For me, Christmas always began in the middle of the cold,    windy month of November. My sister, Alison, and I each sat down in front   of the fire and wrote a letter to Father Christmas telling him about all the presents we wanted. We seriously wrote “Father Christmas, the North Pole” on the envelope, before giving them to our mother to post.

With December our excitement grew each day—as we opened the new year calendar, Christmas cards arrived in the post, Christmas lights appeared in the streets, and we attended the town carol service. And of course, there was snow everywhere, enough snow to make snowmen, and to have exciting snowball fights in the school playground.

On Christmas Eve, the whole family helped to decorate(装饰) the house, put up the Christmas tree. Then, in the afternoon, when Auntie Kathleen and my two cousins arrived, everything was ready. Before we went to bed, we left some wine and biscuits for Father Christmas and then put our stockings (长筒袜) at the end of our beds. We tried to stay awake as long as possible to see Father Christmas but the next thing we knew it was morning. Christmas morning!

At the bottom of the bed was the stocking, now full of all kinds of small presents and sweets. Christmas morning was bright and sunny, so my cousin David and I went out into the garden to play with our new presents. Lunch was always late, but what a lunch! A big turkey with all the vegetables followed by Christmas pudding (布丁). We sang Christmas carols happily, laughed at jokes, put on silly paper hats and laughed again.

After lunch, the adults slept on the sofas in front of the Queen’s speech on television while we all played cards. Then we had tea, with a huge Christmas cake covered with snowmen. It didn’t seem possible, but we carried on eating. By bedtime all of the children were very tired. As soon as we turned off the light, we all fell into a deep, happy sleep.

1  What does the underlined word “them” in the first paragraph refer to(所指)？                        A. Letters.                                                 B. Presents.       

C. The writer’s parents.                                  D. The writer’s cousins.

2  Who do you think may read the children’s letters?

A. Father Christmas.                                        B. Nobody.                                         C. Their parents.                                          D. Their classmates.

3  What probably happened on Christmas Eve?

A. The writer stayed awake all night.                   

B. Someone put presents in the writer’s stocking.

C. The writer saw Father Christmas.      

D. Some children played with their new presents.

4  What happened after lunch?

A. The adults watched a film about the Queen.  B. The children made a snowman.

C. The adults played cards.                    D. The children had a lot to eat.

5  Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A. History of Christmas                        B. Memories of Christmas

C. Western festivals                                  D. Father Christmas

I’ll be ready _____________a minute.

A．on                                   B．at

C．for                                  D．in

________ you get ready for lunch?

1. A.
   Are
2. B.
   Do
3. C.
   Does
4. D.
   Be

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

I’ll be ready _____________a minute.

A.on B.at

C.for　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.in