There is an old saying in China that goes， "The days of the Sanju period are the coldest days." "Sanjiu period"， which is in Minor Cold， refers to the third nine-day period （the 19th to the 27th day） after the day of the Winter Solstice. There are many different customs related to Minor Cold in China.
Eating hotpot
During Minor Cold people should eat some hot food to benefit the body and defend against the cold weather. Winter is the best time to have hotpot and braised mutton（炖肉） with soy sauce. But it is important to notice that too much spicy food may cause health problems.
Eating huangyacai
In Tianjin， there is a custom to have huangyacai， a kind of Chinese cabbage， during Minor Cold. There are harge amounts of vitamins A and B in huangyacai. As huangyacai is fresh and tender， it is fit for frying， roasting and braising.
Eating glutinous rice
According to tradition， the Cantonese eat glutinous rice in the morning during Minor Cold people add some fried preserved pork， sausage and peanuts and mix them into the rice.
Eating vegetable rice
In ancient times， people in Nanjing took Minor Cold quite seriously， but as time went by， the celebration of Minor old gradually disappeared. However， the custom of eating vegetable rice is still followed today. The rice is steamed and is unspeakably delicious. Among the ingredients， aijiaohuang（a kind of green vegetable）， sausage and salted duck are the specialties in Nanjing.
1.What do we know about Minor Cold？ ______
A.It lasts twenty-seven days B.It marks the first day of winter.
C.It refers to the Winter Solstice. D.The Sanjiu period is in Minor Cold
2.What is a special custom in Tianjin in Minor Cold？ ______
A.Eating hotpot B.Buying cabbage
C.Having Huangyacai D.Having vitamin A and B pills.
3.How do the Cantonese eat glutinous rice？ ______
A.They fry and toast it B.They eat it for dinner
C.They steam it with soy sauce D.They mix it with many other things
假如你是李津，你的外国朋友Tom要学习中国汉字，请你根据以下要点提示，用英文给你的朋友写一封书信。
1．汉字重要;
2．记中文日记;
3．用中文写信。
注意：1．可根据要点增加细节使行文连贯；
2．开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
3．词数：100左右。
Dear Tom,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I hope you will make progress.
Yours
Li Jin
阅读表达
We all need physical exercise. Exercise uses up food we eat and keeps the body full of energy. It works our muscles and makes our heart work hard so as to send blood to our muscles. So, exercise makes our heart and muscles strong. Exercise also makes us feel refreshed. If you exercise a couple of times a week, you will stay happy and healthy.
Some Western countries, such as the United States, have problems with exercise. In the US, many people don’t have enough exercise because it is hard for them. People have to work from dawn till dusk, so they don’t have time to take exercise. They work in office buildings sitting in chairs all day long in front of computers. They cannot get much exercise sitting at desk passively.
Some Westerners can get exercise walking from their homes to work. However, the majority of the people cannot do this. It is too far from their homes to their offices. They have no choice but to drive to work. In fact, some have to drive one or two hours to their offices. This has an unfavourable effect on them in two ways. First, these people don’t have a chance to exercise because they are sitting in their cars for two to four hours each day. Second, driving is challenging especially in rush hours and calls for too much attention. It makes a person worn out. So, when these people arrive home at night, they don’t have the desire to take exercise after work.
Today, many people in the West are overweight, which causes health problems for them. Doctors say exercise can help people both lose weight and improve their health. So many people are trying to get more exercise. But it takes time to change, and when people don’t see a difference right away, they will lose heart and stop exercising.
1.List two of the benefits we can get from physical exercise. (No more than 15 words)
2.Why can’t people in the US take enough exercise? (No more than 10 words)
3.The underlined word in paragraph 3 probably means __________. (1 word)
4.Why do people who drive to work get worn out? (No more than 10 words)
5.What advice would you give to office workers and why? (No more than 20 words)
Personality is , to large extent, inherent (天生的). A-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring (产物). But the environment must also have a big effect, since if competition is important to the parents, it is likely to become a major factor in the lives of their children.
One place where children soak up A characteristics is school, which is, by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools adopt the “win at all costs” moral standard and measure their success by sporting achievements. The current passion for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a two-layer system, in which competitive A types seem in some way better than their B-type fellows. Being too keen to win can have dangerous consequences: remember that Pheidippides, the first marathon runner, dropped dead seconds after saying: “Rejoice, we conquer! ”.
By far the worst form of competition in school is the improper emphasis on examinations. It is a rare school that allows pupils to concentrate on those things they do well. The merits of competition by examination are somewhat questionable, but competition in the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.
Obviously, it is neither practical nor desirable that all A youngsters change into ‘B’s. The world needs types, and schools have an important duty to try to fit a child’s personality to his possible future employment. It is top management.
1.What affects the building of personality according to the passage?
A.inheritance, employment and examination.
B.inheritance, competition and environment.
C.competition, employment and questions.
D.environment, knowledge and examination.
2.The underlined phrase “soak up” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
A.abstract B.accept
C.absorb D.accomplish
3.The author gives the example of Pheidippides in order to ______.
A.express the positive attitude toward the examinations
B.express his approval for the competition
C.show that he was too keen to win the game
D.show the consequence of the severe competition
4.What attitude does the author hold toward examinations in schools?
A.positive. B.negative.
C.doubtful. D.acceptable.
5.What suggestion does the author make concerning the management of a school?
A.All students at schools should be made into competitive A types.
B.A child’s personality be considered according to his possible future job.
C.All students should be changed into B characteristics.
D.All kinds of schools should get rid of all examinations.
Recently, university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged. It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours．
Unplugged is being run by Dr Roman Gerodimos, a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University. During the experiment, Dr Gerodimos said there were already signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers. He said:“They’re reporting withdrawal symptoms, overeating，feeling nervous, isolated and disconnected.”
During their 24-hour test, three of the experiment’s participants were followed around by a BBC reporter plus cameraman. They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline, but of course, they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops.
Elliot Day wrote:“Today, my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air. Despite being aware of the social importance of the media, I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers.”
From Caroline Scott, we read:“I didn’t expect it, but being deprived of the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual…I didn’t break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to, but it’s not something l would like to do again!”
And Charlotte Gay wrote：“I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been my mobile; not only is it a social device, it’s my main access point of communication.”
Earlier in the year, a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media, often plugged into several things at once. So, with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate, how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?
1.What is the experiment?
A.Volunteers’record of their 24 hours offline.
B.Volunteers’ reaction without any media for 24 hours.
C.Dr Roman Gerodimos following Volunteers for 24 hours.
D.Only volunteers’ plugged experiment.
2.What does the author worry about at the end of the passage?
A.The media ban affects people’s temperature.
B.People will have less and less time for sleep.
C.Work will be carried on hard without the media.
D.Life will be empty without the radio or newspapers.
3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the participants’ feelings?
A.Anxious. B.Lonely.
C.Bored. D.Excited.
4.What conclusion does the experiment draw?
A.People should use the media devices reasonably．
B.People can easily survive the media devices addict．
C.People’s everyday life and work relies much on the media．
D.People spend about half the time using the media devices．
5.What is probably the passage?
A.Advertisement. B.Book review.
C.News report. D.Science fiction story.
Rachel Carson was an American author and environmental protection scientist. “Silent Spring” was her most famous book. The idea for the book developed from a suggestion from a friend. Rachel’s friend owned a protected area for birds. An airplane had flown over the area where the birds were kept and spread a powerful chemical called DDT. Many songbirds and harmless insects were killed by the DDT.
Miss Carson and other scientists were very concerned about the harmful effects of DDT and other insect-killing chemicals called pesticides. Rachel Carson tried to get many magazines interested in publishing a report about the subject. However, none would agree to publish anything about such a debate subject. They said no one wanted to hear that industrial companies could cause great ecological damage.
Miss Carson believed the public needed to know about this important issue. She decided to write a book about it. In her book “Silent Spring”, Miss Carson questioned the right of industrial companies to pollute without considering the effects on the environment. Miss Carson argued that this kind of pollution would result in ever-decreasing populations of birds and other wildlife. She said this would lead to the loss of the wonderful sounds of nature. The chemical poisoning of the environment, she said, would cause a silent spring.
The chemical industry felt threatened. Industry spokesmen and other critics said the book was non-scientific and emotional. They misunderstood the message of the book. Miss Carson did not suggest that all pesticides be banned. She urged that control of these substances be given to biologists who could make informed decisions about the risks involved.
Support for the book increased. By the end of 1962, there were more than forty bills in state laws proposing to control pesticides. Finally, in November, 1969, the United States government ruled that the use of DDT must stop in two years.
Rachel Carson did not live to see how her book influenced the government’s decision to ban DDT. She died of breast cancer in 1964.
1.What gets Rachel Carson to write the book?
A.The area of protection.
B.A powerful chemical called DDT.
C.Killed songbirds and insects.
D.The advice given by Rachel’s friend.
2.No magazines agreed to publish the harmful effect of DDT because ______.
A.it was an unimportant subject for them
B.they were afraid of being involved in the quarrel
C.they had no environmental consciousness at all
D.DDT was necessary for industry development
3.Industry spokesman’s attitude towards the book is that of ______.
A.tolerance B.criticism
C.unconcern D.praise
4.What does the passage mainly tell about?
A.The influence of the book “Silent Spring”.
B.Rachel Carson’s book“Silent Spring”.
C.Environmental protection.
D.Why DDT is forbidden.
5.What does the topic of the book “Silent Spring” imply?
A.DDT was forbidden to be used in spring.
B.Wildlife would disappear by and by.
C.Miss Carson enjoyed silence in spring.
D.If only it could be silent in spring.
