Today we tell about the expression “down to earth”．Down to earth means being open and honest．It is easy to deal with someone who is down to earth．Such people could be important members of society, but they do not consider themselves to be better than others who are less important．They do not let their importance “go to their heads.” Someone who lets something go to his head feels he is better than others．He has a “big head.”
A person who is filled with his own importance and pride is said to have “his nose in the air．”O(jiān)ften the person who has a big head and his nose in the air has no reason to feel better than others．
Americans use another expression that is similar in some ways to down to earth---“both feet on the ground.” Someone with both feet on the ground is a person with a good understanding of reality．She has what is called “common sense.” She does not allow her dreams to block her understanding of what is real．
The opposite kind of person is one who has his “head in the clouds.” Someone with his head in the clouds is a person whose mind is not on what is happening in real life．Such a person may be called a “daydreamen.”
The person who is down to earth usually has both feet on the ground．But the opposite is not always true．Someone with both feet on the ground may not be as open and easy to deal with as someone who is down to earth．
When we have both our feet firmly on the ground，and when we are down to earth，we do not have our noses in the air．We act honestly and openly to others．And our lives are like the ground below up—solid and strong．
小題1:He who considers himself to be better and more important than others is likely to       .

A．have his head in the clouds	B．be easy to deal with
C．have a “common sense”	D．have “a big head”

小題2:Which of the following expressions is similar to “down to earth”?

A．“his nose in the air”	B．“go to his head”
C．“both feet on the ground”	D．“daydreamer”

小題3:The passage is mainly about          ．

A．some popular American expressions	B．how to be down to earth
C．why to be honest and open	D．how to deal with someone who is down to earth

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers (生產(chǎn)商)follow certain uniform standards for various features(特征)of clothes．What seems strange，however，is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men．Take a look at the way your clothes button．Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s from the left．Considering most of the world’s population—men and women — are right-handed，the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women．So why do women’s clothes button from the left?
History really seems to matter here．Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the l7th century，when rich women were dressed by servants．For the mostly right-handed servants，having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier．On the other hand，having men’s shirts button from the fight made sense，too．Most men dressed themselves，and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt．
Today women are seldom dressed by servants，but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them．Is it interesting? Actually，a standard，once set，resists change．At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned from the left，it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right．After all，women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch．Besides，some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the fight，since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts．
小題1:What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years．

B．It is different for men’s clothing and women’s．

C．It works better with men than with women.

D．It fails to consider right-handed people．

小題2:What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?

A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons．	B．They were interested in historical matters．
C．They were mostly dressed by servants．	D．They drew their swords from the left．

小題3:Women’s clothes still button from the left today because _______.

A．a(chǎn)dopting men’s style is improper for women	B．manufacturers should follow standards
C．modern women dress themselves	D．customs are hard to change

小題4: The passage is mainly developed by ________．

A．a(chǎn)nalyzing causes	B．making comparisons
C．examining differences	D．following the time order

Americans eat breakfast and lunch quickly unless it is a social business or family occasion. The evening meal is usually longer and a time for families to gather together. Rushing through daytime meals is part of the fast pace in America. Another reason for rushing through daytime meals is that many people eat in restaurant that are usually crowded with people waiting for a place so that they can be served and return to work at the proper time. So each one hurried to make room for the next person. As there are busy people everywhere, there is a real difference with meals that are eaten in a hurry and those that can be enjoyed slowly with friends.
小題1:What is NOT mentioned in the passage?      

A．What time Americans eat dinner.

B．Where Americans eat.

C．Why Americans eat in a hurry.

D．Which do meat Americans eat the most slowly.

小題2:Americans hurry at meals because        

A．they want to eat dinner slowly.	B．they don’t like eating in restaurants.
C．they are very busy.	D．they don’t like to eat.

小題3:According to the passage, the least busy time to eat in a restaurant would probably be        .

A．during the busy time	B．a(chǎn)t lunch
C．a(chǎn)t dinner	D．a(chǎn)t either breakfast or lunch

  First Frenchman: I once heard someone shout, "Look out," I put my head out of a window and a basin of water fell on me. It seems that "Look out" may mean "don‘t look out."
　　Second Frenchman: Once I was on a ship and heard the captain shout, "All hands on deck," I put my hands on the deck and someone walked on them.
　　Third Frenchman: I once visited an English friend early in the morning and the maid who came to the door and said, "He’s not up yet. Come back in half an hour," When I went again for him, she said, "He‘s not down yet."
　　"If he’s not up and he’s not down, where is he?" I asked.
　　She said, "He’s still in bed. When I say ‘He’s not up ’ I mean ‘he has not yet got up’. When I say ‘He’s not down ’ I mean ‘he has not yet come downstairs,’"
小題1:"All hands on deck" means “ _______ ”.

A．All the sailors gather on deck	B．Give your hands to me
C．Put your right hand and left hand on deck	D．Shake your hands with me

小題2:When the maid said, “He’s not up yet.” She meant that _______ .

A．he has not grown up yet	B．he has not yet got up
C．he has not woke up yet	D．he has not yet come upstairs

小題3:When the third Frenchman went back, the English friend _______ .

A．was washing his face	B．was having his breakfast
C．was still in an upstairs room	D．was reading a newspaper

小題4:Which do you think is the best title for this article?

A．Three Frenchmen and their English Friends

B．The English Language

C．Three French Stories

D．What a Language!

In every country there are times to celebrate, weddings, birthdays, religious festivals. Although the U.S.A is a multi-cultural society, where different groups celebrate their own traditional   21  , Christmas is the most popular holiday in the U.S.A. Some of the   22   of Christmas time are old and others are newer.
Already in the late 18^th and the 19^th centuries, people felt sentimental (眷戀的) about Christmases of the past. The American   23  , Washington Irving, wrote in 1819 about the old-fashioned Christmas he experienced in England. He was taken in a stagecoach (驛站馬車) full of happy people, food and presents, to an old house in the   24  . There, he found a crowd of happy farmers, lots of food and drinks, snow, games and ghosts.
The first Christmas card, which was printed in England, showed people eating and drinking   25  . It was sent in 1846, but Christmas cards did not become really   26   until the 1860s, when color printing became possible.
By this time, stagecoaches had   27   running, replaced by the railroad. More and more families   28   the country and were living in towns and cities, but the dream of the   29   Christmas remained. The loaded stagecoach driving along the country road through the snow still   30   on many Christmas cards today.

小題1:	A．left B．preferred C．a(chǎn)dmired D．reached

小題2:	A．a(chǎn)mazing B．new C．merry D．old-fashioned

小題3:	A．turns B．a(chǎn)ppears C．puts D．gets

Singapore Flyer was launched in 2008 and states to hold the current title for the world’s biggest observation wheel, full 30 meters taller than the London Eye observation wheel in London! Soaring 165 meters, Singapore Flyer offers a whole view of Singapore’s important tourist attractions including the scenic Marina Bay.
Singapore Flyer is also popular for providing an attractive range of shopping and dining choices. Among its greatest dining choices is the Singapore Flyer Sky Dining, one of the most exciting dining experiences you will ever come across.
Singapore Flyer Sky Dining is the first ever in the world to offer a full service in the sky. To top it all you are presented with best menus created by award-winning cooks from all over the world.
The sky dining doesn’t stop from there. You will gain fast boarding flights, in other words, no more waiting in line to board an observation capsule (機艙). You can enjoy the service of an in-flight host along with a nice three-course fine dining menu.
Be ready to enjoy yourself in the air-conditioned glass capsule where you will be served a welcome drink, an appetizer (開胃品) along with the main course. From the capsule you will see the night skyline of Marina Bay, Merlion Park, Raffles Place, Empress Place and Padang, bathed in exciting colors. And not just once but you will get to see these very interesting sights twice, during your almost one hour long special dining experience.
Up to five couples can book a small room and there are even choices to book an entire room for you and your partner. The sky dining experience begins from the VIP waiting room where you will be served with tasty desserts and drinks of your choice. You can see the Singapore Flyer conveniently from one of the top hotels in Singapore like M Hotel Singapore.

小題1:At Singapore Flyer, tourists can ___________.

A．do some shopping and have dinner

B．enjoy some interesting sights just once

C．enjoy a wonderful 30-minute dining experience

D．get a whole view of all the Singapore’s tourist attractions

小題2:Which of the following statements is TRUE about Singapore Flyer?

A．It is the second biggest observation wheel in the world.

B．The menus are created by native cooks.

C．It provides fast boarding service.

D．There are no special rooms for couples.

小題3:The underlined phrase in the third paragraph probably means “___________”.

A．What’s more	B．At the top of it
C．What’s worse	D．From top to bottom

小題4:The three-course dining menu at Singapore Flyer usually includes the following EXCEPT___________.

A．a(chǎn) welcome drink	B．the main course
C．a(chǎn)n appetizer	D．tasty desserts

小題5:Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A．Virtual Tourism	B．A Guide to Singapore Flyer
C．Eating at Singapore Flyer	D．The future of Singapore Flyer

One of the most exciting and attractive fields of work today is the fashion industry. Some of the most well-known people in this industry are the fashion designers with unbelievable financial (金融的) Kingdoms. But most of the clothes that you wear have been designed by people that the world has never heard of. Although these unknown fashion designers will never make a very large amount of money as their famous workmates, most still would not think of changing their careers. They are doing what they love.
If you spend hours looking through fashion magazines and like making your own clothes, a career as a fashion designer might be right for you. You do not have to go to design school to become a fashion designer, but many people who want a career in this field do. One of the most famous places to study is the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. It is located in the heart of the “garment” district on Eighth Avenue, also known as Fashion Avenue.
Becoming a fashion designer is not just a matter of classroom education. Students know that they cannot just leave school and start designing on their own. Many think that they need at least four years’ experience working for someone else after they graduate. The best schools encourage students to work closely with the fashion industry while they are still studying.
You need ambition (抱負) and hard work to get a career in fashion. Students often work 12 hours a day. They are encouraged to have realistic ambitions and not to expect success overnight, if ever. Success means finding a job in the fashion industry and more years of hard work.
小題1:What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Some famous fashion designers can make a lot of money.

B．Most of the clothes are designed by famous designers.

C．Most fashion designers don’t like their own jobs.

D．Unknown fashion designers can earn a large amount of money.

小題2:In order to have a career in fashion design, one had better ___________.

A．look through magazines

B．go to New York City

C．study in a design school

D．graduate from high school

小題3:The following can lead to the success of a fashion designer EXCEPT___________.

A．working with the fashion industry	B．realistic ambitions
C．hard work	D．expectation of success overnight

小題4:Which of the following old sayings shows the writer’s opinion about learning fashion design?

A．Better late than never.

B．Experience is the best teacher.

C．Well begun is half done.

D．Seeing is believing.

小題5:What can be inferred from the passage?

A．To be a fashion designer, design school education is a must.

B．All famous design schools are located in New York City.

C．Design school students had better do some practice while studying.

D．All students have to work with famous designers first.

There are many colors in nature. But do you know if a color has weight? I think you’ll say “no”. But I am afraid you are wrong. If you don’t believe, you may do a small experiment.
　　First, put two objects with the same weight into two boxes. Then cover the box. Third, wrap one box with a red piece of paper, the other with a white piece of paper. OK. Now hold the boxes with your hand one by one. It is certain that you will think the red one is a little heavier.
　　Why do you think so? A scientist found that different colors have different weight in a man’s mind. So he did man tests and at last he got the result. That is to say, every color has its own weight in our mind and their order is the same. The heaviest color is red, then blue, green, orange, yellow and white.
　　The scientist told us that colors also have smell. Can you smell the color? Of course not. Then why did the scientist say so? That is because every color stands for a kind of light with a certain wavelength. It reaches our brain through sense organs (感覺器官).
According to this discovery, scientists say that people accept the colors they like, and refuse the colors they hate. So your body and mind will be healthy by using the colors you like. Or you’ll be nervous or even get ill. For example, if you stay in a room with red windows, wallpapers and furniture for two hours, you’ll feel you have been there for four hours. But if the room is blue, you’ll feel you have been there for only an hour. Another example, if a person walks out of a red room and into a blue room, his temperature will fall. That means our body temperature will change with different colors.
小題1:The purpose of the second paragraph is to tell us ___________.

A．a(chǎn) red box is heavier than a white one

B．a(chǎn) color has weight in one’s mind

C．white paper is lighter than red paper

D．you can know the weight of a color by holding it

小題2: Why did the scientist say colors have smell?

A．Because people can sense the light from colors.

B．Because we can smell colors with our nose.

C．Because every color has its own sweet smell.

D．Because every color can give off light of the same length.

小題3: If a person walks from a blue room to a red room, his body temperature will ___________.

A．rise

B．fall

C．stay the same

D．change now and then

小題4:It can be implied from the text that ___________.

A．colors have orders in weight

B．colors can change the weight of an object

C．people would stay longer in a room with red windows

D．colors can affect our mood and health

小題5:This passage is probably a ___________.

A．book review

B．fiction novel

C．fairy tale

D．science report

Each Indian(印第安人) was supposed to keep his birth name until he was old enough to earn one for himself. But his playmates(游戲伙伴) would always give him a name of their own. No matter what his parents called him, his childhood friends would use the name they had chosen. Often it was not pleasing, such as Bow Legs or Bad Boy. But sometimes a name fit so well that the youngster found it difficult to shake it off. If he could not earn a better one from a war later, he could be stuck with a name like Bow Legs for the rest of his life.
The Indian earned his real name when he was old enough for his first fight against the enemy. His life name depended on how he acted during this first battle. When he returned from the war, the whole tribe would gather and observe the ceremony in which he would be given his name by the chief. If he had done well, he would get a good name. Otherwise he might be called Crazy Wolf or Man-Afraid-Of-a-Horse. So an Indian’s name told his record or described the kind of man he was.
A man was given many chances to improve his name, however. If in a later battle he was brave in fighting against the enemy, he was given a batter name. Some of our great fighters had as many as twelve names—all good and each better than the last.
An Indian’s names belonged to him for the rest of his life. No one else could use them. Even he himself could not give them away because names were assigned by the tribe, not the family. So no man could pass on his name unless the chief and the tribe asked him to do so.
Sometimes an Indian would be asked to give his name to a son who had performed a noticed deed. I know of only three of four times when this happened. It is the rarest honor for a person—the honor of assuming(承擔(dān)) his father’ name.
小題1:An Indian could be given the second name by__________.

A．his father

B．the enemy

C．the chief of the tribe

D．his childhood friends.

小題2:The greatest honor an Indian could earn was__________.

A．a(chǎn) victory in his first battle against the enemy.	B．a(chǎn) name given by the chief.
C．a(chǎn) ceremony to get his real name.	D．the right to use his father’ name.

小題3:If an Indian had more than ten names, it means that___________.

A．many people in the tribe liked him.	B．he was a great fighter.
C．he had a lot of friends.	D．he had fought in fewer than ten battles.

小題4:Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?

A．The names given by the playmates of an Indian were usually not pleasant.

B．The life name of an Indian was earned in battle.

C．An Indian could throw away his birth name when he was old enough to earn one for himself.

D．The Indians themselves were not allowed to give their names away.

If you live in the United States, you can’t have a full-time job until you are 16 years old. At 14 or 15, you work part-time after school or on weekends, and during summer vacation you can work 40 hours each week. Does all that mean that if you are younger than 14, you can’t make your own money? Of course not! Kids from 10-13 years of age can make money by doing lots of things.
Valerie, 11, told us that she made money by cleaning up other people’s yards. Lena, 13, makes money by knitting(織) dog sweaters and selling them to her neighbors. Reisa said she had started taking art classes and showing her works to people. People ask her to draw pictures for them and they pay her for them. Jasmine. 13, writes articles for different magazines!
Kids can learn lots of things from making money. By working to make your own money, you are learning the skills you will need in life. These skills can include things like how to get along with others, how to use technology and how to use your time wisely. Some people think that asking for money is a lot easier than making it; however, if you can make your own money, you don’t have to depend on anyone else. The five dollars that you make will probably make you feel a lot better than the twenty dollars you ask for.
小題1: Kids can have full-time jobs at the age of______ in the USA.
A. 17        B.15           C. 14           D. 13
小題2: If you are 15 years old, you can’t work part-time______.

A．a(chǎn)fter school	B．on weekends
C．during school time	D．during summer vacation

小題3: Riesa makes money by_______.

A．cleaning up other people’s yard	B．drawing pictures for others
C．writing articles for different magazines	D．knitting dog sweaters.

小題4:According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．The writer thinks kids from 10-13 years of age can make money too.

B．Kids can learn how to use their time wisely by making money.

C．Kids don’t need to get along with others when making money.

D．Kids can learn skills if they try to make money on their own.