In much of Asia, especially the so-called ＂rice bowl＂ cultures of China, Japan, Korea, 【1】 Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might 【2】 (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods and metal 【3】 (create) special designs.

The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, 【4】 (use) twigs(树枝)to remove it. Over time, 【5】 the population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly.

Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which 【6】 (gradual) turned into chopsticks.

Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, 【7】 lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced the 【8】 (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and 【9】 (be) too violent for use at the table.

Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat 【10】 their hands.

Dear Editor,

I’m writing to tell you about “Reading Month” activity in our school. Recently

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

Everyone knows that fish is good for health. 【1】 But it seems that many people don’t cook fish at home. Americans eat only about fifteen pounds of fish per person per year, but we eat twice as much fish in restaurants as at home. Buying, storing, and cooking fish isn’t difficult. 【2】 This text is about how to buy and cook fish in an easy way.

【3】 Fresh fish should smell sweet: you should feel that you’re standing at the ocean’s edge. Any fishy or strong smell means the fish isn’t fresh. 【4】 When you have bought a fish and arrive home, you’d better store the fish in the refrigerator if you don’t cook it immediately, but fresh fish should be stored in your fridge for only a day or two. Frozen fish isn’t as tasty as the fresh one.

There are many common methods used to cook fish. 【5】 First, clean it and season it with your choice

of spices(调料). Put the whole fish on a plate and steam it in a steam pot for 8 to 10 minutes if it weighs about one

pound. (A larger one will take more time.) Then, it’s ready to serve.

A. Do not buy it.

B. The easiest is to steam it.

C. This is how you can do it.

D. It just requires a little knowledge.

E. The fish will go bad within hours.

F. When buying fish, you should first smell it.

G. Thefats in fish are thought to help prevent heart disease.

Lynn: I really want to find a good job. Do you have any advice?

Kate: Oh, lots of advice! First, be sure to dress 【1】(proper) for the interview. If it’s for a teaching job, as I did 20 years ago, then you might want to consider 【2】(wear) nice pants and a dress shirt. 【3】, you won’t like to wear clothes that are too formal and elegant for the interview nowadays.

Lynn：I see. Anything 【4】would you suggest I should pay attention to?

Kate: Well, second, be sure to do some research on the company for 【5】 you are being interviewed. This will help you know if you have the needed skills or experience to work for that company. You can also ask the 【6】interview), usually their personnel manager, about three intelligent questions about their business. That will show you are interested in their company.

Lynn: That’s good advice! Any last thoughts?

Kate: Yes, finally, be prepared to tell them why you would be the 【7】(good) choice for the position. You don’t have to talk too much about what you 【8】(study) for 4 years in university, but you can tell them 【9】 a confident and direct way why you can help their company. Following the above tips, you will find a satisfying job sooner or later.

Lynn: Thank you very much. I have got to buy some new clothes and then finish my 【10】(apply).

Little Lady Starts Big War

Harriet Beecher Stowe had poured her heart into her anti-slavery book "Uncle Tom's Cabin."【1】The publisher was so doubtful that he wanted her to split the publishing costs with him, and all she hoped was that it would make enough money for her to buy a new silk dress.

But when the first 5,000 copies were printed in 1852. They sold out in two days. In a year the book had sold 300,000 copies in the United States and150,000 in England.【2】Within six months of its release, a play was made from the book which ran 350 performances in New York and remained America's most popular play for 80 years. It might appear that "Uncle Tom's Cabins was universally popular, but this was certainly not true. Many people during those pre-Civil War days--particularly defenders of the slavery system--condemned it as false propaganda and poorly written melodrama (传奇剧作品).

Harriet did have strong religious views against slavery (When asked how she came to write the book, she replied: "God wrote it."), and she tried to convince people slavery was wrong, so perhaps the book could be considered propaganda.【3】

Though she was born in Connecticut in 1832, as a young woman she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, when her father accepted the presidency of newly founded Lane Theological Seminary (神学院). Ohio was a free state, but just across the Ohio River in Kentucky, Harriet saw slavery in action.【4】 In 1851, Harriet Beecher Stowe began her book.

Its vast influence strengthened the anti-slavery movement and angered defenders of the slave system.【5】

In fact, when Abraham Lincoln met Harriet at the White House during the Civil War, he said, "So, this is the little lady who started this big war."

A She had read a lot about the slavery system.

B Today some historians think that it helped bring on the American Civil War.

C But if so, it was true propaganda, because it accurately described the evils of slavery.

D For a while it outsold every book in the world, except the Bible.

E But neither she nor her first publisher thought it would be a big success.

F She lived 18 years in Cincinnati, marrying Calvin Stowe, professor of a college.

G She began her replies.

Music

Opera at Music Hall：1243 Elm Street. The season runs June through August, with additional performances in March and September. The Opera honors Enjoy the Arts membership discounts. Phone：241–2742. http://www.cityopera.com.

Chamber Orchestra: The Orchestra plays at Memorial Hall at 1406 Elm Street, which offers several concerts from March through June. Call 723–1182 for more information. http://www.chamberoch.com.

Symphony Orchestra: At Music Hall and Riverbend. For ticket sales, call 381–3300. Regular season runs September through May at Music Hall and in summer at Riverbend. http://www.symphony.org/home.asp.

College Conservatory of Music (CCM): Performances are on the main campus(校园) of the university, usually at Patricia Cobbett Theater. CCM organizes a variety of events, including performances by the well-known Lasalle Quartet, CCM’s Philharmonic Orchestra, and various groups of musicians presenting Baroque through modern music. Students with I．D. cards can attend the events for free. A free schedule of events for each term is available by calling the box office at 556–4183. http://www.ccm.uc.edu/events/calendar.

Riverbend Music Theater: 6295 Kellogg Ave. Large outdoor theater with the closest seats under cover (price difference). Big name shows all summer long! Phone:232–6220. http:///www.riverbendmusic.com.

【1】Which number should you call if you want to see an opera?

A. 241–2742． B. 723–1182．

C. 381–3300. D. 232–6220.

【2】 When can you go to a concert by Chamber Orchestra?

A．February． B. May

C. August． D. November．

【3】Where can student go for free performances with their I.D. cards?

A. Music Hall．

B. Memorial Hall．

C. Patricia Cobbett Theater．

D. Riverbend Music Theater.

【4】 How is Riverbend Music Theater different from the other places?

A. It has seats in the open air．

B. It gives shows all year round.

C. It offers membership discounts．

D. It presents famous musical works.

＂Hey, aren’t you from Mississippi?＂ the elegant, white-haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger. ＂I’m from Mississippi too.＂

Without a second thought, the woman joined the Welty party. When her dinner partner showed up, she also pulled up a chair.

＂They began telling me all the news of Mississippi,＂ Welty said. ＂I didn’t know what my New York friends were thinking.＂

Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine. By the time the group got up to leave, it was pouring outside. Welty’s new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab. Heading back downtown toward her hotel, her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi state reunion(团聚).

＂My friends said: ‘Now we believe your stories,’＂ Welty added. ＂And I said: ‘Now you know. These are the people that make me write them.’＂

Sitting on a sofa in her room, Welty, a slim figure in a simple gray dress, looked pleased with this explanation.

＂I don’t make them up,＂ she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years. ＂I don’t have to.＂

Beauticians, bartenders, piano players and people with purple hats, Welty’s people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends, from walks through the streets of her native Jackson, Miss., from conversations overheard on a bus. It annoys Welty that, at 78, her left ear has now given out. Sometimes, sitting on a bus or a train, she hears only a fragment(片段) of a particularly interesting story.

【1】What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe?

A. Two strangers joined her．

B. Her childhood friends came in

C. A heavy rain ruined the dinner．

D. Some people held a party there.

【2】The underlined word ＂them＂ in Paragraph 6 refers to Welty’s _______.

A. readers B. parties

C. friends D. stories

【3】 What can we learn about the characters in Welty’s fiction?

A. They live in big cities.

B. They are mostly women.

C. They come from real life.

D. They are pleasure seekers.

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

The teenage year from 13 to 19 were the most difficult time for me. They were also the best and worse years in my life. At the first, I thought I knew everything and could make decisions by yourself. However, my parents didn’t seem to think such. They always tell me what to do and how to do it. At one time ,I ever felt my parents couldn，t understand me so I hoped I could be freely from them. I showed them I was independent by wear strange clothes. Now I am leaving home to college. At last, I will be on my own, but I still want to have my parents to turn to whenever need help.

假定你是李华，你校摄影俱乐部（photography club）将举办国际中学摄影展。请给你的英国朋友Peter写封信，请他提供作品。信的内容包括：

1．主题：环境保护；

2．展览时间；

3．投稿邮箱：intlphotoshow@gmschool.com.

注意：

1．词数100左右；

2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。