Tomato Festival
Started in 2005, the Tomato Festival has grown into a local tradition in Malta. In recent years, the festival has added amusement park-style rides and a yearly Creature Feature, which screens old horrible movies. There are also dance competitions, parades and pancake breakfast. Third weekend in August.
Address: 833 Tinkham Rd, Fountain Park, Wilbraham, Massachusetts 01095 Phone：(413)599-0010
Brat Days
Don't mistake this festival for a day filled with poorly behaved children. Begun in 1953, the gathering is the biggest festival in the city each year and features more than 50 stands (摊位) selling the sausage, as well as a contest to see who can quickly eat the most bratwurst (德国式小香肠) in ten minutes. Early August.
Address: 17th and New Jersey sts, Kiwanis Park, Sheboygan, Wisconsin 53081
Phone: (920)457-9491
Hope Watermelon Festival
The festival dates back to the 1920s, when many trains went through this small town and local watermelon growers would sell their watermelon to parched travelers. These days, the festival sees a Watermelon Queen crowned(加冠的) and sometimes a world-record watermelon grown. There are also more than 300 stands selling arts and crafts from a six-state area, as well as a car show and the Watermelon Olympics. Early August.
Address: 108 W 3rd St, Hope, Arkansas 71801 Phone: (870) 777-3640
Oyster Festival (牡蛎节)
Featuring appearances from tall ships and oyster boats, this festival has regularly drawn 60,000 visitors a year since it began in 1978.More than 3,000 volunteers make the festival possible each year. Norwalk is less than a two-hour drive from many of New England's larger cities, making it easy to attend the festival during a trip to New York or Hartford. Weekend after Labor Day.
Address: Sea view Ave, Veteran's Park, East Nor-walk, Connecticut 06855 Phone: (800) 866-7925
1.Which of the following festivals has the longest history?
A. Oyster Festival. ? B. Hope Watermelon Festival.
C. Brat Days. D. Tomato Festival.
2.The underlined word “parched” in the third passage means________.
A. tired B. hungry
C. thirsty D. excited
3.In which of the following activities can you enjoy the frightening films?
A. The Creature Feature B. The Watermelon Olympics
C. The Eating-bratwurst Contest D. Dance Competitions
4.If it is August 15 today this year, you might still attend ________.
A. Brat Days B. Oyster Festival
C. Hope Watermelon Festival ? D. Tomato Festival
If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language? According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.
The study also found the effect is greater when the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density (密度) in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists. It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn. Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and math skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的),” he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.
1.The main subject talked about in this passage is ________.
A. science on learning a second language
B. man’s ability of learning a second language
C. that language can help brain power
D. language learning and math study
2.The underlined word “bilingual” probably means _______.
A. a researcher on language learning
B. a person who can speak two languages
C. a second language learner
D. an active language learner
3.We may know from the scientific findings that ________.
A. the earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is.
B. there is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn’t know a second language.
C. the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people’s brain.
D. the ability of learning a second language is changing all the time.
All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy, happy and help them to live longer.
Sports change with the seasons. People play different games in winter and summer.
Games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities. The Arabs use horses or camels in much of their everyday life; they use them in their sports, too.
Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese boxing, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game they often become good friends. Sports help to train a person's character. One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace.
1.According to this passage we know that________.
A. people began to play pingpong about one hundred years ago
B. about 100 years ago people ran or jumped when they played
C. basketball has a longer history than volleyball
D. not all the games have a long history
2.The writer didn't tell us in this passage that________.
A. basketball was invented in America
B. sports change with the seasons
C. games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities
D. football is played all over the world
3.According to this passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Sports help to train a person's character.
B. People swim only because there are a lot of rivers in their country.
C. People from different countries may not be able to understand each other before a game.
D. Sports and games can develop the friendship between people all over the world.
4.A lot of people have more free time from their work to enjoy sports because________.
A. they like sports very much B. they want to live longer
C. they want to make a lot more friends D. all of the above
A HALF - EMPTY BASKET
Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed(服从) and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting.
"I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he said.
"But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man asked.
"I met your children outside, and they stole some of the apples."
1.Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man? Because ___________
A. he was poor B. he liked the rich man
C. his farm belonged to the rich man D. the rich man’s children liked apples
2.What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps?
A. They jumped and jumped. B. They played.
C. They ran away. D. They ate some of the apples
3.The monkeys left the basket because ___________
A. they had thrown apples on the ground B. the farmer had politely asked them to get off
C. they were afraid of the hat D. the farmer was angry with them
4.How did the rich man feel when he saw the basket? He felt ________.
A. unhappy B. pleased
C. excited D. moved
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Children have their own rules in playing games. They don't care much about 1. wins or loses, and they don't seem to worry whether the game 2. (finish) or not when they leave.
Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities cannot be 3.(direct) compared. They also enjoy games that move in stages in 4. each stage, the choosing of leaders, the picking-up of sides, or the determining of which side 5. (start) is almost a game in itself.
Grown-ups can hardly find children’s game exciting, and they often feel 6.(puzzle) at why their kids play such a simple game again and again.
However, it is found 7. a child plays games for very important reasons. He can find 8. (he) being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinarily afraid. He can become a leader and give 9.(order) when it comes to his turn. In some games, he can pretend to be dead or to kiss someone he has caught. 10. appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control.
In the long history of about 5,000 years, numerous Chinese traditional festivals were celebrated as the memory of gods or some significant days, some of which are passed down from generation to generation and people always practice special traditional activities in each festival,
Qingming Festival
Qingming Festival is on the 15th day after Spring Equinox (春分), round April 4 or April 5 every year. 1., They remove the weeds growing on the ancestors* tomb to make them clean, so this festival is also called Tomb-sweeping Festival. In some areas, people are forbidden to use the fire to cook the food, so they only eat the cool food. Thus, it is also named Hanshi Festival.
Double Ninth Festival
2.The Chinese character of September is the same as 9, so we get this special name. Chinese people, especially the north Chinese，climb the mountains to the peak to enjoy the wonderful perspective, and admire the beauty of chrysanthemum(菊花).
Winter Solstice(冬至).
Winter solstice is on around December 22 or 23 of solar calendar each year, From winter solstice on, the daytime will be longer and longer. 3.Chinese people in the northern region, eat dumplings-aad wonton(馄炖), while in the southern regions rice balls.
4.
In China, this festival is in late January or early Februaty, the last day of the Lunar year.
People celebrate it by having a family reunion dinner, setting off fireworks and staying up late. Breaking the dishes and bowls is a thing all the people scare(惊恐），but if you did it, you have to say: “sui sui ping an)”5.
A. Spring Festival.
B. New Year's Eve.
C. People always visit their friends and relatives*
D. People will go to worship(祭拜）their ancestors.
E. It is a pun(双关语), meaning you will be healthy every year.
F. It is celebrated on Sept. 9th of the Lunar Calendar, around October
G. It's a holiday which is regarded as important as the Spring Festival.
