Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton(骨骼) in the closet (衣橱)?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother thought for a while. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”
“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was brought to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors（祖先） arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.
After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and from time to time she looked angrily at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank in a faint(晕倒), waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I wanted to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I said something about skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the closet” means ________.
| A．a family honor | B．a family secret |
| C．a family story | D．a family treasure |
Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?
| A．She was curious about it. |
| B．She planned to keep it for fun. |
| C．She needed it for her school task. |
| D．She wanted to scare her parents. |
Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ________.
| A．they realized their misunderstanding |
| B．they were crazy |
| C．they were over excited |
| D．they both thought they had won the quarrel |
请阅读下面关于宠物的材料，给A—E选择恰当的标题。
A. Many people like animals and take them as their pets. Pet hospitals are very busy. Kind persons who love animals are needed to work in busy animal hospitals. They will teach you the job.
B. Scientists think that pets will probably be much smaller, because people in the future will be living in much smaller spaces. Scientists are already working on making very small farm animals. The same things might be done to make smaller cats and dogs.
C. might have to start turning wild（野生的）animals into pets. This might be the only way to save them from dying out.
D. What about a robot（机器人）for a pet? This may sound silly, but it could become true. Robot dogs have been made to get things, to bark like real dogs. These “pets” might become more and more popular in the future. After all, robots don’t lose hair or eat things the way real pets do.
E. Lots of people miss their pets while they are on holiday. One hotel in Minnesota has solved this problem. They lend cats to their guests. Many experts（专家）believe this idea will become more and more popular. It is very possible that in the future you will be able to have a pet while in a hotel.Pet Hotels.
Smaller Pets.
Robots for Pets.
A Panther for Pet.
People Needed in Pet Hospital.
任务型阅读
Do you like chocolate? Maybe most people do. A box of it can be a great gift. Buy one for a friend and give it as a surprise. See how happy that person gets.
Say you’ve just got a box of chocolate. Which piece would you pick first? A man has studied people’s choices(选择). He says they tell something about the person. What if you choose a round piece? You are a person who likes to go to the party. What if you choose an oval(椭圆形的)shape? (1)You are a person who likes to make things. Picking a square shape shows something else: The person is honest and truthful, and you can depend on(依靠)him or her.
(2)What kind of ________do you_______? Maybe you pick milk chocolate. This shows you have warm feelings about the past. Dark chocolate means something else. A person who chooses it looks toward the future. What about white chocolate? Would you choose it? If so, you may find it hard to make up your mind. Some people like chocolate with nuts(果仁). These are people who like to help others.
Different choices may show different characters(性格). Do you believe these ideas? Can candy tell all these things? It doesn’t really matter. There is one sure thing about eaters of chocolate. They eat it because they like it.将(1)句译成中文：_____________________________________________________________
在(2)句的空白处填入适当的词使句意完整、上下文通顺：_________ _________
回答问题：What may you like to think of if you enjoy eating milk chocolate?
_____________________________________________________________________________在文中找出与You enjoy taking part in parties.意思相近的句子：
_____________________________________________________________________________在文中找出最能表达该短文主题的句子：
_____________________________________________________________________________
As we know, there are differences between western culture and Chinese culture. We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used. Let’s look at the words about animals and plants. Most expressions in Chinese about the dog, for example, “a homeless dog”, “a mad dog”, “a running dog” and “a dog catching a mouse”, have negative(消极的)meanings. But in western countries, dogs are thought to be honest and good friends of people. In English, people use the dog to describe positive(积极的)actions. For example, “you are a lucky dog” means you are a lucky person. And “every dog has its day” means each person has good 1uck one day. To describe a person’s serious illness, they say “sick as a dog”. The word “dog-tired” means very tired. However, Chinese love cats very much. But in western culture, “cat” is often used to describe a woman who is cruel(冷酷的). There are many other examples of how “cat” is used differently as well.
The rose(玫瑰)is thought of as a symbol of love in both China and some western countries. People think the rose stands for(代表)love, peace, courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries.
The words about plants and animals are used in positive or negative ways in different cultures. We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing(比较)how some words are used. The word “dog” in Chinese usually_________.
| A．shows peace | B．stands for friendship |
| C．has a negative meaning | D．has a positive meaning |
“Every dog has its day” means “_________”.
| A．each person lives his own way of life |
| B．if one works hard, he is sure to succeed |
| C．everybody in the world is lucky |
| D．everybody has a time in 1ife to be lucky |
Western people usually use “cat” to refer to(指代) “_________.”
| A．a tired person | B．a brave man |
| C．a homeless person | D．an unkind woman |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Words show differences in different cultures. |
| B．Chinese people like dogs better than cats. |
| C．Western people think of cats to be good friends. |
| D．Rose is the national flower of all western countries. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Negative or Positive. |
| B．Different Countries Have Different Cultures. |
| C．Rose Means the Same in Chinese and English. |
| D．What Dog and Cat Mean in English. |
Sleep is very important. A person who does not sleep dies faster than a person who does not eat. We spend about a third(
)of our lives in sleep. That’s about 121 days a year!
How much sleep do we need? We are all different. A baby needs 16 hours of sleep every day. Children of 6 to 12 years of age need an average(平均)of 10 to 12 hours of sleep. Teenagers need 9 to 10 hours of sleep. An adult needs an average of 7 to 8 hours a day. There are some people who need only 3 hours of sleep; others need 10 hours of sleep. After the age of 50, the average sleep time goes down to 6.5 hours a day. We need less sleep as we get older.
About one in three Americans has a problem with sleep. Many of these people cannot fall asleep. The name for this problem is insomnia. Some people say, “I didn’t sleep all night.” But that’s not really true. They may sleep lightly and wake up several times. In the morning, they only remember the time they were awake, so they think they were awake all night.
This is not a new problem. Many famous people in history had insomnia. Some of these people had special ideas to make themselves sleep. Benjamin Franklin had four beds. He moved from one to the other to fall asleep. Mark Twain had a different way. He lay on his side across the end of the bed!How long do we spend in sleep a year?
| A．Less than three months. | B．More than five months. |
| C．About four months. | D．Less than 2000 hours. |
If you are thirteen years old, you need at least __________ hours of sleep.
| A．16 | B．12 | C．9 | D．7 |
What does the underlined word “insomnia” mean in this passage?
| A．No sleep. | B．Fast sleep. | C．Slow sleep. | D．Sleep with many dreams. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．We will die soon if we don’t sleep well. |
| B．The older we get, the less sleep we need. |
| C．We can tell a person’s age from his sleep time. |
| D．Famous people move from one bed to the other to fall asleep. |
Which would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Sleep less | B．Go to sleep |
| C．Age and sleep time | D．Famous people and sleep |
Robert lives in a small town. Five years ago, when he was nineteen, he finished middle school. He didn’t like any subjects except playing when he was at school. Of course he learned nothing and the bosses wouldn’t use a man like him. He has to stay at home, but doesn’t do any housework, only watches TV or lies on bed. It makes his parents angry. They want him to study something, he always think it difficult and doesn’t listen to them.
One day Robert was walking near a bookshop while some young men were talking about the writers. He heard the publishing house pays the writers a lot. He became interested in it. As soon as he got home, he began to write. But he couldn’t write anything. At last he bought a book and copied a story. Then he posted it to the publishing house. He waited for nearly half a year, but didn’t get any answers. He had to ask an editor on the telephone, “Have you read my story yet, sir?”
“Yes,” said the editor, “I had read it before you were born! ”__________ , so he learned nothing at school .
| A．Robert had a lot of housework to do |
| B．Robert didn’t study hard at all |
| C．Robert hoped to be a writer |
| D．Robert wasn’t clever enough |
The bosses wouldn’t use Robert because __________ .
| A．he couldn’t do anything |
| B．he likes nothing except playing |
| C．he doesn’t go to work on time |
| D．he isn’t friendly to his workmates |
His parents are angry with Robert because ________ .
| A．he wouldn’t find any work |
| B．he didn’t study hard before |
| C．he’s too lazy to do any housework |
| D．he isn’t polite to them |
Robert posted the story to the publishing house to __________ .
| A．be a famous man | B．surprise his friends |
| C．win a prize | D．get much money |
The editor didn’t answer Robert because _________ .
| A．they were very busy |
| B．the story wasn’t interesting |
| C．the story was taken from a book |
| D．the young man wasn’t famous enough |
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