Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some way. Different cultures celebrate the beginning of a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.
In Western countries, people usually celebrate New Year at midnight on December 31st or January 1st. People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal clothes, and they may drink champagne（香槟）at midnight. During the first minutes of the new year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead. But some cultures prefer to celebrate the new year by waking up early to watch the sunrise. They welcome the new year with the first light of the sunrise.
Many cultures also do special things to get rid of bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh（重新）.
Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the new year.
Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year. One widespread Spanish tradition for good luck is to eat grapes on New Year's Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the new year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck—but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them！
1.Which of the following can be the best title of the text?
A.Several different New Year traditions
B.The meaning of "Happy New Year!"
C.What to eat on New Year's Day
D.Why people dress up nicely on New Year's Day
2.What do you know from the first two paragraphs？
A.Different cultures celebrate the beginning and ending of a year in the same way.
B.The Western people celebrate the New Year only by watching the sunrise.
C.People around the world celebrate the New Year at different times.
D.People hold parties, wear new clothes and drink champagne for a whole day.
3.In some cultures, why do people throw things into rivers or oceans?
A.To bring good luck.
B.To forget everything.
C.To avoid bad luck.
D.To plan for the next year.
4.Which of following is CORRECT if people want to escape bad luck and wish for good luck?
A.Families make big dolls filled with old clothes
B.Friends tell something special to each other
C.Some people get up early to watch the sunrise
D.Europeans eat 365 grapes on New Year's Day
Can you imagine a cloud floating in the middle of your room? Do you want to know what it feels like to fly like a bird? Find your answers in Time Magazine's 25 "Best Inventions". Here, we have picked out the most interesting 4 to share with you.
Talking Gloves
Ever felt confused by the sign language used by disabled people? Here is the "helping hand" you need. Four Ukrainian students have created a pair of gloves that helps people with hearing and speech problems communicate with others. The gloves are equipped with sensors that recognize sign language and translate it into text on a smartphone. Then the smartphone changes the text to spoken words.
Google Glasses
Google Glasses are like a computer built into the frame of a pair of glasses. With its 1.3-centimeter display, the glasses allow you to surf the Internet and make calls without even lifting a finger. The glasses also have a camera and GPS mapping system. Users can take and share photos, check maps and surf the Internet just by looking up, down, left and right.
Indoor Clouds
It's not virtual.That's a real world. Dutch artist Smilde managed to create a small but perfect white cloud in the middle of a room using a fog machine. But it required careful planning—the temperature, humidity（湿度）and lighting all had to be just right. Once everything was ready, the cloud formed in the air with the machine. But it only lasted for a short while.
Wingsuits
The suit fulfills your dreams of flying like a bird.Well, not exactly flying, but gliding（滑翔）through the air. It increases the surface area of the human body, which makes it easier for people to float in the air. Fliers wearing wingsuits can glide one kilometer in about 30 seconds.
1.Who will probably be the users of “Talking Gloves”?
A.Disabled people B.Normal people.
C.Trained people. D.Working people.
2.How can users of Google Glasses surf the Internet?
A.By moving the mouse. B.By tapping the keyboard.
C.By moving the eyeballs. D.By pressing the button.
3.Which of the following can help you fly?
A.Talking Gloves. B.Wingsuits.
C.Google Glasses. D.Indoor Clouds.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
As Amy Hagadorn rounded the corner across the hall from her classroom, she ran into a tall boy from the fifth grade running in the opposite direction.
“Watch it, dwarf.” The boy yelled as he kept away the little third-grader. Then, with an unfriendly smile on his face, the boy took hold of his right leg and imitated the way Amy limped (跛行)when she walked.
Amy closed her eyes for a moment. “Forget it”! she told herself as she headed for her classroom. But at the end of the day, Amy was still thinking about the tall boy’s mean teasing (嘲弄). It wasn’t as if he were the only one. It seemed that ever since Amy started the third grade, someone teased her every single day. Kids teased her about her speech or her limping. Amy was tired of it. Sometimes, even in a classroom full of other students, the teasing made her feel all alone.
Back home at the dinner table that evening, Amy was quiet. Her mother knew that things were not going well at school.
“There’s a Christmas wish contest on the newspaper,” Amy’s mom announced. “Write a letter to Santa, and you might win a prize”.
The contest sounded like fun to Amy. She started thinking about what she wanted most for Christmas. A smile took hold of Amy when the idea first came to her. Out came pencil and paper, and Amy went to work on her letter.
While Amy worked away at her writing, the rest of the family tried to guess what she might ask from Santa. Amy’s sister, Jamie, and Amy’s mom both thought a three-foot Barbie doll would top Amy’s wish list. Amy’s dad guessed a picture book. But Amy wasn’t ready to reveal her secret Christmas wish just then. Here is Amy’s letter to Santa, just as she wrote it that night:
注意：
1．所续写的短文的词数应为150左右；
2．续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1：
“Dear Santa Claus,” she began.
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Paragraph 2：
The next day, a picture of Amy and her letter to Santa made the front page of the News Sentinel.
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假定你是学生会主席李华，五一假期期间，你将负责带你校留学生去爬崂山。请写一个书面通知，内容包括：
1.集合时间、地点；
2.注意事项。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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阅读下面短文，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Today our knowledge of food and what it does for our bodies is far 1. advanced than that of the old times. Now we know about vitamins and how each kind of vitamin helps in the 2. (grow) of a particular part of our body. There are on the market all kinds of vitamins which one can take 3. (make) up for one’s lack of certain important things. Of course, if we eat properly, the food that we eat will take care of 4. (we) bodies and so there is no need to take any kinds of vitamins.
Generally 5.(speak), everything we eat 6. (do) some good to our body, but if we eat too much of one kind of food and pay too little attention to others, we may have too much of one kind and not enough of others. Then we may be 7. trouble. We are often told that we must eat some meat at each meal in order to get the necessary proteins (蛋白质). That is only 8. (part) true, for proteins are not found only in meat. They can also be got from some 9. (vegetable). The best advice about what to eat is that we should eat all kinds of food 10. never too much of any.
When I was young, my father used to grow carnations — a kind of flower that was red, pink or white. He ______ them with much love and devotion. Every day he came home from work, he would ______ watching them. And he used to tell us, “No one should touch my flowers.”
One day, my younger sister Clemence, who loved dad very much, wanted to help him. So she cut the carnation from their stems（枝干）one by one and ______them on the ground. She believed that dad would be very ______ to see them that way.
When mom and I realized what my sister had done, we became completely ______. However, my sister had no ______why no one showed her any ______. When dad arrived, he went as usual straight to watch the flowers. Seeing his flowers ______ on the ground like dead animals, he was ______ at first. He looked towards the ______to see if it was any of the neighbors’ children who could have done it. Then he looked at mom in ______. Finally mom, who always taught us to tell the ______no matter what, said, “No bad neighbors did this great job, only your lovely daughter Clemence.”
Dad’s face changed into a (an) ______ and then he said, “Do I have better flower than my _______ daughter?” My younger sister smiled and hugged dad ______.
1.A.fed B.took care of C.bought D.used
2.A.stop B.admit C.enjoy D.avoid
3.A.dried B.piled C.threw D.arranged
4.A.pleased B.surprised C.disappointed D.embarrassed
5.A.blind B.lost C.hopeless D.speechless
6.A.guess B.idea C.way D.words
7.A.appreciation B.friendship C.favor D.interest
8.A.standing B.placing C.sitting D.lying
9.A.sad B.shocked C.satisfied D.amused
10.A.windows B.school C.house D.street
11.A.agreement B.return C.silence D.thought
12.A.truth B.story C.matter D.apology
13.A.fear B.smile C.cry D.anger
14.A.naughty B.special C.lovely D.curious
15.A.heavily B.suddenly C.deeply D.firmly
