Mexico is a country with rich culture. It celebrates its new year with many traditions.(1) Mexican people connect colors with The New Year traditions. Each color has its own meaning. For example, red means love, yellow means happiness, and green means rich, white means good health. People decorate their houses with these colors.
The New Year party also plays a big role. It usually starts on the New Year Eve. And people play games together. They write down their good and bad events of the year. Then, at 12 o’clock in the midnight, all the people would throw papers in the fire. This tradition means a new beginning for the next year.
Besides the party, there is another popular New Year tradition in Mexico. People have to eat twelve grapes before the New Year Eve. Each grape means to have good luck in each month of a year. When they eat grapes, they should also make wishes for the coming New Year.
In Mexico, celebrating the New Year is a big thing. If you want to experience the traditions of this country, don’t miss the chance to visit Mexico during the New Year.
任务一：将（1）翻译成汉语1.
任务二：Why do people throw papers in the fire ?
2.
任务三：What does the underlined word “ it” refer to ?
3.
任务四：What’s the passage mainly about ?
4.
1.He is so young that he can’t look after himself. (写同义句)
He is ______ young ______ look after himself.
2.It’s raining heavily now. (该写成感叹句)
______ ______ it’s raining now !
3.Hou Yi didn’t drink any magic medicine.（改肯定句）
Hou Yi ______ ______ magic medicine.
4.Tom’s mother often asks Tom, “ Have you finished your homework ?” (写同义句)
Tom’s mother often asks Tom ______ he ______ finished his homework .
阅读理解
Little Tommy Was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors（家庭教师）, cards , special learning centers—in short , everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to catholic（天主教的）school.
After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead , he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread（铺开）out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating，he went back to his room、without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening .
Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise，little Tommy got all A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity（好奇心）. She went to his room and asked , “Son， what was it? Was it the nuns（修女）?”
Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head，“No.”
“Well then，”she asked again. ‘‘WHAT was it?”
Little Tommy looked at her and said , “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed（钉）to the plus sign（加号）, I knew they weren’t joking.”
1.Why did Tommy’s parents send him to a catholic school?
A. Because he could eat well there.
B. Because he could earn more about nuns.
C. Because his parents wanted him to do better in his math.
D. Because his parents didn’t want him to learn math anymore
2.Tommy’s mother felt surprised that his son .
A. was still the same as usual B. ate so much at dinner
C. kissed her hello after school D. Worked hard but said little
3.“ hitting the books ” means “_____” in Chinese·
A. 用功 B. 捶书 C. 发泄 D. 振作
4.The last sentence in the passage shows that .
A. Tommy felt sorry for the mail
B. Tommy was afraid of being nailed
C. Tommy didn’t like the plus sign
D. Tommy liked playing jokes on others
5.From the passage , we can infer（推断）that .
A. teachers should be strict with their students
B. mistaking（误解）might do good sometimes
C. a catholic school is much better than other ones
D. nuns are good at helping children with their math
In 2012, Mo Yan became the first Chinese writer to win the Nobel Literature Prize in its century-long history, bringing joy to other writers and readers all over the country. Mo said that people worldwide will read Chinese literature more often. “My winning the prize should play a rather positive role,” the 57-year-old said. “Actually, I thought I only had a small chance to win. There are so many good writers all over the world and in China.” Mo Yan was born into a farmer’s family in a village and dropped out of school at the age of 12, and he started reading books in a mill (磨坊) of his house using a little light of an oil lamp (灯). “ In my childhood, there were only a few books in my village. I had to try every way to find a book to read. I exchanged books with others and even worked in the mill and did farm work for others in exchange for books,” he said. “When I finished reading all the books in villages around, I thought I was the most knowledgeable man in the world.” “With no more books at hand, I even started to read a Chinese dictionary. I read it so many times that I even found mistakes in it.” Thanks to Mo Yan’s success, International publishers (出版商) will pay more attention to Chinese literature. More Chinese works will be translated and introduced to the international readers.
1.Mo Yan was born in ______.
A. 1957. B. 1945. C. 1955. D. 1965.
2.Mo Yan didn’t read______ when he was a boy.
A. books in his village B. others’ books C. a Chinese dictionary D. foreign books
3.Mo Yan won the ______.
A. Nobel Literature Prize B. Nobel Physics Prize
C. Nobel Peace Prize D. Nobel Math Prize
4.Which of the following is true ？
A. Mo Yan’s family was very rich when he was 12 years old.
B. There were many books in the countryside at that time.
C. Mo Yan did farm work for others for some money at that time.
D. Mo Yan didn’t study in school for a long time.
5.What’s the main idea of this passage ?
A. Mo Yan’s biography B. Mo Yan’s novels
C. Chinese writers D. The Nobel Literature Prize
Once upon a time, there lived a rich man. He had a servant (仆人). He and the servant both loved wine and good food very much. Each time the rich man left his home, the servant would drink the wine and eat up all the nice food in the house. The rich man knew what his servant did, but he had never caught his servant doing that.
One morning, when he left home, he said to the servant, “Here are two bottles of poison (毒药) and some nice food in the house. You must take care of them.” With these words, he went out.
But the servant knew that the rich man had said was untrue. After the rich man was away from his home, he enjoyed a nice meal. Because he drank too much, he was drunk and fell onto the ground. When the rich man came back, he couldn’t find his food or his wine. He became very angry. He woke the servant up. But the servant told his story very well. He said a cat had eaten up everything. He was afraid to be punished（惩罚）, so he drank the poison to kill himself.
1.In the story, ______ liked wine and good food very much.
A. the rich man B. the servant C. both A and B D. neither A and B
2.The rich man knew that it was ______ that drank the wine and ate up all the nice food.
A. the cat B. himself C. nobody D. the servant
3.The rich man told the servant that there was poison in the two bottles, because ______ .
A. there was in fact poison in the bottles B. did not want the servant to drink his wine
C. he wanted to kill the cat D. he wanted to kill the servant
4.In fact, ______ ate all the nice food and drank the wine.
A. the servant B. cat C. the rich man D. nobody
5.From the story, we know that the servant is very _______.
A. lazy B. hard--working C. clever D. kind
People all over the world celebrate the new year in different ways. And in some countries , the new year doesn’t begin on the _____date every year. In many countries, the new year begins ____ January 1st, but people start celebrating on December 31st, New Year’s Eve. In New York, many people go to Times Square. They sing and dance _____they are waiting for the New Year. Just before 12 o’clock, everyone shouts very ____ , “ Happy New Year !”
Chinese like the Spring Festival _____than New Year----We call it “元旦”. Families______to their hometown to get together for the Spring Festival. Families usually make _____and watch TV on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Children______in beautiful clothes and carry all kinds of lanterns to visit their friends in the same village. They have fun______firecrackers. During the Spring Festival, children often get lucky money from their grandparents, parents and other ______. Some children in the countryside only stay with their parents during the Spring Festival in a year. They feel love and care from their parents during the festival. So children love the Spring Festival best.
1.A. same B. normal C. important D. easy
2.A. in B. at C. on D. from
3.A. while B. because C. even though D. if
4.A. quietly B. slowly C. sadly D. loudly
5.A. well B. good C. better D. best
6.A. get B. return C. send D. come
7.A. zongzi B. mooncakes C. riceballs (汤圆) D. dumplings
8.A. put on B. wear C. dress D. dress up
9.A. light B. to light C. lighting D. lit
10.A. relatives B. owner C. friends D. customers
