Carlos had been in New York for five months now, and he detested it. He would never forget the day when the plane landed. His parents had big smiles on their faces as they discussed the wonderful new life they would have in this great city. His older sister and brother looked in wonder and excitement at the buildings. Uncle Miguel and Aunt Esperanza thought of the good jobs they would get. Grandmother and Grandfather told him what a lucky boy he was to come to this wonderful city. But Carlos was lonely. The city looked big, cold, and dirty to him.
They lived in an apartment in Manhattan. There were stores and cinemas close to their home. But Carlos didn’t want these things. He loved his home in the country in Puerto Rico; he loved the green fields, the hot sun, and the lovely beaches.
He didn’t want to go to school because it made him think of his friends at home. And he didn’t want to learn a new language that could never describe the world as beautifully as his own.
He began to go down to the dock(码头), because this made him feel closer to Puerto Rico. He sat down and watched the ships. He would often find a man also sitting there looking at the sea. The man was Eric-a taxi driver who came there to escape from the noisy traffic.
Eric noticed the young boy and felt his sadness. One day he said, “Yes, it’s hard to leave your homeland. I remember when I left Norway 15 years ago. I know it’s hard to start a new life in a new country, but let’s face it. I did it and you can do it, too.”
From then on the taxi driver and the young boy began to develop a deep friendship.The underlined word “detested” in Paragraph1 probably means __________.
| A．forgot | B．enjoyed |
| C．hated | D．missed |
According to the text, ___________.
| A．Carlos’ parents were looking forward to the life in New York |
| B．Carlos’ grandparents were afraid of the traffic in New York |
| C．Carlos’ uncle and aunt found it hard to get jobs in New York |
| D．Carlos’ brother and sister got excited at the schools in New York |
Why did Carlos feel lonely?
| A．He knew nobody around his apartment. |
| B．He missed his life in Puerto Rico. |
| C．his parents left him alone at home. |
| D．No one went to the movies with him. |
Eric and Carlos became friends because they ________.
| A．came from the same country | B．both hated noise |
| C．were the same age | D．faced the same problems |
Great Wall Xmas BBQ
Beijing Hikers are organizing a three-hour hike on a rarely visited part of the Great Wall and will celebrate Christmas afterwards with a Christmas barbecue dinner in a small hotel at the foot of the Great Wall . Meet at 8:30 am. Dec. 25 in front of Starbucks at Lido Holiday Inn , Jiangtai Lu. Please write to info@beijinghikers.com or 139-100-25516.
Pingyao tour
High Club will guide a weekend trip to Pingyao , an ancient walled town near Taiyuan , capital city of Shanxi Province . The town is one of the best-preserved(保护) featuring courtyard buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) . Among them is the Qiao family courtyard house, the shooting location of Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern （《大红灯笼高高挂》）. Leave on Friday (December 23) night by train and back to Beijing on Sunday morning . For sign-up and more information , contact Lucy at lucy@highclub.cn or 8580-5080,130-11171326.
New Year Harbin trip
The Chinese Culture Club is running a new year trip to Harbin , to catch a fresh view of its yearly ice and snow lantern festival .
As the temperature is expected to fall between minus 20 to 30℃, visitors are warned to prepare well with jackets , masks , fur gloves and boots. The trip sets out by train at night on December 31 and gets back on the morning January 2. The cost is 2,300 yuan (US$ 284) . Reservation(预订) is required at 8457-2772.One who is interested in life of ancient Chinese is more likely to contact ______.
| A．139-100-25516 | B．1368-1911 | C．8580-5080 | D．8457-2772 |
The term “BBQ” in the topic “Great Wall Xmas BBQ” should mean a kind of ________.
| A．meal | B．tour | C．transportation | D．dance |
Pingyao is worth seeing mainly because ________.
| A．it’s a town surrounded by walls |
| B．it’s near the capital of Shanxi |
| C．its buildings are old and in good condition |
| D．a famous film was shot there |
The last advertisement of New Year Harbin trip offers NO information about _____.
| A．what to take there | B．what to buy there |
| C．when to leave and return | D．how much to pay |
As a music teacher for twenty-seven years I have always known that music touches the soul. It can break through all kinds of barriers to reach students in a very special way. It can be the means for each child to find their light.
A few years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to teach pre-school students one afternoon a week. One of my most memorable students was Vanessa. She was five years old ，had difficulty walking and could not speak. We mostly sat on the floor for our music lessons and Vanessa liked to sit on my lap. One of her favorite songs was John the Rabbit. It was a call and response song where I sang the call and the students clapped two times while singing the repeating phrase “Oh yes！” Vanessa liked to put her hands together with mine and clap with me. We performed that song during every class Vanessa and I clapping together. She never said or sang a word.
One day late in the school year when the song was finished Vanessa turned around， looked at me in the eye， clapped her tiny hands two times and said the words “Oh yes!” I opened my mouth and could not speak. Through music we had made a connection.
Several years later I came across Vanessa on the street in town. I stopped my car and waved to say hello. She waved back with a big smile on her face and then clapped her hands two times mimicking the song we had performed in our music class. This precious little girl through her connection with music left an impression on me that will last forever.
Every child has the ability to learn and grow. It is up to us educators to discover the way to reach each and every one of our students. We all must find each child’s light.The author thinks music__________.
| A．can make children calm down |
| B．can connect heart to heart |
| C．is difficult for pre-school students |
| D．is a good means to find a job |
According to the second paragraph Vanessa_________.
| A．got used to singing songs |
| B．was too shy to speak |
| C．was the youngest in the class |
| D．enjoyed the author’s class |
When Vanessa spoke the words “Oh yes!” the author felt________.
| A．surprised | B．happy | C．frightened | D．satisfied |
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
| A．The author has been in touch with Vanessa for several years. |
| B．Vanessa became as healthy as other children. |
| C．The song made a deep impression on Vanessa. |
| D．Being a good educator became Vanessa’s dream. |
It seems school children all over the world complain about their school food. Cherie Blair, the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, said that she would prepare a packed lunch for her son if school dinners do not improve. So what do students of your age eat for lunch at school?
Japan
High schools have canteens(餐厅), which serve everything from noodles to rice, but not burgers and chips. Other children bring food from home such as cold rice balls, meat or fish, pickles(泡菜) and vegetables.
Students take home a menu for the coming month containing notes on nutrition value. Twice a year parents are invited to have a taste of the food. The class with the fewest leftovers(剩饭) at the end of the month receives a prize.
Untied States
A typical menu from a US school is made up of a hamburger with fried potatoes or roast chicken, lettuce and pickles, fruit and cookies. School lunches must also provide at least one-third of the daily dietary allowances(定量) of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.
Australia
Meat pies, sausage rolls and hotdogs are all traditional dishes in Australian school shops. But as the nation pays more attention to children’s health, healthier foods have started to find their way onto school menus.
Many schools have used a traffic light system. The sale of red-labelled foods, including pastries(点心), chocolate and soft drinks, is served only twice a week. Healthier green-labelled foods such as sushi(寿司), sandwiches, corn and watermelon, however, are available every day.
In some schools, students have a choice of up to 89 foods to choose from, including popcorn and rice.
South Africa
Most of South Africa’s schools do not serve meals at all. Classes end at 1:30pm and students get their own lunches. Many students bring food from home, usually sandwiches.
Fast food and fried food sell the best among students, which has led to a rise in obesity among children. But as more people began to realize the fact that being too fat may cause different diseases, some schools in towns have led the way towards better nutrition. Now students at these schools are provided with lunches of porridge(麦片粥) with vegetables, such as cabbages, onions, beans, carrots and tomatoes.What does the underlined word “obesity ”in the last paragraph probably mean?
| A．Fighting. | B．Sadness. | C．Food shortage. | D．Overweight. |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．a typical menu from a US school consists of enough nutrition. |
| B．most students in South Africa eat their lunch at home. |
| C．many schools in Australia have traffic lights outside their school. |
| D．you can have whatever you like in school canteens in Japan. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Schools should try to satisfy the needs of students. |
| B．Schools serve different foods from country to country. |
| C．Food served in the US is the best of all. |
| D．School children all over the world dislike their school food. |
The article is meant for ________.
| A．school lunch suppliers | B．schoolmasters |
| C．students of your age | D．nutritionists(营养学家) |
Peter King, 15 and Mary King, 13 went to see a doctor together. Peter had a bad cold, so the doctor gave him some pills to take. Mary had a bad cough, so the doctor |gave her some cough medicine.
These are the words on the bottle of medicine:
| Cough Medicine Shake well before use. Take three times daily after meals. Dosage: Adults 2 teaspoonfuls Children 8 -14 1 teaspoonful Child 4-7 1/2 teaspoonful Not suitable for children below the age of 4. Store in a cool place. Use before October 1998. |
Mary should take ____ in a day.
| A．2 teaspoonfuls | B．3 teaspoonfuls |
| C．4 teaspoonfuls | D．1 teaspoonful |
People aged ____ cannot take this medicine.
| A．80 | B．15 | C．20 | D．3 |
Mary or her mother should ____ the medicine after the tenth month of 1998.
| A．throw away | B．take two times |
| C．stop to take | D．take 3 times more |
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding |
| B．pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
| C．great and important; common |
| D．hopeful and helpful; careless |
According to the context we can guess that a genius is ________ while an idiot is ________.
| A．a normal person; a funny person |
| B．a strong person; a weak person |
| C．a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person |
| D．a famous person; an ordinary person |
A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
| A．whose parents are clever |
| B．often thinking about difficult problems |
| C．often helped by his parents and teachers |
| D．born with a good brain and putting it into active use |