They are going to have a picnic _______ next week.

A. sometime B. some time C. sometimes D. some times

In Britain ,people often invite friends for a meal , a party or just coffee. People who know each other very well may visit each other’s houses without  an invitation(邀请),but if we invite new friends, usually an invitation is needed. When people invite someone to their homes , they often say ,“Would you like to come for dinner on Saturday ?” Answers are, “Thanks, we’d love to. What time?” or “I’m sorry, We’d love to ,but we have tickets for the concert.” However, it is not polite to say,“No, we wouldn’t.”

Sometimes, the British use expressions that sound like invitations but which are not invitations. For example. “You must come over for a drink sometime .” or “Let’s go out for a meal one of these days.”  These are usually just polite ways of ending a talk . They are not real invitations because they don’t mention an exact time or day. They just show that the person is trying to be friendly and the answers are ,“Yes , that would be nice .” or “OK, yes ,thanks.”

So next time you hear what sounds like an invitation, listen carefully. Is it a real invitation or is the person just being friendly?

1.It’s always necessary for        to visit each other’s houses with an invitation.

A．close friends                           B．family members

C．neighbours                            D．new friends

2.It is not polite to answer the real invitation by saying “     “

A．Sorry. We’d love to, but we have tickets for the concert .

B．Thanks. We’d love to, what time?

C．Sure. We’d like to. Thanks a lot.

D．No, we wouldn’t!

3.If the British just want to end a talk politely, they may say,”      ”

A．Would you like to come for dinner on Saturday?

B．Let’s go out for a meal one of these days.

C．Let’s go out for a meal on Saturday.

D．Shall we go for a drink this afternoon .

4.The British often use “     ”to answer the invitations that are not real.

A．Yes , what time ?

B．No, that’s not a real invitation.

C．OK, yes , thanks.

D．No, you just want to be friendly.

5.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Britain.

B．Invitation.

C．A Talk with Friends.

D．A Letter to Friends.

 It snowed again. My seventh Christmas was round the corner. I dreamed of getting the present from Father Christmas until my elder sister dropped the bomb, “There is no Father Christmas.”

  I ran to my grandmother’s house, for she always told the truth. Grandma was at home. I told __11___ everything. “No Father Christmas?” she was a little ___12____. “Don’t believe it. Put on your coat, and let’s go.”

  “Go? Where, Grandma?” I asked.

  “Kerby’s Store.”

  As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars and said, “Take the __13___ and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of the Kerby’s.

  For a few seconds I just stood there, holding the money, wondering ___14___ to buy, and who to buy it for.

  I thought of ___15___ I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors … I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker, a __16___ with bad and messy hair. He sat right behind me ___17____ Mrs. Pollack’s class.

  Bobbie ___18___ went to any party during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, ___19____ we all knew that he didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat. I decided to buy Bobbie a red warm coat ___20____ he would like.

  That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and ___21___ “To Bobbie, From Father Christmas” on it. Grandma told me Father Christmas never let people know that he ___22___ them. Then she drove me over to Bobbie’s house, telling that I was helping Father Christmas ____23___ the presents.

Grandma parked the car along the street, and we hid behind the trees near Bobbie’s house. Then Grandma said to me, “All right, Father Christmas, get going.”

  I took a deep breath, rushed to his front door, put the present down. ____24___ the door, rang the doorbell and flew back to the safety of the ____25_____ and Grandma. We waited breathlessly in the dark for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie.

  That night, I realized that Father Christmas was alive and well, and we were on his team.

1.A. him  B. her   C. them   D. you

2.A. angry   B. happy   C. tired   D. afraid 

3.A. book   B. coat   C. present   D. money

4.A. what   B. when   C. where   D. how

5.A. everybody   B. nobody   C. somebody   D. anybody

6.A. girl   B. boy   C. man   D. woman

7.A. for   B. on   C. in    D. with

8.A. always   B. often   C. sometime   D never

9.A. so   B. if   C. but   D. and

10.A. where   B. that   C. who   D. why

11.A. read   B. say   C. write   D. spell

12.A. helped   B. believe   C. taught   D. made

13.A. give up   B. give away   C. put up   D. put off

14.A. on   B. behind   C. outside   D. over

15.A. shop   B. cars   C. door   D. trees

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality(现实) of life.

In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable(不合情理的) thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).

When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky(摇晃的) legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.

Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.

Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out(着手) to do .”

1.What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．A happy thing.                          B．A difficult task.

C．A big dream.                           D．A beautiful scene.

2.What does the book A View from the Zoo talk about?

A．A new-born giraffe’s first lesson.

B．A mother giraffe’s story.

C．The lives of some great people.

D．The way for a giraffe to stand up.

3.Why were some great people mentioned in the passage?

A．Because they all worked hard.

B．Because they all liked to read some special stories.

C．Because they were born with some illnesses.

D．Because they were similar to giraffes in some ways.

4.Which of the following statements is True according to the passage?

A．This passage is a description of giraffes’ living habits.

B．Baby giraffes can’t stand up until three months old.

C．Irving Stone spent a lifetime studying and writing stories about great people.

D．The great people can’t stand up after they’re knocked down for years.

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．How to Raise a Baby Giraffe.

B．Learning to Get Back Up.

C．Stories about the great people.

D．A Mother Giraffe and Its Baby Giraffe.

_____, I have to write the words on the paper because she doesn’t know Chinese.

A.Sometime      B.Once in a while     

C.After a while  D.For a while