When a cake is brought to the table at a birthday party, it is usually decorated with candles. It is said that the tradition of lighting birthday candles was invented by the ancient Greeks; it has taken on different meanings through the years. Today, one of the most popular birthday traditions is to blow out the candles all at once to make a secret wish come true.
In order to please Artemis, the goddess of the moon, the ancient Greeks arranged something special for birthdays. A moon-shaped cake was baked and decorated with lit candles. They thought the smoke from the candles would carry an offering(祭品) up into the sky, where they believed Artemis lived.
The tradition of lighting birthday candles continued in Europe, where candles were sometimes kept burning all day on a person’s birthday, partly as celebration and partly to keep away evil spirits. It was believed that the blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers(祈祷) to the gods. Some cultures believe it is a bad luck to blow out the candles until after the evening meal is eaten.
Traditionally, one candle represents a year of the person’s age. Some families prefer to add an extra candle for good luck. But that practice is improper when a very young child is celebrating a third birthday. Generally, older people’s birthdays are celebrated by placing just a few candles to represent, such as an eight for 80th birthday.
Today’s birthday candles are made in different shapes, like animals or flowers. One or two candles in the shape of numbers are sometimes used instead of lots of candles; for example, a four-shaped and a zero-shaped candle would represent 40.
1.Why did the ancient Greeks arrange something special for birthdays?
A. To make their dreams come true.
B. To celebrate a person’s birthday.
C. To protect themselves from evil spirits.
D. To please the goddess of the moon.
2.What is the tradition of lighting candles for birthdays like in Europe?
A. The candles were always kept burning all day on a person’s birthday.
B. The blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers to the god.
C. Some cultures believe it is right to blow out the candles before the evening meal.
D. The Europeans sometimes keep burning the candles all day just as a celebration.
3.What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
A. In some families, people would add an extra candle without any special meaning.
B. It is common to see a cake with four candles on a three-year-old child’s birthday.
C. Traditionally, people can use an eight-shaped and a zero-shaped candle to represent 80.
D. Usually one candle is placed on a cake for each year of the person’s age.
To write a great news story, you have to make sure it is correct, relevant and fresh.
For a start, all the information in a story must be correct. Not only the spelling and grammar, but also the facts.
Any mistakes that appear in a story can get a newspaper into big trouble. For example, if a newspaper said that Yang Liwei was the first man to go into space, it would be wrong. He wasn’t the first. The newspaper would probably lose lots of readers because of that mistake.
A news story is not only correct，but also relevant to its readers . People are mostly interested in news that happens near to them. That is why you care more about what happens at your school than at American schools. It is also why newspapers in Beijing don’t talk about much news in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
Finally, news must always be fresh. When you pick up your evening newspaper, you want to read about news that happens that day. You don’t want to read about news from last week!
So, now you know what makes a good news story. Have a good look at our newspaper and see if it is full of good news. You can try writing a news story for our newspaper like a real reporter.
1.What is the meaning of the underlined word “relevant”.
A .有趣的 B. 相关的 C. 最新的 D.正确的
2. According to the writer, newspapers in Wuxi should talk much about news in __________.
A. Wuxi B. Hong Kong C. Shanghai D. Beijing
3. Which of the following is true?
A. A small mistake can’t get a newspaper into trouble.
B. A lot of people like reading about news from last week.
C. The passage doesn’t tell us who was the first man to go into space.
D. People are mostly interested in news that happens far away from them.
Some top students are giving advice.
Bill, Canada When taking tests, relax. If you’re worried that you’ll fail the test, you’re sure to get a low score. If you have studied for it long enough, you shouldn’t be worried about getting a low grade. |
Lily, America Remember the most important advice to get good grades is very simple; do well on tests to get an A or an A-. Do what your teacher says, and the chances are fairly good that you’ll get an A+. Don’t stress yourself. Act cool! |
Betty, Britain Write good notes. Coloured pens are fun to write with if you want to get more creative with your notes, but use them only for parts of your notes that will probably be on a test or that are important. It makes them stand out. Go over your notes before you take the exams. |
Tom, Australia In order to get good grades, try to do your homework immediately after school. Time management is important. If you’re told to do the homework next week, get started the same day you know it. Before you start, you’d better make clear what to do and how to do it. |
1. Who gives advice on homework?
A. Betty. B. Bill. C. Lily. D. Tom.
2.Lily tells us when taking tests.
A. not to worry
B. not to stress ourselves
C. to get more creative
D. to make clear what to do
3. The top students are giving advice on _______.
A. how to get good grades
B. how to start learning
C. what to do when taking tests
D. what to take when going to school
完形填空 先通读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后在每小题所给的四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。)
Up to two-thirds of children don’t get as much sleep as they should do and this can make them nervous and slower at school, researchers say.
So should young people sleep each night? The answer is between 8 and 10 hours. If you don’t get enough sleep at night, you’ll have energy the next day.
But the researchers say many children have missed out on 4,500 hours of sleep by the time they are 7 years old. They say that children miss sleep because they have TVs and computers in their rooms and parents don’t read to their younger children at night any more. The traditional “bedtime story” helps children to relax and fall asleep . Children with TVs and computers in their bedrooms are more likely to sleep badly and to get less than 8 hours sleep. Even one hour’s sleep a night can mean that children do less well at school.
German scientists think that your keeps working while you are asleep. To show that they were , they gave two groups of people a problem to work out. One group went to sleep and the other group stayed . The result? The people who slept worked out the answer more quickly, suggesting that their brains had been trying to the answer while the people were asleep. So, make sure you get enough sleep tonight, you’ll be at your best tomorrow．
1.A. how much B. how many C. how long D. how often
2.A. more B. less C. few D. little
3.A. proud B. free C. poor D. busy
4.A. peacefully B. carefully C. happily D. sadly
5.A. losing B. lost C. loser D. loss
6.A. head B. brain C. heart D. thought
7.A. perfect B. bright C. right D. great
8.A. awake B. alive C. asleep D. absent
9.A. think over B. open up C. find out D. put down
10.A. or B. but C. if D. and
— What do you think of the speech?
— Forget it. It is ________ than I thought.
A. far more boring B. even more interested
C. much more bored D. more interesting
Amy would rather __________. Let’s take her to the KFC restaurant.
A. Western food than Chinese food
B. have Chinese food than Western food
C. to have Western food than Chinese food
D. have Western food than Chinese food
