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Celebrating New Year’s Day is one of the oldest and most exciting traditions around the world. Since this festival marks the beginning of the year, New Year’s Day is thought of as a perfect time for a “clean start”. People in the world decide to act better in the year just beginning than the year just ended.
No day has ever been celebrated in so many different ways. All over the world, countries have their own special beliefs about what the New Year means to them.
In Scotland, the New Year is called Hogmanay. In the villages of Scotland, barrels of tar (沥青) are set on fire. It represents that the old year is burned up and the new one is allowed to enter.
New Year’s Day is also the Festival of Saint Basil in Canada. Children leave their shoes by the fireside on New Year’s Day with the hope that Saint Basil, who is famous for his kindness, will come and fill their shoes with gifts.
The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. It is an important time when Jews promise to do better in the future. Special services are held in the church, children are given new clothes and New Year bread is cooked to remind people of harvest time.
On New Year’s Day in Japan, everyone gets dressed in their new clothes and homes are decorated (装饰) with bamboos—symbols of long life.
In European countries such as Germany, France and Belgium, families start the New Year by first attending church services. Afterwards, they visit friends and relatives. In France, boys and girls receive gifts of money on New Year’s Day.
New Year celebrations around the 1.
Country/people | Celebration activities | Special beliefs |
Scotland |
People 2. barrels of tar. | The old year is burned up and the new one is allowed to enter. |
Canada | Children leave their 3.by the fireside. | Their shoes will be 4. with gifts by Saint Basil. |
Jews | It is a time for people to 5. to do better in the future. People 6. New Year Bread to remind of harvest time. |
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Japan | People 7. their new clothes. Homes are decorated with bamboos. | Symbols of 8. life |
European 9. | People attend church services 10. visiting friends and relatives. |
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Do you believe that you aren’t smarter than 3-year-old Alexis Martin, one of the youngest members of the high IQ club Mensa?
Preschooler (学龄前的) Alexis’ IQ is 159, which is only one point lower than Stephen Hawking’s. Doctors say the average IQ of a person is about 100.
She learned to read at the age of 2. She reads at a fifth grade level and has taught herself Spanish on her parents’ iPad!
Now, she is a member of the Mensa Club, which only accepts people with an IQ within the top two per cent of people in the world!
Alexis’ father, Ian Martin, said he first realized Alexis was special when she was 12 months old. She could recite (背诵) bedtime stories. “We’d be driving around in the car and she would recite her bedtime stories from the night before. She didn’t just recite them, and she recited them exactly.”
Alexis’ father would try to trick her and say that her story went a different way, but she always corrected him.
Most 12-month-old children take their first steps on their own and most 18-month-olds can only name a small number of objects and body parts, and follow simple two-step questions.
Even though Alexis is a genius (天才), her parents are faced with lots of challenges like how to teach her to make friends of her own age.
“Will she go into kindergarten early? We are kind of hesitant (迟疑的) because we do want her to get to that social world,” Ian said.
1.Alexis Martin is a girl who .
A. has many hobbies B. has a high IQ
C. is good at telling stories D. likes reading
2.According to the report, Stephen Hawking’s IQ is as high as .
A. 158 B. 159 C. 160 D. 101
3.Alexis Martin could recite bedtime stories at .
A. the age of 2 B. the age of 1
C. one and a half years old D. the age of 3
4.What would Alexis do when her father said her bedtime stories went a different way?
A. She would refuse to listen.
B. She would try to recite it.
C. She would correct him.
D. She would laugh at it.
5.Which of the following statements about Alexis is NOT true?
A. She is accepted by the Mensa Club.
B. She has made a lot of friends.
C. She learned to read at the age of 2.
D. She learned a foreign language by herself.
Last week Lu visited England. He stayed with my grandmother. He found it was strange.
‘I don’t know why, but I frightened your grandmother a lot. When I arrived, I gave her a purse from Dongtai. She looked in it and asked me to take it back. Then I saw a red spider (蜘蛛) on the table, and I killed it for her. She seemed very unhappy. Do English people like spiders?
‘Later we went shopping. Someone was painting a shop front, so there was a ladder. Grandmother stopped me from walking under it and said I must walk around it. I liked the shops and bought some lovely rose soap for my mother, a smart umbrella for my father and some new shoes for myself. When we got back, I put the shoes on the table and opened the umbrella to check if it was all right. Your grandmother came in and screamed!
‘Then I broke a small mirror in the bathroom. Your grandmother’s face went white. I felt very sorry. When I left, I gave your grandmother some flowers. She counted and there were 13. She didn’t like them.’
I explained to Lu, ‘My grandmother follows the old customs. You must not give someone an empty purse, or they will have no money. You must not kill a “money spider”, or the same will happen. Also it is very unlucky to walk under a ladder or put new shoes on the table. An open umbrella in a house means someone will die. Breaking a mirror brings seven years’ bad luck, and 13 is also a very unlucky number. You were really making my grandmother very afraid.’
1.Why did Lu frighten the writer’s grandmother?
A. Because he could not speak English.
B. Because he did many unlucky things.
C. Because he understood British customs.
D. Because he went shopping in England.
2.What do many British people think of spiders?
A. They are afraid of them.
B. They keep spiders as pets.
C. They hope to see every kind of spiders in their houses.
D. They think some kinds of spiders are lucky.
3.What did the writer’s grandmother feel when she saw the umbrella?
A. Excited. B. Satisfied. C. Afraid. D. Happy.
4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Thirteen is an unlucky number in England.
B. It is very unlucky to walk under a ladder or put new shoes on the table in England.
C. For most British people, breaking a mirror means bad luck.
D. People never give purses as presents in England.
5.How many wrong things did Lu do altogether?
A. 5. B. 6. C. 8. D. 10.
Look at the notice from the Students’ Union. It’s a description of students’ activities for the coming winter vacation.
Winners of Super Boys will come to our school on January 30th, 2014. They are going to give a concert in the school hall at 2:00 pm. Please come to the Students’ Union to get a half-price ticket to the concert before this Friday. |
Wouldn’t it be great if you could join us and go hiking around the West Hill for two days? We’ll start at 7:00 am on February 6th. Please come to the Students’ Union to sign your name and pay fifty yuan, 20 percent off for members of the Hiking Club. |
Are you interested in being a volunteer? We’ll go to a mountain village to give away books to the children there. We’ll work and study with them for a whole day. Please come to the school gate at 6:00 am on February 13th, 2014. Free of charge(免费). |
We’ll hold a party for the students who come from poor families and have to stay at school during the winter vacation. Would you like to join us? Please come to the reading room at 5:00 pm on January 28th. |
1.The notice is about .
A. free tickets B. students’ activities
C. the West Hill D. poor children
2.Betty likes music and wants to go to the concert, so she must arrive at the school hall before on January 30th, 2014.
A. 2:00 pm B. 7:00 am C. 6:00 am D. 5:00 pm
3.If you are a volunteer, you will go to a mountain village .
A. on January 30th B. on February 6th
C. on February 13th D. on January 28th
4.If you want to take part in a party for poor students, you should go to on January 28th.
A. the school hall B. the West Hill
C. a mountain village D. the reading room
5.How much will Tom, a member of the Hiking Club, pay if he wants to go hiking around the West Hill?
A. 2 yuan. B. 50 yuan. C. 40 yuan. D. Nothing.
完形填空
Telling the truth is a very good habit. Here is a story of a man who did lots of bad things, but his promise to tell the truth him.
Once the man came to the prophet (先知)Muhammad (S) and said, ‘Oh prophet of Allah, I have many habits. Which one should I first?’ The prophet said, ‘Give up telling lies first and always speak the truth.’ The man promised to do so and went home.
At night the man planned to go out to steal. Before home, he said to , ‘If tomorrow the prophet asks me I have been, shall I say that I went out stealing? No, I say that. But neither can I lie. If I tell the truth, everyone will call me a .’ So the man not to steal that night.
Next day, when he was about to wine, he thought, ‘ shall I say to the prophet if he asks me what I did during the day? I cannot tell a lie, and if I speak the truth people will me, because a Muslim (伊斯兰教信徒) is not to drink wine.’ So he gave up the idea of drinking wine.
this way, whenever the man thought of doing something bad, he remembered his promise to tell the truth. Step by step, he gave up all his bad habits and became a good Muslim and a very good person.
1.A. killed B. saved C. reminded D. developed
2.A. good B. great C. bad D. daily
3.A. look after B. care about C. put off D. give up
4.A. getting B. leaving C. arriving D. returning
5.A. himself B. herself C. itself D. themselves
6.A. where B. how C. when D. which
7.A. needn’t B. shouldn’t C. can’t D. might not
8.A. chef B. doctor C. thief D. member
9.A. continued B. decided C. refused D. forgot
10.A. make B. sell C. store D. drink
11.A. What B. How C. Which D. When
12.A. love B. teach C. notice D. hate
13.A. allowed B. asked C. invited D. provided
14.A. By B. On C. In D. As
15.A. hardly B. always C. never D. sometimes
---Could I have a rest, Sir.? ---____________, we have little time left.
A. Of course, you could B. Of course, you can
C. Sorry, you can’t. D. Sorry, you couldn’t
