1 . 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。

There is a day considered special by people     1     observe solar (太阳的) movement of the sun in many countries of the world. On its eve, in England, people go to Stonehenge     2     (welcome) the rise of the sun. In Latvia, people travel from the cities to the country- side to gather, eat and sing. Chinese people attach equal     3     (important) to this day,   known as the Summer Solstice (夏至), or xiazhi in Chinese.

It is the     4     (long) day of a year in terms of daylight. After the Summer Solstice, the subsolar point begins its moving south, and daytime     5     (gradual) shortens. Though people believe it is at the height of summer, xiazhi is not the hottest time of a year. After xiazhi, the temperature will continue to increase.

While in modern China, xiazhi is simply known as one of the solar     6     (term), in ancient times it was a major festival. In the Song Dynasty, the festival     7     (offer) officials a holiday of three days. A grand sacrificial (祭奠) ceremony was also held on the Summer Solstice during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

According to Guo Wenbin, a scholar of traditional culture, many customs from the ancient Summer Solstice festival     8     (be) now celebrated as part of events. “We often believe boat race was created     9     memory of Qu Yuan. But it is said that before the death of Qu, Chinese people had already had boat race as an event of Summer Solstice festival,” says Guo. Since the Summer Solstice is often a time when people harvest wheat,     10     is a tradition to eat noodles in many places.

2 . 现在正是春暖花开的时节，对你来说春天意味着什么呢？请你以“What spring means to me”为题写一篇英语短文，参加你校英文报举办的春季征文大赛，内容包括：
1. 春天对你的影响；
2. 你对春天的感悟。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 题目已为你写好。
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3 . Some people can't wait for the lovely colors, cooler weather, and cozy sweaters of autumn. In fact, fall is Americans' favorite time, but for a minority of others, the transition from summer creates worry, fear and worse. According to Carrie Landin, a psychologist from the University of Colorado Health Integrative Medicine Center, a significant number of people actually experience autumn anxiety.

For some people, stress is triggered (触发) by environmental factors: Decreases in daylight cause chemical changes in the brain. "Less daylight leads to lower levels of chemicals like serotonin and dopamine that control our emotions," says Kimberly Asner-self, associate professor at Touro Colleges` School of Health Sciences. "As these chemicals drop, the body responds by increasing levels of cortisol. the hormone released in situations where we face threat." The result can be an increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping and depression.

But it's not just increasing darkness that can trigger these symptoms. For people who feel this way every year, some of the reaction is mental. "When we know there's the potential for stress ahead we tend to anticipate the problems, feeling anxious before they even happen," Landin says.

The fall features more than its fair share of impending (迫在眉睫) events: back to school at the beginning of the season and family get-togethers toward the end. Mayra Mendez, a psychologist from Providence Saint Johns Health Center, suggests identifying your personal triggers and making a plan to manage them before they feel overwhelming. For instance, if you're concerned about family issues and holiday parties, decide in advance that it's perfectly OK to say no to some of them. If fall's stricter work and school schedules make you anxious, plan regular breaks and vacations to look forward to.

Finally, you should also find ways to embrace the present moment. Remember: while autumn may throw you a few tricks, there are plenty of treats to be found too.

1. What may be the cause of autumn anxiety?

A．Cooler weather.	B．Less daylight.
C．Sleep difficulties.	D．Vacation plans.

2. Landin's words are mentioned in paragraph 3 to show__________.

A．potential stress can be predictable	B．stress can be triggered by chemicals
C．depression is related to family issues	D．anxiety can be caused by mental factors

3. What does the author probably think of autumn stress?

A．Manageable.	B．Overwhelming.
C．Troublesome.	D．Beneficial.

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

A．Seasonal Anxiety	B．Tricks or Treats
C．The Autumn Blues	D．Characteristics of Fall

4 . 语法填空

First Snow

It is the first time that I     1     (see) snow this year. It is not only an event but a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up to find     2     (you) in another completely different. The secrecy and     3     (quiet) will make it more magical. When I got up this morning, I found the world dead white and pale blue. The light     4     (come) through the windows was very strange,     5     made the familiar business of splashing, shaving, brushing teeth and dressing strange too. When the sun came out, the snow became pink. The plum tree stood in full sunlight. An hour     6     two later, everything was a cold sparkle of white and blue. The little Japanese prints had disappeared. The ground went on and on, the sky was thick grey, and all the trees were black and in     7     (threaten) shapes. Now the snow is falling     8     (heavy) in great soft flakes so that you can hardly see across the shallow valley. The     9     (roof) are thick and the trees are all bending. I can see the children     10     (flatten) their noses against the window.

5 . Autumn Equinox (秋分) lies at the midpoint of autumn, dividing autumn into two equal parts. After that day, the location of direct sunlight moves to the south, making days shorter and nights longer in the northern hemisphere.     1     Autumn Equinox, the 16th solar term of the year, begins this year on Sept 23 and ends on Oct 7.

Here are things you should know about Autumn Equinox.

Cool autumn

As it is said in the ancient book, The Detailed Records of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), “It is on Autumn Equinox day that the Yin and Yang are in a balance of power. Thus the day and night are of equal length, and so are the cold and hot weather.”

    2     When the cold air heading south meets the declining warm and wet air, rain is the result. The temperature also drops frequently.

    3    

In South China, there is a custom popularly known as “having Qiucai (an autumn vegetable) on the Autumn Equinox day”. Qiucai is a kind of wild plant. Every Autumn Equinox day, all the villagers go to pick Qiucai in the wild. Qiucai is fresh and green in the field, thin, and about 20 cm in length.

    4    

By Autumn Equinox, olives, pears, chestnuts, beans, and other plants are mature. It is time to pick and eat them.

Season for enjoying chrysanthemums

    5    

A．Eating Qiucai

B．Season for eating nuts

C．Season for eating various plants

D．But the moon won’t be full during Autumn Equinox.

E．The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms.

F．Autumn Equinox also is a good time to enjoy chrysanthemums in full bloom.

G．By Autumn Equinox, most of the areas in China have entered the cool autumn.

6 . 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。

March 20 marks the Spring Equinox, or Chunfen in Chinese, the     1     (four) term in the Chinese lunar calendar. On this day, day and night are     2     (equal) divided, and the length of daytime will grow longer in the Northern Hemisphere afterwards.

Peach blossoms enter their great time and give tourists a lot of pleasure with pinkish flowers. Since ancient times, peach blossoms     3     (use) to describe women. The romantic flowers also signal love from others.

The Spring Equinox is marked as the     4     (begin) of the busy farming season. People make preparations for raising spring silkworms.

Starting from the Spring Equinox and before the Qingming Festival, Chinese farmers are the     5     (busy) with tea harvesting, as the tea leaves     6     (collect) during this period are considered to be     7     high quality.

People have a cup of the very first tea shoots in spring as     8     way to get close to nature.

The ancient Chinese people     9     (divide) the fifteen days of the Spring Equinox into three “hou’s,” or five-day parts. As the old saying goes, swallows fly back to the North in the first hou; thunder breaks the sky in the second hou; lightning occurs frequently in the third hou,     10     vividly reveal the climate feature during the Spring Equinox.

7 . 阅读下面句子，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Grain Rain, just as the name shows, is a key time for grains to grow. There is     1     old saying, “Rain brings up hundreds of grains,” which indicates the     2     (important) of this season.

In the northern part of China, the first heavy rain usually occurs during this time of year, which     3     (be) the best time for planting rice, corn, and the growth of cotton. It is also a good time for Chinese people     4     (eat) toona (香椿), a delicious seasonal plant,     5     new leaves are as soft as silk. Not only does it taste good, but it is also very good for health. It is very nutritious     6     can improve the immune system.     7     (fresh) made with Chinese tofu, toona is a traditional cold dish for people in the northern part of China.

Drinking tea is an old custom in the southern part of China. The mild temperatures and plentiful rainfall in the season make the spring tea leaves rich in a     8     (various) of vitamins and amino acids (氨基酸),     9     (give) the taste of spring tea a fresh and pleasant smell.

Along the northern coast of China, fishermen    10    (celebrate) the Grain Rain Festival for more than 2,000 years. On this day, fishermen in coastal areas pray for safety and a good harvest.

8 . Six Solar Terms in Summer

Lixia

Lixia is the first solar term in summer, signifying the beginning of the hot summer.    1    People usually consider Lixia as an important solar term. When it comes, the temperature rises obviously, and summer heat arrives, there is a remarkable increase in thunderstorms, and crops enter their peak season for growth.

Xiaoman and Mangzhong

During Xiaoman, summer harvest crops such as wheat already bear fruits, and their seeds are full though they are not ripe yet. Thus, the solar term is named Xiaoman. The solar term Xiaoman is in late May. Summer begins to reach all parts of the country. Rainfall begins to increase further. Mangzhong means, "wheat with awn（芒）should be harvested soon, and rice seeds with awn can be sown".    2    

Xiazhi

On the day of Xiazhi, the daytime in the Northern Hemisphere（半球）reaches its maxi-mum length.    3    At Xiazhi, though there is direct sunlight, it is not the hottest time in a year.

Xiaoshu and Dashu

    4    Xiaoshu is minor heat, which means it's not very hot. The weather is getting increasingly hot, but not the hottest moment yet. The crops in the entire country begin to grow rapidly, and this situation requires more intensive field management. Dashu is extreme heat. Compared to Xiaoshu, it's much hotter.    5    And it also marks the period with the fastest growth for crops which enjoy heat.

A．The character shu means heat.

B．It predicts the busy farming activities of farmers.

C．The temperatures rise and summer drought begins.

D．The more northern a place is, the longer its daytime is.

E．People need to prepare for heat prevention and cooling.

F．It means the end of spring, and the beginning of summer.

G．It marks the hottest period with the highest temperatures in a year.