People all over the world celebrate the new year. However, not all countries celebrate in the same way, and in some countries, the new year doesn’t begin on the   46    date very year.

In many countries, the new year begins on 1st January, but people start celebrating on 31st December, New Year’s Eve. In New York many people go to celebrate in Times Square.   47    they’re waiting for the New Year, they listen to music, sing traditional songs and have fun. Just before 12 o’clock, everyone   48  down from 10: 10, 9, 8… As soon as it’s 12 o’clock, everyone shouts very   49 , “Happy New Year!”

New Year’s Day is often a family day. Some families get together for a special meal. When the weather is fine, many families go out for a   50 .

On New Year’s Day, many people make resolutions for the new year. They   51  a list of things, such as “I will help out more with housework. I will work   52  at school than others.” or “I won’t spend so much time playing video games.” When they have made   53   list, they read it to their family or friends and promise to   54  their resolutions.

So it doesn’t matter how they celebrate,   55  people in countries all over the world, it’s a time to say goodbye to the old year, and to welcome the new.

There are many different kinds of cars in the world. My aunt thinks this is because cars are ____1­  their drivers. She says, “Rich people have expensive cars, big people have large cars, and old people drive old cars.” But I don't 2 her.

　　My neighbour, Mrs. Hill, is 82 years old. She drives only on Tuesday, and she drives only to the bank. She 3   drives more than 30 kilometres an hour. Do you think Mrs. Hill has a very   ­­­­­___4   and small car? No, her car is new. It's very large, and it _5  go 200 kilometres for each hour!

My friend is 6  . He draws beautiful pictures with lots of colours. But his car is black! Mrs. Bates has a very, very old one. There is often something 7 with the car. Does she drive that kind of car because she is poor? No, she has four factories and 8   dollars in the bank. My aunt Mary has a very 9 car, though she drives to the country with her husband, her two children, her mother and their dog.

Now you have 10    my friends and their cars. Do you agree with my aunt? Maybe you have a car. Does it say anything about you?

1.                A．for            B．with           C．like  D．among

2.                A．like            B．look after       C．agree with D．chat with

3.                A．never          B．always          C．sometimes D．often

4.                A．old            B．new           C．broken   D．beautiful

5.                A．may           B．can            C．must D．has to

6.                A．a teacher       B．a reporter       C．a writer   D．an artist

7.                A．interesting      B．wrong          C．mistake   D．trouble

8.                A．twenty         B．two hundred     C．two thousand  D．two million

9.                A．big            B．small           C．expensive D．new

10.               A．read about      B．knew          C．seen  D．met with

If you are a teenage boy and want to succeed in life, you’d better read this great book!

From Boys to Men, by American author, Michael Curian, tells teenage boys that they are living through the  1  years of their life. There is no reason for them not to love life.

You may think that only your body is growing at the moment.  2  the book says your mind is too. The book tells teenage boys that they need to  3  their bodies and minds to grow. To do this, they should stop  4  their time playing computer games and should  5  playing sports.

Sports, the book says, keep you  6  and teach you important life skills. They also teach you  7  to be a leader and work as a part of a team.

The book also tells boys how to love life  8  they are bullied (受欺负) at school. It says boys should not be afraid of such school bullies (恶霸学生).

The book says that, to become the man you want to be, you have to believe in  9 _.

Most importantly, the book says, you must always  10  to succeed. Never be happy with what you’ve got and try to achieve more.

完形填空 阅读短文，从每题所给选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项（共15分；每空1分，满分15分）
The students in Shanghai No. 3 Girls High School have a flower-arrangement (插花) lesson every week. The course is the first of its kind among middle schools in Shanghai. It helps the students to enjoy the   46  of flowers better. That’s why the course has become very popular   47  the students.
The teachers of the course are all specially trained(专门地培训). They are   48   at this art and work hard at passing on the skill   49  students. So far, many students in the school have   50  a lot of prizes in this field. In order to further   51  the students’ skills, the teachers usually play   52  while students are arranging flowers. Students are   53  with the music, and they   54  more good ideas for flower-arrangement.
Besides, the teachers   55  teach the students other skills at the   56  time. For example, they ask the students to   57  compositions(作文) about flowers. In this way, students not only   58   art education but also improve(提高) their writing skills.
Several months ago, some foreign teachers   59  the school. When they saw common flowers become more lively and meaningful, they were amazed and interested. They made videos and would play them in class for their own   60  after they returned home.

Electronic books have changed the way many people read for   15 . Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach.

More than   16  students go to the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed   17  printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.

“I mean, it’s just   18  a regular textbook, except it’s got it all online.” says Luke Rosa, a history teacher at Falls Church High School.

Peter Noonan, an assistant superintendent(主管) of schools says, “The world’s changing   19 . And the online textbooks can change right along with the events that   20 .”

“Digital books also cost   21  than printed textbooks,” he says, “Usually it’s between fifty and seventy dollars   22  a textbook for each student, which adds up to about eight million dollars for all of our students in Fairfax County. In fact, we have bought all of the online textbooks for our students for just under six million dollars.”

Social studies teacher Michael Bambara says the e-book he uses in his government class is better than a(an)   23  textbook. It has materials for students   24  different levels of reading skills…