1 .    

Welcome back to school! Have you signed up for an after-school activity yet? Here are some of the activities you can try.

SPORTS TEAMS

Do you like sports? How about joining the football team? It has tryouts at 3:00 pm next Tuesday. Many of our best players have moved up to college. So now the team needs new players. For more information, meet our sports advisors, Ms. Matte or Mr. Stergis.

GOOD AT ART?

This year, your schoolmates in the school art club plan to paint a mural (壁画) on the wall by the office. So they need new members to help create it. Are you interested in drawing, painting or taking photographs? This club is for you. The first meeting of the school year is at 3:15 pm next Wednesday in room 221. Please see Ms. Greenway for more information.

NEW THIS YEAR

There are some new activities you can have a go at. Try the new after-school science club. It has plans to enter the national senior robotics competition this year. So if you want to try building a robot, this club is for you. See Mr. Larson in room 105 for more details. The club meets at 3:30 pm every Thursday.

Do you like acting? Are you good at singing? The school play this year is a musical — The Sound of Music. Come and try out for it at 3:10 pm next Monday in room 125.

For a list of all the after-school activities this year, click here, or pick up a membership form from the advisor’s office — room 107.

1. When are the tryouts for the football team?

A．At 3:10 pm next Monday.	B．At 3:00 pm next Tuesday.
C．At 3:15 pm next Wednesday.	D．At 3:30 pm every Thursday.

2. What does the art club plan to do this year?

A．To paint a mural.	B．To put on a musical.
C．To offer photography courses.	D．To enter a national competition.

3. Where can you get more information about the science club?

A．In room 221.

B．In room 125.

C．In room 107.

D．In room 105.

3 . Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal, or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.

Different cultures emphasise the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example,business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work,it is necessary to spend a lot of time in“small talk”, usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries—like the UK or France—people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.

Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realised that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.

Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.

People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a better chance to us to understand and learn from each other.

1. What’s the benefit of eating together at restaurants in some countries according to this passage?

A．People can develop closer relations.	B．People can share the same culture.
C．People can get to know each other.	D．People can keep each other company.

2. Why does the author mention his experience in Thailand?

A．To show the English prefer to make long speeches.

B．To show too many words are of no use.

C．To show people from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature.

D．To show even talk and silence can be culturally different.

3. According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?

A．By sharing different ways of life.	B．By accepting different habits.
C．By recognising different values.	D．By speaking each other’s languages.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Multicultural Environment	B．Cross-cultural Differences
C．How to Understand Each Other	D．How to Build up a Relationship

4 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar (农历) divides the year into 24 solar terms (节气), which reflect the Chinese people’s understanding of time. Here several special solar terms are listed.

Rain Water

Rain Water signals the increase in rainfall and rise in temperature. With its arrival, the river water defreezes (解冻), wild geese move from south to north, and trees and grass turn green again. Extra care is needed to cope with a returning cold spell in this period. The wet and damp weather during Rain Water period is considered harmful for people’s spleen (脾) and stomach according to Chinese medical practice. Therefore, a bowl of nutritious porridge is the best choice to nourish the body.

Awakening of Insects

As the third solar term in the lunar year, its name implies that animals sleeping in winter are awakened by spring thunder and that the earth begins to come back to life. It is the key time for spring agricultural activities. Modern meteorological (气象) science shows that around this period, the earth becomes wet, the hot humid air from the north is strong and creates frequent winds. For this reason, thunder often occurs.

Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox signals the equal length of the day and night time. On the day of the Spring Equinox, the sun is directly above the equator. After the equinox, the sun moves northwards, resulting in gradually longer day time in the Northern Hemisphere. Standing an egg upright is a popular game during this period. It is believed that if someone can make the egg stand, he will have good luck in the future.

Grain Rain

Grain Rain originates from the old saying, “Rain brings up the growth of hundreds of grains”, which shows that this period of rainfall is extremely important for the growth of crops and people are busy working on the land. Grain Rain falls between the end of spring and the beginning of summer, with infrequent cold air moving to the south and lingering cold air in the north. With dry soil, an unsteady atmosphere and heavy winds and sandstorms become more frequent.

1. What can we know about Rain Water?

A．River water starts to freeze.

B．Taking off the thick coats is advisable.

C．Lively spring-like scenery can be seen.

D．It falls between the end of spring and the start of summer.

2. What do Awakening of Insects and Grain Rain have in common?

A．Farming season.	B．Animal activities.
C．Air temperature.	D．Frequent thundering.

3. On the day of the Spring Equinox,________

A．the sun moves southwards.	B．the sun is directly above the equator.
C．days are short and nights long.	D．it will bring good luck.

4. In which solar term would people most probably put on masks?

A．Rain Water.	B．Grain Rain.
C．Spring Equinox.	D．Awakening of Insects.

6 . How clever can a computer be? Maybe you can get the answer after reading the following passage about a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child.

If you ran into Smarter Child online, you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory. It can remember many facts. For example, Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season and the weather in every city across the US. He also knows every word in the dictionary. However, if you ask Smarter Child other private questions, you will get strange answers. A question about Smarter Child’s age returns, “I’ll be older than you after further study!”, and asking where he lives, you will get, “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California.”

Smarter Child uses the huge information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank. To answer questions about spelling, for example, Smarter Child goes to www.ahdictionary.com. For the weather, he visits www.intellicast.com. He turns to www.the-scientist.com for scientists and www.moviefone.com for a fantastic movie.

Some scientists believe that by joining many systems of the Internet, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the combined (结合的) knowledge of, say, Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born. However, Smarter Child has difficulty in discerning whether a behavior is right or wrong, which is obvious to any young child. If he wants to think and learn without any help from the programmers like boy-computer David in the movie Artificial Intelligence (AI), he must solve two problems.

The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files are sorted in different ways. That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather. It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it by himself. Another problem is that while Smarter Child can deal with information more exactly and faster than any human, he needs programmers to make better systems that allow machines to solve problems of common sense, which is a huge challenge.

1. What may be unknown to Smarter Child?

A．His age.	B．The weather in New York.
C．A word in the dictionary.	D．A player’s name of the Boston Redsox.

2. Which website can Smarter Child visit to answer the spelling questions?

A．www.moviefone.com	B．www.intellicast.com
C．www.the-scientist.com	D．www.ahdictionary.com

3. What does the underlined word “discerning” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Preventing.

B．Copying.

C．Inventing.

D．Telling.

4. How is boy-computer David different from Smarter Child?

A．He has a huge memory.	B．He can think and learn independently.
C．He can make a weather forecast.	D．He deals with information fast.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

English language is closely related to the Frisian German and Dutch. England is the first country     1     (speak) English and now English is the main language of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and many island nations in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is also an     2     (office) language of India, the Philippines, Singapore, and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa     3     include South Africa. English is the first choice of foreign     4     (language) in most countries around the world.     5     third of the world’s population now use English, which is     6     (amaze) to us.   

English belongs     7     the Indo-European family of languages and is therefore related to most other languages spoken in Europe and Western Asia from Iceland to India. During the course of hundreds of years, English words have been     8     (slow) changed from the forms     9     (find) in Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Russian and German to forms, as in Chinese and Vietnamese. The German and Chinese words for the word “man”     10     (be) a typical example. German has five forms: Mann Mannes, Manne, Männer, Männern. Chinese has one form: ren. English stands in between, with four forms: man, man’s, men, men’s.

9 . Since the beginning of history, people have played games. Children in one country may play games that are quite different from those played anywhere else in the world. Here are some interesting games that you and your friends can try.

The Mouse Game (The Philippines)

In this game, a piece of string is tied to the player’s hand. One part of the string represents (代表) the “cat” while the other part is the “mouse”. The aim of the game is for the cat to catch the mouse and for the mouse to escape just in time. It teaches you to focus and move your fingers fast.

Pinata (Mexico)

A pinata is a colorful box made from papers and filled with sweets and toys. Children are blindfolded and take turns at trying to hit the pinata, which usually hangs (悬挂) on a tree or pole. When someone breaks open the pinata, the children run to get the sweets and toys, which they can take away as gifts. This game improves your sense of direction.

Help (China)

Chasing games are popular all around the world. In China, one player is chosen to be the chaser and runs after the other players until someone is caught. No equipment is needed to play this game, but it helps to run fast and have a loud voice for shouting.

Doorkeeper (Afghanistan)

In the villages of Afghanistan, there is no limit to the number of players who can take part in the game. A small rubber ball is all you need to play the game. It helps to have quick reactions and focus your eyes on the ball because you need to prevent the ball getting into the net.

1. Which game offers players presents in the end?

A．The Mouse Game.

B．Pinata.

C．Help.

D．Doorkeeper.

2. What is special about the game Help?

A．It needs no equipment.	B．It limits player numbers.
C．It trains quick reaction.	D．It needs close attention.

3. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To explain the game rules.	B．To introduce some fun games.
C．To tell the origin (起源) of games.	D．To show the advantages of games.

10 . My Chinese speaking experience

It’s one thing to study and learn a language, but it’s quite another when you finally get to use it.

On the _______ from Venice to Paris, a group of girls my age sat around me. I had caught enough of the conversation to know that they were speaking Chinese, but at first I didn’t feel _______starting a conversation with the stranger next to me. If it didn’t _______ well, I’d be stuck next to them for the rest of the flight.

As the food cart began to make its way down the aisle (过道) _______ us, I finally found my chance. I _______ to the girl to my left and asked, “Will you be having lunch?” in Chinese. She nodded her head, then realizing the language I had _______, and asked me in English, “You speak Chinese?”

I was a bit surprised. I _______ again in Chinese. “A little bit but not very well.” She nodded again and then returned to her magazine, _______ my effort to communicate with her. Perhaps I should have lied and said that I spoke better...

Another time, at a dinner I sat next to a man who I knew spoke Chinese. I told him that I was learning Chinese, but _______ only speak a little and not very well. When ________ me use the language, he suddenly began to speak ________ in Chinese, but all I caught was that he told me that for Chinese people, the ability to speak a little bit is actually a lot. His behaviour was the complete opposite of my earlier ________. I felt somewhat overwhelmed (不知所措). I never quite     ________ the chance to continue or make any further efforts because the conversation returned to ________ as other people joined the table.

All in all, my experience has ________me that I still have a lot of work to do.

1.

A．subway

B．train

C．plane

D．boat

2.

A．satisfied

B．lucky

C．happy

D．comfortable

3.

A．go

B．fit

C．feel

D．do

4.

A．beyond

B．with

C．off

D．towards

5.

A．promised

B．turned

C．led

D．referred

6.

A．owned

B．used

C．written

D．advised

7.

A．agreed

B．stressed

C．tried

D．delivered

8.

A．ending

B．making

C．focusing

D．increasing

9.

A．should

B．must

C．need

D．could

10.

A．letting

B．seeing

C．hearing

D．helping

11.

A．rapidly

B．extremely

C．calmly

D．seriously

12.

A．class

B．experience

C．lecture

D．attitude

13.

A．got

B．missed

C．exchanged

D．gave

14.

A．Chinese

B．French

C．English

D．Italian

15.

A．requested

B．left

C．regarded

D．taught