Songkran（泰国泼水节）is the traditional Thai New Year that starts on April 13 annually. It’s also callled the “Water Festival” because people believe that water will wash away bad luck and make people fresh.
On the day, we spinkle洒small drops of water to bless monks and elders. Their hands are spinkled with perfumed(有香味的) water. In addition, this festival is for rain because it is the hottest season.
Nowadays, during the Songkran Festival, people always wet down everybody who walks past their houses or walks down the streets with cups or buckets水桶 of water. Everyone gets wet, but it is all in a spirit of friendliness, blessing and fun. People who get wet actually do not get angry because they know that it is traditional.
People will go to the temples to bathe沐浴Buddha images佛像and give special food to the monks. People do good things such as fish or birds and other animals released释放from their cages. On this day, everywhere in Thailand, people celebrate and enjoy the festival, especiallly in the northern part of Thailand.
We can see many foreigners join in the events and enjoyed this festival with Thais. Everybody also enjoys public events such as beauty contests, parades游行, and marching bands. 游行乐队
The Water Festival gives us freshness, happiness and fun because the weather is very hot. I hope everyone will travel to Thailand and enjoy this festival.The traditional Thai New Year ________.
| A．is celebrated at the beginning of each year. |
| B．comes three months before that of each countries. |
| C．is celebrated in a special way with its own activities. |
| D．is the same as in other parts of the world. |
People sprinkle water during the Songkran Festival, because they______.
| A．have nothing else to do |
| B．believe it will bring good luck |
| C．have too much water in their country |
| D．want to use water to fight with each other. |
When Thai New Year comes, people think it ________ to make others wet through.
| A．traditional | B．unfriendly | C．curious | D．strange |
Besides sprinkling water, people also_______ in this festival.
| A．invite honorable foreign guests to join in them |
| B．give freedom to some animals |
| C．attend rich feasts宴会 and have fun with others |
| D．bathe together to wash away bad luck |
Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a couple of older boys stopped by to watch.
“What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors.
“We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth!” one of the brothers said excitedly.
The older boys began to laugh, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible. After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and all kinds of other insects. He removed the lid and showed the wonderful contents to the scoffing(嘲笑)visitors. Then he said quietly and confidently, “Even if we don’t dig all the way through the earth, look what we found along the way!”
Their goal was far too ambitious（有野心的）, but it did cause them to dig. And that is what a goal is for — to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen; in other words, to set us to digging!
But not every goal will be fully achieved. Not every job will end successfully. Not every relationship will endure(长久持续). Not every dream will be realized. But when you fall short of your aim, perhaps you can say, “Yes, but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things which have come into my life because I tried to do something!”
It is in the digging that life is lived. And I believe it is joy in the journey, in the end, that truly matters.Which of the following is NOT the reason why the older boys laughed at the two brothers?
| A．The two brothers only dug out a lot of insects |
| B．The two brothers lacked knowledge of the earth. |
| C．The two brothers were foolish. |
| D．The two brothers had a far too ambitious goal. |
What does the underlined part “when you fall short of your aim” probably mean?
| A．When you are shorter than you expected |
| B．When you have less than the amount than you wanted |
| C．When you fail to obtain（得到）what you expected |
| D．When you miss the target you are aiming at |
The passage is written to _____.
| A．tell readers a story |
| B．teach readers how to set a goal |
| C．praise the two brothers |
| D．teach readers a lesson |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Dig a Hole Through the Earth |
| B．Joy in the Journey |
| C．Realize Your Goal |
| D．Don’t Laugh at Others |
Surtsey was born in 1963. Scientists saw the birth of this island．It began at 7：30 am . on 14th November . A fishing boat was near Iceland．The boat moved under the captain's (船长的) feet . He noticed a strange smell．He saw some black smoke ．A volcano (火山) was breaking out . Red hot rocks，fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom of the sea . The island grew quickly．It was 10 metres high the next day and 60 metres high on 18th November. Scientists flew there to watch．It was exciting．Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967. It was 175 metres high and 2 kilometres 1ong．And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew．Birds came．Some scientists built a house．They wanted to learn about this young island．
A new island is like a new world．When did scientists fly there to watch the birth of the island?
| A．Before the volcano broke out. |
| B．On 14th November 1963 . |
| C．About four days after the volcano broke out . |
| D．In June 1967. |
Put the following sentences in correct order .
a. Some scientists built a house on Surtsey to learn about this island .
b. The captain saw fire , smoke and rocks rushing up .
c. The sea was boiling .
d. A fishing boat was near Iceland .
e. A new island appeared in the sea .
| A．a-b-c-d-e | B．d-a-c-b-e |
| C．d-c-b-a-e | D．d-b-c-e-a |
The best title of the text is .
| A．New Discovery . |
| B．The Birth of An Island. |
| C．A Captain and An Island . |
| D．How Does A Volcano Break Out. |
I will always remember my mother’s last days in this world.
On February 14th, 2008, my class went on a field trip to the beach. I had so much fun. When we returned to school, my teacher told me to go to the headmaster’s office. When I got into the office, I saw a police officer. Suddenly, I realized something was wrong. The police officer told me what had happened and we went to pick my sister up. After that, we went to the hospital and waited. Time went slowly. Finally, we got to see our mother. It was terrible.
On the next day, the headmaster came and told my two teachers what had happened. I was taking a test that day. I knew it had something to do with my mother. I kept thinking that she either died or had gotten better. How I wished that she had gotten better. When my teacher took me outside, my sister ran up to me. She started crying, “She’s gone, Terresa, mommy’s gone. She’s dead.” I couldn’t believe it. We jumped into the car and drove straight to the hospital. Most of my family were there. The silence was terrible. I knew I had to say goodbye.
Today when I look back, I still miss my mother very much, but I know that I will live. My mother was a strong mother, who had the biggest heart. She was an angel walking on the earth. I will always remember her as a living. When someone is asked who their hero is, they usually say someone famous, like Michael Jordan or Britney Spears. When someone asks me who my hero is, I tell them, my mother. My mother lives everyday. That is what makes her a true hero.Where was the writer when she learned her mother was sick?
| A．On the beach. | B．At the hospital. |
| C．At home. | D．At school. |
Who brought the writer the bad news that her mother was ill?
| A．Her sister. | B．The headmaster. |
| C．Her teacher. | D．The police officer |
What did the headmaster tell the two teachers on the next day?
| A．Her father had been very ill. |
| B．Her mother had gotten better. |
| C．Her mother had been dead. |
| D．Her mother came to see her. |
From the last paragraph of the passage we know that _____________.
| A．the writer is afraid of her mother. |
| B．the writer feels sad about her mother. |
| C．the writer is proud of her mother. |
| D．the writer feels sorry for her mother. |
Eddie liked music very much when he was at school, but when he went to the university he decided to study medicine instead of music. When he passed his examinations and became a doctor, he had to work in a hospital for some time. There he discovered that a lot of patients were happier and caused less trouble if pleasant music was played to them When Eddie got an office and began to work for himself, he decided to keep his patients happy by having a tape recorder in his waiting-room play beautiful music for them.
But soon after the tape recorder had been put in, Eddie’s nurse heard a woman, who was sitting in the crowded waiting-room one morning, complained, “Here we’re all waiting to see the doctor, and he’s just playing the violin in his office instead of doing his work.”Eddie became a student of medicine at university__________.
| A．because he had lost interest in music |
| B．because he thought medicine was more important than music |
| C．to find out new use of music in hospital |
| D．for reasons unknown from this passage |
Why did Eddie put a tape recorder in his office?
| A．He wanted to help patients waiting to see him pass the time easily. |
| B．He discovered that music was of help to his patients |
| C．He enjoyed listening to music while he worked |
| D．He wanted to attract more patients to his office |
From the passage we can see that__________.
| A．the woman thought Eddie was an unusual doctor |
| B．the woman didn’t understand music |
| C．the woman did not understand what Eddie meant |
| D．the woman hated to be kept waiting |
Students who date(约会) in middle school have significantly worse study skills. They are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use as their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
“Romantic relationships are a trademark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships,” said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.
Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade.
Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires about the students’ academic(学术的) efforts. He found that some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students always had the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.
“At all points in time, teachers considered the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills,” according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit (学分), being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.
“Dating a classmate may be as complicated as dating a co-worker,” Orpinas said, “when the couple break up, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps see the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and could divert (转移) attention from studying.”
“Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school,” Orpinas concluded.According to the passage, students who date in middle school may_____
| A．have poorer academic performances |
| B．be more likely to hurt others |
| C．enjoy better school lives |
| D．be less likely to use alcohol and tobacco |
When doing his study, Orpinas ________________.
| A．followed a group of students of 6th and 12th grade |
| B．completed a survey and a report each year |
| C．found that the students’ study skills have connection with their frequency of dating |
| D．completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts |
What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?
| A．They don’t want to see each other any longer. |
| B．They will think it’s reasonable to get depressed. |
| C．They will miss their ex-partners sometimes. |
| D．Their attention to studying will be affected. |
Orpinas’ attitude towards dating in middle school is_____
| A．supportive | B．negative |
| C．positive | D．Unconcerned |