For me, Christmas always began in the middle of the cold,    windy month of November. My sister, Alison, and I each sat down in front   of the fire and wrote a letter to Father Christmas telling him about all the presents we wanted. We seriously wrote “Father Christmas, the North Pole” on the envelope, before giving them to our mother to post.

With December our excitement grew each day—as we opened the new year calendar, Christmas cards arrived in the post, Christmas lights appeared in the streets, and we attended the town carol service. And of course, there was snow everywhere, enough snow to make snowmen, and to have exciting snowball fights in the school playground.

On Christmas Eve, the whole family helped to decorate(装饰) the house, put up the Christmas tree. Then, in the afternoon, when Auntie Kathleen and my two cousins arrived, everything was ready. Before we went to bed, we left some wine and biscuits for Father Christmas and then put our stockings (长筒袜) at the end of our beds. We tried to stay awake as long as possible to see Father Christmas but the next thing we knew it was morning. Christmas morning!

At the bottom of the bed was the stocking, now full of all kinds of small presents and sweets. Christmas morning was bright and sunny, so my cousin David and I went out into the garden to play with our new presents. Lunch was always late, but what a lunch! A big turkey with all the vegetables followed by Christmas pudding (布丁). We sang Christmas carols happily, laughed at jokes, put on silly paper hats and laughed again.

After lunch, the adults slept on the sofas in front of the Queen’s speech on television while we all played cards. Then we had tea, with a huge Christmas cake covered with snowmen. It didn’t seem possible, but we carried on eating. By bedtime all of the children were very tired. As soon as we turned off the light, we all fell into a deep, happy sleep.

1  What does the underlined word “them” in the first paragraph refer to(所指)？                        A. Letters.                                                 B. Presents.       

C. The writer’s parents.                                  D. The writer’s cousins.

2  Who do you think may read the children’s letters?

A. Father Christmas.                                        B. Nobody.                                         C. Their parents.                                          D. Their classmates.

3  What probably happened on Christmas Eve?

A. The writer stayed awake all night.                   

B. Someone put presents in the writer’s stocking.

C. The writer saw Father Christmas.      

D. Some children played with their new presents.

4  What happened after lunch?

A. The adults watched a film about the Queen.  B. The children made a snowman.

C. The adults played cards.                    D. The children had a lot to eat.

5  Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A. History of Christmas                        B. Memories of Christmas

C. Western festivals                                  D. Father Christmas

People know the dangers of fires. It’s good for a family to learn how to prepare for a fire. Here are sonic suggestions:
Put a smoke a1arm in the house. Smoke from a fire causes the alarm to go off The alarm makes a loud sound. The sound tells everyone to leave the house at once.
Make escape (逃脱) plans. They should know all the ways out of the house. If there is a fire, everyone follows the plan to get out. Part of the plan is to check all the windows to make sure they can be opened easily.
Buy fire extinguishers (灭火器) in the house, Everyone in the family should know how to use them.
Practise for a fire. They do fire practice because they teach children about fire safety. Everyone in. the family should know the following fire rules:
★ Don’t open a hot door! The tire can grow more quickly if you open the door.
★Stay close to the floor! Smoke can be more dangerous than fire, The best air is near the floor because smoke rises.
★What will you do if your hair or clothes start to burn? First, stop! Don’t run! The fire burns faster because of more air. Drop! Fall to the floor. Then roll! Turning over and over will make the fire go out. Put a blanket (毯子) around you to keep air away from the fire that may still be on you.
There are many possible causes for fires. A wise family is ready all the time. If there is a fire, don’t forget to call 119 for help.
【小题1】What does it mean when a smoke alarm rings at home?

People know the dangers of fires. It’s good for a family to learn how to prepare for a fire. There are some suggestions:

Put a smoke alarm in the house. Smoke from a fire causes the alarm to go off. The alarm makes a loud sound. The sound tells everyone to leave the house at once.

Make escape plans. Everyone should know all the ways out of the house. If there is a fire, everyone should know all the ways out of the house. If there is a fire, everyone follows the plan to get out. Part of the plan is to check all the windows to make sure they can be opened easily.

Buy fire extinguishers(灭火器) in the house. Everyone in the family should know how to use them. Practice for a fire. We do fire practice because we teach children about fire safety. Everyone in the family should know the following fire rules:

*Don’t open a hot door. The fire can grow more quickly if you open the door.

*Stay close to the floor. Smoke can be more dangerous than fire. The best air is near the floor because smoke rises.

*What should you do if your hair or clothes start to burn? First, stop. Don’t run! The fire burns faster because of more air. Drop1 Fall to the floor. Then roll! Turning over and over will make the fire go out. Put a blanket around you to keep air away from the fire that may still be on you.

There are many possible causes for fires. A wise family is ready all the time. If there is a fire, don’t forget to call 119 for help.

1.What does it mean when a smoke alarm rings at home?

A. You have to get up.??????????? B. Water is running to the floor.

C. Something is burning.????????? D. Someone breaks your window.

2.The writer advises people to do the following to prepare for a fire EXCEPT that ________.

A. they practice for a fire???????????? ? B. they make escape plans

C. they buy fire extinguishers??????? ? D. they use electrical cookers

3.When a fire happens,???????? if you open the hot door.

A. the fire will grow more quickly????????? B. the electricity will be cut off

C. the door will soon be on fire??????? ???? D. the house will fall down

4.What are the right steps you should when your hair or clothes catch fire?

A. Stop,run,roll.?? B. Stop,drop,roll .??? C. Run,stop,roll.???? ??? D. Roll,drop,stop.

5.What is the best title for this passage?

A.The Dangers of a fire? ? ????????????? B. The causes of a Fire??

C.Learn to Use a Fire Extinguisher?? ????? D. Be Ready for a Fire