1 . If you are looking for a last-minute day trip with the family, here’s a list of festivals and fairs happening within a reasonable drive from Charlotte.
Hopscotch Music Festival
Where: Downtown Raleigh (various places).
When: Today-Saturday.
Highlights: This music festival, started Thursday, features performances by more than 175 national and international bands playing in 15 different places, all within walking distance. Music genres will include rock, hip-hop, heavy metal, dance, classical, folk and everything in between.
Admission: $ 34-$ 110.
Details: www.hopscotchmusicfest.com.
Flatwoods Festival
Where: 451 Peach Tree Road, Bennett.
When: 10 a. m. Saturday—5 p. m. Sunday.
Highlights: This annual festival, which is in its 15th year, features family fun, food, horse rides and an antique tractor pull. There will also be musical entertainment and a grand parade with cars, trucks, tractors, horse-drawn vehicles, floats, farm equipment and more.
Admission: Free Friday; on Saturday, $ 5 for ages 13 and older.
Details: 919-548-5192; www.visitpittsboro.com.
NC Mountain State Fair
Where: 1301 Fanning Bridge Road, Fletcher.
When: Various times today—Sept. 16.
Highlights: In celebration of the people, agriculture, art and traditions that make our region great, the family-friendly fair offers performances and even a man who carves artwork with a chainsaw.
Admission: $ 7; $ 3 for kids 6-12 and seniors.
Details: 828-687-1414; www.mountainfair.org.
1. What does the underlined word “genres” refer to?| A．Types. | B．Activities. | C．Lessons. | D．Programmes. |
| A．By surfing the website: www. mountainfair.org. |
| B．By dialing the telephone number: 828-687-1414. |
| C．By dialing the telephone number: 919-548-5192. |
| D．By surfing the website: www.hopscotchmusicfest.com. |
| A．Charlotte. | B．Downtown Raleigh. | C．Bennett. | D．Fletcher. |
2 . Many centuries ago, birthdays were considered a time when the bad spirits were able to harm you. It was believed that you should have your friends and family around you so that their good wishes and present-giving would keep the bad spirits away. People also believed that, by lighting candles, they were sending a signal or wishes to the gods.
Later on, candles started to be used on birthday cakes. One story about the beginnings of the birthday cake is that it started with the Greeks, who made round cakes standing for the full moon for their moon goddess (女神). They also placed candles on the cake to make it light, again like the moon.
However, the Germans are said to have first used cakes and candles. They used a sweet cake and they put a large candle in the centre of the cake to mean “the light of life”.
The “Happy Birthday” song is more than a hundred years old. The music was written in 1893 by two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky. The music was first used as a morning greeting to their students with the title, “Good Morning To All”. In 1935, the words legally belonged to the Hill sisters, and the copyright (版权) has been bought and sold for millions of dollars ever since. The present copyright is owned by Warner Communications. They bought it in 1989 for more than $22 million.
1. The text mainly talks about .| A．the ways of making cakes |
| B．the customs of lighting candles |
| C．the beginnings of birthdays |
| D．the history of the birthday song |
| A．have a great dinner |
| B．get birthday presents |
| C．light birthday candles |
| D．keep the bad spirits away |
| A．To light up the dark room. |
| B．To make the cake beautiful. |
| C．To see where the cake was. |
| D．To make it look like the moon. |
| A．In 1893. | B．In 1913. |
| C．In 1935. | D．In 1989. |
| A．Patty and Mildred Hill. |
| B．Warner Communications. |
| C．A Greek cake company. |
| D．A German schoolteacher. |
“Any old papers, lady?” asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say “no” until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals （凉鞋）, wet with heavy snow.
“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”
They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I saved them cocoa and bread to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started cooking.
The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady, are you rich?”
“Am I rich? Pity, no!”
I looked at my worn-out slipcovers （椅套）. The girl put her cup back in its saucer （茶碟）carefully and said, “Your cups match your saucers.” They left after that, holding their papers against the wind. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.
Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a regular job, these matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy marks of little sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am.
1. The writer let the two children come in and served them well because ______.
| A．she wanted to sell old papers to them |
| B．she wanted to give them some presents |
| C．she showed great pity and care on them |
| D．she wanted to show her thanks to them |
| A．show that she was a kind-hearted lady |
| B．remind her she shouldn’t forget how rich she was |
| C．leave room for readers to think about what being rich is |
| D．call up her memories of the good old days |
| A．how much money you have made |
| B．what attitude you have had toward life |
| C．the way you help others |
| D．your social relationship |
4 . You’ve no doubt heard people say how much they “need” a holiday, when what they really mean is that they want one. Certainly, people working under pressure feel a very strong desire to escape from work and become less tight during holidays, and experience a changed environment.
However, work for many people today is office work and mental, rather than physical tasks. These people may seek much more energy-taking activities while on holiday, rather than simply lying on a beach.
Once people become used to going on holiday, taking holidays becomes a habit. For many people the holiday is one of the last things to be given up, and indeed many workers have chosen to spend some of their last pay when being on holiday. It may give them a “lift” in facing some difficulties in life.
Most of us also enjoy showing off the lovely tans --- dark skins we get from a holiday. So many tourists are now able to afford holidays in the sun that tans have become quite common; although we join a tan together with health, it has been fully shown that too much sunshine will result in high danger of skin problems, as well as drying out one’s skin and leading to more lines on your face later in life.
1. According to the passage above, more and more people choose to have holidays because they __________.| A．love working outdoors all the time |
| B．want to get away from work |
| C．love enjoying the beauties of nature |
| D．become rich and want a better life |
| A．lie on the beach and enjoy sunshine |
| B．spend more than they can afford |
| C．think about their work on the beach |
| D．choose to do more physical exercise |
| A．cheer someone up |
| B．help someone find a job |
| C．be the last thing not to be given up |
| D．bring good luck to someone |
| A．the importance of getting sunshine |
| B．the bad effect of being on holiday |
| C．the result of getting sun tanned |
| D．the healthy look of being tanned |
| Fun Day To celebrate the Year of the snake Organised by Lam Tin Youth Centre and Kwun Tong High School Date: 2 February 2013 Time: 10 am—5 pm Place: Kwun Tong Playground Fee: $20 (buy three get one free) Programmes: drama, lion dance, magic show and ballet performance Highlights: 1) enter the lucky draw to win a digital camera 2) learn to make festival food Join us on the Fun Day! All are welcome! Free Soft Drinks Note: ● Tickets are available at the General Office of Lam Tin Youth Center ● For those who would like to be a volunteer, please contact Miss Olivia Wong one week before the activity. |
1. What you have just read is a ________.
| A．note | B．poster | C．schedule | D．report |
| A．A big event to welcome a Chinese new year. |
| B．A social gathering to raise money for wildlife. |
| C．A party for close friends to meet and have fun. |
| D．A meeting of Kwun Tong High School students. |
| A．$20. | B．$40. | C．$80. | D．$60. |
| A．Tickets are sold in Kwun Tong High School. |
| B．Free digital cameras are provided for everybody. |
| C．It’s unnecessary to take soft drinks with you. |
| D．Festival food will be served without extra charge. |
