New changes have taken place in Paris in recent years. Paris used to be among Europe’s busiest cities. Traffic jams could be seen all the time. But now there is a new 2.5 kilometre-long car-free area inside the city. The Louvre(卢浮宫) attracts world tourists. People visit there not just for the art works, but also enjoy the roof of the building which is like a flying carpet. The world’s most beautiful city is now even more beautiful.
Lijiang River National Park, China.
Lijiang River is in Guilin. It is well-known for its clear water, limestone(石灰岩洞) and green hills. The hills have beautiful names depending on different shapes, such as “Elephant Trunk”. These attract many Chinese poets and artists. The best way to enjoy Lijing River is to take an 83 km boat trip from Guilin to Yangshuo in summer.
Zurich, Switzerland
What do you think Zurich is famous for? Great banks? Yes. People can find many Swiss banks and foreign banks here. But the city is of great interest to many people for another reason. Zurich hosts Europe’s largest street party each year. Its Street Parade has overtaken London’s Notting Hill Carival. What’s hot in the city in 2014? In August, Zurich will host the European Athletic Championships. This gives tourists a chance to see the world’s top athletes making new records.
Adelaide, Australia
Many people may know Sydney or Melbourne. They are big cities in Australia. But Adelaide wins people’s hearts with great festivals and tasty food. Adelaide Fringe Festival is the largest art festival in Australia. Every February and March, people celebrate with outdoor art works, dance performances and live music. Adelaide has many kinds of foreign foods. British fish and chips, Italian pizza and German pork can be found in most restaurants.Tourists enjoy the art works as well as _______of the Louvre.
| A．the busy street | B．the shape of its roof |
| C．the car-free area | D．the flying carpet |
Many Chinese poets and artists are attracted by________ in Guilin.
| A．elephant trunks | B．warm weather |
| C．the highway to Yangshuo | D．the green hills and limestone caves |
Compared with London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the Street Parade in Zurich is _______.
| A．even worse | B．exactly the same | C．much better | D．less popular |
When and where will the 2014European Athletics Championships be held?
| A．In August, Paris | B．In February, Europe |
| C．In March, Adelaide | D．In August, Zurich |
Betty is studying art at college. She’s travelling to some place to enjoy art work and taste foreign foods. She could go to_____
| A．Adelaide | B．Lijiang River National Park |
| C．Zurich and Paris | D．the Louvre |
Joan worked in a hospital as a nurse. One evening there was a big dance at the hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses would be there, but it was Joan’s turn to look after the sick children. She liked dancing very much, so she felt very sorry for herself.
She went to each sick child one after another and said good-night, until she came to one little boy, Dickey. He was eleven years old, but he was already able to talk like an adult( 成人). Poor Dickey had a very serious illness, and now he was hardly able to move any part of his body except his hands. Joan knew he would never get any better, but he was always happy and always thinking about other people instead of about himself.
Dickey knew that Joan loved dancing, so now when she came to say good-night to him, he greeted her with the words, "I' m very sorry that you have to miss the dance because of us. But we are going to have a party for you. If you look in my drawer(抽屉), you ' Il find a piece of cake. I saved it from my supper today, so it' s quite fresh. And there is also a dollar there, You can buy something to drink with that. And I' d get up and dance with you myself if I was able to,” he added.
Suddenly the hospital dance seemed very far away and not at all important to Joan.Joan felt unlucky that evening mainly because______________.
| A．there wasn't a dance ball at the hospital |
| B．of her unpleasant job |
| C．she couldn’t look after the sick children |
| D．she would miss the big dance |
Poor Dickey__________________.
| A．was a boy of eleven |
| B．had a serious illness |
| C．was clever at talking though he was very young |
| D．all the above(以上全部) |
Dickey was lovely because______________.
| A．he was a sick boy |
| B．he could dance with Joan |
| C．he often thought about other people instead of about himself |
| D．he could foresee(预知) that he would never get any better |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Dickey couldn’t walk. |
| B．Dickey knew nothing about the dance. |
| C．Dickey could only move his hands. |
| D．Dickey greeted Joan when she came. |
At that party arranged(安排) for Joan, probably_______.
| A．Dickey got up and danced with her |
| B．Dickey brought her something to drink |
| C．Joan was moved (感动)by Dickey |
| D．Dickey lost the dollar which he saved |
Li Ping is a Grade Eight student in Nanjing Sunshine Secondary School. The table below is his mid-term self-assessment(自我评价).He draws faces to show his progress：
Li Ping thinks he did best in ______ in Unit 1.
| A．opposites | B．using a dictionary |
| C．a report | D．present perfect tense |
What does Li Ping need to improve（提高） in Unit 1?
| A．Present perfect tense. | B．Using a dictionary |
| C．A report. | D．Opposites. |
Which do you think Li Ping does well in?
| A．Present perfect tense. | B．Passive voice. |
| C．Organizing information. | D．Favorite educational computer game. |
What is Li Ping NOT very good at in Unit 2?
| A．Suffixes ‘full’and ‘less’. | B．Past continuous tense |
| C．Linking words. | D．My best holiday. |
From the table we know Li Ping is weak in ________
| A．Vocabulary | B．Main task |
| C．Study skills／Pronunciation | D．Grammar |
Tea bag drinking is most Westerners' favorite way of drinking tea. Do you know how it came about?
The tea bag was invented in 1908 by Thomas Sullivan, an American tea seller. He was sending out free tea in silk bags for people to try. People put the bags together with the tea leaves into the cup and added(增加) hot water. The tea tasted good, and people thought it was easy to clean the cup. They were not happy when Sullivan started sending them loose (散的) tea again.
Sullivan realized that he had a hot new thing in his hands, and he built a machine to pack the bags. As tea bags became popular, they were changed from silk to gauze (薄纱) and later paper. In 1952, Lipton Tea made the tea bag even more popular with its invention of the four-sided tea bag. Tea bags were soon a hit in the UK, and today 85%of the tea in the UK is packed in paper bags.
However, many people still prefer loose-leaf tea. This is because some tea companies put not very good tea in their tea bags. But for most drinkers, tea bags are still the easy and tasly way to go.Who invented the tea bag?
| A．An English tea seller. | B．Chinese. |
| C．Lipton. | D．Thomas Sullivan. |
The tea in silk bags was welcome because________.
| A．the tea in bags was free and very good |
| B．the tea tasted good and the cup was easy to wash |
| C．people were happy, with the loose tea |
| D．people didn't know any better way to enjoy the tea |
The material of the tea bags is usually_________now.
| A．silk | B．gauze | C．paper | D．plastic |
The underlined sentence "Tea bags were soon a hit in the UK" probably means “_______in the UK”.
| A．Tea bags soon became popular |
| B．Tea bags surprised everyone very much |
| C．Tea bags kicked the loose-leaf tea out of the market |
| D．Tea bags weren't allowed to be sold |
The reading mainly talks about________.
| A．the invention of tea |
| B．the way of drinking tea |
| C．the history of tea bags |
| D．people' s favorite tea in the world |
Dogs are friends of man. They work for us. They hunt with us. They also play with us. But a long time ago, all over the world, dogs were wild. Dogs can go back to the Stone Age. All dogs had the same ancestor (祖先). It is believed that this ancestor was much like a wolf. Other animals, like fox, also came from this ancestor. Thousands of years ago, man began to tame (使驯服) the wild dogs. When the dogs were tamed, they were trained well. The strong dogs then became working animals. They were trained to pull heavy loads (担子). They learned to keep watching over sheep and other animals. Working dogs could do other things, too. Some dogs were not strong. But they could help man hunt. Other dogs were best at pets. At first, there were only a few kinds of dogs. Today, there are more than 100 kinds.The word “wild” in the first paragraph means ___.
| A．温顺的 | B．野生的 | C．凶残的 | D．善良的 |
Dogs can go back to the Stone Age. Here “go back” means ___.
| A．追溯到 | B．回来 | C．违背 | D．返回去 |
From this passage, we know that ___.
| A．all the animals have the same ancestor |
| B．all dogs are as wild as they were many years ago |
| C．man has helped change dogs |
| D．animals never change |
What jobs can dogs do?
| A．Keep watching over sheep. | B．Hunt with man. |
| C．Pull heavy loads. | D．All the above. |
The main idea of the whole story is that ___.
| A．man and dogs have the same ancestor |
| B．all animals are too wild to be man’s friends |
| C．dogs and man have been friends for a long time |
| D．people like to keep foxes as pets because they are tamer |
Mascots for the Olympic Games
 |
 |
 |
| 20th |
23rd |
26th |
| 1972 |
1984 |
1996 |
| Munich (慕尼黑) |
Los Angeles |
Atlanta |
| Germany |
America |
America |
| Europe |
North America |
North America |
 |
 |
| 27th |
29th |
| 2000 |
2008 |
| Sydney |
Beijing |
| Australia |
China |
| Oceania |
Asia |
From the above, we know the Olympic Games is held(被举行) every ____ years.
| A．3 | B．4 | C．5 | D．6 |
The Beijing Olympic Games has 2 more mascots than those for ____Olympic Games.
| A．Sydney | B．Los Angeles | C．Atlanta | D．Munich |
The 20th Olympic Games was held in ____.
| A．North America | B．Europe | C．Oceania | D．Asia |
The 23rd and 26th Olympic Games were held in the same ____.
| A．town | B．city | C．country | D．province |
Which of the following information is NOT true?
| A．The 1996 Olympic Games was held in America. |
| B．The 27th Olympic Games was held in Europe. |
| C．Beijing held the 29th Olympic Games. |
| D．The mascot for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is not only one. |