At school many things happen to us. We may feel excited when we have success in a school play. We may feel sorry if we lose an important game. We want to keep the memory for the rest of our lives.

      How to keep the memory? Our English teacher, Miss Wang, has taught us a good way of remembering things to make our own yearbook. What is a yearbook? A yearbook is a kind of book which is used to keep the memory of exciting moments. It’s usually made at the end of the year.

     Last December, we began to make our yearbook. First we chose the persons who had done something special, then some students interviewed(采访) them, some wrote down their stories, others took photos of them. Everyone in our class had something to do. Finally our teacher helped us to put the things together. We had our first yearbook.

     All of us put a lot of love into making the yearbook. It is so wonderful that not only the students but also our parents and teachers will remember the special time for ever.

11. When we have success in a school play, we may feel_____

A. sorry                                             B. angry          

C. excited                                            D. interested

12. Miss Wang’s good way of remembering things is to_____

A. buy a new book                                   B. write down stories 

C. take a lot of photos                             D. make a yearbook

13. A yearbook is made to______

A. take notes                                         B. keep the memory   

C. do our homework                                      D. remember English words

14. We made our first yearbook______

A. without any help                                  B. without putting our love into it       

C. with the help of our teacher                  D. with the help of our parents

Memories of Christmas

For me, Christmas always began in the middle of the cold, windy month of November. My sister, Alison, and I 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 the house, put up the Christmas tree, the decorations and the balloons. 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 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. Lunch was always late, but what a lunch! A big turkey with all the vegetables followed by Christmas pudding. I like turkey breast the best. I put so much food in my mouth sometimes that it was hard to swallow. 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.

15. Who do you think reads the children’s letter?

      A. Father Christmas               B. their parents             C. nobody

16 . What do you think people do in a carol service?

      A. sing songs                                   B. give presents                    C. watch a play

17. What happened on Christmas Eve.

      A. The answer stayed awake all night.  

B. Someone put presents in his stocking. 

C. The writer saw Father Christmas.

18. Why did they laugh?

      A. The Christmas carols were happy songs.    

B. The songs and hats were funny.

C. The jokes and hats were funny.

19. After lunch, _________

      A. the adults watched the Queen’s speech.   

B. the children made a snowman. 

C. everybody had more to eat.

Long ago, people lived on wild animals, fruits and other plants and they didn’t need to use money.

As time passed, families had more products(产品) than they needed, such as animals and crops. So they needed to trade(交易) with others. They began to use money to make it easier. However, it was not like the money we use today. They used shells, rice, salt or large stones.

During the 600s BC, people began using coins as money. Because they were easier to carry than goods(货物), countries began to make coins as their money.

The Chinese were the first to use paper money, probably in the 11th century. An Italian traveler, Marco Polo, saw the Chinese use paper money when he visited China in the 1200s. After his travel, he told the western people what he saw. But European countries didn’t start using paper money till the1600s.

Today we have many ways to pay for things, such as coins, paper money and cards. Some prefer to pay by card. That’s because paying with a card is easier and safer than carrying around a lot of “real” money.

20. People began to use money because they ______.

A. lived on plants                       B. raised animals                 C. needed to trade

21. People used ______ as money during the 600s BC.

A. shells                                    B. coins                             C. cards

22. Which country used paper money first?

A. Japan.                                  B. USA.                             C. China.

23. The passage tells us the ______ of money

A. history                                  B. use                                C. collection

In July, 2001, Zhang Jian, a 37-year-old swimmer landed in Calais, France after swimming for twelve hours. He became the first Chinese ever to cross the English Channel. The 33.8-kilometre channel has attracted many swimmers because it is one of the most difficult channels to cross.

Zhang Jian set off at 1: 30 p.m. on July 29, 2001. After putting some oil on his skin to help keep warm, he stepped into the sea from Shakespeare Beach, Dover.  Most of the time, Zhang swam freestyle to save energy. But he had to change his style along the way because the ocean currents changed every six hours and the water was so cold. During the crossing he ate some food and had some drinks. About three hours before he landed in Calais, a British guide jumped into the sea and swam together with him. The next day, Zhang walked onto the French beach at last.

24. How old is Zhang Jian now?

      A. 37.                                               B. 35.                                  C. 52.

25. Shakespeare Beach lies in _______.

      A. England                                 B. France                                   C. Canada

26. Which of the following is true according to this passage?

      A. Zhang Jian's 12-hour swimming has attracted many swimmers.

      B. Many swimmers have been attracted by the English Channel.

      C. The English Channel is the most difficult to cross in the world.

27. This passage mainly tells us _______.

      A. when Zhang Jian crossed the English Channel

      B. how Zhang Jian crossed the English Channel

      C. where Zhang Jian landed

Cyber Boy 5-26-2012 2:15 pm

Hi, I’m planning a trip to Europe this summer. I haven’t decided where to go yet, but I’d like to experience Britain and France. And I don’t want to spend too much money, any ideas? 

Esperanto 5-26-2012 2:23 pm

I had tour to Britain last year. It’s a very nice place. I had a great time there. If you get a chance, visit Stratford. That’s the town where Shakespeare lived.

Yoshi 5-26-2012 2:28 pm

First you should make sure what you want to do there. Each country in Europe has so much to see. Are you interested in museums and castles(城堡)？Or do you want to get to know anything modern?

Cyber Boy 5-26-2012 3:02 pm

Yoshi—Good question. I’d like to see some museums, but I also want to try some of France’s famous food, and a castle would also be great.

Yoshi 5-26-2012 3:21 pm

I think an English-France-Germany trip might work well for you. You can do a little bit of everything. That’s wonderful.

Esperanto 5-26-2012 3:38 pm

It’s easier to say than to do. It will need a lot of money and take time. Cyber Boy isn’t so rich. I think he’d better go in France first this time and he is still able to travel to England or Germany in the future if possible.

Yoshi 5-26-2012 3:54 pm

Esperanto—That sounds OK. But I’m not sure if he will have another trip to Europe.

28. Cyber Boy organized the discussion in order to _________.

A. work out a travel plan                            B. make some new friends  

C. find much pleasure                               D. suggest a group tour

29. Yoshi suggested Cyber Boy should ___________.

A. take a simple tour to three countries     B. visit modern cities in Europe

C. choose England for future travel        D. pick Germany for this summer

30. Esperanto was considering Cyber Boy’s difficulty with ___________.

A. language           B. transportation         C. money             D. custom