One of the traditions which is now a necessary part of Christmas is that of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus. According to the modern legend, he is a magical figure who visits all the children of the world during the night before Christmas Day, leaving presents, which they find the next morning. He flies through the night sky in a sledge pulled by reindeer, and enters houses by climbing down chimneys. This strange legend is based on the life of a man called Nicholas, but in fact we know very little about him. Historians think he was a Christian bishop（主教）in Turkey in about 285-350 A.D. One of the stories about him is that he helped three poor girls. No one would marry them because they were so poor.
To provide them with money for their weddings, Nicholas secretly dropped some gold coins down the chimney of their house. After Nicholas died, he was made a saint（圣人）by the church. (The name Santa Claus thus comes from St Nicholas.) His feast day was celebrated in December, and parents started giving their children secret presents from St Nicholas. Over the years, this custom became part of our Christmas traditions.
Recently, a psychologist has claimed that Father Christmas is “the perfect fantasy” for children. According to Professor Anthony Clare, children love the character of Father Christmas because he is like an ideal father: he loves children and gives them presents, but he never criticizes them, is never angry and children do not even need to thank him for presents. Other writers, however, point out that Father Christmas can be a frightening character to some children. Jane Bidder says that some children are terrified of this fat, bearded old man. It can certainly confuse many children. As presents, we warn our children to be careful of strangers and never to let them into the house, and yet we tell children that a strange man will come into their bedroom at night! Some children can become very worried about this idea and fear that he is a kind of burglar.
Most children, however, understand from their parents and from the media that Father Christmas is basically a benign character, and look forward to his annual visit with joy and excitement.
1.The writer mentions details such as Father Christmas’s sledge, the reindeer and the way he climbs down chimney because he/ she ________.
A. wants to make it clear that these things are impossible
B. is describing the history of St Nicholas
C. wants everyone to believe that Father Christmas is real
D. is explaining the modern legend of Father Christmas
2.Why does the writer mention the story about St Nicholas helping three poor girls?
A. It shows us that historians know very little about him.
B. This story explains why parents give secret presents to children.
C. It supports the writer’s main point that Father Christmas is based on an untrue story.
D. This story explains why we celebrate Christmas in December.
3.In the last paragraph, the word “benign” means ________.
A. religious B. friendly
C. frightening D. unreal
4.The best title for this passage would be ________.
A. Is Father Christmas Dangerous? B. The True History of St Nicholas
C. The Legend of Santa Claus D. The Traditions of Christmas
Beijing Imperial Court Food
Imperial Court Food（宫廷菜）is a style of food with origins in the Imperial Palace and it is well-known for the original features of the raw materials and carefully selected ingredients. In addition, the dishes are decorated with different colored vegetables and fruits in various shapes. Each dish has a special name, such as Yu Feng Huan Chao. And some of them even have short stories. Today, Imperial Court Food has become an important school of Chinese cooking with several places offering this special taste. While expensive, it is worth trying.
Restaurants of Imperial Court Food
Fangshan Restaurant
Fangshan Restaurant is the most famous one offering the first-class Imperial Court Food. The restaurant is made up of three parts and it can hold 500 people eating at the time. It is decorated in imperial style with the design of dragon and phoenix. Here is the best place to experience the life of the Chinese emperors in former days. Now, it serves nearly 800 kinds of Imperial Court Dishes. Among them, Man-Han Banquet is the most famous.
Li Jia Cai Restaurant
The dinner here is served by set menu starting at ¥298/ person. That is to say, a quest cannot order a dish but a set of dishes. There are no chemicals in the dishes and all tastes are natural. This restaurant has welcomed many famous people including Bill Gates, the former premier of Britain, John Major, and Chinese superstar Jackie Chan.
Yushan Restaurant
The layout of the restaurant follows the imperial palace. When eating in the restaurant, diners are served by waitresses in traditional imperial clothes.
Da Zhai Men
The dishes and snacks cooked in this restaurant are worthy to have a try. And, the traditional performances at night is one of the restaurant’s attractions.
Royal Palace
Both of the food and services of this restaurant are so good. You can also enjoy some wonderful performances in this large courtyard.
1.Imperial Court Food stands out because of the following EXCEPT ________.
A. pretty decorations B. selective materials
C. pleasant names D. reasonable prices
2.If you’d like to try Man-Han Banquet, which restaurant should you go to?
A. Fangshan Restaurant. B. Li Jia Cai Restaurant.
C. Yushan Restaurant. D. Da Zhai Men.
3.In which restaurant can you enjoy Chinese traditional performances?
A. Li Jia Cai Restaurant. B. Da Zhai Men.
C. Yushan Restaurant. D. Royal Palace.
假定你是李华，你的外国好友Eric将作为交换生到你市的一所高中学习。因担心自己不能快速适应这里的学校生活，特写信向你求助，请就此给他写封回信。要点如下：
1.乐意提供帮助；
2.提出具体建议；
3.希望能够帮到对方。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 信的开头语已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Eric,
I feel delighted to learn that you are coming to study in our city as an exchange student. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌交换修改作文，请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 am the shared bike. I’d like to be on the street to serve for people. They can ride me just via a mobile app. But horrible things happen a few days ago. Several people stole some of us with paying their bills on the app but treated us badly. They broke my saddle and even threw my friends everywhere. We felt angry for which those bad guys had done. Thanks to some kindly people, we received careful “treatment”. Now, you help as well as the whole society’s attention is what we need most. We are designed to help people who are stuck the heavy traffic. We are neither toy nor private vehicles. Please obey the basic rules.
Young sunflowers face the sun as it rises in the east and follow it across the sky until it sets in the west. Why does this happen? A team of scientists has finally been able to figure 1. how and why young sunflowers move.
Older sunflowers always face east. However, as it 2.(turn) out, an internal（内部的）clock helps young sunflowers track the sun so that they can grow better. US biologist Stacey Harmer and her colleagues had it 3. (explain) in a recent paper published in the journal Science on Aug. 5.
4. (depend) on the time of day, certain growth genes seem to work to different degrees on different 5. (side) of young sunflowers’ stems（茎）. The east side of their stems grows faster during 6. day, causing the stems to 7. (gradual) bend from east to west. The west side grows faster at night, preparing them for the next morning.
All this move is highly 8. (benefit) to sunflowers. The team found that flowers kept away from the sun had leaves 9. were 10 percent smaller on average. According to Harmer, sunflowers which 10. (face) with the sun receive more bees and other insects because they like warm flowers.
My most rewarding experience throughout the past two years was volunteering at the swimming competition for Special Olympics where a disabled friend of my community took part. This had special ______ for me because experiencing it helped improve my leadership skills, develop my character, and support my community.
Firstly, my ______ skills developed when I independently directed each swimmer where to ______ at the platform and ______ each competitor when they needed to swim. I had to make sure that the swimmers were ______ and ready to perform. This kept me on my feet at all times and ______ of each event’s time and location. I learned each swimmer’s name, ______ many of them swam in more than one event.
Secondly, my ______ was greatly influenced. When I saw the swimmers get their awards for winning each swimming event, I was deeply moved. I was ______ that most swimmers could swim better than I. Their ______ attitudes astonished me, whether they won or lost. This also enlarged my view, offering me the opportunity to ______ people I would normally not run into. I went out of my ______ zone and did whatever was needed to be done, even if it was sometimes difficult to me. It was especially ______ when I saw the glowing faces of the competitors.
Lastly, I was of ______ to my community by lending a hand to this organization. To be a part of it gave me a chance to improve my community and become ______ with the people living in this area.
As Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we do, but we make a(n) ______ by what we give.” The importance of ______ should be stressed throughout your life. ______, through the many opportunities my community has offered I was privileged to be ______ in this exciting and important event in these competitors’ lives. I hope to be a(n) ______ again at this event in years to come.
1.A. purpose B. attention C. meaning D. regulation
2.A. learning B. acting C. exercise D. leadership
3.A. pile up B. line up C. put up D. fill up
4.A. informed B. awarded C. taught D. compared
5.A. positioned B. preserved C. presented D. predicted
6.A. full B. ignorant C. aware D. convinced
7.A. because B. if C. so D. though
8.A. technique B. imagination C. figure D. character
9.A. reminded B. impressed C. blamed D. concerned
10.A. various B. controversial C. changeable D. positive
11.A. educate B. gather C. meet D. recommend
12.A. safety B. comfort C. time D. development
13.A. rewarding B. outstanding C. interesting D. relaxing
14.A. wisdom B. courage C. service D. encouragement
15.A. crowded B. combined C. supplied D. acquainted
16.A. exception B. way C. life D. analysis
17.A. evaluating B. volunteering C. traveling D. allocating
18.A. Strangely B. Generally C. Specially D. Fortunately
19.A. involved B. committed C. devoted D. caught
20.A. trainer B. assistant C. judge D. announcer
