What’s your idea of a good time? What about dancing in a rainy field with one hundred and fifty thousand other people while a famous rock band plays on a stage so far away that the performers look like ants?
It may sound strange but that is what many hundreds of thousands of young people in the UK do every summer．Why? Because summer is the time for outdoor music festivals．
Held on a farm, the Glastonbury Festival is the most well-known and popular festival in the UK．It began in 1970 and the first festival was attended by one thousand five hundred people each paying an admission price of ￡1 — the ticket included free milk from the farm．
Since then the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength — in 2004 one hundred and fifty thousand fans attended, paying ￡112 each for a ticket to the three-day event．Tickets for the event sold out within three hours．Performers included superstars, such as Paul McCartney and James Brown, as well as new talent, like Franz Ferdinand and Joss Stone．
Although many summer festivals are run on a profit-making basis, Glastonbury is a charity event, donating millions of pounds to local and international charities．
Glastonbury is not unique(独特的) in using live music to raise money to fight global poverty．In July of this year, the Live 8 concerts were held simultaneously （同时） in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin．Superstars such as Madonna, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder performed in order to highlight international poverty and debt．
【小题1】 What does the author mean by saying “the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength”?

The word “day” has two meanings. When we talk about the number of days in a year, we are using “day” to mean 24 hours. But when we talk about day and night, we are using “day” to mean the time between sunrise and sunset. Since the earth looks like a ball, the sun can shine on only half of it at a time. Always one half of the earth is having day and the other half night. A place is moved from day into night and from night into day over and over by the spinning(旋转) of the earth. At the equator(赤道) day and night are sometimes the same length. They are each twelve hours long. The sun rises at 6 in the morning and sets at 6 in the evening. For six months the North Pole is tilted(倾斜) toward the sun. In those months the Northern Hemisphere(半球) gets more hours of sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere. Days are longer than nights. South of the equator nights are longer than days. For the other six months the North Pole is tilted away from the sun. Then the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight. Days are longer than night. North of the equator nights are longer than days. Winter is the season of long nights. Summer is the season of long days.

1.When the Western Hemisphere is having day, the Eastern Hemisphere is having ______.

A.both day and night      B.day             C.neither day nor night       D.night

2.A place is moved from day into night and from night into day over and over by ______ of the earth.

A.the pushing          B.the pulling      C.the spinning        D.the passing

3.At the equator day is as long as night ______.

A.sometimes            B.never            C.usually             D.always

4.When the North Pole is tilted toward the sun, the Northern Hemisphere gets _____ sunlight.

A.less                  B.more              C.all                 D.no

5.When it is winter in China, ______.

A. the USA is tilted toward the sun            

B. the South Pole is tilted away from the sun

C. the North Pole is tilted toward the sun    

D. the North Pole is tilted away from the sun

B
“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)
After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”
Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 
Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.
As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”
Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.
45. The couple signed the contract because _______.
A. Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself
B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest
C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks
D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book
46. It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.
A. pay a certain amount of money
B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 
C. say sorry to his wife         D. do all the housework for years
47. What can we learn about Pat Peters?
A. She was hard-working and selfless.   B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.
C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.
D. She did not love Bob any longer.
48. Which of the following can best end the news story?
A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”    B. “My experience of being a mother.”
C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”     D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

Few Americans remain in one position or one place for a lifetime. We move from town to city to suburb, from high school to college in a different state, from a job in one region to a better job elsewhere, from the home where we raise our children to the home where we plan to live in retirement. With each move we are forever making new friends, who become part of our new life at that time.

For many of us summer is a special time for forming new friendships. Today millions of Americans vacation abroad, and they go not only to see new sights but also with the hope of meeting new people. No one really expects a vacation trip to produce a close friend, but the beginning of a friendship is possible.

The word “friend ” can be applied to a wide range of relationships ---- to someone one has known for a few weeks in a new place, to a fellow worker, to a childhood playmate, to a man or woman, to a trusted confidant.

1.Many Americans move from place to place for the following reasons except______.

A. going to college                      B. getting a better job

C. finding a place to live in retirement       D. saving money

2.Summer is a special time when many Americans_____.

A. enjoy the sunlight     B. feel strange    C. travel to other countries   D. get a new job

3.When summer comes, many Americans _________.

A. hope to meet new people

B. expect to find some close friends

C. want to begin lasting friendships with new people

D. Both A and B

4.From the passage it can be seen that a “friend” can be ______.

A. a fellow worker     B. a football teammate     C. a boy or a girl     D. all of the above

5.Which of the following is the topic sentence of the second paragraph?

A. For many of us summer is a special time for forming new friendships.

B. Today millions of Americans vacation abroad.

C. No one really expects a vacation trip to produce a close friendship.

D. But surely the beginning of friendship is possible.

It’s school time again! You’re probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that summer is over. Some kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and even a new school. Luckily, these “new” worries only stick around for a little while. Let’s find out more about going to a new school.
Most teachers kick off the new school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the stuff you’ll be doing that year. Some teachers give students a chance to tell something about themselves to the rest of the class, too. When teachers do the talking on the first day, they often go over classroom rules and school rules so you’ll know what’s allowed and what’s not. Please pay close attention
You might already know a lot of people in your classes on the first day, but it’s a great day to make a new friend, so try to say hello to kids you know and new ones that you don’t. Make the first move and you’ll be glad you did, and so will your new friend!
Seeing friends you haven’t seen in a while can make the first day a good one. You can make the day feel special by wearing clothes that you really like. Maybe you got a great T-shirt on one of your vacations, or a pair of sneakers（运动鞋）. It also can make you feel good to be prepared and have all the things you need, such as pencils, folders, and whatever else you’ll be needing. But make sure that you pack them the night before in case you don’t have time in the morning.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “kick off” in the second paragraph probably means “_____”.