I read yesterday (yes, on a blog) that there are now blogging competitions!! I can’t believe it. A man in England won $2,000 for writing the best blog. There’s even a list of the best Chinese bloggers! I’ve read a few of them- before they were famous, I might add. I suppose that one blog can be better than another. It can be better written, more interesting, funnier, and I suppose that blogs are there to be read and judged (点评) by other people. If they’re not good, they’re not read. And they’re not just personal feelings. If they were, they’d be called diaries. Have locks, and be hidden under beds. So I’m OK with this whole competition thing. I just can’t believe I didn’t win!

This has got me thinking about why I’m writing this blog. I’m not doing it to win a competition (or I wasn’t when I started …) and I’m not doing it to show all my personal feelings – I do that in my diary. So, why am I a blogger?

To tell the truth, the first time I heard the word blog I thought it was a new word for a toilet. But I love learning new words so I used my knowledge and found out that a blog was a personal website and the word blog came from the words web log. Now a log is a type of diary kept by sailors (水手), and web, well, we all know that it has nothing to do with catching flies and everything to do with the Internet. Web log… weblog… blog…. Being a writer I loved the idea of getting my views (观点)onto the Internet where anyone could read them, and no editors (编辑) could get their hands on them!

So my first reason for blogging: I’m a writer. I want people to read what I write (un-edited!). And I love writing about anything I choose. I can write about saving the environment or complain about how the people in front of me in the cinema always seem to have big heads. And sometimes I pour out my heart too.

My second reason is that it’s relaxing. I don’t have to do research and write an article. I can let my thoughts go on as long as I like.

Third reason? To keep in touch.  I’m terrible on the phone and all my friends around the world read my blog (or they say they do …). Every now and then, I even upload a photo so they remember what I look like.

Is there a fourth reason? There probably is but now it’s time for dinner. Tomorrow I might even tell you what I ate.

1. The writer thinks a good blog is one that _____________.

  A. can let his thought go freely

  B. wins a blogging competition

  C. helps people keep in touch

  D. is read by large numbers of people

2. The writer loves writing blogs mainly because __________.

  A. his writing about feeling can be shown anywhere

  B. his writing would never be edited by others

  C. he enjoys writing something about big events

  D. he finds himself terrible on the phone

3. There’re __________reasons in the passage to explain why the writer is a blogger.

  A. 2                     B. 3                      C. 4                     D. 5

4. This passage is _________.

  A. a blog about blogging                     B. a diary about blogging

      C. a view on blogging                        D. a judgement on blogging

Here are four poems written by some students.

31. Which of the following is mentioned in both Owen’s and Roger’s poems?

A. Smiles and flowers.                               B. Bees and flowers.

C. Birds and flowers.                                 D. Leaves and flowers.

32. Roger enjoys spring by           it.

    A. smelling            B. playing                     C. feeling                     D. watching

33. All the poems describe the spring except          .

    A. Owen’s        B. Roger’s                    C. Angela’s            D. Kevin’s

判断短文后面的问题是否正确。正确的写A，错误的写B。

There are four people in my family. My father is a policeman. His work is kind of dangerous. He’s very busy. He often has meals outside. Sometimes we can’t see him all day. But I love him very much. My mother is a bank clerk, but she wants to be a reporter. She says her job is boring and being a reporter is interesting, because she can meet many interesting people. My brother is a waiter. He likes his work, because he thinks he can meet many new friends when he works.

I’m a middle school student. I study hard because I want to be a teacher. I think it’s not difficult for me.

1.My family has four people, my father, my mother, my sister and I.

2.My father works in another city, so we can’t see him all day, sometimes.

3.My mother likes to be a bank clerk.

4.My brother works in a restaurant. He likes to make new friends.

5.I want to be a teacher. It’s easy for me ,I think.