Christmas is the most important festival in the western world. It 1.(fall) on December 25th . When my mother and I stayed in America, we 2.(invite) by one of my mother’s friends to observe Christmas with an American family. We bought some 3.(present) for our American friends on our way 4. their house.
They had prepared different kinds of gifts for their family and guests when we got to their house, such as Christmas candles, cakes, cards, little toys, biscuits and so on. A Christmas tree was placed in 5. corner of the brilliant hall. 6. beautiful is was! We were impressed by these. We had a big meal, 7.(share) some interesting stories about Christmas and sang songs.
We learned that Christmas had something to do with Jesus. We went to bed at midnight. 8. we knew the Santa Claus was not true, we were still waiting for the Santa Claus 9.(bring) us presents. And we received many beautiful presents the next morning.
This Christmas was really 10.(forgettable). Not only did I have a good time, but also I knew something about foreign culture.
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A couple in South Carolina has been eagerly seeking an organ donor. They haven’t found one____But they did find something else: friends.
Larry Swilling and his wife Jimmie Sue have been happily____for 56 years. So happily, in fact, that Larry has now come to realize he can’t____without his wife. “She’s my heart,” he said. The problem with Jimmie Sue is that she____a kidney(肾). Jimmie Sue was born with only one, and now that doesn’t____She needs a transplant but neither her husband, nor anyone tested in her family, is a____match.
Jimmie Sue is trying to get on a donor list, but the____is about two or three years long and that’s for a kidney from a dead donor. Transplant patients who get their kidneys from living donors tend to live____That is why Larry decided to try to ask for it, from total strangers.
“I don’t____what people think,” Larry said. He tells his wife, “I’m going to____you a kidney.” And on the street, wearing a signboard “Need kidney for my wife”, he’s not shy in asking____:“Could I use your kidney?” For the last couple weeks, Larry, at 77, has been walking all over his hometown and the surrounding towns-basically____a kidney. He didn’t really think it would work_____he said, “I had to do something.” He didn’t feel____when the phone rang. “I’m willing to donate a kidney for your____,” one caller said. “I’d like nothing more than to help you out,” said another.
Believe it or not, over the last few days the____hasn’t stopped ringing. Hundreds of people who either saw his sign or heard about it have____One volunteer said, “I’ve got two, but I____need one.” Larry hasn’t found a match for his wife, but at least he has already had enough volunteers and____enough awareness to save someone. “If I get a kidney, it’s fine. If I don’t, I hope someone else does,” the wife said. And that’s why Larry is still out there, appealing to the____of strangers for the love of his wife.
1.A. already B. yet C. still D. also
2.A. married B. done C. worried D. lived
3.A. work B. laugh C. argue D. live
4.A. adds B. lacks C. misses D. spends
5.A. work B. stop C. finish D. affect
6.A. comfortable B. healthy C. improper D. suitable
7.A. making B. buying C. waiting D. needing
8.A. shorter B. worse C. longer D. easier
9.A. care B. absorb C. doubt D. believe
10.A. give B. sell C. get D. borrow
11.A. doctors B. passers-by C. acquaintances D. donors
12.A. staring at B. arguing over C. depending on D. begging for
13.A. But B. So C. Because D. Since
14.A. careless B. melancholy C. helpless D. selfless
15.A. daughter B. wife C. son D. mother
16.A. bell B. clock C. door D. phone
17.A. volunteered B. encouraged C. entertained D. gained
18.A. gently B. greedily C. only D. hardly
19.A. lifted B. raised C. demonstrated D. displayed
20.A. sorrow B. kindness C. sadness D. happiness
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, so when you want to do business in France, you have to get to know French culture, to make marketing plans, and to run your business by local laws.
1. The French take great pride in their language, so anyone who does not speak it may run the risk of being disrespected by his French colleagues or business partners. Also, another reason why learning French is important is that it is a great way to show every possible French business partner that you care and respect their country’s culture and language.
There are obvious ways of greeting people in French. When you meet someone new, it’s usual to shake his hand firmly and always look at the person in the eye. 2.
Dress well. 3. Your business clothing is a reflection of your success and social status. Always try to be stylish. Women are advised to dress simply but elegantly. Wearing make-up is practiced widely by business women.
The French are passionate about food, so lunches are common in doing business in France, which usually consist of an appetizer, main meal with wine, cheese, dessert and coffee, and normally take up to two hours. 4.
Do not begin eating until the host says, “Bon appetite”. Pass dishes to the left, keep wrists above the table and try to eat everything on the plate. 5. This may suggest that you find the food tasteless. If eating in a restaurant, the person who invites always pays.
A. The French draw information about people based on their appearance.
B. This is a time for relationship building.
C. Maybe you have heard the expression.
D. Language should be the focus of anyone planning to do business in France.
E. Be careful with adding salt, pepper or sauces to your food.
F. When you meet a friend, kissing is common.
G. English and French are both spoken in formal occasions.
For more and more young Chinese professionals, the first day back at work after the Lunar New Year holiday is the day they quit.
The period after the Lunar New Year holiday, also known as Spring Festival, often sees Chinese workers on the move. This year, the number looking for new opportunities is supposed to be especially high.
Mr. Zhu, a 27-year-old Beijing native, is one of the young workers looking for a better deal. “Salary is a big concern for me and I need a job that pays more, and my department can’t provide good career development for me,” he said.
An online survey by Zhaopin.com, a leading job-hunting website, provides further details on why China’s young white-collar workers are so keen to move on.
Low salaries are the biggest concern for 62% of the job-hunters, and overtime and a wide mismatch between low salaries and high housing costs are also the complaints. Two-thirds of them said they had to work at home after office hours, and a full 95% said they felt they were under heavy pressure because of the housing payment or rent.
The survey also found that what was seen as a “good job” has changed. For the generation born in the 1970s, high salary and status is the key. For the generation born after 1980, work-life balance and respect in the office are also important.
Zhao Bin, a 28-year-old woman who earns over 7,000 yuan a month working at a public relations company in Shanghai, said she would wait until the Lunar New Year to change her job. “My salary is OK for me, but I am working like crazy. So I want to find something comfortable, like being an English teacher in training schools.”
1.Mr. Zhu is looking for a new job because ________.
A. he was fired before the Lunar New Year holiday
B. he was promised a better job
C. he wants a job better in salary and in development
D. he was advised to do so
2.Which of the following can best take the place of the underlined words “a wide mismatch”?
A. a big gap B. a lost game
C. a hot debate D. a failed marriage
3.The writer uses the example of Zhao Bin to prove that ________.
A. salary is the first concern for people who change jobs
B. young people are under pressure of high housing prices
C. young people tend to value work-life balance
D. teacher has become a good job for Chinese youth
4.The article is intended to ________.
A. encourage Chinese white-collar workers to change jobs
B. present a social phenomenon and explain its causes
C. carry out an online survey to readers
D. compare different reasons why people quit jobs
I have never forgotten the firm belief I had in the arrival through the chimney (烟囱) of the little Santa Claus (圣诞老人), the kind, white-bearded old man who at midnight left in my tiny shoe a present I found the next morning.
Midnight! It’s the perfect hour children don’t know. What great efforts I made not to go to sleep before the little old man appeared!
I had both a great desire and great fear of seeing him, but could never stay awake until then, and the next day my first look was for my shoe. He never failed to carefully wrap (包装) every present for me. I would run barefoot to get my treasure. It never was a very expensive present, for we were not rich. It was a cookie, an orange, or very simply a fine red apple. But it felt so precious that I barely dared to eat it. What a great role imagination plays in a child’s life!
I do not at all agree with the idea that the lies about Santa Claus should be stopped. Doubts and truth come all too soon on their own. I very well remember the first year, when I was five or six, I doubted that it was not Santa Claus who put the cookie in my shoe. Since then, it has never tasted as good as the first few years of my life.
I noted that my son believed in him longer; boys are more naïve (天真的) than little girls. Like me, he made great efforts to stay awake until midnight. Like me, he loved the cookie baked in Heaven’s kitchens. And like me, the first year of his doubts was the last year of the visit of the good old man.
1.As a little girl, the author loved the gifts on Christmas Day because ________.
A. they usually cost a lot of money
B. she always got the very gifts she asked for
C. they were beautifully wrapped
D. she believed they were from Santa Claus
2.According to the article, what role does imagination play in a child’s life?
A. It adds value to the common Christmas gifts.
B. It makes a child curious about everything.
C. It encourages him to climb the chimney.
D. It makes him doubt whether Santa Claus really exists.
3.By saying “Doubts and truth come all too soon on their own” in Paragraph 4, the author feels ________.
A. unsatisfied with being cheated
B. sorry for realizing that Santa Claus doesn’t exist
C. happy at finding out the facts of Santa Claus
D. angry about parents’ lying to children about Santa Claus
A few months after we moved to a small city in France, I wanted to meet my husband for lunch at the university where he worked. I got lost. I had to call him for help. One of his friends said to him later, “How could she get lost? She just needed to go straight.”
Well, no. That’s the problem. You never “just go straight”, because France is the land of roundabouts (弯道). Highways, major streets, little village lanes – if you go straight long enough, you’ll end up going in circles.
Even after a year here, I’d still get lost going to the grocery store, or just about anywhere that wasn’t within a hundred yards of my house.
I admit I have a horrible sense of direction, can’t read a map, and am not such a good driver. Plus, I’ve been spoiled (宠坏) by living in American cities, where you just indeed need to “go straight”. But in France, driving became my nightmare — the roads are roundabouts within roundabouts.
Finally I found a solution: a GPS program on my smart phone. I rely on it to get anywhere, even places I’ve been.
But it does leave me feeling very bad and helpless when, often, the program doesn’t work, can’t find a GPS signal, or gives wrong information. I’d have to wait until my GPS gets recovered, or else I use my old solution: I call my husband. Is the GPS making us more stupid, or helping us going around more? In my case, it’s probably both.
1.The friend of the writer’s husband’s thought ________.
A. the roundabouts were confusing B. the way to the university was simple
C. she didn’t lose her way D. she was a foolish woman
2.The writer thinks if one just “goes straight” in France, he will probably ________.
A. arrive at his destination at last B. come back to where he starts
C. find his way out of the city D. end up in a grocery store
3.Which of the following statements is NOT true about the writer?
A. She lacks the sense of direction.
B. She once lived in a different country.
C. She has stayed in France for more than a year.
D. She has already got used to the French way of life.
4.What does the writer think of the GPS program?
A. It’s a satisfactory solution to her problem.
B. It improves her sense of direction.
C. It doesn’t always work very well.
D. It is a useless device for her.
