1 . 语法填空

Understanding culture through music

Last night, I watched a performance of Butterfly Lovers, a piece that really deserves     1    (hear).

The music took me through the twists and turns of a classic story about a young couple     2     (tear) apart by their families. When the two lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, first meet, the music is light and pleasant, as if     3    (whisper) to the audience. It is followed by a fast and cheerful section which represents their three happy years of school. Then the music gets dramatic with     4    (heavy) notes and that is when the lovers are separated     5     Zhu's father forces her to marry another man. Angry and sad, Liang falls and dies. Zhu weeps     6     (bitter) over the loss of her love. Overcome with sorrow, she jumps into his grave. Finally, during     7     most exciting part, the music takes a softer turn and ends on a bittersweet note, telling us how the couple transform     8     butterflies and fly away to be together forever.

Butterfly Lovers combines Chinese and Western musical elements: it     9    (play) on Western instruments such as the violin, but more significantly, much of the music has its roots in Chinese Yue Opera. This unique     10     (combine) made me realize that music is indeed a universal language.

2 . 语法填空

Eating in China

The mouth-watering hot pots of Sichuan are as famous overseas as they are in China, and the hot flavour is enough to heat up a cold midwinter evening or to let loose rivers of sweat on a summer afternoon. I gave it my     1     (one) try last night, together with a few local friends! As the soup bubbled slowly over a gas burner in the middle of the table, its surface     2    (cover) with a beautiful layer of chillies, Sichuan peppers, spring onions and red oil.     3     (slow) at first, and then faster and faster, we tipped plates of fresh meat, fish and vegetables into the pot. The hot flavour quickened our     4     (laugh) and conversation, making the meal the perfect way to relax with friends.

Sichuan hot pots are perfect for the damp, foggy climate     5     which they were invented. They are believed     6    (start) off in the late Qing Dynasty as a way for boatmen on the Yangtze River to keep warm during the cold and wet winters. In the beginning, the delicious dish was made simply by     7     (boil) vegetables, chillies and Sichuan peppers in water. Over time, it     8    (expand) to include multiple options of soups, vegetables, meats and sauces, appealing to people of different tastes.     9     I love best about Sichuan hot pots is that they offer a great opportunity to socialize with friends since a meal can last for hours. I instantly became     10     big fan of Sichuan hot pots and I’ll soon be back for more!

3 . 语法填空

One summer it started to rain here and didn't stop for 14 hours. When people saw their homes, businesses, roads, and bridges    1    (destroy) over floods, they cried. Of course, many people    2     (lose) their lives. After it was over, people walked through the mud (泥) left behind    3     (find) as many things as they could. Some cried sadly over what they had lost. Others cried in joy when they found their loved ones alive.

When the water went down, though, a     4     (surprise) thing happened.People immediately started to help each other.Some     5     (willing) donated food, water, clothing, and cash to help those    6    had lost everything.Others went out in the deep mud,     7    (help) clean up the damage.Still others spent their days carrying some     8     (supply) to the people who needed them.

    9    is unbelievable how often the worst things in life bring out the best in us. The love, care and compassion (同情) that I saw in those days have touched my soul. It has made me realize how good people really are. May we always come together in both good and bad times. May we always do all we can to fill our life    10    love.

4 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式

Sarah Jayne is a twenty-year-old girl from the U. K. After she read the book Pay It Forward, she realized that our world would become a much     1     (good) place if everyone could do three favors for others. She lost her father     2     the age of eight, so she felt pity for her friend's children whose dad died     3     (recent). Sarah talked and played with the children to make their mother's life easier.

This “success” led to the second favor, which was to set up a counseling (咨询) service at her school     4     (help) improve the students' mental health. Her third favor was for a neighbor, an old woman named Anna who lost     5     (she) eyesight. It was Anna that     6     (introduce) the book Pay it Forward to Sarah two months ago. As she loved reading, it was     7    real act of kindness to spend time     8     (read) out loud for the neighbor and keeping her company every night. Sarah said, “I couldn't believe at first how three small favors could make a big     9     (different). All the people     10     were helped by me have promised to pay favors forward.”

5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式（不多于3个单词）。

In western countries the only person who might dare to tell you that you are fat is your     1     (person) doctor. Then he would probably tell you how to lose weight. In China, there is no such inhibition (拘谨) as to     2     (talk) about people’s weight. It     3     (be) common for Chinese to go to foreigners, saying, “You are fat.” While talking with     4    Chinese friend about this, she told me that I was wrong and that Chinese will normally say, “You are so fat.” There are several reasons     5     people will say this. Firstly, there aren’t many fat people in China. It is almost a     6     (curious) to see someone fat. Secondly, there are     7     (few) private issues. Thirdly, people just feel freer to speak exactly what is on their mind. Try feeding Western dessert to Asians     8    you will always hear “too sweet, too sweet”. Some Chinese think that all Westerners are fat. Once I     9     (play) basketball when a guy said, “Why are you so skinny?” I thought all people from America were fat.” Perhaps if more people in American comment on others’ weight, then it might help remind people to try     10     (stay) fit.

6 . Do you like travelling? Staying     1    (health) while     2    (travel) can help to ensure your trip is a happy and enjoyable one.     3    you are travelling abroad, here are the tips you need to make your trip much     4    (easy):

Make sure you have got signed passport (护照) and visas. Also, before you go, fill in the emergency information page of your passport! Make two copies of your passport identification page. This will help a lot if your passport     5    (steal). Leave one copy at home with friends or relatives. Carry the other     6    you in a separate place from your passport.

Read the Public Announcements or Travel Warnings for the countries you plan to visit. Get yourself familiar with local laws and customs of the countries to     7    you are travelling.

Leave a copy of your itinerary (旅行日程) with family or friends at home so that you can be contacted in case of an emergency.

Do not accept packages from strangers. Do not carry too much money or     8    (necessary) credit cards. If we make enough     9    (prepare), we will succeed. Have     10    good time!

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。

More than twenty American states ban smoking in public.     1     study has proved that smoke-free laws can reduce a major effect of tobacco—heart disease.The study     2     (take) place in Pueblo, Colorado several years ago. In some states, there were 396 heart attack     3     (patient) in the year before the ban in hospitals.

However,18 months     4     the ban, the number was 237. Smoking in enclosed (封闭的) places is very     5     (harm) to non-smoke. Adults may think they are     6     (actual) protecting their children from second-hand smoke when they smoke outside their homes, or when the children are not there. However, researchers     7     (warn) of what they call “third-hand smoke” so far. When you smoke they say, dangerous matter from tobacco smoke gets into     8     (you) hair and clothing. Then, when you touch a baby, the baby comes into contact with that poisonous matter. The researchers also found that people,     9     agreed that smoke was bad for children’s health, were more likely to have restriction on     10     (smoke) in their homes than others.

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Some time after 10,000 BC, people made the first real attempt to control the world they lived     1     , through agriculture. Over thousands of years, they began to depend less on     2     could be hunted or gathered from the wild, and more on animals they had raised and crops they had sown.

Farming produced more food per person     3     hunting and gathering, so people were able to raise more children. And，as more children were born, more food     4    (need). Agriculture gave people their first experience of the power of technology     5    (change) lives.

By about 6000 BC，people     6     (discover)the best crops to grow and animals to raise. Later，they learned to work with the     7     (season)，planting at the right time and, in dry areas,     8     (make) use of annual floods to irrigate (灌溉) their fields.

This style of farming lasted for quite a long time. Then，with     9     rise of science, changes began. New methods     10     (mean) that fewer people worked in farming. In the last century or so, these changes have accelerated. New power machinery and artificial fertilizers (化肥) have now totally transformed a way of life that started in the Stone Age.

9 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Kilns (窑) had to burn day and night in Jingdezhen, a city in Jiangxi province of southeastern China,     1     (meet) demand from around the globe.

Today, though demand is much     2     (low), people are making porcelain the same way they have for hundreds of years, with Jingdezhen’s old masters still     3     (pray) to the kiln gods.

Meanwhile, across town, creative new craftspeople are bringing new     4     (idea) into the art and new life to the once factories and villages. It’s fair to say that Jingdezhen people live and     5     (breath) porcelain, but they aren’t doing it alone.

“Jingdezhen is more than a historical town. The old and new are combined perfectly here.” Says Hu Chunxiao, a local artist     6     family has worked in the industry for generations. The traditional and modern exist in harmony, which makes     7     one of the most interesting towns in China for travel.

Despite being a center of porcelain for 1,700 years, Jingdezhen is never short     8     great natural scenes. The surrounding area is famous for abundant     9     (hide) landscape — mountains, streams, farms and forests. Artists who desire a peaceful life     10     (draw) here since the ancient times.

10 . 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。

Clowns (小丑)are almost everywhere in popular culture. But what they represent     1    (change) a lot over the past 400 years.

Clowns began appearing in     2     form we recognize today in European theaters in the 17th century. With brightly colored clothes, big red noses and colorful faces, clowns tried every means to act foolish or play tricks     3     (make) the audience laugh.

Clowns became popular in the US in the 1960s. A happy clown     4     (choose) by McDonald's to appear in its advertisements. Today, as we know, that company mascot (吉祥物)， Ronald McDonald, is world famous.

However, the image of a happy clown is largely an American creation. In other cultures, the clown character is not     5     (necessary) good. One example is “Mr. Punch”, who was popular in British and French theaters during the 1700s. While Mr. Punch was funny, he was also violent, often     6     (hit) his wife during the show,     7     gave rise to the name of “bad clowns”. Even today, in the eyes of some people, clowns are evil (邪恶的)and     8     (frighten).

Of course, there are different voices. Some people think clowns are positive, creative and imaginative. They bring people     9     (please) and laughter. That's     10     attracts people, especially children, to clowns. They believe that as long as there are children in the world, there will be a future for clowns.