During the 1800s, African Americans worked long days in the fields of the American South. They sang
songs that they had brought from Africa while working. One person sang a line. Then a group of workers
repeated it. The song’s words told of the hardships(艰苦) that people suffered. They clapped their hands
and stomped(跺) their feet to the music.
    In the 1860s, the music changed greatly. African American music took new forms. It was also influenced by dance music, which had great rhythm(节奏). Banjos(班卓琴) became popular. A blues singer usually sang a line and then played the banjo in reply. By the early 1900s, the guitar had taken the place of the
banjo in the blues music.
    The blues music has many obvious characteristics. One of them is that the musical notes() are often “
bent”. That is, they are changed slightly to give a song more strength.
    Lyrics are the words of a song. Blues lyrics describe everyday life. The lyrics are often about the relationships between men and women. They tell about sadness and overwork. They tell about finding and losing
love, having money or being poor, being happy or sad and lonely. They almost always use the rhythms of
everyday speech. A group of blues lyrics usually has three lines. The second line repeats the first line. The
third line has different words.
    By the 1940s, large numbers of African Americans moved to Chicago.There, a new kind of "Chicago" blues began. The new music was excellent dance music. Chicago blues led to the birth of a new music
style －rock and roll.

1.This passage is mainly about _________.

A. the blues music                       
B. the life of African Americans
C. the blues lyrics                        
D. the rhythms of different music

2.What information does the passage NOT provide?

A.How the blues music developed as time went by.
B.What the blues lyrics are mostly about.
C.When African Americans moved to the American South.
D.How long the banjo was popular in the blues history.

3.Which of the following is the most likely taken from a blues song?

A.You have to help me. I’ll die if you don’t. You have to help me.
B.You have to help me. You have to help me. I’ll die if you don’t.
C.I’ll die if you don’t help me. You have to help me. You have to help me.
D.I’ll die if you don’t help me. You have to help me. Please help me.

4.What fact does the passage lead you to believe?

A.African Americans sang songs after a long day’s work to relax in the 1800s.
B.The blues singers in the 1860s usually played the guitar while singing songs.
C.It is not difficult to tell the blues music from others from its musical notes.
D.Rock and roll was the most popular blues music in Chicago in the 1950s.

     One thing that British and Chinese cultures share is a love for fine tea. Today, when we think of Western
tea culture, we often think of the English and beautiful china tea cups.
     Afternoon tea 
     People believe that an English lady, Anna, first introduced the idea of afternoon tea. In the 18th and 19th
centuries, the English ate only two main meals each day breakfast and a heavy supper that would last for several
hours in the evening. As a result,people often got very hungry during the long wait between these two meals. To
solve this problem, Anna came up with the clever idea of inviting some friends to join her for an afternoon meal
between four and five o'clock. This meal included cakes and sandwiches and tea was served (提供) to wash
down the food. In order to make this afternoon meal important, fine china cups and plates, and silver teapots.
knives, forks and spoons were used Soon, afternoon tea parties became popular social occasions. Today,
afternoon tea parties continue to play an important part in the social life in modern Britain.
     Will you come for coffee?
     Coffee also has an important role in British culture. People often use the words "Will you come for coffee?"
to mean "Would you like to come to my home for a chat?" Normally, several different drinks such as tea, hot
chocolate or a soft drink like orange Juice will be served as well as coffee and you will be asked what you would
like. However, you will not normally he offered wine at a "coffee" party.
     Coffeehouses and the London Stock
     Exchange In the 17th century London, coffeehouses were busy and noisy places. Businessmen and bankers
went to coffeehouses to do their business, as well as to drink coffee. In fact, the London Stock Exchange
(股票交易所) is believed to have started from these coffeehouses.

1. Anna introduced the idea of drinking afternoon tee because she _______.

A. enjoyed chatting with her friends at home
B. loved fine tea and beautiful china tea cups
C. wanted to share nice food with her friends
D. found people felt hungry during the long wait between the two meals

2. What does "social occasions" mean in Chinese?

A. 集体婚礼
B. 社交活动
C. 社区表演
D. 公共场合

3. If someone says to you "Will you come for coffee?", you ________.

A. will be offered coffee only
B. are asked what you would like to drink
C. will be asked to have a chat with him or her
D. are invited to take part in an afternoon tea party

4. From the last paragraph (段落) we can see ________.

A. a new business was started in coffeehouses
B. coffeehouses are still used by businessmen end bankers
C. businessmen and bankers went to coffeehouses just for coffee
D. most people wouldn't like to go to coffeehouses because of the noise

5. Which is the best title (标题) of the article?

A. British And Chinese Cultures
B. The Beginning Of Tea And Coffee
C. Coffeehouses And Business
D. English Tea And Coffee Culture

     A Audrey is a Chinese-American student. She has found many value (价值观) differences between the
Chinese and Americans.
About money 
     ● The American children love to make money by themselves. Chinese children always ask their parents
for money. 
     ● American parents don't think it is useful to send their children to an expensive university. Chinese parents
would do anything to send their children to good universities even if it could make them very poor. 
 About school 
     ● Many American girls take part in sports, dancing and singing groups. Many Chinese girls take part in
academic (学术的) groups.  
     ● American students usually feel happy when they get B in an exam. Chinese students feel sad when they
get B.
American parents and Chinese parents 
     ● American parents allow their daughters or sons to go out with their friends if they come back home at
the certain time. Chinese parents usually don't allow their children in middle school to go out with their friends
at night.
American teachers and Chinese teachers 
     ● During parent-teacher meetings, American teachers will always find good things to say to The parents,
even to those with the worst grades. But Chinese teachers often tell the parents the mistakes that their children
made at school.

(     )1. American children prefer making money by themselves.                               
(     )2. All American and Chinese parents send their children to expensive universities.    
(     )3. Chinese girls spend more time doing sports, singing and dancing than American girls.
(     )4. Chinese children aren't allowed to go out with their friends at night.             
(     )5. American teachers look at the bad side of the students as much as they can.        

Skin-diving (潜水) is a new sport today. This sport takes you into a wonderful new world. It is like a visit
to the moon. When you are under water, it is easy for you to climb big rocks (岩石), because you are no
longer (不再) heavy.
      Here, under water, everything is blue and green. In the day, there is much light. When fish swims
nearby (附近), you can catch them with your hands.
    When you have tanks (罐) of air on your back, you can stay in deep (深的) water for a long time. But
you must be careful when you dive in deep water.
     To catch fish is one of the most (最) interesting parts of this sport. Besides (除……之外), there are
more uses for skin-diving. You can clean ship without taking them out of water. You can get many things
from the deep sea. Now you see that skin-diving is both useful and interesting.

1. Skin-diving is a new sport. It can take you to _____.

A. the moon
B. a new world of land
C. the mountains (山脉)
D. deep water

2. In deep water _____.?

A. there is much light
B. there is no light at all?
C. you can find a lot of blue fish
D. everything looks blue and green

3. With tanks of air on your back, you can _____.?

A. catch fish very easily
B. stay under water for a long time
C. climb big rocks
D. have more fun

4. From this passage, we can know _____.?

A. we become fat
B. we become thin?
C. we become lighter (更轻)
D. we become heavier (更重)

5. Which of the following is NOT true??

A. Skin-diving is a new sport.
B. Skin-diving is like a new sport.
C. The only use of skin-diving is to have more fun.
D. Skin-diving is interesting and useful.

     "How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly way that people in the United States greet each other.
But "How are you?" is also a very unusual question. It's a question that often doesn't need an answer. The
person who asks "How are you?" hopes to hear the answer "Fine", even if the person's friend isn't fine.
The reason is that "How are you?" isn't really a question and"Fine" isn't really an answer. They are simply
other ways of saying "Hello" or "Hi".
     Sometimes, people also don't say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks "Do you
agree?" the other person might think, "No, I disagree. I think you're wrong…" But it isn't very polite to
disagree so strongly, so the other person might say "I'm not sure." It's a nicer way to say that you don't
agree with someone.
     People also don't say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking with other people. For
example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says"I have to go now." Often, the person
who wants to hang up gives an excuse:"Someone's at the door." "Something is burning on the stove."
The excuses might be real, or not. Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn't want to talk
any more, but it isn't polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn't hurt the other person.
     Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people don't say exactly
what they are thinking. It's an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it's part of the
game of language.

1. When a person in the United States asks "How are you?", he or she wants to hear " _______".

A. How are you?
B. Hello.
C. I don't know.
D. Fine.

2. When a person disagrees with someone, it is polite to say "_______".

A. You're wrong. I disagree.
B. I'm not sure.
C. I'm sure I disagree.
D. No, I disagree.

3. A polite way to finish a talk is to say "_______".

A. You have to go now.
B. I want to hang up.
C. I have to go now.
D. I don't want to talk any more.

4. When a person says "I have to go now" "Someone's at the door", the person may be _______.

A. giving an excuse
B. hurting someone's feeling
C. ill in bed
D. asking you a question

5. What does the rule of the game of language probably mean?

A. Be polite.
B. Don't disagree with people.
C. Always say what you mean.
D. Never say exactly what you are thinking.

The Mid-Autumn Festival
Family members get t  1   and eat m  2  .
The Dragon Boat Festival
There are b  3   races (比赛) in many places of China. The boats are l  4   and have colourful d  5   heads and
tails (尾巴).
The Qing Ming Festival
This is a very important f  6   for more traditional C  7   people. People visit the graves (墓) of their dead
relatives and put food and f  8   on the graves.
The Chong Yang Festival
It's a day for the elderly. Some people visit homes for the elderly (老人). It's a  9   a t  10   day for mountain
climbing (登山).
1. _______    2. _______    3. _______    4. _______    5. ________
6. _______    7. _______    8. _______    9. _______    10. ________

                                                       Hawaii Islands

1. Where are Hawaii Islands located?
     _______________________________________________________
2. How many main islands are Hawaii Islands made up of?
     _______________________________________________________
3. Are Hawaii Islands an independent (独立的) country or only part of a country? 
      _______________________________________________________
4. What is the traditional dance of Hawaii Islands?
      _______________________________________________________
5. Who first lived on the Hawaii Islands? 
       _______________________________________________________