When I was ten, my sisters and I were amazed at our neighbor’s Christmas tree. We returned home from their house and decided that we must have one of our own. In our house we never had enough money for a Christmas tree.

In fact, we insisted so much that my father had no choice but to agree. “Yes!” he finally said.“This year we will have a Christmas tree.” Our mouths dropped open at the thought of having our own tree. Then Dad said,“I’ll do it myself.”

We followed him around the house as he gathered up the materials he would need, We all sat close to him, carefully watching everything he did. He passed the thread around the first nail on the corner of a box, then back down to the second nail on the box, and up again to the nail, until right there before our eyes a green a Christmas tree began to take shape. He carefully did the same with all of the 50 nails in the box and when he had finished he said,“Now you can decorate it.”

I don’t remember where the decorations came from, but they were red and small and to us they just looked so beautiful and perfect for our tree. When we finished decorating it, we proudly invited all our friends over to see our Christmas tree. We were so happy, not only because it looked so pretty, but because my father had made it himself. It truly was the most beautiful Christmas tree we had ever seen.

Years later, things got better and Dad was able to buy a proper Christmas tree which we would happily decorate. However, my sisters and I will never forget the night when we got our first Christmas tree.

1.What do we know about the writer?

A. She had lots of friends at school.

B. She knew little of her neighbors.

C. She lived a hard life when she was young.

D. She seldom saw beautiful green trees.

2.How did the writer and her sisters feel when their father decided to make a Christmas tree?

A. Excited B.Tired

C. Bored D.Worried

3.The third paragraph mainly describes__________.

A. why the writer and her sisters went around the house

B. what were needed to decorate a beautiful Christmas tree

C. how long it took to find materials

D. how the Christmas tree was made

4.Which would be the best title for the passage?

A.A brave act by a happy family

B.A father’s love for his children

C.A picture of large families

D.An act of kindness

5.The Chinese meaning of the underlined word”decoration” is_______.

A. 決定 B.討論

C. 裝飾 D. 詞典

閱讀理解

Once upon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought that someone would dance on the beach. So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, “Good morning! What are you doing?” The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish(星魚) in the ocean.” “I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?”

“The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

“But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked another starfish, and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

There is something very special in every one of us. We all have the ability to make a difference. And if we can know that talent, we will get the power to create the future through the strength of our visions（遠(yuǎn)見） .

We must each find our starfish. And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the world will be better.

1.What’s the habit of the wise man before he began his work?

A. Doing his writing

B. Picking up some starfish

C. Walking on the beach

D. Throwing some starfish into the ocean

2.One day, the wise man saw the young man ______.

A. dancing along the beach

B. walking with a dancer

C. picking up starfish for sale

D. trying to save as many starfish as possible

3.Near the end of the passage, “something very special” refers to ______.

A. the ability of throwing things

B. the strength of making decisions

C. our own starfish

D. the ability of creating one’s own future

4.From the last two paragraphs, we can learn that ______.

A. the wise man realized something new and important

B. the wise man thought it was foolish of the young man to throw starfish in the ocean

C. the young man had the ability to change the whole world alone

D. it is necessary for us to save starfish on the beach

5.The writer told this story in order to show us ______.

A. how and where we can write a good article

B. everyone can do something for the future

C. wise men are sometimes silly

D. young people are actually wiser than old people

閱讀理解

What should you take in with you when you take an exam? Pen, pencil, eraser, ruler…, and don’t forget a bottle of water!

According to a study at the British Psychological ( 心理學(xué)的) Society Annual Conference held in London, students who bring water into exams may improve their grades by up to 10 percent.

Scientists at the University of East London and the University of Westminster, UK, did a study on 447 students. The students were studying for different degrees (學(xué)歷) at the University of East London. Only 25 percent of them entered the exam hall with something to drink.

Scientists then compared their exam results with their normal schoolwork grades. They found that all those who had brought drinks with them got better grades by between 2 and 10 percent.

It is unclear why drinking water improves exam results. But scientists say having enough water in our bodies and not feeling thirsty could have a helpful effect on our brains. Drinking water may also cut down on anxiety ( 焦慮), which has a bad effect on exam performances, according to Chris Pawson, PhD, of the University of East London.

“Whatever the explanation, it is clear that students should try hard to stay hydrated (含水的)with water during exams,” he said.

So next time, when you are going to have a big exam, try bringing a bottle of water with you.Who knows – it may help you pass the exam!

1.How much may the students improve their grades most if they bring water into exams?

A. By 2%. B. By 8%.

C. By 10%. D. By 25%.

2. How many students in the study got better grades?

A. About112 students who brought drinks or water into their exams.

B. All the447 students who come from the University of East London.

C. About300 students who took part in the study.

D. About10 percent of the students who studied different subjects.

3.The underlined phrase “cut down on” probably means _______.

A. increase B. bring

C. reduce D. change

4. According to the passage, how does water help students in exams?

a. It is good for their brains. b. It makes students smarter.

c. It helps students stay cool. d. It helps students stay awake.

A. a b B. a c

C. b c D. c d

5.Where can you probably read the article?

A. Fashion magazine.

B. Text book.

C. Travel guide.

D. Newspaper.

根據(jù)句意及所給的漢語提示，寫出單詞的適當(dāng)形式，使句子的意思完整、正確。

1.Which____________(傳統(tǒng)的) Chinese festival do you like better, the Spring Festival or the Mid-Autumn Festival?

2.Learning to write is learning to think. You don’t know things clearly_____(除非) you can write them down.

3.Tim likes watching films, especially_________(亞洲的) horror films.

4.The leaders from different countries think __________(高度地) of the development of China?

5.---Don’t you think Ha Wen is a famous ____________(導(dǎo)演)? ---Yes, I do.

任務(wù)型閱讀

閱讀下列短文，根據(jù)短文中的信息完成文后表格。(每空一詞)

World Sleep Day, on 21st March, was created to bring attention to the growing number of sleep problems. Sleep is a natural part of human life, but many people in the modern world don’t realize it’s very important. As a result, sleep problems are quite common.

In 2011, scientists at the University of Athens in Greece did a survey of over 35,000 people in 10 countries around the world, including China, Belgium and South Africa. Among the people, 24 percent said that they did not sleep well, 31.6 percent were diagnosed(診斷) with insomnia(失眠). In addition, 30.7 percent of them have visited doctors for help with sleep problems and 11.6 percent said that they felt very sleepy during the day.

The survey found that many people suffer the effects of poor quality sleep, some examples can’t fall asleep and often wake up in the middle of the night. The main reasons of the problems are pressure(壓力) from school or work and a fast pace(節(jié)奏) of life, but noise pollution and light pollution also affect sleep and cause poor quality sleep. The survey also found that large numbers of people find it hard to sleep at night. The short term effects of this are tiredness and trouble concentrating(專心). If this happens for a long time, the risk of gaining weight and having a heart attack may increase.

There are many things you can do to improve the quality of your sleep. First, you should have regular sleep habits. Try to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day. You also need to make your bedroom a cool, dark, quiet place to sleep so that heat, light and noise do not disturb you. At night, you should also avoid things that contain caffeine, such as chocolate, coffee, tea and many soft drinks, as caffeine may keep you from sleeping.

Getting a good night's sleep is important for everyone. By following the advice above, you can rest better at night and work better during the day.

閱讀與回答問題

Coffee has been a part of people’s lives for thousands of years,and today it is still a favourite drink of millions of people in the world. Coffee is so popular ,but do you know the story of coffee and how it was discovered?

There is an old story that says coffee was discovered in Africa long ,long time ago. One day,a farmer was watching his goats,and he saw them eat some small berries(干種子)from a plant. After they ate the berries,the goats became very active.The man often felt tired,so he decided to try the berries too. Surprisingly, he did not feel tired any more.Coffee plants were thus discovered. Then coffee was taken from Africa to Arabia(阿拉伯半島),and there it was first used as medicine. The Arabs kept coffee a secret for many years. Later, coffee came to Turkey(土耳其),then italy,then France. From Europe, the coffee plant was taken to America. People found that coffee plants grew well in many parts of South America, so large coffee farms were started, and many coffee plants were grown. On these farms, coffee beans were picked from the plants by hand. Then the beans were dried and prepared for market to sell. Different coffee beans were mixed together to produce different kinds of coffee. Coffee was sent to all over the world ,and soon became very popular.

請認(rèn)真閱讀下面短文，并根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答問題。

Answer each of the following questions in No More Than 6 Words.

1.Where did coffee come from?

2.What was coffee first used as in Arabia?

3.Why were large coffee farms started in South America?

4.How did people get coffee beans from the plants?

5.Why did people mix different coffee beans together?

缺詞填空

There was once an old man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge（判斷）things too q1.. So he sent them, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree far away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest son in the f2..

When the sons had all gone and come back, the old man called them together and asked them to d3.what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly and bald, but the second son said no---the tree was covered w4.green buds (花蕾).

The third son shook his head and said that the tree was f5.of flowers, and smelled so sweet, looked so beautiful that he thought it was the most wonderful thing he had e6.seen.

The youngest son didn’t a 7.with all his brothers. He said that there were so many fruits on it.

The old man then e8.to his son that they were all right, b9.they had each seen only one season in the tree’s life. He told them not to judge a life by one difficult season.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the hope of your spring, the b10.of your summer, and the harvest (豐收) of your autumn.

He looks good ____red while black looks good _____me.

A. in ; on B. on; in C. in; in D. on; on