The exam will soon be finished and the summer holidays are coming. Boys and girls will have two months' holidays.

　　　 The summer holidays are the best part of the year for most children. The weather is usually good. You can spend most of your time playing if you live in the coun?try, out ill the woods and fields.The best place for a summer holiday ,however, is the seaside. Some children are lucky enough to live near the sea. but for the other; who do not, a week or two at one of the big beaches or something that they will talk about for the whole of the following year.

In England, it is not only the rich who ran take their children to the seaside; if a factory worker or a bus driver.，a street cleaner or a waiter wants to take his wife and chil?dren to Southland, or Other places. He is usually quite able to do so.

Now. what is it that children like so much about the seaside? I think it is the sand, sea and the sun more than any other things. Of course. there are lots of new things to see. nice things to eat. and exciting things to do, but it is the feeling of sand under one's feet, of salt water on one's skin. and of the warm sun on one's back that make the seaside what it is.

Fill in the blank with the suitable words according to the passage.

1. The favorite time of the year for children is [1]_________ [2]__________.

2. The [3]________ in summer is [4]_________ in the passage.

3. The writer thinks the children [5]_________ the [6]_________ are lucky.

4. The writer hints (暗示 ) that not only the [7]__________ but also the [8]_______ can go to the seaside.

5. The main thing that makes children like the seaside is the feeling of [9]________, salt water and [10]___________.

Who are the top students in the world, do you know? Last week the Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (经济合作与发展组织) picked the best students in the world. They are Finnish (芬兰的). The OECD gave a test to 280 000 15-year-old students from more than 40 coun­tries and regions (地区) last year. The OECD wan­ted to know how well students were doing at school.
Finnish students were No. 1 in the reading test and second in maths after Hong Kong students. Those from Japan and Finland were top in science. In the problem solving, Finnish students came sec­ond to those from South Korea. The test also showed Finland had more top students than the other countries.
Finns (芬兰人) of your age have done a really good job but don’t have a sense of envy. You can learn from them. Most Finnish students make good use of the Internet. Of course not for computer games, but for doing more exercises and finding out more information.
Libraries are also important. Finland spends a lot of money on them. Many students have a free card. They read for at least one or two hours a day.
What do you usually do on the Internet? How often do you go to libraries?
【小题1】Students from which country or region did best in the reading test?

Thousands of years ago, people only ate food that was grown near their homes. Some kinds of food were only grown in one place, so people from other places didn't know about them. When Europeans first traveled to Central and South America in the 1500s, they discov­ered strange kinds of food that they had never seen before. Today, these are grown in a lot of different countries and they're sold in supermarkets all over the world. They don't seem strange any more!

Potatoes were first grown in the Andes in South America. In 1586， they were taken to Europe by explorers(探险家).In 1719， they were taken to North America. Before 1719， nobody in North America had ever seen or eaten a potato. Today each American eats more than 60 kilos of potatoes a year.

Tomatoes were also first grown by native(本地的)Americans. When European explorers visited the south of America in 1500, they took tomato seeds(种子)back to Europe. Soon, tomatoes were grown in Europe, but people in England didn't eat them. At that time, a lot of English people thought that tomatoes were poisonous!

Chilies(辣椒)have been eaten in Central and South America for more than 8 ，000 years ！ In the 1500s, chilies were taken to Europe by explorers. Today, they are grown in hot coun­tries all over the world.

11. How many kinds of food are mentioned in the passage?

A. Two.          B. Three.         C. Four.

12. People in Central and South America have eaten chilies for more than          years.

A. 1,500          B. 1,586         C. 8,000

13. The underlined word "poisonous" in the passage means "           " in Chinese.

A.有毒的          B.重要的         C.辛辣的

14. According to the passage, we know that          .

A. people only ate food grown near their homes after 1719

B. people in Europe were the first to plant potatoes

C. the European explorers took chilies to Europe in the 1500s

15. Which of the following is the best title(标题)for the passage?

A. Traveling to America

B. "Strange" Food

C. The Earliest Explorers