Dear All，
Happy New Year! A list of important dates for this term is attached to this letter．
Interviews for our April and September Primary One classes will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday，18th&19th January．Now is the time to apply for admission to Peak School．
Children are expected to weal their uniforms this term．As is usual at this time of the year，mornings at the school are quite cold and l would suggest children wear their sweaters to school．As the temperature goes up during the day，children tend to take off their outer clothes，so it is important that all sweatshirts are labeled(貼有標(biāo)簽)．
I have received a few requests from parents asking if their children can wear summer uniforms this term．I am of the view that all children in the school should follow the school policy and be dressed in the appropriate uniforms．In the longer term，a number of US at school have questioned the need to have a winter and summer uniform．Perhaps．with careful consideration，we can develop a uniform that will serve children for the whole academic year．
As the foggy(多霧)mornings start to appear，a number of parents have raised concerns over the safety of those children who walk to school．  Our dark green uniforms are not particularly visible to motorists．Hopefully, the “Uniform Committee” to be set up this term will deal with this particular issue．I will keep parents informed of the channels through which views may be expressed in future newsletters．
We still have a “No Hat，No Play” rule on the playground，so children need to ensure that they have their sunhats in school at all times．
Yours sincerely，
P D Tunesi
Principal
小題1:The letter was most probably written      ．

A．when the school year ended

B．before the new term started

C．a(chǎn)fter kids were admitted to school

D．a(chǎn)fter kids were interviewed

小題2:This letter was mainly written to      ．

A．teachers

B．visitors

C．students

D．parents

小題3:What do we know about the present school uniforms?

A．The school has solved the problems．

B．They are invisible to motorists on foggy days．

C．The school is considering changing them．

D．There is a winter and summer school uniform．

小題4:We can infer from the text that      ．

A．the school has strict rules on uniforms

B．kids can’t have classes without wearing hats

C．parents are satisfied with the uniforms

D．most kids walk to school on foggy mornings

That “Monday morning feeling” could be a crushing pain in the chest which leaves you sweating and gasping for breath. Recent research from Germany and Italy shows that heart attacks are more common on Monday mornings and doctors blame the stress of returning to work after the weekend break.
The risk of having a heart attack on any given day should be one in seven, but a six-year study helped by researchers at the Free University of Berlin of more than 2,600 Germans showed that the average person had a 20 percent higher chance of having a heart attack on a Monday than on any other day.
Working Germans are particularly not protected against attack, with a 33 percent higher risk at the beginning of the working week. Non-workers, by comparison, appear to be no more at risk on a Monday than any other day.
A study of 11,000 Italians proved 8 am on a Monday morning as the most stressful time for the heart, and both studies showed that Sunday is the least stressful day, with fewer heart attacks in both countries.
The findings could lead to a better understanding of what is the immediate cause of heart attacks, according to Dr Stefan Willich of the Free University. “We know a lot about long-term risk factors such as smoking and cholesterol（膽固醇）but we don’t know what actually causes heart attacks, so we can’t give clear advice on how to prevent them,” he said.
Monday mornings have a double helping of stress for the working body as it makes a rapid change from sleep to activity, and from the relaxing weekend to the pressures of work.
“When people get up, their blood pressure and heart rate go up and there are hormonal（內(nèi)分泌）changes in their bodies,” Willich explained. “All these things can have an unfavourable effect in the blood system and increase the risk of a clot（血凝塊）in the arteries（動脈）which will cause a heart attack.”
“When people return to work after a weekend off, the pace of their life changes. They have a higher workload, more stress, more anger and more physical activity,” said Willich.
小題1:．Monday morning feeling, as this passage shows,         .

A．is not so serious as people thought

B．is harmful to working people in Germany and Italy

C．is the first killer in Germany and Italy.

D．is created by researchers in Germany and Italy

小題2:．To protect people from suffering from heart attack, doctors have paid much attention to     .     

A．people’s working time	B．people’s living place
C．people’s diet and lifestyle	D．people’s nationalities

小題3:．It can be learned from this passage that heart attack has nothing to do with     .

A．blood pressure

B．heart rate

C．hormonal changes

D．blood group

小題4:．If the researchers give us some advice to avoid Monday morning feeling, what might it be?

A．Stop working on Monday	B．Create a pleasant working environment
C．Get up late on Monday morning	D．Go to work with a doctor

小題5:.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The risk of having heart attacks on Monday mornings is the same as on any other day of the week to non-workers

B．33% of the Germans have heart diseases, therefore heart attacks are more common in Germany than in any other country.

C．20%of the Italians appear to have higher possibility of having heart attacks.

D．Non-smokers are more likely to have heart attacks on Sundays.

Trees should only be pruned (修剪) when there is a good and clear reason for doing so and , the number of such reasons is small. Pruning involves the cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches, and the inexperienced gardener can be encouraged by the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way.
First, pruning may be done to make sure that trees have desired shape or size. The object may be to get a tree of the right height, and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches, which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape. Secondly, pruning may be done to make the tree healthier. You may cut out diseased or dead wood, or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus cause wounds. The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the center and so preventing the free movement of air.
One result of pruning is that an open wound is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for disease , but it is a wound that will heal (愈合). Often there is a race between the healing and the disease as to whether the tree will live or die, so that there is a period when the tree is at risk. It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce that risk of death as far as possible. It is important to make the area, which has been pruned, smooth and clean, for healing will be slowed down by roughness. You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hours and then paint it with one of the materials available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose. Pruning is usually done in winter , for then you can see the shape of the tree clearly without interference (妨礙) from the leaves and also it is very unlikely that the cuts you make will bleed. If this does happen, it is, of course, impossible to paint them properly .
小題1:．Why should pruning be done?

A．To make the tree grow taller.	B．To improve the shape of the tree.
C．to get rid of the small ranches .	D．To make the small branches thicker.

小題2:．Trees become unhealthy if the gardener__________.

A．giving a tree a special shape and a definite height

B．removing small side branches and making a tree look less thick

C．a(chǎn)llowing too many branches to grow in the middle

D．having a tree surrounded by many other trees

小題3:．Why is a special material painted on the tree?

A．To help a wound to dry.	B．to cover a rough surface.
C．To make a wound smooth.	D．To prevent disease entering a wound.

小題4:．A good gardener prunes a tree _________ .

A．several times throughout the year	B．a(chǎn)s quickly as possible
C．occasionally when necessary	D．regularly every winter

小題5:．What was the author’s purpose when writing this passage?

A．To discuss different methods of pruning.

B．To introduce some common knowledge of pruning.

C．To explain how trees develop disease.

D．To give practical instruction for pruning a tree.

For better or worse, multiple marriages aren't just for actress Elizabeth Taylor （famous for her eight marriages） anymore．
More Americans than ever are tying the knot for the third time or more．
Lynn Y. Naugle, a 53-yeap-old family therapist in New Orleans, says that people's personal needs and desires simply change as their life evolves．
"What functions well in the first part of our lives may not function well in the second or third part of our lives," she explains．The first marriage lasted 21 years, her second marriage five years．Two years ago, she wed for a third time, and she describes this union as an "extremely easy marriage"．
Today, at an estimated one of seven weddings, the bride, the groom or both are making that trip down the aisle for at least the third time．That's twice as many as a generation ago, according to the US National Centre for Health Statistics．
In part, the sudden change in multiple marriages is a side effect of the 1970s divorce increase that has supplied an ever expanding pool of divorced singles．Even the simple fact that people are living longer has opened the door to marrying more often．No fault divorce laws （meaning no one is blamed for the failure of the marriage）, and cultural changes have also meant there's less pressure than in past generations to stay in a joyless or abusive marriage．
While a single divorce didn't block either Ronald Reagan or Bob Dole from seeking the most highly demanding job in America—the US presidency—modern society still raises an; eyebrow at more than one
marriage mistake．
Indeed, there are signs that attitudes are changing．"It's coming out of the closet or becoming more accepted," says Glenda Riley, who wrote a book on the history of divorce in the US．"There's still embarrassment on the personal level, while there is growing acceptance on the public level for three or more marriages in a lifetime．"
There is no guarantee, of course, that the third time is the best．To the contrary, second and third marriages run an equal or greater risk of divorce than first marriages, which today are given 4 out of 10 odds of failing, and they tend to end more quickly．Divorce statistics show that failed second marriages typically end two years sooner than first marriages, lasting six years on average rather than eight．That leaves some doubly divorced people open for a third try at a relatively young age．
小題1:What does the underlined phrase "tying the knot" （Para．2） mean?

A．Getting married．	B．Getting engaged．
C．Having babies．	D．Attending funerals,

小題2:What is NOT the reason for the increase in multiple marriages according to the passage?

A．People are healthier and enjoy a longer life than ever before．

B．Many people have become single after a divorce boom in the past years．

C．There is no divorce law restricting people to getting divorced．

D．People have less pressure to leave a joyless marriage．

小題3:What can we learn from the seventh paragraph?

A．Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole failed in seeking the job （the US presidency） because they were divorced．

B．Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole succeeded in seeking the job （the US presidency） because they were not divorced．

C．Modern society accepts multiple marriages completely．

D．There is still prejudice against multiple marriages in modern society．

小題4:Which of the statement is WRONG?

A．Acceptance to multiple marriages is different on personal level and public level．

B．Because second marriages end sooner than first ones, people get married for the third time at a relatively young age．

C．People learn from experience so that a second or third marriage is more stable

D．The first marriage lasts eight year on average．

Butter is bad for you—so is margarine（人造黃油）．Coffee raises blood pressure, but may protect against cancer．Alcohol is okay, but only if it's wine．The confusing studies on what is safe to eat and drink are enough to make it impossible for anyone to understand what "good food" is．
Take the margarine-butter debate for example．Studies that linked fat—found mostly in animal products such as meat and butter—with cancer and heart disease sent millions rushing to buy margarine．But then another study found that people who ate a lot of margarine also had high levels of heart disease．For those who have a firm faith in science, this seems to be the end of the world．
But many doctors point out that their advice has never been conflicting．For years, and in various countries, they have recommended eating less fat．
People in western countries such as Britain and the United States get about 40 percent of their calories from fat．Doctors say this should be around 30 or even 25 percent,
"We must try to reduce total fat," said Dr．Robert Richardson of the University of Edinburgh, who has been studying the effects of fat on human health for years．
"We need to go to more such food as bread, in particular brown bread, and more fruit and vegetables．"
Fresh produce may not be so safe, either．Last month the British Government advised consumers to peel their pears before eating, while many Americans briefly avoided apples because of fears over an insect killing chemical．
But Dr．Arnold, a British scientist, said any risk of such poisoning would be outweighed by the costs of not eating plant foods．
"On balance, if you were to put both risks against each other, the advice has to be eating as much fruit and vegetable daily as possible," she said．
In general, doctors conclude, variety truly is the best policy．"The general advice is pretty much the same advice that doctors have been talking about for a long time—a varied diet, a mixture of foods and not too much of any one," Arnold said．
小題1:In which section of the magazine are you most likely to find this passage?

A．Arts and Culture	B．Entertainment
C．Nature	D．Health

小題2:The British Government advised consumers to peel their pears before eating because ________．

A．it found that there were insects on the pears

B．it wanted consumers to avoid insect, killing chemicals

C．the skin of pears was found to be bad for people's health

D．it was a bad habit not to peel them

小題3:The underlined word "outweigh" （Para. 8） means " __________．"

A．to be heavier than usual or allowed	B．to be more dangerous than
C．to be greater in value or importance than	D．to be considered less important than

小題4:What can we infer from the passage?

A．Many doctors say that their advice has never been conflicting．

B．Science provides answers to all our questions．

C．We should peel our pears before eating．

D．We should eat plant foods despite the risk of poisoning．

With eco-tourism on the rise, eco-hotels are fast becoming the darling of the travel industry. These days, however, staying at an eco-hotel doesn’t necessarily mean vacationing in a tree house in the Costa Rican jungle, although that is certainly a choice.
The majority of eco-hotels fall into one of several categories: hotels and resorts that conserve ecologically important habitats; “green” hotels that reduce, recycle, minimize waste, and protect water; sustainable hotels that harvest food from gardens on the hotel property or get part or all of their power from renewable energy; hotels that encourage community involvement such as guests taking part in trail clearing; and hotels that offer some form of environmental education to their guests.
As such, eco-hotels are a various group. Stylish urban hotels like the Willard Inter-Continental Washington focus on energy conservation whereas the Rosario Resort & Spa on Orcas Island in Washington State offers a wildly popular “green” vacation package where guests can “take a hike, clear a trail”.
No matter what you call them, eco-hotel, eco-lodge, eco-resort, or green hotel, they’re all part of the “greening” of the tourism industry.
Part of what drives this greening of the hotel industry is no doubt competition. Going green is yet another way to distinguish a hotel from the mass of other excellent hotels that consumers have to choose from. But for many hotels, it’s also part of their philosophy. With the concept of “going green” firmly rooted in consumers’ minds, eco-hotels have taken it to the next level, and whether or not money is the driving factor behind the greening of the hotel industry doesn’t matter so much as it’s good for the planet.
小題1:The underlined part in the first paragraph means _______.

A．lovers like staying at an eco-hotel when traveling

B．eco-hotels are very popular in the travel industry

C．eco-hotels are where young people love to live

D．romantic love stories often happen in eco-hotels

小題2: According to the passage, which of the following can match the idea of eco-hotel?

A．It uses renewable energy.

B．It is comfortable and fashionable.

C．It has walls of glass.

D．It is home to endangered species.

小題3: From the passage, we know the Rosario Resort & Spa is a kind of hotel that _______.

A．protects important habitats

B．harvests food from its own garden

C．has courses on the environment for its guests

D．encourages its guests to participate in its greening activities

小題4: From the last paragraph, we can learn that _______.

A．money is the driving force behind eco-hotels

B．eco-hotels have no advantages in competing for guests

C．eco-hotels teach their guests the philosophy of eco-hotels

D．the hotel industry cares more about money than the environment

小題5: People who choose to stay at eco-hotels _______.

A．love to take a hike

B．have environmental awareness

C．want to live comfortably

D．enjoy the green atmosphere

We all, at one time or another, have pretended to be a rock star, singing and dancing along to our favorite song. Most of us have done this in the privacy of our own room when we were kids and as adults, in the privacy of our homes. Me? I love to do that when I drive! I turn on the radio, find a song that I can sing along too and pretty soon my arms are in the air and I am moving along to the rhythm. Most of the time, I do this on my way to work.
　　Yes, that is true. I will be in my nice work clothes, jamming while driving or stopped at a traffic light. I get weird looks from some people and others laugh. Personally, I love to get lost in the rhythm of a song which leads me to share with you the importance of being silly!
　　The definition for the word silly, according to the dictionary is: stupid, foolish and nonsensical. I know many people do not want to look foolish. So they walk around all serious, which in all honesty, is foolish!
　　No one is perfect, I repeat: no one is perfect. I don’t care how educated, how thin, how beautiful, how simple, how frugal, how rich, and so on… No one is perfect! So why pretend to be something you are not?
Life is so short… You never know when this beautiful journey will be over, so why waste a single second on being so full of rigidity(呆板)? Here is a quote by Souza, that I think says it all and is a great recipe for life:
　　"Dance as though no one is watching you,
　　Love as though you have never been hurt before,
　　Sing as though no one can hear you,
　　Live as though heaven is on earth."
　　When we were kids, we had no idea of what limitations were and we had no care in the world so we could do things without worrying about how we appeared to others. However, as we grew up, we lost that childlike innocence.
　　So don’t lose the child that still lives within you. The next time you feel down, go turn on your favorite song, and sing and dance along like there is no tomorrow. Or watch something that makes you laugh. Laughter is the best medicine to whatever ails you and nothing is better than laughing so hard that your tummy hurts. Trust me, you will feel a whole lot better, and who doesn’t want to feel good?
小題1: According to the passage, what does the writer usually do?

A．He pretends to be a rock star.	B．He dances in his own home.
C．He sings songs while going to work.	D．He gets jammed on his way to work.

小題2:What do other people think of the writer?

A．They think that the writer is strange.	B．They look down upon the writer.
C．They believe that the writer is lonely.	D．No one is interested in the writer.

小題3: What is the writer’s opinion about the people who look very serious?

A．They are honest.	B．They are silly.
C．They are perfect.	D．They are educated.

小題4: The writer quotes Souza to show that _______.

A．life is a beautiful journey	B．life is full of rigidity
C．life is like a great recipe	D．life is to be treasured

小題5:The underlined part “the child” in the last paragraph probably refers to _______.

A．the writer	B．a(chǎn)ny child
C．the feeling of being a child	D．the time of being a child

  If you don’t want people to know too much about you, then you had better keep your fridge contents secret according to a British market research document released         Finally, a fridge filled with nothing more than a bottle of white wine and some sparkling mineral water implies an owner who is single, lives in a big city and enjoys the finer things in life．The fridge is empty because this person regularly eats in restaurants．

小題1:We can know from the first two paragraphs that _________________．

A．some researchers are fond of staring at other people’s fridges

B．people don’t want others to know about their secrets

C．the food you put in the fridge has something to do with your personality

D．there are mainly five kinds of lifestyles among British people

小題2:According to the passage, people who belong to “food faddies” ____________．

A．don’t care much about money when buying things

B．will try their best to stay healthy

C．often stay up late to finish their job

D．prefer to ask others about what to do next

小題3:What will those who often dine out put in the fridge?

A．All kinds of food they like．	B．Food rich in vitamins．
C．Fruit, vegetables and meat．	D．Only something to drink

小題4:What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A．Keep your fridge a secret	B．You are what’s in your fridge
C．What to put in the fridge?	D．Be careful about your fridge

Announcers on China Central Television (CCTV) will need to do some fast talking to replace the popular English acronyms(首字母縮略詞) they’re now forbidden to use. Shanghai Daily reports that “anchors at China Central Television [CCTV] have been banned from saying the English acronyms NBA, CBA, GDP, and the like in their programs.”
The replacement for those handy acronyms? Chinese presenters must use the full Chinese name, standardized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
Although CCTV (oops, we mean China Central Television) presenters must already have a score of at least 94 in their government-rated oral Mandarin proficiency exam（普通話等級考試）, saying the full name of organizations like the CBA or WTO ― 10 and 6 character’s long separately ― is sure to challenge even the most skillful anchors. CCTV sports anchor Sun Zhengping tells Shanghai Daily, “A full Chinese explanation of the English acronyms must be followed if my tongue slips. It is a little trouble but a necessary one because not every audience member can understand the acronyms.”
Although the government isn’t giving any official explanation for the shift, it is believed to have to do with a proposal (提案) by Huang Youyi, director of the China International Publishing Group, at March’s NPC meeting. In his speech, Huang said, “With more and more publications mixing Chinese with English, measures and regulations should be adopted to avoid English invading Chinese. If we don’t pay attention and don’t take measures to stop the expansion of mixing Chinese with English, Chinese won’t be a pure language in a couple of years.”
Although China is far from the first country to take measures to protect local languages (the French and Québécois beat them to it by a long way), acronyms are more about saving time than they are about corrupting a language, we would think. Good luck to the CCTV anchors. 
1. CCTV anchors have to “do some fast talking” because they can no longer ______.

A．speak as slowly as they like	B．mix English into Chinese
C．use shortened Chinese expressions	D．have so much time for their program

Two worlds come together
Imagine landing in a foreign country where you cannot speak the language, understand the culture and don’t know anybody. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friend who could help you out?
John Smith, an English explorer who landed in America in 1607, found the best friend ever. She was a Native American named Pocahontas (1595-1617). And she did more than teach Smith the language: she saved his life, twice.   
Smith was captured(捕獲) by members of Pocahontas’s tribe (部落) and was going to be killed. But for some reason, the Chief’s daughter, Pocahontas, felt sorry for Smith (who was probably the first white man she had ever seen) and threw her body over his to protect him. Smith returned safely to the small village he was living in.
During the winter the English settlers did not know how to get food from nature. Pocahontas often brought food for Smith and his friends.
A year later Pocahontas’s father tried to kill Smith again because the Native Americans were very scared the English would try to take over their land. Pocahontas warned him and he was able to escape.
Later she became a Christian and eventually married an Englishman named John Rolfe.
She spent the last year of her life in London.
Pocahontas has become an American legend. Her life story has been re-created in many books and films, including Disney’s 1995 film, Pocahontas.
One of the reasons she is so popular is that many Europeans look at Pocahontas as an excellent example of how a minority can adjust into the majority. Pocahontas is also respected because of her selfless love. She proved that people can be kind and loving even to people of a different race or culture. John Smith was very different from Pocahontas but she could see he was a good man and that was all that mattered. No race or country owns goodness, love and loyalty.
小題1: What difficulties might early European settlers meet in America EXCEPT ________?

A．the fierce conflict with Native Americans	B．bad-tempered natives who enjoyed killing
C．unfamiliarity with a foreign land	D．lack of food in winter

小題2: Pocahontas saved John Smith twice because ______.

A．he was the first white man she had ever seen in her life

B．she wanted to become a Christian and marry an Englishman

C．she believed in general kindness even to people of a different race

D．she was on the settlers’ side and against her cruel father

小題3: According to the text, Europeans think Pocahontas _____.

A．was brave to break away from her own tribe

B．set a good example for other natives to accept the white settlers

C．was a selfless Christian who can love her enemy

D．was open to a more advanced culture

小題4: What can we infer from the passage?

A．The battles between early settlers and Native Americans resulted from their fighting for land.

B．The Europeans think the early settlers should have learned to adjust to the local cultures.

C．The creation of America is based on the settlers’ victory over the Native Americans.

D．People from different cultures can never really get along well with each other.