“USA? Britain? Which country is better to study in?”
We often hear such discussions. As China opens its door, studying abroad has become a dream for many Chinese students. They would like to know the world well.
It’s true that studying abroad can help students develop themselves. Their foreign language skills will be improved and it may be easier to find jobs.
But there are problems that should be considered. Language is the first. Students must spend a lot of time learning another language and getting used to a different culture.
Students must also learn to live without parents’ care and deal with all kinds of things they haven’t had to do before, like looking after themselves. There are reports about Chinese students abroad running into an ocean of difficulties and giving up finally. When they have to take care of themselves, it is hard for students to study well.
Finally, studying abroad brings a heavy burden（负担）to the family. For most Chinese parents, the cost of studying abroad is very high. But is it worth it?
We know that there are many famous people who have achieved success through their hard work in China.
Liu Xiang is a good example. Once an American teacher invited him there, but he refused.
He kept training hard with his Chinese teacher. He surprised the world when he won a gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games. So when you wonder which country is better to study in, think again.
| Title: Studying at home or study |
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| Phenomenon（现象） |
Studying abroad has become a |
| Advantages |
It is helpful for Chinese students to |
| It is helpful for Chinese students to |
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| It enables Chinese students to find jobs more |
|
| It |
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| It’s hard for Chinese students to get used to the life abroad |
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| Parents may be under pressure（压力）because the cost of studying abroad is very |
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| Purpose: To tell us studying abroad is not the only way to be |
There are many things we need to know, but we do not learn them at school. For example, if we want to use our money wisely, we need to shop carefully. We need to know how to compare(比较) the prices of the things in different shops. We also need to know how to make the best choice when we shop.
Knowing how to make such choices is a life skill, and we need to practice it in our daily life.
| Supermarket W Business hours: 6:00 a.m – 10:30 p.m. Eggs (1 kilo): ￡ 6.50 Apples(1 kilo): ￡3.80 Pork ( 1 kilo): ￡18.20 Tomatoes (1 kilo): ￡1.58 Environment: Very good Service: Good |
Supermarket M Business hours: 5:30 a.m – 10:30 p.m. Eggs (1 kilo): ￡6.60 Apples(1 kilo): ￡3.96 Pork ( 1 kilo): ￡18.20 Tomatoes (1 kilo): ￡1.50 Environment: Very good Service: Good |
| Supermarket Y Business hours:6:00 a.m – 10:00 p.m. Eggs (1 kilo): ￡ 6.20 Apples(1 kilo): ￡3.30 Pork ( 1 kilo): ￡17.20 Tomatoes(1kilo):￡1.30 Environment: Need improving Service: Just so-so |
Supermarket T Business hours: 6:00 a.m – 9:30 p.m. Eggs (1 kilo): ￡6.90 Apples(1 kilo): ￡4.00 Pork ( 1 kilo): ￡18.60 Tomatoes (1 kilo): ￡1.60 Environment: Just so-so Service: Bad |
Which supermarket has the longest Business Hours?
| A．Supermarket W. | B．Supermarket T. |
| C．Supermarket Y. | D．Supermarket M. |
The price of the pork in ___________ is the same as that in ___________.
| A．Supermarket W; Supermarket M |
| B．Supermarket Y; Supermarket T |
| C．Supermarket W; Supermarket Y |
| D．Supermarket M; Supermarket T |
If you want to spend the least money on eggs, which supermarket will you go to?
| A．Supermarket W. | B．Supermarket M. |
| C．Supermarket Y. | D．Supermarket T. |
What may be the reason if a shopper usually shops in Supermarket Y?
| A．The Environment. | B．The Service. |
| C．The Business hours. | D．The Price. |
Although I didn’t have any interest in being a school bus driver, I became one. Many years later, I was still working on the school bus. There are so many good reasons. Firstly, the talk brought me different kinds of information. I also got to hear all the family secrets of the newcomers. I have a toy bear who was a great comforter(安慰者) for the little ones. The kids got to look after him on the trip to school and he waited patiently for them to get on for the trip home.
Our bus would often pass a place where we could see some alpacas (羊驼) in front of a farm house. Little Michael would cry excitedly from the seat, “Look, Miss! Look at the camels!” He used to put his head out of the bus window. When I warned him that a little insect would come into his nose if he wasn’t careful, he smartly gave up the habit.
I remember a little girl got on the bus one morning 5 years ago and sobbed(抽泣) all the way to school. We arrived at the school gate. As she waited to get down the bus, she threw her arms around my neck and cried that her grandfather had died the night before.
A school bus driver needs to keep one eye on the road and the other on the mirror to watch what the little ones are doing down the back.
Now, it’s important to think how many lives I’ve been responsible(负责的) for, and how many kilometers I’ve driven in order to get my passengers home safely during the 20 years. I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s time to rest and park my school bus. What does the underlined word “them” in the first paragraph refer to (所指)?
| A．toy bears | B．kids |
| C．school buses | D．secrets |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Children didn’t like the driver. |
| B．The driver likes the job all the time. |
| C．The little girl was excited at seeing the camels. |
| D．Children sometimes talked about their family secrets on the bus. |
The writer didn’t give up her job because.
| A．driving was her hobby |
| B．children made her valuable |
| C．drivers were paid well |
| D．children loved her toy bear |
He was just an ordinary postman. Day after day, he shuttled(穿梭) back and forth across the village. For him, life was without waves.
One day, he was delivering mail as usual.When he looked up in the sky,he suddenly lost his balance.It was a little stone that tripped him up（绊倒）.He observed the stone that had embarrassed（难堪） him,finding it strange but beautiful.In his eyes,this stone was like a lost jewel（宝石）covered with dust. The postman then placed the stone in his bag carefully. Because of this stone’s arrival,his day was lightened. He suddenly had a bold thought—I can build a castle with such beautiful stones.How magnificent it will be!
His ordinary life started to be different since then. He still delivered mail,but he collected every stone he could find along the way.All those dusty stones,in his eyes,glittered like diamonds.
Gradually,his small bag couldn’t hold his stones anymore and he needed to use a wheelbarrow to carry them.People didn’t understand what happened when they saw the postman delivering letters with a wheelbarrow full of stones.
After collecting enough stones,he started to build his castle.During the daytime,he passed along the dreams of others;and during the nighttime,he built his own dream.No one was willing to join in.But the postman was unmoved,still happily building his castle.Because he knew,the dream and the castle only belonged to him.
After 20 years of working day and night,the postman’s dream castle was finally completed.It was a magnificent castle just as he had imagined.It was a miracle arising from the ordinary.
This is a real story.The postman’s name is Xue Waller.The stone castle has become a famous tourist attraction in France,which is called“ideal palace of Ferdinand Cheval.”At the entrance of the stone castle,there is a sentence—“I want to know how far a dream stone can go.” The postman felt embarrassed because he _______.
| A．lost his balance | B．lost his bag |
| C．delivered mail | D．found a stone |
The postman’s own dream was to _______
| A．collect stones | B．deliver mail |
| C．find diamonds | D．build his castle |
The underlined word “glittered” in the third paragraph may mean ________.
| A．shone | B．cleaned |
| C．posted | D．hid |
. Which of the following is not true?
| A．A little stone tripped the postman up while he was delivering mail as usual. |
| B．The postman collected every stone he would find along the way. |
| C．The postman built his castle with the help of his family and friends. |
| D．The postman spent twenty years building his stone castle. |
The postman named Xue Waller was ________.
| A．German | B．French |
| C．British | D．American |
From the passage we can learn that ________.
| A．The postman had a colourful life before the accident in which he lost his balance. |
| B．The postman gave up his job in order to built his stone castle. |
| C．The stone that tripped the postman up was a real jewel. |
| D．Though people didn’t understand him, the postman continued his dream-building a castle. |
Birthdays are celebrated all over the world. Some ways to celebrate birthdays are rather similar from county to country---candles, cakes and birthday wishes. But there are also different ways to celebrate birthdays. Here are a few:
Denmark A flag is flown outside a window to show that someone who lives in the house is having a birthday. Presents are placed around the child’s bed while he is sleeping so he will see them at once when he wakes up. |
India Usually Indian children wear white to school. However, on their birthdays, children wear colored clothes to school and give out chocolate to everyone in the class. Their best friends help them to do this. |
Japan The birthday child wears new clothes to mark the special time. Certain birthdays are more important than others. These are the third and seventh for girls and fifth for boys. |
Holland The birthday child receives an especially large present. The family also puts flowers on the birthday child’s chair to make it beautiful. |
When someone is having a birthday in Denmark, what can you see outside the window?
| A．flowers | B．presents |
| C．a flag | D．a chair |
Flowers are put on the chair of the birthday child in .
| A．Japan | B．Denmark |
| C．India | D．Holland |
In India, birthday children .
| A．give out chocolate to their classmates |
| B．share chocolate with their best friends |
| C．go to school in white clothes |
| D．wear new clothes to mark the special time |
It is said that all dreams serve a purpose. While there is no agreement among scientists about why we dream, there are many ideas about the different kinds of dreams we have.
One common kind of dream is the repeating dream, in which the same story is repeated again and again, often for many months or even years. Some believe these are a sign people have a problem in their life and once that problem is gone then the dream will stop. Others think they are a way to help people remember something very important.
Another well-known kind of dream is the nightmare. The pictures and stories in such dreams make people very afraid and dreamers usually remember them far more clearly than normal dreams. The cause of such dreams may be seeing something terrifying such as a car accident or some deadly snakes. Others think such dreams may be trying to make a person pay attention to something that is dangerous in their life.
Daydreams happen during wake-time when we forget where we are or what we are doing and find ourselves in a made-up story or unreal world. We often daydream when we are doing something that is not interesting or exciting. They help us think about our future.
Lucid (神志清醒的) dreams are the most fun. These happen when dreamers suddenly understand that they are dreaming. Instead of waking up, they stay in the dream and are able to control what happens in the dream as if they are making a movie.The underlined word “they” in paragraph 2 refers to “_______”.
| A．dreams | B．problems |
| C．dreamers | D．scientists |
The underlined word “terrifying” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to “_______”
| A．frightening | B．interesting |
| C．disappointing | D．amazing |
When might a person daydream?
| A．During a very interesting movie. |
| B．While playing at a fun park． |
| C．While listening to an uninteresting talk. |
| D．When making a movie． |
How do we know if we are lucid dreaming?
| A．We can remember the dream very clearly. |
| B．We can control what happens in the dream. |
| C．We think that the dream is like a movie. |
| D．We feel very nervous after we wake up. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Daydreaming of You | B．Enjoy Your Dream |
| C．What Dreams Mean | D．Where Dreams Go |