Chinese New Year for Kids

   ‘Chinese New Year for Kids’ is a full color paperback book with beautiful Chinese illustrations (插图). This is a hands-on workbook for parents and teachers, written for children from ages 3 to 12 years old, for use in the classroom or at home. Music, physical movement, art, and food all add to the atmosphere of taking an imaginary trip to China during the Chinese New Year.

   The Polar Express

   One couldn’t select a more delightful and exciting premise (前提) for a children’s book than the tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. And one couldn’t ask for a more talented artist and writer to tell the story than Chris Van Allsburg.

   The Secret of Saying Thanks

Perhaps you’d like to know a secret, one of the happiest ones of all. You’ll discover it all on your own, maybe when you least expect. If you’ve not yet discovered the secret of saying thanks, it’s waiting for you. The secret can be found in the sunrise that offers promises for the day ahead, or in the gentle shade of a tree sheltering you from the hot rays of the sun.

   The Runaway Pumpkin

   When Buck, Billy and their little sister Lily spy the biggest pumpkin they’ve ever seen, they can’t resist (抵制). Buck and Billy try to roll the pumpkin down the hill to show everyone, but it’s too big! Before they know it, it’s rolling out of control down the hillside. It knocks over Grandpa Baxter and makes him think of pumpkin soup. And when Poppa Baxter finally stops, all he can think of is pumpkin bread.

We can infer from the passage that Chinese New Year for Kids ________.

A. is very popular with readers all over the world

B. is helpful to foreigners to travel to China.

C. helps readers to learn about Chinese culture

D. introduces a lot of outdoor activities.

If you buy a copy of The Runaway Pumpkin on Amazon. Com, you can save ________.

A. 30%                      B. 60%                      C. 40%                       D. 70%

The author wrote the passage mainly to ________.

A. offer us some advice on shopping                       B. tell us some interesting stories

C. introduce some children’s books                  D. compare some books’ information

第二节完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
　 阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Once upon a time there was a group of tiny frogs that held a running competition. The 36 was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had  37  around the tower to see the race and cheer on the  38 .
The race began,  39 , no one in the crowd really  40  that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard  41  such as, “They will never  42  it to the top.” or “There is no  43  that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”
The tiny frogs began  44 , one by one, except for those who were climbing  45  in different paces.
The crowd continued to yell, “It’s too difficult!  46  will make it!”
47  tiny frogs got tired and gave up,  48  one continued higher and higher.
49 , everyone else had given up climbing the tower, except for one tiny frog. After a lot of  50 , he was the only one who reached the top! Then all the other tiny frogs  51  wanted to know how this one frog  52  to do it?
A competitor asked the tiny frog how he had found the  53  to succeed and reach the goal. It turned out that the winner was  54 !
Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic…because they  55  your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you--- the one you have in your heart!
36. A. wish         B. goal        C. plan        D. idea
37. A. looked      B. walked    C. turned     D. gathered
38. A. competitors        B. holders   C. actors     D. performers
39. A. Generally  B. Probably        C. Actually   D. Basically
40. A. wondered  B. believed         C. guessed    D. hoped
41. A. statements    B. conclusions    C. arguments       D. explanations
42. A. achieve     B. spot   C. encourage D. make
43. A. problem   B. chance    C. doubt      D. favor
44. A. giving up  B. cheering up    C. escaping  D. settling down
45. A. faster and faster             B. higher and higher  
C. farther and farther           D. stronger and stronger
46. A. No one    B. Everyone       C. Anyone    D. Someone
47. A. Fewer      B. Less        C. More       D. Larger  
48. A. and   B. but         C. so    D. or
49. A. At the same time   B. At each time      C. At no time      D. In the end
50. A. step   B. attempt   C. effort      D. jump
51. A. naturally   B. weightlessly   C. sadly       D. strangely
52. A. managed   B. planed    C. intended  D. started  
53. A. energy      B. force      C. strength   D. power
54. A. deaf   B. violent    C. foolish     D. religious
55. A. send         B. pass        C. keep        D. take 

Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen…
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I tell her my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and reduce our electric bill. On this first night of our cost-cutting plan, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re going to suffer, but the three kids complain anyway.
They have grown up in 72-degree comfort, protected from the world outside.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter complains. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother complains down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to turn for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
The neighbor’s dog howls. Probably a passing squirrel. It’s been years since I took the time to really listen to the night.
I think about grandma, who lived to 92 and still helped with my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of grandma’s bed and turn my face toward the open window. I turn the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma saw me turn over and over. “If you just watch for the breeze(清风),” she said, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to move. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug chorus. Neighbors, porch(门廊)-sitting late, speak in unclear words that calm me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old son cries, “I think it was an owl(猫头鹰)family.”
“Probably,” I tell him, “just keep listening…”
Without the working air conditioner, the house is peaceful, and the natural night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze comes in.
【小题1】On the first night of the writer’s cost-cutting plan, her children ______.

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【小题1】What is stressed in the ad?

Mom was right! If you say thank you, for even the smallest gift or slightest show of kindness, you’ll feel happy.
Gratitude, says Robert A. Emmons, a professor or psychology at the University of California, is an important element of happiness. In his recent took, Thanks!, Emmons uses the first major study on gratitude to prove mom’s point. In acknowledging and developing this much-ignored expression of thankfulness, he explains how people have benefited---- even improved their health.
As one of the leading scholars of the positive psychology movement, he admits gratitude may be difficult to express. He advises you to begin by admitting that life is good and full of events and elements that make daily existence a wonder. Second, recognize that the source of life’s goodness is more than just you. That source may be your mom, a friend, partner, child, colleague at work or play, or any combination of these.
Gratitude is always other-directed, notes Emmons. You can be pleased or angry with yourself and feel guilty about doing something wrong, but you can never be grateful to or for yourself.
Expressing gratitude shouldn’t be a reaction; it should be a state of mind. To feel grateful when life is a breeze and you have more than you need is easy. To feel grateful in time of crisis---- anger, hatred and bitterness----is easier. Also, too many people are aware of life’s blessings only after these are lost.
It’s crisis and chaos ---- danger, disease, disability and death ---- that bring many individuals to realize just how dependent they are on others. Yet it’s the way each of us begins life and ends it. It’s too bad that so many people waste those decades in between labouring under the illusion they are self-sufficient, says Emmons.
The abundance of voices expressing gratitude from his studies of individuals with chronic health problems is many. But Emmons goes beyond his “groundbreaking” science to make his case for gratitude by including the inspirational writings of philosophers, novelists and saints, as well as the beliefs of various religions and their respective scriptures. Taken together, these observations are summed up quite nicely by famous humanist Albert Schweitzer, who said the secret of life is “giving thanks for everything.”
To enable and embrace gratitude, Emmons encourages the readers of Thanks! To keep a gratitude diary. He even provides easy-to-follow directions on how to practice and develop gratitude.
I’m not a reader or advocate of self-help books, but I am thankful for the reference I found in a newspaper article to the research Emmons was conducting on gratitude involving organ donors and recipients. The chance discovery led me to this book.
Mom implied that kindness seems to find its way back to the giver because life really is all about giving, receiving and repaying. So I’ll pay attention to her professional advice and say: Thank you, professor Emmons.
【小题1】What is the text mainly discussed?