浙江省宁波市奉化区2019-2020学年八年级下学期英语期末抽测卷

    It was raining as my sister Jill and I ran out of the Church. We were eager (渴望) to get home and play with the 1 that Santa Claus had left for us. Across the street from the church was a gas station. It was 2 because workers went home for Christmas, but I noticed a family standing outside the door to keep dry. I 3 why they were there but then forgot about them as I had to keep up with Jill.

    When we got home, there was 4 time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our Christmas 5. While we drove down the highway through town,

    I noticed that the family was still there, standing outside the closed gas station. I saw that there were 6 of them: the parents and three children-—two girls and a small boy. My father rolled down his window and asked the man, "Are you waiting for the 7?"The man said they were. "Well, you're getting wet standing here. Why don't you all 8 the car and I'll drive you up there. "The man thought about it for a moment, and then they climbed into the car. They had9 with them, only the clothes they were wearing.

    Once they sat down, my father 10 back over his shoulder and asked the children if Santa Claus had found them yet. Three 11 faces gave him their answer. "Well, when I saw Santa this morning, he told me that he was having trouble finding you all, and he asked me 12he could leave your toys at my house. We'll first go and get them before I take you to the bus stop. "All at one, the three children's faces 13 up, laughing and chattering.

    When we got out of the car at our house, the three children ran 14 the front door and straight to the toys that were under our Christmas tree. When leaving, my father invited them to join us for dinner, but the parents refused.

    All this happened a long time ago, but the 15 of it remains clear. That was the Christmas when my sisters and I learned the joy of making others happy.

    Have you ever heard someone use the phrase "once in a blue moon"? People use this expression to describe something that they do not do very often. For example, someone might say that he tries not to eat sweets because they are unhealthy, but will eat chocolate "once in a blue moon". Or someone who does not usually like to go to the beach might say "I visit the shore once in a blue moon. "While many people use this phrase, not everyone knows the meaning behind it.

    The first thing to know is that the moon itself is never really blue. This is just an expression. In fact, the phrase "blue moon" has to do with the shape of the moon, not the color.

    As the moon travels around the earth, it appears to change shapes. We call certain names with certain shapes of the moon. For example, when we can see a small part of the moon, it is called a crescent moon. A crescent is a shape that looks like the tip (尖端) of a fingernail (指甲), When we cannot see the moon at all it is called a new moon. When we can see the whole moon, it is called a full moon Usually, there is only one full moon every month. Sometimes, however, there will be two full moons in one month. When this happens, the second fill moon is called a "blue moon".

    Over the next 20 years, there will only be 15 blue moons. As you can see, a blue moon is a very rare (稀有的)event. This fact has ked people to use the expression "once in a blue moon" to describe other very rare events in their lives.

    "BANG!" the door caused an echo. It was just standing there, with father standing on one side, and I on the other side.

    We were both in great anger. "Never set foot in this house again!" shouted father. With tears in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street. The street lights were shining, causing rather sad feeling. I wandered aimlessly.

    A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me. I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and comfortable.

    But now…I don't know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old. We differ in our ways of thinking. He always puts his opinions on me. Whenever he does something wrong, he never accepts it. We are just like two people coming from two different worlds. It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened.

    I wandered the streets, without knowing where to go in mind. My heart was frozen on this hot summer night. As I walked on, there were fewer and fewer people on the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company. When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived, I saw that the light was still on.

    I thought to myself, "Is father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?"

    In fact it was nothing. Perhaps, dad was throwing away some of his old stamps. Perhaps he thought they were useless. I never told him that I liked collecting stamps. I couldn't stand his outrageous words, "I can throw you away, let alone these old stamps."

    All the lights were off except father's. Dad was always like this. Maybe he didn't know how to express himself. After an argument he has the habit of creeping up in my sleep and hugging me.

    The light was sill on. "Am I wrong?" I whispered, maybe. . With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been. At last, I decided to open the door. As soon as I opened the door, tears ran down my cheeks. It suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all. Love— it's second to none.

    All of us know that smoking does harm to our health. But do you think everything will be OK as long as you stop smoking?

    Unluckily, the answer is NO.

    New research has found that even if you give up smoking, the damage (损害) it has done to your genes (基因) will stay there for a much longer time. In the research, a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16, 000 people. Among them, some were smokers, some used to smoke, and the rest were non-smokers. Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7, 000 genes of smokers had changed—a number that is one-third of known human genes.

    According to NBC News, both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes. Some people might have had the changes when they were born, but most people get them in their daily lives while doing things like smoking.

    When you stop smoking, a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years. This means your body is trying to heal (治愈) itself which smoking brings. But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer, they can stay for as long as 30 years. It's almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement (水泥) —it will always be there, even when you've walked away and when the cement becomes dry.

    Although the study results may make people unhappy, there is a bright side:  the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer risks.