Red is used in many American expressions. It can be used to show happiness, as in the expression “a red-letter day”. This is a day when something special happens. The expression is probably based on church customs. For almost 600 years, church calendars have been marked with red to show special holy(神圣的)days. Today’s calendars are still marked that way with the dates of holidays and special days printed in red.
The expression “a red-letter day”is often heard in daily life. “A red-letter day” is a day that people are especially happy. It may be a day that you have waited for a long time, a wedding day, for example. Or it may be a day with a happy surprise. You might tell a friend that yesterday was a red-letter day, because you won some money in the lottery.
“Rolling out the red carpet” is another commonly heard expression. It describes an especially warm welcome of any kind. A city may “roll out the carpet ”for its baseball team, when the team arrives home after winning a championship. A group of supporters go to the air port to the greet the team. The red-carpet welcome includes a lot of cheering by thousands of fans, a parade, music and speech of praise by local statesmen.
Red is also used in some expressions that are not happy. “Red-handed ” is an example. To be caught “red-handed” is to be found in an act of wrong doing. The evidence is clear. You are guilty. Today we use the expression “ to be caught red-handed ”in situation(情况)that are not serious. For example, a mother might say she caught her son red-handed, taking cookies out of the cookie jar.
Some American Expressions with __
Be used for_happiness |
a red -letter day |
a day that people are happy a day with a ___ |
| rolling out the red carpet |
describes an especially warm___ |
|
Be used in_ |
to be caught red-hanged |
to be found doing a wrong action can’t be used in a serious situation |
Henry was going through a very hard time.His wife passed away one month ago.He thought his life became meaningless.Henry sat in his house sadly and did nothing.
One day，Henry's neighbor，Lisa，saw him from her yard.She hadn't seen him outside for several days!She wanted to help Henry.Then she had an idea.
Lisa said to Henry， "Hello，Henry!Just look at this fence（篱笆）between our houses.It is falling apart.You are a strong man.Can you help fix this fence？"
After hearing Lisa's words，Henry was a little angry.He didn't want to help her.He thought he was the one who needed help.He thought Lisa was kind of rude.However，he agreed to help Lisa because Lisa was too old to fix the fence herself.
Henry spent a few days fixing the fence.When he finished，Lisa thanked him.Henry gave her a smile.It was his first time to smile after his wife passed away.
"What a wonderful job!Could you please paint it for me？" Lisa said to him.Henry thought for a while and agreed.Then he began to paint the fence in the hot sun.As his neighbors passed by and saw Henry，they all praised Henry for what he was doing.Henry felt happy and proud.He felt his life was not meaningless any more.
Henry finally understood Lisa's purpose.She wanted Henry to know that staying busy could help him forget his sorrow（悲痛）.Henry thanked Lisa a lot.
（1）Which of the following shows how Henry's feelings changed over time？
A.Happy→thankful→bored→sad.
B.Sad→angry﹣ happy→thankful.
C.Sad→happy→thankful﹣→sad.
D.Happy→upset→thankful→happy.
（2）How did Lisa help Henry forget his sorrow？
A.She wanted him to get to know more neighbors.
B.She asked him to do some things to make him busy.
C.She encouraged him to make friends with other neighbors.
D.She advised him to find a new part﹣time job in his free time.
（3）Which words can best describe Lisa according to the passage？
A.Silly and lazy.
B.Rude and lazy.
C.Clever and helpful.
D.Patient and hard﹣working.
（4）What does the writer mainly want to tell us？
A.Staying busy can help us forget our sadness.
B.We should help others at any time.
C.It is hard to make friends with neighbors.
D.Asking others for help isn't rude.
Old Man Used His Own Money to Send 33 Strangers to College
A retired carpenter（退休的木匠）from Des Moines has helped send 33 kids to college since his death in 2005.
Dale Schroeder was a simple，honest man.He grew up poor and worked as a carpenter for the same company for 67 years.
"Went to work every day.Worked really hard.Was frugal（节俭的）， "said Schroeder's good friend Steve Nielsen. "He had church jeans and work jeans. "
No one thought that he had saved up a large number of money.
Schroeder never married and had no children，so before he died，he went to his lawyer with a plan for his money. "He said， 'I never got the chance to go to college.So，I'd like to help kids go to college'， "Nielsen told CBS News.
"Finally，I was curious（好奇的）and I said， 'How much are we talking about，Dale？And he said， 'Oh，just shy of ＄3 million'.I nearly fell out of my chair， "Nielsen recalled
Schroeder left special instructions for his money：send kids to college.
"He wanted to help kids that were like him，and that probably would not have had chance to go to college without his gift， "Nielsen said.
Schroeder ended up paying for 33 strangers' college money.
The persons，who have named themselves "Dale's kids"，got together earlier this month to honor the great man who changed their lives.They're now doctors，teachers…
（1）Dale Schroeder was a .
A.poor and lazy carpenter
B.manager of a company
C.poor and honest father
D.hard﹣working and frugal carpenter
（2）The sentence "I nearly fell out of my chair" shows that .
A.Nielsen was surprised at the number of money Dale saved
B.Dale was not good at making chairs
C.the chair that Nielsen sat on was broken
D.Dale had an old chair
（3）What can we learn from the passage？
A.Dale was alive for 67 years.
B.Dale married，but had no children.
C.Dale once gave up the chance to go to college.
D. "Dale's kids "honored Dale because he changed their lives.
A House for Rent（租） We have a comfortable three﹣bedroom house to rent.The house was built four years ago，but it is still in very good condition now.The house includes： * one large living room * three bedrooms *a kitchen * a small garage * a large garden Do you want a quiet life？This house is for you! * You can enjoy beautiful views of the fields and woods. * Only one hour by train to the city center. * Animals and children are welcome! You need to pay only ＄400 per month. Three months' rent must be paid in advance（提前）. Are you interested in the house？Please telephone Harry Smith（0139﹣45520）.The address of the house：25 Daffodil Road，Little Haddington Village |
（1）To rent the house，you need to pay in advance.
A.＄400
B.＄800
C.＄1200
D.＄1600
（2）After reading the passage，we can know the information EXCEPT .
A.the rent of the house
B.the address of the house
C.Harry Smith's phone number
D.Harry Smith's﹣mail address
（3）About the house，which of the following is true？
A.The house has a small garage.
B.The house has a small garden.
C.The house has four bedrooms.
D.We can't keep a pet in the house.
On the early morning of December 17，the Chang'e﹣5 lunar probe （月球探测器） landed safely on the grasslands in Inner Mongolia，meaning the Chang'e﹣5 mission （任务） ended successfully.
Chang'e﹣5 was launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province on November 24，2020.On December 1，the probe got to the moon.During the stay on the moon，it collected 1，731 grams of rock and soil samples （样品）.On December 3，our national flag was shown on the moon.After that，the probe was ready to go home.
China is no stranger to lunar exploration （探月） programs.Over the years，it has sent a number of increasingly challenging missions to the moon.One of the most famous missions was the historic landing of Chang'e﹣4 spacecraft on the moon's far side in 2019.As Chang'e﹣5 reached a new area of the moon，this launch successfully pushed the limits （极限） even further.It's no doubt a great step forward for the space industry.
This is a truly historic event for China's space program，making China the third nation in the world to bring samples back from the moon.The success has also made Chang'e﹣5 the first spacecraft to bring back samples from the moon since 1976 when a Russian spaceship brought back 170.1 grams of samples to the earth.This was no easy task，but China has made it.
（1）How long did the whole Chang'e﹣5 mission last？
A.About half a month.
B.Around 10 days.
C.Over a month.
D.More than 20 days.
（2）The underlined word "launched" in paragraph 2 means in Chinese.
A.回收
B.发射
C.发明
D.销毁
（3）Paragraph 3 mainly talks about .
A.the importance of space exploration
B.the difficulty in lunar exploration
C.the future of China's space program
D.the progress in China's moon missions
（4）In which part of a newspaper can we find the passage？
A.CULTURE.
B.TRAVEL.
C.SCIENCE.
D.SPORT.
If you feel sad or upset，remember not to watch a happy movie.A sad movie may be more suitable for you.
Some scientists at Ohio State University，the U.S.，have found that sad movies can make people happier.They published their study in a magazine called Communication Research.
Scientists asked 361 college students to watch a sad movie called Atonement.The movie tells a story of two lovers who were separated.They died during World War II at the end of the movie.The 361 college students answered questions from the scientists before，after and three times during the movie to find out their different feelings，including sadness.
According to the result of the survey，scientists found out that people felt better after watching the sad movie.Scientists believed this was because the movie made them think about their own lives and relationships.Compared to those of the unlucky lovers in the movie，their lives were full of hope.
"I want to live my life to the fullest，and this movie has made me think a lot，" one student wrote.
Silvia Knobloch﹣Westerwick，the leader of the study，explained that bad moods （情绪） would make people more thoughtful. "Good moods are generally a sign that everything is fine.You don't have to worry，and you don't have to think about problems in your life，" she said. "But bad emotions，like sadness，make you feel terrible about your situation.Therefore，seeing a sad movie may make you feel bad，but that will cause you to think more about your own close relationships and value them more."
（1）The scientists asked the college students to watch Atonement .
A.to help them make more friends
B.to make them feel better about themselves
C.to find out how they felt after watching it
D.to encourage them to share their feelings
（2）How many times did the students answer questions from the scientists？
A.Six times.
B.Five times.
C.Four times.
D.Three times.
（3）What does the underlined word "those" in paragraph 4 refer to？
A.Stories.
B.Feelings.
C.Friends.
D.Lives.
（4）What is the best title for this passage？
A.Feeling Sad？Watch a Sad Movie.
B.Feeling Lonely？Find True Love.
C.Feeling Bad？See a Happy Film.
D.Feeling Down？Think about Others.
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