2 . Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in October. It is an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, the aged, and children who have lost their parents, but also friends, workmates, relatives and neighbors whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed.

Over 60 years ago, when a Cleveland man noticed that some people, such as children who lost their parents and patients who lay in bed, too often felt forgotten and neglected, he developed in his mind the idea of showing them that they were remembered. He did this by giving them small gifts. With the help of his friends and neighbors, he gave those people small gifts on a Saturday in October. During the years that followed, other Clevelanders began to take part in the celebration, which came to be called “Sweetest Day”. Over time, the Sweetest Day idea of spreading cheer to the poor, the sick and children who had lost their parents was broadened to everyone, and became an occasion for remembering others with a kind act or a small gift. Soon the idea spread to other cities all over the USA.

Sweetest Day is not based on any single group’s religious beliefs or on a family relationship. It is a reminder that a thoughtful word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning. Because for many people remembering takes the form of gift-giving, Sweetest Day offers us the opportunity to show others that we care, in a positive way.

1. What is Sweetest Day for?

A．To express love to our parents.	B．To remind us of people in need of our help.
C．To draw people’s attention to disabled people.	D．To keep the weak and nice people around us in mind.

2. What does the underlined word “neglected” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Escaped.

B．Ignored.

C．Rejected.

D．Inspired.

3. What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A．The importance of Sweetest Day.	B．The customs of Sweetest Day.
C．The development of Sweetest Day.	D．The future of Sweetest Day.

4. How do most people celebrate Sweetest Day according to paragraph 3?

A．By giving gifts.	B．By offering help to others.
C．By sending others reminders.	D．By showing others their beliefs.

4 . The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues (疫病) that flesh receives.

The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses (病毒) passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.

During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches (战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.

In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp (奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.

At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.

If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.

No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors (止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms (症状).

1. The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.

A．4

B．5

C．6

D．3

2. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?

A．The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.

B．Colds are not caused by cold.

C．People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.

D．A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already had one.

3. Arctic explorers may catch colds when ________.

A．they are working in the isolated Arctic regions

B．they are writing reports in terribly cold weather

C．they are free from work in the isolated Arctic regions

D．they are coming into touch again with the outside world

4. The passage mainly discusses ________.

A．the experiments on the common cold

B．the fallacy about the common cold

C．the reason and the way people catch colds

D．the continued spread of common colds

5 . Last year a group of friends and I began a project called The World Needs You. Its aim is to show how ____ it is to make a positive difference in our community. Over the holidays, we collected hats, ____ and other cold-weather equipment for the “store” at an elementary school, where students can “buy” things with ____ earned through good behavior. It was a ____ way to get these items to children whose families might not be able to ____ them.

“Do the children need anything else?” I asked the coordinator(协调人) when we sent our ____ to him.

“Umbrellas!” she said. “Most of our ____ have to walk to school, and when it rains they come in very ____.”

Of course! I thought. It doesn’t snow much here, ____ we do have a lot of cold rainy days. Parents who are poor might not buy ______. My friends and I began to ____: We sent e-mails, called people and ____ the project at social events. Everyone had the same ____: “I’ve never thought about that before!” We collected more than 50 umbrellas for the school ____ April showers. We were very satisfied. ____, the kids will be singing in the rain!

1.

A．lucky

B．easy

C．wealthy

D．quick

2.

A．glasses

B．needles

C．gloves

D．bowls

3.

A．rewards

B．pleasure

C．tips

D．love

4.

A．common

B．scientific

C．simple

D．good

5.

A．own

B．use

C．accept

D．afford

6.

A．donations

B．screens

C．luggage

D．staffs

7.

A．customers

B．kids

C．teachers

D．employees

8.

A．concerned

B．angry

C．wet

D．nervous

9.

A．but

B．so

C．and

D．or

10.

A．candles

B．umbrellas

C．tickets

D．houses

11.

A．weep

B．recover

C．work

D．understand

12.

A．suffered from

B．made out

C．talked up

D．looked into

13.

A．response

B．level

C．pay

D．height

14.

A．in need of

B．in favor of

C．for lack of

D．in time for

15.

A．Surprisingly

B．Hopefully

C．Interestingly

D．Luckily