When I was 16 years old, I made my first visit to the United States. It wasn’t the first time I had been abroad. Like most English children I learned French at school and I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn’t understand English. But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems.
How wrong I was! The misunderstanding began at the airport. I was looking for a public telephone to give my American friend Danny a ring and tell her that I had arrived. A friendly old man saw me looking like being lost and asked if he could help me.
“Yes,” I said. “I want to give my friend a ring.”
“Well, that’s nice,” he said. “Are you getting married? But aren’t you a bit young?”
“Who is talking about marriage?” I replied. “I just want to give my friend a ring to tell her I’ve arrived. Can you tell me where there’s a phone box?”
“Oh!” he said. “There’s a phone downstairs.”
When at last we did meet up, Danny explained the misunderstanding to me.
“Don’t worry,” she said to me. “I had many difficulties at first. There are lots of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from us British. You’ll soon get used to all the funny things they say. But most of the time British and American people can understand each other!”
1.Where was the writer from?
A.He was from America B.He was from France
C.He was from England D.He was from China
2.The writer thought _________ in America.
A.he wouldn’t have any language difficulties
B.he would not understand the Americans
C.the Americans might not understand him
D.he would have difficulties at the airport
3.The writer wanted ________.
A.to buy a ring for his friend
B.to make a call to his friend
C.to go to the telephone company
D.his friend to see him off
4.From the passage we can see that “give somebody a ring”____________.
A.means the same in America as in England
B.means “call somebody’ to the old man
C.means “be going to get married”
D.has different meaning in America and in England
It was Monday. Mrs Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.
Considering that there was no better way, Mrs Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it: "Give my dog half a pound of meat. " Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently."Take this to the butcher（屠夫）and he's going to give you your lunch today.”
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.
At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at the paper, and gave the dog is meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers. But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, "This is a small dog. Why does Mrs Smith give it so much meat to eat today?"
Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!
1.It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper Mrs Smith gave it .
A.could do it much good B.might do it much harm
C.would help the butcher D.was worth many pounds
2.From its experience, the dog found that .
A.only the paper with Mrs Smith's words on it could bring it meat
B.the butcher would give meat to it whenever he saw it
C.a piece of paper could bring it half a pound of meat
D.Mrs Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher
3.At the end of the story, you'll find that .
A.the dog was clever enough to write on the paper
B.the dog dared not go to the butcher's any more
C.the butcher found himself cheated by the clever animal
D.the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog
The holidays are a time to give. These organizations are looking for volunteers and donations (捐赠). Read on to learn more about them. Then, find out how you can help.
American Red Cross
This holiday season, your donation can make a difference at home and abroad. The American Red Cross is making it easy to help people who have experienced natural disasters (灾害), members of the U.S. armed forces, and children all over the world. With just one click (点击), you can give the gift of caring.
National Military Family Association
Each year hundreds of Americans serve both at home and abroad to keep our country safe. This holiday season, we can help serve them. Through donations, National Military Family Association helps to provide military members and their families with scholarships, family retreats, camp programs for kids, and more.
Network for Good
This website allows its users to donate to organizations and discover volunteer chances. After natural disasters, the Network for Good provides a system of help and support for those in need. The website also offers tips to kids who want to give. Visit the website to find out how you can help make someone’s holiday season shine bright.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Sometimes all it takes is one wish made come true to make someone smile. The work of Make-A-Wish Foundation is to make the wishes come true. Through support and donations, the foundation has made dreams come true for hundreds of thousands of children with serious illnesses.
If you want to help others, don’t wait for a better time. Help now! Your help will be valued highly.
1.What do we know about the American Red Cross?
A.It serves members of armed forces all over the world.
B.It mainly supports people in natural disasters.
C.It helps children at home and abroad.
D.It doesn’t often ask for donations.
2.To help American soldiers’ parents, which organization will you donate things to?
A.Network for Good.
B.American Red Cross.
C.Make-A-Wish Foundation.
D.National Military Family Association.
3.Who would most probably visit Network for Good?
A.People who want to learn about natural disasters.
B.People who have volunteering experiences.
C.People who want to volunteer.
D.People who want to offer tips.
It's fourteen years since I left the Philippines to live with my family in the USA. A month ago, while on summer vacation back in my motherland, I learned a lesson from mosquito (蚊子) bites. Right before_______Kennedy Airport in New York, my grandma_______me of the behavior of the native mosquitoes around the_______like me. She said, "There's an old saying—the_______you stay away from the motherland, the sweeter your blood_______to the mosquitoes. " Not_______it, I replied, "Grandma, that's just an old wives' tale!"
Well, less than a week_______my arrival in Manila, I was already carpeted with a_______of mosquito bites. I took many measures to keep myself from being_______, but they all proved useless.
Late one_______ in my cousin's home, I couldn't bear the_____ of the bites. Hoping to find some comfort, I________my cousin, who was sleeping peacefully in the bed next to mine. Unhappy for being________she said, "There is nothing you can do. Go back to sleep. " With a few turns, she slept again. Enviously (妒嫉地)________her sleep, I hoped a big mosquito would________on her face. However, the mosquitoes would just lightly dance around her forehead and fly away quickly, never biting her. Amazed (惊奇的), I ran to others'_______, only to find they were all sleeping________as the same thing occurred again and again.
From those bites, I came to________my grandma's silly tale. From then on, I've always tried to keep a(n)_______mind about those strange old wives' tales________they do have some truth to them.
1.A.leaving B.passing C.visiting D.finding
2.A.persuaded B.reminded C.warned D.informed
3.A.students B.foreigners C.passengers D.visitors
4.A.earlier B.longer C.sooner D.later
5.A.grows B.goes C.flows D.remains
6.A.expecting B.understanding C.recognizing D.believing
7.A.after B.before C.when D.as
8.A.shade B.pile C.cloud D.blanket
9.A.touched B.bitten C.defeated D.discovered
10.A.morning B.afternoon C.evening D.night
11.A.noise B.hit C.pain D.effect
12.A.woke up B.shouted at C.looked for D.dropped on
13.A.blamed B.interrupted C.moved D.frightened
14.A.having B.watching C.making D.helping
15.A.land B.fly C.fall D.wait
16.A.houses B.flats C.rooms D.homes
17.A.joyfully B.anxiously C.soundlessly D.worriedly
18.A.tell B.know C.remember D.accept
19.A.open B.active C.clear D.honest
20.A.and B.so C.because D.until
For years，the giant squid (大王乌贼) had remained a modern mystery.Living in the dark depths of the ocean，the creature is difficult for scientists to observe directly.It had also managed to avoid all attempts to film it.That changed last July：for the first time ever，scientists were able to catch the giant squid on video in its natural habitat.They were amazed by what they saw.The scientists filmed the squid in the North Pacific Ocean，south of Tokyo，Japan.They followed it down to a depth of 2，952 feet.They shot more than 23 minutes of video before the squid swam off into even darker depths.The video footage will be released to the public later this month on The Discovery Channel.
Tsunemi Kubodera，a zoologist at Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science，led the team that filmed the squid.The team went into the ocean in a small submarine with lights invisible to both humans and squid.Since giant squid eat smaller squid，the scientists released a small squid as bait (诱饵)．Then the scientists waited in the pitch black for the giant squid to approach.
The color video shows the creature floating vertically，eating the bait squid.The giant squid is 9 to 10 feet long and is missing its two longest tentacles (触须)．With those tentacles，it could have measured up to 26 feet long.It has huge black eyes，the size of dinner plates，“It was shining and so beautiful，” Kubodera said.
Because the deep ocean is so unfriendly to humans，little is known about the giant squid.Scientists say catching the mysterious creature on video is an important step toward understanding it.For centuries，sailors had reported seeing a huge，ocean－dwelling beast，thought to be the giant squid.The creature is also believed to be the subject of the Nordic myth of the kraken，a sea creature that supposedly attacked ships in Scandinavian waters over the past thousands of years.
1.Why is it difficult to film the giant squid?
A.Because it is illegal to film the giant squid.
B.Because it is too expensive to make such a film.
C.Because the giant squid lives in the dark deep ocean.
D.Because the giant squid is dangerous to humans.
2.We can learn from the first paragraph that scientists ________．
A.first saw the giant squid in the ocean
B.discovered a new sea creature in the ocean
C.have the ocean bottom secretly recorded on video
D.have first caught the legendary giant squid on video
3.According to the passage，the giant squid's longest tentacles can be ________．
A.16 to 17 feet long
B.9 to 10 feet long
C.more than 26 feet long
D.about 36 feet long
4.The scientists released a small squid in the ocean to ________．
A.increase the number of the giant squid
B.trick the giant squid into coming out
C.make an educational film about it
D.show concern for the giant squid
单词拼写
1.I need to___________（加长）my skirt.
2.The___________（村民们）helped the little girl find her parents.
3.He___________ （检查）his passport and stamped it.
4.The___________ （进攻）from the enemy was so strong that we were required to fall back.
5.It was a terrible accident and she was the only girl to have ___________（幸存）the accident.
6.The little boy doesn't have the___________ （力气）to lift that heavy box.
7.In the interview, he had finally___________（使相信）several customers of the advantages of his product.
8.Do you have to ___________（预订）tickets in advance?
