According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the year starting on Feb 12th will be the Year of the Ox. Many Chinese people believe it will be a good year, partly because they have a strong liking for the animal itself.
In Chinese culture, the ox stands for the spirit of hard work and unselfishness. We often say that the ox is hard-working and generous (慷慨的). The term “laohuangniu” describes those who help others and ask nothing for themselves. Just as Chinese writer Lu Xun once wrote, “Cows eat grass, but give milk.”
But in the West, people have a different opinion about the animal. “Bullheaded” people are very stubborn (固执的) and will not listen to suggestions.
If you search on the Internet for the word “ bull”, you’ll also find other interesting English expressions. For example, if someone behaves “like a bull in a china shop”, he or she behaves in a clumsy (笨拙的) manner when they should be more careful.
In the new year, we hope that all of the readers will work just as hard as the ox does. Avoid anything that might make you as angry as “a red flag to a bull”, We hope you can always “take the bull by the horns (不畏艰险)” when you have to deal with a difficult situation. Come on! Wish everyone a lucky year of the ox.
1. What is the kind of person who is called “laohuangniu” like?| A．He is hard-working and generous. |
| B．He is stubborn and never listens to others’ suggestions. |
| C．He is more careful but a little stupid. |
| D．He is always ready to help others and asks nothing for himself. |
| A．Laohuangniu. | B．Like a bull in a china shop. |
| C．Take the bull by the horns. | D．Bullheaded. |
| A．Lu Xun was born in the Year of the Ox. |
| B．We should work hard and avoid getting angry. |
| C．English expressions about the ox are always bad. |
| D．People in different countries think about the ox differently. |
相似题推荐
In many countries, people have birthday cakes with candles.
In China, it is getting popular to have cake on your birthday.
All of these birthday foods may be different, but the ideas are the same.
| A．They all bring good luck to the birthday person. |
| B．What would people like to eat on their birthday? |
| C．But many people still eat very long noodles for their birthday. |
| D．In some places, Chinese people also eat eggs on their birthday. |
| E．The number of candles is the person’s age. |
A small talk is a good way to kill time and make friends. When you are in other countries, do you know how to have small talks with people?
In England, people like to talk about the weather, because the weather there changes very often. In the morning, it is sunny, but in can be cloudy or rainy in the afternoon. It often rains, but sometimes it’s sunny. And the winter isn’t very cold and the summer isn’t very hot.
English people are kind of quiet. They don’t often talk to others first, but when you ask them about the weather, they are usually happy and want to talk with you, so you can start a small talk by saying, “ It’s a fine day, isn’t it?”
They also like to talk about their pets, so it’s nice to say “A lovely dog! What’s its name?” to them. But American people like to talk about sports like football and basketball. They also talk about clothes. The weather is a great talk in America, too.
A good small talk can make you feel great, so when you are in England or America, please follow these rules.
1. These passage talks about __________ countries.
| A．four | B．two | C．three | D．one |
| A．发现 | B．停留 | C．变化 | D．零钱 |
| A．Pets | B．Sports | C．Clothes | D．Weather |
| A．They are kind of quiet. |
| B．They like to play sports. |
| C．They always talk to others first. |
| D．They like talking about money. |
| A．the weather in England is very cold |
| B．a small talk is important to many people |
| C．only English people like talking about the weather |
| D．English people don’t like pets |
【推荐3】We drink tea every day. But more than three hundred years ago, most people in Europe (欧洲) didn’t know anything about tea. Some people heard about it. But very few of them knew what to do about it.
There’s a story about an English sailor (水手). He went to countries in the west, the east and the south. He had been to (去过) India and China. One day he came home and brought some tea as a present for his mother. She told her friends about the present and asked them to a tea party. When her friends came to the party, the old woman brought out some tea leaves and asked them to eat. Of course nobody liked the tea leaves.
At that time, the sailor came in. He looked at the table and said, “Mother, what have you done with the tea?”
“I boiled it as you said.”
“And what did you do with the water?”
“I throw it away, of course,” answered the old woman.
“Now, you may throw away the leaves,” said the sailor.
1. The sailor gave his mother some ________ as a present.| A．ships | B．tea | C．fish | D．money |
| A．concert | B．dinner | C．tea party | D．game |
| A．fish | B．apples | C．tea leaves | D．food |
| A．enjoyed | B．liked | C．hated | D．threw |
| A．tea leaves | B．cup | C．flowers | D．water |
【推荐1】Happy Year of the Tiger（虎年快乐）!
Anna: Hi, Li Hua! Happy Chinese New Year!
Li Hua: Hi, Anna! Happy Year of the Tiger!
Anna: Sorry. What do you mean?
Li Hua: Well, we Chinese named the years after twelve animals（动物）. This year is the Year of the Tiger! It is the third of the twelve animals.
Anna: Who decided the order（顺序）of Chinese zodiac（生肖）?
Li Hua: In one story, the Jade Emperor（玉皇）held a swimming race to choose animals for the names of the years. There were twelve animals faster than the others. The rat was the first of these twelve animals.
Anna: So interesting! I want to know what my Chinese zodiac is.
Li Hua: When were you born（出生）?
Anna: I was born in 2010.
Li Hua: Wow! Your birth-year animal is the tiger. It is the third of the twelve animals. You’re so lucky!
Anna: Really? This year is my animal year（本命年）. I am so happy.
1. This year is the Year of the ______.
| A．Pig | B．Tiger | C．Rat |
| A．Li Hua. | B．Anna. | C．Liu Hua. |
| A．暗号 | B．承担 | C．选择 |
| A．swimming | B．singing | C．drawing |
| A．She is eleven years old. | B．She is twelve years old. | C．She is thirteen years old. |
【推荐2】There are many stories about the start of Nian.
It is said that Nian was a fierce (凶猛的) monster. Usually it stayed deep in the mountains. But in winter, it couldn’t find enough food. So it entered villages to eat whatever it could catch. Villagers became frightened and moved away. Later the people found that Nian was afraid of three things—the red color, the bright fire and the loud noise. After learning this, they thought of how to prevent Nian from entering their villages. From then, a tradition was established (得到认可). People had couplets (对联), lanterns and fireworks for the Spring Festival.
Now most people in the countryside still keep these traditional celebrations. However, the people in cities have used new ways to celebrate the Spring Festival. For example, they don’t send out so many greeting cards as before. Instead, they usually send short text messages to greet friends on mobile phones. And for safety, fireworks were not allowed in some large cities a few years ago, making the cities much quieter than before. It seems that all Chinese traditions are facing new challenges. Maybe when the children of the next generation grow up, they can only learn about Chinese traditions from books.
1. According to the first paragraph, Nian entered villages because ________.| A．it couldn’t find enough food in winter | B．it liked to make friends with villagers |
| C．the villages were beautiful | D．the villagers were friendly |
| A．red color | B．people | C．loud noise | D．animals |
| A．By writing letters. | B．By sending greeting cards. |
| C．By sending gifts. | D．By making calls. |
| A．save money | B．keep clean | C．keep safe | D．make the cities quiet |
| A．Chinese people dislike the Spring Festival. |
| B．The Spring Festival will disappear. |
| C．Chinese people won’t celebrate the Spring Festival any longer. |
| D．Perhaps Chinese people won’t celebrate the Spring Festival in traditional ways. |
【推荐3】The Spring Festival is the biggest festival for Chinese people all around the world. It usually lasts for 15 days. There are a lot of things to do.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, family members get together and have big meals. Their favourite food on this day is dumplings.
Days before the Spring Festival, families will clean their houses. People think cleaning sweeps away bad luck. It makes the house ready for good luck.
The color red is everywhere during the Spring Festival. People think red is a happy color and will bring them a beautiful future. People wear red, too. They decorate (装饰) their homes with pieces of red paper. Kids get a lot of “hong bao”. It is a red paper bag with money in it. Usually, older people give younger ones hong bao. They think it brings good luck.
The Spring Festival is the time to make everybody happy. So don’t say any bad words or do anything that will bring unhappiness to other people.
For example, you’d better not say any bad words like “death”. Don’t break anything. People think that it means your luck is running out.
Also, don’t borrow or lend money on these days. If you have borrowed money, return it before the Spring Festival.
1. The Spring Festival is the biggest festival in ________ .| A．China | B．the UK | C．America |
| A．They often go to the park. |
| B．They go to the mountains. |
| C．They get together and have big meals. |
| A．blue | B．red | C．yellow |
| A．聚会 | B．起来 | C．出去 |
| A．can | B．should | C．can’t |
【推荐1】In England, people don’t often talk to each other when they travel. If you are on a bus or on a train, you can always see some people sitting and looking out of the window and other people reading books or newspapers.
English people often start a conversation（谈话）by talking about the weather. So when you meet somebody in England, you can say, “Nice weather for the time of year!”
“But it was a little cold yesterday,” somebody may answer.
“But it will get a bit warmer later,” you can say.
Talk like this, and the English people will think, “How friendly you are!”
1. Some people sit and look out of the ________ on a train.| A．window | B．door | C．roof | D．hole |
| A．talk a lot | B．talk to each other | C．eat something | D．read newspapers |
| A．weather | B．time | C．food | D．countryside |
| A．you are friendly | B．you are right | C．you are English | D．you talk much |
| A．English people like traveling by bus. |
| B．English people don’t talk much when they’re on public transport. |
| C．English people are unfriendly. |
| D．English people don’t enjoy good weather. |
【推荐2】In England, people don’t usually talk much. You can go on a bus, or in a train, and everyone sits looking out of the window. Often they read. They read books and newspapers. But they don’t talk much.
When you meet English people, they often talk about one thing: the weather. So when you meet somebody in England, you can say, “Nice weather for the time of year!”
“But it was a little cold yesterday,” somebody may answer.
“But it got a bit warmer later,” you can say.
Talk like this, and the English will think “How friendly you are!”
1. English people often ________ on a bus.| A．talk much | B．talk about | C．eat something | D．read papers |
| A．How do you do! | B．How are you! | C．Nice weather! | D．Nice to meet you! |
| A．you are friendly | B．you are right | C．you are English | D．you talk too much |
| A．better | B．warmer | C．colder | D．hotter |
| A．English people like to talk on a bus. | B．English people didn’t enjoy the best weather. |
| C．English people are the most friendly. | D．English people don’t talk much. |
【推荐3】Most (大多数) English people have three names: a first name, a middle name and a last name. If (如果) my name is Anna Henry Green. Anna is the first name, Henry is the middle name and Green is the last name. People don’t use (不使用) their middle names very much. You can call me Anna Green but you can’t call me Henry Green. The first name and the middle name are the given (被赋予的) names. The last name is the family name. And we can use Miss before a girl’s family name but we can’t use it before her given name.
1. Most English people have ________ name(s).| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
| A．first names | B．middle names | C．family names | D．given names |
| A．Miss Mary | B．Miss Brown | C．Miss Mary Joan | D．Miss Joan |
【推荐1】Do you want to know something about American schools? The same as Chinese schools, American schools begin in September after a long summer holiday (暑假). There are two terms in a school year. The first one is from September to January and the second is from February to June.
Most American children begin to go to school when they are five years old. They usually spend twelve years in primary school (小学) and middle school. Most students are seventeen years old when they finish middle school.
Middle school students take only four or five subjects each term, such as English, math, science and so on. They are helpful and welcome. The students have classes happily every day. Of course, they have homework every day. The most common (普遍的) kind of homework is book report (读书报告). To finish homework, they need to go to the library a lot.
They have many activities (活动) after school. Some of them are about sports, like swimming, ball games and running. The students have a good time from these after-school activities in their free time.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. Most American students finish middle school at ________.
| A．five | B．twelve | C．seventeen |
| A．Yes, they are. | B．No, they aren’t. | C．We don’t know. |
| A．School food. | B．School study. | C．School clothes. |
| A．The first term is from January to September. |
| B．A middle school student takes four or five subjects every year. |
| C．Book report is a kind of homework in middle school. |
【推荐2】There is a zoo named Zhongshan Zoo in our city. There are many animals. Some animals are very friendly. But some other animals are not. Tigers, lions and some snakes are dangerous. That’s why they must be in cages. But I don’t think it’s good for animals to be in cages. They need to be free. The animals in cages cannot be happy.
Tigers usually live in forests and mountains. They are strong and can run very fast. They run after small animals like rabbits and deer and eat them, but now they are in small cages. They have nothing to do every day. So they walk around in the cages, and they want to come out. When they are tired, they sleep. I am kind of sorry for them.
1. Why do tigers, lions and snakes have to stay in cages?| A．Because they are very dangerous. | B．Because they are very friendly. |
| C．Because they need to be free. | D．Because they like to be in cages. |
| A．In cages. | B．In forests and mountains. | C．In the zoo. | D．In small rooms. |
| A．驯服的 | B．免费的 | C．自由的 | D．安全的 |
| A．come out | B．eat animals | C．run fast | D．walk around |
| A．Because the writer thinks tigers need to eat food. | B．Because the writer thinks tigers are dangerous. |
| C．Because the writer thinks tigers are tired. | D．Because the writer thinks tigers are very happy. |
【推荐3】One of the easiest ways to keep fit is to do jogging. Jogging doesn’t mean running fast. It is just a little faster than walking.
Jog 20 meters, then walk 20 meters. Little by little, if you are not feeling very tired, you may do more jogging and less walking. It will be easy for you to start jogging for 15 minutes twice a week, and slowly increase this to 20-30 minutes every day. The longer you join in jogging, the more you enjoy it and the healthier you will become.
If you want to start jogging, you should prepare some comfortable sports clothes and good running shoes.
根据短文内容，判断下列句子正误，正确的在答题卡上将“T”涂黑，错误的在答题卡上将“F”涂黑。
1. Jogging means running fast.
2. You can do more jogging if you are not feeling very tired.
3. It is easy to start jogging for the whole day.
4. The more you go jogging, the healthier you will feel.
5. If you want to start jogging, you don’t need some comfortable sports clothes and good running shoes.
