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.

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

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

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

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

An old man lived in a nice house with a large garden. He took care of his flowers all the time, watering and fertilizing them.

One day a young man went by the garden. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be if he lived in such a beautiful place. Then ,suddenly he found the old gardener was blind. He was very surprised about this and asked,“You can’t see these flowers. “Why are you busy taking care of them every day?”

The old man smiled and said ,“I can tell you four reasons. First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can’t see these flowers, I can touch them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that’s you.”

“Me? But you don’t know me.”said the young man.

“Yeah, it’s true that I don’t know you. But I know that flowers are angels that everybody knows. We enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us.”

The blind man’s work opened our eyes and pleased our hearts, which also made his life happier. It was just like Beethoven, who became deaf in his later life and wrote many great musical works. Beethoven himself couldn’t hear his wonderful music, but his music has encouraged millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn’t it a kind of happiness?

1.The young man was very surprised because _________.

A．The old man was deaf.

B．The old man could see nothing.

C．The old man took care of flowers every day.

D．The flowers was very beautiful.

2.Why was the old man busy taking care of the flowers every day?

A．Because he liked doing it.

B．Because it can make him happy.

C．Because everyone enjoyed the happiness these flowers had brought.

D．All the above.

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the old man?

A．He was a musician.                      B．He was the writer’s friend.

C．He used to be a gardener.                 D．He was very happy.

4.What is the best title of the passage?

A．The beautiful flowers.                    B．Beethoven’s life.

C．The blind and The deaf.                   D．One kind of Happiness.

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______.

据短文内容及首字母提示，填写所缺单词，使短文意思完整。（10分）

Reading is an activity, people enjoy a lot in their free time.

Some like reading newspapers and?? o?? 1. enjoy novels or comic books. My? f?? 2. books are those about the lives of great people. Reading them always gives me a lot of ideas on how to make my o? 3.? life better.

Great people are remembered not because they were handsome or beautiful, but because they did not give up w? 4.?? their lives were difficult. They tried to use? e? 5.?? chance to change their lives and make the world better.

One good example is Orville and Wilbur Wright, the two brothers who invented the airplane. The plane has c? 6.?? the world into a small village. Hard work, not good luck, is the r? 7.?? why they become great people. Today we will remember them when we see planes i? 8.? the sky. Whenever I r?? 9.? stories about great people, I always learn a lot? f___10.__ them.

This is why I enjoy reading about great people’s lives.

Life is like the four seasons. Now I am very old, but when I was young, it was the spring of my life. I was born, I played a lot, and then I started school. I learned many new things. Like a flower, I grew bigger every day. There were happy days and sorrowful days: some days the sun shone(闪耀), and some days it didn't.
In my twenties, I had a good job. I was strong and happy. Then I married and had a child. In those days, I didn't have much time to think. Every day I was busy and worked very hard. And so, I started to get some white hairs. The summer of my life passed quickly.
Then the days got shorter. Leaves fell from the trees. My child was a university student, and then an engineer. My home was much quieter. I started walking slowly. One day I stopped working. I had more time. I understood this was my autumn, a beautiful time when the trees change color and give us delicious fruits.
But the days kept getting shorter and colder. Winter has come, I am older and weaker. I know I do not have many days left. I will enjoy them to the end.
【小题1】The writer was very busy in the ______ of his life.
A. spring              B. summer                  C. autumn     
【小题2】According to the passage, which of the following ages is during the autumn of his life?
A. 87                  B. 33                       C. 62 
【小题3】What does the word “sorrowful” mean in this passage?
A. sad                 B. exciting                C. wonderful
【小题4】Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The writer had a garden with flowers.
B. The writer was always happy as a child.
C. The writer now is old and weak, but still he enjoys his life.
【小题5】The best title for the passage would be _____
A. Four seasons    B. My life      C. Four seasons in my life