I was a newcomer in a class. So was Alice. That's where the similarities ended. I was tall and she was small. My thick, black hair had been recently cut short. Her natural blonde hair flowed to her waist and looked great. I was awkward and shy. She wasn't. I couldn't stand her. I considered her my enemy. She liked me. She wanted to be friends.
One day, she invited me over and I said yes — I was too shocked to answer any other way. No one had invited me over to play. But this girl who wore the latest fashions wanted me to go home with her after school. I got very surprised when she led me into an apartment building. She lived on the fourth floor in a two-room place with her mother, her stepfather, her two brothers and her sister. When we got to the room she shared with her sister, she took out a big case of Barbies — which was my next surprise. I would have thought she'd outgrown them. I had never played with them. But we sat on the floor of a walk-in closet, laughing as we made up crazy stories about the Barbies. That's when we found out that we both wanted to be writers when we were older and we both had wild imaginations. We had a great day that afternoon. Our jaws ached from smiling so much. She showed me her wardrobe, which had mostly come from a designer clothing store down the block. The woman who owned it used her as a model sometimes for her newspaper ads and gave her clothes in exchange.
Alice had the whole neighborhood charmed. The bookstore owners lent her fashion magazines, the movie theater gave her free passes and the pizza place let her have free slices. Soon I was included in her magic world. We slept over at each other's houses, and spent every free moment together. My dark hair grew out and I learned to love being tall.
Alice, my first real friend since childhood, taught me an amazing and very surprising thing about making friends: that your worst enemy can turn out to be your best friend.
1.What made the similarities end?
A.Leaving the author's old school.
B.Being admitted to their new classes.
C.Their differences in appearance and personalities.
D.Their different demands of friendship and fashion.
2.What did the author think of the Barbies?
A.Alice was too mature for them.
B.Alice must have made them by herself.
C.They should have been kept well.
D.They brought her back to her childhood.
3.We can infer from the passage that Alice ________.
A.helped the author see her own strengths
B.was good with the people around her
C.helped to bring out the best in the author
D.inspired the authors love for fashion
4.Which of the following best describes Alice as a friend?
A.Humorous. B.Ambitious.
C.Caring. D.Friendly.
What's on
Kids Show 2 (Djembe)
Samajam
When: Aug 23 and 24, 7:30 pm
Where: Zhejiang People's Great Hall, Hangzhou
Canadian performance troupe (剧团)Samajam has introduced a show for families, creating musical happenings with the help of their audience .
Everyone in the audience receives a " music bag" which contains drumsticks, tambourines, a musical tube and a djembe. Kids and the entire family learn and play with the instruments, as they are led by performers on stage. Djembe is an African drum, a representative instrument of the Manding culture in West Africa.
Baskerville: A Sherlock Homes Mystery
When: Sept 4-9, 7:30 pm
Where: National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing
Baskerville: A Sherlock Homes Mystery is a play by playwright Ken Ludwig from the United States. The play is a humorous adaption of Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles featuring more than 40 characters played by five actors.
According to Ludwig, the version of Shylock Holmes and Doctor Watson in his mind is imprinted in his innermost world. The detectives are younger, more energetic and similar to those in the original works. In addition to roles, the scenes and stage effects were developed on that basis.
2047 Apologue
When: Sept 13 and 14, 7:30 pm
Where: National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing
Director Zhang Yimou continues to explore the relationship between man and machine in the "third season" of his concept stage show, 2047 Apologue.
In his new production, Zhang continued his idea from the original 2047 Apologue by dealing with the theme of the relationship between human beings and technology. The show aims to mirror reality, commenting on how science and technology are such a huge part of life in the 21st century.
Igor Krol — Lllimination
When: Aug 18, 7pm
Where: The Pearl, Shanghai
A cool breeze from a northern land, a rising star on the Baltic Sea horizon. This summer, for the first time, Igor Krol from St Petersburg, is coming to China.
Krol is a musical actor and singer, the laureate (获奖者) of several international vocal competitions in Russia and has played the main roles in musicals such as Tanz der Vampire, Aladdin and the Count of Monte-Cristo.
Krol's solo concert Lllumination is a luxurious music experience, with elements of classical musical, pop and rock.
1.What is special about Kids Show 2 (Djembe)?
A.Everyone will get a "music bag" for free.
B.The kids will play the drums for their parents.
C.Most of the instruments come from West Africa.
D.The performers will interact with the audience.
2.What can we know about Lllimination?
A.It offers you several different styles of music.
B.It has ever been awarded in the world.
C.It is the first Russian musical team to China.
D.It has a number of music experiences.
3.Which will be shown at the same place?
A.Kids Show 2 (Djembe) and Baskerville: A Sherlock Homes Mystery.
B.Baskerville: A Sherlock Homes Mystery and 2047 Apologue.
C.2047 Apologue and Lllimination,
D.Lllimination and Kids Show 2(Djembe).
假定你是李华，来自美国的文化交流团将来你所在的社区参观，你负责接待工作。请你用英语写一份欢迎辞，向他们介绍你们的社区生活。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：社区 community
Dear guests，
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"Mummy, I don' t know what to play with." Steve interrupts his mother, who is talking to a friend, for the fourth time. "You've got a room full of toys!" his mother says, impatiently. In fact it is the jumble of toys which is to blame for four-year-old Steve's lack of interest in his dolls, cars and stuffed (packed) animals. Each morning he tips out three washing baskets of toys all over his floor, listlessly pulls out something and shortly after is standing at his mother's desk or following her into the kitchen saying: "Mummy, I am bored."
A family therapist ( 心理医生) explains why children lose interest when they have a whole "toy shop" at home: "According to their brain development, little children are not in a position to judge the quality of a variety of things at once. There is always just one favorite toy for the moment. All the rest is left lying about." What can parents do to stop their children from being oversupplied with toys? Under no conditions simply make something disappear without the child's knowledge. If he/she takes no more notice of a toy, a parent can ask if it can be stored or given away. Be warned though the child will always say he/she wants it then! A talk with relatives and friends may also help. Lyn is the mother of four-year-old Jessie, and we like her way. A small set of shelves in her child's room holds the toys and books that are the current (at present) favorites. When it seems to her that her daughter is tired of these toys, they put them away in a box together and select some other toys from a cupboard in another room. The box of "old" toys goes into the cupboard. When her child says she is "bored", they also get something from her cupboard - it may be something she has had for some time but because she hasn't seen it for a while it is almost like a new toy.
Some favorite toys stay out all the time, and there is collection of dolls which sits in the corner, but in this way Lyn has found that she has fewer toys to put away at the end of the day and her daughter always has something "fresh" to play with.
1.Steve interrupted his mother several times because _____.
A.he felt uninterested in his toys
B.he disliked his mother's guest
C.he didn't have enough toys to play with
D.he hoped his mother would play with him
2.According to the therapist, children often complain that they have nothing to play with because _____.
A.they can't play alone for a long time
B.they are too young to play with so many toys
C.they are too lazy to pick out their favorites
D.they lack the ability to value too many things at a time
3.Which of the following can be used in place of "jumble"?
A.Simple choice. B.Mixture in disorder.
C.Ordinary appearance. D.Same shape.
4.Which is the advice given to parents in the text?
A.Buy fewer toys for their children.
B.Form good habits for their children.
C.Spare some time to play with their children.
D.Put some toys away without telling their children.
In1964, Yuan Longping discovered a natural hybrid rice plant _______.Since then, he has spent all his life increasing the production of rice.
A.at ease B.by chance C.in turn D.on purpose
According to a recent research, some of the small islands around the country may disappear _____ the effects of climate change.
A.except for B.along with C.instead of D.due to
