Europeans are being dug out from heavy snow after a week of very cold weather. The snowstorm is the harshest to hit Europe. Airports were shut down. And schools have been closed for a week.
Until Wednesday, at least 400 people across Europe had died because of the cold temperature. Several countries have said a state of emergency. In Ukraine, temperatures dropped as low as -33℉.
Although the situation is bad, at least one country is hoping the weather will last a little longer. In the Netherlands, the government is preparing for the country's “11 Cities Tour”. The 125-mile ice-skating marathon will be held along a network which joins 11 towns and cities together in Friesland Province.
The ice along the way must be inches thick for the event. Up to 2 million people are thought to cheer on the race's 16,000 competitors.
On Wednesday, Dutch soldiers joined in the preparations. They cleaned snow along the way. This will be the 16^th time that the event has taken place since the first race in 1909. Dutch General Hans said his soldiers were happy to lend a hand. “We want to do our bit for this national party.” he said.

阅读下面图表,从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳选项。

    There will be three kids movies in theaters. Let's know the main idea of them first.

    Dragons are not real animals, but look like a combination(结合体) of many animals such as snakes, fish and deer. They have two horns(角) and a long moustache(胡子). With fantastic powers, they fly in the sky or swim in the sea. They can make rain, too. The Chinese dragon is a symbol of strength and good luck. The emperors of ancient China loved dragons. Their clothes were covered with pictures of dragons.

    We are proud to call ourselves the “descendants(传人)of the dragon”. In Chinese, “excellent” people are often called “dragons”. A number of Chinese sayings talk about dragons, for example, “Hoping one's child will become a dragon”, which means hoping he or she will be successful.

    It is said that people born in the year of the dragon have certain characteristics(特征). They are creative, confident, brave and quick-tempered（性急的）. They are some famous “dragons” who have done excellent things, for example, the great man Deng Xiaoping, the famous businessman Li Jiacheng and the movie star Zhao Wei. They are all very successful.

    There are also some traditional festivals about dragons in China, such as Dragon Head-Raising Day and Dragon Boat Festival. We have different kinds of activities to celebrate them. These two festivals come every year, but the Year of the Dragon comes every twelve years.

    The dragon is very important in Chinese culture. As the “descendants of the dragon”, it is necessary for us to know the opinions on dragons in our culture. It can help us understand why our parents always want us to be “dragons”.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。

    The great fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days, it burnt most of the old city. Many houses were wooden and close together, so they were burnt down. One hundred thousand people lost their homes.

    The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker. But the baker, with his wife and family, got out through a window. A strong wind blew the fire from the baker's house into a small hotel next door. Then it was on fire everywhere. But that was only the beginning.

    By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometre of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire burnt many well-known buildings. Old St. Paul's and the (Guildhall were among them.

    Samuel Pepys, a famous writer, wrote about the fire: People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until they died. Birds died because of the hot air.

    The fire didn't stop until the King asked people to push down hundreds of building in the way of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became small and died out at last.

    Many lives and things were lost after the fire, but London became a better place many years later.

    Have you ever wanted to have a doll that could talk to you? In the book The Ventriloquist's Daughter, a girl named Liur gets a doll like this. But it doesn't turn out to be as fun as she thought

    Lin Man-Chiu, an author from Taiwan, wrote the book. British translator Helen Wang translated it into English. The book tells a touching story about Liur and her father.

    Liur loses her mother at a young age. Her grandfather sends her father to a medical school in the US. Five years later, he comes back with a doll named Carola, as he once promised he would. This doll is quite unusual—it can talk! However, Carola makes a lot of problems for the family.

    After reading this book, I thought Liur and her father were just unlucky. In fact, this story is based on the author's own unhappy childhood. She had six sisters. Still, her grandfather wanted a grandson. Her father was under heavy pressure and didn't live with her and her sisters for a very long time. The author didn't like her father when she was young. But now she has forgiven him. The talking doll Carola stands for her father's burden （负担）.

    After I learned this, I understood the author's main message. Everyone has demons （心魔）in their lives, but we should do our best to beat them.