February 14 is a day for people who have fallen in love. On this day, these men and women give gifts and cards to each other for Valentine’s Day.
This day has been popular with people in love for a long time. At first, this holiday was called Lupercalia. Then the name of the day was changed to saint Valentine’s Day. The man named saint Valentine was Killed on February 14,270 A.D.because he was a Christian.
Before saint Valentine was killed, February 14 was the old Roman holiday, Lupercalia. The church wanted people to think of a Christian holiday on this day, so the church changed the name of the holiday.
This change did not stop people in love from giving gifts to each other. People usually gave gloves, handkerchiefs, or even underwear as gifts. Sometimes people also put hearts and flowers on the present before giving it to the other person.
Valentine cards did not become popular until the 1750s. The first Valentine cards were made by hand. People wrote their own words on the cards. These words were usually kind or funny.
Cards made by machines became more popular around 1850. All of a sudden, Valentine’s Day became a big holiday for people who made and sold cards.
Now, every year around February 14,cards and chocolates fill stores for people in love.
The Beijing Olympic Games will have 21,880 torchbearers(火炬手)for the torch relay(火炬接力).It is the biggest in the Games' history.Here let's know about some torchbearers.
?Luis Hone, 14, is from Colombia.He lives in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.He moved to China with his parents as a baby.“I can speak English, Chinese and Spanish.I love China, which has been my world all my life,”he said.“The torch relay is a good chance to improve the understanding between people of the world.”
?Sang Lan, 26, will complete the torch relay using her wheelchair.Sang's fingers are not agile(灵活的)because of her injury(受伤).The IOC officials suggested adding framework(框架)to her wheelchair to hold the torch.But she insists that she will hold the torch with her hands.“I believe if you put your heart into something, you can solve any problem,”she said.
?Liu Xuan, 17, is from Nanjing Foreign Language School.He is an energetic student.He enjoys various sports including football, basketball, badminton and running.“It will be an honor to be a torchbearer,”he said.
?Zhang Jie, 23, is a reporter with Guangzhou Daily.uTorch relay is a good way to let the world know China better,“Zhang said.Tin very proud that I can be part of it.”
(Teens Daily, Feb 21, 2008)
(1)
How long has Luis Hone been in China?
[ ]
A.
5 years.
B.
10 years.
C.
Less than 10 years.
D.
More than 10 years.
(2)
Who comes from Jiangsu among these four torchbearers?
[ ]
A.
Luis Hone.
B.
Sang Lan.
C.
Liu Xuan.
D.
Zhang Jie.
(3)
What can we learn from this article?
[ ]
A.
Zhang Jie is a reporter living in Zhuhai and working for Guangzhou Daily.
B.
Sang Lan will hold the torch with her hands.
C.
Luis is a student in a foreign language school.
D.
Liu Xuan can speak several languages.
阅读理解
Many young people want to be pop stars.Pop stars are rich.Many people think they are leading a happy and easy life.In fact, they have very hard lives.They spend much of their time on travel.Sometimes the travel is interesting, but in most time it is boring to pop stars.The following chart is a day's life of a pop star.
Feb.10, 2012
(1)
According to the chart, the pop star was a ________.
[ ]
A.
singer
B.
dancer
C.
player
D.
pianist
(2)
According to his plan, his plane should have taken off at ________.