Are you ready for the coming festive season? What gifts will you give to make your friends feel special? Here teenagers share their ideas for gifts and look forward to the ones they'll get.

Hu Ziwei, 15, Nanjing Foreign Language School

My class will have a gift exchange party, during which we will put on a small talent show. Many of us had our gifts ready a week ago. I believe that the boys will give magic tools, stationary （文具） or sweets, while girls are likely to give dolls or mobile accessories （挂件）.

The biggest fun about these parties is not knowing from whom you'll receive a gift and who will receive your gifts. The computer will decide everything! Our teacher hopes the activity will help us get to know each other better – you see, we've only known each other for three months. I'm looking forward to my surprise gift!

Liu Wei, 17,Beijing No 8 High School

Although my birthday was in November, I'll get a special birthday gift from my classmates this week. A．collective （集体的） birthday party is scheduled for all the students who had birthdays fall in the last six months.

My classroom has been decorated with colorful ribbons and Christmas balls. Someone told me that there will be a huge birthday cake and that a personalized gift sent with best wishes from other students is being prepared for each birthday student. I'm sure we will treasure this event and I'm so looking forward to the big moment!

Yin Zhaohua, 19, Jixi No 1 High School in Heilongjiang

I'm still enjoying the gifts I received on Christmas Eve. Nowadays traditional greeting cards are being replaced with apples and sweets, which symbolize （象征） hope for the year ahead. I got more than 20 apples this Christmas, which means I sent a similar number of apples out. I think apples are healthier, more environmentally and friendly gifts than cards sent through the post.

Wu Shang, 16, Mianyang High School in Sichuan

These last two weeks have been filled with every kind of exam so the atmosphere（气氛） on campus is not at all like a holiday. I miss the days when I got handwritten cards.

In fact, I haven't received or sent holiday cards since the Internet became popular. It's so fast and easy to send an e-card. Also, text messages are fun and convenient （方便的）. I'll send warm hugs to my best friends on New Year's D．ay to let them know that I'll be always there for them.

1. Where is Yin Zhaohua from?

A．He is from the east of China                   B．He is from the capital of China

C．He is from the north of China                  D．He is from the west of China

2. Before the gift exchange party, Hu Ziwei knows _____________

A．from whom she'll receive a gift           B．who will receive her gifts.

C．what gift she will send to her classmates    D．that she may get a magic tool

3. In Liu Wei’s classroom we can’t see _____________ during the collective birthday party.

A．some colorful ribbons                              B．some Christmas balls

C．a huge birthday cake                               D．some mobile accessories

4. On New Year’s D．ay Wu Shang will _____________.

A．have an important exam                   B．send some handwritten cards

C．meet and hug her best friends warmly       D．send some text messages to her friends

5. From the passage we can infer _____________

A．the kids share the same ideas about gifts  

B．the kids will receive and send expensive gifts

C．apples are sent as gifts to keep young kids healthy

D．the kids are trying to show their wishes in different ways

Three kids have been learning chemistry for only a few months. But they have already begun to challenge (挑战) a world famous scientist!
Li Weichi, Huang Runling, and Xiao Yan are from Zhongshan Huaqiao Middle School in Guangdong. They have just found a red cabbage that could be a new kind of acid-base indicator (酸碱指示剂). They want it to take the place of litmus (石蕊) paper.
"We've learnt to think of and ask questions about life by ourselves," said Li, "We work well with each other."
British scientist Robert Boyle discovered the use of litmus paper over 300 years ago. Now it is used widely in experiments all over the world.
But when the kids did some experiments in class last winter, they saw that the litmus paper didn’t turn very blue with base matter. It's hard to get a clear result.
Will there be a better indicator than litmus paper? The three kids decided to try and find out!
How? They went to collect over 40 plants in parks, gardens and markets. Then they ground (研磨) leaves, flowers and stems (茎) to get the pigments (色素) from them.
The kids mixed pigments with acid and base. They spent months watching carefully to see which paper showed the best colour change. They decided it was the litmus paper!
"It's our first scientific journey, Huang said, "But it makes me want to try harder."
【小题1】 Whom did the three kids want to challenge?

A．Their chemistry teacher.	B．Their headmaster.
C．Robert Boyle	D．Thomas Edison

【小题2】 From the text, a red cabbage is a kind of ____.

A．plant

B．animal

C．paper

D．liquid

【小题3】What is widely used as the acid-base indicator now?

A．red cabbage	B．litmus paper
C．any plant	D．any flower

【小题4】The story mainly tells us ____.

A．how to make litmus paper	B．about the three kids' spirit
C．scientists were wrong	D．the kids are heroes

If you love books, then“Three Cups of Tea”will be your favorite. It will take you on an adventure（冒险）to one of the highest mountains in the world. You will learn how the people and children there lived and how the writer, Greg Mortenson , helped build an education system.

While climbing K2 in Pakistan, one of the world’s most difficult mountains to climb, Greg Mortenson became ill and got lost. He got help in a small village. The people of the village took good care of him, feeding him and letting him sleep in a villager’s house. They also gave him their best food: sweet tea.

When Mortenson was fine, he found that the children of the village worked and studied outdoors. Their teacher came only three times a week and they didn’t have blackboards. They used sticks（枝条）to write on the ground.

The day he left the village, he told them he would come back and build a school. His school would have both boys and girls. Later on, he came back and helped build a school, so the kids were able to study in the classroom with real writing instruments.

That was in 1993. Today Mortenson is going to build 80 schools in Central Asia. He started a foundation（基金）called the Central Asia Institute to raise money for these schools. He has helped more than 18,000 girls receive education so far.

1.“Three Cups of Tea”is the name of a        .

A．club

B．teahouse

C．book

D．movie

2.The following are what the people of the village did for Greg Mortenson EXCEPT        .

A．taking care of him and feeding him

B．taking him to the hospital

C．finding somewhere to let him sleep

D．giving him their best food

3.From the passage we know that       had more chances to receive education in Pakistan mountains in the past.

A．boys

B．girls

C．the rich

D．the poor

 

Three kids have been learning chemistry for only a few months. But they have already begun to challenge (挑战) a world famous scientist!
Li Weichi, Huang Runling, and Xiao Yan are from Zhongshan Huaqiao Middle School in Guangdong. They have just found a red cabbage that could be a new kind of acid-base indicator (酸碱指示剂). They want it to take the place of litmus (石蕊) paper.
"We've learnt to think of and ask questions about life by ourselves," said Li, "We work well with each other."
British scientist Robert Boyle discovered the use of litmus paper over 300 years ago. Now it is used widely in experiments all over the world.
But when the kids did some experiments in class last winter, they saw that the litmus paper didn’t turn very blue with base matter. It's hard to get a clear result.
Will there be a better indicator than litmus paper? The three kids decided to try and find out!
How? They went to collect over 40 plants in parks, gardens and markets. Then they ground (研磨) leaves, flowers and stems (茎) to get the pigments (色素) from them.
The kids mixed pigments with acid and base. They spent months watching carefully to see which paper showed the best color change. They decided it was the litmus paper!
"It's our first scientific journey, Huang said, "But it makes me want to try harder."
【小题1】Whom did the three kids want to challenge?

A．Their chemistry teacher.

B．Their headmaster.

C．Robert Boyle

D．Thomas Edison

【小题2】From the text, a red cabbage is a kind of ____.

A．plant

B．animal

C．paper

D．liquid

【小题3】What is widely used as the acid-base indicator now?

A．red cabbage	B．litmus paper
C．any plant	D．any flower

【小题4】The story mainly tells us ____.

A．how to make litmus paper

B．about the three kids' spirit

C．scientists were wrong

D．the kids are heroes

For many American teenagers, having a part-time job is an important part of growing up. A part-time job can teach teenagers important skills like responsibility（责任）， independence（独立），teamwork and leadership.
Young people can expand(扩大) their social circles beyond their classmates by making friends with co-workers. And many teenagers find that earning their own money gives them a sense of pride and freedom.
The US Department of Labor allows teenagers to apply for jobs at the age of 14. Popular part-time jobs include working in ice cream stores, coffee shops, and clothing stores. During the school year, teenagers may go to work a few times a week after their classes get out, then work for longer on the weekends.
In the summer, top jobs for teens include working at camps, swimming pools and amusement parks. These jobs are great for young people who want to be active and have fun while making money.
A favorite job for many teens is babysitting(临时替人看小孩), and they can start before 14 if the parents agree. After the children are sleeping and before the parents come home, babysitters have lots of freedom.
As long as they stay in the house and make sure the kids are okay, babysitters can do their homework, enjoy a snack, watch TV, or talk on the phone with friends.
It can be stressful to balance school, homework, and a part-time job. Still, many American teenagers value their work experience and the skills they gain on the job.
【小题1】The author thinks a part-time job can teach teenagers many skills except _____.

A．responsibility

B．teamwork

C．leadership

D．organization

【小题2】American teenagers can work when they are _____ years old by law.

A．fourteen

B．thirteen

C．twelve

D．eleven

【小题3】Where do American teenagers like to work most in the summer?

A．At a shop.

B．In the office.

C．At a camp.

D．At a clothing store.

【小题4】American teenagers like to babysit because they _____.

A．can start before 14	B．can make more money
C．like to play with children	D．have lots of freedom

【小题5】We can infer that American teenagers _____ from the last paragraph.

A．enjoy working more

B．hate going to school

C．don’t have much homework

D．think that skills are important