Of all the things our wisdom tells us will make life entirely happy, the greatest is the possession of friendship. One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives. Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.

On the first Sunday in August, it’s time to recognize your friends and their contribution to your life. The first Sunday in August was fixed as National Friendship Day by the U.S. Congress in 1935, and remains a tradition observed in many countries and cultures. In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship.

Apparently, there are several friendship holidays, all of which fall on fixed dates.

National Friendship Day is on the first Sunday in August

Women’s Friendship Day is on the third Sunday in September

International Friendship Month is February

Old Friends, New Friends Week is the third week of May

People show their appreciation for friendship in various ways. Some expressions may be practical ones, such as flowers, particularly the pink friendship roses, cookies, chocolates, souvenirs from their vacations, a tape of favorite songs, farewell dinners, and welcome balloons.

Recipe for Friendship  2 cups of patience, 1 heart full of love, 2 handfuls of generosity, 2 cups of loyalty, 1 cup of understanding, A dash of laughter. Mix them all well. Spray generously over a lifetime and serve everyone you meet.

Friendship helps to bring peace and positivity to the globe, another great reason to celebrate! Although our friends certainly deserve thanks on more than just one day of the year, what better day to honor them than Friendship Day!!

1.Which of the following proverbs supports the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Friendship cannot stand always on one side.

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C．A friend without faults will never be found.

D．A life without a friend is a life without a sun.

2.Which of the holidays happens first in a year?

A．National Friendship Day.	B．Women’s Friendship Day.
C．International Friendship Month.	D．Old Friends, New Friends Week.

3.What is most needed to make friendship grow, develop and last?

A．Inviting your friends over for a party.

B．Looking on your friends as relatives.

C．Honoring your friends on Friendship Day.

D．Being loyal and generous to your friends.

4.“Recipe for Friendship” here actually means       .

A．a prescription for curing friends	B．a method of keeping a friendship
C．the pleasure of having friends	D．the importance of friendship

 

My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister’s bureau（衣橱）and picked out a wonderful skirt. “Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago .She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion.” Well, I guess this is the occasion.

He took the skirt from me and put it on the bed. His hands touched the soft material for a moment, then he shut the drawer and turned to me, “Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you’re alive is a special occasion.”

I’m still thinking about his words, and they’ve changed my attitude to life. I’m spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to enjoy, not suffer. I’m trying to recognize these moments now and treasure them.

“Someday” and “one of these days” are being lost from my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now . I’m not sure what my sister would have done if she had known she wouldn’t have tomorrow.

I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend her fences for past things. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food.

If I knew that my hours were limited, those little things left undone would make me angry. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with someday. Angry and sorry because I didn’t tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them.

I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that every day, every minute, and every breath truly, is…a gift from God.

1.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Every day is a gift

B. My poor sister

C. Value friendship every day

D. Every day is an important occasion

2.Jan bought the wonderful skirt but didn’t wear it, because(   )

A. She wanted to wear it on special occasions

B. She kept it as a special gift for someone else

C. She saved it until she grew older

D. She wanted to keep it as a sweet memory

3.Which of the following is not the writer’s attitude to life?

A. Spending more time staying with family every day.  

B. Attending social activities as often as possible

C. Enjoying life and valuing every day.

D. Trying to get along well with friends

 

Of all the things our wisdom tells us will make life entirely happy, the greatest is the possession of friendship. One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives. Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.
On the first Sunday in August, it’s time to recognize your friends and their contribution to your life. The first Sunday in August was fixed as National Friendship Day by the U.S. Congress in 1935, and remains a tradition observed in many countries and cultures. In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship.
Apparently, there are several friendship holidays, all of which fall on fixed dates.
National Friendship Day is on the first Sunday in August
Women’s Friendship Day is on the third Sunday in September
International Friendship Month is February
Old Friends, New Friends Week is the third week of May
People show their appreciation for friendship in various ways. Some expressions may be practical ones, such as flowers, particularly the pink friendship roses, cookies, chocolates, souvenirs from their vacations, a tape of favorite songs, farewell dinners, and welcome balloons.
Recipe for Friendship  2 cups of patience, 1 heart full of love, 2 handfuls of generosity, 2 cups of loyalty, 1 cup of understanding, A dash of laughter. Mix them all well. Spray generously over a lifetime and serve everyone you meet.
Friendship helps to bring peace and positivity to the globe, another great reason to celebrate! Although our friends certainly deserve thanks on more than just one day of the year, what better day to honor them than Friendship Day!!
【小题1】Which of the following proverbs supports the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Friendship cannot stand always on one side.

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C．A friend without faults will never be found.

D．A life without a friend is a life without a sun.

【小题2】Which of the holidays happens first in a year?

A．National Friendship Day.	B．Women’s Friendship Day.
C．International Friendship Month.	D．Old Friends, New Friends Week.

【小题3】What is most needed to make friendship grow, develop and last?

A．Inviting your friends over for a party.

B．Looking on your friends as relatives.

C．Honoring your friends on Friendship Day.

D．Being loyal and generous to your friends.

【小题4】“Recipe for Friendship” here actually means       .

A．a prescription for curing friends	B．a method of keeping a friendship
C．the pleasure of having friends	D．the importance of friendship

D

  　　Award­winning author Emma Donoghue's latest book, Room, is a unique and amazing story about a boy's experience living in a small，windowless room with his mother. The 11' x 11' space between the walls of the room is actually all the boy knows because he was born there and has never left. Room will horrify ，surprise, sadden, and finally delight you. Attracted from the start, readers of all sorts won't want to put Room down.

◆First published in the U. S. in September 2010

◆Publisher: Little Brown

◆321 Pages                                                                                                                                     

　　Literary master Ian McEwan returns with Solar, a novel about a Nobel prize­winning physicist. The physicist's personal life is in a mess as his fifth marriage breaks，but this time he actually loves his wife and wants to make things better. Solar is a funny story, completely unusual and as good as anything the writer has ever written.

◆Published in March 2010

◆Publisher: Knopf Doubleday

◆304 Pages                                                                                                                                     

　　One Day by David Nicholls was an international bestseller before it was released in the U. S. in June. Although it is well written and funny at times, don't be fooled—this isn't a good­feeling romantic comedy. If you decide to read it, be prepared for some heavy moments.

◆Published in the U．S. in June 2010

◆Publisher: Vintage Contemporaries

◆437 Pages                                                                                                                                     

　　Fall of Giants by Ken Follett is the first book in a new trilogy (three books)that will take readers through the major events of the twentieth century by following five families. In Fall of Giants, most of the action centers on World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution. Although Fall of Giants is more than 1,000 pages and has many characters，the story is remarkably connected.

◆Published in September 2010

◆Publisher: Dutton

◆1,008 Pages                                                                                                                                  

1.Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A. Ian McEwan once won the Nobel Prize.

B. Fall of Giants is mostly set in wars.

C. One day is written by David Nicholls.

D. Solar is a funny story about a physicist.

2.We can know from the text that ________.

A. the main character of Room has a wide range of knowledge

B. Solar is the only book that Ian McEwan has ever written

C. all the four books were not published in the same month

D. One Day is a funny romantic comedy that sells very well

3.We can infer from the passage that ________.

A. the sixth of Ian McEwan's marriages broke

B. Room by Emma Donoghue has a happy ending

C. the publisher of One Day is Little Brown

D. Dutton and Ken Follett are both publishers

 

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.