【推荐1】In America and England, if you go to a birthday party, you'll have a good meal and a lot of drinks. After that, you will play different kinds of games.

The children between the age of 10-14 will have a “sleep­over” party.

Usually this kind of party is on a Friday or a Saturday night when the children do not have lessons the next morning. For this kind of party, the birthday person invites 5-6 close friends over for dinner. After dinner, the children will eat cakes and ice­cream, and the birthday person will open his or her gifts.

During the evening, the children may go ice­skating, go to watch basketball or soccer games or something else. Also, the children will eat pancakes at midnight and then go on talking and playing games, such as card games or computer games. Next morning the mother will make a big breakfast of some nice food such as cakes, bread with meat or eggs. Then their parents will pick up the children at about nine o'clock the next morning.

1. When do children have a “sleep­over” party?

A．On a Friday night.

B．On a Tuesday afternoon.

C．On a Thursday morning.

D．On a Monday night.

2. The birthday person will open his or her gifts ________．

A．after dinner	B．before dinner
C．after the party	D．before the party

3. The underlined phrase “pick up” means “________” in Chinese.

A．捡起来	B．接某人
C．送过去	D．挑选出

4. Children will do the following things at the party EXCEPT (除……之外) ________．

A．eating pancakes

B．having a good dinner

C．playing card games

D．making a big breakfast

5. The best title of this passage is ________．

A．How to Make Dinner

B．A Birthday Party

C．A “Sleep­over” Party

D．How to Make Friends

【推荐2】Spring Festival, Chun Jie is the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar. When Chun Jie is coming, people are busy buying goods, cleaning the house, cooking traditional food, making Spring Festival couplets, and hanging spring festival pictures. Dumplings areessentialto the dinner. Dumplings means reunion and goodwill. The whole family gather to enjoy quality family time. On Chun Jie, Lunar New Year’s Day, people in new clothes visit each other, and give money to kids to send good wishes. During Chun Jie holidays all kinds of celebrations are held, including temple fairs, performances, a lantern show which lasts nearly half a month.

The Qing Ming Festival is a day of reverence for Chinese. People hold ceremonies for ancestors, and sweep their tombs (墓)on April 5th every year. According to tradition, during the Tomb Sweeping, people put food in front of the tombs, add new soil on the tomb. Now it is a public holiday in China. Although ceremonies have changed a little with time. Chinese still express their sadness for the dead.

In ancient times, there was a great poet called Qu Yuan. He couldn’t stand the pain when his motherland was invaded, so he drowned himself in the river. Local people drop the rice balls into the river to take away fishes’ attention from Qu’s body. Later people memorialized Qu’s patriotism by rowing and making Zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, Duanwujie. That’s how the tradition of dragon boat racing and eating Zongzi started.

The Qixi Festival, also known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar. It says that a fairy named Zhi Nv, who lived in heaven, fell in love with a cow herder named Niu Lang during her trip to earth. Zhi Nv decided to settle down on earth and lead an ordinary life with Niu Lang.

Just like an ancient Chinese poem says, the moon was rising from the sea and all the people were sharing this moment ...

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. What does the underlıned word “essential” mean in Paragraph 1?

A．美味的

B．必不可少的

C．有趣的

2. What can you learn from the passage?

A．Dumplings are the most important for people to celebrate the Spring Festival.

B．People have to sweep the tomb at the Qixi Festival.

C．Qu Yuan is the main story behind the festival of Duanwujie.

3. What may be talked about in the last paragraph?

A．The Mid-Autumn Festival

B．The National Day

C．The Double Ninth Day

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．The Spring Festival

B．Chinese Traditional Festivals

C．Western Festivals

【推荐3】Sixteen is the age in the United States when teenagers can begin driving. It’s a special age. There’s often a special celebration for a girl’s 16th birthday-a big party called her “sweet 16”.

About a month before the party. the girl’s family sends out invitations to the guests. They must buy a special present for the birthday girl and find good clothes to wear. A “sweet 16” present usually costs $40 to $60. This is about $20 more than the usual cost of a birthday present.   The party itself is not held at someone’s house. The hostess rents a reception hall for the event. Food, cake and a DJ are provided. Around 6 o’clock, guests arrive and say hello to the birthday girl. Then the girl and her father have a special father-daughter dance, After that, guests dance for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Then there is the most important part of the “sweet 16” party, the candle-lighting ceremony. The “sweet 16” hostess stands behind 16 unit candles, and gives each candle to her friends, family, and anyone that she feels is important to her. A lot of crying and hugging goes on at this time.

Afterwards, people sit and eat. Most guests begin leaving around 11 o’clock.

This school year, I have been to two “sweet 16”, I am one of the youngest students in my grade (My birthday is in December).   I’ll have to wait another year before I can have my own special “sweet 16” party. I can’t wait for it!

1. The celebration is usually held in ______.

A．someone’s house

B．a restaurant

C．a school

D．a reception hall

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．In the United States, teenagers can begin driving at the age of 16.

B．A “sweet 16” present is usually less expensive than a birthday present.

C．Only the parents can light the candles for the girl.

D．The party usually lasts for about 11 hours.

3. From the passage, we can learn that the writer is ______.

A．14 years old

B．15 years old

C．16 years old

D．17 years old

4. Which is the correct order of the following events?
a. Food, cake and a DJ are provided.
b. The candle-lighting ceremony takes place.
c. The girl and her father have a father-daughter dance.
d. Guests say hi to the birthday girl.
e. Guests dance.
f. Guests eat.

A．b－a－c－d－e－f

B．d－b－e－c－a－f

C．a－d－c－e－b－f

D．a－d－e－c－f－b

【推荐2】阅读短文，作出选择。 Read the passages and make your choice.

The brain is the most amazing part of our bodies. But just like our bodies, it needs care. Getting a good night’s sleep, eating a balanced diet and taking deep breaths are all important ways of looking after both your body and your brain.

Many people think their brain will slow down with age and their memory will get worse. The truth is, just like your body, you can also improve your brain, I’ve found I can improve my memory by picturing what I need to remember. For example, if I’m going shopping and I need bread, milk and a birthday card for my brother, I picture a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk with a cow in the front and a birthday card with a foot-ball on it.

The same kind of thing can be used with important dates. If you have a picture in your mind of a special event it’s much earsier to remem-ber than just a number.

Another way of improving your mind is to make sure you often visit new places and have new experiences. I find learning Spanish is a great way to keep the brain working, but communication in any language is important.

1. What is the woman’s aim in telling her experience?

A．To explain how the brain works.	B．To talk about problems with the brain.
C．To describe how clever she has become.	D．To tell ways to make the memory better.

2. What can we learn about the woman from the passage?

A．She has a camera.	B．She is learning another language.
C．She likes shopping.	D．She enjoys travelling.

3. How does the woman improve her memory?

A．By doing some medical research.	B．By looking after her body.
C．By picturing what she needs to remember.	D．By doing a lot of shopping.

4. What does the woman say about her own memory?

A．It has been possible to make her memory better.	B．Dates more difficult to remember than numbers.
C．It has got worse over the years.	D．She often forgets birthdays.

5. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Easy ways to improve your mind.	B．The lastest research into the brain.
C．The amazing power of memory.	D．How to remember things you’d forgotten.

【推荐3】We’ve talked about snails (蜗牛)and their slow move. But much of the time snails don’t move at all. They are in their shells —sleeping.

Hot sun will dry out a snail’s body. So at the least sign of hot sun, a snail draws its body into his shell. A snail will die in a heavy rain. So when it rains, a snail does the same thing, too. A snail can sleep for as long as it needs to. It spends all the winter months in its shell, asleep.

In the spring the snail wakes up. Its body, about three inches long, comes out from the shell. When hungry, the snail looks for food. Its eyes, at the end of the top feelers, are very weak. But its sense of smell is very strong. It helps the snail to find food and the new greens.

A snail’s mouth is no bigger than the point of a pin. Yet it has 256, 000 teeth! The teeth are very small, and you can’t see them. If you put a snail in a hard paper box, it will eat its way out! And if a snail wears out its teeth, it will grow new ones.

1. In the sentence “A snail draws its body into its shell”, the word “draw” means ________.

A．to make with a pencil

B．to push

C．to pull

D．to move away

2. A snail goes to sleep when ________.

A．it feels hungry

B．it is put into a paper box

C．spring is coming

D．it rains heavily

3. Which of the following is wrong?

A．In winter the snail doesn’t eat or move.	B．A snail doesn’t like living under the sun.
C．The snail’s teeth can’t be worn out.	D．The snail’s nose helps to find food.