Li Ping's mother's birthday is coming soon, ____1____ he doesn't get a present for her. A watch can ___2_____ a good present, but it is too __3__ for Li Ping to buy because he doesn’t have enough money with him. ___4___ are not so expensive , but he doesn't think they are good enough for his mother __5___ they will die(死) soon. He does not know  __6___of jackets or shoes his mother wears. Chocolates are too  _7__ and his mother does not like them. Li Ping's sister, Li Lan, gives __8__  some advice(建议). She says, "Why don't you give your ___9____ a picture of yourself for her birthday? That shows your ___10__ for her" Li Ping thinks it is a good ____11____. No one is too poor to give love __12___ others, but ____13____ is the most expensive present in the __14__ and everyone is happy to __15__ it.

Mike didn’t do his English homework. The teacher asked him    31  . “I’m sorry, I   32  .” “But why did you forget?” “It didn’t seem   33   or important,” said Mike. “Are you going to punish (惩罚)me?” asked Mike. “   34  . The punishment is for me. I didn’t teach you well,” said the teacher.
“Thank you,” said Mike. “You are the best    35  in the world. I can never know as much as you , but you taught me a lot.” “How can I be a good teacher if the students do not know more than me? I will not succeed until that happens,”   36  the teacher.
Mike’s   37   teacher was a strict（严厉的） man.. Every day Mike played the same piece of music,and the teacher said it was not good and he must practise   38  . After two years of hard work, Mike left and felt sad.   39  when he played it in public, everyone said it was perfect, and he found he could play other pieces of music easily.   
What do you think of these two   40  ?

Cyril Dick’s house is neither a modern house nor a house of the future. It is 40 years old. There are more houses like that in the south of France. They are called “bubble houses”, and you can see why!
Cyril Dick is a designer and he loves round things. He collects old records and clocks. He also collects round furniture. And now he has a completely round house.
Everything in the “bubble house” is round. The centre of the house is one very big bubble. This is both the living room and dining room. There are round armchairs, a round table, and a big round rug(地毯) in front of a round fireplace. Around the living room are three small bubbles. One bubble is a kitchen with round shelves, another bubble is the garden room, and the third bubble is a music room. Upstairs there are two more bubbles—a bedroom and a bathroom.
The doors and windows are also round, of course. The window are like eyes. There aren’t any curtains(窗帘) in the house, because Cyril likes to see the garden all the time.
Bubble houses are the idea of a Hungarian architect(建筑师), Antti Lovag. “A lot of modern houses are bad for us, especially tall buildings of flats,” says Lovag. “Because round homes are more natural, people feel happy in them.” Cyril agrees with this. “Some people think my house is funny,” he says, “but for me, this is the perfect home.”
【小题1】You can find more “bubble houses” in the south of France. 
【小题2】Cyril Dick is a designer and he loves _____________________________________.
【小题3】What is the third bubble around the living room?
____________________________________________________________________.
【小题4】_____________________________________________________________________
【小题5】_____________________________________________________________________

“Homestay is a form of study abroad program. It allows the visitor to rent a room from a local(当地的) family to better understand the local lifestyle. It also helps to improve the visitor’s language ability,” said a teacher during a school meeting last term.” Students who wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience should join this kind of holiday. I am sure you won’t be disappointed(失望的).”
After this special meeting, I always thought about this kind of holiday. Last month, I had a chance at last to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates and we went to London, a place where I had wanted to go since years ago.
As we were still young, we had a group leader who planned things for us and looked after us. After we got to London, we went to stay with different families. I was lucky that my host family(寄宿家庭) was a white couple who had a daughter about my age. They treated me as a daughter of their family during my stay there. They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from them, too.
The holiday was filled with activities every day. After breakfast, a local teacher would come to take us in his car. Then we would have classes or go on a sight-seeing trip to different places of interest like the Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the Buckingham Palace. We would go back to our own homes after the activities.
The holiday was a valuable experience for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, time really flew fast. Three weeks later, we had to leave “home” for Hong Kong.
【小题1】In the “homestay” program, a visitor can _____.

Are two holidays not enough? Do you dream of three, or even four? 【小题1】这不再是梦想! Last month, the State Council(国务院) encouraged primary and high schools to give students a spring or autumn break without changing the total number of student vacation days.
Students in China currently only have long holidays in two seasons —summer and winter. These holidays are usually 10 to 12 weeks in total.“If we had spring and autumn breaks, 【小题2】I would have time to taste all four seasons instead of burying (埋) myself in my studies,”Gao Yiran, a 15-year-old boy told China Daily. Seasonal holidays during autumn and spring may be something new in China, but not in other countries.
In the US, students usually have three holidays. Summer holiday is the longest one, and runs from mid-June until early September. Summer camp is one of kids’ favorite places to go to, where they can make new friends and try some new activities. Winter holiday starts from mid-December and ends in early January. Most kids and their parents go to spend time together over the Christmas period. Spring break comes in mid- March and 【小题3】it is usually a 10-day holiday.
Schools in Japan start in April, as most people think that spring is the perfect time for new things. For school children ,summer holiday lasts from July 20 to August 31. Most kids are busy with club activities including sports and dancing. Spring break starts at the end of March and continues till early April. It is a good chance for a short family trip around the city.
阅读短文，按要求完成下面的任务。
任务一　将【小题4】处的中文翻译成英文。
任务二　将【小题5】处斜体部分的英文翻译成中文。
任务三　写出【小题6】处“it”指代的内容。
任务四　【小题7】What do Japanese kids usually do in their spring break?
任务五　【小题8】为该文段拟写一个标题。

Zhang Zhaojie, a 13-year-old schoolboy in Xiamen enjoyed many snacks during Spring Festival. “I love chocolate and chips very much. They are high in sugar and fat. But I can’t help eating them,” Zhang said.
Recently, an online list of favorite snacks in China became popular. It said that peanuts, walnuts and chocolate are good for our health, and jelly, potato chips and lollipops(棒棒糖) are “bad”. Almost every kid on the planet loves snacks, and they seldom care how healthy they are. Although some snacks like chocolate and candy are found everywhere, others are unique(独特的) to a country or a culture.
In Japan, Matcha(抹茶) is a kind of green tea powder. It’s made from tea leaves and can be used with ice cream or cakes. In fact, Matcha originated in China but took off in Japan. Biscuits or cookies covered with chocolate are also a Japanese favorite.
Potato chips and French fries are very popular in the US. They are cheap but tasty. But they are high in calories and eating too much may make you fat. Popcorn(爆米花) is another typical snack. People eat it when they are watching sports games or visiting the amusement park. Most cinemas also sell Popcorn.
In the UK, many people sit down for snacks at around 4 p.m. every day. They call it “afternoon tea”. Traditional afternoon tea is biscuits and tea. People also have scones(烤饼) with jam and cream, which is probably the most classic English snack.

We use passwords(密码)to keep our personal information secret and safe, but some passwords we use may not be as reliable as we think.
Splash Data, a computer security company, recently released a list of the 25 worst passwords of 2011.This list is based on the research of hackers’ files containing stolen passwords. According to the list, “password” is the worst and most common password. Many others on the list are numbers in order either forward (for example,1234) or backward. Letters on the keyboard in order, such as “qwerty” are also common, as well as some first names and animals. “Hackers can easily break into many accounts(账户) just by trying common passwords again and again, ” said Morgan Slain, CEO of Splash Data.
How can you make a strong password? It should be eight characters or more, with a mix of letters, numbers and symbols. One way to create a long and easy-to-remember password is to separate short words with spaces or numbers. Having safe passwords is necessary for surfing the Internet safely. But it’s not the only thing you must do to keep safety online. Here are some other web safety tips:
●Never give out information that will allow someone to find you offline. That includes your full name, address and phone number.
●Don’t include your real name as part of your online screen name.
●Never meet people you met on the Internet in person. If you insist on breaking this rule, meet in a very public place and consider taking an adult with you.
Top 10 worst passwords: 1.password   2. 123456    3. 12345678   4. qwerty    5. abc123  6. monkey   7. 1234567    8. letmein     9.trustno1  10. dragon
【小题1】What is “Splash Data”?

Hello, everyone. Because of the high rate of school violence(暴力) in some areas, teenagers’ safety becomes a serious problem. We are planning to set up an organization named School Watch to make sure that students have a safe school environment. Please be part of our plan!
What is School Watch?
School Watch is a volunteer project in our school. It helps us stop violence and improve the quality of school life. It will keep yourself and your schoolmates safe. The other members of School Watch care for you and your classroom, and you do the same for them.
Is it for everyone?
Anybody can become a member of School Watch because everyone has something to offer.
What else can it do?
School Watch makes it possible for us not only to help each other but also to make friends with each other. Some members may offer to help the schoolmates who have problems with their homework.
Who is the School Watch?
Our school will look for the School Watcher and give him or her lots of prizes. You could be the one!
How do you start?
To be part of this plan, the only thing you need to do is to talk to the director of the plan in your grade. You can check the official website at www.schoolwatch.com if you want to get more information.
【小题1】School Watch can help its members_______.

It's still the holiday season and students in the UK are enjoying their winter break (休假).
Tiffany in Guangdong asks us about how British students spend their winter break.
For some, it's a time to study because they have exams next term. Some might have to study. They have to read some books. They use the winter break to catch up with(赶上) their reading. But some students can Let their hair down and celebrate Christmas and New Year with a few drinks.
This holiday is also an important time to chat with the family and maybe get some sleep too. Some lucky students are going away on holiday but it won't be long.
【小题1】What do the underlined words "let their hair down" mean in this reading?

Last month when I was taking part in a US college interview, I was asked, “ what makes you special ? ” In fact I had answered questions likes this many times since I decided to go to college in the US .college paid special attention to different achievement . For example, a person who is very good at math can go to a famous college but also can be a good football player .
This experience made me think again that I must try to find where my own interests might lead me . To be honest, it was not easy . However, I never felt sorry to choose this way because it helped me understand myself . If I took the College Entrance Examination,as we call it gaokao in China, it could never possibly do .
When I entered high school, I took gaokao seriously because it seemed to me a great way to show how good at my lessons . However,as I grew older, I realized gaokao did make me work hard at my lessons, but the pressure also pushed many other activities out of my life, like guitar―playing . Although I had no time for it, I will still get to it in the future .
No doubt, gaokao provides a way of choosing those who are successful in their studies . But it is really important for all of us to rethink what “ talent ” really is today . This is because we now live in a world in which all of our other human qualities ( 品质）are needed for success, not just the high grade .
Ken Robinson once said, “ the society depends on different kinds of talents . ”  However, gaokao pays too attention  to a person’s grades but little to his other qualities. And it is these qualities that makes life colorful and fun .
As high school students, we can not change the present situation of eduction, but we are always free to think outside of the box . Although good school grade is still useful, I hope one day we will see our education also welcomes the amazing possibilities in different people .
【小题1】The US College pay special attention to ________.