In places of Asia, especially China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

Chopsticks are two long thin tapered（锥形的） pieces of wood. Bamboo is the most material, but they are also be made of all kinds wood, as well as plastic, animal bone, ivory（象牙质）, metal, coral（珊瑚）and so on.

Sometime chopsticks are quite artistic. Chopsticks can be covered with artwork. They might be made of gold and have Chinese calligraphy（书法）on them. A child’s plastic set of chopsticks might have a carton character, such as Mickey Mouse. 

The Chinese have been using chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, using twigs（小树枝） to remove it. Overtime, as population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Small amount of food could be eaten without knives and so the twigs gradually turned into chopsticks. 

Some people think that the great scholar Confucius, who lived from about 551 to 479 B.C., affected the development of chopsticks. As a vegetarian, Confucius believed knives were too violent to use at the table.

Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and central Asia, most people have traditionally eaten with their hands.

1. Chopsticks can be made of all the following except         . 

A．plastic         B．animal bone                C．cloth              D．wood 

2. Artistic chopsticks might _______.

A．be covered with artwork                            B．be made of gold

C．have a cartoon character                            D．all of the above 

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage? 

A．Food is eaten with chopsticks in all Asian countries.

B．People like to use silver chopsticks during the middle ages.

C．Most people eat with knives in Central Asia.

D．Confucius had an important effect on the development of the chopsticks.

Japan is made up of a chain of islands that lie off the coast of Asia. People came to live in Japan from the nearby countries of China and Korea. From these older countries, the Japanese borrowed ideas, inventions and habits.

For many years, the Japanese built houses like those in China. They dressed themselves like a Chinese. From China came their way of writing and their habit of drinking tea.

In more recent times, the Japanese have borrowed things from our country, the United States. They have a government like ours. They do much work in science, as we do. Baseball is a favorite sport in Japan, just as it is here.

Things change when they come to Japan. The Japanese improve on almost everything they borrow. The art of garden making came from Korea and China, but the Japanese gardens are special. Each garden has a waterfall, a pond, and small bridges. There are few flowers in Japanese gardens. But the gardens are green during all the year round because they have many evergreens. Japanese gardens have a different kind of beauty.

1. The first paragraph of the passage tells us that ________ centuries ago.

A．the Japanese borrowed ideas only from China and Korea

B．people came to live in Japan from neighbouring Asian countries

C．Japan is much older than Korea

D．many Japanese came from the United States

2. In the third paragraph of the passage the italic (斜体)words “just as it is here” mean”________”

A．just as it is in the United States

B．just as it is in China

C．just as it is in Japan

D．just as it is in Asia

3. Why did the Japanese change the things they had borrowed?

A．They wanted very much to be different from others.

B．They didn’t like them the way they were.

C．They wanted visitors to like the change.

D．They tried to make them better.

4. From the passage we can see that ________.

A．Japanese gardens are different from those in other countries but not very beautiful

B．Japanese gardens are full of life during all the seasons

C．Japanese gardens are not very big

D．There are many flowers in Japanese gardens

5. Choose a statement from the following sentences that is NOT true.

A．The government of Japan is like that of the United States.

B．People in the United States like playing baseball.

C．The Japanese invented the habit of drinking tea.

D．Japan is made up of many islands.

 

You may feel curious about students in other countries: Do they also have so much homework? What do they do in their free time? On April 8, a report came out on the lives of school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6,200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.
Who studies hardest?
Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students spend more
than two hours on their homework every day. That’s much more than students of the US (26.4%)， Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).
Who sleeps most often in class?
Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them say they sometimes doze off in class. In South Korea, it’s 32%; in the US, 21%; and 5% in China.
South Korean students don’t like taking notes. About 70% say they write down what the teacher says in class, many fewer than in Japan (93%), China (90%) and the US (89%).
What do they do after school?
In their free time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercises. Most Korean students watch TV.
【小题1】How many countries were surveyed in this passage?

A．Two

B．Three

C．Four

D．Five

【小题2】Who studies hardest?

A．Chinese students.

B．Japanese students.

C．South Korean students.

D．American students.

【小题3】Who sleeps least often in class according to the report?

A．Chinese students.

B．South Korean students.

C．American students.

D．Japanese students.

【小题4】How many South Korean students write down what the teacher says in class?

A．93%.

B．90%.

C．89%.

D．70%.

【小题5】According to the passage, we know          .

A．Japanese students spend the most time studying

B．Japanese students fall asleep in class most often

C．Japanese students don’t like taking notes

D．most Chinese students watch TV in their free time

You may feel curious (好奇的) about students in other countries: Do they also have so much homework? What do they do in their free time?

    On April 8, a report came out on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6,200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

    Who studies hardest?

    Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That’s much more than students of the US (26.4%), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

    Who sleeps most often in class?

    Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they sometimes doze off in class. In South Korea, it’s 32%; in the US, 21%; and 5% in China.

    South Korean students don’t like taking notes. About 70% said they write down what the teacher says in class, much fewer than in Japan (93%), China (90%) and the US (89%).

    Who is the most distracted (分心的)?

    American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted: 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in class; and 38.9% said they send e-mails or read unrelated (无关的) books in class.

    What do they do after school?

    In their free time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercises. Most Korean students watch TV.

1.The report is about ___________.

A. the countries    B. the subjects     C. the students’ lives     D. the high schools

2.What country isn’t mentioned in the report?

A. The US        B. South Korea     C. Japan          D. India

3. ______ of the Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework.   

A. 26.4%         B.8.2 %           C. 5.2%              D. 48.6%

4.The phrase doze off means ______.

A. be half asleep     B. get up         C. eat snacks          D. send emails

5.What of the following sentences is Not true?

A. The survey from the four countries was made last year.

B. Most Japanese students do physical exercises after school.

C. About half of the American students chat with friends in class.

D. The students in South Korean don’t like taking notes in class.

 

You may feel interested in students in other countries. Do they have so much homework? What do they do in their free time? People did a survey in China, Japan, South Korea and the US last year. This is the result.
Who studies the hardest?
Chinese students spend the most time in studying. About half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day.
Who sleeps most often in class?
Japanese students fall asleep（睡着）in class more often. About 45% of them sometimes doze off in class. It’s 32% in South Korea, 21% in the US and 5% in China.
Who is the most distracted（分心的）?
American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted. 64.2% of them chat with friends in class. 46.9% of them eat something in class, and 38.9 % of them send e-mails or read other books in class.
What do they do after school?
In their free time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do exercise. Most South Korean students watch TV.
【小题1】About ____ of Chinese students spend more than 2 hours doing their homework every day.

A．50%

B．45%

C．64.2%

D．38.9%

【小题2】 According to the survey, ____ students sleep in class most often.

A．Chinese

B．Japanese

C．American

D．South Korea

【小题3】 The underlined phrase “doze off” means ____ in Chinese.

A．听音乐

B．玩游戏

C．看小说

D．打瞌睡

【小题4】 Most American students ____ in class.

A．chat with friends	B．play games
C．eat something	D．send e-mails

【小题5】 Which of the following sentence in the passage is TRUE?

A．All Chinese students do their homework every day.

B．Some American students send e-mails in class.

C．No Japanese students do exercise.

D．Most American students chat with friends in their free time.