Different countries and different people have different manners. We must find out their customs so that
they will not think us impolite. Here are examples of the things that a person with good education does or
does not do.
     If you visit a Chinese family, you should knock at the door first. When the door opens, you will not move
before the host says "Come in, please." After you enter the room, you would not sit down until the host asks
you to take a seat. When a cup of tea is put on a tea table before you or sent to your hand, you will say "Thank
you" and receive it with two hands, not one hand, or they will think you have ill manners. Before entering a
house in Japan, it is a good manner to take off your shoes. In European countries, even though shoes sometimes
become very dirty, this is not done. In a Malay (馬來(lái)人的) house, a visitor never finishes the food on the table.
He leaves a little to show that he has had enough. In England, a visitor always finished a drink or the food to
show that he has enjoyed it. This will make the host pleased.

1. According to the passage, people have different _______ in different countries.

A. manners
B. houses
C. families

2. It's _______ to sit down immediately after you enter the room in China.

A. important
B. polite
C. impolite

3. "ill manners" means _______ in Chinese.

A. 得體的舉止
B. 無(wú)禮的舉止
C. 文明的行為

4. Before entering the house in Japan, it is a good'manner to take off _______.

A. coats
B. gloves
C. shoes

5. Which is the best title of the passage?

A. Manners in Different Countries
B. People in Different Countries
C. Foods in Different Countries

     Can you see the five rings in the picture? The colors of them are blue, black, red, yellow and green.
The rings are a symbol of the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games in the old days were religious ( 宗教的)
activities. Greece held the first Olympic Games in the sixth century B. C. The Games lasted for one day and
there were only races. Men could be in the races. Women had no right to take part in the Olympic Games
until 1912.
     The Olympic Games were stopped in the fourth century. Then they started again in Athens in 1886. This
was the beginning of the modern Olympics. Since then, we hold the Olympic Games every four years.
     The IOC makes rules for athletes, so they all have the same chance to win. Winning in the Olympics is a
great honor. An athlete who wins at the Olympic is the best in the world."Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the
motto of the Olympics.
      Beijing will host the 29th Olympic Games on August 8th this year. We hope it will be held successfully.

1. The first Olympic Games was held in _________ in the sixth century B. C.
2. _________ were not allowed to take part in the Olympic Games until 1912.
3. The modern Olympics started in Athens in _________.
4. The athletes all have the _________ chance to win because the IOC makes rules for them.
5. The _________ of the Olympics is"Faster, Higher, Stronger".

     As we know, there are differences between western culture and Chinese culture. We can see differences
when we pay attention to the way words are used. Let's look at the words about animals and plants. Most
expressions in Chinese about the dog, for example, "a homeless dog", "a mad dog", "a running dog" and "a
dog catching a mouse", have negative (消極的) meanings. But in western countries, dogs are thought to be
honest and good friends of humans. In English, people use the dog to describe positive (積極的) actions.
For example," you are a lucky dog" means you are a lucky person. And "every dog has its day" means each
person has good luck sometimes. To describe a person's serious illness, they say "sick as a dog". The word
"dog-tired" means very tired. However, Chinese love cats very much. But in western culture, "cat" is often
used to describe a woman who is cruel (冷酷的). There are many other examples of how "cat" is used
differently as well.
     The rose is regarded as a symbol (象征) of love in both China and some western countries. People think
the rose stands for (代表) love, peace (和平), courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of
England, America and many other countries.
     The words about plants and animals are used in positive or negative ways in different cultures. We can
learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used.

1. The word "dog" in Chinese usually ______.

A. shows peace
B. stands for friendship
C. has a negative meaning
D. has a positive meaning

2. "Every dog has its day." means "______".

A. Everybody in the world is lucky.
B. Each person lives his own way of life.
C. If one works hard, he's sure to succeed.
D. Everybody has a time in life to be lucky.

3. Western people usually use "cat" to refer to (指代) "______".

A. a tired person
B. a brave man
C. a homeless person
D. an unkind woman 

4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Words show differences in culture.
B. Chinese people prefer dogs to cats.
C. Western people think cats to be good friends.
D. Rose is the national flower of all western countries.

5. What's the best title for the passage?

A. Negative or Positive
B. Different Countries Have Different Culture
C. Rose Means the Same in Chinese and English
D. What Dog and Cat Mean in Chinese and English

     Tea bag drinking is most Westerns' favorite way of drinking tea. Do you know how it came about?
     The tea bag was invented in 1908 by Thomas Sullivan, an American tea seller. He was sending out free
tea in silk (絲綢) bags for people to try. People put the bags together with the tea leaves into the cup and
added hot water. The tea tasted good, and people thought it was easy to clean the cup. They were not happy
when Sullivan started sending them loose (散的) tea again.
     Sullivan realized that he had a hot new thing in his hands, and he built a machine to pack the bags. As tea
bags became popular, they were changed from silk to gauze (薄紗) and later paper. In 1952, Lipton Tea
made the tea bag even more popular with its invention of the four-sided tea bag. Tea bags were soon a hit
in the UK, and today 85% of the tea in the UK is packed in paper bags.
     However, many people still prefer loose-leaf tea. This is because some tea companies put not very good
tea in their tea bags. But for most drinkers, tea bags are still the easy, tasty way to go.

1. Who invented the tea bag?

A. An English tea seller.
B. Chinese.
C. Lipton.
D. Thomas Sullivan.

2. The tea in silk bags was welcome because ________.

A. the tea in bags was free and very good
B. the tea tasted good and the cup was easy to wash
C. people were happy with the loose tea
D. people didn't know any better way to enjoy the tea

3. The material of the tea bags is usually ________ now.

A. silk
B. gauze
C. paper
D. plastic

4. The underlined sentence "Tea bags were soon a hit in the UK" probably means"________ in the UK".

A. Tea bags soon became popular
B. Tea bags surprised everyone very much
C. Tea bags kicked (踢) the loose-leaf tea out of the market
D. Tea bags weren't allowed to be sold

5. The reading mainly talks about ________.

A. the invention of tea
B. the way of drinking tea
C. the history of tea bags
D. people's favorite tea in the world

                                                             Back into the past…
1932 Liu Changchun (1901-1983) joined the 10th Olympic Games in Los Angeles, US. He is the first Chinese
        to attend (參加) Olympics. He took part in the 100m and 200m race.
1952 The People's Republic (共和國(guó)) of China sent its first delegation to the 15th Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
        This delegation had 40 people. But they arrived too late and missed most of the events.
1984 China's first Olympics after its return to the IOC. China sent a large delegation to the 23rd Games in Los 
        Angeles, US. Xu Haifeng won a gold medal in the 50m pistol (手槍) shooting. It was China's first Olympic
        gold medal.
1996 China got 16 gold medals in the 26th Atlanta Olympics. It was fourth on the gold medal list. Wang Junxia
        won a gold medal in the 5,000m race, and broke the world record.
2000 China got 28 gold medals in the 27th Olympics held in Sydney, Australia. This time, China was third on the
        gold medal list. Fu Mingxia won a gold medal in the platform diving.
2004 China got 32 gold medals at the 28th Olympics in Athens, Greece. It held second place on the gold medal
        list. Liu Xiang won a gold medal in the 110m hurdle (跨欄). He is the first Asian to win this event.

1. Who is the first Chinese that won an Olympic gold medal?

A. Liu Changchun
B. Xu Haifeng
C. Liu Xiang
D. Fu Mingxia

2. When was the 28th Olympics held?

A. 1984
B.1996
C. 2000
D. 2004

3. How many gold medals did China get in Sydney Olympics?

A. 16
B. 27
C. 28
D. 32

4. Where did Wang Junxia break the world record in the Olympics?

A. Los Angles
B. Atlanta
C. Sydney
D. Athens

     The New York City Marathon was started by a man named Fred Lebow. It began in 1970 as a small,
unimportant race. Only 127 people ran, and just 55 of them finished. They ran around Central Park four
times. Few people watched them run. However, over the years the marathon grew and became more popular.
     Today people come from all over the world to run in the marathon. Runners must be at least 18 years old,
but there is no age limit (限制). In fact, the oldest runner was an 89-year-old man. Recently, more than 27,000
people ran in the New York City Marathon. Large crowds cheered the runners and offered them cold drinks
and encouragement.
     The course (路線) of the marathon has changed, too. Instead of running around Central Park, the runners
go through the five districts of New York City: Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
The marathon begins at the base (基座) of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island. The runners go
across the bridge into Brooklyn. Then they go up through Queens and into the Bronx. The marathon finishes
in Central Park in Manhattan. The complete course is 26. 2 miles, and takes the best runners less than 3 hours.
     Although it has changed since 1970, the New York City Marathon is always exciting. Through the years,
many unusual events (事件) have happened during the marathon. For example, Pat Tuz and John Weilbaker
got married a few minutes before the race. Then they ran the race with their party members. Some people
run the whole marathon as a family. Other people run the race backwards.
     In the fall of 1992, Fred Lebow, the founder (創(chuàng)始人) of the New York City Marathon, slowly ran his
last race. He was very ill with cancer, but he did not want to stop running. In October 1994, Fred died.
However, the New York City , Marathon, and all its excitement, will continue for many years to come.

1. 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容完成句子(每空限填一個(gè)單詞)。

      The course of the New York City Marathon in 1970 was to ___________ ___________ the Central
Park four times.

2. 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容完成句子(每空限填一個(gè)單詞)。

      Look at the map. A runner has to go across ____________ ___________ over the river before he
completes the whole course. In October 1994, ____________ ___________ to Fred Lebow, the founder
of the New York City Marathon.

3. 把短文中畫線的句子譯成漢語(yǔ)。
    ___________________________________________________________ 

4. 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答問(wèn)題（不超過(guò)10個(gè)單詞）。
    What does the writer want us to know about the New York City Marathon from the passage? 
    ___________________________________________________________ 

     Most people can think of a sport they would love to see in the Olympics. But they often don't realize
how hard it is to add a sport to the Olympics. A sport needs to be well-organized and popular before the
Interracial Olympic Committee (IOC) will consider it. An international federation must govern (控制) the
sport by making rules and making sure athletes meet Olympic standards (標(biāo)準(zhǔn)). What's more, men from
at least 75 countries and women from at least 40 must play the sport.
     However, even meeting those conditions isn't enough. The IOC always tries to keep the member of
athletes at about 10,000 for each Olympics.Since most modern Olympics already include so many athletes,
introducing a new sport often means cutting other events.
     The country that hosts the games is allowed to suggest what new sports should be included. While new
sports are added to the Olympics,most of them will simply become events in another sports meeting. In
Beijing, open water swimming will become part of swimming, while women's steeplechase (障礙賽) will
be added to athletics.

1. How can a sport be added to the Olympics? 從短文中找出三個(gè)條件。
(1) ______________________________________________________
(2) ______________________________________________________
(3) ______________________________________________________

2.根據(jù)文章內(nèi)容，選擇適當(dāng)?shù)脑~語(yǔ)完成句子。
 ________ and ________  will become new sports in the 2008 Olympics.