牛津版（深圳•广州）初中英语八年级上册期中复习（题型专练）：阅读理解

A Small Invention, Big Help

    An invention is an invention - big or small. A big invention makes us feel it all the time, such as the TV and the computer. There are also several small things around us even if we seldom pay much attention to them.

Events

Long March（长征）exhibition

    The Shanghai History Museum is putting on an exhibition to remember the Long March which began in 1934 and ended in 1936. More than 220 photos and 40 other things are on show. The exhibition is explained in Chinese. The show will end on November 20.

    Time: 10: 00 a. m. ～4: 00 p. m.

    Ticket: 8 yuan for Chinese and 15 yuan for foreigners Thai elephants

    Eight elephants from Thailand are an attraction for visitors at Changfeng Park. They attract visitors by riding bikes, playing basketball, dancing and playing a musical instrument. The elephants give three shows a day at 9: 30 a. m. 3: 30 p. m. and 8: 00 p. m. And there is an extra show at 1: 30 p. m. at weekends. The show will end on November. 15.

    Address: NO. 189 Daduhe Road

    Ticket: 30~40 yuan

    Dancing dolphins

    Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, dancing to music, kissing people and doing easy Maths problems, and seals and sea lions, also performing, have made a large part of the aquarium in Peace Park. These sea animals interest children greatly.

    Time: 10: 30 a. m. 4: 00p. m. and 7: 30 p. m.

    Ticket: 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children

    Peter was a carpenter(木匠)in our village. Once I asked him to make a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I arrived home that evening, Peter was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for his work.

    My wife said to me quietly," That's his ninth cup of tea today..."Then she said loudly," It's a beautiful table, dear, isn't it? "

    "I won't decide about that until I see that bill，"I said.

    Peter laughed and gave me his bill for the work. It said:

    When I was looking at the hill, Peter said, "It's been a fine day, hasn't it?"

    "Yes, "I said, "I'm glad it is only the 10th of June."

    "Me too, "said Peter, "it'll be a bit hotter by the end of the month."

    "Yes. Hotter and more expensive. Dining tables will be 20 more expensive on June 30th, won't they, Peter?"

    Peter looked hard at me for half a minute. There was a little smile on his face. I gave his bill back to him.

    "If it isn't too much trouble, Peter," I said," please add it up again. You can forget the date. "

    I paid him 48. 50 and he was happy to get it.

Green tea is a best choice for office workers

    People who always work in places with air conditioners may face skin problems such as easily dry skin. Among all the drinks, green tea is a best choice because there are special things in green tea. Moreover, drinking some green tea can prevent computer radiation(辐射).

    Winter is the season to drink black tea

    Chinese medicine believes that different people should drink different tea based on the different characteristics and tastes of each kind of tea. Black tea can warm the stomach and quicken digestion(消化). Therefore, drinking warm black tea in the cold winter is a most suitable choice.

    Do not drink strong tea

    Strong tea may make the body far too excited and can badly affect the cardiovascular(心血管的) system as well as the nervous system. For a person who has problems with these parts, drinking overly strong tea may cause heart and blood pressure illnesses, or even make the old illnesses much worse.

    Do not drink too much tea when you are eating

    Drinking too much tea or strong tea may not be good for taking in constant elements and trace elements(常量元素和微量元素).Also, people should not drink tea with milk or other milky food.

    Nowadays children are spending too much time and money on computer games. As a result, some people even suggest that video games should be done away with. They are nothing but a great waste of time, money and energy. I totally agree with them.

    First of all, too much indulgence(沉溺)in the computer games may lead to the deterioration of children's physical health. Children desert the football ground as they all sit at home around the computers playing the football game. So they can't be physically fit and strong. Moreover, facing the computer for a long time, children easily suffer from myopia(近视).

    Secondly, computer games distract(分散) children's attention from their studies. They finish their homework in a hurry, or even copy their

classmates', in order to squeeze(挤出)time to play games.

    Therefore, video arcades(电子游戏厅)should be banned in cities and towns. Teenagers will be much better without the temptation of video games. They should be encouraged to do more meaningful and valuable things like reading, studying, and going to concerts and museums.

Below are some suggestions given by the English children posted on the website about how to help Africa. Which one do you think is the best?

I think health is the most important thing. We need to make sure that the money we give is spent wisely. The money should be spent first on clean water supplies and better health care.

— Robin, aged 16, Birmingham

I think the most important thing is to improve the education of the African countries. There is an old saying, "If you give a man a fish, you'll feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you'll feed him for a lifetime." We need to help people to help themselves, not just throw money at the problem when it appears.

— Rebecca, aged 15, Liverpool

People seem to give a lot more money to charity when there is a sudden, huge disaster (灾难) like the earthquake. It's good for people to do so, but I also think that everyone should give a small part of their salary (工资) to charity. If everyone did that, it would make a big difference.

— Mary, aged 14, Standford-on-Avon

Giving money to charity can help, but it's not the final answer. I think what these countries need is a good government.

— Bethany, aged 16, Newcastle

The best thing we can do is to send experts like engineers, doctors and teachers to help people to help themselves.

— Roberts, aged 16, Cardiff

How to fight against COVID-19(新冠病毒)? We choose some books to help you. The books were translated into 13 languages, including Japanese, French and Russian. They are convenient for readers to enjoy.

Dear editor (编辑)

I live in a beautiful city. Many visitors come to my city. There are so many colorful peacocks (孔雀) here. The peacocks mostly live on the grass land of Dong Feng Square.

They are given food freely by visitors. They usually throw food to them, and don't think about at all whether the food is right or not. Some of the peacocks became ill, some even died after eating the bad food given by the visitors. I'm sure most of the visitors who throw food to the peacocks really like the birds, but don't realize that they may be doing them harm.

The visitors should be told that what have done is very harmful to the birds, and this kind of thing must stopped from happening.

Perhaps we can build some small shops beside Dong Feng Square to sell peacock food. For us every person, it's our duty to give more love to these beautiful birds and to look after them carefully.

Yours.

Sun Yan