Who hasn’t enjoyed eating peanuts? Did you know that although peanuts look like nuts and taste like nuts, they aren’t nuts at all? They belong to the pea family, so they are called peanuts. The peanut grows flowers above ground, but its “fruit” grows underground. It grows in more countries than most other “nuts”.
The peanut is a native South American plant. Scientists believe that it grew wild in Brazil long ago. They think that for several thousand years the early peoples of South America made it a part of their diet. These peoples were nomads who moved on when a natural food could no longer be found in one area. Along the way they probably let fall some peanuts, which got into the ground and grew. This is believed to be the way the plant reached the place where the Incas（印加人）lived. The Incas, from about 1100 to 1532, thought highly of peanuts. The peanuts were eaten in several forms and used as sacrificial offerings（祭品）to the Incan Sun God. Later in the 16th century, European soldiers had brought peanuts to other parts of the world, including North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Pacific Islands.
Although peanuts were found native in South America, they are now grown in almost every country that has warm weather. India produces the most peanuts. China’s production is next, followed by the United States.
The peanut is special in more ways than one. It can be eaten raw, boiled, roasted, or fried. Hundreds of widely different products have been made from it. Carver, an American scientist, set himself the task of discovering new uses for eating and for many other products.
Peanuts are very highly nutritious and are also high in protein （蛋白质）. Americans use about seven-tenths of their protein in the form of meat. In India, where the poor can’t pay for meat or milk, peanut meal and peanut milk have been produced. These have been a great help to the poor.
New products are continually being made from peanuts, among them peanut cheese and a powder that becomes peanut butter when water is added. The fact is that peanuts are so healthy that they were used by astronauts. The unusual nut that isn’t a nut is one of nature’s most amazing gifts.
【小题1】 Although we like eating peanuts, many of us don’t know peanuts belong to _______ family.

A．the pea

B．the nut

C．both the pea and the nut

D．neither the pea nor the nut

【小题2】 Which paragraph（段落）mainly talks about the history of the peanut?

A．Paragraph Four	B．Paragraph Three
C．Paragraph Two	D．Paragraph One

【小题3】What does the underlined word nutritious mean?

A．Helpful for staying healthy.	B．Helpful to the poor.
C．Delicious and tasty.	D．Rich in fat and oil.

【小题4】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the article?

A．Nomads always stayed in the same place.

B．The peanut was first found in South America.

C．Astronauts ate lots of peanuts to keep healthy.

D．China grows fewer peanuts than the US.

【小题5】What is the purpose of the article?

A．To show that peanuts belong to the pea family.

B．To advise us to use more peanut products.

C．To tell us some new uses of peanuts.

D．To let us know more about peanuts.

       Who hasn’t enjoyed eating peanuts? Did you know that although peanuts look like nuts and taste like nuts, they aren’t nuts at all? They belong to the pea family, so they are called peanuts. The peanut grows flowers above ground, but its “fruit” grows underground. It grows in more countries than most other “nuts”.

The peanut is a native South American plant. Scientists believe that it grew wild in Brazil long ago. They think that for several thousand years the early peoples of South America made it a part of their diet. These peoples were nomads who moved on when a natural food could no longer be found in one area. Along the way they probably let fall some peanuts, which got into the ground and grew. This is believed to be the way the plant reached the place where the Incas（印加人）lived. The Incas, from about 1100 to 1532, thought highly of peanuts. The peanuts were eaten in several forms and used as sacrificial offerings（祭品）to the Incan Sun God. Later in the 16^th century, European soldiers had brought peanuts to other parts of the world, including North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Pacific Islands.

Although peanuts were found native in South America, they are now grown in almost every country that has warm weather. India produces the most peanuts. China’s production is next, followed by the United States.

The peanut is special in more ways than one. It can be eaten raw, boiled, roasted, or fried. Hundreds of widely different products have been made from it. Carver, an American scientist, set himself the task of discovering new uses for eating and for many other products.

Peanuts are very highly nutritious and are also high in protein （蛋白质）. Americans use about seven-tenths of their protein in the form of meat. In India, where the poor can’t pay for meat or milk, peanut meal and peanut milk have been produced. These have been a great help to the poor.

New products are continually being made from peanuts, among them peanut cheese and a powder that becomes peanut butter when water is added. The fact is that peanuts are so healthy that they were used by astronauts. The unusual nut that isn’t a nut is one of nature’s most amazing gifts.

1. Although we like eating peanuts, many of us don’t know peanuts belong to _______ family.

A．the pea

B．the nut

C．both the pea and the nut

D．neither the pea nor the nut

2. Which paragraph（段落）mainly talks about the history of the peanut?

A．Paragraph Four	B．Paragraph Three
C．Paragraph Two	D．Paragraph One

3.What does the underlined word nutritious mean?

A．Helpful for staying healthy.	B．Helpful to the poor.
C．Delicious and tasty.	D．Rich in fat and oil.

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the article?

A．Nomads always stayed in the same place.

B．The peanut was first found in South America.

C．Astronauts ate lots of peanuts to keep healthy.

D．China grows fewer peanuts than the US.

5.What is the purpose of the article?

A．To show that peanuts belong to the pea family.

B．To advise us to use more peanut products.

C．To tell us some new uses of peanuts.

D．To let us know more about peanuts.

 

Almost every Chinese person can recite(背诵) the two lines of the famous poem, “Every grain on the plate comes from hard work ”. But sadly, many of us don’t actually get the real meaning of these lines: Don’t waste food.
A CCTV program reported that the food Chinese people throw away every year is enough to feed 200 million people for a year. Do we have too much food? Absolutely not. According to the UN World Food Program, there were 925 million hungry people around the world in 2011, especially in developing countries. Six million children die of hunger every year.
Chinese people are well-known for being friendly and generous. Many even feel that they lose face if their guests have eaten all the food on the table. Luckily, a number of people have realized the importance of saving food. What should we do in our daily lives to waste less food?
1. Don’t order too much in a restaurant. Only order as much as you want to eat. If you cannot eat all the food you ordered, take the rest of it home.
2. Don’t leave any food in your bowls while having meals.
3. Keep an eye on what food you have at home. Don’t buy too much, especially for vegetables and fruit.
【小题1】What’s the real meaning of the underlined sentence?

A．春种一粒粟，秋收万颗籽	B．谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。
C．吏禄三百石，岁晏有余粮	D．足蒸暑土气，背灼炎天光。

【小题2】According to the UN report, how many hungry people were there in 2011?

A．6 million.

B．925 million.

C．200 million.

D．725 million.

【小题3】What should we do to waste less food?

A．Order more food in a restaurant.

B．Every time you eat, leave some food in your bowls.

C．Take all the food you ordered home.

D．Don’t store too much food like vegetables and fruit.

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true?

A．A number of people have realized the importance of saving food.

B．The food Chinese people throw away every year is enough to feed 200 million people for a year.

C．200 million children die of hunger every year.

D．Many Chinese feel that they lose face if guests have eaten all the food on the table.

【小题5】What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Don’t waste food.

B．Chinese people are friendly and generous.

C．We can’t die of hunger.

D．Every grain is grown by farmers.

It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them. This concern (忧虑) is becoming greater and greater theses days. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal (交易) on Black Friday ( the first Friday at Christmas time). It’s surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal. But sometimes it can be well worth. Many retailers (零售商) offer specials all through the day. Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.
Read advertisements regularly. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business. They will try their best to get us into the store. Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time. We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.
Shop online. Some of us don’t like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift. Some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping.
The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some
specialty stores on the Internet. We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift.
【小题1】 The underlined word “specials” in Paragraph 2 means______.

A．赠品

B．奢侈品

C．特价商品

D．圣诞礼品

【小题2】We can have more choices to get a good deal ______.

A．on the Internet

B．in specialty stores

C．from salesmen

D．from retailers

【小题3】In this passage the writer wants to ______.

A．tell us to shop online

B．tell us the best way to do shopping

C．show us how hard it is to do Christmas shopping

D．give us advice on how to get a good deal at Christmas time

【小题4】 From the passage we can infer (推断) that ______.

A．people are surely able to get a good deal on Friday

B．it is possible for people to buy the perfect Christmas gifts with less money

C．retailers will be hungry because they are busy selling Christmas gifts

D．with traditional Christmas shopping, people can’t buy the perfect gifts