These simple ways can increase(增加)your popularity and win you more friends，so why not try them?
●PAYING ATTENTION TO OTHERS This will reduce any shyness you may have. You'll be more relaxed and therefore more natural and fun. And you will get more good-people will love the fact that you're paying attention to them while you don't have to worry about what people think of you.
●LOOKING PEOPLE IN THE EYE Making eye contact is very important because it shows you're interested in them. If you let your eyes wander(游移)or keep looking over their shoulders，people will feel slighted(轻视)，and they'll like you less they would otherwise.
●ASKING QUESTIONS Doing this gives you two advantages，It shows other people that you are indeed paying attention to and that you consider what they are telling you important. Being sure to follow up when you've shared a conversation with someone about something important in his / her life，be sure to ask about it later. This shows that you listen and you care.
●MAKING AN EFFORT TO SMILE A smile means acceptance，and that makes people open up to you. Make a conscious(有意识的)effort(努力)one day to smile at the people you stay or work with and watch how well they respond(作出反应)to you；
●BEING RELIABLE(可靠的)People like those who help them，and they quickly begin to hate those who don't.
【小题1】By fixing your attention on others，you will _______.

A．be more worried and tired	B．feel more confident
C．be paid less attention to	D．feel less liked

【小题2】When having a conversation with people，you'd better NOT _______.

A．be open up to them	B．fix your eyes on them
C．ask questions about them	D．look at them

【小题3】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Showing continuous care for others is highly valued.

B．Smiling at others can often be misunderstood.

C．Looking people in the eye will make them uncomfortable.

D．You don't have to continue helping others if you don't want to.

【小题4】Which is the best title for this passage?

A．Ways to Make You More Natural	B．Trying to Be a Polite Person
C．Making as Many Friends as Possible	D．Ways to Make You More Popular

A young girl sits at her desk, reviewing her homework for the evening. English: Read three chapters and write a report. Math: Complete 30 problems. Science: Do a worksheet, front and back. French: (A) Study new words for tomorrow’s test. It’s going to be a long night.
This happens to students in America. Now it’s time to start a homework revolution(变革).
Do students in the United States receive too much homework? According to the National Education Association, a student should be assigned (布置) no more than 10 minutes per grade level per night. For example, a first grader should only have 10 minutes of homework, a (B)  grader, 20 minutes, and so on. This means that a student in my grade—seventh—should have no more than 70 minutes of work (C) each night. Yet this is often doubled, sometimes even worse!
It’s no good giving students too much homework. According to research, kids are developing more illness at school, such as stomachaches, headaches and sleep problems than before.
Everybody (D)  that teachers are the ones who assign homework, but they are not the only ones to blame (受责备). “Many teachers are under greater pressure (压力) than ever before,” says Kylene Beers, President of the National Council for teachers of English, “Some of  (E) it comes from parents, some from the wish for high scores on tests.” Teachers who are under pressure feel the need to assign more homework.
Some people have different ideas, saying that homework prepares kids for doing better in high school, better in college, and (F) 今后找到更好的工作. But too much homework is sapping students’ strength, curiosity（削弱学生的个性和好奇心), and most importantly, their love of learning, is that really what teachers and parents want?
【小题1】写出文中划线部分（A）和（C）的同义词或近义词:                         
【小题2】在文中（B）和（D）的空白处分别填入适当单词:                         
【小题3】文中划线部分（E）指代的是:               
【小题4】将文中划线部分（F）译成汉语:             
【小题5】从文中找出能说明本文主旨大意的中心词:           

People often say that the earth is like our mother. She gives life to all the living things on the earth and provides us with air, food, water and other essential things we need for living.
Once she was beautiful and rich, but now she becomes dirtier and dirtier, poorer and poorer. It is due to what we have done to her. Please have a good look at her: polluted rivers and lakes, growing deserts, the destruction of the forests and wild life, and the depletion (消耗，用尽) of the ozone layer (臭氧层)...
Can she bear to see her children putting the waste here and there? Can she bear to see her children cutting down the trees and destroying the grassland, to see the acid rain destroying everything? Can we bear to see our mother suffering (受苦) so much? Isn’t it time for us to ask ourselves whether this is the way to treat our mother?
Floods, droughts, acid rain..., these are the punishments (惩罚) from nature. Everyone should know that there is only one earth. If we go on treating her like this, it won’t be fit for us to live in any longer. It’s time for us to love her, take good care of her and cure her. We should save the earth so as to save ourselves.
【小题1】 What does the earth look like now?

A．It has clean rivers, lakes and green forests.

B．It is like a beautiful girl.

C．It is more beautiful and richer.

D．It is dirtier and dirtier, poorer and poorer.

【小题2】 What is the meaning of the underlined word?

A．Know

B．Stand

C．Imagine

D．Hear

【小题3】 What is the best title of the passage?

A．The earth—our mother.

B．Defenders of the Earth (地球卫士).

C．The earth is very beautiful and healthy.

D．The water on the earth is very clean.

Mary didn’t understand such sentences as“She is blue today”，“You are yellow”，“He has a green thumb”，“He has told a white lie”and so on．And she went to the teacher Mrs James for help．
Mary：Mrs James，there is a colour in each of the sentences．What do they mean?
Mrs James：In everyday English，Mary，blue sometimes means sad，yellow afraid．A person with a green thumb grows plants well and a white lie is not a bad one．
Mary：I'm afraid I don’t understand them a11．Would you give me an example for“a white lie”?
Mrs James：Certainly．Now I just give you some cakes．In fact you don’t like it，but you don’t want to let me know it．Instead you say，“No，thanks．I’m not hungry．”That’s a white lie．
Mary：It sounds very interesting．Thanks very much．
Mrs James：You are welcome．Colours are meaningful．I think you will meet more sentences like these in the future．Please come to me if you have any questions．
【小题1】Blue sometimes means sad in________English．

A．good

B．spoken

C．usual

D．poor

【小题2】I don’t have a green thumb，so all my plants________．

A．die off

B．grow well

C．look nice

D．are good

【小题3】David is yellow and he is________to climb the tall tree!

A．happy

B．clever

C．brave

D．afraid

【小题4】He didn’t like me to know________of the accident．He told me a white lie at last．

A．the reason

B．the true story

C．the meaning

D．the answer

【小题5】He is ________today．He is told that his father is seriously ill．

A．blue

B．yellow

C．green

D．white

---Vegetables are good _______our health.
---Yes. I agree _______ you.

A．for; with

B．at; with

C．for; to

D．at; to