What is your zodiac（生肖） animal? According to the Chinese lunar calendar（农历）, 12 animals mark 12 different years. It is the basis of the Chinese zodiac. Nowadays, Chinese zodiac animals have worldwide fame and are increasingly popular among western people.

The zodiac is an important part of Chinese culture. People believe that the characteristics of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. For example, people born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful and brave.

Zodiac animals also have some social functions. When people think it is not proper to ask: “How old are you”, they may change their question to “What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.

Zodiac animals are not special to China. Many countries share a similar zodiac culture with China. For example, in the Japanese Zodiac, a wild boar（野猪）takes the place of a pig and the Vietnamese（越南的）zodiac has a cat instead of a rabbit.

But have you ever wondered how these 12 animals were chosen to represent each year? According to legend, the Jade Emperor（玉皇大帝）invited all the animals to join him for Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals went to see him. As a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.

1.The characteristics of a zodiac animal may influence the _____ of every person born in that year.

A．appearance        B．personality        C．hobby            D．education

2.“What is your zodiac animal?” is a question used to find out a person’s______.

A．age              B．name             C．job              D．weight

3.In the Japanese zodiac, we don’t see the zodiac animal：_______

A．wild boar          B．rabbit            C．dragon           D．pig

4.According to the last paragraph, we know that ____ was the first animal to arrive.

A．ox               B．rat               C．pig               D．cat

 

【小题1】In China, primary school has more __________ (woman) teachers.
【小题2】Chinese people all dress________ (they) in the best clothes when important festivals come.
【小题3】The guide has collected the ______ (visit) ID cards since they arrived at this five-star hotel.
【小题4】Her red dress makes her look much _____________ (pretty).
【小题5】Cut the apple into _____________ (half). Then we can share them.
【小题6】I am waiting for my turn ___________ (make) a wish at the table with my friends.
【小题7】I look forward to________________ (dress) up as Monkey King.
【小题8】Does this pair of glasses ______________ (match) my jeans?
【小题9】Some students don’t know how to have _____________ (funny) at weekends.
【小题10】The two children _____________ (agree) about everything and always argued.

Passage 3

Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends. They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain. So they can help each other. But neither of them likes to use his head. They're both poor though they work hard. Most villagers have built new houses, but they still live in the low and broken houses. They never find out why.

Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife. In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive. He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back. They decided to carry some apples to the city. They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1,000 kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor. Bad luck! A lot of apples has already been carried there when they arrived. A few days later they had to sell them at a low price (价格)。They felt unhappy and returned to their village.

"I can't understand why we sustained (蒙受) losses in business while others always profit (盈利)" Uncle Li asked one day.

"The tractor was too small " Uncle Wang said without thinking. "We'll carry more apples on a truck next time!"

"I agree!" said Uncle Li. "How foolish (傻的) we were !"

1. Uncle Li and Uncle Wang live in the low and broken houses because __________.

A. they hope to save money

B. they're both poor

C. their farms are at the foot of the mountain

D. they're not far from their farms

2.The two farmers carried the apples to the city to _________.

A. make a journey       B. visit some places of interest

C. meet their friends        D. make a profit

3.The two farmers had to sell their apples at a low price because ________.

A. theirs weren't as good as the others'

B. theirs were much less than the others'

C. a lot of apples had been already carried to the city

D. they forgot to carry them on a truck

4.Uncle Li and Uncle Wang were unhappy because _________.

A. they had sustained losses in business

B. they had lost some money in the city

C. something was wrong with the tractor

D. other people profited in the city

5.Which of the following is true?

A. The two farmers found out why they were poor.

B. The two farmers will soon get rich.

C. Neither of the farmers is clever.

D. The two farmers decided to buy a truck.

 

阅读下面短文，从方框内选择恰当的句子填入短文空白处，使短文内容完整、意思连贯。

Four girls were at the same school. They were good friends, so they often studied and played together.     1.    

One day one of the girls said, “There is a test this morning. Let’s go to school late. Then we won’t have to take the test.” “What can we tell the teacher?” One of the girls said. “He’ll be angry.

    2.  ”

The girls thought for several moments, then one of them said, “Let’s tell him that our taxi had a flat tire(爆胎).” “   3.   ” the other girls said. “We’ll tell him that.”

   4.  The test was finished.

“Why are you late?” the teacher asked. “You miss the test.” “Our taxi had a flat tire,” one of the girls said.

The teacher thought for a moment, then he said, “Sit down, one of you in each corner of the room.” The four girls did this. Then the teacher said, “Write the answer to this question on a piece of paper:  5.  ”

 

A. We’ll need a good excuse. B. Which tire was flat? C. That’s a good idea, D. They arrived at school an hour later. E. They went to school every day by taxi.

 

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed a boy ahead of him had dropped all of the books he was carrying. Mark helped the boy pick them up.   16  they were going the same way, he carried them for the boy. As they walked, Mark knew the boy’s name was Bill. Mark   17  discovered that he loved computer games, baseball and history and that he was having a lot of   18  with his other subjects.
They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in   19  Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed   20  with a few laughs and some shared small talk, and then Mark went home. They   21  to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice and then   22  ended up from the same high school. Just three weeks before they finished school, Bill asked Mark if they could have a talk.
Bill   23  him of the day years ago when they had first met. ‘Do you   24  wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?’ asked Bill. ‘You see, I   25  out my locker because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had planned to   26  from home and I was going home to pack my things. But after we spent some time together   27  and laughing, I realized that   28  I had done that, I would have   29  a new friend and missed all the fun we would have together. So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, you did a lot more. You   30  my life.’

【小题1】

A．After B．Since C．Although D．Until

【小题2】

A．also B．still C．always D．almost

【小题3】

A．questions B．ideas C．trouble D．doubt

【小题4】

A．from B．with C．to D．for

【小题5】

A．quickly B．proudly C．freely D．pleasantly

【小题6】

A．continued B．hoped C．preferred D．offered

【小题7】

A．all B．both C．every D．none

【小题8】

A．removed B．reminded C．asked D．described

【小题9】

A．ever B．soon C．even D．never

【小题10】

A．checked B．took C．cleaned D．put

【小题11】

A．run away B．take away C．put away D．pass away

【小题12】

A．reading B．playing C．talking D．watching

【小题13】

A．before B．if C．while D．as

【小题14】

A．forgotten B．made C．became D．lost

【小题15】

A．helped B．saved C．changed D．improved