You may know the English letters A, B and C. But do you know there are people called ABCs? Do you know there is such a thing as “a banana person”? How strange! ABC means American-born Chinese. An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States. Sometimes, people call an ABC a “banana person”. A banana is yellow outside. So, when a person is a “banana”, he or she is white inside—thinking like a Westerner and yellow outside—looking like a Chinese.
Usually, ABCs know little about China or the Chinese language. Some of them don’t speak Chinese. But if ABCs cannot speak Chinese, can we still call them Chinese people? Yes, of course. They are overseas (海外的) Chinese. These people may be citizens (公民) of another country like the US, Canada or Singapore. But they have Chinese blood. Their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were from China. They all have black eyes and black hair.
But they are not Chinese citizens. They are people of the People’s Republic of China. For example, we all know the famous scientist C. N. Yang (杨振宁) . He got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957. Chinese people love him. But he is an American citizen.
“ABCs” in this passage means .
| A．three English letters |
| B．a kind of banana |
| C．Chinese born in America |
| D．Americans born in China |
Chinese in Western countries are called “banana persons” because .
| A．their bodies are white inside but yellow outside |
| B．they think like Westerners but look like Chinese |
| C．they were born in China but go to study in America |
| D．they like to eat bananas |
Which of the sentences is WRONG about ABCs?
| A．ABCs may know little about China. |
| B．They are overseas Chinese. |
| C．They may speak little Chinese. |
| D．They are Chinese citizens. |
If you could see a movie of your life before you lived it, would you want to live it? Probably not. The excitement of living is that you don’t know what’s coming.
Sure, it’s hard to see uncertainty(不确定) in such positive（积极的）light when you’re out of work, or when you feel like you’re failing. But uncertainty is really another word for chance.
When Allison graduated from Harvard, she had chances all over the place but had no idea what she wanted to do. She took a job in consulting（咨询）, but she knew she wouldn’t stay there. She took the GRE and scored so high that she was able to increase her income（收入）by teaching students. Still, she didn’t think she wanted to go to graduate school（研究院）. Allison knew she wasn’t doing what she wanted, but she didn’t know what she wanted.
She worried. All her friends were going to graduate school or starting their own businesses. She was lost and felt that she would never find anything out. After six years, Allison, by having a general（全面的）plan in mind, got married, moved to the Midwest and used her consulting experience to get a great job. Allison realized that she spent her years finding her way: time well spent.
The only way to lead an interesting life is to face uncertainty. Otherwise your life is not your own—it is a path someone else has chosen. Moments of uncertainty are when you create your life, when you become who you are. Uncertainty usually begins with a job hunt, but it doesn’t end there. Every new role we take on means another round of uncertainty. Instead of fearing it, you should find some ways to deal with uncertainty.From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that.
| A．being out of work is a sad thing |
| B．uncertainty is what makes life interesting |
| C．life in a film is more exciting than real life |
| D．chance never appears when we need it |
What troubles Allison after graduation?
| A．She couldn’t find a well-paid job. |
| B．She had no money to start a business. |
| C．She was not sure what to do. |
| D．She didn’t score high enough for graduate school. |
How did Allison feel about her six years’ working experience?
| A．Uncertain. | B．Amazed. |
| C．Sorry. | D．Satisfied. |
What may be discussed in the following paragraph?
| A．How to deal with uncertainty. |
| B．What role uncertainty plays in life. |
| C．Why people fear uncertainty. |
| D．Whom to go to when facing uncertainty. |
When a cake is brought to the table at a birthday party, it is usually decorated with candles. It is said that the tradition of lighting birthday candles was invented by the ancient Greeks; it has taken on different meanings through the years. Today, one of the most popular birthday traditions is to blow out the candles all at once to make a secret wish come true.
In order to please Artemis, the goddess of the moon, the ancient Greeks arranged something special for birthdays. A moon-shaped cake was baked and decorated with lit candles. They thought the smoke from the candles would carry an offering(祭品) up into the sky, where they believed Artemis lived.
The tradition of lighting birthday candles continued in Europe, where candles were sometimes kept burning all day on a person’s birthday, partly as celebration and partly to keep away evil spirits. It was believed that the blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers(祈祷) to the gods. Some cultures believe it is a bad luck to blow out the candles until after the evening meal is eaten.
Traditionally, one candle represents a year of the person’s age. Some families prefer to add an extra candle for good luck. But that practice is improper when a very young child is celebrating a third birthday. Generally, older people’s birthdays are celebrated by placing just a few candles to represent, such as an eight for 80th birthday.
Today’s birthday candles are made in different shapes, like animals or flowers. One or two candles in the shape of numbers are sometimes used instead of lots of candles; for example, a four-shaped and a zero-shaped candle would represent 40.Why did the ancient Greeks arrange something special for birthdays?
| A．To make their dreams come true. |
| B．To celebrate a person’s birthday. |
| C．To protect themselves from evil spirits. |
| D．To please the goddess of the moon. |
What is the tradition of lighting candles for birthdays like in Europe?
| A．The candles were always kept burning all day on a person’s birthday. |
| B．The blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers to the god. |
| C．Some cultures believe it is right to blow out the candles before the evening meal. |
| D．The Europeans sometimes keep burning the candles all day just as a celebration. |
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
| A．In some families, people would add an extra candle without any special meaning. |
| B．It is common to see a cake with four candles on a three-year-old child’s birthday. |
| C．Traditionally, people can use an eight-shaped and a zero-shaped candle to represent 80. |
| D．Usually one candle is placed on a cake for each year of the person’s age. |
To write a great news story, you have to make sure it is correct, relevant and fresh.
For a start, all the information in a story must be correct. Not only the spelling and grammar, but also the facts.
Any mistakes that appear in a story can get a newspaper into big trouble. For example, if a newspaper said that Yang Liwei was the first man to go into space, it would be wrong. He wasn’t the first. The newspaper would probably lose lots of readers because of that mistake.
A news story is not only correct，but also relevant to its readers . People are mostly interested in news that happens near to them. That is why you care more about what happens at your school than at American schools. It is also why newspapers in Beijing don’t talk about much news in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
Finally, news must always be fresh. When you pick up your evening newspaper, you want to read about news that happens that day. You don’t want to read about news from last week!
So, now you know what makes a good news story. Have a good look at our newspaper and see if it is full of good news. You can try writing a news story for our newspaper like a real reporter.What is the meaning of the underlined word “relevant”.
| A．有趣的 | B．相关的 |
| C．最新的 | D．正确的 |
According to the writer, newspapers in Wuxi should talk much about news in __________.
| A．Wuxi | B．Hong Kong |
| C．Shanghai | D．Beijing |
Which of the following is true?
| A．A small mistake can’t get a newspaper into trouble. |
| B．A lot of people like reading about news from last week. |
| C．The passage doesn’t tell us who was the first man to go into space. |
| D．People are mostly interested in news that happens far away from them. |
Some top students are giving advice.
| Bill, Canada When taking tests, relax. If you’re worried that you’ll fail the test, you’re sure to get a low score. If you have studied for it long enough, you shouldn’t be worried about getting a low grade. |
| Lily, America Remember the most important advice to get good grades is very simple; do well on tests to get an A or an A-. Do what your teacher says, and the chances are fairly good that you’ll get an A+. Don’t stress yourself. Act cool! |
| Betty, Britain Write good notes. Coloured pens are fun to write with if you want to get more creative with your notes, but use them only for parts of your notes that will probably be on a test or that are important. It makes them stand out. Go over your notes before you take the exams. |
| Tom, Australia In order to get good grades, try to do your homework immediately after school. Time management is important. If you’re told to do the homework next week, get started the same day you know it. Before you start, you’d better make clear what to do and how to do it. |
Who gives advice on homework?
| A．Betty. | B．Bill. | C．Lily. | D．Tom. |
Lily tells uswhen taking tests.
| A．not to worry |
| B．not to stress ourselves |
| C．to get more creative |
| D．to make clear what to do |
The top students are giving advice on _______.
| A．how to get good grades |
| B．how to start learning |
| C．what to do when taking tests |
| D．what to take when going to school |
任务型阅读（共5小题，每小题2分，计10分）
Chria Hass invented a basketball training tool for children . At that time , he was only 9 years old.
One day, when Chris was playing basketball with his friends, he saw them miss many easy shots(投篮)。Chris was the son of a basketball coach and he knew much about the best way of shooting. After showing it to his friends, he came up with a good idea. He thought that he could invent a tool for his friends. In this way, they could practice shooting in a right way.
After he went home, he told his father the idea. With his father’s help, Chris started to carry out his plan. He took a basketball and painted two hands on it. The hands showed people the best way to hold a _____ while trying to shoot. Then he joined in an invention competition at his school with the invention, but he didn’t win. He was sad but didn’t give up. With the help of his parents, he patented ( 获得专利权) the invention and tried to sell it.
Sadly, Chris couldn’t sell his invention until one year and a half later, a sports company bought it. The company brought the invention to market and a lot of people could practice shooting with its help.
1题完成句子；2题简略回答问题；3题将文中横线处空缺的一个单词写在下面的横线上；4题找出并写下全文的主题句；5题将文中划线句子译成中文。 After showing how to shoot to his friends, Chris ______ the good idea of inventing a tool for his friends.
How long did it take Chris before he sold his invention?
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