A mother wanted to encourage her son to play the piano. She bought tickets to the concert of a great pianist. When the evening arrived，they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and looked at the big piano waiting on the stage(舞台). Soon the mother found a friend to talk to and her son ran off.
At eight o’clock, the lights in the hall became weak, and the concert was set to start. The mother began to look for the boy. Then, she saw her 6-year-old son on stage. He was on the piano bench playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
The mother was very amazed. Before she could get her son back, the famous pianist himself was on the stage and quickly moved to the piano.
“Don’t stop. Keep playing,” he said kindly to the boy. The great pianist reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass (低音部) part of the song. Soon, his right arm reached around the other side and played a beautiful piece of music. Together, the old pianist and the little boy impressed people with their beautiful music.
In all of our lives, we receive helping hands — some we notice, some we don’t. Equally we ourselves also have lots of chances to give a helping hand to others — sometimes we want people to know, sometimes we don’t. Little of what we all achieve comes without others’ help. What we receive we should give back.
The mother took her son to the piano concert because _____.
| A．her friend sent them two tickets |
| B．the pianist invited them there |
| C．she wanted to develop his interest in piano |
| D．her son liked the pianist very much |
When the mother found her son playing on stage, she felt _____.
| A．happy | B．encouraged |
| C．interested | D．surprised |
What did the pianist ask the boy to do?
| A．To go back to his mother. |
| B．To keep playing the piano. |
| C．To play the bass part of the song. |
| D．To watch him play instead. |
What does the story tell us?
| A．It is good to give a helping hand to others. |
| B．Great people always like to help others. |
| C．It is important to give a child a lesson on stage. |
| D．A mother should take good care of her child. |
Take a look at teenagers around, dressed in baggy-pants (宽松裤), drinking soft drinks such as coke, reading Japanese cartoons. Whether you are in Beijing, Wuhan or Hong Kong, you will get the same impression. But should we copy others or should we maintain (保留) our differences?
It sounds convenient that people around the world speak the same language, dress in the same style, eat the same food and play the same games. If the world was like this, you won’t feel strange in any corner of world. But just imagine living in such a strange world. How dull and colorless it would be!
Different kinds of food that people can taste, the colorful and fashionable clothes that we dress in and different languages we speak are all part of the different cultures that our ancestors left us. These differences represent their creativity (创造力) and talent. And we all enjoy different cultures in our daily lives. When you travel to other places, you want to see different things. When you talk to foreigners you expect to listen to interesting stories. These differences in culture are what make life colorful.
But the whole world is shrinking into a small village as globalization (全球化) takes effect and many different cultures are disappearing. In most big cities around the world people wear the same clothes. Fast food stores are everywhere. Hollywood movies are kicking traditional performing arts out of our lives. The colors of our life are disappearing.
There is joke that even the panda and zebra want to live a colorful life. So let’s take action to protect our colorful culture before it becomes as simple as black and white.
It’s not difficult. Learning some folk songs, trying on a traditional clothing and even eating local food instead of going to KFC can help. And we’re sure you will enjoy it. The passage is written to _______.
| A．explain cultural differences | B．convince readers to maintain cultural differences |
| C．predict the future of globalization | D．show some cultural phenomena(现象) |
The author thinks that cultural differences _______.
| A．make the world colorful | B．make communication difficult |
| C．only exist in food and clothing | D．will never fade away |
The author starts the argument by ________.
| A．mentioning certain cultural phenomena |
| B．mentioning his view at the very beginning |
| C．mentioning the opposite view at the very beginning |
| D．giving examples of cultural differences |
The underlined word “shrink” probably means “_______”.
| A．expand | B．disappear | C．become smaller | D．grow in number |
The author talks of all the following cultural phenomena except _______.
| A．food | B．clothing | C．language | D．architecture |
Ding-Dong！
“Jason, honey? Can you answer the door?”
“I am busy, mom！” Jason shouted back at his mother. He had spent three hours so far working to this point in the game. He couldn’t stop now.
Ding-Dong！Mom′s footsteps approached the front door.
“Jason, it’s your friend Todd.” Mom called from the doorway.
Todd, his best friend, stepped into the room. “ Jason！I need a partner for playing basketball. ”He sounded excited.
Jason snorted. “No way, Todd. I′m playing a game here.”
Jason gave his friend a dirty look, and his character in the game almost got killed while he looked away, “ I almost died because of you！”
Todd looked at Jason′s mother. Jason’s mother looked back at him. They both looked at Jason. “Why don′t you play basketball with your friend?” Jason’s mother suggested.
“Tomorrow, maybe…” There were more levels to beat tomorrow, though, Maybe he had played tomorrow. He’d have to see what mood he was in. He thought he heard footsteps walking away, but he was too busy beating the next level to care.
An hour later, Jason’s father came home. It was dinner time after his father washed up and sat down. Jason didn′t even hear his name being called to the table. He didn′t hear his father walk at behind him and ask him to turn the game off, either.
When the screen suddenly went black and his father’s angry face loomed in front of him, Jason finally heard. “No more game for a month.” Jason′s father shouted at him. “You don’t play basketball, you don′t come to dinner, and you don′t do your chores. We′ll make you do something else before you play any more.”
Jason nodded slowly. He knew better than to argue with his father, and when he thought about it, he had been playing quite a bit. It was fun, but he was letting down his friends, his family, and himself by paying too much.
He′d try harder in the future.What did Todd ask Jason to do?
| A．Help him cook dinner | B．Beat more levels for him. |
| C．Repair the computer for him | D．play basketball with him. |
Why did Jason finally stop playing the game?
| A．He won the game. | B．His mother got dinner ready. |
| C．His father turned off the computer. | D．He decided to play basketball outside. |
What did Jason learn in the end?
| A．He thought that his father was too strict with him. |
| B．He found that playing computer games was quite interesting. |
| C．He realized it was an unhealthy habit to play games without dinner. |
| D．He couldn’t spend all day playing games, because he had other duties. |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．Inside the game | B．Games or Supper. |
| C．Jason′s Angry Father | D．Use of the Computer. |
John and Bobby joined the same company together just after they completed their university studies the same year. Both of them worked very hard. Several years later, however, the boss promoted(提拔) Bobby to manager but John was still a worker. John could not take it, and gave his resignation（辞职书） to the boss. He complained that the boss did not think much of those who were hard -working, but promoted only those who flattered him.
The boss knew that John had worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said, “Thank you for what you said, but I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave”
John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found a man selling watermelons. The boss asked how much they cost every kilogram. John shook his head and went back to the seller to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 every kilogram.
The boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office. He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. Bobby went and returned, saying, “Boss, only one person is selling watermelons. $1.2 every kilogram, and $10 for 10 kilograms. The seller has 340 melons. On the table there are 58 melons, and each weighs about 2 kilograms. They were brought from the South two days ago. They are of good quality.”
Hearing what Bobby said, John realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided to stay and learn from Bobby.How did John feel when Bobby was promoted to manager?
| A．Angry. | B．Nervous. | C．Unlucky. | D．Helpless. |
The boss gave John a task because______________.
| A．he wanted John to do more for his company |
| B．he wanted John to learn more about himself |
| C．he wanted to punish John for what he said |
| D．he wanted to prove what John said was right |
We can infer from the passage that_____________.
| A．Bobby was unselfish | B．John was lazy |
| C．the seller was dishonest | D．the boss was wise |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The boss should treat all his workers in a fair way. |
| B．The boss should not promote one who flatters him. |
| C．One should not only work hard but also use his head. |
| D．One should try to get every detail of watermelons. |
If someone says to you: “give me five”, do not search your pocket to get five yuan! It will make others laugh! The person's not asking for your money, but your fingers.
In the US, "give me five" or "give me the high five" is a popular gesture (动作). You can see it often in films or on TV. It means the clapping (拍) of each other's raised (举起的) right hands together.
People do it when they meet for the first time or something happy happens. For example, a student has good marks in exams or wins a lottery ticket (彩票).If a football team wins a game, the players will give high fives to everyone around to celebrate.
This gesture may come from the old Roman gesture of raising the right arm for the emperor(皇帝). This showed that the person raising his arm did not have a sword (刀) in his hand.
Why not try to give the high five to your friends?
“Give me five” is a gesture to _______.
| A．make people laugh | B．ask for money |
| C．celebrate success | D．search one’s pocket |
The gesture “give me five” is the clapping of _______.
| A．toes | B．hands | C．arms | D．legs |
The gesture started in _______ according to the story.
| A．Rome | B．America | C．China | D．Britain |
What is double “high fives”?
| A．Both kids clap their left hands. |
| B．Both kids clap their right hands. |
| C．Both kids do high fives several times. |
| D．Both kids do high fives with both right and left hands. |
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。
| A On a Quiet Night Tang Li Bai I saw the moonlight before my couch, And wonder if it were not the frost on the ground, I raised my head and looked out on the mountain moon, I bowed my head and thought of my far-off home. |
| B Homesickness -- by Yu Guangzhong In my childhood, Homesickness was a small stamp. I was here. And my mother was over there， When I grew up, Homesickness was a narrow ship-ticket. I was here And my bride was over there: And then Homesickness was ___47________. With me outside And my mother inside: But now, Homesickness is a shallow strait. I am on this side. And the mainland is on the other side |
PoemA was written byinDynasty.
| A．Du Fu, Tang | B．Bai Juyi, Tang | C．Li Bai, Tang | D．Sushi, Song |
Choose the best phrase to fill in the blank.
| A．a big rock | B．a huge mountain | C．a small tomb | D．a long river |
What’s the theme of the two poems?
| A．Missing hometown | B．Talking about friendship |
| C．Missing mother | D．Talking about city |