Do you love seeing beautiful lanterns (灯笼) outside? The best time to do this is during the Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar (阴历) month. This year it is on March 2, marking the end of Spring Festival celebrations.
Lanterns are a big part of the festival. One story says that the bright lanterns show respect to gods. Another says that people light lanterns to celebrate the disappearance of darkness of winter.
Watching lanterns is a great event. You see lanterns in any sizes and shapes you can imagine, from animals to plants and flowers. To make this activity more fun, people put riddles (谜语) on the lanterns. In some places, people like releasing sky lanterns, which are called Kongming lanterns. A sky lantern is a small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where there is a small fire source. When the bright lights fly high in the sky, people make wishes.
In old times, the Lantern Festival was also romantic(浪漫). At that time, young girls were not allowed to go out very often except during certain festivals. Therefore, looking at lanterns gave young people a chance to meet each other. A line from Xin Qiji, a poet during the Song Dynasty, shows this: “Restlessly, I searched for her in thousands, hundreds of ways. Suddenly I turned, and there she was in the receding light.”
1.When is the Lantern Festival this year?
A. On January 15th. B. On March 2nd. C. On January 2nd. D. On March 15th.
2.The second paragraph mainly talks about ______ of Lantern Festival.
A. the history B. the culture C. the story D. the date
3.Which of the following about Kongming lanterns is TRUE?
A. They are lanterns with riddles on them. B. They are lanterns in shape of Kongming.
C. People make wishes when flying them. D. They are hot air balloons made of fire.
4.Why was the Lantern Festival romantic in old times?
A. Because it gave young people to meet each other.
B. Because it offered lanterns in different colors.
C. Because the streets were busy and beautiful.
D. Because people could enjoyed beautiful lanterns.
If you go to an American middle school on a Wednesday morning, you will hear kids talking about the show of American Idol (美国偶像) that they watched last night. Some have called it the most influential show in the history of television.
he American Idol show has been extremely successful since 2002. The most popular episode had nearly 38 million viewers. But why is the show so popular?
The idea of the show is this: everyday people get a chance to show their singing talent and become an “American Idol”, a famous pop star. Anyone in the country (between the ages of 15 and 28) can try out for a chance at becoming famous.
In fact, common people are the only ones who are allowed on the show. If you are a professional singer, you cannot be on American Idol.
The winners are usually people from small towns – people who sing in churches or bars, but have bigger dreams.
The winners of the contest get the chance to record an album. Famous stars such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood become famous from winning the show. So, it seems the contest really works.
The idea that anyone can be a star attracts people. All those hours of practicing in front of the mirror could lead to success. Even you could be the next “American Idol”.
1.On Wednesday morning, US middle school kids often _____.
A. play ball games B. watch American Idol
C. talk about American Idol D. perform on TV shows
2.Who can NOT take part in American Idol?
A. College students. B. Professional singers.
C. Young doctors. D. Church singers.
3.What can the winners of the show get?
A. A large amount of money.
B. The chance to record an album.
C. Chances to meet famous pop stars.
D. Professional music training.
4.What does the underlined word “ album” mean?
A. 影集 B. 奖状 C. 唱片 D. 专栏
5.What does the story mainly tell us?
A. Where US kids spend their spare time.
B. How American Idol was created.
C. How common people become stars.
D. Why American Idol is so popular.
Kindness is not always a straight line. I was traveling in a city of Central America with a friend, and we were looking for a post office. we were standing on a street corner and did not know what the Spanish word for “post office” was. One kind man could see we were in difficulty and came up to us. We tried to explain what we were looking for, and he said, “Oh, yes, yes.” He led us down all these little streets. It seemed like we walked for miles. Finally, he pointed us to a building without any name on it. But when we went in, we found it was not a post office.
When we walked out and were again standing around looking lost, a woman soon came up and asked if we needed help. Again we tried to explained where we were going. The woman said she could help us. Then we followed her to another building which also had no name and we found it was not a post office, either. At this point we decided not to listen to anybody else.
But then another person came up and said, “I can help you.” We said, “No, thank you.”But he didn't listen to us. He actually caught me by the hand and pulled me through the streets. Circling around, we came back to the first corner we had been standing on when we began. He pointed across the street, and there was the post office.
1.How many people helped the writer and his friends look for a post office in the story?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
2.How did the first kind man help them?
A. He helped them find the post office. B. He led them down all the little streets.
C. He forced them to walk for miles alone. D. He taught them to speak Spanish.
3.The woman led them to another wrong place because ________.
A. she wanted to fool them B. she wanted to sell things
C. she didn’t know the way D. she wanted to play a joke
4.What does the writer want to tell us?
A. Kindness is not always a straight line.
B. Don’t listen to anybody else easily.
C. We must learn its language of a foreign country.
D. It’s important to stand where we are at first.
Life is filled with regrets. Anyone around you will have no difficult telling his regrets. As we get older, we look back and wish that we had made better choice. What can we do to avoid future regrets?
Make better plans
If you start to do something, you need to make a plan before doing it. The earlier, the better . You will know what comes first and what comes last. You’ll also know what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. When changes happen, you can have more time to deal with them.
Live a more active life
You can go around more often. More outdoor activities can keep you relaxed and active. You also need to be kind. “Thank you” can bring a smile to someone’s face. Learn to say “sorry” and don’t be angry with others.
Find the right friend
A friend may make your life good and he or she can break your life as well. So you have to think twice when you choose a friend. Good friends will always be better than your ideas.
When you get into trouble, ask others for help. That little help may get you good results.
Never fear failure
Everybody fails. Even the greatest person failed. We should not fear failure, because failure is not the end of the road. We must take failure as a chance to learn and improve ourselves.
Life is good. We don’t have to live in our past, but we do hope that we can plan better, live better, and work better when we have the chance to do so.
1.According to the passage,how can we live a more active life?
A. Make better plans. B. Go around more often.
C. Find the right friend. D. Never fear failure.
2.If we make a plan, we _________.
A. should make it last B. will have no time C. can know what to do D. should think twice
3.In the writer’s opinion,what is a right friend?
A. A person better than you. B. A person who can help you.
C. A person who may make your life good. D. A person who always think twice.
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. How to have good life? B. Why do people have regrets?
C. Why to find right friends? D. How to avoid future regrets?
根据对话内容，从方框内的选项中选出能填入空白处的选项，有两项多余。
A: Hi, Jack. Why are you so upset?
B: Hi, Lily. 1. Can you give me some
suggestions on how to learn English well?
A: 2. First, you should listen to the
teacher carefully in class.
B: Sure. 3.What else?
A: Second, you should ask teachers for help
if you have any problems.
B: 4.Thanks for your suggestions. I’ll try them.
A: You are welcome.5.
A. I’ll also take notes while listening.
B. I failed in the English test again.
C. It’s very kind of you.
D. Of course.
E. I hope you will make much progress in the future.
F. You can try to listen to some English songs.
G.Where are you going?
A. I’ll also take notes while listening.
B. I failed in the English test again.
C. It’s very kind of you.
D. Of course.
E. I hope you will make much progress in the future.
F. You can try to listen to some English songs.
G.Where are you going?
A Japanese company has a new bread-making machine. It can make bread from uncooked rice in four hours.
The_______of the bread-making machine is “Gopan”. It means “rice” and “bread” in Japanese. Users put_______rice in the Gopan and the machine does the rest, from milling (碾磨) the rice to baking the bread.
The bread-making machine is quite______at $600 (4,000 yuan), but it has sold very well. The company put Gopan on the market last month and it______ in only one week. The company says it will not take orders for the Gopan_______next April.
Hisao Nagayama, a Japanese food______, thinks the Gopan is popular ______ Japanese people are changing their eating habits. They eat more Western food. Busy lives are making it ______for Japanese people to find the time to cook and eat rice.
“People can eat the bread ______ and it is delicious. And it is made of ________ the Japanese like to eat---rice.” he said. Do you want to have a try?
1.A. information B. form C. function D. name
2.A. washed B. wasted C. cooked D. used
3.A. expensive B. cheap C. old-fashioned D. fantastic
4.A. made out B. took out C. put out D. sold out
5.A. with B. when C. while D. until
6.A. teacher B. cook C. expert D. artist
7.A. so that B. though C. because D. because of
8.A. easier B. harder C. easy D. important
9.A. hardly B. easily C. especially D. accidentally
10.A. what B. when C. where D. why
