they can't find the ones that suit them the best. Are you one of them? Well, don't worry! Here are some top-selling mysteries for teenagers. There must be one here that will win your heart!

An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came, flying and buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with his long ears. Then the fly came again and the  elephant waved it away once more.

This happened several times. Then the elephant asked the fly, "Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can't you just stay in one place?"

The fly answered, "I am interested in whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses, and everything that happens around me, pull me here and there and I cannot resist (抵抗) them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still? "

The elephant stopped eating and said, "My five senses do not rule me. I am in control  of  myself — my senses do not tell me what to do. This helps me stay focused on whatever I do, and so, keep my mind calm and still. Now that I am eating, I am completely enjoying eating. In this way, I can just focus on enjoying my food."

After hearing these words, the fly's eyes opened wide and a smile appeared on his face. He looked at the elephant and said, "I understand! I will always be restless if I let my senses control me. On the other hand, if I try to use some self-control, my  mind will become calm and I'll be able to stay still."

It is said that the mind is restless and pays attention to whatever is in front of it. But if you can control what you pay attention to, you can control your mind.

Have you ever imagined the life in space? The following will show you the astronauts' daily life.

Eating in space

If you go camping for more than a week with some friends, you will  make sure you have  plenty of foods and keep them properly. At the end of your camping trip, you would deal with your rubbish properly before the ride home.

Astronauts almost do the same thing when they go to space. Preparation changes with the food type. Some foods can be eaten in their natural forms, such as chocolate cakes and fruits. Other foods require adding water, such as cheese. Of course, an oven is provided at the space station to heat the food. But there are no fridges, so space food must be kept properly.

Sleeping in space

After a long day at work, nothing is better than a good night's sleep! Just like on the earth, in space astronauts go to bed at a certain time, then get up and prepare for work again. When going to sleep, they have to attach themselves, so they don't float (漂浮) around or hit their bodies against something. They usually use sleeping bags located in small crew cabins (乘员舱). Each crew cabin is just big enough for one person. Generally, astronauts have an eight-hour sleep each  day when they finish their task.

Doing sports in space

Exercise is an important part of every astronaut's daily life to prevent muscle loss (肌肉萎缩). Usually, astronauts exercise two hours every day. Lifting 200 pounds on the earth may be a lot of work. But lifting that same object in space would be much easier. That means the things for exercise need to be specially designed, so astronauts can receive the exercise needed.

Living in space is not just all work and no play. Astronauts have fun, too. They like to look out the window and play with their food. Fun plays an important role in the quality of their life.

Governments around the world are pushing for an end to plastic straws (吸管) and bags. More and more businesses are turning to paper products as a choice. Paper is considered by many to be better than plastic. However, it, too, is harmful to the environment.

Firstly, paper bags and straws are made from trees. Trees, as you know, can reduce ( 减少) carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) levels in the atmosphere. They can slow down climate (气候) change. An increase in the use of paper bags can cause more acts of cutting down trees.

Secondly, products made from paper require more energy and water. About 10 percent more energy and four times as much water is used to produce a paper bag than a plastic one. You might say that we can use recycled paper to save that energy and water. This seems to be a good idea. However, it takes even more energy and water to go through the recycling process than to make a brand new paper bag. Products made from recycled paper are also often short-lived.

Thirdly, paper products are heavier than plastic ones. That means they require more oil to transport. Seven trucks are needed to transport two million paper bags, while only one truck is needed to transport the same number of plastic bags. The increased weight also leads to a large amount of waste once the bags are thrown away.

Paper products are actually a lose-lose for both the environment and businesses. They are more expensive than plastic products. A paper straw costs about 5 to 12 cents, while a plastic one usually costs only about 2 cents.

The most environment-friendly solution is to avoid single-use  products altogether. Products like glass water bottles and steel straws can be used over and over again. They are much better than either paper products or plastic products. Through increasing the use of these products, you can greatly reduce your throwaway waste and truly make our Earth a greener place!

Thousands of years ago, Shennong, who had an ox (公牛) head and a human body, lived in the south of China. Seeing that local people were suffering from disease, he built ladders ( 梯子) and houses on a high mountain to keep hundreds of medicine plants. 

This legend (传说) has made Shennongjia in Hubei an inviting place for tourists.

You can see natural scenery from all four seasons at different altitudes ( 海拔). "When the bottom of the mountain is summer, the top is spring and while the foothill is autumn, the top is covered with ice," local people say of the special climate of Shennongjia.

Shennongjia is also home  to 5,000 kinds of animals and  plants.  For example, the golden monkey, the clouded leopard (云豹) and the Asian black bear live in this area.

One interesting and mysterious thing about Shennongjia is its "Bigfoot" legends. Some people have said that they have seen huge footprints or large man-like wild animals.  Some say they are just bears.

On July 17, 2016, the Shennongjia Forestry District was added to the United Nations World Heritage list as a natural site. It was China's 50th world heritage site (遗址).

Every time I read the saying, "Actions speak louder than words." I think about my  three-year-old sister. She is unable to speak 1or in complete sentences. But her actions are able to speak for her. I have2many lovely moments with her.

I enjoy playing with her. Sometimes she makes me laugh. She used to take our father's phone, run towards me 3it and point it at me. She wanted me to play her favorite cartoon for her. When the cartoon was on, she would be very happy. Sometimes we wouldn't hear 4from her for a while. She was so quiet. And when we 5her, we would sometimes find her doing something naughty like drawing on the walls. She would be so happy when she was given  chocolate.

My parents say that when I was little, I acted just like my sister. When I play with her, I feel like my early childhood days have returned.

A father and his son went to a kite-flying festival. The son was happy when he saw the sky 1with colorful kites. He wanted to fly a kite, too. The father then bought a kite for his son.

The son started to fly the kite. Soon, his kite was high up in the sky. After a while, the son said, "Father, it seems that the string is 2the kite from flying higher. If we cut it, it will be free and fly even 3. Can we cut it?" The father cut the string off of the reel (线轴). The kite started to go higher. This made the little boy 4.

But then, slowly, the kite started to 5. It soon fell to the ground. The son was surprised to see this. He asked his father, "I thought that 6cutting the string, the kite would fly  higher.

7did it fall down?"

The father explained, "The string was not stopping the kite from going higher, but was helping it 8in the sky. You helped the kite go up in the right  9using the string. But when you  cut the string, it could no longer support the kite."

We may sometimes feel like there are certain things that are holding us back and stopping us from growing. But 10, these might be the things that support us the most.

—No. They finished it by t.

—On my way to school, I happened to see an old man lon the ground and helped him to hospital.

A Chinese dance drama (make) the first appearance on  social media platforms  abroad already, causing a wave of discussion on the beauty of Chinese culture among art lovers worldwide.

The dance drama Li Bai is classic play made by the China National Opera and  Dance

Drama  Theater.  It  has  touched  people  all  over the worldtelling  the  story of Tang Dynasty (618 AD—907 AD) poet Li Bai.

Li Bai was born in 701 AD   died in 762 AD. Maybe because he traveled around so    much  when he  was little,  he  decided  (keep) traveling around  the land when  he  was  25 years old. He wanted to learn more about nature and people. He expressed his feelings through the beautiful words in his poems. People (real) liked his poems. Even today people still admire his poems, not only adults, but  (child) too. Kids start to learn his poems when they are in  primary schools. Li Bai is one of the (important) poets in China. He is just as important as William Shakespeare to the world.

Last month, the dance drama Li Bai   (watch) over 5.57 million times. And China has once again carried Chinese culture forward in (it) own way.

⒈介绍爱好（打篮球）

⒉喜欢的原因（增强体质，结交朋友）；

⒊打篮球经历（从小训练，加入校队）；

⒋个人的感受（学会合作，……）。

注意：

⒈词数 100 左右；

⒉可适当发挥，以使行文连贯；

⒊文中不能出现真实姓名、学校等信息。

Dear John,

Yours, Li Hua