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 Growing up during the “cultural revolution” (1966－1976), when almost all traditional things were considered out-of-date，I had scarcely become aware of most of the traditional festivals.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

I’m an operating engineer, running crane(起重机) in New York City. I was in the countryside, playing golf when we got the call that a plane had   36  the World Trade Centre. We checked out of the hotel immediately and started   37  our way downtown. When I got home, I called the rescue center and they told me to come   38  and get on the   39  list.

The next morning I went down to the   40  at about 5 A. M., and four hours later I   41  the call to come down to West Street. I called my wife and told her not to   42  me, and that I would stay in   43  with her. I took the subway. It stopped at West Fourth Street, so I had to   44  the rest of the way.

And somewhere in there I became   45  when I went into something I   46 . I once worked there in 1966 for the   47  of the World Trade Centre. On halfway on September 12, I was frightened to see the World Trade Centre was a huge pile, maybe ten   48  tall. And it was burning. I started to ask   49  in which my crane might be   50  a whistle blew suddenly warning us of some danger. I saw people running away and I really didn’t know what to do. So I did the same, too. It was as if they had   51  the bulls go in Spain and we were running through the street. People falling down, people   52  them up as they came by, and carrying them, just to get them out of the way, because something was extremely   53 . I didn’t even look back. We stopped running when we got to the Battery Tunnel, and I caught my   54  and said, “Oh, my God, I’m going to die.”

Then I 55  a little bit, thinking about what we should do next. As we started again we knocked into a fire chief officer and we asked, “What can we do to help you?”

People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions using the word “mouth.”
For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say “Do not bad mouth me.”  Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person’s feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell. The speaker might say: “I really put my foot in my mouth this time.” If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth. In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. The other person might protest: “I did not say that. Do not put words in my mouth.”
Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.
Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child. The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.
But enough of all this talk. I have been running my mouth long enough.
【小题1】People use their mouths for many things. Which is NOT RIGHT?

— I'm going to San Francisco for a couple of days.

— . I wish I could get away for a while.

I really ______ whether we win or lose.