For British people, the home is private（私人的）place in which he or she goes to hide away from the troubles of life. It is very seldom that one would be invited to a British person’s home. It is rude to knock on a person’s door if you are not invited. If you are invited, don’t ask to see more than the downstairs that your British host （主人）invites you into. Never ask how much the house or anything about the cost.

      To the American, most of them want their home to be a place where they can entertain (款待) and share their lives with their friends. They may be glad to give you a full tour of their houses. They may also be pleased when you show your interest and pleasure in their houses.

       Both British and American people will engage in quite a lot of talk and a drink or two before the meal is served. After the first mouthful, you should say how delicious the food is and ask something about it. Remember, never eat with your mouth open and make very little noise while eating. It would be nice of you to help your host in any way. Maybe offer to pour some drinks or clear up after the meal.

Can plants eat people? Probably not, but there are many plants that eat meat. Some of them are big, and they can eat small animals. One famous meat-eating plant is the Venus flytrap (捕蝇草).

The Venus flytrap is a very strange plant. It grows in dry parts of the United States. Its leaves are like the pages of a book. They can open and close very quickly. Inside the leaves, there are three small hairs. If a fly touches one of the hairs, the leaves closes quickly. The fly cannot get out. In about half an hour, the leaves press the fly until it is dead. Then, the plant covers the fly. Slowly, the plant eats the fly.

Why do plants do it? Most plants get what they need from the sun, the air, and the ground. In some places, the ground is very poor. It doesn’t have all these important things, especially nitrogen (氮). So some plants eat meat to get what they need. Let’s hope that some of the bigger plants don’t get the same idea!

    There was once a king who had a great palace with a wonderful garden. In the garden, there lived all kinds of animals. All of them enjoyed living there. There was only one thing in the garden that the king hated: an old tree in the center of the garden. It was so old and dry. This made the king so angry that he finally asked some people to cut it down and turned the place into a swimming pool. However, after the tree was cut down, the animals left the garden. Without the animals, the garden was not so beautiful as before. The king was sad, but he didn’t know what had happened. A young man went to the king, and said he could explain what had happened. “This was because you cut the old tree down,” said the young man. “There were thousands of moths (飞蛾) which lived in the tree. Birds needed the moths to eat and then they produced wastes for plants to grow. The plants then attracted many other animals to your garden. So your garden became very beautiful. But as you cut the tree down, the animals had to leave.

    “Excellent!” said the king, “ I’ll make you rich and you will try to make my garden beautiful

again. ”

    “I’m afraid it will take many years to finish. It will take many years for the natural balance to get back again,” said the young man. The king was sad, but all he could do was just to wait.

An artist (画家) went to a beautiful village of the country for a holiday and stayed with a farmer. Every day he went out with his paints and brushes (颜料和画笔) and painted till evening. When it got dark he went back to the farm and had a good dinner before he went to bed.

At the end of his holiday he wanted to pay the farmer, but the farmer said, “No, I don’t want money. But give me one of your pictures. What’s money? In a week, it will all be finished, but your picture will still be here.”

The artists was very happy and thanked the farmer for saying such kind things about his pictures. The farmer smiled and answered, “It’s not that. My son is a student in London. He wants to become an artist. When he comes home next month, I’ll show him your picture, and he will not want to be an artist any more, I think.”

It is said that all dreams serve a purpose. While there is no agreement among scientists about why we dream, there are many ideas about the different kinds of dreams we have.

One common kind of dream is the repeating dream, in which the same story is repeated again and again, often for many months or even years. Some believe these are a sign people have a problem in their life and once that problem is gone then the dream will stop. Others think they are a way to help people remember something very important.

Another well-known kind of dream is the nightmare. The pictures and stories in such dreams make people very afraid and dreamers usually remember them far more clearly than normal dreams. The cause of such dreams may be seeing something terrifying such as a car accident or some deadly snakes. Others think such dreams may be trying to make a person pay attention to something that is dangerous in their life.

Daydreams happen during wake-time when we forget where we are or what we are doing and find ourselves in a made-up story or unreal world. We often daydream when we are doing something that is not interesting or exciting. They help us think about our future.

Lucid (神志清醒的) dreams are the most fun. These happen when dreamers suddenly understand that they are dreaming. Instead of waking up, they stay in the dream and are able to control what happens in the dream as if (好像) they are making a movie.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。

Many children think mobile phones are cool. They come in fun colors and you can talk with a friend anytime and anywhere. In the USA, more than 90 million people use mobile phones. Many of those people are children. For children, mobile phones are more than phone calls. They are fashionable.
       Most mobile phone users(使用者) don’t think about the health problems caused by mobile phones. Some scientists say that mobile phones give off radiation(辐射) that might be bad for users. One recent study shows that mobile phone radiation might raise a person’s chance of getting some kinds of cancer（癌症）. Other scientists say mobile phones are not bad for people’s health.

Scientists say that people can protect themselves from mobile phone radiation. One way is to use an earphone, or people can make shorter calls.

In the USA, who thinks mobile phones are more than phone calls?

Which of the following sentences is true?

Many of the mobile phone users in America are _____.

The underlined word “give off” in the passage means “________”.

To protect themselves from mobile phone radiation, people can ________________.

We spoke to three students from around the world about different national holidays. There are different customs for each festival.

Tan Xiaodong, 15, Hong Kong, China

“It’ll soon be Chinese New Year. Before it, we’ll clean the house and decorate（装饰）it for good luck. Every shop is going to close for a few days and we’ll go out a lot to celebrate in the streets. We might go and see the lion and dragon dances in the city center. I love this festival.”

Wendy, 16, Sydney, Australia

“Australia Day is on 26th January and it’s an important holiday here. We always have a Monday off, so we celebrate for three days. My parents and I go to the countryside for a picnic and friends always come over. Many people go to beach parties or street parties and there are lots of music and dancing. What fun!”

Amy, 14, New York, USA

“The first Thanksgiving Day was hundreds of years ago when Europeans who came to America thanked God for his help. It’s still a very important day for families to be together. This year we’re going to visit my grandparents and we’ll eat a delicious meal of turkey. Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November every year.”

Zhao Hua is a student from a university. He has led a group of university student volunteers since last year. They help children at a primary school with their studies and daily lives.

“When I was a small child,” Zhao said, “I knew March 5th was a day for people to learn from Lei Feng and help others, but I didnˈt know the real meaning of the spirit of Lei Feng. Now when I see the smiling faces of the kids I have helped, I deeply understand Lei Feng. Helping others makes me happy.”

Lei Feng (1940-1962) is one of the best-known soldiers in Chinese history. He lost his parents when he was very young. His neighbors brought him up. He died in an accident at the age of 22. He did many good deeds in his short life. For example, he gave his own money to the parents of another soldier, and bought a ticket for a woman he didnˈt know without telling her his name.

On March 5th, 1963, Chairman Mao called on people to “Learn from Lei Feng” and made the day “Lei Feng Day”.

Today almost 50 years has passed since Lei Feng’s death. Some people say that the spirit of Lei Feng is out. There have been many reports about the coldness of people towards strangers. This has made many Chinese people think deeply about themselves.

Many people think We need to promote(提倡) that spirit again. The important thing is that we must be ready to help others and make it a habit.

In different countries around the world, most children must start schooling at early ages．And they become "adults" at different ages．Being an adult means having the right to do certain things，such as getting a part﹣time job，voting（投票），getting married，or getting a driving license. It also means accepting the responsibilities that go along with these rights.        

 In many countries，sixteen or eighteen is the age when a person becomes an adult．Young men and women at this age can get a part﹣time job，and begin to receive an income of their own．They no longer have to depend on their parents for money all the time．In Canada and America，sixteen is the age when one can get a driving license；in England，it is seventeen．

There are responsibilities that go along with both of these rights．Getting a part﹣time job means that you have to pay income tax．Driving a car demands that you follow certain rules like buying car insurance．

Voting is another right that young people enjoy when they become adults．In the United States，Canada and Britain，young people have the right to vote at the age of eighteen．With this right also comes responsibility．For young people to use their right to vote wisely，they must have an understanding of the needs of society，and they must also learn how politics work．