Black Friday
Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. The day after it has been known as Black Friday. It is the start of the holiday shopping season, and it has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the US since 2005.
Most stores offer big sales on Black Friday. They open their doors quite early in the morning. They try to attract shoppers with big discounts (打折). Some items (商品)like TVs and cloths are much cheaper than usual. Stores may even lose money on these items. They hope that shoppers will buy gifts for other people while they are in the store.
Black Friday is a great time to go shopping. However, there are problem. The biggest one is that there are not enough low-priced items. Each store may only have a few. These items are in great need, so people stand in long lines to get them. They may wait three to four hours before a store opens. They may be hoping to get a low price on a TV or computer, but not everybody can get one. Some people leave, disappointed.
The situation makes people worried. Some Black Friday events have been crazy. There have been fights over toys among shoppers. Some workers have even been hurt by large crowds. But most Black Friday events are safe and fun. Still, if you plan to go, you will expect large crowds and a bit of pushing.
So where does the name “Black Friday” come from? It was first used in Philadelphia in the 1950s. The police called this day Black Friday because of the heavy traffic it caused. In the 1960s, stores tried to rename the day “Big Friday”. It did not stick. The name “Black Friday” continued to spread across the country. It seems that it is here to stay.
Now people all over the country take part in Black Friday events. It is even spreading to other parts of the world. Stores have held Black Friday events in the UK, Australia, and Brazil since 2012. In Mexico, stores offer a weekend of discounts every year. They call it “El Buen Fin”, which means “the good weekend” in Spanish. I guess people everywhere like to buy things on sale.
Is Black Friday the start of the holiday shopping season?
What is the biggest problem with Black Friday?
How long may people have to wait before a store opens?
Where was the name “Black Friday” first used in the 1950s?
Why do people like going shopping on Black Friday?
Do you have a good memory? Maybe you remember better than all of your friends. But even if you have a short-term memory, it’s better than a chimpanzee’s(黑猩猩), right? Well, you may be wrong.
Tetsuro Matszawa, a scientist from Kyoto University, Japan has showed how chimps have far better memories than humans. “We learn that chimps have great memories by doing tests,” he told The Guardian “You can do things to improve your memory.”
How do chimps have better memories than us? Scientists tested four chimps and human volunteers. They showed them five numbers on a computer screen. Chimps and human volunteers had to remember the numbers correctly. But to make it hard, the numbers disappeared(消失) after seven tenths of a second. Then they will reduce(减少) the time to two tenths of a second. While humans began to make mistake after mistake, the young chimps still did very well.
Why do they have better memories? We share 98.8 percent of our DNA with chimps. But during evolution(进化), we lost some of our shared abilities. As humans learned new skills, like language, we had to lose some of our memory skills to make room in our brains. “To get something, we had to lose something,” said the scientist.
Chimps need good memories to survive(生存). When a chimp looks up at the big tree and pick a banana, he must remember where he saw it as he fights off competition from other animals.What did the scientist’s study find?
| A．Chimps can remember all of their friends. |
| B．Chimps have better memories than humans. |
| C．Chimps do things to improve their memories. |
| D．Chimps can do many things better than humans. |
Which of the following is TRUE of the test?
| A．Five chimps and human volunteers were tested. |
| B．The numbers first disappeared after a second. |
| C．Humans made fewer mistakes than chimps. |
| D．The chimps did a better job than humans. |
During evolution, humans __________.
| A．lost 98.8 percent of their DNA shared with chimps |
| B．needed very good memories to survive |
| C．gained skills but also lost skills |
| D．learned to compete against chimps |
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How many square meters is the garden of the house for sale?
| A．509 sqm | B．428.8 sqm |
| C．312.9 sqm | D．741.7 sqm |
Where is Cherry working now?
| A．Shanghai | B．Guangzhou |
| C．Beijing | D．Pudong |
If Nick goes skiing in Beijing Snow World Ski Park，he has to pay more money on ___________ than on Tuesday.
| A．Sunday | B．Friday |
| C．Wednesday | D．Monday |
Which is the biggest country in the world? Well， look at the map and you’ll know it is Russia. Then the following are Canada， China， the USA and Brazil. Among them， China has the largest number of people， with the population(人口) reaching about 1.3 billion(十亿).Canada has the longest coastline. The total length of the coastline(海岸线总长度) is about 202 080 kilometers. It is long enough to go around the earth six times.
Which is the largest island in the world， do you know? Is that Hawaii? No， it is much smaller than the largest island in the world—Greenland. Greenland is to the northeast of Canada. 81% of its land is covered with(覆盖) ice. It is very cold there， so there are only about 56000 people living on the island.
请根据材料内容，完成表格。
| The largest country of the world |
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| The country with the largest population |
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| The total length of Canada’s coastline |
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| The largest island in the world |
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| The population of Greenland |
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Michael Jordan was born on February 17，1963 in Brooklym ，N.Y. And he graduated from North Carolina College. There are four people in his family， his wife Juanita， his sons Jeffrey and Marcus. His favorite food is seafood. His position is board and his favorite sports are golf and football except basketball.
His awards won:
Won a 1982 NCAA Named the Century’s Greatest Athlete.
Men’s Basketball Title.
Won an Olympic Gold Medal in Men’s Basketball.
Won a NBA Title 6 times.(91， 92， 93 ，96， 97， 98)
Broke a NBA play-offs scoring record by scoring 63 in 1986 versus the Boston Celtics.
Named NBA Most Valuable Player 5 times.( 88， 91， 92， 96， 98)
| A．February 17th， 1998. | B．February 17th 1963 |
| C．Brooklyn， N. Y. | D．1991 |
| A．North Carolina college. | B．Brooklyn， N. Y. |
| C．Washington. | D．New York. |
| A．In 1963. | B．In 1988. |
| C．In 1991. | D．In 1982. |
| A．Goalkeeper | B．Board |
| C．Midfielder | D．Striker |
| A．Football | B．Golf | C．Swimming | D．A and B |
Once a young man was travelling on a bike. He went a long way. At noon he felt very hungry. He wanted very much to find a restaurant to have a meal there， but he didn’t know where to find one. Just then an old woman was coming. “Maybe she knows，”he thought. So he came up to her and asked， “Hey， where is the nearest restaurant?”
“Sorry， I don’t know， young man.”
The young man was just going away when he heard the woman’s words， “Oh， yes， young man， you’ve just dropped something.”
The young man turned backed and asked， “What have I dropped something?”
“You’ve dropped your manners（礼貌）.”
| A．on foot | B．by plane |
| C．on a train | D．by bike |
| A．felt very thirsty | B．felt very hungry |
| C．didn’t want to walk on | D．wanted to turn back |
| A．have a rest | B．see an old woman |
| C．find something to eat | D．listen to the radio |
| A．give him something to eat |
| B．show him the way to the nearest restaurant |
| C．give him something to drink |
| D．have lunch with him |
| A．the young man was not polite |
| B．she didn’t feel hungry |
| C．she didn’t understand what the young man said |
| D．she was a stranger there， too. |
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