Benedict Allen was born in England in 1960．His dad was a pilot(飞行员)，and Benedict dreamed of travelling around the world like his dad.His dream came true—Benedict became an explorer(探险家)．But he doesn't travel the world in a plane.He finds a place he wants to explore，and then he lives with the local people．He learns important skills from them，and then uses those skills to explore the place he's visiting．He doesn't use modem things like mobile phones．and he likes to travel alone．

    Benedict's explorations are often dangerous，but he likes them．One of his favourite explorations was in 2001．He wanted to be the first person to travel alone across the ice from Siberia to Alaska．So he went to Siberia and lived with the Chukchi people．He learned how to live like the Chukchi people and drive a dog team．He travelled 622 miles with only a dog team．The weather was really bad．There was a lot of snow,wind and ice．so the journey was very difficult．Benedict almost lost the dog team，and he almost died，so he ended his journey early．It was scary,but he learned a lot．

根据材料内容简要回答下列问题。

    Now you've finished three years of English study. There's one way to demonstrate(展示)

    what you've learned－take a test!

    Do you have any special methods you use to help you do better on a test? How well you do is often a matter of how well prepared you are. Here are some ways to make sure you're at your best on test days.

    Go to bed early. The night before a test is not the time to stay up watching TV. You want to be rested and wide-awake for test day.

    Have a good breakfast. Test day isn't a morning for donuts(面包圈). Nor is it a time to starve(挨饿) yourself. Eat plenty of low-sugar, high-energy food to keep your brain and body working their best.

    Be prepared. Make sure you have two pencils and anything else you were asked to bring.

    Watch the numbers. Make sure that the number of the items(项目) on your answer sheet matches the number of the question.

    Look over all the answer choices. Don't assume(假定) that choice A is correct until you've checked the others. You may find a better one. And it is wrong to eliminate(排除) any choice that you can see at once. You'll have a better chance of finding the right answer.

    Check the clock. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to answer every question and go back and check your answers. Don't spend too much time on any difficult question. Skip（跳

    读） it and come back to it later.

    Keep up with your schoolwork all year long. That's  how you get the skills you need for taking a test.

    Gift giving is different from culture to culture and person to person.

    When giving gifts, sometimes color is important. For example, for many Chinese people around the world, red is a lucky color, and people often like to wrap gifts in this color. However, did you know that in Korea, red is a color of death? That is why you should not wrap（包装） your gifts in this color if you are giving a gift to a Korean person. What about western countries? In western countries, the color of wrapping paper is not really important. But color does matter when giving flowers, especially roses. You should not give red roses to a western person you don't know very well because they are a symbol of love. You could give yellow roses instead as these are a symbol of friendship. You could also send pink roses as gifts to say thank you.

    What other things should you remember when giving gifts to someone from a different culture? Well, one thing you should keep in mind is the person's religion(宗教). When choosing a gift for a Muslim (穆斯林) or Jewish friend, you should never get food including pork, or things made from pigskin. Another thing that you should not get for a Muslim person is alcohol (酒).

    What do you think of your Chinese? It's good or bad? If you think you are good at Chinese, you can take part in a ⑴_________. The competition is Chinese Characters Dictation Competition. ⑵ The competition has been popular among teenagers since(自从……以来) last summer.

    Today teenagers are using computers and smart phones. Many of them lose themselves in digital products such as electronic dictionaries and computers to help with their study. Overuse of these tools will make students too lazy to think and write. Some students even forget the hand writing of Chinese characters. Teachers and parents have been very worried about it. What can they do?

    Such worries ⑶_________ (bring) about the popular TV show, Chinese Characters Dictation Competition, where middle school students stand on the stage to write down Chinese characters. Over two hundred students from forty-six schools competed. 

    Chen Keyu, a Grade 8 boy beat the other competitors. Can you be the next winner?

    Why do people cry? Scientists say the body produces tears because they need them. One kind of tears is for the eye, the other is for the heart. They both work as cleaners If something else like dust(灰尘) gets into your eye, tears also come into the eye to clean it out. If you are hurt by something, your strong feelings produce some poisonous chemicals(毒素) in your body, and at the same time, tears come out with them. If these poisonous chemicals are not cleaned out of your body as soon as possible, they will do harm to the heart sooner or later.

    In the United States men have heart problems more often than women do. Doctors say heart problems have something to do with the pressures(压力) of living and working now. Perhaps men suffer more from these illnesses because they do not cry enough. They need to cry more.

    In fact, you can find many ways of reducing the pressures to keep fit. Crying is natural and physical one.

    Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." These are certainly words that millions of volunteers around the world could agree with.

    In the US, April is National Volunteer Month, to praise and thank volunteers who lend their time, talent, and support to what they care about.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} People who volunteer spend their time doing things they feel strongly about. For example, animal lovers may volunteer at an animal centre to help improve the treatment of animals.

    Volunteering allows volunteers to meet new people, try out new skills and explore career choices. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Take Andrew Makhoul, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, as an example. Andrew didn't spend his last spring break relaxing. Instead, the 19-year-old boy decided to do something for people who were less lucky than himself. He travelled to an orphanage (孤儿院) in Guatemala in Central America. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And it depends on volunteers to stay open.

    Andrew doesn't speak much Spanish, but he found communication wasn't a problem, "You communicated with love," according to an article on his university's website. And what he gave out, he got back, "{#blank#}4{#/blank#}" Andrew's first time as a volunteer only lasted a week, but by the end of that week, he knew he'd be back soon — because he saw love and hope.

    US author Sherry Anderson once wrote, "{#blank#}5{#/blank#}" And this is perhaps why volunteers all around the world keep doing what they do — their work is "priceless".
 

A. It is in one of the poorest parts of the country.

B. You could see love when you looked in their eyes.

C. Volunteering means choosing to work without being paid.

D. It's a chance for poor children to get better care and support.

E. Life will be difficult, but I have the confidence to live a happy, full life.

F. For young adults, valuable lessons may also be learned through volunteering.

G. Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless.