Tuesday was the eighth day of the 12 th month on the Chinese lunar calendar. I first became aware of the day as a traditional festival called laba, or the eighth day of the winter month – when I was working in a factory 30 years ago.

At lunch time，some elder co-workers opened their lunch boxes, and out came the sweet smell of well-cooked rice porridge mixed with beans，nuts and dates（枣）and they talked excitedly. Then, I wondered why there should be such an unnecessary excitement over the  laba festival. Growing up during the “cultural revolution” (1966－1976), when almost all traditional things were considered out-of-date，I had scarcely become aware of most of the traditional festivals.

I really started to value and celebrate these traditional festivals when I began to write about  Chinese culture. It is really encouraging that, despite the dramatic changes and modernization that our country has experienced over the past three decades, people have come to treasure many of our traditions more. Some people may have a complaint against the extreme commercialization（商业化）of these traditional festivals, but I believe the business promotions have at least worked to increase people’s awareness.

Most of the traditional Chinese festivals are celebrated with feasts. No wonder that on Tuesday a lot of people were buying rice，nuts，dry fruit, and beans from supermarkets and stores. A few thousand went to the Yonghegong Lama Temple to make prays for peace and happiness.  

Now that we have celebrated laba festival，we are now looking forward to the Lunar New Year, when we are supposed to have a lot more feasts. In fact, it is reported that almost all popular restaurants have been booked out for the Lunar New Year Eve dinner in major cities across the country.

1．As a whole，the passage is mainly organized by_________.

    A．space               B．examples          C．time                 D．comparison

2．What is the writer’s attitude toward Chinese Festivals?

    A．He takes them seriously all the time.

    B．He values them more than before.

    C．He expects only the Lunar New Year.

      D．He thinks Chinese Festival are too commercialized.

3．The common ways to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals in the passage are to________.

       ① stop working in the factory               ② enjoy some special delicious food

       ③ have feasts with the family or friends     ④ pray for peace in temples

       ⑤ buy rice，nuts，fruits and beans         ⑥ write about Chinese culture

       A．①③⑤            B．②⑤⑥             C．①④⑥               D．②③④

4．From the last paragraph it can be inferred that now_________.   

       A．people are eager to show their richer life

    B．people have become tired of laba festival

    C．people are living a better life than before

       D．people are always active in celebrating festivals

Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.

    It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireplace in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theatres, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry had a place in everyday life.

    How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and they can do well without poems?

    There are, I believe, three culprits (肇事者): poets, teachers and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed (背叛) us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions hostile (不利的) to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.

    Poets failed the readers, so did the teachers. They want their students to know something about the craft (技巧) of a poem, and they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.

1. Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because _______.

A. it built a link among people              B. it helped unite a community

C. it was a source of self-education        D. it was a source of pleasure

2.The underlined word “diversion” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.

A. diversity        B. change            C. amusements       D. happiness

3.In the last paragraph, the writer questions _______.

A. the difficulty in studying poems                 

B. the way poems are taught in school

C. students’ wrong ideas about poetry                  

D. the techniques used in writing poems

4.According to the passage, what is the main cause of the great gap between readers and poetry?

A. Poems have become difficult to understand.                  

B. Students are poorly educated in high school.

C. TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry.

D. Students are becoming less interested in poetry.

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同学写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

    增加: 在缺词处加一个漏字符号 (∧), 并在其下面写出该加的词。

    删除: 把多余的词用斜线 ( \ ) 划掉。

    修改: 在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

    注意: 1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

         2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

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Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through Europe. I had been __36__ a couple of times, but I could hardly __37__ to know my ways around the continent. __38__, my knowledge of foreign languages was __39__ to a little college French.

I __40__. How would I, unable to speak the language, __41__ familiar with local geography or transportation systems, conduct interviews and do __42__? It seemed impossible, and with considerable __43__ I sat down to write a letter rejecting the __44__. Halfway through, a __45__ ran through my mind: you can’t learn if you don't try. So I __46__ the assignment.

There were some bad __47__. But by the time I had finished the trip, I was an experienced traveler. And ever since, I have never hesitated to head for even the most __48__ places, without guides or __49__ advanced bookings, confident that somehow I will __50__.

The point is that the new, the different, is almost by definition __51__. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning __52__, the world opens to you.

I've learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a (n) __53__. And I know I'll go on doing such things. It's not because I'm braver or more daring than others. I'm not. But I'll accept worry as another name for __54 __ and I believe I can __55__ wonders.

       How I Turned to Be Optimistic

       I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt's house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America．We were on the bus then． I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me．I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning．

       I do not remember myself crying for this reason again．In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives．When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see-—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures．The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then．

       The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism, but the idea did not come to me at once．For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a result of family moves．I did not quite know what I was or what I should be．Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me．Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other．I was often sad, and saw no end to "the hard times．"

       My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home．I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives．

       From my experiences I have learned one important rule: almost all common troubles eventually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy．

1.How did the author get to know America?

     A． From her relatives．                          B． From her mother．

     C． From books and pictures．                 D． From radio programs．

2.Upon leaving for America the author felt_______．

     A．confused            B．excited              C．worried             zed

3.For the first two years in New York, the author _________．

     A．often lost her way                                                              

       B．did not think about her future

     C．studied in three different schools          

       D．got on well with her stepfather

4.What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 4?

     A．She worked as a translator．               

     B．She attended a lot of job interviews．

     C．She paid telephone bills for her family．   

     D．She helped her family with her English．

5.The author believes that______．

     A．her future will be free from troubles               

     B．it is difficult to learn to become patient 

     C．there are more good things than bad things    

     D．good things will happen if one keeps trying