Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as “the world’s best.”

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA

The city has comfortable weather all year round (15℃ to 26℃). Housing is not very expensive in San Jose. Also, many of the city’s older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have small hotels and cafés. Beautiful mountains are around the city. There are many natural sights . Lots of people go sightseeing every year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center.

HONG KONG, CHINA

This lively city—once a small fishing village—is today an international business center. It is an interesting mix of East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples (庙宇). Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes. There’s also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large population of nearly seven million! That’s why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are also a problem.

1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about San Jose?

A. The weather.                 B. The mountains.     C. The air.      D. The traffic.

2.What makes Hong Kong the world’s best according to this passage?

A. The lively city and the wonderful dishes.      

B. The large population and the traffic.

C. The expensive housing.                       

D. The beautiful temples.

3.What do the two cities have in common?

A. They both have beautiful mountains.   

B. They both have a large population.

C. Air pollution is a problem in both.          

D. They are both crowded.

4.From the passage, we can know that       .

A. San Jose and Hong Kong are the only two cities of the world’s best

B. San Jose has more natural sights than Hong Kong does

C. the weather inboth cities is fine

D. San Jose used to be small fishing village 

 

It was an exciting moment for Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a retired married couple from Harbin, China. It was also a great moment for China because it was the country’s first gold medal in the pairs figure（花样）skating competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

   Everyone was very quiet when Shen and Zhao were skating onto the ice. They were expecting something wonderful to happen. As soon as the music started, Shen and Zhao skated around the field quickly with beautiful style; every move was perfect. When the music stopped, all the people cheered. In the end Shen and Zhao won the Olympic gold medal.

   In China, winter sports are not as popular as they are in America and Northern European countries. So China sent only 90 athletes to Vancouver to take in a few, carefully chosen sports. Such a good decision also led to Wang Meng and Zhao Yang winning gold medals in the little known, but exciting sports of short track (轨道) speed skating.

   China did not win a lot of medals at these Winter Games. Most of the events are still very new to China and need to be developed. But Chinese athletes learn very quickly. For example, China’s women’s curling team(冰壶队) only began in 2003, but they were No. 1 at the 2009 World Women’s Curling Championship.

   This means that with hard work and a bit of luck, China’s winter stars could soon shine on the world stage.

1. Shen Xue won the gold medal in the ________event at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

A. pairs of figure skating              B. short track speed skating 

C. women’s curling                      D. long track speed skating

2. The people were _____when Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo started skating at the games.

A. noisy            B. quiet                C. cheering     D. excited

3.The underlined（划线）word “couple” means _____in Chinese.

A. 对手                 B. 朋友                 C. 夫妻         D. 同事

4.China’s women’s curling team won’t be eight years old until______.

A. 2003                 B. 2009             C. 2010         D. 2011

5. What made China’s winter athletes get such a success? 

A. Luck.                                B.  A chance.

C. Hard work and a little luck.         D. The country’s support.

 

There are differences between western culture and Chinese culture. We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used. Let’s look at the words about animals and plants. Most expressions in Chinese is about the dog, for example, “a homeless dog”, “a mad dog”, “a running dog” and “a dog catching a mouse”, have negative(消极) meanings. But in western countries, dogs are thought to be honest and good friends of humans. In English, people use the dog to describe positive(积极的) actions. For example, “you are a lucky dog” means you are a lucky person. And “every dog has its day” means each person has good luck sometimes. To describe a person’s serious illness, they say “sick as a dog”. The word “dog—tired” means very tired. However, Chinese love cats very much. But in western culture, “cat” is often used to describe a woman who is cruel(冷酷的). There are many other examples of how “cat” is used differently as well.
The rose is regarded as a symbol of love in both China and some western countries. People think the rose stands for love, peace, courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries.
The words about plants and animals are used in positive or negative ways in different cultures. We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used.
【小题1】The word “dog” in Chinese usually ______.
A. stands for friendship                  B. has a negative meaning        C. has a positive meaning
【小题2】“Every dog has its day.” means “______”
A. Everybody in the world is lucky. B. Each person lives his own way of life.
C. Everybody has a time in life to be lucky.
【小题3】 Western people usually use “cat” to refer to “______”.
A. a tired person                            B. a brave man                        C. an unkind woman
【小题4】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Words show differences in cultures.                                         
B. Western people think cats to be good friends.
C. Rose is the national flower of all western countries.
【小题5】 This passage mainly tells us ______.
A. negative or positive things          B. different countries have different cultures
C. what dog and cat mean in English and Chinese

Become a volunteer and help those who need your help in your community ( 社区 )！ Volunteer work includes helping the poor, helping the families whose houses were destroyed by natural disasters ( 灾害 ) or creating green space for neighborhood families. Whichever service activity you choose, you have the “ power of one” to make a difference and create a real change in the community!

1. Our holiday volunteer jobs are open to all Americans. You don’t need any special skills to join and there are no age limits ( 限制). With biosphere Expedition ( 生物探险 )， you can be a wildlife and environmental volunteer for anywhere from two weeks to two months. You’ll work with local scientists, and the leaders from Biosphere Expedition will be by your side.

2. We need students at the age of 16 and up who study at school and want a chance to use their talents, skills and knowledge to help the little kids. Most of them have enough patience and are warm—hearted. Join the Volunteer Service Center Today !

Volunteers are the greatest people in the world. Let’s work together to make the world a better place.

1. The volunteers can ________ in the community.

A. look after pets                 B. help the poor people

C. buy houses for the homeless      D. Clean up the yards

2.The Biosphere Expedition is probably held ________.

A. for three months           B. in summer vacation

C. only by local scientists      D. between America and China

3.If Wu Dong is ________ years old, he may join the volunteer Service Center.

A. 11       B. 13        C. 15      D. 16

4.Which of the following is True?

A. The volunteers should create green space for all the families.

B. The volunteers can choose any service activity in the community.

C. To do the holiday volunteer work, special skills are needed.

D. A boy who doesn’t study at school can be a volunteer to help the little kids

5. What is the best title for these three ads?

A. Volunteers Wanted        B. A Job Interview

C. An Expedition Club       D. Education Service

 

A 14-year-old boy from the USA was described as a hero yesterday after he saved the life of a woman in another country．

Dean Bluey from Dallas，Texas，was a school boy who has much  31  in computer．One day，he  32  an email to a friend on the Internet．Suddenly he received a message saying “Help! Pain! Help!”．"The message was from Finland，  33  kilometers away from America．

“I didn't know  34  I should do，”Dean said to a reporter afterwards．“It was really difficult to tell if the message was real．”So Dean did nothing at first． 35   the message kept coming．

“By then it was easy to see that someone was in trouble,” Dean explained. He   36  and discovered that the sender was a student called Tarja, who was alone in a university library. She was ill. What was  37  , there was no phone around her. Her only way of communicating with the world was by email. Dean got in touch  38   the police immediately. And they realized that the situation was quite serious. They called the police in Finland. Then an ambulance rushed to the library.   39  , she was still alive and was sent to the hospital quickly.

“I'm glad she's OK,” Dean said. “It's hard to believe, but   40   saved her life.”

1.	A．interest B．interested C．interesting D．interests

 

2.	A．sent B．sends C．was sending D．is sending

 

3.	A．thousand B．thousand of C．thousands D．thousands of

 

4.	A．how B．what C．where D．when

 

5.	A．So B．And C．But D．As

 

6.	A．telephoned B．replied C．found D．talked

 

7.	A．better B．worse C．harder D．easier

 

8.	A．with B．on C．to D．at

 

9.	A．Hardly B．Happily C．Luckily D．Carefully

 

10.	A．a boy B．doctors C．the police D．email