Until late in the 20th century, most Americans spent time with people of generations. Now mid-aged Americans may not keep in touch with old people until they are old themselves.That’s because we group people by age. We put our three-year-olds together in day-care center, our 13-year-olds in school and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes. Why?

We live away from the old for many reasons: young people sometimes avoid the old to get rid of fears for aging and dying. It is much harder to watch .someone we love disappear before our eyes. Sometimes it’s so hard that we stay away from the people who need us most.

Fortunately, .some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young.

A reporter moved her family onto a block filled with old people. At first her children were disappointed. But the reporter baked banana bread for the neighbours and had her children deliver it and visit. Soon the children had many new friends, with whom they shared food, stories and projects. “My children have never been less lonely,” the reporter said.

The young, in turn, save the old. Once I was in a rest home when a visitor showed up with a baby. She was immediately surrounded. People who hadn’t gotten out of bed in a week suddenly were ringing for a wheelchair. Even those who had seemed asleep wake up to watch the child. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure.

Grandparents are a special case. They give grandchildren a feeling of security and continuity. As my husband put it, “my grandparents gave me a deep sense that things would turn out right in the end.”

Grandchildren speak of attention they don’t get from worried parents. “My parents were always telling me to hurry up, and my grandparents told me to slow down,” one friend said. A teacher told me she can tell which pupils have relationships with grandparents: they are quieter, calmer, more trusting.

1.Now in an American family, people can find that ____.

A．children never live with their parents

B．not all working people live with their parents

C．aged people are supported by their grandchildren

D．grandchildren are supported by their grandparents

2.The reason why old people are left alone may be that ____.

A．the old don’t like to live in a big family

B．the young can’t get enough money to support the old

C．different generations have different lifestyles

D．the old are too weak to live with the young

3.The fact that the reporter told us shows that ___.

A．old people in America lead a hard life

B．old people in America enjoy banana bread

C．she had no time to take care of her children

D．old people are easy to get along with

4.Seeing a baby, the old people get excited because ____.

A．they had never seen a baby before

B．the baby was clever and beautiful

C．the baby brought them the image of life

D．the baby’s mother would take care of them

5.Why do children not get attention from their parents?

A．Because they often make trouble and make their parents disappointed.

B．Because their parents are too busy to take care of them.

C．Because their parents have to take care of their grandparents.

D．Because their parents have been out of work for a long time.

Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth. Australia is big, but its population is not large. The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai.

The government has made enough laws to fight pollution. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. The sky is blue and the water is clean. You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.

Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers’ exhibition. There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers’ exhibition. After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves. Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.

Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos (袋鼠). After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep.

1.Australia is _______.

A．the largest country in the world

B．as large as Shanghai

C．not as large as China

D．the largest island in the north of the earth

2.The government had made _______.

A．too enough laws to fight pollution

B．so many laws that it can fight pollution

C．enough laws that it can hardly fight pollution

D．enough laws because the pollution is very serious

3.Which of the following is NOT true？

A．Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers.

B．Perth is bigger than any other city in Western Australia.

C．Perth lies in the west of Australia.

D．No other city is larger than Perth in Australia.

4.In Perth you may visit a wild flowers’ show in _______.

A．October          B．January           C．May              D．July

5.Which of the following is true？

A．Australia is famous for its sheep, kangaroos and wild flowers.

B．We ran back to the car because we were in the middle of white sheep.

C．Three hundred sheep came towards us because they saw us.

D．If you go to the countryside in Australia, you will see a large number of white sheep.

单词拼写

1.The elephant is the national ________ ( 象征) of Thailand .

2.The government has promised to take ________ ( 措施) to help the unemployed.

3.When did the accident _______. ( 发生)?

4.Thousands of people died in the natural ________. (灾害)。

5.A ________ ( 沙尘暴) often occurs in Northwest every spring.

6.The young painter has exhibited his work in several g________.

7.Everyone should set a g________ for his life, work and so on.

8.He earns 1,000 yuan a month. His family live on such a small i________.

9.Tom’s words c________ me a lot of trouble.

10.The film was very f_______. I was scared to death when I was seeing it.

完成句子

1.As we know, Beijing is ________________________________( 中国第二大城市)

2.那个小男孩玩的很开心， 很多玩具在地上放着。

The little boy was playing happily, with a lot of toys _____________________________.

3.平均而言，我每周花30 元钱。

____________, I spend 30 yuan every week.

4.在他三岁前，他没有见过他的父亲。

_______the time he was three, he _____________________his father.

5.他们终于意识到了事态的严重性。

At last they _______________ the seriousness of the situation.

根据下列表格中的内容， 写一篇关于沙尘暴的文章。词数：120个左右

— I’m going to Hong Kong for holiday next week.

— _______.

A．My pleasure       B．Good luck         C．Have fun          D．Best wishes

Mo Yan, _______ won the 2012 Nobel Prize for literature, has received worldwide praise.

A．which            B．whose            C．that              D．who

_______ you want to change for a single room, you’ll have to wait for a while.

A．While            B．Although          C．Until             D．If

Excuse me, but can you tell me ________?

A. where can I get to the library             

B. B. how I can get to the library

C. how can I get to the library               

D. where I can get to the library

Jackson seemed crazy _______the Chinese culture when he visited China last year.

A．about            B．with              C．for               D．at