People all over the world celebrate the new year. However, not all countries celebrate in the same way, and in some countries, the new year doesn’t begin on the 　46　 date very year.

In many countries, the new year begins on 1st January, but people start celebrating on 31st December, New Year’s Eve. In New York many people go to celebrate in Times Square. 　47 　 they’re waiting for the New Year, they listen to music, sing traditional songs and have fun. Just before 12 o’clock, everyone 　48 down from 10: 10, 9, 8… As soon as it’s 12 o’clock, everyone shouts very 　49 , “Happy New Year!”

New Year’s Day is often a family day. Some families get together for a special meal. When the weather is fine, many families go out for a 　50 .

On New Year’s Day, many people make resolutions for the new year. They 　51　 a list of things, such as “I will help out more with housework. I will work 　52 at school than others.” or “I won’t spend so much time playing video games.” When they have made 　53 list, they read it to their family or friends and promise to 　54 their resolutions.

So it doesn’t matter how they celebrate, 　55 people in countries all over the world, it’s a time to say goodbye to the old year, and to welcome the new.

46. A. familiar　　　　 B. same　　　　　 C. important　　　　 D. normal

47. A. If　　　　　　 B. Even though 　　 C. While　　　　　 D. Before

48. A. comes　　　　 B. turn　　　　　　 C. looks　　　　　　 D. counts

49. A. loudly　　　　 B. quietly　　　　　 C. sadly　　　　　　 D. safely

50. A. walk　　　　　 B. secret　　　　　 C. job　　　　　　　 D. treatment

51. A. put on　　　　 B. write down　　　 C. take away　　　　 D. look after

52. A. quickly　　　　 B. hard　　　　　　 C. harder　　　　　 D. hardly

53. A. its　　　　　　 B. his　　　　　　 C. her　　　　　　　 D. their

54. A. follow　　　　 B. make　　　　　 C. do　　　　　　　 D. give

55. A. by　　　　　　 B. for　　　　　　　 C. with　　　　　　 D. from

Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.
　　The reporter was talking to them about being important.
　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.
　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”
　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.
　　The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”
　　The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”
　　“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”
　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.
　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”
【小题1】This story happened in ________.
A. U.N.             B. U.S.A.               C. U.K.      D. P.R.C.
【小题2】There are________in this passage.

In Britain, people have different attitudes(态度)to the police. Most people generally   1  them and the job they do, but some people said that the police shouldn’t    have special   2 .
What does a policeman actually do? It is not a(n)  3  job to describe. After all，a policeman has a number of jobs to do. A policeman often has to   4  traffic, either on foot in the centre of a town, or in a police car on the roads. Indeed，in Britain, he might be in the Traffic Police and spend a lot of time  5  up and down main roads. A traffic policeman has to help keep the traffic moving，stop speeding cars and help when there is a(n)  6  .
A policeman has to help keep the  7 ，too. If there is a fight, we  8  the police to come immediately. And they often have to deal with situation at great risk of their own  9 .
We want the police to solve crimes，of course，so an ordinary(普通) policeman,    10  he is not a detective，he will often have to help   11  criminals. And   12  do we call when there is an emergency—an air crash，a fire or an earthquake？Of course the police. So a policeman has to  13  to face any terrible emergency that may happen in the modern world.
The police do a  14  job，they do it so well that I support them. But I do not envy policemen. I do not think that I could   15  do the job of a policeman.

It's the end of class. When the bell rings, students of Luohu Foreign Languages School in Shenzhen quickly take out their cell phones. They want to log on* to their micro blogs to check the interesting things that have happened in the last hour.

　　Since last year, the trend* of micro blogging has swept the country. Recent surveys shows that most students in middle schools have a micro blog and some even update* their blogs over five times per day.

　　"We learn many fresh and interesting things on micro blogs and they have become popular topics in class," said Andy Liang, 14. "If you do not know about them, you are out of the loop."

　　It is also a great place for students to let out stress. "My parents always ask me to study all the time, and encourage me before exams, but it really adds pressure," said Simon Zhang, 15. "When I share these feelings on my micro blog, I get many replies from friends in the same situation, which makes me feel better."

　　But parents are worried that micro blogging could be a waste of time. Some misleading messages may even cause danger to kids, they said.

　　Mr. Shen, a professor at the China Education Association, suggests parents not worry too much as long as kids are not crazy about micro blogging. Maybe it can become a window for parents to understand their children. "If parents can read their children's micro blogs, they'll know their thoughts, thus leading to better communication and solutions to problems," he said. He also gives some tips for kids.

　　---Don't micro blog for more than one hour a day.

　　---Never micro blog in class.

　　---Try to talk face to face with people from time to time.

　　---Be critical*. Don't trust all the messages on a micro blog.

1.The underlined part "out of the loop" in the passage probably means                 .

　　A. not popular    B. not excited    C. unhealthy        D. unlucky

2.Micro blog made Simon       when he shared his feelings and got replies on his micro biog.

　　A. feel sad       B. let out stress   C. add pressure      D. make friends

3.We can know from Mr. Shen that micro blogging can                  .

　　A. make kids crazy while logging on to it        

 B. bring a lot of misleading messages

　　C. become a window to understand young kids      

D.lead to worse communication

4.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

　　A. It's good for kids to micro blog for more than one hour a day.

　　B.Kids should trust all the messages on a micro blog because they are useful.

　　C.The trend of micro blogging has swept the country since five years ago.

　　D. Kids should try to talk face to face with people, not just micro blogging.