Most businesses are open five days a week. American school children go to school five days a week as well. American families usually have a two-day weekend. The weekend is Saturday and Sunday. Over the weekend, people spend their time in many different ways. Many families enjoy weekends together. They may go shopping, go for a drive or visit friends. They may also invite friends over and have a party at home. Many American families take part in sports during the weekend. Running, biking, playing volleyball and swimming are popular in summer. Skiing and skating are favorite winter sports. Weekends are also a time for American families to work on something in their houses. Many families plant flowers and have vegetable gardens. Some families use the weekends to paint or repair their houses.

For most Americans, weekends are very busy.

(    ) 1.American students go to school ________.  

        A. four days a week                  B. five days every month

          C. five days a week                   D. six days a week

(    ) 2. Saturday and Sunday are the ________.

        A. weekend for Chinese only             B. weekend for Americans

        C. workdays for Americans               D. days for children to study

(    ) 3. Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage? Most American families ___________.

           A. plant flowers during the weekend      B. invite friends to have a party

           C. watch TV during the weekend           D. may go shopping during the weekend

(    ) 4. The American are ________ during the weekend.

         A. very free                           B. very lazy           

           C. quite poor                            D. busy with their own things

(    ) 5. _______ are favorite sports in summer for Americans.

         A. Skating and football                      B. Running and biking

         C. Skiing and volleyball                   D. Swimming and skating

Taxes are a big part in the United States．Most Americans pay city taxes，state taxes，social security（安全）taxes，sales taxes…and the list seems endless．The biggest tax for most Americans is the incomes tax．The personal income tax is called a“progressive tax”．Because it takes more from those who earn（挣钱）most．For example，a person who earns about$3，500 a year，will pay a tax of only about 3．5％of earning，but if the same person earned$85，000 a year，he would pay an income tax of 35％．Over years the incomes tax has become more and more difficult for people to understand．Almost one half of all Americans now have to pay experts to prepare their tax reports．In fact，preparing taxes and giving tax have become a big industry（工业）in America．

（    ）1．Most Americans pay ________．

    A．taxes which are too many to list

    B．taxes either to the cities or the states they live in

    C．several kinds of taxes

    D．so many kinds of taxes that they even don’t know the names

（    ）2．Social security tax is collected from _______．

    A．those who have broken the law

    B．those who often make trouble

    C．every people living in the area in question

    D．every person in America

（    ）3．Which of the following is NOT true?

    A．Americans have all kinds of taxes．

    B．Personal income tax is the biggest tax in American．

    C．The more a person earns，the more income tax he should pay．

    D．Personal income tax can prevent the rich from getting richer．

（   ）4．The so-called“progressive tax”is the tax _________．

A．collected for social progress

    B．that increases with each passing year

    C．that is collected from those who earn most

    D．that varies（变化）according to how much money a person earns

（   ）5．Why have preparing and giving tax become a big industry in America? Because______

    A．the list of taxes seems endless

    B．they would rather spend their time and energy elsewhere

    C．they find their knowledge about taxes is too limited to write a tax report by themselves

    D．paying experts to prepare their tax reports and asking for tax have been very popular