The Spring Festival

    The Spring Festival，Chinese New Year，is the most important festival for all of us. All family members get together on New Year's Eve to have a big meal. ①At the same time，everyone celebrates to each other. At about 12 o'clock，some parents and children light crackers. The whole sky is lighted brightly. We may watch the fireworks excitedly. How busy it is！

    On the first early morning of one year，many senior citizen get up early and they stick the reversed(倒着的) Fu or hang some couplets on the front door. Some house's windows are sticked on red paper cuttings.

    The Chinese New Year lasts fifteen days. ②所以在那十五天的时间里，我们总是挨家挨户的去探访我们的亲戚朋友。 At that time children are the happiest because they can get many red packets from their parents，grandparents，uncles， aunts and so on. The last day of the Chinese New Year is another festival. It names the Lantern Festival.

    So the Chinese New Year comes to the end.

    English words like other languages change all the time. People need new words for new ideas and inventions. Different words come into use and older words are used in a new way. Here are some ways to change.

    English words can change by borrowing words from other languages. The word “tomato” was from Mexico, and “tea” came from China. Now new words are made by joining two words together. “Weekend” and “cookbook” are examples. A latest one “brunch” comes from breakfast and lunch. Do you have brunch every day? Sometimes new words are shorter forms (形式) of the longer words. For example, the word “photo” was from “photograph” by cutting off the end of the longer words. “Plane” and “phone” were made by cutting off the front part of “airplane” and “telephone”. The names of people and products(产品)can also become new words. Our food “sandwich” was from a man called Sandwich.

    Can you find any other examples for each of these ways to make new words?

⑴～⑵题完成句子；(3)题简略回答问题；(4)题找出全文的主题句；(5)题将文中画线句子译成汉语。

    All over the world, and for many different reasons, there are millions of people who never eat meat. These people are called vegetarians(素食主义者). To people who eat meat, being a vegetarian may seem like a very strange thing. But they won't eat meat for several different reasons.

    First, vegetarians have a big health advantage. One of the major health problems in modern world is too much food, especially in the form of animal fats. Medical study suggests that animal fats, including butter, quicken the development of cholesterol (胆固醇) in the human body. Too much cholesterol seems to be part of the cause of heart disease. Most vegetarians have low level of cholesterol. Too much animal fats also seem to lead to certain kinds of cancer, and vegetarians have less these cancers than people who eat a lot of meat. Overall, studies comparing the health of vegetarians and meat-eaters show that the meat-eaters are twice as likely to die of heart disease as vegetarians are.

    Better health is one reason that people choose to become vegetarians. Another reason is religion (宗教). Eating of meat is never allowed in some religions. The largest of these is the Hindu religion, which has about.600 million believers in the world. Although not all Hindus are vegetarian, many are, and there are many believers of other religions, such as Buddhism and even some Christian religions that also do not eat meat. Many vegetarians do not eat meat simply because they do not like the taste of it. They have no religious or other reasons; they just do not like meat. Another important reason that vegetarians give for not eating meat is the health advantages that were given above. Lastly, there are many people who do not eat meat because they just do not like the idea of killing animals for food. They believe that life, all life, is valuable and that we do not have to destroy life to feed ourselves when there are other good sources of food.

    Kitty came into my life twenty years ago. When my son, Josh, and I were walking by "The Stock Exchange" store in our hometown, we saw a basket full of little cats in the window. We talked about getting a cat as a friend to our new little dogs, Asja. It was easy to choose. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}She has attractive eyes and the sweetest face.

    In her new home in the woods, Kitty spent many afternoons climbing trees and playing with the bushes. She easily made friends with Asja. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Kitty was Josh's cat. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}My love to her came as a surprise because I had never had a cat as a child. I loved to pick her up, holding her into my arms. I danced with her around the room while listening to my favorite music. Every time I took out my yoga mat, she was right under my nose, making her appearance known.

    Now Kitty is no longer here with us. The house feels very different. Many times during the day, I find myself stopping to remember if she needs to be fed, or if her water needs to be changed. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I now realize just how much a part of my life she really was.

    Kitty stayed as long as she could-twenty years, three months. And as lucky as I was to have her for so long. There will never be a time when I will not miss my Kitty girl. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. She is always in my heart.

B. They shared the basement apartment for many years.

C. Kitty was the most beautiful one among the little cats.

D. At bedtime, I remember that she is no longer there for a good night kiss.

E. However, she became more and more my cat as Josh grew into adulthood.

    When you are learning a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also learn how to use them. When you read a passage, it gives you a good example for writing.

    Here are some good reading tips.

    Firstly, try to read at the right level (水平). Read something that you can understand. If it is too hard for you, it is not interesting.

    Secondly, try to understand the new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, don't use a dictionary. Instead, try to guess their meanings as you read. Mark (作标记) them with a pencil. Then look them up in a dictionary when you finish reading, and write them in your own vocabulary book. Try to remember them.

    Thirdly, try to read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes or half an hour every day is better than two hours every Sunday. For example, you can read before you go to bed, or after you get up or at lunchtime.

    Lastly, read something that interests you. Choose a newspaper, a book or a magazine about a subject that you like. It will be easy enough for you to understand. There is something interesting in it.

    Wang Jie is a young talented writer. Her new book The Fifth Day of the Sixth Month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar (《六月初五》) has just come out.

    "I'm happy to write something every day. I have been writing all the years and will never stop," says Wang.

    Wang has lived a meaningful and rich life. Besides being a writer, Wang also has a heart of gold. She has a great love for charity work.

    "We should do our best to end poverty," says Wang.

    She has helped more than 100 children living in the poor mountain villages. She donates much money and books to them. She hopes to help them with their studies and their lives.

    "Doing good deeds, like passing on love and justice(正义) and doing charity work, can make me keep a peaceful mind. I have always been trying my best to have complete peace of mind," says Wang. With a peaceful mind, Wang can write all the way, and her peaceful mind comes from her good deeds. She is a beautiful writer with a beautiful heart.

    We will soon read another book of hers Flowers fall in Chang'an(《花落长安》). It is a thick book with about 600,000 words.