This message is to inform all the children that Santa's post office in Himmelpfort, Germany, is open to receive your holiday wishes. That means you can mail your letters to Santa about 6 weeks sooner than that last year. Santa knows you've been good and wants to make sure he and his helpers receive your wish list earlier.
Eight post offices are organized across Germany to answer all letters children send. This year they plan to receive over 250,000 letters. Though the letters fly from over 80 different countries, Santa and his helpers can understand and make sure to answer all the letters.
In 1984, two children from Berlin sent their wish lists to Himmelpfort after spending vacation there. Their letters were answered by postal employees and later Himmelpfort increased its helpers to meet the needs of increased mail traffic. Year after year, Santa and his crew use an ecofriendly powered vehicle to collect the thousands of letters he receives from young boys and girls. The great news for this year is that if you come to the beautiful town of Himmelpfort, you can drop off your letter and visit Santa in person, from Tuesdays to Thursdays until Christmas Eve.
Santa does not currently have an email, Twitter or a Facebook account. He believes in oldfashioned communication. So get out your paper and write your wish list. Just make sure your letter is clear so you can receive an official response, send your letters to：
Santa
Christmas Post Office
Himmelpfort, Germany 16798
1.This year Santa and his helpers ________.
A．are eager to receive more wishes
B．keep traveling around 80 countries
C．are able to receive kids' letters earlier
D．answer most of the letters from kids
2.From the 3rd paragraph, we know that ________.
A．post offices send kids all the presents they ask for
B．children from Berlin like spending holidays in Himmelpfort
C．Santa uses a powered vehicle because of the heavy mail traffic
D．children can visit Santa in the flesh before Christmas Eve this year
3.Santa doesn't have social communications online probably because he ________.
A．is not sure about the online security
B．trusts traditional ways of communication
C．prefers official and formal letters
D．thinks written letters are clearer than emails
4.This text is intended for ________.
A．tourists coming to Himmelpfort
B．teenagers preferring writing letters
C．parents preparing for Christmas
D．children planning to write to Santa
(London)If it really is what's on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn't surely mean you are not fat，” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes. They want to prove that internal fat damages the body's communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no short cut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle，” Bell said.
1.What is this piece of news mainly about?
A．Thin people also have troubles.
B．Internal fat is of no importance.
C．Internal fat leads to many diseases.
D．Thin people may be fat inside.
2.Doctors have found ________.
A．being slim doesn't mean you are not fat inside
B．internal fat is the cause of heart disease and diabetes
C．being slim is not dangerous at all
D．the exact dangers of internal fat
3.According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
A．People with heart disease all have internal fat.
B．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet.
C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat.
D．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat.
Sweetest Day in America is always the third Saturday in October. This holiday is much more important in some regions than in others (Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo being the biggest Sweetest Day cities). It is a holiday that is gaining in popularity every year throughout the country.
Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in October as a day to make someone happy. It is an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged, and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed.
Over 60 years ago, a man in Cleveland, believing that the city's orphans and shutins (卧病在床的人) too often felt forgotten and neglected, thought of the idea of showing them that they were remembered. He did this through the distribution of small gifts. With the help of his friends and neighbors, he distributed these small remembrances on a Saturday in October. During the years that followed, other Clevelanders began to participate in the celebration ceremony, which came to be called “Sweetest Day”. In time, the Sweetest Day idea of spreading cheer to the underprivileged was broadened to include everyone, and became an occasion for remembering others with a kind act or a small remembrance. And soon the idea spread to other cities all over the country.
Sweetest Day is not based on any single group's religious affection or on a family relationship. It is a reminder that a thoughtful word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning.
Because for many people remembering takes the form of giftgiving, Sweetest Day offers us the opportunity to show others that we care, in a practical way.
1.We can learn from the first paragraph that Sweetest Day is ________.
A．sometimes the third Saturday in October
B．hardly celebrated in Detroit
C．of equal importance in every part of the USA
D．getting increasingly popular in the USA
2.Sweetest Day was intended to remember ________.
A．the young and disabled
B．friends and relatives
C．orphans and shutins
D．the sick and aged
3.We can infer from the passage that the birthplace of Sweetest Day is ________.
A．Detroit B．Cleveland
C．Buffalo D．Washington
4.Now on Sweetest Day gifts are given to those ________.
A．we care B．we admire
C．in need of help D．in trouble
Music to My Ears
Robby was 10 for his first piano lesson in my class. Much as he tried, he ____ even the basic rhythm. However, he dutifully reviewed the pieces that I required.
Over the months he tried and tried while I ____ and encouraged him. At the end of each lesson he'd always say, “My mom's going to hear me play some day.” ____ it seemed hopeless.
I only knew his mother from a ____ as she waited in her aged car to pick him up. Then one day Robby stopped coming. I was secretly ____ that he stopped because of his lack of ability.
Weeks later I informed the students, including Robby, of the coming recital(独奏). To my ____， Robby asked me if he could be included. I told him he really did not qualify because he had ____ out. He said his mom had been sick and unable to take him to lessons but he was still ____ .
“I've just got to play！” he ____. Something inside me let me allow him to.
Then came the recital night. The gym was ____ with parents. I put Robby up ____， thinking that I could save his poor performance through my “curtain closer(谢幕)．”
The recital went off smoothly. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was ____. “Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night？” I thought.
Robby pulled out the piano bench and began. I was not ____ for what I heard next. His fingers were ____ on the keys. Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people of his age. After he ended, everyone was ____ their feet in wild applause.
In ____ I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby. “I've never heard you play like that, Robby! How did you ____ it？”
Robby explained, “Well, Miss Hondorf…remember I told you my mom was sick? …____ she had cancer and passed away yesterday. She was born deaf, so tonight she could hear me play in heaven. I wanted to make it special.”
There wasn't a ____ eye in the house. That night I felt he was the teacher and I was the pupil, for it was he who taught me the meaning of perseverance and ____.
1.A.lacked B．had
C．showed D．got
2.A.listened B．learned
C．checked D．played
3.A.And B．But
C．So D．Or
4.A.conversation B．performance
C．distance D．picture
5.A.guilty B．sad
C．anxious D．glad
6.A.relief B．surprise
C．pleasure D．satisfaction
7.A.stepped B．worn
C．run D．dropped
8.A.acting B．performing
C．practicing D．recording
9.A.insisted B．suggested
C．complained D．threatened
10.A.lined B．packed
C．piled D．covered
11.A.least B．most
C．first D．last
12.A.messy B．cool
C．neat D．dull
13.A.eager B．concerned
C．prepared D．grateful
14.A.hesitating B．dancing
C．touching D．crawling
15.A.over B．under
C．in D．on
16.A.chaos B．tears
C．silence D．return
17.A.find B．feel
C．make D．like
18.A.Gradually B．Suddenly
C．Frequently D．Actually
19.A.dry B．curious
C．bright D．wet
20.A.regret B．talent
C．love D．courage
To Friend or Not to Friend
We all love our parents and turn to them when we're in need, but would you like them to hear the conversations you have with your friends on the school playground or lunch queue? Social networking sites have become extensions of the school hallways, so would you add your parents as “friends” and allow them to view your online activities and conversations with friends?
In the past the generation gap included a technology gap, where children were up to date with latest technology and parents were left behind, content to continue their day to day lives as they always had because they had no need to know more about technology. However, more and more parents are beginning to realize just how important social networks are in their lives. This realization has given many parents the motivation to educate themselves about social networking sites.
These days many people are attracted to social networking sites because they can choose who they have around them; there's also a certain amount of control over privacy that we don't get in real life. Sometimes we feel that privacy is violated when we must accept a “friend” request from a parent or family member.
It's a difficult choice whether or not to allow a parent to become a part of our online lives. On the one hand we don't want to “reject” their request because that might hurt their feelings or make them feel you have something to hide. On the other hand if you do accept, then you could have a sense of being watched and no longer feel free to comment or communicate the way you did before.
A recent survey suggested that parents shouldn't take it personally if their child ignores their request: “When a teen ignores a parent's friend request, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are hiding something, but it could mean that this is one part of their life where they want to be independent.”
Perhaps talking with parents and giving explanations would help soften the blow if you do choose not to add them to your friends list.
1.From Paragraph 2, we learn that ________.
A．parents feel secure about their privacy online
B．social networks successfully fill the generation gap
C．parents have realized the importance of social networks
D．social networks offer a platform for parents to communicate
2.Teenagers may refuse a parent's friend request because ________.
A．they hide something from their parents
B．they are unwilling to be watched by parents
C．their parents tend to fall behind in technology
D．their parents make negative comments on them
3.The passage is mainly about ________.
A．privacy online
B．social networks
C．the generation gap
D．parents' friend requests
4.The passage is written mainly for ________.
A．parents B．teenagers
C．teachers D．researchers
Steve knew he'd been adopted as a baby, and when he turned 18, in 2003, he decided he'd try to track down his birth mother. The agency from which he'd been adopted gave him his mother's name: Tallady. But online searches didn't turn up any results about it, and Steve had to let it go.
In 2007, though, he searched for the name again online. This time, the search results included a home address near the Lowe's store where Steve, then 22, worked as a deliveryman. When he mentioned the coincidence to his boss, his boss said, “You mean Tallady, who works here？”
Steve and Tallady, a cashier, had said hello to each other a few times at the store, but they'd never really talked. He hadn't even known her name. Steve thought there was no possible way she was his mother though they shared the same name. For a few months, Steve avoided Tallady. “I wasn't sure how to approach her，” he told a local reporter. Finally, the agency volunteered to arrange their reunion.
When Tallady realized that the nice guy she'd been waving at was his son, she sobbed. She'd always hoped to meet her birth son one day. Later that day, mother and son talked for almost three hours at a nearby bar. She'd given him up for adoption in 1985, when she was 23. “I wasn't ready to be a mother，” she told him. Married with two other children, Tallady says, “I have a complete family now.”
1.Steve gave up the online search for his birth mother in 2003 because ________.
A．the agency didn't give him any help
B．there was no information about his mother
C．his mother didn't turn up online
D．he missed the information about his mother
2.．What did Steve find about his mother online in 2007?
A．Her home address. B．Her full name.
C．Her boss's name. D．Her new job.
3.Why Steve avoided Tallady for months?
A．Because she didn't want to talk to him.
B．Because he wasn't fully prepared for the reunion.
C．Because she was very difficult to approach.
D．Because he didn't think she was his birth mother.
4.The best title for the text is ________.
A．The Love of Mother
B．An Unexpected Meeting
C．The Power of the Internet
D．An Unusual Reunion
