ASK THE BLOG!

Post your problems on the blog and get other bloggers’ advice!

★★★★★★

My problem is my parents. They never stop going on about how I should keep my room tidy, keep my hair tidy and wear smart clothes. They even make me do the washing-up after dinner every night! None of my friends have got such tenable parents.  What should I do?

Helen, USA

★★★★★★

Hi, Helen. I think you should do what your parents ask. They’re much older than you and you should respect them. It’s their house you live in and their money you spend.

Emily, Australia

★★★★★★

Helen, why should your parents do all the housework? You should help around the house. –it’s only fair. I don’t think you should change your appearance though. Teenagers should look like teenagers.

Simon, England

1.What is Helen’s problem?

A．Her parents treat her badly.

B．She always worries about her parents.

C．Her parents don’t care about her feelings.

D．She doesn’t want to do what her parents ask.

2.In Emily’s opinion, Helen should              .

A．respect her parents                     B．give her parents money

C．leave her parents                       D．change her appearance

3.Simon suggests that Helen should           .

A．wear smart clothes                      B．help with housework

C．do all the washing-up                    D．change her appearance

What is your zodiac（生肖） animal? According to the Chinese lunar calendar（農(nóng)歷）, 12 animals mark 12 different years. It is the basis of the Chinese zodiac. Nowadays, Chinese zodiac animals have worldwide fame and are increasingly popular among western people.

The zodiac is an important part of Chinese culture. People believe that the characteristics of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. For example, people born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful and brave.

Zodiac animals also have some social functions. When people think it is not proper to ask: “How old are you”, they may change their question to “What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.

Zodiac animals are not special to China. Many countries share a similar zodiac culture with China. For example, in the Japanese Zodiac, a wild boar（野豬）takes the place of a pig and the Vietnamese（越南的）zodiac has a cat instead of a rabbit.

But have you ever wondered how these 12 animals were chosen to represent each year? According to legend, the Jade Emperor（玉皇大帝）invited all the animals to join him for Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals went to see him. As a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.

1.The characteristics of a zodiac animal may influence the _____ of every person

born in that year.

A．a(chǎn)ppearance        B．personality        C．hobby            D．education

2.“What is your zodiac animal?” is a question used to find out a person’s______.

A．a(chǎn)ge              B．name             C．job              D．weight

3.In the Japanese zodiac, we don’t see the zodiac animal：_______

A．wild boar          B．rabbit            C．dragon           D．pig

4.According to the last paragraph, we know that ____ was the first animal to arrive.

A．ox               B．rat               C．pig               D．cat

In 1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business .But he was not a good artist .So he invented a very simple camera. He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden .That was the first photo.

The next important date in the history of photography was in 1837. That year, Daguerre, another Frenchman, took a picture of his reading room .He used a new kind of camera in a different way. In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing. This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype.

Soon, other people began to use Daguerre’s way. Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world .people took picture of famous buildings, cities and mountains.

In about 1840, photography was improved .Then photographers could take pictures of people and moving things .That was not simple .The photographers had to carry a lot of films and other machines. But this did not stop them, for example, some in the United States worked so hard. Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer. He took many pictures of great people .The pictures were unusual because they were very lifelike.

Photographers also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century. Some photos were not just copies of the real world .They showed feelings like other kinds of art.

1.The first photo taken by Niepce was a picture of ________

A．his business        B．his house          C．his garden         D．his window

2.The Daguerreotype was_______.

A．a(chǎn) Frenchman                           B．a(chǎn) kind of picture

C．a(chǎn) kind of camera                        D．a(chǎn) photographer

3.If a photographer wanted to take pictures of moving things in the year of 1840, he

had to_____.

A．watch lots of films                       B．buy an expensive camera

C．stop in most cities                       D．take many films and something else.

4.This passage tells us_____________.

A．how photography was developed           B．how to show feelings in pictures

C．how to take pictures in the world           D．how to use different cameras

After spending years searching for a planet with life, scientists may have found one. In September 2010, a team of US scientists discovered a planet called Gliese 581g. It has a surface temperature neither too hot nor too cold for liquid（液態(tài)）water. Scientists think there is a chance that the planet could have life.

The planet Gliese 581g goes around a star called Gliese 581, which is about 20 light-years from Earth. That is about 194 trillion（萬(wàn)億）kilometres －500 million times farther away from us than the moon.

A spacecraft traveling at a one-tenth of the speed of light would reach Gliese 581g within about 220 years. A human can’t live that long, but robotic explorers could make the job easier. However, our fastest spacec raft don’t come anywhere near that one-tenth light-speed mark.

At present, scientists don’t know what the surface might be like on Gliese 581g. What they know is that the planet is at the right distance from its star to have liquid water. It’s also at the right distance to have an atmosphere that could protect the water if it is on the surface.

Although spacecraft won’t be getting there anytime soon, one way to look for life on Gliese 581g is to turn our radio telescopes（望遠(yuǎn)鏡）towards the planet and search for radiation（放射）. By studying the radiation, scientists would find out about the chemicals（化學(xué)物質(zhì)）around the planet and discover if Gliese 581g has an atmosphere. If it has one, studying the atmosphere would give us a good idea whether the planet has life or not. But it’ll probably be many years before we can do this properly.

People have been arguing about whether there is alien life on Gliese 581g. Any discussion about alien life is just guessing at this point, according to its discoverers.

1.What did scientists find in September 2010?

A．A planet with water.                     B．A planet similar to the earth.

C．A planet without life.                     D．A planet near the earth.

2.According to the article, Gliese 581g ________.

A．is at the right distance from its star          B．moves around the earth

C．is as far away from us as the moon           D．can be reached in about 220 years

3.Paragraph 5 is mainly about ______.

A．the possibility of living on Gliese 581g

B．the kinds of chemicals around Gliese 581g

C．the way of looking for life on Gliese 581g

D．the aim of studying the radiation on Gliese 581g

4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage above?

A．Gliese 581g, a Likely Living Planet           B．Gliese 581, a Likely Living Planet

C．Gliese 581g and Its Star                   D．Gliese 581g and Radiation

任務(wù)型閱讀 （共10小題，每小題1分，計(jì)10分，每空一詞。）

What’s the most important thing in your life? Have you thought about this question?

I began to think about it when I was just a little girl. I had a lot of friends and I loved playing with them. So I thought friendship was the most important thing in life. If I had no friends, I would be very sad.

When I got older, I thought the most important thing was music. I was crazy about music at that time. In my opinion, if I couldn’t sing or couldn’t listen to music, my life would be meaningless.

As time went by, I changed my mind again. When I was 12, I read a book that tells a beautiful story about the love between a mother and her child. I was happy to find that love was the most important thing. I thought love made my life beautiful.

Not long ago, I got a new answer to the question from another book. The writer said, “happiness is the destination for everyone.”

Soon I realized that, in fact, friendship, music, love and happiness are all very important to us. There are many important things that make our lives colourful and beautiful.

What’s the most important thing in life? I don’t have the answer yet. However, in fact, I don’t want to know. I just want to care about everything important in my life. And I believe I will be very happy if I can achieve that.

I hope everyone can find the important things in their lives, and cherish them!

根據(jù)句意和提示寫(xiě)出單詞，完成句子。

1.Going to Hainan Island for the vocation will be a good _________ (選擇).

2.It’s pleasant to visit Qindao in __________ (八月), and you can go swimming or try

some nice seafood there.

3.The teachers with ___________（幽默) are always popular at school.

4.In           (擁擠的) places like airports and railway stations, you must take care of

your things.

5.In the Forbidden City, you can see lots of colthes and            (家具) that the

emperors used in the past.

根據(jù)句子意思，用括號(hào)中所給單詞的適當(dāng)形式填空。

1.My little cousin, Jimmy, is much __________ (slim) than before.

2.Today is the old couple’s _________ (forty) wedding anniversary (紀(jì)念日).

3.How ________ (active) they are donating money to help the sick student !

4.It’s ________ (correct) that some grandparents carry school bags for students

5.Teenagers should be encouraged to make decisions by      (them).

用動(dòng)詞的適當(dāng)形式填空。

1.In class, every student in our class _________ (take) notes carefully

2.–Do you think whether the book called Harry Porter is worth ________ (read)? 

- Yes, of course.

3.- I called you yesterday afternoon, but you were out.

- Oh, I ________ (watch) a football match on the playground.

4. Can you hear the two boys _________ (argue) with each other right now?

5.The person we talked about _________ (visit) our school next week..

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容及首字母提示，填寫(xiě)所缺單詞，使短文意思完整，每空限填一詞。

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen !

Today, I am very happy to have a meeting with you.  At the meeting we will talk about the p___1.___ we have these days.  We all know the problems of dogs and the objects falling from windows are getting worse.  We have already r__2.___ lots of letters about such problems.  So it is time for us to look for possible ways to s___3.___ these problems.

Some dog-owners don’t look after their dogs w___4.__ enough, and they let their dogs make mess on roads and in gardens. This makes the environment dirty.  I would like to tell the dog-owners that their b___5.___is too bad, and at the same time they are m___6.___ people feel unhappy.  We should keep the environment pleasant.

It is reported that some people throw rubbish out of windows. It is dangerous b___7.__ falling objects may hurt others.  It is also a___8.___ the law. We should put up a notice (布告、通告) to teach people not to do so.  If it is found, we will record the names and addresses of people who throw objects.  Then, a warning will be given and they will be p___9.___ by law.

A safe and comfortable living environment is important to us. If we t___10.___ our best to care for our community, it will be a good place to live in.

Thank you for your coming.

根據(jù)所給提示將下列各句譯成英語(yǔ)。（共5小題，每小題2分，計(jì)10分）

1.如果明天不下雨，我們?nèi)ス珗@吧！

_________________ the park if it _____________ tomorrow.

2.他很有耐心，可以等好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間而不生氣。

It is __________ to wait for a long time without_____________.

3.別擔(dān)心。我們可以請(qǐng)撥打110請(qǐng)求幫助。

___________. We can ____________ help.

4.不僅學(xué)生們，而且他們的老師也喜歡這部李安(Ang Lee)導(dǎo)演的電影。

___________________  likes the film____________ Ang Lee..

5.-Tom什么時(shí)候到北京的？ -他到這三天了。

-When did Tom ___________ Beijing ? - He ______________ for three days.