1 . I live in Minnesota, which is unfairly famous for terrible winters. Buffalo is far more wintry, whereas Seattle’s winters are more bitter. Our winters tend to be brilliantly sunny and cheerful. But, of course, it’s different for a visitor.
Lightweight thermal(保暖的) wear is good. Back in the day, we wore layers and layers of heavy woolens. A boy of 13 carrying 35 pounds of wet wool on his back does not feel very cold. Today you can buy outfits filled with goose feathers as well as thermal boots and caps to keep you warm.
When I was a youth, there was no such phrase as global warming. We never got warm, not even at night, when we slept under piles of blankets because Dad believed that if you couldn’t see your breath when you talked, then the thermostat(恒温器) was turned up too high and you were wasting fuel. So 45 degrees was room temperature, and we wore long woolens to bed.
We arose in the cold, dark dawn, and walked forth into the snowstorm to catch the school bus. We huddled(蜷缩) by the highway, praying for the bus to come, while wolves moved around eyeballing us for signs of sleepiness. When you have survived wolves, then the winters of today are a walk in the park.
Enduring winter is only a start—embracing(拥抱) winter is what you should struggle for. Winter gives a sense of purpose and saves one from a life of self-gratification, lying down and posting photos on Facebook. You have promises to keep. A sidewalk to clear. Two inches of snow over a layer of ice—you may as well set a leg trap for the elderly as leave the walk unswept.
You have children to raise. Remove their fingers from their smartphones, and lead them outdoors so they can absorb the wisdom of winter. We are animals. Life is not mainly about self-expression. It is about finding food and clothing and shelter, about sticking with the pack and not wandering off. Everyone is just as cold as you. No complaining.
1. What are Minnesot’s winters like in the author’s eyes?| A．They are wonderful. | B．They are unbearable. |
| C．They are colder than Buffalo’s | D．They are comfortable for visitors. |
| A．he kept talking to keep warm | B．he suffered from winters’ nights |
| C．his dad tried his best to warm him | D．his room was always at a high temperature |
| A．warm | B．quiet | C．short | D．pleasant |
| A．store enough food for cold winters |
| B．lend the neighbors a helping hand |
| C．step outside and appreciate winters |
| D．say goodbye to modern technology |
2 . The “dog days”, I always thought, were those summer days so hot that even dogs would lie around on the ground, breathing loudly. Originally, the phrase actually had nothing to do with dogs, or even with the lazy days of summer. The dog days refer to the dog star — Sirius（天狼星）.
To the Greeks and Romans, the dog days occurred around the day when Sirius appeared to rise just before the sun，in late July. They referred to these days as the hottest time of the year. If you go back to even a book The Iliad, it describes the star as something dealing with the war and disaster. All throughout Greek and Roman literature, you found these things. The phrase “dog days” was translated from Latin to English about 500 years ago. Since then, it has taken on new meanings.
Are the dog days, when Sirius rises, really the hottest days of the year? Although July and August are generally known as the hottest months of the year in Europe, the hottest period can vary from year to year. In Athens, for instance, Sirius rises around the middle of August this year. But it'll happen earlier in the next year.
There's another reason that the dog days don't correspond（与……一致）completely with the heat. “Our Earth is like a spinning top（陀螺）,” said Bradley Schaefer, professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University. “If you throw it onto a table，after it slows down the pointing direction of the top will slowly go around in circles. Similarly to a ball, the Earth's movement is kind of wobbling （摇摆）around. ”
The calendar is fixed according to certain events, but the stars have shifted according to the way that the Earth wobbles. So in about 50 years, the sky shifts about one degree. This means that the dog days of ancient Greece aren't the dog days of today. What it also means is that thousands of years from now, this event won't even occur during the summer.
1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The origin of the dog days. |
| B．The influence of the dog days. |
| C．The occurrence of the dog days. |
| D．The misunderstanding of the dog days. |
| A．people in Europe don't like Sirius |
| B．the dog days appear earlier in Athens |
| C．the dog days appear at different time every year |
| D．people in Europe believe Sirius brings the hottest days |
| A．explain the movement of the Earth |
| B．study how the Earth is affected by the heat |
| C．introduce the reason why the Earth moves |
| D．predict how the Earth will move when it slows down |
| A．To study the relations between the Earth and Sirius. |
| B．To explain why hot days are called “dog days”. |
| C．To introduce some information about “dog days”. |
| D．To show the changes of Sirius throughout the years. |
3 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms.
1. Flying a kite.
Spring is the best season for kite-flying. As a traditional folk activity, it has a history of more than 2, 000 years.
2. Wearing fabric swallows.
Wearing fabric swallows is a custom in some regions in Shaanxi.
3. Making a Spring Ox.
Skilled artists build the frame of an ox out of bamboo strips and the legs with wood. Then they paste(粘贴) some paper and paint onto it.
4.
People in China began holding a special ceremony on the first day of the Start of Spring about 3, 000 years ago. They made sacrifices to Gou Mang, the God of Spring, who is in charge of agriculture. By the Qing Dynasty (1644—1911), welcoming spring had become an important folk activity.
| A．Welcoming spring. |
| B．The image of an ox is complete. |
| C．At that time, there were eight solar terms. |
| D．The Start of Spring is the first solar term of the year. |
| E．Flying a kite can help build one’s health and prevent diseases. |
| F．It is said that the egg can be set upright on the first day of the Start of Spring. |
| G．People like to wear a swallow made of colorful silk on their chests on Start of Spring. |
