| Green Christmas ideas | |
| Ideas | Supportive details |
| Reduce the use of the lights used for home (1) | Use eco-friendly lights that use up less energy to (2) _____ electricity. |
| Reuse the wrapping paper, as (3) as baubles and trinkets. | ● Make full use of the items used (4) . ● Make the baubles by yourself. |
| Recycle all those (5) ___ trinkets. | Send out Christmas cards made from recycled paper, which can be (6) ____ from many charities. |
| Make Christmas gifts on your (7) ____ | Make gifts for Christmas at home (8)____ than buy them from shops. |
| Have meals at home. | ● Cook a meal at home and prepare the (9) dishes of your family and friends you will invite. ● Involve your family and friends in planning the menu and cooking the meal to (10) your relationship further. |
| 1. decoration 2. save 3. well 4. previously 5. useless 6. bought 7. own 8. rather 9. favorite 10. strengthen | |
| 阅读理解。 | |
| I love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won"t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods. The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity"s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children"s books, all 10 or 20 pence each. Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don"t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open. The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding(资助)medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment. | |
| 1. The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______. | |
| A. its convenient location B. its great variety of goods C. its spirit of goodwill D. its nice shopping environment | |
| 2. The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ____. | |
| A. sell cheap products B. deal with unwanted things C. raise money for patients D. help a foreign country | |
| 3. Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops? | |
| A. The operating costs are very low. B. The staff are usually well paid. C. 90% of the donations are second-hand. D. They are open twenty-four hours a day. | |
| 4. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage? | |
| A. What to Buy a Charity Shops. B. Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development. C. Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate. D. The Public"s Concern about Charity Shops. | |
| 阅读理解。 | |
| Two Christmas traditions have come under attack in recent years from environmentalists: Christmas cards and Christmas trees. Paper cards are seen as wasteful and, for some people, going card free is another way of going green. They also argue that in a world of e-mail, Skype, Facebook and Twitter, people are in touch all the time anyway; they no longer need the yearly card that connects them with long lost friends. If you want to send Christmas greetings, there are free e-cards, which get the job done with no postage or wasted paper. However, especially for people who didn"t grow up with e-mail, there is something missing from a Christmas e-mail. The first Christmas cards appeared in London in 1843 and were designed by the same man who had introduced the world"s first postage stamp three years earlier. His name was Sir Henry Cole. They rose in popularity throughout the 20th century. Many people sent cards that were sold for charity.The most famous of these are the ones sold for UNICEF. In the UK this year, in the three weeks before Christmas, the post office expects to handle 100 million cards every day. Environmental awareness also means that nowadays many people recycle their cards; this helps raise money to plant more trees, as well as recreating more paper. When we think of trees at Christmas, there is one that immediately springs to mind-the evergreen tree that people decorate with ornaments and place their presents under. The custom dates back almost a thousand years to Germany, Nowadays 33 to 36 million Christmas trees are produced in America and 50 to 60 million in Europe each year. Some trees are sold live with roots and soil so people can plant them later and reuse them next year. Some people prefer artificial trees as they are reusable and much cheaper than their natural alternative. However, environmentalists point out that they are made from petroleum products and they have much pollution. | |
| 1. What is the main idea of the article? | |
| A. To analyze how two Christmas traditions grew in popularity. B. To introduce the history of two typical Christmas traditions. C. To point out the problems in some traditional ways of celebrating Christmas, D. To explain the debate environmentalists and traditionalists about Christmas traditions. | |
| 2 Some people suggest getting rid of paper cards because ______. a. they cannot be recycled and reused b. they are not environmentally friendly c. they are mostly sold for charity d. free e-cards have many advantages over them e. they are not as necessary as they used to be for people | |
| A. a, b, d B. a, c, d C. b, d, e D. b, c, e | |
| 3 What can we conclude from the article? | |
| A. This year has seen a dramatic drop in Christmas card sales and products. B. The first Christmas cards were designed three years earlier than the stamps. C. Environmentalists advise people to buy cards that are sold for charity to help raise money D. Growing environmental awareness is encouraging people to begin to recycle their cards. | |
| 4 Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article? | |
| A. Some people prefer to buy live trees that can be reused next year. B. Artificial trees are much better than natural ones in all aspects. C. The custom of decorating Christmas trees first appeared in Britain. D. There is a wider Christmas tree market in America than in Europe. | |
| 阅读理解。 | |
| If you are a wealthy resident of India, madly in love and planning your big fat wedding-or being pressured into arranged marriage-Thailand wants you to exchange vows(誓言) in Bangkok, Phuket or elsewhere in this "wedding Paradise(乐园)". This wedding business starts from overseas with the Indians. Thai embassies in India give quick services for the visas. Not only the couples, you can bring anyone, say, your own cook. So, feel free to invite hundreds of your friends and relatives. Why would Indians want to spend so much on weddings in Thailand? Because they have similarities in religion. When Indian weddings want to have some religious prayer for the couples, Thailand can do that. But the more obvious appeal are Thailand"s fancy hotels, tropical islands, and delicious Thai food, allowing newlyweds to include a honeymoon in Thailand after they say "I do" while their guests also celebrate on a holiday here. But on the other hand, love does have a price. Kasu Rajagopal arranged for his daughter to have a wedding in Phuket. They arranged entertainmen t to begin three days before the wedding, because guests" arrival time varied. Yachts were chartered to take guests to small islands, while a DJ, flown in from Bangalore, India, was booked to help them dance in the evening. Kasu also arranged priests for the Hindu wedding, and cooks to prepare Indian food. The approximate costs are around half a million U. S. dollars, including the airfares, hotel accommodation, food, transportation, the yachts on hire and the wedding ceremony expenses, for 225 to 250 guests. Thailand wants to make itself a wedding paradise for all couples, not just from India, but from around the world. Last year, there were around 500 to 600 couples from China, and the numbers are slowly coming up. Westerners also arrive to get married, but in much smaller numbers. | |
| 1. What is the main reason why the Indians would go to Thailand for weddings? | |
| A. They will be pressured into arranged married in India. B. India shares the same religion as Thailand. C. Thailand offers them more than just a wedding ceremony. D. Guests are not satisfied with Indian weddings. | |
| 2. We can learn from the passage that____. | |
| A. guests do not need visas to get into Thailand B. changing vows is a necessary step for an Indian wedding C. islands are people"s first honeymoon destination choice D. some Indians prefer the food prepared by their own cooks | |
| 3. Kasu Rajagopal"s example in the fourth paragraph shows____. | |
| A. it may cost you a fortune to have such a wedding B. you can bring whatever you want to Thailand C. what Thailand offers hardly satisfies customers" needs D. there are quite a few activities after the wedding | |
| 4. It can be predicted that____. | |
| A. cost of weddings in Thailand will be reduced B. more people will get married in Thailand C. fewer westerners will have Thai weddings D. Chinese will be Thailand"s No. l customers | |
| 阅读理解。 | |
| 阅读下面短文并回答问题,然后将答案写到相应的位置上(请注意问题后的词数要求). Americans usually consider themselves a friendly people. Their friendships, however, tend to be shorter and more casual than friendships among people from other cultures. It is not uncommon for Americans to have only one close friend during their lifetime, and consider other "friends" to be just social acquaintances. This attitude probably has something to do with American mobility and the fact that Americans do not like to be dependent on other people. They tend to " compartmentalize" friendships, having "friends at work", " friends on the softball team", "family friends", etc. Because the United States is a highly active society, full of movement and change, people always seem to be on the go. In this highly changed atmosphere, Americans can sometimes seem brusque or impatient. They want to get to know you as quickly as possible and then move on to something else. Sometimes, early on, they will ask you questions that you may feel are very personal. No insult in intended; the questions usually grow out of their genuine interest or curiosity, and their impatience to get to the heart of the matter. And the same goes for you. If you do not understand certain American behavior or you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to ask all about their country or anything "American" in which you may be interested. So much so in fact that you may become tried of listening. It doesn"t matter, because Americans tend to be uncomfortable with silence during a conversation. They would rather talk about the weather or the latest sports scores, for example, than deal with silence. On the other hand, don"t expect Americans to be knowledgeable about international geography or world affairs, unless those subjects directly involve the United States. Because the United states is not surrounded by many other nations, some Americans tend to ignore the rest of the world. 1.What is the main idea of the first paragraph?(no more than 15words) _______________________________________________________________ 2.The underlined phrase on the go means "______" __________________________________________________________________ 3.What would Americans prefer to talk about in order to carry on a comfortable conversation?( no more than 10 words) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4.According to the customs mentioned in the passage, what would you do if you want to know something about America?(no more than 10 words) _______________________________________________________________ 5. why don"t Americans know much about international geography or world affairs?( no more than 15 words) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | |
| 完形填空 | |
| Do Americans have morals? That"s a good question. Moral values in America are like those in any 1 . One of the most 2 moral values for Americans is honesty. The wellknown 3 about George Washington and the cherry tree teaches this value 4 . Little George cut down his father"s favorite cherry tree 5 trying out his new hatchet. When his father asked him about it, George said, "I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my hatchet." Instead of 6 , George received praise. Sometimes American honesty-being open and direct-can 7 people. But Americans still believe that "honesty is the best policy". Another 8 Americans respect is perseverance(毅力). Remember Aesop"s fable about the turtle and the rabbit that had a 9 ? The rabbit thought he could 10 easily, so he took a nap. But the turtle finally won because he did not 11 . Compassion (同情) may be the queen of American virtues. The story of "The Good Samaritan" from the Bible 12 a man who showed compassion. On his way to a 13 city, the Samaritan man found a poor traveller lying on the road. The kind Samaritan, 14 just passing by, stopped to help this person in need. Compassion can even turn into a positive 15 . In autumn 1992, people in Iowa sent truckloads of water to help Floridians 16 by a hurricane. The next summer, during the Midwest flooding, Florida 17 the favor. In no way can this brief description 18 all the moral values honored by Americans. Courage, responsibility, __19__, gratitude and many others could be discussed. But no matter how long or how short the list, moral values are 20 . | |