A “Gap Year” is a period of time when a student takes a break before going to university. It is often spent travelling or working. It can give young people useful learning experiences and new skills.
Gap years are popular with European and Australian students, but remain less popular in America. However, in recent years, more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. The advantages of taking a gap year are as follows：
Learn about the World and Yourself
Although you don’t have to go abroad to experience gap years, most gap year students catch the chance to travel abroad. You are able to work out who you are and what you are for. The experiences of different cultures offer you interesting lessons. You can learn more about the world and get to know yourself better.
Face Challenges and Have Fun
A gap year is not only a time to take a vacation, but also a time to face challenges. Gap year students usually work, volunteer or take service projects. You have to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn’t always easy, but it is an important part of growing up. Only in this way can you enjoy life and have fun.
Save Money and Improve Your College Admission Chances
There’s a common thought that gap years are only for rich students, but it’ s not true. Actually, taking a gap year can save your money. Gap year students often take a part-time job. Besides, at the end of a gap year, students are much more likely to know what to study in college. Clear learning goals ran keep the students working hard instead of wasting time and money playing.
Imagine an admission officer trying to admit (录取) only one between two students. Both of them are excellent and have high grades. However, one student has much practical experience or has volunteered in his vacation. Who do you think the admission officer will choose?A “Gap Year” means in the passage.
| A．going abroad in a year for further education |
| B．travelling around the world in a year |
| C．taking a break before going to a university |
| D．doing a part-time job to make money during a vacation |
Besides having fun, gap year students have to face the .
| A．money | B．information |
| C．vacations | D．challenges |
Having a gap year may make you .
| A．become very rich | B．remain less popular |
| C．experience foreign cultures | D．have no chance to break |
The last sentence implies(暗含) that will probably be admitted by the admission officer.
| A．either of the two students |
| B．the student with high grades |
| C．neither of the two students |
| D．the .student with a gap year experience |
Hi, I'm Liu Ying. This is my school. It's big and beautiful. There are twenty classes in my school. There are nine hundred students in my school. There are four beautiful gardens(花园) in it. There is a building in my school. On the first floor(楼层), there are two offices and a hall, There are six classrooms on the first floor too. On the second floor, there are fourteen classrooms and two toilets. There is a big library and some reading rooms in my school too. I like my school very much.How many classes are there in the school?
A. Ten. B. Fifteen. C. Twenty.Is there a building in the school?
A. No, there isn't.
B. Yes, there is.
C. Yes, there are.Are there any classrooms on the first floor?
A. Yes, there are.
B. There is one.
C. No, there aren't.How many gardens are there in the school?
A. Three. B. Four. C. OneThere are _______ students in the school.
A. one hundred
B. nine hundred
C. eight hundred
Look at this photo. This is my family. There are seven people in my family. These are my grandparents, James and Julia. These are my parents, John and Nancy. It's me, Helen Smith. Oh, this is my aunt, Sandy. And this is Steve, my aunt's son.
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。There are _______ people in the photo.
A. 5 B. 6 C. 7_______ are my grandparents.
A. James and Julia
B. James and Nancy
C. Steve Smith_______ is my father.
A. James Smith
B. John Smith
C. Steve SmithHelen is Nancy's _______.
A. daughter B. sister C. brotherSteve is Helen's _______.
A. father B. son C. cousin
任务型阅读阅读下面的短文，根据短文内容完成表格中所缺信息，在答题卷上相应的横线上填写答案，每空限填一个单词。(本大题共5分，每小题0.5分)
Teenagers don’t have enough money to buy expensive gifts. So what do you do if you want to give gifts to the important people in your life? In fact, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on holiday gifts. There are many cheap ways to do that. Here are some make-it-yourself gift ideas to try:
To your mom and dad:
You can decorate a photo frame, sing a song or write a letter to your mom and dad. You could also draw a picture for them if you like that better.
To you teacher:
Sometimes students put their pocket money together and buy the teacher a holiday gift. Some kids also give individual(个人) gifts. You can send a nice card with the words of thanks inside. You might even write down the favourite things you’ve learned in the teacher’s class this year. It will make the teacher feel happy.
To the kids who need a friend:
The holidays are a good time to think about people who are lonely. Maybe there is someone in your class who doesn’t seem to have many friends. Try to do something for this person. It could be giving a Christmas card or just chatting with him or her. It’s a small thing, but could mean a lot to someone who feels a little shy or sad at school.
Some make-it-yourself gift ideas to
To your mom and dad: You can a photo frame, sing a song or write a letter to your mom and dad. You could also
a picture for them if you like that better.
To your : You can send a nice card with the words of thanks
. You might even write down the
thing you’ve learned in the teacher’s class this year. It will make the teacher feel
. To the kids who need a friend: Try to do something for this person. It could be giving a Christmas card or just
with him or her. It’s a
thing, but it could
a lot to someone who feels a little shy or sad at school.
Everyone dreams of changing the world. But can teenagers really make a difference? And how can they go about it?
Michael Norton's book 365 Ways to Change the World is a good starting point. The book gives an idea or task for every single day of the year. The tasks include offering to work at a local homeless shelter (庇护所) and planting a tree.
The book says that one simple act, no matter how small, can help someone in need. It may even influence (影响) other teens to do something.
Nathan Anthony, a student at Maple High School in Modesto, California, US, agrees. “It is impossible to get anything in life without giving something to someone or working hard at school or workplace," Anthony said.
Another Maple student, Ariane Mota, has the same idea." Giving is our way of repaying those who help us," she said." Whether it is a helping hand or a donation, we should help others to make their day or life better."
But how often do teens see peers (同龄人) helping a stranger or doing something nice for someone?
According to Anthony, not a lot. He and Mota both believe this needs to be changed.
"I help my friends by telling them that their lives are better than those poorer people," Anthony said." Humor is also a great tool."
So whether you're helping to find a cure (疗法) for bad illness or simply smiling at a stranger, do something every day to help change the world for the better.365 Ways of Changing the World is a book __________.
| A．written about Michael Norton. |
| B．about what teenagers learn at school |
| C．that gives teenagers an idea or task for every single day of the year |
| D．about how to work in a shelter. |
Which of the following does not change the world for the better?
| A．Eating a delicious meal |
| B．Telling friends that their lives are better |
| C．Helping find a cure for cancer (癌症) |
| D．Smiling at a stranger |
According to Nathan Anthony, how many teens can be seen helping a stranger or do something nice for someone?
| A．a lot of teens | B．Hundreds of teens |
| C．Some teens | D．Millions of teens |
How often does the passage tell us to do something to change the world better?
| A．Once a year | B．Every day |
| C．Once a week | D．Twice a day |
From the article, we know _____________.
| A．Michael Norton dreams of changing the world most |
| B．only great acts can influence other teens to do something |
| C．Nathan Anthony and Ariane Mota are both teenagers at Maple High School |
| D．humor does not belong to what teenagers should do to change the world |
In the sea there are many islands. In its warm waters there are some little ones. We call them “coral Islands” (珊瑚岛).
A coral island is very nice to look at. It looks like a ring of land(一圈陆地) with trees, grass, and flowers on it. One part of the ring is open to the water. There is a little round lake inside the island.
If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral. You may think they are flowers. If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it. In each of these holes a very small sea animal lives. These sea animals make the coral.
They began to build under the water. Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher. At last it grew out of the water.
Then the sea brought it small trees and something else. After some years, these things changed into earth. Sometimes the wind brought seeds(种子) to this earth. Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island.
The little seeds grew. In a few years there were plants all over the island. In a few more years there were trees growing there.
So you see, these islands were built little by little. The workers were very small. Do they not teach us a lesson? Can you think what the lesson is?In the sea _____.
| A．there are coral islands in all places |
| B．there are some coral islands |
| C．the water is always warm |
| D．we can see many flowers |
A coral island looks like _____.
| A．a round cake | B．trees, grass and flowers |
| C．a ring of land | D．a round lake |
There are _____ in the holes in corals.
| A．flowers | B．little corals |
| C．grass | D．sea animals |
How did seeds of trees, grass and flowers come to the coral islands?
| A．The wind and birds brought them to the coral islands |
| B．Only the wind brought them there |
| C．People brought them there |
| D．Fishes brought them there |
From the article, we know _____________.
| A．small workers can’t do big things |
| B．only big workers can do big things |
| C．small workers can do things if they work hard and work a long time |
| D．all small things can do big things |