1 . I work in a bank, from Monday to Friday. My house is near a park and is about ten kilometres from my office. So I usually go to work by train. I usually get up at 6:30 a.m. and take the train at 7:00 a.m. It usually takes me about thirty minutes to get to my office. The train is quick and cheap. So I am never late for work. —Anna
I am a student. My house is near a lake. And my school is just across from (在……对面) the lake. So I can walk across a bridge to school. It takes me about thirty minutes. But I often go to school by boat, because it is more fun. It takes me about twenty minutes. —Joe
I’m a waitress (服务员). I work in a restaurant, from Monday to Saturday. I often go to work by bus. It is about five kilometres from my house to the restaurant. It takes me about twenty-five minutes to go to work by bus. Sometimes I am late for work because the traffic is very busy. —Nancy
1. What time does Anna usually arrive at her office?2. How does Joe often go to school?
3. How far is it from Nancy’s house to her working place?
4. What’s the Chinese meaning of the word “traffic”?
5. How many days does Nancy work every week?
2 . Men are the cleverest and most dangerous animals on the earth. Rats come second. Men kill many beasts, and they've even killed millions of men since very long ago, but rats kill more men. Rats carry many diseases and these diseases have killed and are still killing thousands and thousands of men today in many countries. Rats are dangerous not only in one way. They not only carry diseases into men's homes, they also eat up men's food. They eat 33 million tons of grain every year. Men starve because rats eat their food. Rats are clever, too. They have good leaders to tell them the food is terrible when men put poison in it. There are a lot of rats in our cities and villages today. We can go to the moon, but we can not kill all these terrible animals. Is this dangerous enemy too clever and grows too fast, or are we not clever enough and not clean enough?
1. Why are people thought to be the most dangerous animals in the world?__________________________________________________________________
2. How do rats kill men?
__________________________________________________________________
3. How much grain do rats eat in a year?
___________________________________________________________________
4. How do rats know there is some poison in the food?
___________________________________________________________________
5. What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?
___________________________________________________________________
3 . Can dolphins talk? Maybe they can't talk with words, but they talk with sounds. Dolphins travel in a group. We call a group of fish a "school". They don't study but they travel together. Dolphins are mammals, not fish, but they swim together in a school.
Dolphins talk to other dolphins in the school. They give information. They tell when they are happy or sad or afraid. They say welcome when a dolphin comes back to the school. They talk when they play.
They make a few sounds above water. They make many more sounds under water. People can't hear these sounds because they are very high. Scientists make tapes of the sounds and study them. Sometimes people catch a dolphin for a large aquarium(水族馆). People watch the dolphins in a show. Dolphins don't like to be away from their school. In the aquarium they are sad and lonely. There are many stories about dolphins. They can help people. Sometimes they save somebody's life. Dolphin meat is good but people don't like to kill them. They say that dolphins bring good luck. Many people believe this.
1. What is a school of dolpins?2. When do dolphins talk to others?
3. When do they say “ Welcome” ?
4. Do they make more sounds above or under water?
5. Can people hear dolphin sounds? Why ?
6. How does a dolphin feel in a aquarium?
4 . Different countries have different customs(礼仪). We’ better find out their customs so that they will not think us ill-mannered. Here are some examples of the things that a person with good education does or does not do.
If you visit a Chinese family, you should knock on the door first. When the door opens, you should not move before the host says “Come in, please”. After you enter the room, you can’t be seated before the host asks you to. When a cup of tea is put on the table in front of you or sent to your hands, you should say “Thank you” and receive it with your two hands, not one hand, or they will think you are impolite. Before entering a house in Japan, taking off your shoes is good manners. In European countries, even though the shoes sometimes become very dirty, this is not done. In a Malay house, a visitor never finishes the food on the plate. Instead, He leaves a little to show that he has enough. In England, a visitor always finishes the food or drink to show that he has enjoyed it. This will make the host pleased.
1. All countries have the same customs, don’t they?2. What should we do first when we visit a friend in China?
3. How should we receive a cup of tea?
4. What is one of the good manners in Japan according to the passage?
5. What should we do before we go to other countries?
Tigers live in the forests and they are the kings of the forests. They look like cats, but much bigger than cats. They are very strong. They have “a brown coat with black strips”. They have long tails and the tails are about 80-150 cm long. 4.老虎能跑得很快。They catch small animals as their food. Their favorite animals are deer and boars.
Today, the number of the wild tigers is becoming smaller and smaller. People cut down many trees so tigers are losing their homes. 5. Some people even kill tigers for their skin. We must stop all these things and save tigers. Because the world without tigers is not a completed(完整的) one.
任务一：根据短文内容，回答问题。
1. Where do tigers live?
2. Why is the number of tigers becoming smaller and smaller?
3. What’s the title for this passage?
任务二：翻译文中画线部分。
4.
5.
6 . Baseball(棒球) is one of the most popular sports in the USA. Children play baseball in sports fields or parks. At a summer picnic, there is often an informal( 非正式的) baseball game. The young and the old take turns( 轮流) to bat(击球). There are nine players in each team. The baseball season goes from April to September. During this time, baseball matches are shown on TV and members of important baseball teams become America's heroes(英雄). At the end of the season the two top teams play against each other. Many baseball fans go to watch the game. Millions of others listen to the radio or watch TV. People seem to talk only about the game. Even a long time after it is over, they still talk about the result and the players.
1. Do people in America love playing baseball?2. Where do children play baseball in America?
3. How many players are there in a baseball team?
4. Who will become America's heroes during the baseball season?
5. How can people know the information( 信息) about the baseball game?
7 . PISA is not the same as pizza, although both words are pronounced the same by Chinese. Pizza, of course, is the tasty Italian dish of crispy bread topped with many wonderful flavors. PISA, on the other hand, is just a test, a reflection of the knowledge you learn in school. And how could that possibly be as flavorful as pizza?!
PISA stands for Programme for International Student Assessment. It’s a test taken every three years by fifteen-year-olds worldwide. It tests students’ ability in math, reading and science. Last year’s results were just released and they show that Shanghai students are ranked number one in the world. Yes, that’s right! Shanghai students are the best in the world!
Shanghai students are the best because they are also the hardest working. No other students in the world put in as many hours of study, homework and test taking as Shanghai students. And few others feel the stress of schoolwork like Shanghai students.
That’s why the Shanghai education authority is encouraging students to step away from their books from time to time and take up hobbies or join clubs. Schools are setting aside time and providing facilities so that students can follow some personal interests such as photography, art, singing and dancing. They want students to have a little more flavor in their lives.
Doing well on the tests like PISA is important, but developing yourself as a whole person is also important. There is no end to the flavor you can add to pizza, and there should be no limit to the amount of flavors you can add to your own life.
1. Is PISA pronounced that same as pizza by Chinese?__________________________________________________________
2. What does PISA stand for?
__________________________________________________________
3. How often is PISA taken?
__________________________________________________________
4. What did the last year’s results show?
__________________________________________________________
5. Why is the Shanghai education authority encouraging students to step away from their books?
__________________________________________________________
6. Is it a good idea that schools are setting aside time and providing facilities for the students? Why or why not?
__________________________________________________________
Ella has been to a lot of interesting places, and this time she went to Thailand（泰国）. Let's travel with her.
Elephants everywhere The elephant is the most important animal in Thailand, just like the panda is in China. There are lots of elephants here. You can meet elephants everywhere in this country. People often ride on elephants and go to different places.
Market on the water Do you know anything about the "market on the water"? There are many rivers in this city. People sell flowers, vegetables and other goods（东西）on their boats.
Water-splashing Festival（泼水节）It is the biggest festival in Thailand. It's in the middle of April every year. For three days, people sing, dance and splash water on each other. They think that water can clean away bad things and bring good luck. They give their best wishes to their families and friends with water.
1. What is the most important animal in Thailand?2. Where do people sell flowers?
3. When is the Water-splashing Festival?
4. What do people think of water?
5. For how many days do people celebrate the Water-splashing Festival?
6. What do you think of Bangkok?
9 . On Christmas Eve- the night before Christmas Day, children are very happy. They put their stockings at the end of their beds before they go to bed. They want Father Christmas to give them some presents. Mr. Green tells his children that Father Christmas is a very kind man. He comes on Christmas Eve. He lands on top of each house and comes down the chimney into the fireplace and brings them a lot of presents. Christmas Day always begins before breakfast. The children wake up very early. They can't wait to open the presents in their stockings. Then they wake up their parents and say: Merry Christmas! Do you know what Christmas means? Christmas Day is the birthday of Jesus Christ.
1. What is Christmas Eve?It is
2. Where do children put their stockings before they go to bed?
They
3. When does Father Christmas come?
4. What does Father Christmas bring to children?
5. Are children happy on Christmas Day?
6. What do children say to their parents on the morning of Christmas?
10 . Lily has been in Hong Kong for about two weeks. She found that people in Hong Kong have different eating times and habits from hers.
In London, people usually have some bread for breakfast but people in Hong Kong have congee. People in London often have hamburgers for lunch at one o'clock. People in Hong Kong have hamburgers too, but less often. They usually have different kinds of dishes or dumplings instead. Lily really loves Chinese food. There are so many kinds and they are all very delicious.
In the evening, people in London usually have dinner at about seven o'clock. Not in Hong Kong! In Hong Kong people have dinner at about ten! In London, Lily is usually in bed by eleven. But in Hong Kong, the streets are full every night. A lot of people go to bed until midnight because they like to have some drinks with their friends after dinner. Hong Kong is really an everbright city（不夜城）.
1. How long has Lily been in Hong Kong?2. What do people in Hong Kong usually have for breakfast?
3. People in Hong Kong never have hamburgers for lunch, do they?
4. When do people in London usually have dinner?
5. Why do a lot of people in Hong Kong go to bed until midnight?
6. What do you think of the life in Hongkong?
