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Christmas Traditions

The Origin of Christmas

Since about 400 AD, Christmas Day has been celebrated on 25th December. This date was the old mid-winter festival in pre-Christian times, around the time of the longest night and the shortest day. Christmas in the 21st century has many traditions: Christmas trees, cards and presents.

Presents and shopping

Shops can make about 60 percent of their year’s income in the three months before Christmas. So most shops get ready for it in October. The shopping centres are beautifully decorated and stay open late at night. The first time this happened was in 1867 when Macy’s, a famous shop in New York, stayed open until midnight on Christmas Eve (24th December).

Trees

By mid-December, almost every house, shop and street has a Christmas tree. This tradition was started by the Germans as early as 700 AD. In the northern countries of the world, winter is cold and dark and most trees lose their leaves. The beautiful green trees decorated with lights and coloured glass balls give people hope that spring will come again.

Cards

The tradition of sending cards to friends was started in 1840 in the UK and now millions of Christmas cards and emails are sent all round the world. Cards are a good way of keeping in touch with family and friends who live far away.

Father Christmas

Father Christmas is known across the world with his white hair, red coat and big bag of toys. Young children are told that he lives in the north of Finland and makes toys for them. By tradition, he brings the toys to children at midnight, on the night before Christmas.

Food

On Christmas day a traditional meal is eaten, usually turkey (like a big chicken) and a rich, spicy cake. Some people hate Christmas. Others feel it is a magical and exciting time. They love seeing family and friends; they also love the traditions. Love it or hate it, Christmas is a time to look back over the old year — and forward to the new one.

1.Christmas has been celebrated ______.

A.for over 3000 years B.since the start of the 21st century

C.for about 1600 years D.for about 2400 years

2.Christmas is important for shops because ______.

A.much of their income is made around Christmas time

B.they can stay open later

C.they are beautifully decorated

D.they can prepare for it long before Christmas

3.Christmas trees are popular because ______.

A.they make people think of Germany B.they make people think of winter

C.they make people think of spring D.they are beautiful and colourful

4.Father Christmas is ______.

A.a magical story for small children B.a character in a film

C.a real person who lives in Finland D.an old man who bring toys to children

请阅读下面文字, 并按照要求用英语写一篇 150 词左右的文章。

Recently, several chat screenshots of a Wechat group spread rapidly online. The contents of chat are as follows. The property management company (物业公司)of a community in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, organized the residents to take a vote in the Wechat group to decide whether two medical staff who lived in this community should be forbidden to enter their homes.

Most of the group members voted for their isolation, supporting the company to deny the two residents entry. Their reason was that the two persons could be carriers of various viruses.

（写作内容）

1. 用约 30 个单词概述上述信息的主要内容；

2. 用 120 个单词就此物业公司的做法发表你的看法，并用 2-3 个理由或论据支撑你的观点。

（写作要求）

1. 阐述观点或提供论据时，不能直接引用原文语句；

2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；

3. 不必写标题。

（评分标准）

内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。

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请认真阅读下面短文, 并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填一个单词。

China Using Mobile Apps to Follow Spread of Coronavirus

People in China are using apps on mobile phones to follow and perhaps help slow the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19. Some of the apps provide the latest information about areas hit by the virus, while others collect data on infected persons.

The Chinese government is working with two of the country’s largest technology companies to keep track of the disease. The two, Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, created color-based systems that record the health of individuals and identify carriers of the coronavirus.

In February, Alipay, a payment app operated by Alibaba, released a system that uses colored QR Codes to show the health of people in the city of Hangzhou. A QR code is a sign a smartphone    can read with its camera. Once the sign is recognized, the phone takes the user directly to an internet link with information about a subject.

After completing the questionnaire, users receive a mobile phone message. It includes a color-based QR Code that relates to the health situation they described. Users with a red code are told to quarantine themselves for 14 days and continue reporting their condition by using Alibaba’s DingTalk messaging app. Users with a yellow code are told to stay in quarantine for 7 days, while those with a green code can travel freely.

Chinese state media said the Alibaba system would be deployed at train stations, along major roads and other travel checkpoints. They added that the system is also being used in some neighborhoods. People are asked to show QR Codes when entering their apartment buildings. Customers are asked to do the same before entering the local supermarket. Alipay said it was working with the government to expand the system nationwide.

Tencent, which operates China’s popular messaging app WeChat, reported the launch of a similar QR Code-based tracking system. Tencent developed the system with help from China’s National Development and Reform Council, which is currently in use in the southern city of Shenzhen. Officials said they expected it to be deployed to other parts of Guangdong province soon.

Even before the latest systems were announced, many Chinese were already using mapping and travel apps in an effort to avoid areas with coronavirus infections. One of the apps, developed by WeChat, uses official reports to identify places in the cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou where coronavirus cases have been confirmed.

One user of the apps told Reuters she finds the maps can provide “psychological comfort.” The woman, who did not want her full name reported, said: “You can’t guarantee there won’t be fresh cases, but you can avoid an area that’s already hit.”

The technology website Abacus reported that citizens can request location data from their mobile phone carrier to show they had not been in affected areas. The report said that if requested, China’s state-owned telecommunication companies will send users a message listing all the areas they had visited within the past 14 days.

    For more than 2,000 years the Chinese people have been guided by the ideals of Confucianism. Its founder and greatest teacher was Confucius, whose humane philosophy also influenced the civilization of all of eastern Asia. Many legends were spread to illustrate Confucius’ beliefs. According to one story, he and his followers passed a cemetery where a woman was weeping at a graveside. She told them she was crying because “my husband’s father was killed here by a tiger, and my husband also, and now my son has met the same fate”. When they asked her why she did not leave such a fatal spot, she answered that in this place there was no oppressive government. “Remember this, my children,” said Confucius, “oppressive government is fiercer and more feared than a tiger”.

In such teaching and with such wise sayings, Confucius tried to bring people a respect for the teachings of the wise men of older generations. He always said of himself that he was a “transmitter, not a maker”. He collected and edited the poetry, the music, and the historical writings of what he considered the golden age.

Confucius laid no claim to being more than a man. Yet when he died he was admired almost as god. Temples were constructed in his honor in every city of China. His grave at Kufow, in what is now Shandong Province, became a place of pilgrimage.

Though Confucianism is commonly called a religion, it is rather a system of moral conduct. Confucius did not talk of God but of goodness. He did not teach about any god, simply saying, “Respect the gods, but have as little to do with them as possible.” His attention was centered on making people better in their lifetime, and his Analects are wise sayings similar to the Proverbs in the Bible.

Confucius is the Latinized form of the philosopher’s Chinese name, which was K’ung-fu-tzu, meaning Master K’ung. He was born in a poor but noble family. His father died when the boy was 3 years old. When he was only 6, people noted his fondness for setting out sacrifices and for ceremony. After his marriage at age 19, he worked for the governor of his district, first a keeper of stores and then as an overseer of parks and livestock. At the age of 22 he began his life as a teacher by establishing a school. He accepted valuable aid from some of his students, but he also welcomed students who could afford to pay only a small fee.

After some years of teaching and travel, he settled in Shandong for 15 years. When he was 52 years old, he was rewarded with an appointment as governor of a province and never failed to win the credit he deserved. He performed his task so well that a neighboring governor became jealous. Later, Confucius traveled around other kingdoms and wandered about for 13 years. Eventually, he returned to his native state of Lu in his 69th year and died three years later.

1.The story of the woman in Para.1 is mentioned to show____.

A.Confucius was creative and sympathetic

B.the government then was fiercer than a tiger

C.Confucius’ beliefs are very popular

D.Confucius often wanted to influence people

2.According to the author, Confucius himself____.

A.was tired of spreading his teachings in his late year.

B.was not interested in reforming the society

C.did not want people to worship him as god

D.showed great disrespect for the noble families

3.What does the underlined sentence in Para.4 mean?

A.Confucianism is different from common religion.

B.God blesses those who show respect and goodness.

C.People are advised to keep a distance from gods.

D.Confucius highlights the importance of virtue.

4.In the eyes of the author, Confucius’ political life____.

A.was highly successful

B.turned out to be a surprise

C.was bound to fail because of his belief

D.was not so important as his teaching life

5.As regards Confucius and his teachings, the tone of the passage is marked with____.

A.objective spirit B.deep admiration

C.great openness D.obvious surprise

    A substitute teacher crunch has forced Chicago area school districts to raise sub pay, to use parents as subs and even to seek out teachers from moonlighting police and fire department ranks. The crunch also means good subs are getting harder to find, some say. “It’s not only a quantity problem but a quality problem,” said Barbara Radner, director of DePaul University’s Center for Urban Education, which serves as expert partner to 31 academically troubled Chicago public schools. “We’re getting to the bottom of the talent pool and it’s empty,” she said. And a bad sub, Radner explained, can move a class backward by confusing students.

Radner said Chicago’s sub shortage is at “crisis” levels and the worst she’s seen in 15 years, although city school officials say West Side schools seem to be affected the most. Using the Chicago system’s substitute teacher center is like engaging in “Russian roulette”, Radner said. “Every sixth sub you get could be a total blowup.” Increasingly, she said, principals in schools she works with say they can’t get subs, or the subs they get leave midday because they can’t handle the job. Chicago school officials are recruiting police officers and firefighters to sub in high-crime areas that some subs refuse to enter. A sub recruitment push is also planned on college campuses - among graduate and doctoral students who may find the part-time work attractive, Schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas said.

Teachers often leave detailed lesson plans for subs if they know in advance they will be off, and keep “emergency plans” on file for unexpected absences, such as an illness. But Radner said emergency plans can amount to “a recipe for baby-sitter.” Carolyn Martin said her daughter’s last sub at Bolingbrook’s Tibbott Elementary in Valley View District 365 was so unpleasant that she may demand to sit in the classroom next time there’s a problem sub. “The last time they had a sub, the substitute teacher had to call the principal into the room,” Martin said, “This is a third-grade classroom, and the lady couldn’t even handle it”.

Demand for subs is high because of several factors, school officials say. For starters, those who hold sub certificate may not be using them because they have found better-paying jobs in today’s booming economy. Six or seven years age, Schaumburg District 54 Associate Supt. Kenneth Cull said, “I used to have 30 real estate agents sign up for sub work because they had college degrees and business was slow. I don’t have that anymore.” Sub pools have been further consumed by several waves of early teacher retirements and increased student enrollments — both of which have meant more subs are being hired as full-time teachers.

1.What is troubling the Chicago school districts?

A.People in unrelated areas find jobs in school teaching.

B.Quality of regular and sub teachers needs improving.

C.Students suffer greatly from unprofessional teachers.

D.Chicago area is in bad need of qualified sub teachers.

2.From the second paragraph, we learn____.

A.the sub crunches before were not as bad as the present ones

B.many principals quit their jobs as they can’ t handle the situation

C.police officers are sent to the high-crime areas to keep order

D.six out of ten substitute teachers come from college campuses

3.According to Radner, the emergency plans____.

A.are most effective in mending the situation B.are detested by most parents

C.are resisted by most students D.do not efficiently meet the situation

4.Which of the following is NOT a factor that leads to the shortage of qualified subs?

A.Many certified teachers quit their teaching positions for other professions.

B.Sound economic situation attracts many candidates from teaching positions.

C.There are more students admitted to schools than ever before.

D.Many teachers retire earlier from their positions than they should.