DearMr.Lee,IamJack.Iwanttobein-优题课

Unlike Chinese people, the ones in the West believe in star signs. Western world has a complete system(系统) of star signs, and they explain them and use them to tell a person’s characteristics and the things they like or dislike. There are a cycle of 12 of them in all. All of them are decided by the date instead of the year of your birth and each of them has its own characteristics.
Sagittarius (射手座) is one of them. Now, let’s take it as an example:
Sagittarius (November 23—December 21)
Sagittarius in short
Sagittarius are fun, loving, generous and very friendly. They seldom tell lies; in fact they’re so open about everything, They have surprising intuitions(直觉) that they should pay attention to. They are pretty clever because they are so interested in everything. They can be a bit rude, that’s only because they’re very honest and will say exactly what they think. They love travelling, fast cars and horse riding. They also love spending money.
More about Sagittarius
Sagittarius are great friends because they are interested in everything and everyone. They are attracted by even the strangest people. With their humour, they are often in a good mood. They can be hurtful to others because they cannot stop speaking what they see as the truth, but they don’t mean to. Money is not their God. Their values are spiritual(精神的) rather than material.
They are hard-working. They are very open-minded about new ideas and love to try ideas out. Usually it does end up working because they have an excellent intuition and can usually tell straight away if an idea is a good one or a bad one. One of their weaknesses is not asking enough money for all the hard work they do, because they love doing it.
Whose star sign is Sagittarius?

A．Miss Yao who was born on Mar 18, 1978.

B．Peter, a boy who was born on Nov 22, 1998.

C．Mr. Zhou who was born on Dec 23, 1976.

D．Lucy, a girl who was born on Nov 30, 1991.

Which is WRONG about Sagittarians?

A．Sagittarians often tell lies.

B．Sagittarians can be rude.

C．Sagittarians show great interest in strange things and people.

D．Sagittarians can end up working by using their good intuition.

What can we know from the underlined sentence “Money is not their God”?

A．Sagittarians care too much about money.

B．Sagittarians believe that money is from the God.

C．Sagittarians hate God.

D．Sagittarians pay no attention to money.

Why do you think people who live in some hot countries eat very spicy(辛辣的)food? Is it because the spices make the food taste better? Is it just because their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents liked hot food，or is there some connection between spices and healthy food? Researchers from Cornell University think that it is because spice plants have some important chemicals. These chemicals can kill bacteria(细菌)which spoil food．
“Most common spices can kill 75 to 100 percent of the bacteria in food，”explains one of the scientists．The bacteria grow more easily and spoil(变质)food more quickly at higher temperatures．For this reason，it is more difficult to keep food from spoiling in hot climates,
Do you like your food spicy? Your answer probably tells something about the country you come from．If you like spicy food，it is possible that hundreds of years ago，when there were no fridges，people in your country started using spices to keep the food from spoiling．The traditional spicy dishes helped those people to live longer，healthier lives．Today，in a time of fridges，the spices just make the food taste good．
The chemicals in spices keep food from spoiling by_________．

A．making food taste better

B．making food hotter

C．preventing bacteria getting into food

D．killing bacteria in food

Food goes bad more quickly in hot climates because_______．

A．cold temperature makes bacteria

B．bacteria get used to hot food

C．high temperature helps bacteria grow faster

D．bacteria spoil food only at high temperature

According to the passage，spices are useful in the following things except_____．

A．helping you to live longer

B．helping to keep you healthier

C．making your food taste better

D．taking the place of fridges

Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned 12,a white gardenia（栀子花）was sent to my house. No card came with it．Calls to the flower shops were not helpful at all. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender's name and was just very pleased with the beautiful white flower in soft pink paper.
But I never stopped imagining who the giver might be, Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about the sender. My mother encouraged this imagining. She'd ask me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness. Perhaps it was the old man who I looked after when he was ill. As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy.
One month before my graduation, my father died. I felt very sad and didn't want to go to the coming graduation dance at all. And I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. But my mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved and lovable. In truth, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia-lovely, strong and perfect with perhaps a bit of mystery.
My mother died ten days after I was married. I was 22. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.
Which statement is true according to the passage?

A．The author found the sender by calling the flower shops.

B．In fact, the flower was sent by a boy.

C．It was a pleasant moment for the girl to imagine the sender.

D．The author got a gardenia every year after she was married.

The mother let her daughter go to the graduation dance because_______.

A．She hoped she would miss her father.

B．She thought education was most important.

C．She hoped she would find a friend.

D．She wanted her to be happy and strong.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．A Childhood Dream.	B．A Mother's Love.
C．A Graduation Party.	D．A Special Birthday.

One day when some workers were rebuilding a barn(谷仓), they found a mouse hole in a corner and used smoke to force(迫使) the mice inside the hole to come out. A while later, they saw mice running out, one after another. Then, everyone thought that all the mice had ran away. But just as they began to clean up, they saw two mice squeezing（挤）out at the mouth of the hole. With some efforts, the mice finally got out. However, it was strange that after they came out of the hole, they did not run away at once. Instead, one ran after the other near the mouth of the hole. It seemed that one was trying to bite(咬) the tail of the other.
Everyone was puzzled, so they stepped nearer to take a look. They realized that one of the mice was blind and could not see anything, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite on his tail so that he could pull the blind one with him to escape.
After seeing what happened, everyone was speechless and lost in thought. During the meal time, the group of people sat down in a circle and started to chat about what happened to the two mice.
One serious American man said: “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of king and guard.” The others thought for a while and said: “That was why!”
A smart French said: “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of husband and wife.” Again the others thought for a while, and all felt it made sense.
A Japanese said: “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of mother and son.” Once again the others thought for a while, and felt this was more reasonable(合理的). So they expressed agreement another time.
At that moment, one Chinese asked: “Why did those two mice have to have a certain relationship?”
Suddenly, the group looked back at the Chinese and remained(保持) speechless. The American official, the French and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered their heads in shame, and did not dare to answer.
In fact, the true love is not built on friendship, loyalty(忠诚) or blood relationship. Instead, it is based on no relationship.
Neither of the two mice ran away at once because ______.

A．one was biting the other

B．the mouth of the hole was too small

C．they were not afraid of smoke

D．one was trying to help the blind one

It is clear that ______.

A．all the mice came out of the hole easily

B．each of the people understood the relationship differently

C．the people wanted to kill the mice with smoke

D．the people knew one of the mice was blind at first sight

“it made sense” probably means ______.

A．it was correct	B．it was strange
C．it was funny	D．it was sweet

The best title for the passage is ______.

A．TWO LOVELY MICE	B．HELP PRODUCES LOVE
C．FRIENDS IN NEED	D．LOVE IS ALL

There are some stories behind English words.
You've spent a lot of time studying how to use English in a proper way. But have you ever wondered why English speakers say some of the things they say? For example, why do they say "an easy task" is "a piece of cake"? Why do the two letters "OK" means "all right"?
Many English words and phrases have stories behind them. Sometimes these stories can help us look back into old western history. Let's take a look at a few of the original * common English words and phrases: OK
"OK" was an American who lived in the 19th century. His name was "Old Kinderhook". In one year he was trying to take the place of the leader of his town. His supporters went around the town shouting " OK \ OK \" The supporters thought their future leader was " all right". The expression caught on, and now if something is "all right" , people like to say "OK|"
Boss*
Is your boss nice to you? If not, just be glad you weren't living in the old times. Back to that time, bosses could do anything bad to their men and could even beat* them! That explains why the word "boss" comes from an old German word meaning "to beat".
A piece of cake
A famous American writer named Ogden Nash lived in the 1930s. Many readers enjoyed his poems and wrote them down in their notebooks. In one of his poems, Nash wrote, " Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake. " His readers found these words interesting and quickly wrote them down. They thought that if one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy?
For nearly 70 years, "a piece of cake" has meant any task or activity that is easy.
Some of English words can tell us stories about_________.

A．how people learned English

B．how English speakers create the words

C．how people spoke English

D．how people taught others to speak English

The word "boss" in old German means "_________".

A．to work	B．to help
C．to beat	D．to kill

"OK" comes from "_________".

A．Old King	B．Old Kindman
C．Old Kinderhook	D．Old Mcdonald

In this passage "a piece of cake" means "_________".

A．an easy task or activity

B．a difficult task or activity

C．a simple newspaper to read

D．a famous picture in a newspaper

A．act in movies	B．write stories
C．play the violin	D．read

A．sportsman	B．singer
C．actor	D．musician

A．The art(艺术) club.	B．The sports club.
C．The movie club.	D．The music club.