Learning Chinese has been like climbing a steep(陡峭的)mountain.
My mother was born in Tokyo,while my father moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong when he was seven years old. At home we speak English. I know some basic Chinese customs :to use chosticks gracefully (得体地)and what to say on Spring Festival to get a red envelope. But I never truly learned to speak Chinese.
Why should I need to learn the language ,anyway? I live in America where everyone speaks English.
I realized I was wrong in ninth grade when I arrived at Philips Academy,a famous boarding school in Massachusetts.The school encourages a global outlook(视野). There I decided to welcome the opportunity to learn Chinese. I met other American-born Chinese and together we spoke Ching-lish outside of the classroom.
I searched for ways to access Chinese culture through dramas such as Meteor Garden (《流星花园》)and music by singers such as S.H.E,Wilbur Pan and Jasmine Leung（梁静茹）. Listening to Chinese music is where I found my favorite singer in the whole world:Jay Chou. Even if I cannot understand what he is crooning（哼唱）, I do feel more Chinese whenever I listen to his music.
Last summer I spent five weeks in China,four of which were taking a language course at a Beijing high school. I was proud when I could understand the dialogue in Intitial D（《头文字D》） and when I could easily translate Fairy Tale sung by Kong Leung（光良）.
Learning Chinese has been a rocky trek（艰苦跋涉）, and I know it will continue to be that way before I arrive at a relative plateau（高地） of fluency（流利）.I hope that one day I will be able to work and maybe even live in China as a true Chinese.
1、The author wrote the text mainly to___.
A.share her experience of learning Chinese
B.tell us why she is interested in learning Chinese
C.show off(炫耀) the progress she made in learning Chinese
D.give advice on how to learn Chinese
2、The author's attitude to learning Chinese changed because___.
A.she found Chinese was interesting to learn
B.she wanted to take a course to pass easily
C.she realized she should have an open mind to the outside world
D.she made friends with some American___born Chinese at the school she studied
3、The author tried all of the following to learn Chinese EXCEPT___.
A.listening to Chinese music
B.practicing speaking Chinese with her parents
C.enjoying Chinese dramas
D.taking a Chinese course in China
4、We can learn from the text that___.
A.S.H.E.is the author's favorite singer
B.dialogues in Meteor Garden are easy to guess
C.the author enjoys learning Chinese though it is difficult
D.the author can speak fluent Chinese now
Did you know that a turtle（乌龟）can lay 12 eggs in one minute? A large sea turtle lays around 150 eggs at a time. She lays all these eggs in just a few minutes.
Large sea turtles live in the warm seas of the world. Except for when they lay their eggs, they spend their whole lives in the water. When it is time to lay their eggs, the females(雌性) swim to land.
They usually return to the place where they themselves were born. How they find their way back there is unknown.
When they reach shore, the big, heavy turtles crawl slowly up to the high water mark. Using their flippers, they pull themselves along the sand. They must struggle like mountain climbers.
When they finally reach dry sand, they rest before beginning the difficult task of laying eggs.
The turtles lay the eggs in deep holes and cover them with warm sand. The sand protects the eggs from harm. Then the females leave them. After a few weeks, if you happened to be walking along the beach, you might see the sand begin to shake. You may see tiny black balls coming out of the sand. The tiny heads of baby turtles!Which sentence expresses the main idea?
| A．Sea turtles have interesting life habits. |
| B．Sea turtles swim to shore to lay their eggs. |
| C．Large sea turtles lay their eggs in special ways. |
| D．Sea turtles enjoy staying in the sand. |
The first sentence lets us know that this passage is about __________.
| A．turtles | B．oceans | C．time | D．speed |
Turtles bury their eggs to protect them from ____________.
| A．deep water | B．danger | C．heat | D．bad weather |
We can conclude from this passage that ___________.
| A．many turtles die while swimming to shore |
| B．female turtles protect their babies |
| C．once turtles land, they never return to the sea |
| D．the job of laying eggs takes great strength |
The writer compares turtles to climbers ___________.
| A．because they lay their eggs in mountain areas |
| B．to give you a picture of how hard they work |
| C．to tell you that they like to climb |
| D．to show that mountain climbers are as slow as turtles |
There are fifty states in the United States. The largest in population is California,the largest in area is Alaska. Alaska is the smallest in population and Rhode Island is the smallest in size. The oldest states are the ones along the Atlantic coast. The newest states are Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska is also the coldest state. California and Florida are the warmer. Henry and his family live in Seattle, a big city, on the Pacific coast. But Los Angeles and San Francisco, also on the Pacific coast, are larger than Seattle. Henry's cousin, Susan, lives in New York. It is the largest city in the United States. Thousands of people visit New York each year. The most important city in the United States is Washington D. C. It is the capital, but it is much smaller than New York. How many states are there in the U. S. A ?
| A．Five | B．Forty- Five. | C．Fifty | D．Fifteen. |
Which state is the largest in population?
| A．California. | B．Rhode-Island. | C．Alaska | D．Los Angeles. |
Which state is the smallest in population?
| A．Rhode Island. | B．Seattle. | C．San Francisco. | D．Alaska. |
Which of the following is true?
| A．The oldest states are the ones along the Pacific coast. |
| B．Washington is the most important and the largest city. |
| C．New York is the largest city in the United States. |
| D．Henry's cousin lives in the Seattle. |
Why is Washington D. C. the most important American city?
Because _________.
A. it is the largest cityB. it is the largest in population
C. it is the most beautiful cityD. it is the capital of the United States
Although English is not as 0old as Chinese it is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always creating（创造）new words, and we should be able to know where most words come from.
Sometimes, however, no one may really know where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham（火腿）? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg. They did not speak good English. But they ate good food. When some Americans saw them eating round pieces of beef（牛肉）,they asked the Germans what it was. The Germans did not understand the question and answered, “We came from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of beef like what the men from Hamburger ate. Then he put them between two pieces of bread and started selling them. Today “hamburgers” are sold in many countries around the world.
Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why any word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. The reason may be found in any large English dictionary. According to the writer, English ____.
| A．is as old as Chinese | B．is older than German |
| C．is not so old as Chinese | D．is very difficult to learn |
Hamburger is____.
| A．a kind of food | B．a round piece of beef |
| C．the name of a village | D．a city in Germany |
According to the story, _____.
| A．few Americans like hamburgers |
| B．hamburgers are made with beef |
| C．hamburgers are made with ham |
| D．Hamburgers were sold all over the world about a century ago. |
According to the writer, which of the following can be found in any large English dictionary?
| A．Where all the new words come from. |
| B．Where those Germans came from. |
| C．The reason why any word has a certain meaning. |
| D．The reason why English is spoken around the world. |
According to the story, the word “hamburgers” comes from_______.
| A．China because it has a long history. |
| B．England because Germans don’t speak good English. |
| C．The round pieces of beef those people from Hamburg brought to America. |
| D．English speakers because they always create new words. |
Tom was taken to the police station and put in a room with another thief, an older man.
The man looked at Tom and said, “Why have they brought you here, boy?” “I stole a small radio one day after lessons,” Tom said. The man laughed rudely at him, “you should steal something which is worth a lot if you want to be a thief. You ought to steal something really expensive, so that your name is put in the newspaper. Go and steal a lot of money from a bank next time!”
Tom thought for a few seconds and then said, “I can’t do that!” “Why can’t you?” said the older man. “Are you afraid?” “No,” said Tom, “I’m not afraid at all, but the banks are all closed at three o’clock, and my lessons don’t finish until four.” Tom was taken to the police station ________.
| A．by mistake | B．to see another thief | C．as a thief | D．on business |
Why did the older thief laugh rudely at Tom ?
| A．Because Tom lied to him |
| B．Because Tom was only a student. |
| C．Because he didn’t think a small radio was worth stealing |
| D．Because he thought Tom was too young to be a thief. |
From what Tom said, we can draw the conclusion(得出结论) that _________.
| A．He would go on stealing after he was set free. |
| B．He must have been taught while stealing |
| C．He wasn’t planning to steal from a bank |
| D．He would never be out of prison again |
Having heard what the older man said, Tom thought carefully about_______.
| A．his lessons |
| B．how to be a famous man |
| C．stealing something worth a lot |
| D．the plan to steal from a bank |
. Tom couldn’t steal from a bank because ______
| A．he was afraid of being put into prison |
| B．he wouldn’t have time to do that though he dared to |
| C．he wanted to be a good student |
| D．he did not believe in the older man |
Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia(蒙古), some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud “burp(打嗝)” after you finish eating. Burping shows that you like the food.
In some countries, if you give a loud burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please.”
In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia(波利尼西亚)it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.
What are manners like in an East African town? People try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you.
Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends.In Mongolia, burping is a way to show that__________.
| A．the host is very friendly with the visitors |
| B．one doesn’t want to eat anything at all |
| C．one enjoys the meal that is prepared by the host |
| D．one is not polite at table |
In some parts of Polynesia, to be polite while eating, one should____________.
| A．eat as fast as possible | B．eat with his mouth full of food |
| C．turn his back on others | D．sit still without doing anything |
It is good manners for people in East African towns__________.
| A．to sit down beside others and wait for them to talk |
| B．to say “hello” to others on the street |
| C．to try to talk to others when they are working |
| D．never to speak to anyone on the street |
We have good manners to show that we________.
| A．are different from other |
| B．begin all manners in the same way |
| C．want to be friendly to other people |
| D．don’t want people to trouble us |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Manners are not the same in different countries. |
| B．It is good manners to give a burp when you’ve had enough in any place. |
| C．Sometimes manners are different in different places in the same country. |
| D．A person with good manners is liked by other people. |