People give gifts on many occasions. At weddings（婚礼），people give gifts such as tea sets and tableware (餐具). When someone has a baby, people express their wishes by giving gifts of baby clothes and food.
In western countries, food and drinks are the most traditional gifts for friends. For example, a bottle of champagne is perfect for Christmas. In some Asian countries like China and Japan, tea and wine are common gifts. Greeting cards are excellent gifts for friends and family around the world.
Here are some popular gifts for Christmas and New Year. Let’s have a look.
A message in a bottle—If you want to send a birthday message or a thank- you note, why not write on a piece of paper and put it inside a glass bottle? The person who receives this special gift will remember the words forever.
A Christmas stocking—People will look forward to seeing it each Christmas. It is a very traditional and useful Christmas gift. Many people hang the stocking up in their rooms as a decoration.
A necklace (项链) with a name—This is a special and popular gift among mothers and young people. For example, a mother can put her child’s name on the necklace. It seems that the necklace can bring her child close to her heart.If your friend Lisa has a new baby, you may sent____.
| A．school things |
| B．tea sets and table ware |
| C．baby clothes and food |
| D．birthday cards |
From the passage we learn champagne is a kind of____.
| A．drink | B．food |
| C．card | D．furniture |
____are common gifts in some Asian countries.
| A．Excellent books | B．Tea and wine |
| C．Greeting cards | D．Thank-you notes |
Mrs. Green likes the necklace with her child’s name because____.
| A．it can bring good luck to her |
| B．it is a traditional and useful gift |
| C．it is a fashionable gift for parents |
| D．it may make her child close to her heart |
Please choose the best title for this passage____.
| A．Choose a perfect present |
| B．How to celebrate New Year |
| C．How to celebrate Christmas |
| D．The festivals in China |
One day my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. The other woman my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who has been living alone for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it impossible to visit her often.
That Friday after work, when I arrived at her house, my mother waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary(周年).
We went to a restaurant that, although not classical, was very nice and comfortable. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. "It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she said. "Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I answered.
During the dinner, we had a pleasant conversation nothing special but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie.
As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.
A few days later, my mother died of a heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her.
Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt（收据） from the same place Mother and I had dined. A note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but I paid for two plates—one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”
At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: ‘I LOVE YOU’ and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve.Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till some “other” time.From the passage we can learn that_________.
| A．the writer didn’t use to love her mother |
| B．the writer was sorry for not having shown much love to his mother |
| C．the writer often treated his mother at the restaurant |
| D．after dinner the writer went to a movie with his mother |
What can we know about the writer’s mother according to the passage?
| A．She lives with her son’s family. |
| B．She wanted to invite her son to have dinner again. |
| C．She died of a heart attack all of sudden. |
| D．She wrote a letter to tell her son about her illness. |
The writer read the menu because _________.
| A．his mother couldn’t see clearly |
| B．his mother couldn’t read at all |
| C．he wanted to order something her mother liked |
| D．he wanted her mother to relax |
What do you think is the best title of this passage?
| A．My Mother’s Life |
| B．An Unforgettable Meal |
| C．My Mother And I |
| D．Love is Something You should never Put off |
A 15-year-old student who invented a flashlight getting power from the holder's body heat is going home today from California with a big prize and a chance to do further research.
Ann Makosinski was the only Canadian among the four winners at Google's international science competition. Thousands of young scientists from around the world took part in the competition.
Winning the science and technology competition was "a surprise". Ann said, "I think it will have a great influence on my future."
Ann thanked her family for encouraging her interest in science and said that her first toy was a box of transistors(晶体管).
The ideas for the invention came from seeing unwanted batteries and her friend's experience. When Ann visited a friend in the Philippines, she saw the friend couldn't study when it became dark because there was no electricity or light. She saw the need for a flashlight that has no batteries - Hollow Flashlight.
In her project, Ann wrote "I made two flashlights that do not use any batteries or harmful materials. They do not create any noise and will always work. The flashlight needs at least a 5℃temperature difference between the holder's body and the environment around to produce light."
A video of Ann explaining how she created the flashlight has been watched more than 1.4 million times on the Internet.
Though Ann was successful, she has not made a decision about her career path. Ann hope that she can find a way to join her love of film and science together.
The four winners were chosen from 15 final competitors from eight countries. The competition attracted thousands of students in 120 countries.In which part of a newspaper can we probably read this passage?
| A．Travel. | B．Culture. |
| C．Technology. | D．Advertisement. |
The first paragraph is written to be a(n) ________.
| A．introduction | B．warning |
| C．conclusion | D．discussion |
Paragraph 5 mainly tells us ________.
| A．what Ann saw in the Philippines |
| B．why Ann invented Hollow Flashlight |
| C．how Ann's family encouraged her interest |
| D．what prize Ann got for Hollow Flashlight |
According to the passage, we learn ________.
| A．easy to win the international science competition |
| B．Hollow Flashlight is safe, noiseless and can save energy |
| C．Ann has made a decision to be a scientist in the future |
| D．few people are interested in how Ann created the flashlight |
Wanting: I want nothing but music
Wanting Qu,born and raised in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, has become one of the most popular singers in China this year. During the past few months, her name and songs have spread quickly on the Internet, over the radio, and in almost every corner of China. You would be considered totally “out” if you have never heard of her song “Stay in My Song”.
She is a girl full of courage. At only 16, Wanting left home and entered a Canadian school to study business, starting her life in a foreign country alone. Soon，she found that her true passion was music. She went on to get her degree(学位), but also tried her hand at songwriting. She did part-time jobs to keep on her study like many Chinese students who study in foreign countries, but never gave up her dream of being a musician. When the chance came, she bravely introduced herself to the CEO of Nettwerk and became the first Chinese singer-songwriter the company signed in 26 years.
Wanting’s music career started to take off in 2009 when she worked in Nettwerk. In 2011, after hearing the songs she wrote and recorded, the famous Chinese composer Zhang Yadong called her and would like to work with her.
With all the successes she has achieved in China, Wanting is recording her first English album. She is ready to conquer the world.From the passage,we know that________.
| A．Wanting Qu didn’t get used to her school life in China |
| B．Wanting Qudreamed of being a musician before going abroad |
| C．Wanting Qu was taken to Canada because her parents found her a part-time job there |
| D．The song “Stay in My Song” made Wanting Qu popular around China. |
What is the meaning of “ take off” in this passage?
| A．腾飞 | B．脱衣 | C．下滑 | D．关掉 |
What is Wanting going to do next? She is going to_________
| A．write songs by herself. |
| B．make people in the world know her music and love it. |
| C．work together with Zhang Yadong. |
| D．start her own business company,dreaming of becoming a CEO. |
Do you want to know how and why a fall leaf changes color? We first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.
Leaves are the world’s food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots and take CO2 from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and CO2 into glucose(葡萄糖), a kind of sugar. Plants use it as food for energy and growing.
A chemical called “chlorophyll” in the leaves gives plants their green colour. As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter, and trees “know” to begin getting ready for winter.
During winter, there is not enough sunlight or water. Trees rest during this time and live on the food they store during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. As the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, we begin to see yellow and orange leaves.
The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in autumn. In some trees, like maples, sunlight and the cool nights of autumn turn the glucose in the leaves into a red colour. And we can enjoy the beautiful red leaves during autumn.
Which should be in the box?
| A．air | B．sugar | C．water | D．wind |
The underlined word “chlorophyll” means __________.
| A．叶绿素 | B．脂肪 | C．蛋白质 | D．淀粉 |
The leaves turn yellow because they are short of(缺少) __________.
| A．water and CO2 |
| B．glucose and energy |
| C．sunlight and water |
| D．sunlight and CO2 |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．When autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. |
| B．During winter trees live on the food they store in summer. |
| C．During winter some of yellow and orange colors are still in the leaves. |
| D．Trees begin to stop making food in summer. |
This passage tells us_____________.
| A．the plants can grow well only with the sunlight |
| B．there are all kinds of plants on the earth |
| C．not all the colors of the leaves are from chlorophyll |
| D．maple leaves change the color as other trees |
Gabriel Garcia Marquez , who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, passed away at the age of 86 on April 17, 2014. The world paused (停顿) to remember the cultural giant.
Garcia Marquez was born in Colombia, but he spent most of his adult life in Mexico City. As one of the most famous writers, he was widely regarded as “a giant of 20th- century literature.” Garcia Marquez wrote in a style called “ magical realism(魔幻现实主义).” In such works, people live a daily life in a certain period of time in history. But meanwhile , magical things happen to them.
Garcia Marquez is best known for his 1967 novel, One hundred years of Solitude （《百年孤独》）, which has sold about 50 million copies. It tells the tale of the small and isolated town of Macondo which was separated from the outside world- of its founding and its troubled history over a hundred years. The story is a metaphor(暗喻)for the development of Colombia since the 19 century. As Colombian President Juan Manuel Santons said, Garcia Marquez wrote about “the essence(本质) of the Latin American beings.”
Garcia Marquez was born in _________.
| A．1914 | B．1928 | C．1967 | D．1982 |
We can know from paragraph 2 that Garcia Marquez __________.
| A．was born in Mexico City. |
| B．spent most of his adult life in Colombia. |
| C．had a writing style called “magical realism.” |
| D．was famous but lived a simple daily life. |
The underlined word “ isolated “ means _________.
| A．隔绝的 | B．安逸的 | C．喧嚣的 | D．繁华的 |
Which of the following is NOT true about Garcia Marquez？
| A．He was the writer of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. |
| B．His novel One Hundred years of Solitude was a great success. |
| C．He was widely known as “ a giant of 20th- century literature.” |
| D．Magical things happened to him during his stay in Mexico City. |
The writer quotes （引用）from the President to __________.
| A．Praise Garcia Marquez for his achievement. |
| B．show the deep sadness of the President. |
| C．explain the writing style of Garcia Marquez. |
| D．describe the character of Garcia Marquez. |