I am writing to my parents from the centre of Australia . At the moment , we are staying near Ayers Rock .On the first day , we took a plane tour over the rock , and I was surprised at how big it was : 3.6 kilometres long and 348 metres high! During different periods of the day , the colours of the rock turn dark blue , purple , yellow and red .

  The Australians have a close relationship with the British . Many have British relatives , and they are like us in many ways . The foods that Australians like most are ham and beef with lots of salad . They also grow grapes and other fruits .They love all sports.( A)But the game that they like most is Australian football . Because most Australians live near the coast , they also love going to the beach for swimming and surfing or just lying in the sun .

  (B)尽管是12月，但这里是夏季。The sun is very bright , and near the coast the countryside is very green . There are lots of sheep in the fields and on the hills , but the middle of the country has no trees or grass , just rocks and sand ...And kangaroos!

  On the second day , we went horse riding . The horse that I rode was lazy , so I was left far behind the others . But I enjoyed the slow and relaxing ride .

  Later this evening , we are taking the plane back to Sydney and coming home . It has been a wonderful trip .

 (A)Children know that summer is probably the most fun of all seasons. However, experts（专家）say that it is also the most dangerous, especially for children aged 14 and under. In its first study of children’s safety in US, the National Safe Kids Campaign (NSKC) found that nearly half of the injury-related (与受伤相关的) deaths among children happen in summer.

Experts are also surprised by the study’s result. (B)They know summer is a dangerous season for children. During the summer, children are out of school and spend more time outdoors. They are more likely to get into an accident. “While we encourage（鼓励）children to be active（活跃的） and spend time outdoors, they need (C)_____(understand)the importance of safety,” said Everett Koop, an expert of the NSKC.

To help children stay safe, the NSKC started a “Make it a Safe Kids Summer” campaign (运动) during National Safe Kids Week, from May 5 to May 12. Here are some important summer safety tips from the NSKC:

 Always wear your seat belt.

○Make sure there is an adult around when you decide to go swimming.

○ (D)Wear a life jacket（救生衣）when on a boat doing water sports,

○Obey all traffic laws.

根据短文内容完成下面问题：

1 He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man.The American President Barack Obama is a true man.

Obama had a four-day visit to China. He had a very busy schedule(日程)。 But he still spent some time visiting the Forbidden City (紫禁城)and the Great Wall.

When a leader visits another country, he or she sometimes goes to the country’s most places. It’s to show respect for the local culture. For the leaders, it’s also a good time to relax during a tiring foreign trip.

Obama spent 50 minutes in theForbidden City.

He thinks theForbidden Cityis a beautiful place to visit. He said, ”I will come back with my family.”

On Wednesday, he took a quick tour of the Great Wall at Badaling. There, he enjoyed a moment of peace. 2 He had a good time there.

“It’s magic(不可思议的). It reminds（使想到） you of the steps（进程） of history,” Obama said about the Great Wall.

 (1)Having a good breakfast is important to you.You can easily understand it．By breakfast time you have not eaten anything about twelve hours．(2) Your body needsfood for morning activities(活动)．

One good breakfast should be rice or bread, an egg, milk and fruit．(3)In a cold morning a cup of hot drink is necessary．

You must get up early to have plenty of time to eat breakfast．

A good breakfast helps you to(4) smile more easily．It helps you to be more friendly and also to work better and play more happily．Your whole day will be more fun after you have enjoyed a good breakfast．

Mary is my cousin. She is only nine years old. She is in Class 2, Grade 4. She likes sports. (A) She plays baseball every day. Her math teacher is Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Brown has a daughter. Her name is Mona. She is Mary’s good friend. She is nine, too. And she likes sports, too. But she doesn’t like playing baseball. (B)She likes playing ping-pong.(C)她有九个乒乓球. She (D)____some ping-pong balls to school every day.

 Damin usually (A) sets off in the late afternoon and gets the cormorants ready for work. First, he ties a piece of grass around their necks(B)为了阻止它们吃大鱼. Then when Damin’s boat (C)_________ the right place in the river, he pushes (D)them into river. Damin uses(E) several was to attract fish. During the day, he jumps up and down on his boat. The cormorants bring the fish back to the boat. (F)The fish are then taken and thrown into a big basket by Damin. (G)______ net are required for this type of fhishing.

(A)

We are  (1)   to live in such a rich country. However,   (2)   of us usually waste some things. Wasting happens everywhere. It   (3)  to be a simple matter, but it hurts the earth a lot. Our earth is in  (4)  . As middle school students, we need to try our   (5)  to keep ourselves away from doing that.

Electricity is one thing that we waste most. Lights, TVs, radios and other things are often   (6)   on even when no one is using them. We should turn them off when we do not need them. It takes us less than a second to do it. The   (7)   thing we often waste is water. Fresh water is so valuable that we shouldn’t waste it. It is only a simple stuff of  (8)   of a tap.

(B)

I am sure everybody can do this easily if he wants to. Another big waste is food. My mother used to cook so much food that much of it was thrown away. I told her we had wasted so much food. She thought I was right and now cooks only what we can eat.

It is not right to be wasteful. I find there is a simple way of not wasting things. That is to use only what we need. Do not touch what we do not need. In this way, we can stop wasting. We only have one world, it is necessary for us to protect our homeland. Every one of us can do something to save the earth. It is also the best way to save ourselves.

(C)

Harry Potter is a set of popular books created by J.K.Rowling in Britain. The books tell us some stories about a talented wizard(魔法师)，Harry Potter. When he was eleven years old, he had an unhappy life. However, a strange letter changed everything. It said he was accepted by Hogwart’s—a magic school which was closed to the common people. All kinds of adventures happened to Harry from then on. He met Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger on his way to school. They became good friends later. Harry did well in his lessons and worked hard to play magic. Harry always had a positive（积极的）attitude when he faced the difficulties. With the help of his friends, he tried his best to beat the enemies. Finally, he came back with the world peace. Smile appeared on everyone’s face. If someone wants to know what takes place in the magical world, he will have to read the set of books by himself!

任务1：阅读短文（A），用方框中所给词的适当形式填空，使文章通顺、连贯、合理。（每空一词，每词限用一次）

Tom and Jerry

Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse are two of the most popular（A） ________characters in the world. In the short cartoons, Tom is always trying to (B)_______ Jerry, but he never has any success. Almost every cartoon (C)ends with Tom in trouble and Jerrylaughing athim. (D)The stories are full of fun and have a long history.

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera both worked for MGM in the late 1930s. Their boss told them to make funny cartoons. Together they thought of the idea of a cat and a mouse. They thought it would be funny if the mouse was clever and (E)总是使猫陷入麻烦.

The first Tom and Jerry cartoon was shown in cinemas in 1940. It was a great success. Over the next 17 years, they made many Tom and Jerry cartoons. Most of them are (F)around seven minutes long.

In total, Hanna and Barbera made 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons. The cartoons were so good that they won a number of awards. The famous cat and mouseremainpopular today, as the cartoons are still shown on television around the world.

Do you want to see animals? Well, the New Star Zoo is really a good place for you. There are many kinds of animals in the zoo. Let’s see koalas(树袋熊)first. The koalas come from Australia. They are very quiet(安静的) and clever. People like them very much. The pandas from China are cute. Many people like these black and white animals. There’s a tiger withhertwo sons in the zoo. They are from the USA. They’re quiet and interesting, but they are dangerous. The giraffes come fromAfrica. They’re beautiful. The lions are also fromAfrica. They are really dangerous, too. Many people don’t like them. They always sleep in the day. 

You can also see many other kinds of animals in the zoo. Have a good time there.

Both the British and Americans speak English. However, there are several differences between American and British English. For example, the the word they use in daily life are not the same. The British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, which Americans call the second floor. Once you go to British and America, you may notice other differences. The British usually hide their feelings. They don’t often start a talk with strangers. On the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are more active and easier to talk with.

任务1：根据首字母提示及英文释义从短文中找出单词填写在横线上