1 . While I was working at a French school, I was often preparing my work in the staff room. Sometimes I would hear the school secretary talking. At first I thought she was talking to me, as there was no one else in the room except me, so I tried to respond to her. However, I soon realized that in fact, she was talking to herself. I noticed a lot of people do this in France. In the UK, people might think you’re a bit strange if you talk to yourself at work, but there it seemed quite normal. It really did confuse me at times, because I was not sure whether people were talking to me or just talking to themselves.
Another area of confusion involved the French language. In French, there are two ways to say “you”: “tu” is the informal form while “vous” is the formal form. This is an aspect of French which, even now, I do not really understand. When I learnt French, I was taught to call everyone vous unless they were my family or friends. So I was surprised that virtually everyone in France used the informal tu all the time. School children used tu when they stayed with their teachers and all the staff called the head teacher tu. But I continued to use vous because I didn’t want people to think I was impolite.
As you might know, school children in the UK traditionally wear school uniforms but in France pupils do not wear a uniform. It was a culture shock for me to see children wear Spiderman T-shirts and baggy (宽松的) blue jeans in the classroom.
I found the differences puzzling at times, but I couldn’t deny what a great opportunity it was to live and work in another country. The UK and France are only separated by a small channel of the sea, but there are many differences between the two countries.
1. In the staff room, the school secretary ________.| A．always chatted online |
| B．interrupted the writer |
| C．talked to herself often |
| D．always made speeches |
| A．She tried to be polite to others. |
| B．She couldn’t tell tu from vous at all. |
| C．She didn’t have close friends in France. |
| D．She couldn’t understand French very well. |
| A．Pleased. | B．Embarrassed. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Surprised. |
| A．Experiencing different cultures. |
| B．Communicating in an informal way. |
| C．Traveling along the channel of the sea. |
| D．Having a chance to work with French teachers. |
| A．The foreigners. | B．The costumes. | C．The food. |
| A．Cultural differences. | B．Entertainment. | C．Languages. |
【写作要点】
1.春节的简介；
2.过春节的风俗习惯；
3.邀请他来中国过春节。
【写作要求】
1.词数80-100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯；
3.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
参考词汇：贴春联stick couplets
Dear John,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Su Hua
5 . It goes without saying that many Western wedding customs are completely different from those of Asian cultures. Some are so rooted in history that many Westerners have no idea whether they even exist.
Traditionally,June has been the most popular month for people to get married. One reason is that June 1 was the date of an ancient Roman festival celebrating the marriage of the god Jupiter and his wife Juno.Another reason will likely. astonish you. Centuries ago, taking a bath was not as common as it is today. Some people took a bath only once a year, typically in May. Since June was a time most wedding guests would not be too smelly, that month was preferred.
Another wedding custom is for the bride to "wear something old, something new,something borrowed,and something blue."Having something old is said to protect the newlyweds' future baby, while the new item shows optimism for the future. Meanwhile, something borrowed is meant to bring good luck, and something blue is a promise of being faithful. Lesser known is the fact that the bride is also supposed to have a sixpence in her shoe for prosperity(兴旺)。 Interestingly,in Sweden, brides are given two coins before getting married-one gold from her mother and the other silver from her father-also to put in her shoes. These fascinating customs show just how important certain wedding traditions are in Western cultures.
The concept of the “white wedding”， in which the bride wears a white wedding dress, is a familiar one. It is thought, mistakenly though, that this is a tradition that developed in ancient times and originates from the belief of white being a symbol of purity. Actually, the custom of brides wearing this color dates back less than 200 years and is attributed to the wedding of Queen Victoria. The queen's choice of white for her wedding was unusual for the time as other colors, especially red, were much more common.
After news of Victoria's highly publicized wedding to Prince Albert spread, not just around the United Kingdom,but to other nations including the United States,women began following in her footsteps and wearing white dresses at their wedding ceremonies. With white being the choice of a powerful royal figure like Queen Victoria, the color became associated with wealth. nobility. and the fashion-conscious.
1. Based on the text, June has been a popular month to get married probably because| A．Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in June of 1840 |
| B．June is the month in which Romans recall the soul of gods |
| C．some people didn't take a bath before May in ancient times |
| D．it is considered to be the luckiest time of year to get married |
| A．Wearing something old. |
| B．Wearing something blue. |
| C．Wearing a shoe with a coin in it. |
| D．Wearing something borrowed. |
| A．The white wedding dress is a symbol of purity and nobility. |
| B．Red rather than white was once popular in English weddings. |
| C．Queen Victoria wore white in the hope of breaking old customs. |
| D．The custom of the white wedding started thousands of years ago. |
| A．Routines of marriage ceremonies. |
| B．Highlights of traditional weddings. |
| C．Reflecting on old traditions. |
| D．Exploring western wedding customs. |
6 . I’m a pig, and my son is a rabbit. I have snakes for daughters, and my wife, believe it or not, is a dragon! Do I live in a zoo? No, of course not! I am talking about Chinese zodiac signs. Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign. That’s why I am a pig and my wife is a dragon. If you, like me, were born in the year of the pig, then you are brave, thoughtful and loyal. The year of the pig is filled with good fortune.
Now let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.
Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago, and are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat — almost every part of the animal is used. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. The fat is used to make floor wax, rubber and plastics.
Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. In 1995 the film ‘Babe’ starred a loveable talking pig as its main character. The film won an Oscar and was nominated for 6 more. In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!
Pigs also play an important role in the English language. For example, if someone says that he will travel to the sun one day, you can say “pigs might fly!” to him. Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. And what if someone rescues you? Well, you can say that they “saved your bacon”.
1. The writer wrote the first paragraph in a ______ tone.| A．sad | B．confused |
| C．serious | D．humorous |
| A．people in England like pigs more than other animals |
| B．pigs are more useful than ordinary people imagine |
| C．pigs are the first animals raised by man |
| D．more people don’t want to eat pigs now |
| A．What you have just said is impossible |
| B．Pigs are great animals |
| C．I don’t understand your words |
| D．I can’t agree with you more |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
