Weekday mornings are very busy for US middle school students. When your school doesn’t have a bus, and you live too far away to walk, you need a carpool (拼车). A carpool is a group of people sharing the responsibility (责任) of driving to school in the morning. There are usually four or five kids in a carpool and their parents take turns to drive the kids in their cars.

Someone’s car smells like wet dogs. Some kids get to eat desserts (甜点) for breakfast and some parents shout so much that all you try to do is to stay quiet and go unnoticed. When your mom or dad drives the carpool, your classmates get a close-up look at how strange your parents can be. It might be your first sociological (社会学) study and your first time to work with others.

Teamwork is really important in the carpool because nobody wants to make everyone else late. It’s a great lesson in responsibility. Imagine (想象) sitting in the car outside of a classmate’s house, watching the clock and counting the seconds. Then you start to understand how your carpool friends might feel when you are still inside the house at 7:48. You really begin to learn all your real life lessons just moments before the start of school—in the carpool.

1.What is a carpool?

A. Parents take turns to drive their kids to school.

B. Parents drive kids to schools on their way to work.

C. Kids go to school in their parents’ cars.

D. Kids drive their own cars to school.

2.What can students learn from a carpool?

A. How to drive a car.

B. How to get along with others.

C. What to do with parents.

D. Real teamwork.

3.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. If kids live far away from school, they are always late for school.

B. US children enjoy carpooling better than taking a school bus.

C. Kids can learn real life lessons in a carpool.

D. Kids often have enough time to study in a carpool.

One day an American called Simon went to London to visit his friend, Rick. Rick told him that his flat was on the first floor. When he arrived, Simon went straight to the first floor of the building. But he was told that there was no Rick on that floor. Do you know why?

In fact, the British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, which Americans would call the second floor.

The story shows that there are a few cultural differences between Britain and America, though the British and Americans both speak English.

The British usually hide their feelings. They seldom start a conversation with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They're more active and easier to talk with.

The British and Americans may use different terms for the same things. The British usually use football, eraser and mail while Americans prefer to use soccer, rubber and post.

1.Simon went to London to ________.

A. visit his friend B. spend his holiday

C. study English D. have a meeting

2.According to the passage, the British usually spend their time ___on the train.

A. playing cards B. talking loudly

C. doing some reading D. singing and dancing

3.What does the underlined word "terms" mean in Chinese in the passage?

A. 成果 B. 学期 C. 会议 D. 用语

4.What's the best title for the passage?

A. Differences in culture B. Simon's funny story

C. Information abroad(国外) D. Hiding the feelings

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