August 2006   From: eu@hotmail.com
My name is Eu and I want to be your pen pal. I’m eleven years old. I’m a boy but that doesn’t mean(意味)I can’t have girl friends. I like dancing. Oh, I am in Mexico. All the people here like dancing. Please answer me. Thank you.
August 2006    From: blazin@aol.com
I’m Erica. I’m seventeen. I’m from Canada. Do you want me to be your pen pal? Who are you? What age? I like movies and books.
September 2006   From: snickers@yahoo.com
I’m Heather. I’m nineteen and I live in New York in the USA. I like art and music. I have three dogs. I want to write to anyone with the same(相同的) likes. Thanks!
December 2006    From: bmay@mb.sympatico.ca
Hi! I’m Steven. I’m a boy of thirteen years old. I am in Grade 7. I like drawing and playing computer games. I want to find a pen pal from Australia or China. I’m from Canada.

What do you think are the most important inventions of the past 2,000 years? The TV? The printing? The telephone? Or the computer? A report shows that these are not the only important inventions. Here are four other important ones.
Paper is one of the most important inventions. You can’t have printing without paper. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented paper in China. Long before the printing and Internet, Cai Lun’s invention allowed us to write down information, stories and history.
One of the simplest (最简单) inventions to save life is the toilet. Before toilets, waste ran into the rivers from people’s houses. Illnesses were common (普通的) in big cities, and it was often difficult to find clean drinking water.
Animal food is another invention. Before the invention, most animals were killed every autumn because there was not enough food for them in the winter. After hay (干草) became a kind of common animal food, animals could live through the long winter.
Reading glasses is the fourth invention. People start getting far-sighted (远视) from the age of 45. Glasses mean that anyone can read, write and do “close work” after that age. Without glasses, the world would be difficult for the people above 45.
【小题1】Cai Lun’s invention of paper makes it possible to ______.

There are over 800 boarding (寄宿) schools in the UK with students from home and foreign countries. Boarding schools started hundreds of years ago in the country. But the earliest boarding schools were set up for white, rich boys only. Now both boys and girls can go to boarding schools from the age of 7 to 18.

What to do

In the UK, boarding schools have three terms in a school year, with about 13 weeks in each term. Students study and live together. They can’t go outside if they are not allowed to. In some schools, each student has his or her subject plan. Besides the usual classrooms and laboratories, the boarding schools have lots of other facilities for their students, including music rooms, boats, swimming pools, cinemas and theatres. Most boarding schools have a “light out” time. So when it’s time to go to bed, all the lights in the bedrooms are turned off. There are house-masters to take care of students all the time, especially after school hours.

What to wear                                                                            

Nearly all students at boarding schools wear a school uniform. Boys usually wear a shirt and a tie, and girls wear a white blouse, sometimes also a tie and a skirt. As students get older, the rules become less strict.

       ⑤      

In the UK, boarding schools provide students with delicious food. They can choose to have a full English breakfast or simply bread. They can also choose between a meal with no meat and another meal at lunch and dinner. And there is always self-service for salad (沙拉), other side dishes and a dessert. Students can also make themselves something to eat at any time in a kitchen, or drink tea or have a snack between meals.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to (根据) the passage?

A. Only white children were allowed to attend the earliest boarding schools.

B. Students in a boarding school are looked after only after school hours.

C. As students get older, the rules about wearing school uniforms become stricter.

D. Students can have different activities in a boarding school.

2.Which is the best title for the last paragraph?

A. What to eat       B. When to eat    C. Where to eat          D. How to eat

3.The underlined word ‘facilities’ means _____________.

A. 教师          B. 设施         C. 活动                   D. 课程

What do you think are the most important inventions of the past 2,000 years? The TV? The printing? The telephone? Or the computer? A report shows that these are not the only important inventions. Here are four other important ones.

Paper is one of the most important inventions. You can’t have printing without paper. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented paper in China. Long before the printing and Internet, Cai Lun’s invention allowed us to write down information, stories and history.

One of the simplest (最简单) inventions to save life is the toilet. Before toilets, waste ran into the rivers from people’s houses. Illnesses were common (普通的) in big cities, and it was often difficult to find clean drinking water.

Animal food is another invention. Before the invention, most animals were killed every autumn because there was not enough food for them in the winter. After hay (干草) became a kind of common animal food, animals could live through the long winter.

Reading glasses is the fourth invention. People start getting far-sighted (远视) from the age of 45. Glasses mean that anyone can read, write and do “close work” after that age. Without glasses, the world would be difficult for the people above 45.

1.Cai Lun’s invention of paper makes it possible to ______.

A．have printing                           B．feed animals

C．drink clean water                       D．do “close work”

2.The invention of the toilet can stop people from ______.

A．saving water                           B．getting ill

C．living in big cities                        D．finding clean water

3.Why couldn’t the animals live through the winter?

A．It was very cold in winter.                 B．They didn’t have enough food to eat.

C．They had no drinking water.               D．They died of illness.

4.From the last paragraph we learn that ______.

A．all people need reading glasses

B．anyone must do “close work” after 45

C．reading glasses are useful

D．life is more difficult for the people under 45

We surveyed 300 young people on what they like to do at weekends. One hundred people are from the age of 11–18, one hundred 19–26 and one hundred 27–35. The following chart shows their answers:

Favourite things to do (by ages)

1.According to the survey, which two activities do most people enjoy doing?

A．Playing computer games and watching TV

B．Playing computer games and taking a walk

C．Watching TV and going to movies

D．Going to movies and taking a walk

2. From the chart above, we can see the younger people are, the less they like ________.

A．taking a walk                           B．watching TV

C．going to the movies                      D．playing computer games

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the chart?

A．All the people like taking a walk most.

B．The people of 11–18 like taking a walk least.

C．The most people like going to the movies in the 19–26 group.

D．The people of 27–35 like playing computer games most.