Thanksgiving Day is a special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.

Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims (朝圣者) from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.

The first New England Thangksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.

In time, other colonies (殖民地) began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed (宣布) the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November, Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbors. But the Canadian Thanksgiving Day falls on the second Monday in October.

The passage mainly tells us _______

   A. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated

   B. how to celebrate Thanksgiving Day

   C. how Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places

   D. why Thanksgiving Day is a harvest holiday

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated _______.

   A. in spring           B. in summer         C. in autumn       D. in winter

The first to celebrate thanksgiving were _______ .

   A. people in Canada                        B. Governor Bradford

   C. some people from England                D. the American Indians

We can infer from the passage that New England must be ______ .

   A. in England                             B. in Canada

   C. on some island off the Atlantic             D. in America

Which of the following statements is NOT ture?

   A. There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

   B. Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations.

   C. Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest.

   D. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God.

One morning a few years ago, Harvard President Neil Rudenstine overslept. For this busy man, it was a sort of alarm: after years of non-stop hard work, he might wear himself out and die an early death.

Only after a week’s leave—— during which he read novels, listened to music and walked with his wife on a beach—— was Rudenstine able to return to work.

In our modern life, we have lost the rhythm between action and rest. Amazingly, within this world there is a universal but silly saying: “I am so busy.”

We say this to one another as if our tireless efforts were a talent by nature and an ability to successfully deal with stress. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, and to be unable to find time to relax—— this has become the model of a successful life.

Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We miss the guide telling us where to go, the food providing is with strength, the quiet giving us wisdom.

How have we allowed this to happen? I believe it is this: we have forgotten the Sabbath, the day of the week—— for followers of some religions—— for rest and praying. It is a day when we are not supposed to work, a time when we devote ourselves to enjoying and celebrating what is beautiful. It is a good time to bless our children and loved ones, give thanks, share meals, walk and sleep. It is a time for us to take a rest, to put our work aside, trusting that there are larger forces at work taking care of the world.

Rest is s spiritual and biological need; however, in our strong ambition to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, we may feel terribly guilty when we take time to rest. The Sabbath gives us permission to stop work. In fact, “Remember the Sabbath” is more than simply permission to rest; it is a rule to obey and a principle to follow.

The “alarm” in the first paragraph refers to “_______”.

A. a signal of stress

B. a warning of danger

C. a sign of age

D. a spread of disease

According to Paragraph 4, a successful person is one who is believed to _______.

A. be able to work without stress

B. be more talented than other people

C. be more important than anyone else

D. be busying working without time to rest

Some people feel guilty when taking time to rest because they _______.

A. think that taking a rest means lacking ambitions

B. fail to realize that rest is an essential part of life

C. fail to realize that religions force them to rest

D. think that taking a rest means being lazy

What is the main idea of this passage?

A. We should balance work with rest.

B. The Sabbath gives us permission to rest.

C. It is silly for anyone to say “I am busy.”

D. We should be available to our family and friends.

请根据下列提示写用英语一篇120词左右的短文.

Everybody can’t live happily and healthily without other’s help. As a result , we should be grateful to our parents, teachers and friends. Now write an article “Learn to be grateful”. Your composition should include the following points:

1.       why should you be grateful?

2.       to whom  and for what  should  you give thanks  ?

3.       How will you be grateful to other people by giving one or two examples?

Learn to be grateful

 

根据上下文及给出首字母或汉语意思的词填写单词。 (共10题；每小题1分, 满分10分) 注意：给出首字母的词, 需将首字母一起填写到答题卷上

1.Let’s give thanks for our soldiers _______(冒…的危险) their lives to defend the country.   

2.I have seen the film star many times - she looks much older in the f________ than in her photographs.

3.Illegal hunting is threatening the s________ of the species.

4.I had to run to work this morning because I got up late. I was in a real ________ (出汗)when I arrived. 

5.— When is the next train arriving? —It's ________ at 7:30. 

6.It was an e________ situation, because the restaurant was too expensive for us but we didn’t want to just leave.

7.There are large ________ (数量) of rain in the area of the country every summer.

8.Several cars are available within this price ________ (范围).  

9.I tried to remember her name, but my mind went b_________.   

10.If you tell someone to have f______, you are encouraging them to stay confident.