This year, about 2,300 teenagers from all over the world will spend about 10 months in US homes. At the same time about 1,300 American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and learn the rest of the world.
Here is a 2-way student exchange in action. Fred, 19, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.
Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived. But after 2 months of studying, the language became easy for him. School was completely different from what he had expected and it was much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took 14 subjects instead of 6 that were usually taken in the US.
Family life, too, was different. They have to listen to their fathers. All the activities were done with the family rather than individually. Fred found the food to be too simple at first. He also missed having a car.
“Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out to have a good time. In Germany, you walk but you soon learn to like it. ”
At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his own ideas. “I suppose I should criticize American schools. ” he says, “It is far too easy for our level but I have to say that I like it a lot in Germany, we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many other activities. I think that maybe American schools are better in training their citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.
__1____ between American school life and German school life
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Items |
___2_____ |
German students |
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Class rules |
You don’t have to stand up. |
You have to rise to show ___3_ to their teachers |
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____4 |
You do their own things individually. |
You have to listen to their____5_. |
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School |
It is very easy . |
It is much _____6 . |
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Going out |
You pick up some friends in ____7_ . |
You ____8_ but soon learn to like it. |
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School activities |
We take part in ____9__other activities. |
We do nothing but _10____ . |
It's the end of class. When the bell rings, students of Luohu Foreign Languages School in Shenzhen quickly take out their cell phones. They want to log on to their micro blogs（微博） to check the interesting things that have happened in the last hour.
Since last year, thetrend of micro blogging has swept the country. Recent surveys shows that most students in middle schools have a micro blog and some even update their blogs over five times per day.
"We learn many fresh and interesting things on micro blogs and they have become popular topics in class," said Andy Liang, 14. "If you do not know about them, you are out."
It is also a great place for students to let out stress. "My parents always ask me to study hard, and encourage me before exams, but it really adds pressure," said Simon Zhang, 15. "When I share these feelings on my micro blog, I get many replies from friends in the same situation, which makes me feel better."
But parents are worried that micro blogging could be a waste of time. Some misleading messages may even cause danger to kids, they said.
Mr. Shen, a professor at the China Education Association, suggests parents not worry too much as long as kids are not crazy about micro blogging. Maybe it can become a window for parents to understand their children. "If parents can read their children's micro blogs, they'll know their thoughts, thus leading to better communication and solutions to problems," he said. He also gives some tips for kids.
-Don't micro blog for more than one hour a day.
-Never micro blog in class.
-Try to talk face to face with people from time to time.
-Be critical(批判性的). Don't trust all the messages on a micro blog.
1.Students log on to their micro blogs to .
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A．check the things |
B．write articles |
C．listen to music |
D．call their parents |
2.Micro blog made Simon when he shared his feelings and got replies on his micro blog.
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A．feel sad |
B．let out stress |
C．add pressure |
D．make friends |
3.We can know from Mr. Shen that micro blogging can .
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A．make kids crazy while logging on to it |
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B．bring a lot of misleading messages |
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C．become a window to understand young kids |
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D．lead to worse communication |
4.Don't micro blog for a day.
A more than one hour B. less than one hour C. one hour D. more than two hours
5.Which is Wrong ?
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A．Never micro blog in class. |
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B．They'll know their thoughts through micro blog. |
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C．Trust all the messages on a micro blog. |
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D．Be critical(批判性的) |
Happiness is for everyone. You don’t need to care about those people who have beautiful houses or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country roads at their free time.
In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends will help you; when you study hard at your lessons, your parents are always taking good care of your life and your health; when you get success, your friends will say congratulations to you; when you do something wrong, people around you will help you to correct it. And when you do something good to others, you will feel happy, too. All these are your happiness. If you notice a bit of them, you can see that happiness is always around you.
Happiness is a feeling of your heart. When you are poor, you can also be very happy, When you meet with difficulties, you can say loudly you are very happy, because you have more chances to challenge yourself. So you cannot always say you are poor and poor and you have bad luck. If you take every chance you get, you can be a happy and lucky person.
1.Those who have big houses may often feel ________.
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A．happy |
B．lonely |
C．free |
D．excited |
2.What will your friends say to you when you succeed?
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A．Oh, so do I. |
B．Congratulations. |
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C．Good luck. |
D．It’s just so-so. |
3.Happiness is ________ according to the writer.
A. having a lot of money B. having a big house C a feeling of heart D.having a car
4.Which of the following is this passage about?
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A．Bad luck. |
B．Good luck. |
C．Life. |
D．Happiness. |
5.Which idea is Wrong according to the passage?
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A．People who have cars would never like to walk in the open air. |
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B．You can get help from others when you make mistakes. |
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C．You can still be a happy person even if you have little money. |
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D．Happiness is always around you though difficulties come towards you. |
How old is “old”? The answer has changed over the years. Two hundred years ago，you were old at 35.At the beginning of the 20 th century，the average life span（平均寿命）was 45. In 1950，70-year-olds were really old.Today，a healthy 70-year-old is still thought young.
So，how old is old? The answer is one you’ve heard many times，from all kinds of people.“You are as old（or young）as you feel.”Your age simply tells you how many years you have lived.Your body tells you how well you’ve lived.
“Nobody grows old by living a number of years.” wrote a writer.“People grow old when they don’t have their ideas.”
People shouldn’t have the wrong ideas about aging.Sometimes，older minds can be as bright as young minds.Alice Brophy once said，“It makes me unhappy when people say，‘You look young for your age。’ What does that mean?You know you can die old at 30 and live young at 80. ”
1.In 1950, the average life span was .
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A．35 |
B．45 |
C．50 |
D．70 |
2.People grow old when according to a writer.
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A．they don’t have their ideas. |
B．they live many years. |
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C．They can’t live longer. |
D．they have their ideas. |
3.The meaning of the underlined word “aging” is “ ”
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A．growing old |
B．staying young |
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C．keeping healthy |
D．feeling unhappy |
4.Which question is NOT answered in the passage?
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A．Can older people be as bright as young people? |
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B．What’s the wrong ideas about aging? |
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C．How old is “old”? |
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D．what is the average life span today? |
5.The passage is mainly about __________ .
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A．the average life span |
B．aging |
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C．the 20th century |
D．older people and young people |
I wonder whether Mike is getting annoyed with me. I had promised to help him 48 his maths in the library this afternoon. 49 just as I was about to start out, Uncle John, 50 had just come back from abroad, came to see me. John has always been a good friend as well 51
a good uncle. He used to come to see me when I was young, but I had not seen him for ages. 52 had a good chat and had a very nice time together. I tried to call Mike and tell him about the delay, but wasn’t able 53 reach him since his mobile phone was powered off. When I got to the library, he was nowhere to be seen. He was likely to be very upset, since I should have met him there. I think I’d better apologize to him tomorrow 54 not keeping the appointment. I’d rather tell him the truth than make 55 excuse.
Here is a picture where we can see grass growing in stones strongly． This picture 36 me of my father, a most determined man． He was born in a very 37 black family in the country, and both of my grandparents were 38 ．My father began to work in the cotton(棉花) fields when he was seven years old． He had a strong desire to change his own fate（命运） ever since he was a little boy． He 39 himself how to read and write in the evening． Later with his parents' 40 he managed to go to school where he studied computer science at Yale University． He later became a professor of Stanford University and was an expert in programming． He could 41 programs (程序) for supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, parks and bookstores all by himself． I'm 42 of my father 43 of his determination.
The best way to know a strong man, I think, is to let him 44 a severe test． Whenever we want to test a man's character, we should find out whether he can 45 __ adversity （逆境）, because adversity can always prove the 46 character of a man．Only when we make up our own mind can we overcome any 47 ． Some people would give up halfway． Such men can hardly expect to succeed． If we do not give up hope, nothing is impossible．
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