Christmas Love
Each December, I promised to make Christmas a relaxed and peaceful experience. I didn’t spend too much time on card writing, endless cooking and decorating. Yet still, I found myself tired, unable to enjoy the valuable family moments, and of course, to understand the true meaning of .
Christmas came again. My son, Nicholas, was in primary school that year. It was a very season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he’d been memorizing songs for his school’s “Winter Celebration.” All the parents were invited to be present at their show.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d be working. Unwilling to his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She told me there’d be a dress rehearsal(彩排) the morning of the presentation. All unable to be present that evening were welcome to come then.
So, on the of the dress rehearsal, I arrived ten minutes early. Around the room, I saw several other parents. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas”, I didn’t anything other than fun. So, when my son’s class rose to sing “Christmas Love”, I was a little bit surprised by its title.
Nicholas was excited, as were all of his classmates. Those in the front row held up large letters, one by one, to out the title of the song. As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on all the children presented the complete message “Christmas Love”.
The show was going smoothly, until suddenly, a small, quiet, girl in the front row held the letter “M” upside down — totally not knowing her letter “M” appeared as a “W”. The audience(观众) laughed at this little girl’s . But she had no idea why they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, holding her “W”. The laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A sudden came over the audience and eyes began to widen. At that moment, we understood why we were there and why we the holiday.
For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: “CHRIST WAS LOVE”.
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B
How much do you know about Albert Einstein?
Albert Einstein, born on March 14, 1879 in Germany, was a great scientist in the world. He was strange because he hated haircuts and new clothes. He believed in peace. All his life, he hated war. However, his most famous idea, E = mc², helped create the world’s most dangerous weapon (武器). Many people think he was the smartest person in the world. But Einstein said that he thought like a child with many questions and unusual ideas.
What did he like?
Einstein liked learning sailing(帆船运 动). He sailed in small boats all his life. He
once joked, “Sailing is the sport that takes the least energy!”
When Einstein was a child, his mother made him take violin lessons. At first, he didn’t like the violin. But then he learned to love music and became a good violinist.
Later, he said, “Love is the best teacher.”
Why is the sky blue?
In 1910, Einstein asked a question which many children often ask, “Why is the sky blue?” After his careful research, he answered the question like this: “It’s because light is made up of many colors including blue. When light travels to Earth, gas particles(气体微粒) spread the blue light all over the sky.” His answer is true in physics.
According to the passage, Albert Einstein haircuts and new clothes.
A．forgot B．minded C．dislikedThe underlined part actually shows Albert Einstein was a/an _ person.
A．clever B．imaginative C．childlikeEinstein learning sailing and playing the violin.
A．was interested in
B．looked forward to
C．was known forFrom Paragraph 3 we know that .
A．mother teaches the best
B．without mother’s push, we can’t love anything
C．when we love something, we’d like to learn about itEinstein offered a _ explanation for the question why the sky is blue.
A．magic B．scientific C．careful
My friend’s grandfather came to America from a farm in Thailand. After After arriving in New York, he went into a cafeteria(自助餐厅) in Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for someone to take his order. Of course nobody did. Finally, a woman with a big plate full of food came up to him. She sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked.
“Start out at that end,” she said, “Just go along the line and choose what you want. At the other end they’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”
“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend later, “Life’s a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want as long as you want to pay the price. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself. ”My friend’s grandfather came from .
A．Thailand B．Manhattan C．New YorkThe grandfather went into a cafeteria to .
A．wait for someone
B．get something to eat C．meet my friendThe woman in the cafeteria might be .
A．a waitress
B．a friend of grandpa’s
C．a customerWhat should we do to get food in a cafeteria?
A．Wait for the waiter.
B. Ask someone for help. C．Get it ourselves.What can we learn from the grandfather’s words about the life in the US?
A．Get up early and you can succeed.
B．Act and get what you want on your own.
C．Nobody brings you anything unless you pay the price.
We are collecting more news for our school English newspaper. Would you like to be reporters for it? Welcome! Here are two pieces from the news page.
The BestRunner
We had a sports day at school yesterday. Last year’s best runner, LiYu, only won the second prize in the 800-meter race. Instead, Yang Liufrom Class 2 came first by two seconds. Next year the race is going to bemore Interesting! Who will be the best runner? Iwonder.
Good-bey, Mr.White!
Our Englishteacher, Mr. White, has finished his two years’ teachingat our school and will leave next month. Mr. White is an excellent teacherand he’s always friendly to us. We’ll never forget his lively andinteresting teaching. We are lucky to be his students. We thank him for all his hardwork and wish him a nice journey home. We will miss you, Mr.White!You are welcome to be reporters for our school English newspaper.
Li Yu won the second prize in the 800-meter race yesterday.
Yang Liu was the best runner last year.
Mr. White will teach us English for two years at our school.
We’ll always remember Mr. White’s lively and interesting teaching.
Countries like France, Brazil and even Japan have their own hip-hop culture. But where did this strange speaking-singing style come from? Many centuries ago, in West Africa, traditional storytellers played musical instruments while they were telling stories. When this tradition travelled from West Africa to the USA, it developed into different musical styles. For example, blues and jazz.
And in the 1970s, there were many poor areas in New York. There wasn’t any money for music lessons in schools, so kids made their own music. Teenagers Afrika and DJ Here played their records outside in the streets. Everybody joined in. MCs had rapping（说唱） competitions. Every week, there were talented new dancers, new DJs and new MCs. Hip-hop culture was born.
It was 1980. I was at a party in New York. There was a young DJ at the party. He was playing records. While he was putting a record on, a kid picked up a microphone（话筒） and begantapping. Some other kids were break-dancing to the music. It was loud and boring, and I
hated it. I preferred jazz.Today’s successful American artists like Missy and her friend Tim heard it on the radio when they were growing up.
The last time I heard hip-hop, I was in West Africa. I was going to interview a traditional storyteller when I met a young hip-hop artist, He told me there are hundreds of rap groups in Africa today. We live on a hip-hop planet.
| A. I remember the first time I heard hip-hop. B. You can find hip-hop everywhere you go. C. I was writing a book about African-Americans. D. Many Americans gave music lessons to poor children. E. These styles all started in poor African-American areas. F. During the 1980s, hip-hop became popular all over the USA. G. Some people don’t like hip-hop because of its spoken words. |
The first part of a new science-fiction series （系列剧）was shown on NBC last night. Star Trek is about a spacecraft（宇宙飞船）which travels faster than the speed of light. The show is developed from three ideas about the 22nd century. First, we’ll find other life forms great tools which will make amazing things possible.
Let’s think about these predictions. If we find life forms on other planets, will they be intelligent? I hope so. But we human beings might not be friendly – I don’t think we’ll believe in the idea of peace one hundred years from now. But this is science fiction, so we can be optimistic! And Star Trek’s idea of life in the future is ‘communicators’. And we will be ablt to have conversatins with people who are on because you’ll have an electronic notebook. And if you get ill, the doctor won’t have to examine you – a machine will ‘read’ your body. The strangest manchine includes a ‘teleport’ which will take people to a different placein a second!
The ideas are interesting, and in my opinion there’s only one problem with star trek: the acting. The TV company （公司）will have to get better actors. If they do that, the show might be a success. If the acting doesn’t improve, Star Trek won’t last for more than one series. Of course, my prediction may be wrong. I can’t see into the future!What is Star Trek?
| A．A TV play. | B．A popular song. |
| C．A spacecraft. | D．An alien. |
What does the underlined word “optimistic” mean?
| A．Lucky and happy. | B．Hopeful and confident. |
| C．Helpful and creative. | D．Thankful and popular. |
What’s the writer’s opinion about Star Trek?
A. The life forms on other planets are stupid.
B. Interesting ideas make a new series popular.
C. The new series might not be successful without better actors.Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Aliens on Other Planets. | B．The Idea of Human Life. |
| C．A Science Fiction. | D．A New Series about Future. |