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 . To us, it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains. But in fact the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain. Its first use was as a sunshade（遮阳伞）.
Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the Chinese were the first to use it, back in the 11th century BC.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing that connected with its use: it was a symbol of honor and power. In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in the upper class or by royal people such as kings or queens.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. The umbrella was in common use in ancient Greece, but it is believed that the first people in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans. During the Middle Ages in Europe.
The umbrella has not changed much in style during all the time, though it has become much lighter in weight. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the umbrellas for women began to be made in all kinds of colors.
1. Ancient people first used umbrellas as ________.| A．a symbol of honor | B．protection against the sun |
| C．a symbol of power | D．protection against the rain |
| A．王室的 | B．富裕的 | C．中产的 | D．平民的 |
| A．the sales of the umbrella | B．the differences among umbrellas |
| C．the invention of the umbrella | D．the history and use of the umbrella |
3 . Reading for pleasure（消遣） is the easiest way to become a better reader in English. It is also the most important way.
Some students say they don’t want to rend for pleasure. They say they want to use their time to learn the rules of the language and new words. They say that pleasure reading is too busy.
Many experts (专家) say pleasure reading is very important for learning English. Dr. Stephen Krashen, a famous expert on learning languages, says that pleasure reading helps you learn many important things about English. Students learn more grammar and more words when they read for pleasure. They also learn more about good writing.
Dr. Krashen tells us that pleasure reading helps each student in a different way. Each student needs to learn something different. Pleasure reading makes it possible for each student to learn what he or she needs.
Reading for pleasure is not the same as studying. When you read for pleasure, you choose your own books, and you don’t have to remember everything. There are no tests on your pleasure reading books. Pleasure reading will help you:
●learn how English speakers use English
●read faster in English
●find examples of good writing in English
●learn new words
●learn about the culture of English speakers
1. Reading for pleasure is the ________ way to become a better reader in English.| A．best | B．fastest | C．easiest | D．nearest |
| A．grammar and listening | B．listening and spelling | C．listening and speaking | D．grammar and words |
| A．something difficult | B．something different | C．something easy | D．something important |
