Different Cultures

The cultures of the East and the West really distinguish each other a lot. 【1】

The origin of the eastern cultures is mainly from two countries: China and India. Both of the two cultures are developed by rivers-the Yellow River in China and the Hindu River in India. 【2】

When the two mother rivers gave birth to the Eastern culture, another famous culture was brought up on the Mesopotamian Plain-the Mesopotamian Civilization. This civilization later on developed into the cultures of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. 【3】Like the Chinese culture, the European culture also crossed waters. When the British settled down in America, their culture went with them over, the Atlantic Ocean. So the American culture doesn't distinguish from the European culture a lot。

【4】 Take the language system for example. In the East, most languages belong to the pictographic language while the Western languages are mostly based on the Latin system Other causes like human race difference counts as well. But what's more. due to the far distance and the steep .areas between the East and West, the two cultures seldom communicate until recent centuries. So they grew up totally in their own ways with almost no-interference（干扰） from the other.

The differences are everywhere. 【5】But different cultures make the world of 21st century more colorful. The cultural gap should not be the obstacle (障碍) to the civilization of human being. It ought to be the motivation of our going farther.

A. Let us work together to keep a variety of culture.

B. One important thing is to learn about other cultures.

C. And these two are well-known as the base of the European culture.

D. At the same time, some other differences add to the cultural differences.

E. This is because the culture systems are two separate systems on the whole.

F. They helped the two cultures develop for centuries and form their own styles.

G. They are obvious and affect people's ways of thinking and their views of the world.

【1】She didn’t give an adequate___________(explain) for being late.

【2】I prefer studying English at home _________watching the match.

【3】The beauty of the West Lake is beyond__________(describe).

【4】The basketball player fell to the ground to try to avoid_________(fit), but unfortunately he was still hurt.

【5】They scored another goal and made sure _______victory.

【6】‘Ben’ is usually short _________’Benjamin’.

【7】Where do you think most of the people live, in the central part of the country or _________the coast?

【8】We are not allowed_________(talk) aloud in class. It is the same with the students in other classes.

【9】His wonderful performance left a deep impression _______the audience.

【10】With many things___________(buy), I left for the supermarket.

【11】I can’t imagine how you can do it in the___________(absent) of any other helpers?

【12】He was waiting for his brother’s return with deep___________(anxious).

【13】With his help, we’ve learned how to___________(analysis) problems.

【14】The advertisement for engineers in the local paper attract many____________(apply).

【15】Upon____________(arrive), Jimmy found a long line of customers waiting in front the counter.

【16】With the____________(assist) of his brother, he sold one painting.

【17】I got into an___________(argue) with a friend.

【18】The government_____________(ban) the use of chemical weapons last year.

【19】In this class, we are going to study some___________(base) principles of physics.

【20】We should take a positive attitude __________life.

注意：1．可适当增加细节使行文连贯；

2．字数100左右；

3．开头已给出，不计人总字数；

4．参考词汇；计划生育family program独生子女the only child

Dear Jane,

Thank you for your letter and the photo of your family.

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Yours,

Li Hua

▲ They probably do social media. Not always, but probably.【2】. They also use this to ensure they can feed their brains with things they otherwise wouldn't have come across.

▲ 【3】 They never bother their head about the problem of "work-life balance" and somehow manage to seem 100% engaged in what they're doing, on all fronts simultaneously(同时)，even though you know they're taking appropriate steps behind the scenes to make sure their lives are well balanced.

▲ They know they are the smartest in the room, but they don't spend much time talking about that.【4】 That is, they challenge themselves to make everyone else in the room the smartest person too.

▲ They never, ever, under any circumstances, make you look stupid, even though it would be easy to do so. They've learned through bitter experience that the only thing that happens when you make someone look bad is that you look bad yourself.

▲ If they are managers, they will make every effort to get people more connected and more popular than them in their teams.【5】 They 're not threatened because they know that smartness is synergistic.(相互促进的）

A. It is not only a chance to listen.

B. They know it is an advantage to them.

C. They take it as a personal challenge instead.

D. They will be smiling even when things go wrong.

E. Now I've got an answer about whether someone's smart.

F. They also ensure their smart people look smarter than them.

G. They deal with home, work and personal interests perfectly.

Public opinion may have some say in who is considered “beautiful” on the outside, but inner beauty takes on a whole other meaning. 【1】. Learn what beauty means to you and have the confidence to live by your own rules starting today.

Ask yourself what beauty means to you. How do you define (定义) inner beauty? Is it a person who is always smiling? Someone who has kind words for everyone he meets? Or, is your definition of beauty more complex?【2】. Take a pen and a notebook and write down some words that help you describe inner beauty.

Have confidence in who you are. In addition to stressing your character strengths, you can apply other ways to feel more confident.【3】. This can be anything from making music to playing sports. Doing things you are good at builds self-respect.

Smile and laugh more.【4】, just arranging your face into a smiling expression can thoroughly change your mood. Smiles can lead to a more positive mood and a more hopeful attitude. It can not only make you feel beautiful inside, but also improve your outer beauty.

【5】. A reliable method of developing your own inner beauty is adopting the habit of seeing the beauty in everything. All around you, there are amazing people, places and things. Make an effort to slow down and acknowledge these daily.

A. Notice the beauty around you

B. When you want to get the feeling of confidence

C. Even if you don’t quite feel up to it at the moment

D. Besides, you should try to laugh as much as possible

E. Take a moment to reflect on what beauty means to you

F. It has more to do with your character than your appearance

G. Frequently take part in activities in which you perform well

I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.

However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: "I may have lost, but it doesn't matter because I really didn't try." What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistake belief that—one's self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.

【1】What does this text mainly talk about?

A. Competition helps to set up self-respect.

B. People hold different opinions about competition.

C. Competition is harmful to personal quality development.

D. Failures are necessary experience in competition.

【2】Some people favor competition because they think it ________.

A. pushes society forward

B. builds up a sense of pride

C. improves social abilities

D. develops people's relationship

【3】The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 refers to those who ________.

A. try their best to win

B. highly value competition

C. are strongly against competition

D. mostly rely on others for success

【4】Which viewpoint does the author agree to?

A. Self-worth relys on winning.

B. Competition leads to unfriendly relationship.

C. Winning should be a life-and-death matter.

D. Fear of failure should be removed in competition.

The 2016 Winter Camp opens between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. from Feb.5th to Feb. 15th. A11 children aged 8-14 are welcome. Each child can take part in only one of the following activities and needs to pay ￥150 for it.

1. Sports (basketball, football, table tennis, etc)

2. Internet Groups (painting online, piano-learning, computer study, etc.)

3. English World (English songs/games/plays, English speaking contest etc.)

Some American children are coming to the camp. If you really want to spend an interesting winter holiday, please join us for learning with fun. Act now! Book your seat as soon as possible either by phone or by e-mail. Pay before Jan. 25th, then you can have a Mickey T-shirt as a member of the camp.

Beijing Children's Palace

No. 23, Fu Xing Road, Beijing City

Tel: 010-888093445

E-mail: Children's Palace@163. com

【1】This Winter Camp is intended for ________.

A. parentsB. teachersC. students D. English learners

【2】The participants can do the following things except ________.

A. making friends with American children

B. playing computer games

C. learning English songs

D. having basketball matches

【3】What should you do if you want to get a T-hirt?

A. Book the seats as soon as possible.

B. Phone the Palace in advance.

C. Pay money before Jan. 25th.

D. Ask some others to join in.

The brown-headed spider monkey has a prehensile (缠绕性的) tail, which means it can grasp and can be used like a fifth leg to grab trees. During the day, the spider monkey searches for fruits, which make up the main part of its diet. They will also eat flowers, seeds，leaves, and small insects during the dry season when fruits aren’t available. They spend most of the daylight hours climbing and swinging through the high branches of trees.

The brown-headed spider monkey lives in a large community of about 20 to 100 male and female monkeys. They split into smaller groups for feeding. Females usually give birth to only a single baby each year or two. Young monkeys are carried on their mothers’ stomachs until about 16 weeks old. Then they are strong enough to ride on their mothers, backs. All brown-headed spider monkey babies are born with pink faces and ears.

Spider monkeys hug each other and wrap their tails around each other. They are very intelligent and have strong memories. They were named spider monkeys because they look like spiders as they hang upside down from their tails with their arms and legs swinging. Their genus (属) name is Ateles, which means “imperfect”. This refers to the fact that they don’t have thumbs.

Hunting the brown-headed spider monkey is now barred in Ecuador, a country in northwestern South America, but humans have killed them for their meat for hundreds of years.

【1】Spider monkeys live mostly on .

A. insects B. fruits

C. flowers D. leaves

【2】What can we learn about spider monkeys?

A. They have five legs.

B. They live in small groups.

C. Their tails can take their weight.

D. Their genus is the same as spiders.

【3】What does the underlined word “barred” in the last paragraph refer to?

A. Permitted. B. Forbidden.

C. Encouraged. D. Ignored.

【4】Where do newly-born spider monkeys stay?

A. In a large community.

B. In trees with high branches.

C. On their mothers’ backs.

D. On their mothers’ stomachs.

When Friday came, I cleaned up, dressed up and drove to the high school gym. I chatted with my teachers and approached Mr. Gardner to thank him before leaving. Just then, the band started playing and a young girl stood up to sing. One look at her and I was crazy — I had never seen such a beautiful girl!

I asked Mr. Gardner who she was, and he answered, “That’s Marilyn Riley, Cut Riley’s daughter.” I was shocked to say the least. They lived just around the comer from me. I walked across the gym floor to introduce myself, “Hi, Fm Jack Joseph.’’

“I know who you are,” was her not-too-friendly response.

“Would you like to dance?” I asked. “No! I’m working,” she shot back.

“Can I call you next week for a movie date?” I asked. “No” was her response.

For the next month I phoned，trying to set up a date. She always had the same answer: No. Then one rainy afternoon in March as I was driving home after basketball practice, I saw Marilyn, walking with no umbrella, no raincoat and no hat. I pulled alongside her and asked if she needed a ride, half expecting her to say no. Instead, she stepped over the roadside and sat down on the seat next to me. It was only a few blocks to her house, but after pulling into her driveway we talked for 45 minutes. It was magic from then on.

【1】Why did Jack decide to attend the party?

A. The party was held to welcome him back home.

B. Marilyn would be introduced to him at the party.

C. He could meet some of his former teachers there.

D. They gathered there to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

【2】What was the author’s attitude towards the party?

A. Casual. B. Formal.

C. Passive. D. Worried.

【3】We can infer from the text that .

A. Jack once served in the army after high school

B. it took Jack 45 minutes to drive Marilyn home

C. Jack and Marilyn were familiar with each other

D. it was Marilyn’s cold attitude that interested Jack

【4】How would the story most probably develop in the end?

A. Marilyn would fall in love with Jack.

B. Jack would make great achievements in college.

C. Marilyn would become a famous singer.

D. Jack would have frequent conflicts with Marilyn.