The groundhog(土拨鼠) has been considered a weather prophet(预言家) for many years in north America. According to legend, all winter long the furry brown groundhog sleeps in his comfortable underground home, or hole. On February 2, he wakes up. The groundhog is very hungry and comes out to search for food. If the sun is shinning, the groundhog will see his own shadow. The sight of his shadow gives him such a fright that he quickly returns to his hole. This event means that spring will not come for six more weeks. If the sun is not shining, there will be no shadow. The groundhog will not be scared and he will stay outside his hole. Spring will come very soon.
The idea that animals could foretell the weather probably began in ancient Europe. At the time, most of the people were farmers and the weather was very important to them. If spring came early they could begin the planting season early and have an early harvest. They found some animals were good weather prophets. On February 2, when they celebrated Candlemas Day, a religious holiday around the time winter ends, all the people watched for an animal leaving its hole. In Germany, farmers watched for a badge. In England farmers looked for a hedgehog（刺猬）. They believed the animals could foretell the weather for the next six weeks.
When the early settlers came to North America there no badgers or hedgehogs near their homes. The farmers did not know when to plant their crops. In time they discovered an animal that left its hole at the end of winter. That animal was the groundhog, also called a woodchuck or a marmot. Every February 2 they watched for a groundhog. Finally, the day came to be called “Groundhog Day”. Many groundhog-watching clubs were formed. The members sometimes dressed in nightshirts and top hats made of silk. They would go to the hills in the dark morning and wait near a groundhog hole. Sometimes the groundhog-watching clubs would have other types of celebrations
1. Which of the following will frighten a groundhog according to Paragraph 1?
A. His own shadow B. The shining sun
C. The coming spring D. His underground home
2. According to legend, if it is cloudy on February 2, _____ .
A. spring will come in March
B. winter will end in a short time
C. the groundhog will go on sleeping
D. the groundhog will refuse to go out
3. Why did ancient Europeans watch for animals on Candlemas Day?
A. To amuse themselves.
B. To protect their harvest.
C. To say goodbye to winter.
D. To know when to plant crops.
4. The early North American settlers ____ .
A. wore formal clothes on Groundhog Day
B. tried to catch groundhogs near their homes
C. regarded the groundhog as a weather prophet
D. mistook groundhogs for badgers or hedgehogs
Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.
First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.
Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable”.
Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time. Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.
Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in “Special English from the V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook”.
1. This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to ________.
A. improve their listening ability
B. read fast
C. write better English and read faster
D. speak correctly
2. If you want to understand the English news program on the radio, you should ________.
A. read the Chinese-language newspaper step by step
B. read again and again the Chinese-language newspaper
C. go through the Chinese-language newspaper first
D. be able to recite the Chinese-language newspaper
3. The author advised that once you have taken up a course, you ________.
A. should stick to it
B. should begin with the last book
C. should take up other courses if they are more fashionable
D. shouldn’t do anything else
4.In this passage, V.O.A. stands for ________.
A. a book B. a magazine
C. a text-book D. a radio station
假如你是新华中学的学生李华,偶然看到在你市求学的美国学生Tom在网上发帖,要大家 给他推荐一本学习汉语的书。你手头正好有一本合适的书可以借给他。请你给他发一封电子 邮件,要点如下：
1.说明写信原因；
2.描述书的情况；
3. 约定见面时间和地点。
注意：
1.词数100左右"
2.可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯"
3.开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Dear Tom,
I’m Li Hua, a student of Xinhua Middle School.
Yours,
Li Hua
短文改错(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分）
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文,请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有 10处语言错误,每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号（^ ),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2.只允许修改10处,多 者(从第11处起)不计分。
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard my name calling. I was chosen to play a role of the heroine (女主角）in the play, what was my dream. As a shy and thin girl, I was used to be quite afraid of speaking in public. But my parents and teachers always encourage me to do so. Now I have changed great. In class, I am often the last one to stand up and answer question even if I may make some mistakes. No pains, no gains. Now I am always brave enough overcome the difficulty in front of me and have changed into a lively girl. So my experience shows that we should not be afraid of losing face and only in this way can they make progresses.
阅读下面材料,在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词$或括号内单词的正确形式。
Last week,our class was on duty in the cafeteria. On the first day,I was shocked to see so much leftover food 1. (throw) away by students. What2. waste! Being concerned about it, my classmates and I had a heated discussion on how3. (solve) the problem. Lots of good ideas came up, such as holding class meetings, putting up a wall newspaper and charging a fine for wasting food. 4. (final),we all agreed that putting up a wall newspaper would be a good 5. (choose).
The next day, we put our idea into reality. Towards lunch time, we put up a wall news paper outside the school cafeteria, 6. (call) on students not to waste food. Many students gathered around to read and express their support. 7. my great delight, there were changes soon. In the cafeteria, I 8. (find) the plates returned after lunch all empty without any leftover. Food9. (save) and the dining hall was cleaner. Seeing this, I felt proud of 10. we had done.
阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最 佳选项。
A Japanese farmer bought a big foreign tractor to grow his corn and apples in northern Japan. The giant tractor __ _ the waste land into fields at an amazing speed. ___ _ _ , he was troubled by the damage caused by raccoon dogs .Just when the sweet corn was ready to be ____ _ _ ,it was ruined.
“I placed ___ _ __ in several places around the fields,but ended up trapping a young raccoon dog. The mother stayed next to it,and didn’t _____ _ _ when I approached. When I tried _____ _ __ out to release the trap,the young raccoon dog bared its _____ _ __ and got really upset. It seems cruel,but I held its head down with my rubber boot _____ _ ___ I released it from the trap. It didn’t run away,though. Right in front of ____ _ _ , the mother started licking the young one’s ___ _ ___ leg. Seeing that, I felt committed an awful crime. “
“I _____ _ ___ told them ‘Stop eating our corny But then I started leaving small piles of second rate corn around the ____ _ _of the fields. They’re not good enough to sell. The next morning when I went to the fields, they’d completely _____ _ _ . But the raccoon dogs had caused ___ _ __more damage at all. So at harvest time I decided to ____ _ __using the traps and put out the corncobs without kernels . After that, __ _ __ by the raccoon dogs stopped almost completely. So I figured that farmers suffer this sort of damage because they ___ _ _everything. After all,we,d turned what used to __ _ the raccoon dogs into fields. I worried that if I actually fed them,the raccoon dogs would even more __ _ ,but that didn’t happen.
I suppose you could say that my eyes were opened to the mysteries of nature. Anyway,I realized that nature didn’t work in the __ _ that most people thought.”
1.A. divided B. developed C. transformed D. transport
2.A. Therefore B. However C. Meanwhile D. Moreover
3.A. raised B. hunted C. grown D. harvested
4.A. traps B. nets C. sticks D. forces
5.A. break away B. runaway C. jump up D. turn up
6.A. handing B. taking C. standing D. reaching
7.A. claws B. neck C. teeth D. mouth
8.A. as B. because C. unless D. after
9.A. it B. me C. them D. us
10.A. wounded B. folded C. deserted D. exhausted
11.A. seldom B. almost C. hardly D. once
12.A. trees B. soil C. edges D. hut
13.A. disappeared B. died C. melted D. escaped
14.A. a little B. a bit C. much D. no
15.A. begin B. continue C. stop D. delay
16.A. waste B. damage C. holes D. crops
17.A. take B. bring C. give D. lose
18.A. refer to B. turn to C. belong to D. lead to
19.A. fight B. bother C. scare D. cheer
20.A. sense B. form C. course D. way
