Everyone has his own birthday. People celebrate their birthdays in different countries in different
ways. Now here are four people from different countries. They will tell us how they celebrate their
birthdays in the countries.
     Sandy Morison comes from Madrid (马德里). He says happily, "My twenty-first birthday is on
Saturday, and I'm going to go out with some friends. To wish me a happy birthday, they're going to
pull on my ear 21 times, once for each year. It's an old custom. Some people pull on the ear just once,
but my friends are very traditional (传统)."
      Mr. and Mrs. Sato are from Tokyo. Mr. Sato is going to be 60 tomorrow. In Japan, the sixtieth
birthday is called Kanreki-it's the beginning of a new life. The colour red is for a sixtieth birthday. Mrs.
Sato says, "What am I going to give my husband? I can't say. It's a surprise!"
      Li Xiaomei from Beijing feels very excited and tells us, "Tomorrow is my sixteenth birthday. It's a
special birthday, so we're going to have a family party. I'm probably going to get some money in lucky
envelopes (信封) from my relatives. My mother is going to cook noodles- noodles are for a long life."
     Phillip Evans, from Paris, smiles to us, "I'm going to be 30 next week, so I'm going to invite three
very good friends out to dinner. In France, when you have a birthday, you often invite people out. In
some countries, I know it's the opposite-people take you out. "
    How do you usually celebrate your birthday?

(     )1. People in different countries celebrate their birthdays in the same way.
(     )2. To celebrate her birthday, Sandy is going to pull on her friends' ears.
(     )3. On his birthday, Mr Sato is going to receive something red.            
(     )4. Li Xiaomei is going to cook some noodles on her birthday.              
(     )5. Phillip is going to take his friends out to dinner on his birthday.     
(     )6. Mr. Sato is from Japan and Phillip is from France.

     Easter (复活节) is one of the two major (主要的) Christian (基督教的) festivals (节). Easter
celebrates (庆祝) the death (死亡) and resurrection (复活) of Jesus Christ (耶酥基督) 000and
Christmas celebrates his birth (出生). It's not as big a festival as Christmas. It starts usually in late
March or early April and the Easter holiday is Friday , Saturday , Sunday and Monday. It's quite a
long holiday for everybody.
     The main (主要的) symbol (象征物) of Easter is the Easter egg. Children like Easter eggs
because they are made of chocolate. Eggs are a symbol of new life.
     Easter is also a time for families to get together like Christmas. Many people see Easter as a nice
long holiday and they have a good time with their families and friends.

1. People love Easter because ___________.

A. it's a long holiday
B. it's the birthday of Jesus Christ
C. they can have real eggs on that day
D. everybody believes in Jesus Christ

2. From the passage above, which sentence is wrong?

A. Easter is one of the most important festivals in western countries.
B. Easter is a day that everybody gets his resurrection.
C. Easter is a religious (宗教) festival.
D. Most people love Easter.

3. People begin to celebrate Easter in ________.

A. Mid-April or late April
B. mid-March or late March
C. late March or early April
D. early March or mid-March

4. Easter eggs are_____________.

A. covered by chocolate (巧克力包着的)
B. chocolate eggs
C. a symbol of death
D. not food

5. From the passage above, we can know that __________.

A. Jesus Christ died on Christmas Day
B. Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day
C. Jesus Christ was born on Easter
D. Jesus Christ died and got his resurrection on Christmas Day

     I have always heard that walking under a ladder brings bad luck, but I've never thought so. I have
walked under ladders many times, but I have never met anything bad before. It's the same with black
cats. People say if a black cat crosses before you, it means bad luck. I have never thought that until this
afternoon. But ever since I heard my student Sam's story, I've begun thinking about whether it was true.
     This afternoon, Sam was walking down the street thinking about something, so he wasn't paying
attention to (注意到) where he was going. He walked right under a ladder standing against (倚着) a
building. A black cat ran out of a door just at that moment, and Sam fell over it. His head hit the ladder.
A man washing the window was at the top of that ladder and the dirty water went down through the air.
Poor Sam! He got wet all over.

(     )1. At first, the writer believed that walking under a ladder would bring bad luck.
(     )2. A black cat crossing will bring you good luck when you are walking.
(     )3. That afternoon, the writer's son Sam was walking down the street thinking about something.
(     )4. There was a man washing the window near the door.
(     )5. Sam had bad luck that afternoon.

　　The favorite food in the United States is the hamburger. The favorite place
to buy a hamburger is a fast food restaurant. At fast food restaurant, people order
their food, wait a few minutes, and carry it to their tables themselves. People
also take their food out of the restaurant and eat it in their cars or in their homes.
At some fast food restaurant, people can order their food, pay for it and pick it
up without leaving their cars. There are many kinds of fast food restaurant in the
United States. The greatest in number sell hamburger, French fries and so on.
They are popular among Americans. Besides, fast food restaurant that serve
Chinese food, Mexican food, Italian food, chicken, seafood and ice-cream are
very many. The idea of a fast food restaurant is so popular that nearly every kind
of food can be found in one.
　　Fast food restaurant are popular because they reflect(反映) American life
style. Customer can wear any type of dress when they go to a fast food place.
Second, they are fast. People who are busy do not want to spend time preparing
their own food or waiting while someone prepares it. In fast food restaurant,
food is not expensive. Therefore, people often buy and eat at a fast restaurant,
while they may not be able to go to a more expensive restaurant very often.

1. In the United States the favorite food is _____.    

A. Chinese food        
B. Mexican food      
C. French fries          
D. the hamburger

2. Americans like to fast food restaurant because_____.

A. they can easily find fast food restaurant
B. they like to eat hamburger and French fries
C. they are too busy to want to spend time preparing or waiting
D. they are so rich that they don’t want to do cooking themselves

3. _____ of fast food restaurant sell hamburger, French fries.

A. All      
B. Most      
C. Few      
D. None

4. The food in fast food restaurant is _____ ready before the customers order
it.   

A. always  
B. usually    
C. seldom    
D. never

5. The best title for the passage is _____.

A. The Fast Food Restaurant in the U.S.A.
B. The Hamburger in the U.S.A.
C. American Life Style
D. All Kinds of Food in the U.S.A.  

　　"How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly way that people in the
U.S.A 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 say "I've to go now."Often,the person who wants to hang up gives and
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, of finishing a
talk, people don't say exactly that 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 America 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 disagree with someone, it is polite to say"        "

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

3. A polite way to finish 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've to go now. Someone's at the door.", the person may
be         .

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

5. The rule of the game of language is probably       .

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

                                                    The Inventions
    Paper was first made in the year 105. It was made by a Chinese named Cai Lun.
    For over 500 years paper was made only in China. People in Japan learned of paper around the
year 600. As years went by, people in other places began to make paper.
    The lead (铅) pencil is not made of lead. It is made of graphite (石墨). People found graphite in
1564. They thought it was a kind of lead. Today we still call pencils "lead pencils". The first pencils
were made by putting strings (线) around sticks of graphite.
    The first wooden pencils were made by Kasper Faber in Germany in 1761.
    Erasers (橡皮) like those we use today were first made in France by a man named Magellan in
1752. It was Hyman L. Lipman who first put eraser on the ends of pencils. And that is how the
pencils came to be.

1. How many years earlier was paper made in China than in Japan?
    A. About 100 years.
    B. About 400 years.
    C. More than 500 years.
    D. 495 years
2. Germans made paper _____.
    A. earlier than Japan
    B. later than Japan
    C. as early as Japan
    D. as late as Japan
3. At first pencils were made of _____.
    A. wood
    B. lead
    C. sticks
    D. string and graphite
4. Kasper Faber was _____.
    A. an Englishman
    B. a Frenchman
    C. a German
    D. an American
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
    A. Paper was first made in China.
    B. Graphite isn't a kind of lead.
    C. The first wooden pencils were made in Germany.

     In south China we eat rice every day. Sometimes we eat it two or three times a day, for breakfast,
lunch and supper. We usually eat it with fish, meat and vegetable.
     The Japanese eat rice, too. They also eat a lot of fish. They sometimes eat raw (生的) fish. In Africa,
maize (玉米) is the most important food. People there make maize into flour (面粉). From this flour they make different kinds of bread and cakes.
     In western (西方的) countries such as Britain, Australia and the U.S.A, the most important food is
bread or potatoes. People there usually make their bread from wheat flour. They cook the potatoes in
different ways. In England the most popular food is fish and chips. Sometimes people cook this food at
home, but usually they buy it at the shop. They eat this food at home, in their work place, in the park or
on the road. People call it "take-away" food.

1. Who sometimes eat fish when it isn't cooked? 
    ______________________________________
2. What is the most important food for African people?
    ______________________________________  
3. Is England a western country? 
    ______________________________________
4. Where do people get "take-away" food from?
    ______________________________________
5. What is the title (题目) of this passage?  
    ______________________________________

      Big Ben is not the name of a man. It is the name of a huge clock in London. This clock has four faces,
so no matter (无论) where you stand, you can read the time on the face of Big Ben. Each face is the size of
a double-decker (双层的) bus. The hands are about four meters long.
     If you go to London, you may want to visit the House of Parliament (国会大厦). You will find Big Ben
sitting at the top of the clock tower (塔) in the House of Parliament. You will hear it as well as see it. The big
clock makes such a loud sound. "Ding dong, ding dong" as it goes every quarter of an hour.
     The clock was named after a big man. He was Sir Benjamin Hill. He did much building work in London
many years ago.

1. Big Ben is ______.

A. a double-decker bus
B. a huge clock
C. the name of a man
D. a name of the House of Parliament

2. The clock strikes every ______ of an hour.

3. ______ have the same meaning as "large".

A. Big and double
B. Huge and loud
C. Big and huge
D. Giant and small

4. You can read the time of Big Ben ______.

A. at the top of the clock tower
B. only in the House of Parliament
C. on the hands of the huge clock
D. on the four faces of the clock

A. Big Ben
B. A Clock
C. Sir Benjamin Hill
D. The Capital of the UK