浙江省宁波市江北区2020-2021学年八年级上学期英语期中考试试卷

    There is an old tree on a dry land. The tree has so many branches and it brings a cool place for people to rest on hot days.

    One day, two young men came to this land. They were so hot and 1 that they couldn't walk on anymore, because they had walked for a long time in the hot sun.2, they found the big tree.

    They decided to 3under the tree. They slept there for a long time. When they woke up, they were 4and started to look for food. One man climbed up the tree, but it was a pity that he could see 5to eat.

    He started to say bad words to the tree. "Oh, this is just a useless tree with no 6on it!" he said angrily. The other man asked his friend to be quiet,7 his friend didn't listen to him at all. He didn't stop 8the tree all the time.

    At last, the tree couldn't 9him anymore. "How thankless you are!" he said in a sad but strong voice. "Just look back to the moment when you got here 10the hot sun! I offer you a nice and comfortable place to rest! You would die now without me!"

    A neighborhood party is a great way to have fun and know the people in your neighborhood. And it's also the best way to bring the neighborhood together.

    Before you begin to do this, you first need to decide where to have the party. The neighborhood center is a good place for a neighborhood party. If the weather is nice, people like to have the party outside. It could be in a park or on a street.

    Next, ask your friends and neighbors to help. You can ask them to tell others about the party, plan the party carefully and clean up after the party.

    Be sure to have lots of things to do during the party. Many parties have activities for kids, such as face painting. Most parties have food and drinks. The best parties are when everyone brings something to share. That's also the special part of a neighborhood party!

    If you are like me and you love drawing a lot, then I'm sure you'll love "Drawing with Mark". It is a great show and Mark is really helpful. He gives kids some tips on how to draw and often teaches kids some history about the things they draw. Kids can also learn three or four fun facts about what they are drawing.

     "Happy Tails" is about cats and dogs. Mark shows how to draw them and talks about how to look after them, too.

    In "A Day with the Dinosaurs", Mark visits the Museum of Boston and speaks to an expert to learn how the dinosaurs (恐龙) lived, what they ate and d how long they lived.

    In "Reach for the Stars", Mark is also at the Museum of Boston. He speaks to another expert about the stars. I learned how far we are from the stars. I thought that the stars were just about 100 miles from us, but they are millions of miles from us. That's really far!

    If you love drawing, you can watch this show. You can have fun with the tips Mark gives you. The tips will help you to become an artist.

    It was Saturday morning. There was no school, but Tom was still unhappy. His aunt Polly said he had to paint the fence (围栏). The fence was thirty yards long and three yards high. He hated boring work and loved to play. He also knew other boys in town would laugh at him. He didn't want to become a joke. Soon he had a wonderful idea and picked up his brush to start the work.

    A moment later, Ben came with an apple in his hand.

     "I'm going swimming," said Ben. "Do you want to come? Oh, you have to work, don't you?"

    Tom was a little angry. "Of course not. I'm enjoying myself. Does a boy get a chance to paint a fence like this every day?" Tom said and went on painting.

    Ben thought about this. He was watching Tom's every move and was getting more and more interested. After a while, he said, "Tom, will you let me do some painting?"

    "No way! You see, Aunt Polly wants it to be beautiful. I'm the only one that can do it right," Tom said.

     "Oh, please, Tom," begged (恳求) Ben. "I'll be really careful. Let me try. I'll give you half my apple in return. Wait, I'll give you all of it."

    "That's a deal," said Tom. "But you must be careful." He gave Ben his brush with worry on his face but joy in his heart. He started to eat Ben's apple.

    All day, boys came over and wanted to paint. When Ben got tired, Billy began to paint. He gave Tom his favorite kite. Then Johnny gave him twelve marbles, and so on.

    That afternoon, Tom got lots of "treasure", and the fence got three coats of paint. Aunt Polly was so happy when she saw the nice fence that she gave him a large cake!

    Last summer I went to a small town in the north. I didn't know anyone there, and I couldn't speak a word of its language. On the second day, I got on a bus.  I felt happy enough in the first three hours, and then I decided to walk back to my hotel for lunch. After walking around for half an hour, I thought I was lost. He handed me a paper. I shook my head and said the name of the street again. But he gave me another paper. Then I met a policeman and asked the way. He listened to me carefully. He said something and pointed left and right and left again. 

    About an hour later, I found there were fewer and fewer houses around. The only thing I could do was to find the nearest train station.