During my childhood in the 1960s, my parents were always busy with work and meetings. They left early in the morning and came back late in the evening. My sisters, my brother and I were left alone with Grandma. We saw our parents only on Sundays and during the few holidays. The only long period （一段）of time during which the whole family could be together once a year was the Spring Festival. We missed our parents badly, but didn’t say so because we had been told that hard work was everyone’s duty and that we could not have our own small family without a big family.　　  Later I was a hard working student and, during summer or winter holidays, often stayed alone at university to have more time to study. I was always encouraged by my parents, for whom the holiday was less important than “work” and “study”. Holidays were a waste of time and I felt as if I had done something wrong if I took a holiday or did nothing during a holiday.

I spent the most difficult period of my life abroad. But when I joined this company, my boss didn’t seem to think it right for me to work like that. When I called him at home after office hours for business purposes （目的）, he politely told me that he preferred talking about work with me in the office.

When the holiday season came near, he asked me to plan my leave beforehand （提前）. He talked with me about his holiday and also asked about mine. For him, leave was a right.　　  Giving up a holiday for the company is encouraged in China, but is foolish here. I began to think about holidays.

Today my parents are retired （退休）and stay home with a lot of time for their children. But we are all grown- up and live far away. We miss each other, but we cannot afford to see each other very much and they often feel sorry for the fact that they were too busy to be able to take care of us when we were young.

Nowadays, Chinese take long weekends and have paid holidays. But do they use their holidays to enjoy family life? I hope so because my experience in China and Europe has helped me understand that work is not my whole life and that a family is also very important. I do not want to feel sorry in the future as my parents do and I certainly spend as much time with my son as possible. There is nothing wrong with either working hard or taking holidays, but we shouldn’t have one instead of the other. It is important to keep a balance （平衡）between work and play.   

1. What do the underlined words “paid leave” mean?

A. You have to pay when you take a holiday.　　 

B. Someone will pay for your holiday.　　 

C. You are still paid when you have your holiday.　　

D. You can’t leave until you pay for the holiday.   

2. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Working is the only part of the life.      

B. Traveling is the best way to spend your holiday.　　 

C. Enjoying holidays is as important as working　　 

D. Sharing happiness with your family is more important   

3. The writer talks about her own experience because she hopes that the Chinese will _______.　　  A. plan their holiday beforehand　　  B. get used to long holidays and enjoy themselves　　  C. give up a holiday for their work　　   D. bring business home after work hours

　　The summer vacation is over. It's true that time always flies fast. During the vacation the weather was hot and I would not do much work, but lived happily.

　　As the afternoon was hot, I did my work in the morning. I got up at 6:30 and took a walk in the garden for half an hour. After breakfast, I began reading English and Chinese and did some exercises in math. Those took me three hours or more. I worked quite hard and made great progress.

　　I spent the afternoon outside. I went to swim and it was interesting. I would not go home until it was about five or six o'clock. Sometimes a friend of mine could come to see me and we would spend some hours listening to music.

　　In this way I spent my holidays happily. And I studied well and became a good swimmer. Now I am in good health and high spirits (精神) .

(1) does the text mainly tell us?

[　　]

A．How the writer spent his summer holidays.

B．What the weather was like in that summer.

C．When the writer got up in the morning.

D．Where the writer took a walk.

(2) How long did it take the writer to do his homework?

[　　]

(3) The writer spent most of the afternoon ________.

[　　]

(4) The writer had very good summer holidays because he ________.

[　　]

A．worked very hard and made great progress

B．learned to swim well and did his work well

C．got up early and went home late

D．liked swimming better than studying

(5) Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．The writer made progress in his lessons.

B．The writer took a walk for half an hour before

C．The writer began to study as soon as he got up.

D．The writer spent more time swimming than listening to music.

　　As the afternoon was hot, I did my homework in the morning. I used to get up at 6:30 and take a walk in the garden for half an hour. After breakfast, I began reading English and Chinese and did some exercises in maths. Those took me three hours or more. I worked quite well and made good progress.

　　I spent the afternoon outside. I went to swim and it was funny. I would not go home until it was about five or six o'clock. Sometimes a friend of mine would come to see me and we would spend some hours listening to music.

　　In this way I spent my vacation happily. And I not only studied well but also became a good swimmer. Now I am in good health and high spirits（精神）.

（　）1. What does the text mainly tell us?

A. How the writer spent his summer holidays.

B. What the writer was like in that summer.

C. When the writer got up in the summer.

D. Where the writer took a walk.

（　）2. How long did it take the writer to do his homework?

A. Half an hour.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Three hours or more.

C. Only one hour.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. Two hours and a half.

（　）3. The writer spent most of the afternoon

A. listening to music　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. visiting his friends

C. walking in the garden　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. swimming

（　）4. The writer had very good summer holidays because he ________.

A. worked very hard and made good progress

B. learned to swim and did his work well

C. got up early and went home late

D. liked swimming better than studying

（　）5. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The writer made progress in his lessons.

B. The writer took a walk for half an hour before breakfast.

C. The writer began studying as soon as he got up.

D. The writer spent more time swimming than listening to music.

    The summer vacation is over. Time always flies fast．During the vacation．the weather was hot and I could not do much work．but I lived happily．

    Because it was hotter in tile afternoon．I did my homework in the morning．I got up at 6：30 am and took a walk in the garden for half an hour．After breakfast，I read English and Chinese and did some math exercises．It took me three hours or more to finish my homework．I worked quite hard and made good progress(进步)．

    I spent the afternoon outside．I went to swim and it was fun．I came home at about five or six o’clock．Sometimes a friend of mine would come to see me，and we would spend half an hour listening to music．

In this way I spent my vacation happily．I not only studied well but also became a good swimmer．Now I am in good health and in high spirits(精神)．

1．The passage mainly(主要的)tells us        ．

    A．how the writer spent his summer vacation

    B．what the weather was like in the summer

    C．when the writer went to bed in the evening

    D．where the writer finished his homework

2．It took the writer        to finish his homework every morning．

    A．half and hour               B．only one hour

    C．two hours and a half             D．three hours or more

3．The writer spent most of the afternoon       ．

    A．listening to music                B．going swimming

    C．walking in the garden            D．visiting his friends

4．The writer had a very good summer vacation because he        ．

    A．worked very hard and made good progress

    B．swam better and studied well

    C．got up early and went home late

    D．liked swimming better than studying

5．Which of the following is NOT true?

    A．The writer made progress in the lessons．

    B．The writer took a walk for half an hour before breakfast．

    C．The writer began to study after he got up．

    D．The writer spent more time swimming than listening to music．