American schools begin in September after a long summer holiday. There're two terms in a school year. The first term is from September to January, and the second term is from February to June. Most American children begin to go to school when they're five years old. Most students are seventeen or eighteen years old when they finish high school.

High school students take only five or six subjects each term. They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have homework for every class. After class, they do a lot of interesting things.

After high school, many students go to college(大学). They usually have to pay a lot of money. So, many college students work after class to get money for their studies.

1.In America, schools begin in_________ after summer holiday.

A. July B. September C. May D. February

2.Most American children go to school at the age of _________.

A. five B. seven C. eighteen D. seventeen

3.After high school, many students go to _________.

A. cities B. work C. college D. town

--Are there any halls in your school?  ---           

Do you want to know something about chil­dren in Africa? What to they do for fun every day? Find out here:

Education

School is expensive for many African children. Lots of families can't afford school uniforms or ex­ercise books even though they don't have to pay for school.

For those lucky enough to go to school , they have a lot to learn. Some take two language clas­ses: English or French, and their first language. There is also math, science, history, social studies and geography. Chores take up much of children's time after school. They have to get water and fire­wood for the family every day. Also there's clean­ing , washing and helping Mum with the meal.

Daily fun

It's not all work and no play. Sports are very popular. Children can make goals with twigs ( 嫩树枝)and their own footballs with plastic and bits of string ( 绳子 ). They play in the country and the streets of old towns. There're many football teams for teenagers in Africa.

Internet

It's really expensive to get on the Internet. To surf the net for 20 hours costs over 600 yuan. This is more than the average (平均 的) monthly pay per person.

Egypt and South Africa are the top two users of the Internet in Africa. All of the capital cities there can get on the Internet.

Some schools offer computer lessons but few students can enjoy computer fun at home.

1. The underlined word "Chores" probably means

A．网上冲浪B．家务杂活C．体育活动D．家庭作业

2. Sports are very popular in Africa because chil­dren _________.

A. do not need money to play

B. can play all kinds of ball games

C. don't like to go to school

D. don't like to do their homework

3.The passage is mainly about_________.

A. education in Africa

B. children's school life in Africa

C. the Internet in Africa

D. children's daily life in Africa

4.From the passage, we can infer (推断) that in Africa_________.

A. basketball is popular among children

B. children in Africa have to pay for school

C. some children in Africa have to take two for­eign language classes

D. people in Egypt and South Africa may get higher pay than people in the other countries

A sign is another kind of language. Here are some of them that you see on the roads.

Number one is a sign with the number thirty on it. When drivers see this sign , they must not go at more than thirty kilometers can hour. We see this sign when we are getting near a town. Number two is a sign that we're near a crossing. We must drive carefully. Number three is a sign that there is a bend in the road. Again, we must drive slowly and carefully. It is not safe to go round a bend very fast. Number four is a sign that there is another road coming in from the right. There is a junction at this place. Number five is a sign that there is a hill and number six is a sign that the road gets narrow. Drivers must go slowly and carefully. Number seven has the word “ SCHOOL” on it. This is a sign that there is a school at the side of the street or the road. Perhaps there are children going to or leaving school. So drivers must look carefully and go slowly. Number eight is a sign with the letter “ P ” on it. The letter “ P ” means “ Parking ”. At some places, there're the signs “ No parking ” or “ No waiting”. If a driver leaves his car near one of these signs, a policeman may come and write down the number of his car.
【小题1】At the places where you see Sign 1,        .