A young man went to the local expert(专家) on gems and said he wanted to become a gemologist(珠宝家). The expert turned him down because he feared the youth would not have the patience to learn. The young man asked for a chance. Finally, the expert told the youth, "Be here tomorrow."
The next morning the expert put a jade(玉) stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. The expert then went about his work, cutting, weighing and setting gems. The boy sat quietly and waited.
The following morning the expert again put the jade stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. On the third, fourth and fifth days, the expert asked the young man to do the same thing. On the sixth day, the youth held the jade stone but he could no longer stand(忍受) the silence. "Master, when am I going to learn something?" he asked.
"You will learn." the expert said and went about his business.
Several more days went by and the youth almost lost his patience. But one morning as the master put the stone in the youth's hand, the young man said without looking at his hand, "This is not the same jade stone!"
"You have begun to learn." said the master.
Practice makes perfect. The experience we learned from practice teaches us and develops our abilities. Experience is the best teacher. Even the most successful person had no absolute confidence once. It is experience that gives people confidence. The truth is: if you do the work and gain the experience, you'll have more confidence because you'll actually know what you're doing.
【小题1】The phrase "turned ... down" probably means _______.

A．refused

B．accepted

C．forgave

D．doubted

【小题2】The expert let the young man hold the jade stone for so many days because he wanted to see if the young man was _______.

A．brave

B．patient

C．clever

D．honest

【小题3】What may be the best title for this passage?

A．An Experienced Gemologist	B．Experience, the Best Teacher
C．Experience of a Young Man	D．A Confident Teacher

The 12th lunar (阴历的) month in China is called la yue. The character “la” in Chinese language means to respect gods and give best wishes to them.

In Chinese tradition, such activities were held at the end of a year in the Chinese lunar calendar.

There are two important dates in la yue. The first is the Laba Festival on the 8th day of the lunar month. The Laba Festival was a time for the ancient Chinese to hope for the harvest and good luck in the coming year. Laba porridge is the main dish on this day.

The other important date is the Kitchen God Worshipping (拜灶神) on the 23rd or 24th day of the month. People offer food to the Kitchen God, who takes charge of things for the whole family. It is said that the god returns to heaven that day to report to the Jade Emperor (the ruler of heaven in Chinese stories) about the family activities over the past year. So people usually offer him delicious dishes so that he will give a good report and the family will have good luck throughout the next year.

After this day, people start to sweep up the house and decorate the house with couplets (对联) and paper-cuttings. Once these things are finished, people will wait for the Spring Festival.

阅读下面短文，完成表格。

La yue	Activities
On the 8th day	Eat 1.
2.	Offer food to the Kitchen God
After that day	Sweep up the house 3.
﹨	Wait for 4.

 

 

A young man went to the local expert(专家) on gems and said he wanted to become a gemologist(珠宝家). The expert turned him down because he feared the youth would not have the patience to learn. The young man asked for a chance. Finally, the expert told the youth, "Be here tomorrow."
The next morning the expert put a jade(玉) stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. The expert then went about his work, cutting, weighing and setting gems. The boy sat quietly and waited.
The following morning the expert again put the jade stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. On the third, fourth and fifth days, the expert asked the young man to do the same thing. On the sixth day, the youth held the jade stone but he could no longer stand(忍受) the silence. "Master, when am I going to learn something?" he asked.
"You will learn." the expert said and went about his business.
Several more days went by and the youth almost lost his patience. But one morning as the master put the stone in the youth's hand, the young man said without looking at his hand, "This is not the same jade stone!"
"You have begun to learn." said the master.
Practice makes perfect. The experience we learned from practice teaches us and develops our abilities. Experience is the best teacher. Even the most successful person had no absolute confidence once. It is experience that gives people confidence. The truth is: if you do the work and gain the experience, you'll have more confidence because you'll actually know what you're doing.
【小题1】The phrase "turned ... down" probably means _______.

A．refused

B．accepted

C．forgave

D．doubted

【小题2】The expert let the young man hold the jade stone for so many days because he wanted to see if the young man was _______.

A．brave

B．patient

C．clever

D．honest

【小题3】What may be the best title for this passage?

A．An Experienced Gemologist	B．Experience, the Best Teacher
C．Experience of a Young Man	D．A Confident Teacher

A young man went to the local expert(专家) on gems and said he wanted to become a gemologist(珠宝家). The expert turned him down because he feared the youth would not have the patience to learn. The young man asked for a chance. Finally, the expert told the youth, "Be here tomorrow."
The next morning the expert put a jade(玉) stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. The expert then went about his work, cutting, weighing and setting gems. The boy sat quietly and waited.
The following morning the expert again put the jade stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. On the third, fourth and fifth days, the expert asked the young man to do the same thing. On the sixth day, the youth held the jade stone but he could no longer stand(忍受) the silence. "Master, when am I going to learn something?" he asked.
"You will learn." the expert said and went about his business.
Several more days went by and the youth almost lost his patience. But one morning as the master put the stone in the youth's hand, the young man said without looking at his hand, "This is not the same jade stone!"
"You have begun to learn." said the master.
Practice makes perfect. The experience we learned from practice teaches us and develops our abilities. Experience is the best teacher. Even the most successful person had no absolute confidence once. It is experience that gives people confidence. The truth is: if you do the work and gain the experience, you'll have more confidence because you'll actually know what you're doing.
【小题1】The phrase "turned ... down" probably means _______.

A．refused

B．accepted

C．forgave

D．doubted

【小题2】The expert let the young man hold the jade stone for so many days because he wanted to see if the young man was _______.

A．brave

B．patient

C．clever

D．honest

【小题3】What may be the best title for this passage?

A．An Experienced Gemologist

B．Experience, the Best Teacher

C．Experience of a Young Man

D．A Confident Teacher

What is your zodiac（生肖） animal? According to the Chinese lunar calendar（农历）, 12 animals mark 12 different years. It is the basis of the Chinese zodiac. Nowadays, Chinese zodiac animals have worldwide fame and are increasingly popular among western people.
The zodiac is an important part of Chinese culture. People believe that the characteristics of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. For example, people born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful and brave.
Zodiac animals also have some social functions. When people think it is not proper to ask: “How old are you”, they may change their question to “What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.
Zodiac animals are not special to China. Many countries share a similar zodiac culture with China. For example, in the Japanese Zodiac, a wild boar（野猪）takes the place of a pig and the Vietnamese（越南的）zodiac has a cat instead of a rabbit.
But have you ever wondered how these 12 animals were chosen to represent each year? According to legend, the Jade Emperor（玉皇大帝）invited all the animals to join him for Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals went to see him. As a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.
【小题1】The characteristics of a zodiac animal may influence the _____ of every person
born in that year.

A．appearance

B．personality

C．hobby

D．education

【小题2】“What is your zodiac animal?” is a question used to find out a person’s______.

A．age

B．name

C．job

D．weight

【小题3】In the Japanese zodiac, we don’t see the zodiac animal：_______

A．wild boar

B．rabbit

C．dragon

D．pig

【小题4】According to the last paragraph, we know that ____ was the first animal to arrive.

A．ox

B．rat

C．pig

D．cat