Black Friday

    Thanksgiving Day is always on a Thursday. The day after it has been known as Black Friday. It is the start of the holiday shopping season, and it has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the US since 2005.

    Most stores offer big sales on Black Friday. They open their doors quite early in the morning. They try to attract shoppers with big discounts（打折）. Some items（商品）like TVs and cloths are much cheaper than usual. Stores may even lose money on these items. They hope that shoppers will buy gifts for other people while they are in the store.

    Black Friday is a great time to go shopping. However, there are problems. The biggest one is that there are not enough low-priced items. Each store may only have a few. These items are in great need, so people stand in long lines to get them. They may wait for three to four hours before a store opens. They may be hoping to get a low price on a TV or computer, but not everybody can get one. Some people leave, disappointed.

The situation makes people worried. Some Black Friday events have been crazy. There have been fights over toys among shoppers. Some workers have even been hurt by large crowds. But most Black Friday events are safe and fun. Still, if you plan to go, you will expect large crowds and a bit of pushing.

Now people all over the country take part in Black Friday events. It is even spreading to other parts of the world. Stores have held Black Friday events in the UK, Australia, and Brazil since 2012. In Mexico, stores offer a weekend of discounts every year. They call it ‘El Buen Fin’, which means ‘the good weekend’ in Spanish. I guess people everywhere like to buy things on sale.

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Table manners are very different in every country. For example, when you are in England you must not lift your soup plate to your mouth. This is very impolite. But when you are in Japan this is completely normal. Lifting your plate to your mouth in Japan is a traditional way of drinking your soup. And also in Japan you don’t have to worry about making a noise when you drink it. It just shows that you really like the food! But it is not the same in Britain, so you shouldn’t make a noise when eating there.

In Britain, people don’t put their hands or arms on the table during the meal. But in Mexico, guests keep their hands on the table all the time. In fact, you should watch what your hands do very carefully. In Arab countries, it is impolite when you eat with your left hand, so don’t do it!

In all the cultures it is impolite to speak when you are eating.

In Ukraine you should not start eating first; you should wait for all the others to start eating with you. You also have to say “please” and “thank you” every time you ask for and get something. If you don’t like some food, don’t make faces and don’t say: “Yuk! I hate that!”

The best way to avoid making mistakes in other countries is to watch the host and try to do as he does.

任务一：根据短文内容回答问题

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任务二:按要求完成下列各题

Customs and habits are usually not the same in every country.

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The world is not hungry，but it's thirsty．   (1)  __ Why？Because about 97% of the water on the earth is sea water which we can't drink or water plants directly．Man can only drink and use 3% of the water comes from rivers and lakes．  (1)  ，because some of it has been polluted．

   Now more water is needed．The problem is how we can avoid a serious water shortage in the future．  (3)__    Scientists are making study in this field．Today，in most large cities water is used only once and then runs to the sea or rivers，but it can be used again．Even if every large city reuses its water，the water will still not be enough.   (2)  

   The sea seems to give us the best answer．There is a lot of water in the sea．All that need to be done is to get the salt out of the sea water．This will be expensive，but it has already been used in many parts of the world．  (3)   So you see，if we can find out a way，we'll be in no danger of drying up．

   

When someone asks you to do something you do not feel like doing, what should you do? It’s a good idea to say “no” at this time. It’s better to spend more time on some useful _(66)________ . However, you may worry others will think you impolite or__(67)________ . What should you do? Here are some tips that may help you.

It is OK to make up white lies. That doesn’t mean you are dishonest. __(68)________, it may make both you and the other person pleased and comfortable.

    When invited to a party that you do not want to take part in, you can say, “No, but thanks for the __(69)________ . That’s very kind of you.” In this way you can not only refuse (70)________ but make the person who invited you feel comfortable.

    When you don’t want to lie, just tell the _(71)________. You may say like this, “I want to spend more time on myself, __(72)________ I’ve decided to say ‘no’ to these activities.” In this way, people will see that you respect yourself, and as a result they’ll also pay you__(73)________respect.

    My last suggestion is to just do it. You may feel uncomfortable at first, but this is not the reason for_(74)________ “no”. Never make anything more complicated (复杂的) than it is.

    Feel proud of _(75)________ for being strong enough to say “no”.

66.____________67.____________ 68.____________69.____________ 70.____________

71.____________72.____________ 73.____________74.____________ 75.____________

Readingis a very good hobby for all the students. You can know much about the world with the help of all kinds of books. I’m sure everyone has a favorite subject. For example, some are ①__________ in animals, some in history, and some are interested in literature. Mine is science. I like ②___it___ because it’s fun and useful.

New York, London, Paris and other big cities are exciting places to live in. There are many good things to see and do. You can go to different kinds of museums, plays and movies. And it’s easy to get to these places by bus, taxi and subway. ① You can also buy things from all over the world.

  But there are serious(严重的) problems in big cities too. It’s expensive to live there. A kilo of potatoes may cost 2-3 euros (about 20-30 RMB) in France. With that money, we can have a good meal in a nice restaurant in China. And ② many, there, people, big, are, too, cities, in. Every year many people move to(流向) the cities to find jobs, to study at good schools and get good medical care (医学救护). So you have to wait in line when you go to many places. Living in these big cities, sometimes you may find it difficult to get a job or find a good apartment to live in. Also it is hard to keep the cities safe(安全) and clean.

My young daughter and I were flying to Miami for holiday. The plane was totally  f      73  . We couldn’t get seats together and were separated(分开) by the aisle（过道）. I asked two men if they would like to c      74    seats with us, so that we could be together. They r    75   .

At the same time, a mother w    76    three children also had the same problem as us. The mother held her baby, but her young son and his o     77   brother were separated from her. She was very concerned（担心）about the boys sitting with strangers. She was very worried, but nobody h      78    her. Suddenly a man said, “I think we can help you.” Then he and his group managed to make enough space for the f      79 .

My young daughter, however, was a       80  of not being next to a window or her mom. I told her I couldn’t do anything; we had to sit where we were. To my surprise, the man sitting next to me t        81  to me and said he really liked the seat near the aisle, so we changed seats and continued our trip h       82 .

Would that man give us his seat if the others hadn’t done so for the mom and her children? I don’t know. Perhaps k      83  is contagious（有传染性的）.

A: Summer holiday is coming. 81.______________________.

B: Yes, I’m going to my hometown.

A: 82.______________________.

B: For about a month. 83._______________________.

A: I want to travel to Hainan Island. It’s a beautiful place of interest.

B: 84._____________________. But I have to visit my grandparents in my hometown.

A: It doesn’t matter. If you stay in your hometown for a fewer days, you’ll have enough time to go traveling.

B: 85._____________________. Then I’ll go to my hometown as soon as the holiday begins.

​ My father used to work in the city and seldom stayed at home. But he would come b  86   to help harvest rice every year.

One autumn, he promised to help our neighbor, who lost his a   87     in a traffic accident in 1999 to harvest his rice. After Father harvested our own, his little rice picker broke. What’s worse, he had to return to work the next day b   88    his partner was ill in hospital. It m   89    that Father wouldn’t be back in a few days. It now seemed i   90    to help out the neighbor.

Father told us that he wouldn’t let the n   91    rice rot (糜烂) in the field. He decided to harvest it by hand w   92    a machine. “If tonight’s weather is clear, I think I can do it.” added my father. In fact, he was rather tired after a day’s harvest work.

After dinner, Father had a short rest and made his way to the field. A f   93   moon was glowing in the sky and the weather was cold but clear. He spent the whole night k   94   his word.

I would never f   95    the image：Father was cutting rice in the light of the harvest moon. Behind him, row after row of rice stocks stood at attention, showing respect for a man who kept his word.