The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England.
Most people consider it a special day ,the beginning of summer ,a day when the light lasts long into the evening ,and when we can look for warm weather .We don't always get it .We feel disappointed ,but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May .Winter should be over .Most people know that in the past ,when farming occupied almost everyone ,the changing seasons were of great importance .In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day .Customs of those celebrations remain.
Of these customs ,the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole .Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns ,and even in schools and colleges ,for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May .It was a great honour to be chosen .For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands（花环）,and was ceremonially crowned with flowers .She presided over a procession ,as a rule with a number of attendants ,and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment .The Maypole was slender（苗条的） tree trunk ,cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top .The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine ,required skill from the dancer ,and was not achieved without practice .
It's the Celtic（凯尔特的）people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival .Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early ,beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel .They lit fires ,in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified（净化） and protected from disease .A tree ,which must have been blackened with smoke ,stood in the middle of the fires ,and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole .Their priests（牧师） made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly ,but it was noisy and cheerful ,since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons ,but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.
| A．the reason why they celebrate May Day |
| B．the start and customs of May Day |
| C．the way they celebrate May Day |
| D．the choosing of a May Queen during May Day |
According to the passage ,which sentence is NOT true?
| A．In the old days they celebrated May Day for the changing of the seasons. |
| B．In England summer begins at the first of May. |
| C．The custom of the choosing of a May Queen still exists in the present May Day celebration. |
| D．The Celtic people celebrated the first of May as a spring festival. |
From the surrounding words and sentences we know that the word “presided” means ________.
| A．管理 | B．越过 | C．指挥 | D．主持 |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A．The First of May | B．The Beginning of Summer |
| C．May Queen | D．The Holiday of the Year |
With the development of society, the choice of food and drinks for children is more diversified(多样化) than ever before．However, every coin has two sides．Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the statistics(数据统计)．I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame（责怪）the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices．This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves．If there were fewer of these restaurants then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight．I agree to this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops．If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation．Children these days take very little exercise．They do not walk to school．When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers．Not only is this an unhealthy pastime（消遣）, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food．What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as guiding them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.What is suggested by the author to deal with “overweight”?
| A．Blaming the shops selling unhealthy and fatty foods. |
| B．Asking young children to walk to school every day. |
| C．Living an active life and giving up bad eating habits. |
| D．Not watching TV or playing computer games after school. |
Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text?
The author writes the passage to ______________
| A．show people a social problem |
| B．provide facts for government |
| C．advise solutions to a problem |
| D．compare opinions with people |
Finished school for the summer? It’s great to kick back and relax after the school year-and you deserve it! －but it might also be the time to start building that resume(履历) to help you impress the college of your choice．Having a great resume doesn’t just mean getting a summer job; lots of activities can help you stay active and gain valuable experience over the summer months.
| ·Work Getting a job is one of the most practical ways to build your resume and impress colleges, even if working during the school year is not an option（选择）, look out for specific holiday jobs, like residential（寄宿的）summer camps that look for help during the summer months．Any job is good, but working in a leadership position or in an academic area looks particularly good on your resume．The more a job challenges you, the more it builds the skills that colleges and future employers are interested in seeing in applicants(申请者). |
| ·Volunteer Give back to gain resume points．Community service is another great way to gain valuable work and leadership experience．Nonprofit（非利益性） organizations such as soup kitchens and animal shelters are always looking for volunteers, and it shouldn’t be difficult to find a volunteer organization near your home that could use an extra pair of hands for a few hours a week during the summer. |
| ·Travel This may not be a viable（可行的）option for everyone, but if you can afford it, summer travel can be an exciting way to enrich your mind and improve your resume．Visiting and exploring（探索） foreign places will broaden your horizons（视野）, allowing you to expand your awareness of other people and cultures．It’s also a great chance to develop your language skills. |
| ·Take Classes “School” might be the last thing you want after a hard year of studying, but summer school isn’t always a bad thing．Colleges may look kindly upon applicants who take the initiative（主动）to further their education over the summer．There are a variety of options available for high school students wishing to take summer courses, both at their own schools and at local colleges．If your high school offers summer classes, they could be a great way to advance your math or language skills, two areas that are often lacking on students’ college applications．Local community colleges also offer summer courses for high school juniors and seniors that cover a variety of introductory-level topics．They not only look great on your transcript（成绩单）,but also provide a chance to improve your preparations for college and allow you to explore possible career options. |
What is the main benefit of summer activities according to the text?
| A．To enjoy yourself to the full． |
| B．To enrich your resume. |
| C．To develop certain skills． |
| D．To improve your academic performance. |
What is the most practical activity to do during summer vacation?
| A．Getting a job． |
| B．Traveling overseas. |
| C．Doing volunteer work． |
| D．Attending classes. |
According to the text, “soup kitchens and animal shelters” .
| A．are places that you can travel to |
| B．might be included in summer courses |
| C．are recommended（推荐）as part-time jobs for the summer |
| D．can be good volunteer jobs |
Why is “taking classes” recommended in the article?
| A．It only takes a few hours a week． |
| B．It can enrich your career experience. |
| C．It can prepare you for further study． |
| D．It can raise your cultural awareness. |
As children enter their teens, they usually begin to pay more attention to their peers (同龄人) or friends．Peer pressure (压力) can be direct or indirect, but it is almost always present．Learning to deal with peer pressure makes a teen mature (成熟的), and able to get along well with others.
Bad peer pressure is when teens feel pressured to do something that they know is wrong, such as smoking, drinking, or drugs (毒品), and it can remain (保持) with them into adulthood．This is the main reason teens have to learn how to deal with it.
Some of the things you can do to deal with peer pressure include:
● Choose friends who share your values．Good friends use positive (正面的) peer pressure to help you be your best self.
● Keep away from situations where people are doing things you don’t want to do.
● Think about your reasons for doing things．Are they good reasons? Are you being true to yourself and your values?
● Practice ways of saying no, giving excuses if necessary.
● Talk to your parents, or other trusted adults, about the kinds of peer pressure you face, and listen to their advice.
● Let the adults know when you need help to get out of a bad situation, and don’t know what to do about it.
Remember that if just one teen stands up to (对抗) peer pressure, usually others will join him or her．Learning to deal with peer pressure will make you confident and mature.According to the passage, which of the following is true?
| A．Peer pressure includes direct and indirect pressure. |
| B．Peer pressure comes from smoking, drinking and using drugs. |
| C．Teens facing pressure can’t tell right from wrong. |
| D．Teens who face pressure are more mature than those who don’t |
Teens should learn to deal with peer pressure mainly because ______.
| A．it can keep them from making serious mistakes |
| B．it can influence them even when they have grown up |
| C．learning to deal with it can help them get along well with others |
| D．learning to deal with it can make them mature and confident |
According to the passage, teens should ______.
| A．stay away from people who don’t share their values |
| B．have good reasons for anything they do |
| C．say no more often than yes |
| D．ask adults they trust for help |
Which column(专栏) of a magazine may the passage be from?
| A．Social problem． | B．School news． |
| C．For teens． | D．Science. |
After an absence of thirty years, I decided to visit my old school again．I had expected to find changes, but not a completely different building．As I walked up the school drive, I wondered for a moment if I had come to the right address．The dirty red brick houses had been swept away．In its place stood a bright, modern block．A huge expanse of glass extended (延展) across the face of the building, and in front, there was a well-kept lawn (草坪) where previously there had been “an untidy gravel (沙石) yard”.
I was pleased to find that it was bread time and that the children were all in the playground．This would enable me to meet some members of staff(职员)．On entering the building, I was surprised to hear loud laughter coming from what appeared to be the masters’ common room．I could not help remembering the teachers in my time, all dressed in black gowns (长袍) and high collars (领子)．And above all, I recalled Mr Garston whom we had nicknamed “Mr Ghastly”, the headmaster who had iron discipline(纪律) on staff and pupils alike．I knocked at the common room door and was welcomed by a smiling young man who introduced himself to me as the headmaster．He was dressed casually in a sports jacket, and his cheerful manner, quickly dispelled (驱散) the image of Mr Ghastly．After I had explained who I was, the headmaster presented me to the teachers all of whom were a little younger than himself, and said he would take me round the school.
Here the biggest surprise of all was in store for (在等待)me．Gone were the heavy desks of old with their deeply carved names; gone too, were the dark classrooms with their ink stained, dark brown walls, and their raised platforms for the teachers．The rooms now were painted in bright colors, and the children, far from sitting straight in their places, seemed almost free to do as they liked．I looked with envy(嫉妒) as I remembered how, as a child, I had looked at the blackboard hardly daring to whisper to my neighbor.“Mr Ghastly” must be ______.
| A．the writer’s teacher |
| B．a serious old man |
| C．the strict headmaster |
| D．a naughty boy |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．He had expected that the school had completely changed. |
| B．In the writer’s time, all the teachers were dressed in black gowns and high collars. |
| C．There was a well-kept lawn in their school when he visited it. |
| D．An untidy gravel yard had disappeared. |
From what is said in the passage, it seems clear that the writer ______.
| A．disapproved of all the changes that had taken place |
| B．felt sorry for the children in the school |
| C．was glad that the school was still the same |
| D．felt that conditions at the school had improved a lot |
Nearly 60 million visitors flooded to the 384 national parks across America every year. And you won’t have to wander far from home to enjoy one of these national treasures, with Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park nearby.
Located 56 miles from Copper Harbor on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the park remains a desolate area that can only be reached by tour boat. With the exception of the Rock Harbor Lodge, which offers both rooms with private baths and accommodations in the form of small cottages, the 572,000 acres that make up the 45-mile-long park are rough, threaded with hiking paths that lead to tents-only campsites. You are likely to see a deer crossing mist-covered ponds in search of breakfast, gaze bald eagles flying overhead, or hear a beaver(河狸) clapping its tail on the water. If you are especially lucky, you might even glimpse a grey wolf, nearly dying out from hunting on the mainland.
Plenty of hiking paths open the area to exploration. The 4-mile Stroll Path winds through various trees and offers a tour of the island’s history, including prehistoric Indian mines. The Jungle Path leads to Scoville Point——a perfect picnic spot surrounded on three sides by the shining waters of Lake Superior.
You can also rent a boat at the park’s service center and row down the shore to the Rock Harbor Lighthouse. Here park’s service employees use nets to show how lake fishes used to be caught by the original local people. Their catch ends up on the dinner menu at the Rock Harbor Lodge.
The park is open from mid-April through October; Rock Harbor Lodge is open from Memorial Day weekend until just after Labor Day.The underlined phrase “a desolate area” in the 2nd paragraph probably means ________.
| A．an undeveloped area |
| B．an inaccessible area |
| C．an area deserted by tourists |
| D．an area protected by government |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Indians used to hunt grey wolves to make a living. |
| B．Tourists can only visit the park by walking or hiking. |
| C．The number of grey wolves is smaller than that of deer. |
| D．Food provided by Rock Harbor Lodge is shipped from outside. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Safety tips of the natural park. |
| B．Attractions of the natural park. |
| C．Tourist service of the natural park. |
| D．Environmental protection of the natural park. |