Are you ready for the coming festive season? What gifts will you give to make your friends feel special? Here teenagers share their ideas for gifts and look forward to the ones they'll get.

Hu Ziwei, 15, Nanjing Foreign Language School

My class will have a gift exchange party, during which we will put on a small talent show. Many of us had our gifts ready a week ago. I believe that the boys will give magic tools, stationary （文具） or sweets, while girls are likely to give dolls or mobile accessories （挂件）.

The biggest fun about these parties is not knowing from whom you'll receive a gift and who will receive your gifts. The computer will decide everything! Our teacher hopes the activity will help us get to know each other better – you see, we've only known each other for three months. I'm looking forward to my surprise gift!

Liu Wei, 17,Beijing No 8 High School

Although my birthday was in November, I'll get a special birthday gift from my classmates this week. A．collective （集体的） birthday party is scheduled for all the students who had birthdays fall in the last six months.

My classroom has been decorated with colorful ribbons and Christmas balls. Someone told me that there will be a huge birthday cake and that a personalized gift sent with best wishes from other students is being prepared for each birthday student. I'm sure we will treasure this event and I'm so looking forward to the big moment!

Yin Zhaohua, 19, Jixi No 1 High School in Heilongjiang

I'm still enjoying the gifts I received on Christmas Eve. Nowadays traditional greeting cards are being replaced with apples and sweets, which symbolize （象征） hope for the year ahead. I got more than 20 apples this Christmas, which means I sent a similar number of apples out. I think apples are healthier, more environmentally and friendly gifts than cards sent through the post.

Wu Shang, 16, Mianyang High School in Sichuan

These last two weeks have been filled with every kind of exam so the atmosphere（气氛） on campus is not at all like a holiday. I miss the days when I got handwritten cards.

In fact, I haven't received or sent holiday cards since the Internet became popular. It's so fast and easy to send an e-card. Also, text messages are fun and convenient （方便的）. I'll send warm hugs to my best friends on New Year's D．ay to let them know that I'll be always there for them.

1. Where is Yin Zhaohua from?

A．He is from the east of China                   B．He is from the capital of China

C．He is from the north of China                  D．He is from the west of China

2. Before the gift exchange party, Hu Ziwei knows _____________

A．from whom she'll receive a gift           B．who will receive her gifts.

C．what gift she will send to her classmates    D．that she may get a magic tool

3. In Liu Wei’s classroom we can’t see _____________ during the collective birthday party.

A．some colorful ribbons                              B．some Christmas balls

C．a huge birthday cake                               D．some mobile accessories

4. On New Year’s D．ay Wu Shang will _____________.

A．have an important exam                   B．send some handwritten cards

C．meet and hug her best friends warmly       D．send some text messages to her friends

5. From the passage we can infer _____________

A．the kids share the same ideas about gifts  

B．the kids will receive and send expensive gifts

C．apples are sent as gifts to keep young kids healthy

D．the kids are trying to show their wishes in different ways

　　When Mary Smith was a middle school student, she always wanted to become a teacher because she liked children very much. When she was twenty-one years old, she began to teach in a primary school. She liked her job very much and she was certainly a very good teacher and she got on well with her students in her class. And all the students in her class regarded (把……看作) her as their good friends.

　　One day, one of the girls in her class asked her, “Miss Smith, why does a man's hair become gray much earlier than his mustache and beard?”

　　Mary smiled and said, “I'm sorry I don't know. Is it true that a man's hair becomes gray earlier than his mustache and beard?”

　　“Yes. Miss Smith.” answered the girl Helen. “It has happened to my father.” Hearing this the other children in the class all laughed at the silly (傻里傻气的) girl. And the girl felt very nervous and cried.

　　Just before Miss Smith wanted to say something to the girl, one of the boys put up his hand and said, “I know, Miss Smith. Men's hair becomes gray first just because it's sixteen years older than their mustaches and beards.”

　　“Good answer! Who can give another answer? Or we can have a discussion (讨论).”

　　“I want to say men have hair when they were born. But when they grow up they begin to wear mustaches and beards. That's my father told me!” A fat girl answered quickly.

　　After the students heard these two answers, they all laughed again.

　　“OK. You gave the same answer to Helen's question. How clever you are! Thank you very much. And I want to say if we want to know the exact answer we must work hard at all subjects and then we can learn many useful things about our bodies and life and so on. And we can ask an expert (专家) about this question.”

(1) Mary decided to ________ when she was young because she loved children.

[　　]

(2) Miss Smith was a very good teacher because she ________.

[　　]

A．loved her work

B．was very young

C．got on well with her students

D．both A and C

(3) Helen's question was ________ for the teacher to answer.

[　　]

(4) The students in Mary's class were very ________.

[　　]

(5) Which of the following is right?

[　　]

A．Helen asked the silly question to make Mary angry.

B．The students didn't like Miss Smith.

C．The children couldn't answer the question.

D．Helen's father had gray hair.