When I spent Christmas away from home in Europe for the first time, I was only 14 and it was absolutely terrible. I am now married and live in the US. So there is little possibility for me to go home for Christmas. Now I am able to get through Christmas with some moments of joy:

First, you are advised to search your area for stores that carry items from your home country or town. Buy food, candles and some other things that mean something to you.

Hold on to the traditions from your home that you think are important even if other people think they are stupid. But keep in mind to be open for new traditions from wherever you might be, because those traditions are as important to those people around you as yours are to you. For me that includes celebrating Christmas on the 24th.

Call, write Christmas cards, buy gifts and mail them to loved ones, just as if you were there. If you try to pretend (假装) as if the holiday doesn't exist, you are just going to make it worse.

Introduce your traditions to your loved ones, especially your kids. It will only enrich their celebration of the holiday to have some unique (独一无二的) traditions in their home. Little by little it will become their tradition and it’s fun for them to try something new.

Find clubs, churches or organizations that are from your home country. Chances are that they will have some celebration with some of your traditions which you can join in.

Food is one of the most important factors in any kind of tradition. Find the recipe (食谱) of that cake your grandmother used and make it your tradition to bake that particular cake.

Call up your parents and get them to send you some of your favorite childhood ornaments (装饰品) for your tree.

Pay attention to new traditions, talk to your family about which ones you want to make your own and stick with them.

If you are far away from home, Christmas can never be the same as you experienced it before, but it is important to remember these traditions while appreciating the new ones. Keep an open mind and find a compromise between old and new traditions.

1.The author spent his 14th Christmas ___________.

A．unpleasantly in the US B．joyfully in the US

C．unpleasantly in Europe D．joyfully in Europe

2.Why does the author advise people to hunt in some special stores?

A．Because people can buy some discounted goods there.

B．Because people can feel less homesick there.

C．Because it's an old Christmas tradition.

D．Because they offer goods from the hometown of the people.

3.Which of the following statements does the author agree with?

A．It's great for children to have some unique traditions.

B．People should join in all kinds of clubs to celebrate Christmas.

C．People should give up traditions which are stupid in other people's eyes.

D．It is popular to celebrate Christmas on the 24th around the world.

4.The writer suggests giving a call to parents on Christmas mainly to __________.

A．express love to them

B．follow the tradition

C．ask for some ornaments

D．set an example for children

词汇运用，根据句意和汉语注释，在答题卡标有题号的横线上，写出单词的正确形式。

1.Tony’s mum looks young and beautiful. It’s hard to imagine she is already in her_____(五十).

2.Thank you for giving me some useful ________(建议). It’s of great value to me.

3.Though Money isn't everything, it still________ (要紧) a lot to the poor.

4._______(以，凭借）his efforts he succeeded in making so many useful inventions.

根据句意，写出括号内所给单词的适当形式。

1.To get good grades in the exam, we should avoid___________(care).

2.The ________ the director is, the more scared the workers become. (anger)

3.Please cheer ______(you) up with songs and games during the journey, boys and girls!

4.You should never speak to the elderly ________ (polite).

动词填空 用括号内所给动词的适当形式填空，并将答案写在答题卡标有题号的横线上。

1. Jim ___________(finish) reading three novels written by Wang Anyi these days.

2.He said the next time he came here, he _____________ (stay) for a longer period of time.

3.Could you tell me what your daughter usually does when she arrives home?

Yes. If she arrives home early, she ________(enjoy) listening to pop music for some time.

4.This morning the Greens _____ (clean) the house, but I am not sure if they have completed it.

5.Hu Ge, a famous actor__________(sing) a song with Sun Yanzi made the audience crazy at

the party.

6.It’s reported that the case the police devoted themselves to __________ (solve) finally.

7.Many people don’t know what ways they can think of_____________ (reduce) the pollution.

8.On earth, gravity keeps our feet on the ground and makes anything we drop _______(fall)

towards the ground.

任务型阅读 根据短文内容完成表格中所缺信息，在答题卷上相应的横线上填写答案，每空限填一个单词。

Most of us have never thought about building an educational toy by ourselves. If we need a learning toy or something, we simply go to the nearest store and buy it. However, things are not as easy in third world countries. With families even having no food to put on the table, buying toys, especially the educational ones, is the last thing on the parents’ minds.

So how can one get these kids interested in science? This was a question that worried the Indian engineer Arvind Gupta so much that he decided to give up a good job and spend his life making toys from things that people no longer want or need!

Mr. Gupta began teaching in the 1970s. While still an engineering student at the Indian College of Technology, he volunteered to teach the children who could not afford to go to school. Upon graduation, he found a good job at India’s Tata Motors and spent the next five years designing cars.

But he soon realized that this was not something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. So he took a year’s training course and took part in the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Program whose aim was to make science fun and exciting for poor children using available materials.

Mr. Gupta found the whole project so satisfying that he decided to leave his high-paying job and focus his attention on designing educational toys that were not only cheap and easy to build, but are also full of scientific principles(科学原理), so that children could get interested in this interesting subject.

When the Internet started becoming a more widespread learning tool, Mr. Gupta created a Toys from Trash website and also recorded over 250 YouTube videos.

Today, over 50,000 children and teachers visit the website daily to download the videos for the toy creations based on cool science. Some young children have become so inspired (鼓舞)that they have even won international science competitions with the help of his creations.

Making educational toys from rubbish

完成句子 按所给的汉语，用英语完成下列句子，并将答案写在答题卡标有题号的横线上。

1.谁能告诉我Tom去农场多久了？

Who can tell me how long _________________________________________?

2.这个有关青少年问题的报告将值得关注。

The report on ‘Teenage Problems’ .

3.她是一个聪明的女孩, 最后，她设法使母亲改变了想法。

She is such a clever girl that she _________________________________to change her mind finally.

4. 两位中年乘客掉入海里，不幸的是，两人都不会游泳。

Two mid-aged passengers fell into the sea. Unluckily, _____________________________to wim.

5.最后，妈妈别无选择只能承诺帮助他。

Finally , mum ________________________________________ to help him.

6. 可以肯定的是，他的决定取决于父母的帮助和支持。

It was _____________________________ on his parents’ help and support.

书面表达

去年2月28日，前中央台记者柴静向多家视频网站免费奉献了大型空气污染深度调查记录——《穹顶之下》，该纪录片再度唤起了我们对环境问题的关注。

你校学生会将在6月5日“世界环境日（World Environment Day）”举行关于 “环境保护”英语征文比赛，要求大家踊跃参加投稿。请你“Environmental Protection” 为题，结合下列要点，完成一篇90字左右的文章。

要点如下：

1 污染是目前世界上最严峻的问题之一。

2 许多地方，垃圾被扔进了湖泊河流，因此很多河流湖泊被污染了。

3 空气污染对健康有害，污染对我们的生活产生了很大的影响。

4 在一些西方国家，垃圾被分成了不同的类别，然后收集起来。

5 我国政府已经采取措施来保护环境。鼓励人们节约水,减少污染, 过健康的生活方式。

6 作为青少年，在日常生活中我们应该...

注意：

1 短文必须包括所给要点，要求语句通顺，意思连贯；

2 第6点必须用二至三句话展开合理想象；

3 词数90个左右。

Environmental Protection

阅读下面一篇短文，判断下列句子是否符合短文内容，符合的用“A”表示，不符合的用“B，，表示。

Clean water is not only important for people to produce food, but necessary for our life However, many people in Asia and Africa don't have enough clean water to use The World Health Organization reports that almost 4 000 children die each day of dirty water or lack(缺乏)of water.

Farmers use 70% - 85% 0f the world freshwater to produce food. People usually don't pay much attention to how much water industry(工业)uses, but you may be surprised to know that industry uses 59% of the water in developed countries.

Home use takes up（占据）only 8% in the world. But as cities grow, more water will be used. The local government has to try to make people useless water. In 60% of European cities, people are saving water by using less. They even keep waste water for other use. In Australia, the government has encouraged people to collect rainwater and recycle water from showers for a second use, The US Environmental Protection Agency has made a water saving program to encourage families and businesses to check their water use and save more water. Scientists and the UN are looking for good water management as the key to solving the problem. We can all work together to protect our fresh water in our daily life.

1.In developed countries, most water is used by industry.

2.People in Asia have enough clean water to use.

3.According to the passage, scientists have found good ways to deal with water problems.

4.Home use of water will increase because of the growing of cities.

Billy’s favorite color is orange. But he can’t see what orange looks like. Billy is blind.

A month after he was born, his mother noticed that his eyes weren’t quite as big as a normal baby’s. “Billy would never be able to see.” the doctor told his mother. After that Billy’s mother began talking to him, describing things she saw outside the window. She described everything to him.

Billy does not only depend on his mother’s descriptions to learn about the world around him. He sees with his cars and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls, he can tell the numbers they dial(拨).

Billy loves computer science. He began teaching himself computer programming when he was just seven years old. His dream school would be Stanford University. He gets top grades in his classes, making that a real possibility.

“You can’t let excuses get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that you can’t move forward and reach your goals, “said Billy.

1.From the passage, we know that_____________.

A. Billy can’t hear. B. Billy can’t see.

A. Billy can’t walk. D. Billy can’t talk.

2.How did Billy’s mother help him?

A. By teaching him how to draw.

B. By asking teacher for advice.

C. By describing everything to him.

D. By sending him to his dream school.

3.When did Billy begin teaching himself computer programming?

A. When he was 7 years old.

B. When he was in Grade 5.

C. When he was high school.

D. When he was at university.

Whenever there's a terrible storm, there are plenty of sad stories. Many people lost their houses, their cars and their pets. But sometimes these stories have happy endings too.

A family in New Jersey, US, had a cat named Vivien. She is very smart. She could even draw with her wet paws on the floor. They all love her very much. When hurricane (飓风) Sandy hit America in October, they moved to a safer place-13km away from home. Sadly Vivien went missing. The whole family were worried about her. They put up posters on the Internet to look for her. All the nine family members searched wherever they thought she could stay, but they didn't find it. The family thought Vivien was gone forever.

But six months later, Vivien showed up at their house, according to Yahoo News. They considered her return as a wonder. No one can be sure where Vivien was for all that time.

Many animals are good at finding their way home. People usually say that dogs and cats find their way home through using their sense of smell.

But that doesn't explain how Vivien found her way back. Hurricane Sandy blew away the normal smells of home.

"I wish she could talk," said her owner.

1.From the passage we know Sandy is a

A．pet B．house

C．girl D．hurricane

2.The cat was missing for

A．4 months B．6 months

C．9 months D．13 months

3.Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Vivien could even draw.

B．The family tried hard to look for the pet.

C．The owner knew how the cat found her way home.

D．Many people lost their houses, their cars and their pets because of the hurricane.

4.What can be the best title (标题) for the passage?

A．A Terrible Storm B． A Clever Pet

C．A Smart Owner D．A sad story