China and the Netherlands (荷兰) are long-time friends. The Netherlands is more than 41,500 square kilometres in area. It is a bit larger than the size of Taiwan, China.
The Netherlands is rich in culture and art. It is home of many great artists, for example, Vincent van Gogh. Besides fine art, the Netherlands is also called the country of tulips (郁金香). It has the world’s largest tulip garden: Keukenhof garden.
Dutch people are very hard-working. There’s a saying: “God made the Earth, but the Dutch made Holland.” More than a quarter of the country is below sea level. So Dutch people build many dams (水坝) to protect the country from flooding. They have created almost one sixth of the country from seas and rivers!
Did you know?
◆ Rubber ducks are popular around the world. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created it in 2007. The yellow duck is 26 metres high.
◆ Wooden clogs (木底鞋) are traditional shoes in the Netherlands. They make good gifts for tourists.
◆ In the Netherlands, it is impolite to start eating at once. Dutch people will sometimes say “delicious” before eating.
◆ Like the UK, the Netherlands also has
kings and queens.
【小题1】Taiwan, China is 　　　 than the Netherlands in area.

Dear Karen,
As you probably know, it’s my sister Suzie’s 16th birthday in a week. We’re planning a surprise party for her. Julie’s going to pick her up from school as usual on Friday but she’s not taking her home. She’s bringing her to the Palace Hotel, the big modern one near the station. We’re having a meal there and we’ve also hired (租用) the ballroom (舞厅) for a party in the evening. I hope you can come!
All her friends from school are coming and quite a few of the people from our village, too. Of course, Mum and Dad are coming up from England and I’ve managed to persuade (说服) our other sister, Marie, to come over from Australia. She’s bringing her kids with her, too.
After the party we’re going to have another one on Saturday! Well, not really a party. We’re inviting the family and close friends (that includes you) for a meal at the house. If the weather is nice, we’d like to have a barbecue in the garden. Julie’s going to make a special cake for Suzie.
Anyway, we hope to make it a really special weekend for Suzie. On Sunday we’re all going for a walk in the country. You know how she loves walking and we’re all going to need a bit of exercise after all that lovely food. We’re hoping to go up to the lake. Marie said she wanted her kids to feed the ducks just like Suzie and she did when they were very young. I’m sure Suzie will love that too.
It would be great if you could come over for the weekend. We would all love to see you.
Let me know as soon as you can.
Best,
David
【小题1】Who is Karen? ______

When our children were younger, it was popular for city people to buy a small farm in the country and       a few animals there.

One of our new neighbors        ducks. They seemed very lovely; however, they were       to run around in their yard and the neighbors’ yards—      ours. Our vegetables were their favorite food. Often we would “shoo” the ducks home and want to know_      there wasn’t a fence to keep them.

One day, I asked her if she      her ducks were bringing trouble to my garden. She told me that they were her   _   and he was away traveling. My attitude （态度） to her was bad. We realized that our neighbors were not planning to build a        , so our son built one .The ducks now stayed in their own yard. I didn’t see my neighbor again       months later.

A women’s church group asked me to       at their mother and daughter party. The topic was “Love”. Much to my       ，the first woman I saw when I walked into the church was my neighbor. I knew I could not speak about love to them when I hadn’t been     __ my neighbor. So I walk        to her and said sorry for my attitude. She forgave（原谅）me and then we talked a lot     _ .

Do you have anybody like that in your life? Let me encourage（鼓励）       ，if at all possible, go to clear the air between you.

1.A. put                                B. keep                                 C. send                                  D. take

2.A. bought                              B. sold                                    C. dropped                           D. showed

3.A. made                             B. allowed                            C.  invited                           D. chosen

4.A. except                              B. but                                      C. without                   D. including

5.A. what                              B. why                                   C. if                                        D. when

6.A. saw                                B. understood                     C. thought                            D. realized

7.A. husband’s                     B. daughter’s                       C. wife’s                                D. grandma’s

8.A. fence                                      B. house                               C. home                                D. room

9.A. after                              B. before                              C. until                                  D. while

10.A. speak                                   B. talk                                    C. say                                     D. tell

11.A. happiness                            B. disappointment              C.sadness                             D. surprise

12.A.worried about                    B. patient  with                  C. strict with                         D. annoyed with

13.A. up                                B. along                                 C. around                             D. down

14.A. angrily                        B. seriously                          C. happily                    D. carefully

15.A. us                               B. you                                   C. ourselves                         D. Yourselves

Dear Karen,

As you probably know, it’s my sister Suzie’s 16th birthday in a week. We’re planning a surprise party for her. Julie’s going to pick her up from school as usual on Friday but she’s not taking her home. She’s bringing her to the Palace Hotel, the big modern one near the station. We’re having a meal there and we’ve also hired (租用) the ballroom (舞厅) for a party in the evening. I hope you can come!

All her friends from school are coming and quite a few of the people from our village, too. Of course, Mum and Dad are coming up from England and I’ve managed to persuade (说服) our other sister, Marie, to come over from Australia. She’s bringing her kids with her, too.

After the party we’re going to have another one on Saturday! Well, not really a party. We’re inviting the family and close friends (that includes you) for a meal at the house. If the weather is nice, we’d like to have a barbecue in the garden. Julie’s going to make a special cake for Suzie.

Anyway, we hope to make it a really special weekend for Suzie. On Sunday we’re all going for a walk in the country. You know how she loves walking and we’re all going to need a bit of exercise after all that lovely food. We’re hoping to go up to the lake. Marie said she wanted her kids to feed the ducks just like Suzie and she did when they were very young. I’m sure Suzie will love that too.

It would be great if you could come over for the weekend. We would all love to see you.

Let me know as soon as you can.

Best,

David

1.Who is Karen?  ______

A. David’s cousin.                                            B. David’s friend.

C. David’s sister.                                              D. David’s classmate.

2.David and Julie are planning to have Suzie’s birthday party ______ on Friday evening.

A. at the Palace Hotel                                              B. at the house

C. in the garden                                                       D. beside the lake

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned?   ______

A. To make a special cake.                                     B. To have a barbecue.

C. To go swimming.                              D. To feed the ducks.

4._____ won’t come for the meal at the house on Saturday because David doesn’t invite them /her.

A. Karen                                                                    B. People from their village

C. Suzie’s Mum and Dad                                D. Marie and her kids

5.Why is David planning a walk in the country on Sunday?

Because he thinks ______.

A. Suzie loves walking very much

B. Suzie used to take a walk there after dinner

C. it is special for Marie’s kids to go for a walk in the country

D. Suzie can feed the ducks in the river when going for a walk

When Mark left school, he did not really know what he wanted to do. He 36  worked in an office but he found that it was very boring. He did the   37  things day after day. This was also the trouble with his second   38  in a car factory. He then decided he would like to work out of doors and got a job  39  a gardener working in one of London’s    40 .
He now works much harder than he   41  in the office or at the factory, but his work is quite different. There are, in all,   42  seasons in a year and each has its own special jobs for a   43  . He works harder in the autumn and winter keeping the park tidy and   44  for the spring and summer. In the summer he can relax(休息) and feel proud(自豪的) that he has helped to   45  the park so beautiful. Many people   46  the park then and he is always pleased   47  he hears them say how lovely it looks.
Mark has made a lot of friends during his four   48  at the park. Many office workers come every  49 to eat their lunchtime sandwiches and feed the ducks. They often have talks with him and are  50  to find that he once worked in an office.