Each year, we celebrate many holidays here in America.
On January 1, we welcome the coming of a new year like many people in other countries. And we have another four holidays on the first day of a month: April Fool’s Day, May Day, Friendship Day (Aug.1) and Grandparents Day (Sep. 1).
The most important holiday for the young people comes in February. It is Valentine’s Day. Lots of boys give red roses to girls as a present.
People celebrate some holidays for their family members. We say thanks to our mother in May and celebrate Father’s Day in the following month. In November many people return home for Thanksgiving Day, so the whole family can stay together.
There are also some interesting holidays for children. For example, Halloween comes at the end of October. Children often play with pumpkin lanterns and put on all kinds of masks.
Of course, the most important festival is Christmas. After a year of work and study, people can enjoy a long holiday, eat big meals, and visit family and friends.
【小题1】How many holidays do you know on the first day of a month in America?

Long, long ago people made fires from lightening (闪电). But they had to keep the fire burning, for they couldn’t start it again if there was no lightening. Later, they found out hitting two pieces of stone together could make a spark (火花). The spark could fire dry leaves. In this way they could make the fire again if it went out. Then people also learned to make a fire by rubbing (摩擦). They made a hole on a piece of wood and put a smaller stick into the hole. They turned the stick again and again. After a few minutes they got a fire.
A years went by, people learned other ways to make a fire. Sometimes they used the heat from the sun. They held a piece of glass in the right way and made a piece of paper on fire.
About two centuries ago, people began to make matches. Matches brought people a quick and easy way to make fires. Today matches are still being used, but people have more new ways to make fires. One of them is to use an electric fire starter. Of course an electric fire starter is much more expensive than a box of matches. But it is very useful.
【小题1】 From the text we know that a spark can _______.

In 1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business .But he was not a good artist .So he invented a very simple camera. He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden .That was the first photo.
The next important date in the history of photography (摄影) was in 1837. That year, Daguerre, another Frenchman, took a picture of his reading room .He used a new kind of camera in a different way. In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing. This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype.
Soon, other people began to use Daguerre’s way. Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world .people took picture of famous buildings, cities and mountains.
In about 1840, photography was improved .Then photographers could take pictures of people and moving things .That was not simple .The photographers had to carry a lot of films and other machines. But this did not stop them, for example, some in the United States worked so hard.
Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer. He took many pictures of great people .The pictures were unusual because they were very lifelike.
Photography also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century. Some photos were not just copies of the real world .They showed feelings like other kinds of art.
【小题1】The first photo taken by Niepce was a picture of ________

  A turkey named Courage gave thanks to President Obama for saving his life on the day before Thanksgiving. Honouring a 62-year-old tradition, the President pardoned(赦免)the bird on Thanksgiving eve.
The tradition of a turkey pardon at Thanksgiving began with President Truman in 1947. Courage comes from Ellsworth, Iowa. The name Courage was chosen by voters (投票人)who took part in a survey posted on the White House website. The lucky turkey walked on the lawn of the Rose Garden and posed for the cameras at the presidential podium(讲台).
The dinner that has become known as the First Thanksgiving was actually a harvest festival celebrated in December of 1621. That’s when English settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, gave thanks for the progress they had made after a hard winter in their new country. As America grew, Thanksgiving customs also spread and got bigger. George Washington declared that the first national Thanksgiving would be on November 26, 1789. In the decades to follow, however, people celebrated Thanksgiving locally, with no official date. President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November 1863 a national day of Thanksgiving. It stayed that way until 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it one week earlier. He wanted to lengthen the shopping period before Christmas to encourage gift-buyers and to help businesses. So Congress（议会） ruled that, after 1941, Thanksgiving would be an official federal holiday falling on the fourth Thursday of November.
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, November. Millions of Americans got together to give thanks with friends and family. The lucky turkey, Courage, was one of them. After his pardon, Courage would be sent to Disneyland Resort in California, where he would be the grand assemble of Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
【小题1】That the turkey Courage was pardoned was decided by ________.

Two Chinese spacecrafts successfully completed China’s first space docking (对接) early November 3, 2011, which has taken the country a step closer to building its own space station.

Nearly two days after its launch, the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou VIII docked with the space lab module Tiangong I more than 343 km above the earth surface. Shenzhou VIII and Tiangong I took apart after flying together for 12 days. On the 14th of November, the two spacecrafts finished the second docking. Then Shenzhou VIII parted from Tiangong I again and returned to the earth safely on the 17th. Tiangong I is still traveling around the earth in the space, waiting for the arrival of Shenzhou IX and X and so on in the near future.
That marked another great leap for China’s space program and made China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, master the space docking technique (空间对接技术).
The world’s first space docking was achieved in 1966, when the manned U.S, spacecraft Gemini 8 docked with an unmanned Agena Target Vehicle. Space docking is necessary to explore space beyond Earth’s orbit (轨道). “The capability increases China’s ability to act independently in space, as well as its ability to work together with others,” said Gregory Kulacki, a U.S. space scientist and senior analyst.
“With the success of its first space docking, China is now equipped with the basic technology and ability required for the construction of a space station,” said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s manned space program.” The country is on its way to building a permanent manned space station around 2020.”
【小题1】What did the success of the first space docking mean to China?

Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is the color of most growing plants, too.
Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe.
For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war (战争). By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today--a person who is new in a job.
About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west. Old-timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east. The greenhorn didn’t have the skills that he would need to live in the hard, rough country.
Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.
A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.
The Green Revolution (革命) is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural (农业的) scientists who had green thumbs.
【小题1】According to the passage, a greenhorn means________ now.

Olympic torch around the world
　　The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay(火炬接力) traveled the longest distance,covered the greatest area and included the largest number of people.On March 25,Olympic Flame(火种) litted(点燃) in Greece.
　　Route Distance:137,000 km
　　Time:130 days
　　Route:March 31,Torch Relay started in Beijing→...London→Paris→San Francisco...→Hongkong...→Beijing.
　　Torch Length:72cm.
　　Torch Weight:985 grams
　　Design:It was based in the shape of a paper scroll(卷) with lucky clouds on it.It stayed lighted(点燃) in bad weather conditions.
　　阅读上文判断正误，正确写（T），错误（F）
【小题1】The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay traveled a longer distance than before.
【小题2】.It took more than five months to trvel around the world.
【小题3】The Torch Relay started in the city of Beijing.
【小题4】The torch is 985 cm Long and 72 grams heavy.
【小题5】The torch looks like a paper scroll.Bad weather couldn't stop the torch from burning.

Every four years, the greatest athletes from all over the world get together in one city to take part in the world sports meeting—the Olympic Games. The holy flame (圣火) is carried from one place to the next. In 2008, the holy flame was carried to Beijing, the capital of China.
When Beijing was chosen as the host city to hold the Olympic Games in 2008, all the Chinese people were very happy, excited and proud. They showed their excitement in different ways when they heard the news. Some people cheered, jumped and shouted.
In Beijing we built a new Olympic village with hotels for athletes and stadiums for matches.
“One World, One Dream” is our slogan for the 29th Olympics. It expresses the wishes of 1.3 billion Chinese people for a peaceful and better world tomorrow.
【小题1】The Olympic Games is held every _____ years.
A. five         B. four        C .three
【小题2】Beijing hosted the 29th Olympics in _____.
A. 2008         B.2010        C.2012
【小题3】_____ was built for the 29th Olympics in Beijing.
A. Stadiums      B. Olympic village     C. Hotels
【小题4】When Chinese people heard the news that Beijing would hold the 29th Olympics, they _____.
A. cheered  B. excited and. shouted     C. Both A&B
【小题5】The slogan for the 29th Olympics is _____.
A. “Good, better, best”    B. “Faster, higher, stronger”    C. “One World, One Dream”

It is 40 meters long and 6 meters wide. This must be the biggest bus you have ever seen. It can carry 1,200 to 1,400 people.
It is China’s new Super Bus. It went for a test run in Beijing. Some other cities are also interested in running the Super Bus. They hope it can solve traffic problems.
The Super Bus runs along *fixed tracks. The bus sits on top of two2.2-meter-tall legs. The legs have wheels at one end. Small cars can drive under the bus, so the Super Bus does not take up road space.
The bus runs on *electricity and *solar power. It can travel up to 60 km every hour. Its creator, Song Youzhou, says it can reduce a lot of traffic *jams.
The Super Bus can do the work of 40 buses. In that way,  it can save 860 tons of *fuel every year, according to Song.
‘ Building a Super Bus and its track costs less than building subways. Subways are nearly ten times more expensive to build. ’ Song says.
Some people worry that the Super Bus may not be safe. However, Song says there’s no need to worry about that. The Super Bus has *laser *scanners between its legs. The scanners make sure the cars keep a safe distance.
【小题1】The Super Bus can carry ___________people.