The Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival, also named the “Chong Yang Festival”, is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

The festival began as early as the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). In ancient time, numbers were mysterious and were divided into yin and yang. Yin means something of darkness and yang means life and brightness. The number nine is regarded as yang. The ninth day of the ninth month is a double yang day, so it is called “Chong Yang Festival”. (Chong means “repeat” in Chinese)

People always climb mountains and drink chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival. It is hard to say when the customs were created. But there are many stories which are closely related. As recorded in a historical book of the sixth century, in ancient times, there lived a man named Huang Jing. He was learning the magic arts from Fei Changfang. One day, they were climbing a mountain. Fei Changfang suddenly stopped and looked very upset. He said to Huang Jing, “On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, a big trouble will come to your hometown”. You must go home immediately. Remember to make a red bag for each one of your family members and leave home quickly and climb to the top of a mountain. Most importantly, you must all drink some chrysanthemum wine. Only by doing so can your family members avoid the big trouble.

On hearing this, Huang Jing rushed home and asked his family to do exactly as his teacher said. The whole family climbed a nearby mountain and did not return until the evening. When they got back home, they found all their animals dead, including chickens, sheep, dogs and so on.

Since then, climbing a mountain and drinking chrysanthemum wine became the traditional activities of the Double Ninth Festival, to avoid evil spirits and bad luck. Nowadays, the Double Ninth Festival is also a time for family get-togethers to do some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

1.The Double Ninth Festival began around ______.

A. 475-221 BC B. 435-231 BC C. 337-221 BC D. 245-213 BC

2.People usually climb mountains and ______ on the festival.

A. cook meals B. feed the animals

C. drink chrysanthemum wine D. learn magic art

3.Fei Changfang is ______.

A. Huang Jing’s cousin B. Huang Jing’s teacher

C. Huang Jing’s friend D. Huang Jing’s neighbor

4.Nowadays the Double Ninth Festival is also a time to ______.

A. make dumplings B. buy some wine

C. wear new clothes D. do some exercise

A Mystery (神秘的) Artist

The first time I saw Suzy Khan, I knew I had to help her. All I knew was that she was an orphan, who had no parents, from Africa. She had just been adopted (收养) by a family, and they thought that the best way for her to learn American ways of life is to be with American kids.

Suzy was really small for her age of 12. The boys in my class often laughed at her. She would open a book, pretending to read, with tears dropping on the open page. I looked down at this small girl and promised myself that I must help her.

But how could I help her fit in with us? There had to be a way.

One day, when I went into the classroom, I saw that Suzy had opened her geography book to a picture of a train, and in her notebook, she had made a perfect copy.

I was surprised and thought that she could do something in the coming talent show. So, I took her to see the art teacher, Miss Parker, and showed her what Suzy had drawn. “Why, it’s wonderful,” said Miss Parker, and then showed us a poster she had painted for the talent show. “I need more of these, but I just don’t have enough time. Could you help me, Suzy?”

On the day of the talent show, Suzy’s posters were everywhere — all over the hall and all over the school, each one different.

“And finally,” said Mr. Brown, the schoolmaster, at the end of the show, “We have a special award. I’m sure you’ve all noticed the wonderful posters.” Everyone nodded. “One of our own students painted them.”

I could hear everyone whispering. “Who in our school could draw that well?”

Mr. Brown waited for a while before saying, “Since this student worked so hard on the posters, she deserves a prize, too. Our mystery artist is our new student — Suzy Khan!”

Mr. Brown thanked her for all the wonderful posters and gave her a professional artist’s set. “Thank you,” she cried.

I realized, at that time when I was looking at her excited face, she had probably never owned anything in her whole life.

Everyone started to clap their hands. Suzy Khan gave them a shy smile. I knew then Suzy was going to be all right.

1.The writer wanted to help Suzy became ______.

A. Suzy was laughed at by the boys in her class

B. Suzy couldn’t answer the teacher’s question

C. Suzy was really small for her age of twelve

D. Suzy was adopted by the writer at that time

2.Suzy Khan was in ______ when she met the writer.

A. Africa B. Japan C. America D. London

3.Miss Parker asked Suzy Khan to draw more pictures for her, because ______.

A. she was lazy

B. she had no time

C. she couldn’t draw well

D. she didn’t like drawing

4.According to the passage, we can infer that ______.

A. a mystery artist helped Suzy win the prize finally

B. at first everyone knew that Suzy could draw well

C. the writer thought Suzy wouldn’t own anything

D. Suzy would be more confident than before

A Father and a Son

Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those shuttles that take travelers from the main terminals (航站楼) to their boarding gates. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter. At the front of the first shuttle were a man and his son.

We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors were closing again. “Here we go! Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of happiness.

“Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he’s walking to his plane.” The son turned his neck to look forward.

As I was early for my flight, I decided to go back to the terminal. Where I went back again, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn’t been heading for a flight, but had just been riding the shuttle.

“I want to ride some more!”

“More?” the father said, mock-angry but clearly pleased. “ You are not tired?”

“This is fun!” his son said.

“ All right.” the father replied, when a door opened, we all got on.

There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and there are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong.

“Where are all those people going, Daddy?” the son asked.

“All over the world,” came the reply.

The other people in the airport were leaving for far destinations (终点) or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, enjoying being together.

So many troubles in this country. So many questions about what to do. Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.

The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.

The shuttle picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again.

1.We can learn from the passage that ______.

A. the father and his son were waiting for the flight

B. the father got tired when his son wanted to ride the shuttle again

C. the father told his son about the troubles in the country

D. the father spent the day with his son and enjoyed it

2.The underlined word mock-angry means ______.

A. feeling bored

B. looking excited

C. not really angry

D. not truly surprised

3.From the story we can learn______.

A. sometimes people don’t realize what they have

B. maybe the most valuable thing doesn’t cost much

C. children should stay with their parents more often

D. parents should give their children a better life

Since 1963, many female space explorers have followed Russian astronaut Valentina Tereshkova. 1..

In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American women in space. Her team carried out scientific experiments in space and put two communications satellites in space. Satellites make it possible for us to communicate immediately with each other across the world through TV, radio and telephone.

2.. During her task, she discovered important information about the sun’s energy and how it affects the climate in very hot and very cold places on Earth. She also took photographs of Earth and measured air pollution.

In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African-American in space. During her task, she did scientific experiments using the weightless atmosphere. 3., so everything floats! Dr. Jemison’s experiments gave important information about the human body to produce better medicines and healthcare.

In 2012, Liu Yang became the first Chinese women in space. 4., which showed how astronauts can survive and stay healthy in space. The conditions in space are very hard on the body and space medicine helps astronauts work safely.

5..

A. There is no gravity (重力) in space

B. She did experiments in space medicine

C. We believe there will be more and more female astronauts in the future

D. Let’ s look at the tasks of four female astronauts to find out what they do in space

E. In 1984, Kathryn Sullivan became the first American women to walk in space

I was coming back home late at night in a ”Sharing” minivan. In Hyderabad, India, it is a cheap and quick means of transport. The van drivers ply (揽客) as many as 13 people at times in a vehicle which is designed for the transport of 8 people．Our van was crowded as well. People were getting off and on at many places.

On the journey, one girl waved her hand to ask the driver to stop. While getting down, she tripped and fell．None of us notice it，as it was dark. The driver was waiting for her to pay. It was then that we saw the girl was on her knees by the side of the road. Another passenger and l got down and held her up．

Even in pain, the girl held up a note and asked us to pay the driver．The other passenger took the note and paid the driver．My stop was a few hundred meters away. I decided to stay with her till she was fine. I paid the driver for myself and he took off with the other passengers.

I neither knew her nor did I know what to do, but I was there, saying some comforting words to a stranger in pain. I asked her to stand still for a few minutes. We then looked for a place for her to sit. From out of nowhere, her friend joined us.

We made her sit in a nearby grassland and her friend rushed to get a taxi. In the meantime, she examined her leg and her ankle had swollen up (肿胀). It looked like a sprain (扭伤). Once her friend came back, they took the taxi and rushed to a hospital. Before they left, the girl thanked me and said they could manage as it was only a small sprain.

I do not know if I did enough. But I feel I gave some comfort to her in a small way.

Did the story happen in India?

1.

How many people did the drivers ply in fact?

2.

Why did no one notice the girl?

3.

What did the writer do for the girl?

4.

Where did the girl go after she left the bus stop?

5.

题目?

假如你是李华，你们学校要举行英语才艺展示(English Talent Show)，你们打算本周末去街心公元(Center Park)操练，你要邀请外教Tom来给你们指导，请你写一封电子邮件告诉他排练的时间、地点、怎样到达、他能帮你们做什么。

提示词：suggestion, pronunciation, perform

提示问题：

When and where will you prepare for the program?

How can Tom get there?

What can Tom do for you?

Dear Tom,

How is it going?

I am writing to invite you to help us prepare for the school English Talent Show.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am looking forward to your early reply.

Yours,

Li Hua

题目?

学校组织过很多社会实践活动，请你写一篇短文，介绍一下你参加的一次活动，在这次活动中你去了哪里，做了什么，你的感受是什么。

提示词：Agriculture Carnival（农业嘉年华）, the Science and Technology Museum, the Capital Museum...

提示词：

Where did you go?

What did you do during the activity?

How do you feel?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

---Do you enjoy traveling by air? --- No, it’s expensive.

A. too much B. more much C. much D. much too

There four teachers and a student in he office.

A. have B. has C. is D. are

After dinner, he stayed at home and played violin.

A. the, /, the B. /, /, the C. /, the, / D. a, the, the