Last week Lu visited England. He stayed with my grandmother. He found it was strange.
‘I don’t know why, but I frightened your grandmother a lot. When I arrived, I gave her a purse from Dongtai. She looked in it and asked me to take it back. Then I saw a red spider (蜘蛛) on the table, and I killed it for her. She seemed very unhappy. Do English people like spiders?
‘Later we went shopping. Someone was painting a shop front, so there was a ladder. Grandmother stopped me from walking under it and said I must walk around it. I liked the shops and bought some lovely rose soap for my mother, a smart umbrella for my father and some new shoes for myself. When we got back, I put the shoes on the table and opened the umbrella to check if it was all right. Your grandmother came in and screamed!
‘Then I broke a small mirror in the bathroom. Your grandmother’s face went white. I felt very sorry. When I left, I gave your grandmother some flowers. She counted and there were 13. She didn’t like them.’
I explained to Lu, ‘My grandmother follows the old customs. You must not give someone an empty purse, or they will have no money. You must not kill a “money spider”, or the same will happen. Also it is very unlucky to walk under a ladder or put new shoes on the table. An open umbrella in a house means someone will die. Breaking a mirror brings seven years’ bad luck, and 13 is also a very unlucky number. You were really making my grandmother very afraid.’Why did Lu frighten the writer’s grandmother?
| A．Because he could not speak English. |
| B．Because he did many unlucky things. |
| C．Because he understood British customs. |
| D．Because he went shopping in England. |
What do many British people think of spiders?
| A．They are afraid of them. |
| B．They keep spiders as pets. |
| C．They hope to see every kind of spiders in their houses. |
| D．They think some kinds of spiders are lucky. |
What did the writer’s grandmother feel when she saw the umbrella?
| A．Excited. | B．Satisfied. |
| C．Afraid. | D．Happy. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Thirteen is an unlucky number in England. |
| B．It is very unlucky to walk under a ladder or put new shoes on the table in England. |
| C．For most British people, breaking a mirror means bad luck. |
| D．People never give purses as presents in England. |
How many wrong things did Lu do altogether?
| A．5. | B．6. | C．8. | D．10. |
Li Ping is a Grade Eight student in Zhenjiang Sunshine Secondary School．The table below is his mid-term self-assessment(自我评价)．He draws faces to show his progress：
excellent 
OK 
weak
Read the table and find out how well Li Ping is doing.
| Unit/ Item |
Unit l Past and present |
Unit 2 Travelling |
Unit 3 Online travel |
|||
| Vocabulary |
opposites |
 |
Suffixes‘ful’ and‘less’ |
 |
Words about computers |
 |
| Grammar |
Present perfect tense |
 |
Past continuous tense |
 |
Passive voice |
|
| Study skills/ Pronunciation |
Using a dictionary |
 |
Linking words |
|
Organizing information |
 |
| Main task |
A report |
 |
My best holiday |
 |
Favourite educational computer game |
 |
What does Li Ping need to improve in Unit 1?
| A．Present perfect tense． | B．Using a dictionary |
| C．A report． | D．Opposites． |
Which do you think Li Ping does well in?
| A．Present perfect tense． | B．Passive voice． |
| C．Organizing information． | D．Favourite educational computer game． |
From the table we know Li Ping is weak in _____ ．
| A．Vocabulary | B．Main task |
| C．Study skills／Pronunciation | D．Grammar |
Something interesting always happens（发生） in our life. John is a doorman(看门人) of a club in a big city. Every day hundreds of people pass his door and a lot of them stop and say to him, “①What’s the time, please?”
A few days later, John thinks, “②I don’t want tothis same（相同的） question, I’m going to the shop anda big clock. Then I’m going to put it up on the wall here.” He buys a clock and puts it up on the wall.
“③No people are going to ask me the time again,” he says happily. But after that, a lot of people also stop every day, look at the clock and say to John, “Is that clock right?”写出划线部分①的同义句。
在②句的空白处分别填入一个适当的词使句意完整、上下文通顺。
将句③译成中文。
What’s John’s job?
找出或写出最能表达该短文主题的句子：
English breakfast is a very big meal —eggs, tomatoes, tea, coffee….
For many people lunch is a quick meal. In cities there are a lot of sandwich （三明治）bars ,where office workers can buy brown or white bread or a roll （面包卷）,and then all kinds of salad（色拉）and meat or fish to go in the sandwich. School children can have a hot meal at school, but many just take a sandwich, a drink and some fruit from home.
“Tea” means two things. It is a drink and a meal , some people have afternoon tea, with sandwiches, cakes and a cup of tea.
They usually have the evening meal quite early, between six o’clock and eight o’clock, and often all the family eats together. On Sundays many families have a traditional（传统的）lunch. They have chicken, pork,… with potatoes ,vegetables…
The Englishmen like food from other countries too, such as French, Chinese, Italian and Indian. People often get take-away meals---they buy the food outside and then bring it home to eat.Many people in England have a ______ breakfast and a _____ lunch.
| A．fast; small | B．little; slow | C．big; quick | D．slow; big |
In _____ there are a lot of sandwich bars.
| A．small towns | B．villages | C．countries | D．cities |
The office workers can buy the ______ bread for lunch.
| A．white | B．black | C．red | D．orange |
What don’t they have when they have afternoon tea in this passage?
| A．Sandwiches | B．Chicken | C．Cakes | D．A cup of tea |
When they get a take-away meal , they have it _______
| A．at home | B．in the school | C．outside | D．in the bars |
I am an adult. I’m not a kid. I’m a grown-up. I need some money. I have no food. I am hungry. I am not thirsty, because water is everywhere. But water has no taste. I want to drink a soda. I want to drink milk. I want to drink coffee. I want to work. Nobody will hire（雇佣 ）me. Nobody is hiring anybody. Companies are firing（解雇） people. Everyone is looking for a job. I cannot pay my rent（付房租）. I will have to live in my car. I don’t want to live in my car. My car has no bed. Everyone should live in a house or a flat. Many people don’t have a car. They live on the street. A street has no bed. Nobody should live on the street. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go. Maybe I will go to church（教堂）. Maybe I will find help there.I need some money because I _______.
| A．need water to drink | B．need food to eat |
| C．don’t need water to drink | D．don’t need food to eat |
I don’t want to buy _______to drink.
| A．soda | B．milk | C．water | D．coffee |
I want to live __________.
| A．in a house | B．in my car | C．on the street | D．in the church |
I am looking for ________
| A．water | B．a job | C．a house | D．the church |
Which is wrong?
| A．Companies are firing people. | B．I can pay my rent . |
| C．I will go to church for help. | D．Nobody should live on the street. |
Mary has a lot of hobbies. She usually gets up early so she can run before work. She doesn't often have time to skate, but she sometimes goes on Saturdays during the winter. Mary often rides a horse near here home. She sometimes goes after work, but she usually goes horseback riding on Sundays. She loves music. She always goes to choir practice(合唱团训练) on Wednesday evenings and sings in church(教堂) on Sundays. She doesn't have much money, so she seldom(很少) goes to concerts（音乐会） in the city. She seldom watches TV because she likes doing things outside. She usually goes to the gym（体育馆） if it's raining outside. She isn't often alone（独自的） because she has a lot of friends. She sometimes does something alone, but she usually does her hobbies with one of her friends. She's a happy woman!Mary often gets up early because she wants to _______.
| A．have breakfast | B．clean her room | C．run | D．skate |
Mary usually goes horseback riding on _______.
| A．Wednesday | B．Sunday | C．Saturday | D．workday |
Mary seldom ________ because she likes doing things outside.
| A．goes to concerts | B．goes to the gym | C．goes to church | D．watches TV |
Mary seldom goes to concerts because she ______
| A．isn’t rich(富有的) | B．is busy | C．doesn’t like music | D．has many friends |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Mary is often alone. | B．Mary likes running. |
| C．Mary has lots of friends. | D．Mary is a happy woman. |