One thing that British and Chinese cultures share is a love for tea. Today, when we think of western tea culture, we often think of the English and beautiful china tea cups.

Afternoon tea:

People believe that an English lady, Anna, first introduced the idea of afternoon tea. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the English ate only two main meals each day, breakfast and a heavy supper that would last for several hours in the evening. As a result, people often got very hungry during the long wait between these two meals. To solve this problem, Anna came up with the clever idea of inviting some friends to join her for an afternoon meal between four and five o’clock. This meal included cakes, sandwiches, and tea was served to wash down the food. In order to make this afternoon meal important, fine china cups, plates, and silver teapots, knives, forks and spoons were used. Soon, afternoon tea parties became popular social occasions. Today, afternoon tea parties continue to play an important part in the social life in modern Britain.

Will you come for coffee:

Coffee also has an important role in British culture. People often use words “Will you come for coffee?” to mean “Would you like to come to my home for a chat?” Normally, several different drinks such as tea, hot chocolate or a soft drink like orange juice will be served as well as coffee, and you will be asked what you would like. However, you will not normally be offered wine at a “coffee” party.

Coffeehouses and the London Stock Exchange:

In the 17^th century London coffeehouses were busy and noisy places. Businessmen and bankers went to coffeehouses to do their business, as well as to drink coffee. In fact, the London Stock Exchange（股票交易所）is believed to be started from these coffeehouses.

1.Anna introduced the idea of drinking afternoon tea because she ____________.

A．enjoyed chatting with her friends at home

B．loved tea and beautiful china tea cups

C．wanted to share nice food with her friends

D．found people felt hungry during the long wait between the two meals

2.What does “social occasions” mean in Chinese?

A．集体婚礼         B．社交活动          C．社区表演         D．公共场合

3. If someone says to you “Will you come for coffee?”, you ___________.

A．will be offered coffee only

B．will be asked what you would like to drink

C．will be asked to have a chat with him or her

D．are invited to take part in an afternoon tea party

4. From the last paragraph we can see ____________.

A．a new business was started in coffeehouses

B．coffeehouses are still used by businessmen and bankers

C．businessmen and bankers went to coffeehouses just for coffee

D．most people wouldn’t like to go to coffeehouses because of the coffee

5.Which is the best title（标题）for this article?

A．British and Chinese Culture

B．The Beginning of Tea and Coffee

C．Coffeehouses and Business

D．English Tea and Coffee Culture

Modern life is impossible without traveling. The fastest way of traveling is by plane. With a modern airline you can travel in one day to places which it took a month or more to get to a hundred years ago.
Traveling by train is slower than plane, but it has its advantages. You can see the country when you are traveling through. Modern trains have comfortable seats and dining cars. They make even longer journey enjoyable.
Some people prefer to travel by sea when possible. There are large liners and river boats. You can visit many other countries and different places. And traveling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday.
Many people love to travel by car. You can make your own timetable. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty or one hundred miles a day, just as you like,You can stop wherever you wish where there is something to see, at a good restaurant where you can enjoy a good meal, or at a hotel to spend the night. That’s why travelling by car is popular fpr pleasant trips,while people usually take a train or plane when they are travelling on business.
【小题1】 From the passage we know the fastest way of travelling is _______.
A. by train     B, by sea      C. by plane
【小题2】The underlined word “they” in the 2^nd paragraph refers to _____.
modern trains in the country
comfortable seats and dining cars
the travellers on the modern trains
【小题3】 If we travel by car, we can__________.
make the longer journey enjoyable
travel to a very far place in several minutes
make our own timetable
【小题4】When people travel on business , they usually take ______.
a plane or a car
a train or a plane
a boat or a train
【小题5】How many ways of travelling are mentioned in the passage ?
A.  Four      B. Three      C. Two

When it rains, do your shoes get wet? Of course they do! But you can buy these pretty red and white “Umbrella for Shoes”. They keep the rain off wet.
Who sweeps the floor at your home? Do you do it yourself? Perhaps your mother does it. Well, now you just need a cat. Get a cat and buy these four “Dusters (抹布)for Cats ”.
You talk too long on the phone, don’t you? Most teenagers do! Save time – buy
the “Telephone Dumb–bell (哑铃)”! It weighs five kilos. Then your calls will be less than five minutes.
Do your friends sometimes come up behind you and make you jump? Do cars come around the corner when you try to cross the road? Well, you can solve that problem with these modern “Forward – backward Glasses.” Look forward with the right eye and back with the left.
【小题1】Which of the following pictures is the right order to match the text?

The 31st Summer Olympics will be held in Brazil in 2016. Before this global sporting event, we started thinking about sports that didn’t exist any more and sports that were maybe a little strange. Read the following ones that have ever been included in the past Olympic Games.
Live Pigeon Shooting (1900)
This bloody event was only held once, at the 1900 Paris Games. Nearly 300 birds were killed during the competition, leaving a crime scene of feathers and blood. This is the only event in Olympic history that involved killing live animals.
Kabaddi (1936)
This sport is popular in South Asia. The object is for one member of a team to enter the other side’s half of the field, and score points. The attacker then returns to his half of the field.
12 Hour Bicycle Race (1896)
Seven riders got on their bikes at 5 a.m. and rode until 5 p.m. Four riders dropped out before noon, but the winner, Adolf Schmal of Austria, managed about 180 miles. Only Schmal and one other finished.
Tug of War (1900—1920)
This may seem like a basic PE class sport more than an Olympic event, but Tug of War was actually one of the first sports played at the Olympic games in 500 BC.
There are two teams of eight; the winning team must pull the other team six feet forward.
Swimming Obstacle Race (1900)
The athletes had to climb over a pole (杆子) and a row of boats, and then swim under another row of boats. All of this was done in the Seine River, so they also had to fight against the water. This event was only ever held in 1900, in Paris.
【小题1】What do you probably think of these events?