The Lantern Festival is an important festival in China. And the activities of Chinese New Year will reach a high point on this day.
Early on the morning of this day, there will be dragon dance and lion dance in the streets, and all the streets will be crowded with people.
The happiest moment comes on the evening of this day. In the evening, families will go out together to enjoy the full moon and the colorful lanterns and also guess the lantern riddles（谜语）. In some places of China, people even fly Kongming Lanterns. People often write their beautiful wishes on the Kongming Lanterns before flying them.
Yuanxiao is a special food on the day. This food is usually eaten together with families. The round shape of the balls means family togetherness（家庭和睦） and reunion. This food is also known as tangyuan. According to an old story, during the time of Yuan Shikai’s rule from AD 1912 to AD 1916, he disliked the name of yuanxiao because it sounded like “remove（除掉） Yuan”, so he gave orders to change the name to tangyuan.
This day also means the end of Chinese New Year celebration.
1. The happiest time of the Lantern Festival is on2. People often
3. Why did Yuan Shikai dislike yuanxiao?
4. Which English word in the passage means “团聚”?
It’s “
5. What’s the topic sentence for the passage?
The topic sentence is “
2 . Would you like to be comfortable talking to other people? Holding（保持）conversations may help. Holding conversations may not seem like a skill. After all, everyone talks to other people frequently（频繁地）. But talking to new people makes many people nervous. Here are some ways to make conversations more fun and less awkward（尴尬的）.
Body language
As strange as it may seem, much communication happens without any words. The way you stand and act tells people a lot about you. When you’re talking with someone, stand up straight and have eye contact（有眼神交流）. This shows that you’re confident. And if you’re nervous, acting like you’re confident can help you feel more confident. When you’re listening, look at the other person in the eye. Lean（倾斜）forward to show that you’re interested in what they’re saying.
Back and forth（双方共同参与）
A good conversation is not a speech, which means that both people need to participate. If you’re doing all the talking, pause to give the other person time to speak. If they don’t say anything, try asking them a question.
Questions can also help if you’re trying to think of something to say. If you ask the other person a question, they’ll talk for a while. People are generally trying to find others with similar interests. When you ask questions, try to come up with open-ended（开放的）ones. That means questions where the answer is more than just “yes” or “no”. Open-ended questions in English tend to start with who, what, when, where and why.
Don’t fear silence
Don’t feel worried if the conversation has quiet moments. Every conversation has some. It is a time to change the subject（话题）to something you’re interested in. You could also comment on（评论）something you’ve done recently. Or once again, you can ask a question about the other person.
So if you’re shy, be brave, ask a question, and start a conversation. As with any skill, you will improve on holding conversations with time.
1—2题完成句子；3题简略回答问题；4题找出并写下全文主题句；5题将文中划线句子译成汉语。
1.
2. We don’t have to
3. Please give a good example of an open-ended question when talking with your friend about the holiday experience.
4.
5.
3 . Creativity (创造力) comes from imagination. When you imagine a new way of doing something and then take action to do it, you are being creative. Generally, there are three steps to be creative.
Step 1 Getting knowledge and skills of how things are done.
Strong knowledge and skills help you understand how to do something. Knowing when and how to apply (运用) this knowledge comes from studying how others deal with the same situation. Think about learning to play the piano. In this step, you learn how to read music and where the keys are on the piano. You also practice playing.
Step 2 Learning to copy the way that people do those things.
Practicing how others do something will bring what you have learned. Repeating other people’s skills will create a lot of experience and increase understanding. So your next step in playing the piano would be seeing how other good musicians play, and copying their songs and styles of playing.
Step 3 Exploring new and maybe better ways of doing things.
Knowing the rules, and then using or breaking them in your own style is the basic creativity. At this point in playing the piano, you are experimenting with your own styles of playing; you might play songs in new ways; or even write your own songs and music. Make time to think about different ideas. Sometimes you need to be brave enough to try new things.
Being creative is the useful ability to help solve problems in many different situations. Being able to come up with new ideas will make your life more successful, more enjoyable. So start being creative today!
1题完成句子；2、3、4题简略回答问题；5题找出并写下全文的主题句。
1. If you want to understand how to do something, you should have strong
2. Why do you need to repeat other people’s skills?
3. How can you make your life more successful, more enjoyable?
4. Do you think it is necessary to be creative? Why or why not?
5.
4 . Some people believe that your nationality can influence （影响）your personality. This is why you might hear someone saying “She is a typical(典型的) Australian” or “He is so French”. It seems that people from a certain country share certain similar characteristics.
French
French people are often seen as romantic and outgoing people with a great love for life, food and wine. They are good at singing and dancing.
Chinese
Chinese are friendly people who are hard-working. They are polite because they are careful about “saving face” when dealing with other people.
Australians
Australians are merry people who spend a lot of time outdoors. They enjoy a slower life. They laugh a lot but sometimes people think they are loud and rude.
Germans
Germans are often described as being serious and careful. They are hard workers and pay a lot of attention to details. However, sometimes people say Germans have no sense of humour.
All these national types can be true for some people, but very wrong for others. For example, you might meet a German who is a confident singer with a great sense of humour, or an Australian who is shy and quiet.
| Personalities and Nationalities | ||
| Opinion | People from a certain country | |
| French | Romantic and Love life, food and wine Good singers and | |
| Chinese | Friendly, hard-working and polite Afraid of “ | |
| Australians | Like to stay Laugh Merry, sometimes loud and rude. | |
| Germans | Pay attention to Serious and careful, not | |
| Conclusion | Nationalities may | |
Every time a new year rolls around, people set out to live a better life. They promise themselves that they will lose weight, find a new job or maybe even take that vacation they’ve always talked about. But why do we make those promises to ourselves and where did this tradition come from? It started with the ancient Babylonians.
Around 4,000 years ago in Babylon, the earliest recorded celebration honoring the coming of a new year was held. The calendar was different back then. The Babylonians started the new year in late March during the first new moon after the spring equinox (春分). The events were known as the Akitu festival (阿基图庆典), which lasted 11 days. They celebrated the rebirth of the sun god. Babylonians made promises in order to make all of their gods happy. They felt this would help them start the new year with better luck. This is how the tradition started.
New Year’s resolutions (决心) continued on with the Romans. When the early Roman calendar no longer went well with Earth’s traveling around the sun, Caesar decided to make a change. He talked to the best astronomers (天文学家) and mathematicians (数学家) of his time and introduced the Julian calendar, which is similar to our Gregorian calendar. Caesar set January 1 as the first day of the year to honor Janus, the god of new beginnings. The Romans celebrated the New Year by offering animals to Janus in a special way.
To this day, the traditions of the ancient Babylonians and Romans are still widely spread all over the world. However, not many people keep the resolutions they make. Google launched a Resolution Map in 2013 to see how many people keep their resolutions. Only eight percent of people were successful in achieving them.
However, with 4,000 years worth of history telling us so, this tradition is certain to live on. That statistic (数字) is hard to argue with.
Long | |
| Introduction | ●People hope to get much ●The ancient Babylonians |
| Beginning | ●The first celebration that was recorded honoring the coming of a new year was held ●Babylonians made promises in the hope that they would be |
| Development | ●Caesar decided to change the early Roman calendar because it didn’t ●He talked to the best |
| Nowadays | ●The traditions of the ancient Babylonians and Romans are still ●Only a |
| Conclusion | ●The long history |
6 . It’s healthy to eat at home. But sometimes you just want to eat out. How can you have a delicious and healthy meal at the restaurant near home? The following ways can help you a lot.
Before you order, you’d better have a good look at the menu. Have no idea what the dish（菜肴）is? Ask the waiter. Then you don’t need to eat any food you don’t like. It’s good for you to order some fish and vegetables.
When you are enjoying your food, use a small plate and eat slowly. A small plate can help you eat less, but make you feel full quickly.
You may want a piece of cake for dessert after the meal. Stop! There is too much sugar in it. All you really need is some oranges. If there isn’t any fresh fruit at the restaurant, don’t order any more.
It’s time to go home. Don’t take the bus or taxi. Take a walk, please.
1题完成句子；2、3题简略回答问题；4题找出并写下全文主题句；5题将文中画线句子译成汉语。
1. It’s healthy to have
2. How many ways does the writer show us?
3. Why can’t you have a piece of cake for dessert after the meal?
4.
5.
American astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir have completed the first all-women spacewalk. On October 18, they went outside in space to change the battery (电池) part of International Space Station (ISS).
The spacewalk started at 7:38 am and lasted more than 7 hours, ending at 2:55 pm. People around the world watched it on TV, computers and their phones.
Spacewalking is one of the most dangerous jobs an astronaut can do. The world’s first spacewalk took place in 1965 and the first woman astronaut walked in space in 1984. So far, there have been more than 200 space walkers. Only 15 are women.
This all-women spacewalk was in fact planned for March. But because there weren’t enough medium-sized spacesuits (宇航服), it was completed by a man astronaut and a woman astronaut.
“We don’t want to take too much credit (荣誉) because there have been many others—before us,” Meir said. “This is just the first time that there have been two women outside at the same time. For us, this is really just doing our common work.”
The first all-women spacewalk | |
| Task | To |
| Time | They walked in space for more than The all-women spacewalk was delayed (延迟) because of the |
| History of spacewalk | In 1965, the world’s first spacewalk took place. The first woman astronaut walked in space in 1984. |
| Feelings | Meir thought they just did something |
8 . When we buy a house, we all want to have nice neighbours, because most of us think that it is helpful to live with some good neighbours. But what kind of neighbour is good? The answers are different from people to people. Here are my answers.
First, it is very important to respect each other. If our neighbour tries to know more about our life, how will we feel? He or she may also talk with others about our life. Do you want to live with him or her any more? The answer is “No”. We will feel very sad to have this kind of neighbour and move away quickly.
Next, a good neighbour is always ready to give us a hand when we need him or her. For example, if we are not at home, our good neighbour will watch our house for us.
Finally, a good neighbour should love the environment (环境). He or she never puts rubbish here and there. Good neighbours should keep the place clean, because the good environment can make us comfortable and happy.
I think we all should learn to be good neighbours, and I also hope everyone will have good neighbours and live a happy life.
1. Why do we want to have nice neighbours?2. If your neighbour tries to know more about your life, what will you do?
3. How will you feel in the good environment?
4. How many qualities（品质）of good neighbours are mentioned (被提及) in this passage?
5. What is a good neighbour like in your mind? (根据短文内容自拟一句作答)
9 . The Great Wall of China is one of the greatest wonders of the world. It runs across North China like a huge dragon. It winds its way from west to east, across deserts, over mountains, through valleys, till finally it reaches the sea.
It has a history of more than 2,000 years. The major renovations（修复）of the Great Wall took place in the Qin, Han and Ming dynasties. Most of the Great Wall we see today was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. It is more than 6,000 kilometers long, about 6-7 meters high and 4-5 meters wide. In most places it has enough room for five horses or ten men to walk side by side along the top. It has great gateways which connect the main roads of North China.
The hardships involved in building the Great Wall are beyond imagination. Lots of people had to leave their homes and families, they worked hard. Many died on the worksites. Of the many legends about the Great Wall, the story of Lady Mengjiang is the most moving. After her husband went to build the Great Wall, she expected to see him so much that she traveled many miles to see him. A man told her that her husband had died and was buried under the wall. After hearing that, Mengjiang cried for three days and nights. At last, the Great Wall fell down.
Over the centuries, the Great Wall has become a symbol of consolidation（团结）and strength for the Chinese people. It symbolizes that great achievement can be made by people. For example, the national anthem（国歌）called on the people to “build our new Great Wall with our flesh and blood”. We all know that nothing is impossible, if we put our whole heart into it.
Title: The Great Wall | |
| Main Parts | Detailed Information |
| Introduction | The Great Wall was mainly renovated by The Great Wall is so |
| Hardships | Lots of people lost their |
| Lady Mengjiang’s story showed the love to her | |
| Spirit | Consolidation and |
Every child in China grows up hearing the story about Sun Wukong. Now there is a Peking Opera（京剧）film named Havoc in Heaven（《大闹天宫》）. The story is one of the best-known parts from Journey to the West. From it, we can see how Sun Wukong turned from a happy monkey into the great Monkey King.
To make young people interested in traditional Chinese performance（表演）art, Fujian Peking Opera Theater made the film. “It’s a big challenge to make the Peking Opera film. It’s really different from the common films we watch,” said Cheng Lu, the director（导演）of the film. “Peking Opera has its own way to tell a story. And the big screen leaves no room for actors to make mistakes.”
To show the performing skill of Peking Opera in every possible way, four young actors played the role of Sun Wukong in the film. For Zhan Lei is one of the four actors, taking part in Havoc in Heaven made his childhood dream come true. He is a big fan of Sun Wukong, and Journey to the West is his favorite book. “This film explains the cultural importance of Peking Opera and it is possible to draw（吸引）younger fans to Peking Opera,” Zhan said.
Every Chinese kid knows the story about Sun Wukong. To develop younger people’s interests in |
