In Canada and the United States, people enjoy entertaining(请客) at home. They often invites friends for a meal, a party or just for coffee and conversation.
Here are the kinds of things people say when they invite someone to their homes: “Would you like to come over for dinner this Saturday night?” “Hey, we’re having a party on Friday. Can you come?”
To answer an invitation, either say thank you and accept or say you are sorry and give an excuse. “Thanks, I’d love to. What time would you like me to come?” or “ Oh, sorry. I’ve tickets for a movie.”
Sometimes, however, people in the west use expressions(语句) that sound like invitation but which are not real invitation. For example, “Please come over for a drink sometime.” “Why not get together for a party sometime?” or “Why don’t you come over and see us sometime soon?” They are really polite ways of ending a conversation. They are not real invitations because they don’t mention(提到、涉及) a certain time or date. They just show that the person is trying to be friendly. To answer expressions like this, people just say, “Sure, that would be great!” or “OK! Thanks.”
So next time when you hear what sounds like an invitation, listen carefully. Is it a real invitation or is the person just being friendly?
【小题1】Why do Canadians and Americans often invite friends for meals at home?

选词填空（共10小题；每题2分，满分20分）

从方框中选择恰当的词或短语并用正确的形式填空。

1.No country __________________such great progress as China in the past thirty years.

2.The woman ________________________you if you don’t agree with her.

3.He ________________________________from time to time in the past.

4.The farmers ________________________the trees when the policemen came.

5.The volunteers _______________________________to save the pandas in Sichuan because many of them have disappeared.  

6.It’s _____________for her to finish the task in such a short time.

7.In our society , the old ___________________________by the government.

8.I want to know where ______________________________to solve the problem.

9.If people want to live better, they must pay attention to ___________the pollution

10.He always listens to the teacher____________, so he often fails the exam.

Six Chinese Characters
Dear students,  our country has a long history.  Chinese characters usually have more than one meaning and some of them are particularly loved by Chinese people.  Here are the top six lucky ones.  Please note we use "pinyin" here because "pinyin" is the Chinese spelling system for the characters. For example, "fu" is the "pinyin" for good luck in Chinese.  "pinyin" "fu" is only the phonic   (语音的 )  part of the character and if you want to know the meaning of good luck "fu",  you must read the Chinese character福 because "fu" also represents  (代表)  other Chinese characters that sound the same.
1.福  "fu" means blessing,  good fortune,  good luck. Chinese character福 "fu" is one of the most popular ones used during Chinese New Year. It is often displayed upside down on the front door of a house or an apartment.  The upside down福"fu" means good luck comes since the character for upside down in Chinese sounds the same as the character for "come".
2.禄 "Iu" means prosperity.
It is used to mean official's salary(薪水 ) in feudal (封建的 ) China.
3. 寿 "shou" means longevity.
Chinese character寿  "shou" also means life,  age or birthday.
4.喜 "xi" is happiness.
The doubled character喜 "xi" means double happiness. It is usually displayed everywhere at Chinese weddings.
5.财  "cai" is wealth or money.
Chinese often say "money can make a ghost turn a millstone". It is to say money really can do a lot of things. But, still-money can’t buy everything.
6.和  "he" means harmomous.
People's harmony is an important part of Chinese culture. When you have harmomous
relations with others,   things will be a lot easier for you.
【小题1】 What does the word "character" mean in this passage?

World Sleep Day，organized by the Would Sleep Day Committee of the Would Association of Sleep Medicine since 2008，is held on March 21 every year.
The aim of World Sleep Day is to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy sleep. Events involving discussions，presentations of educational materials and exhibitions take place around the world and online.
Sleep quality plays a key role in people’s health. Researchers say that there are a lot of advantages if we always get enough sleep. We can be smarter，thinner，healthier and more cheerful. Also we’re to have better skin，better memories and longer lives. When you lose even one hour of sleep for any reason，it will influence your performance the next day.
In general，adults are thought to need at least eight hours of sleep a night，but a recent survey found that，on workdays，only 21% of them really get a full eight hours of sleep，and another 21% get less than six. For teenagers，a healthy amount is about eight to nine hours per night. However，about 80% of high school students don’t get enough sleep because of their schoolwork or some bad habits.
27% of people throughout the world have sleep problems. Now there are over 80 kinds of sleep disorders，and most people know little about their danger. So，for our good life and work，it’s necessary for us to realize the importance of sleep and try to have a good sleep.
【小题1】 How long has World Sleep Day been celebrated so far？
 
【小题2】What is the purpose of World Sleep Day？
 
【小题3】 What will happen if we sleep one hour less than we should？
 
【小题4】Why don’t most high school students have enough sleep？
 
【小题5】 What suggestion will you make about our better sleep？（请自拟一句话作答）