Except for a few times, Americans are not big present-givers. There’s no exchange of presents among business people, and if one American tries to give another a present, it may look like that he wants to bribe (賄賂) him. Americans have learned that in some other countries people like to give presents to others, but among ourselves we don’t see the need for presents.

Even friends may never exchange presents. When I go to foreign countries, I try to bring back little things for close friends, but nobody would feel unhappy if I didn’t. I don’t often re­member a friend’ s birthday, and few people outside of my family remember mine. If someone gave me presents too often, I’d get unpleasant. But a present from a foreigner — that kind from his or her homeland — won’t go wrong, except to government employees (政府職員) who can’t be given presents.

You usually open a present at once and in front of the person who gives it except Christmas and birthday presents. You should only say, ‘It’s so nice. Thanks…’when you get Christ­mas or birthday presents.

You may want to bring a bottle of wine (葡萄酒) or flowers to a dinner party, but you’re never asked to. Nobody will mind if you bring wine, but your friend may not use it that evening.

At Christmas we often give presents to our family and sometimes our friends. We also give presents to people who have been helpful during the year like doormen, babysitters, housecleaners , newspaper senders — anyone who has often helped us.

1.What do the underlined words ‘close friends’ mean in the passage?

A．The friends who are very kind.

B．The friends who live close to each other.

C．The friends who were once classmates.

D．The friends who you like most.

2.What kind of presents don’t Americans usually open in front of the givers?

A．The small presents

B．Christmas or birthday presents.

C．The expensive presents.

D．The presents for dinner party.

3.Why do Americans also give presents to housecleaners at Christmas?

A．To pay them.

B．To help them.

C．To thank them.

D．To make them work harder.

4.Which of the following do you think is right?

A．American business people don’t want presents because they are rich enough.

B．The writer of this passage must be an American.

C．Everyone must give presents to one’s family and friends at Christmas.

D．Government employees can get little presents from a foreigner.

5.What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Present-giving in the United States.

B．Customs (習(xí)俗) in the United States.

C．American people and present-giving.

D．When and how to give presents.

 

閱讀理解
In today’s world many people seem to be hungry for money. Some of them even lose their lives for it. Money does have its most useful effect(影響) on the poor, but once a person has a rich life, a lot more money doesn’t mean more happiness.
If money was everything, all millionaires(百萬(wàn)富翁) would have true love, true friendship, good health and a long life. However, this is not always true.
Nothing else is more pleasant than the three words which are “I love you”. But can love be bought? I’m afraid not. Love means to give, not to take. To every person, health and long life are probably the most precious(寶貴的) things. Well, can health and a long life be bought with money? The answer is “No”.
Of all the longest living people in the world, few of them are millionaires. True friendship can’t be bought either. In a word, where money is worshiped(崇拜), money can cause brothers to quarrel, lovers to hate, strangers to fight and so on. No matter how much money you have, it is still not enough to make you a happy person if you have not one to laugh with, no one to cry for.
【小題1】According to the passage, which of the following do you think is right?

A．Money is everything.

B．Money isn’t necessary.

C．Money is important, but not the most important.

D．With no money, with no success.

【小題2】 What’s the most important thing for every person according to the writer’s ideas?

A．Only money.	B．Health and a long life
C．Only friendship.	D．A, B and C

【小題3】 Which sentence of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．If you haven’t much money, you can’t get more happiness.

B．You may live a long life even if you are poor.

C．Every year many people die in the world because their family is poor.

D．If you are rich, you will have less friendship.

【小題4】In fact, all millionaires ____________.

A．have much money	B．die earlier
C．love their money	D．have true love

【小題5】 What does the sentence “Love means to give, not to take.” mean in the passage?

A．愛(ài)意味著給你，而不能帶走。	B．愛(ài)是可以得到的，不要走開(kāi)。
C．愛(ài)意味著奉獻(xiàn)，而不是索取。	D．愛(ài)是可以索取的，而不必付出。

A blind schoolgirl has become the youngest interpreter (口譯員) when she is only ten years
Alexia Sloane is from Cambridge. She was told by the doctor she had a brain tumour (腦癌) when she was on holiday "with her parents in France. After that the two-year-old girl became blind.
Though the little girl can't see anything, she has great talent for languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent (流利的) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese-and is learning German.
Now her dream of working as an interpreter has come true. East of England MEP (歐盟議員) Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament (議會(huì)). "Usually a person who enters the European Parliament should be 14 at least. So it was amazing for Alexia to work there at the age of 10. " said Alexia's mother Isabelle. Alexia can speak three languages since birth. As her mum is hah" French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. " She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age. " added Isabelle, who also has a four-year-old daughter Melissa.
Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was six and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year (年度青年成就獎(jiǎng)). She asked if she could learn from the interpreters and HEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. " It was fantastic and I decided to become an interpreter, "said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me. "
【小題1】How old is the youngest interpreter according to the passage?

A．4.

B．6.

C．10.

D．14.

【小題2】When did Alexia Sloane become blind?

A．When she was born.

B．After she had a brain tumour.

C．After she became an interpreter.

D．When she was on holiday with her parents.

【小題3】Who offered Alexia the chance of working as an interpreter?

A．Richard.

B．Isabelle.

C．Melissa.

D．Robert Sturdy.

【小題4】What is right about Alexia Sloane?

A．She can speak five language fluently.

B．She is a talented language learner.

C．She is the only child in the family.

D． She went to France on holiday after she won the award.

【小題5】What do you think is the meaning of the sentence "Nothing can stop me. "?

A．Never give up.	B．Believe in yourself.
C．Nothing is impossible.	D．Failure is the mother of success.

---Who do you think is the man __________ first flew into space in China?  --- Yang Liwei is.

A．/                B．who              C．that              D．whom

 

根據(jù)下列句子及所給漢語(yǔ)注釋或通過(guò)上下文，  在答題卡上標(biāo)有題號(hào)的橫線上，寫出空缺處各單詞的正確形式。每空只寫一詞。

1.Who do you think is    （苗條）,Kitty or Sandy?

2.Mr. Wu is an     （有能力的）teacher and he is my favourite teacher.

3.When Thomas Edison was young, he showed great    （興趣）in everything.

4.I am still    (想知道)what was going at the time．

5.I liked to sit beside the window and enjoy the     (美景)in the park.

6.We plan to help the students in poor areas by    (提供)them with some stationery.

7.We must help this boy.  He doesn't know the    (重要性)of study.

8.-I don't think it's right to treat Jimmy like this.

-I agree with you. He worked the hardest but got the    money.

9.- Have you heard that Jack had an accident last night?

- Yes, but    he wasn't badly hurt.

10.- Shall we go for a hiking this weekend?

- All right,    it rains.