Hanukkah is an eight-day winter holiday, which celebrates the successful struggle of the Jews against King Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria. There are many traditions to celebrate the day, such as lighting the menorah (多连灯烛台),frying potato pancakes and spinning the dreidel (四面陀螺).
One night in the 1990s, we tidied up wrapping paper and toys while the lighted menorah stood on the kitchen table. When we were not there, as the many-colored candles broke, our long-haired black-and-white cat, Ladybug, jumped onto the kitchen table and brushed past them.
"Do you smell something?" asked my husband, Donny. "Is something burning?" asked Molly, our oldest, age ten.
It was Ladybug! The fur on her left side had been burnt. She wasn't hurt, but she wore an upset expression all evening, and for the rest of the week she hid whenever we began chanting the Hebrew(希伯来语)blessings over the candles. "Though her fur grew out as thick as ever, Ladybug took a dim view of Hanukkah after that, clearly preferring less flammable holidays, like Labor Day.
The following year, for fifth-grade homework about family traditions, Molly wrote about Ladybug's story with the Hanukkah candles. The teacher, Lynn Fink, a sporty and funny woman, enjoyed Molly's story and gave it an A.
Three years later, Seth got Ms. Fink for fifth grade. He also worked the burnt cat fur into a writing assignment, and he, too, got an A.
Our son Lee, three years later: the same teacher, the same story, the same A. We had no idea these retellings were piling up.
The year Lily got Ms. Fink for fifth grade, she also felt inspired to write down what happened that night. By now, we were very fond of Ms. Fink. We invited her to join us for a night of Hanukkah. It was her first time to experience the Jewish holiday. Happily, she ate her potato pancakes. Gamely, she spun the dreidel. Delightedly, she opened the small gift of home-made cookies the children had prepared for her. As the evening seemed to be winding down, she clapped her hands, rubbed them together as if before a big dinner, and said excitedly," So! When do we torch the cat?"What happened to Ladybug when the family celebrated Hanukkah that year?
| A．She was seriously hurt that night. |
| B．She broke the candles on the menorah. |
| C．She had some of her fur burnt. |
| D．She got a surprising present from the family. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Hanukkah lasts for only one night. |
| B．The writer has at least four children. |
| C．The family saw Ladybug jump onto the kitchen table that night. |
| D．Frying potato pancakes is not a tradition to celebrate Hanukkah. |
Which proverb can best describe the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?
| A．It's easy to be wise after the event. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．He that falls today may be up again tomorrow. |
| D．Once bitten, twice shy. |
We can infer from the last paragraph that Ms.Fink _____.
| A．forgot the story of Ladybug |
| B．came to the writer's home unexpectedly |
| C．knew all the traditions of Hanukkah well |
| D． thought people would torch the cat to celebrate Hanukkah |
Mr. King lived with six hundred wild animals on the Greek Island of Kyklos. Ever since he left school, he had traveled all over the word collecting animals for his own zoo. He hoped to collect two examples of every kind of animal on his island. But he was afraid that people would find him someday.
He wrote books about his travels and about his animals that he collected. The money from the books helped to pay for all the food that these animals ate.
One day, when Mr. King was out looking for drinking water, he found oil. He needed money for his travels and for his zoo, and a little oil would buy enough water for what he needed all his life, but he knew that if he told anyone else about it, it would be the end of his zoo and his life’s work. So he decided not to tell anyone else about what he had found, because oil and water couldn’t mix. Mr. King traveled all over the world for collecting ______.
| A．oil | B．water | C．animals | D．money |
What Mr. King needed for his travels and his zoo was_______.
| A．water | B．money | C．support | D．friends |
Mr. King was afraid that people would find him someday because ________.
| A．he hadn’t got enough money for them |
| B．that would be the end of his zoo |
| C．he hadn’t got enough water and oil |
| D．they would buy his animals |
Mr. King wrote books to _______.
| A．tell people about his story |
| B．tell people how to find oil |
| C．get enough money for his animals |
| D．make money for his travels |
In the passage, “oil and water couldn’t mix” means that “_________”.
| A．Mr. King needed not only water but also oil |
| B．oil and water were rather difficult to be mixed together |
| C．Mr. King’s animals only needed water, not oil |
| D．if he told the others he found oil, his life’s work would be stopped |
One day in the early March of 1993, Pauline and Tom Nichter and their 11-year-old son, Jason, were shopping for a toy in Buena Park, CA. Suddenly, Pauline saw a wallet lying on the floor. When she looked inside, she found $200. The family, homeless and without work, knew that could change their lives. But they took the wallet to the nearby police station and turned it in. The wallet was found to have some other pockets, and more money in them—over $2,000! The police called the man who lost the wallet to pick it up. The man thanked the Nichters and shook their hands, but did not reward them. Luckily for the family, a TV news reporter filmed the story. People from all over the world heard the story and sent them letters, money, and even offered them jobs. A businessman even let them live in his house for free for six months. So far, the family has received over $100,000. Now the Nichters’ future is bright.The best title for the passage would be “________”.
| A．Money Is Everything | B．A Lost Wallet and a Family |
| C．A Kind Businessman | D．A Lost Wallet and the Police |
Who found more money in the wallet?
| A．The police | B．Jason |
| C．Someone else in the shop | D．The man who lost the wallet |
The underlined words “reward them” mean “________”.
| A．speak to the Nichters | B．give something to the Nichters in return |
| C．pay the police | D．meet the news reporters |
People from all over the world help the Nichters do lots of things except _______
| A．offere them jobs | B．sent them letters |
| C．sent them money | D．offere them clothes |
Which of the following is TRUE about the Nichters?
| A．They got lots of money from a reporter |
| B．They made friends with the wallet loser |
| C．They posted letters to people all over the world |
| D．They became known to many people |
Guangzhou （Xinhua）——12 people were killed and 20 injured early yesterday morning when they jumped from a burning train car into the path of an oncoming goods train in Southern China. When No. 247 Wuchang——Guangzhou passenger train was passing the Dayaoshan Tunnel in Guangdong Province， South China at 00 ：17 hours yesterday， a fire caused by passengers' smoking broke out on No. 17 car. They wanted to extinguish fire. As the train stopped some frightened passengers jumped from windows. 12 people were crushed to death and 20 others injured by a northward passing goods train（No. 1766).In which direction did the passenger train travel？
| A．Northward. | B．Southward. | C．Eastward. | D．Westward. |
When did the accident happen？
| A．At 00：17 am. | B．At 00：17 pm. |
| C．At seventeen past one. | D．At seventeen to one. |
Where did the accident happen？
| A．In Wuchang. | B．In Guangzhou. |
| C．In Hubei. | D．In Guangdong. |
For what did the passenger train stop？
| A．To put out the fire. |
| B．To let the passengers jump out. |
| C．To let the other train pass. |
| D．To pick up some other passengers. |
What was the cause of the fire？
| A．A heavy rain. |
| B．High temperature. |
| C．Carelessness. |
| D．Fear. |
“Creativity is the key to a brighter future,” say education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children.
If Dick had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as of great importance: a new type of tape. Dick worked for the Minnesota Mining Company. At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to think more about the idea. Finally, using his own time, Dick improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake. Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking about and developing new ideas.
Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a character of high intelligence. The fact that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something.
Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity. With strong attention to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can’t recognize ways to use it in new situation. They may know the rules correctly but they are unable to use them to Work out practical problems.
It is important to give children choices. From the earlier age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it’s choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money. This is because the most important character of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.What did the company where Dick once worked learn from its mistake?
| A．They encouraged people to work a longer time. |
| B．They discouraged people to think freely. |
| C．They asked people to spend all their work time developing new ideas. |
| D．They encouraged people to spend some of their work time considering and improving new ideas. |
Creativity is something __
| A．that people are born with |
| B．that depends on intelligence |
| C．that is a way of using what one has learnt to work out new problems |
| D．that is not important at all |
Why don’t schools try to encourage creativity?
| A．They don’t understand the importance of education. |
| B．They don’t want their students to make mistakes. |
| C．They pay too much attention to exam marks, language and mathematical skills. |
| D．They think it more important to remember some information. |
What should the parents do when their children decide how to spend their money?
| A．Try to help them as much as possible. | B．Take no notice of whatever they do. |
| C．Leave them as they are. | D．Help them if their decision is wrong, but not too much.. |
A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce (确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren’t used to the early hour.
“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent (青春期的) sleep at Brown’s School of Medicine.
Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level. she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns.
Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.
Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at nigh and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice –their bodies are going through a change of sleep patterns.
All of this makes the transfer from middle school to high school—which may start one hour earlier in the morning ---- all the more difficult , Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescent are up against difficulties when it comes to trying to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first bell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.” Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because ________.
| A．it is really tough for parents to enforce bedtime |
| B．it is biologically difficult for students to rise early |
| C．students work so late at night that they can’t get up early |
| D．students are so lazy that they don’t like to go to school early |
The underlined phrase “nod off” most probably means “ _______”.
| A．turn around | B．agree with others | C．fall asleep | D．refuse to work |
What might be a reason for the hard transfer from middle school to high school?
| A．Adolescents depend more on their parents. |
| B．Adolescents have to choose their sleep patterns. |
| C．Adolescents sleep better than they did at childhood. |
| D．Adolescents need more sleep than they used to. |
What is the test mainly about?
| A．Adolescent heath care. | B．Problems in adolescent learning. |
| C．Adolescent sleep difficulties. | D．Changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns. |