2021 is the Year of the Ox (牛). In China, you can find all ________ of products in the shape of the ox that are made of gold, wood, plastic, paper and stone in stores and on streets to celebrate it. But why was the ox ________ to be one of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs (十二生肖)?

Centuries ago, most people made their living through farming. The ox was used to help do farm work and ________ heavy goods. The ox has had a rather ________ place in Chinese culture. Ancient Chinese poets and writers ________ described the ox in their works. In The Book of Songs, the ox was mentioned many times. The ox is considered a symbol of diligence (勤奋) and ________ in Chinese culture. To this day, we still use the phrase “the spirit of the ox”. The spirit is highly praised and many people follow it as their work rules. ________ someone achieves success through hard work, people often use “niu”, meaning “great”, to describe him or her. So ________ those who are born in the Year of the Ox are often expected to be hard-working and honest. They never expect to be the center of ________ and do not look for praise.

Oxen won’t bully the weak or fear the strong. They work hard and try their best. Please ________ oxen if you don’t want to be lazy and expect to make more progress.

6.

A．kinds

B．boxes

C．bags

D．pieces

7.

A．given

B．chosen

C．shown

D．planned

8.

A．steal

B．afford

C．carry

D．count

9.

A．similar

B．difficult

C．strange

D．important

10.

A．often

B．never

C．seldom

D．hardly

11.

A．danger

B．peace

C．honesty

D．health

12.

A．When

B．Though

C．Because

D．Before

13.

A．simply

B．luckily

C．naturally

D．suddenly

14.

A．action

B．competition

C．communication

D．attention

15.

A．worry about

B．think of

C．care about

D．hear of

Lots of kids hate school，a new study found. Usually this kind of feeling doesn't last long.But what happens if you feel this way too much? School is a fact of life and getting a good education can help you build the kind of future life you want. So let's talk about school and what to do when you don't like it．

If you don't like school，the first step is to find out why. You might not like school because you don't have enough friends，or maybe you don't get along with your teacher. Sometimes it's a big problem with your classes and schoolwork. You may be getting farther and farther behind，and it may seem like you'll never catch up.

        When you know why you don’t like school，you   can start taking steps to make things better. It’s a good idea to talk to someone about your problems with school. Your mom，dad，teacher or school counselor(顾问) will be able to help you. Another good idea is to write down your feelings about school in a notebook. It‘s a great way to let out emotions(情绪)．Remember， you don't have to share what you've written with others.
16. Lots of kids ________according to the writer.

A．like school very much	B．are good at reading and writing
C．don't like doing homework	D．have the thought of hating school

17. What does the underlined word “it” refer to(指的是)in the first paragraph?

A．A good education.

B．School.

C．Future life.

D．Friendship.

18. If you don't like school，the first step is to ________.

A．find out why	B．go to see a doctor
C．ask your parents for help	D．leave school for a short time

19. How many reasons why you don't like school are given by the writer?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

20. When you start taking steps to make things better，one of the good ideas is to ________.

A．keep silent about your problems	B．share what you've written with others
C．write down your feeling about school	D．get along well with your classmates

Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American history and culture. It begins on December 26th and continues until New Year's Day, January 1st.

During the festival, a family member, usually the youngest child, lights candles in a special candle holder. Each night a candle is lit. Traditionally there are three green candles, three red candles and a central black candle. They represent the seven Kwanzaa principles (原则). The principles are believed to play a big role in building strong, successful families, neighborhoods, etc. In the evenings, adults share stories and explain how to follow the seven principles in daily life. On the sixth day, which falls on New Year's Eve, family and friends get together to enjoy a large meal.

Kyle, a third grader, wrote this about Kwanzaa, “When we celebrate Kwanzaa, we have many people at home, light the candles, and have a nice dinner. We learn the meaning of Kwanzaa and remember family members. We say something good about them. Last year, we remembered my grandmother.”

In 1966, Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa. He was studying the history of Africa at that time. Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday to bring African Americans together and celebrate their history and culture. He called the holiday “Kwanzaa”. In fact, the name comes from an African language, and it means “first fruits of the harvest (收获季节)”.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
21. How long does the festival of Kwanzaa last every year?

A．Two days.

B．Three days.

C．Five days.

D．Seven days.

22. What color are the candles?

A．Green, black and red.	B．Green, white and red.
C．Green, black and white.	D．Black, white and red.

23. What does the underlined word “represent” in Paragraph 2 mean in Chinese?

A．决定

B．展示

C．维护

D．代表

24. Who did Kyle remember during Kwanzaa last year?

A．His aunt.	B．His father.
C．His grandmother.	D．His grandfather.

25. Which of the following is TRUE about Kwanzaa?

A．It has a history of about 100 years.

B．Its name comes from an African language.

C．It is to celebrate the good harvest of the year.

D．During the festival, there's a big family dinner each night.

“How are you?” is a nice question. It’s a friendly way that people in the United States greet each other. But “How are you?” is also a very unusual question. It’s a question that often doesn’t have an answer. The person who asks “How are you?” hopes to hear the answer “Fine”, even if the person’s friend isn’t fine. The reason is that “How are you?” isn’t really a question and “Fine.” isn’t really an answer. They are simply other ways of saying “Hello” or “Hi”.

Sometimes, people also don’t say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks “Do you agree?” the other person might be thinking, “No, I disagree. I think you’re wrong.” But it isn’t very polite to disagree so strongly, so the other person might say “I’m not so sure.” It’s a nicer way to say that you don’t agree with someone.

People also don’t say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking with other people. For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says “I have to go now.” Often, the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse, “Someone’s at the door.” “Something is burning on the stove.” The excuse might be real, or it might not. Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn’t want to talk any more, but it isn’t polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn’t hurt the other person.

Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people often don’t say exactly what they are thinking. It’s an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it’s part of the game of language.

26. When a person in the United States asks “How are you?”, he or she wants to hear “ ______”.

A．How are you?

B．Hello.

C．I don’t know.

D．Fine.

27. When a person wants to disagree with someone, it is polite to say “______”.

A．You’re wrong. I disagree.	B．I’m not so sure.
C．I’m sure I disagree.	D．No, I disagree.

28. A polite way to finish a talk is to say “______”.

A．You have to go now	B．I want to hang up
C．I have to go now	D．I don’t want to talk

29. When a person says “I have to go now. Someone’s at the door.”, the person may be ______.

A．giving an excuse

B．hurting someone’s feelings

C．talking to a person at the door

D．going to another place

30. One of the rules of the game of language is probably ______.

A．Always say what you mean

B．Don’t disagree with other people

C．Never say exactly what you are thinking

D．Be polite

阅读短文，根据短文内容，从短文后的六个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，有一项是多余的。每个选项只能用一次，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

If you live far from school, you may have to use lunch boxes to take lunch to school. Do you want to know what the early lunch boxes looked like?     31     From the 19th century, people used baskets to take meals. A nice wooden box would be used by the rich people.     32     The tins were large enough for a piece of meat, some bread and some cheese. Walt Disney made the first “character” lunch box in 1935 by putting Mickey Mouse on the box.     33     In 1950, TV cowboy, Hopalong Cassidy, agreed to put his picture on the outside of the blue and red lunch boxes. Over the next 30 years, different popular characters controlled the market, such as Aladdin, Miss America, and the Flying Nun. The Florida government said that the metal boxes could be used as weapons (武器) and they were dangerous for children.     34    

In 1986, people began to use lunch boxes which were made of plastic.     35     Now we can see many plastic hunch boxes with beautiful pictures on them.

A．By the 1860s, people started making tins to take meals.

B．The plastic lunch boxes weren’t used by people.

C．Let’s see the history of lunch boxes.

D．Children liked this kind of lunch box very much.

E．The plastic lunch boxes have been using since then.

F．The last metal lunch box was made in 1985.

36. I don’t have so much money to buy the computer because it is too e________.

37. Jenny was so tired and hungry that she could h________ climb the mountains.

38. Good learners often c________ what they need to learn with something interesting.

39. If you want to know the m________ of this word, you can look it up in the dictionary.

40. The ice cream t________ very sweet. Let’s try some.

41. K________ comes from questioning.

42. There are many t________folk stories about the Mid-Autumn Festival.

43. He now treats everyone with kindness and w________.

44. Li Wen’s unhappiness began to i________ his schoolwork.

45. Don’t be late. Please come to school a little e________ next time.

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式，并将答案写在答题卡相应的横线上。

LIU XU was robbed (抢劫)! The 13-year-old boy was     46     (ride) home when a man suddenly jumped out from the roadside. He pulled Liu off his bike and rode away. Liu was scared, but he didn’t run     47     the robber. He     48     (find) a telephone and called the police at 110.

“    49     (safe) is the priority (要务) in such a situation,” Liu said, remembering what his teacher had told him in his first-aid class. “It is not safe to chase an adult who is much     50     (strong) than you.”

Liu is a junior student at Shenzhen Bao’an Middle School in Guangdong. His school is one of     51     first in China to have compulsory (必修的) first-aid education. Junior students at the school must take the class once a week.

Teenage safety has     52     (become) a serious problem these days. According to a 2020 survey, about 16, 000 teenagers die in accidents in China every year.

Bao’an School said that the first-aid classes are “to teach students skills so that they can protect and save     53     (they) in emergencies (紧急情况).”

“The teacher told us that we should try not to go out alone, especially at night.     54     someone tries to do bad things to us, we may hit their eyes or noses. Then we should quickly run into a     55     (crowd) place,” said Zhong Hua, a 13-year-old girl.

56. 为了交流学习经验，提高学习效率，《英语报》正举办以“How to Be a Good Learner”为题的征文比赛，请你踊跃投稿。

内容提示：
①habit，way ②get ready，listen，read as often as possible ③go over，homework ④study in groups，speak，help each other⑤work hard，do sports⑥其他
要求：
1）必须用上所有的内容提示，语句通顺，书写规范；
2）可以适当发挥，以保证内容的完整、丰富与流畅；
3）80词左右，开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。

How to Be a Good Learner

To be good learners, we should ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

I hope all these will be helpful to you.

Yours,

Li Hua