陕西省横山县塔湾镇中学2020届九年级上学期英语第一次月考试卷

Dear Micheal,

    How's your vacation? I'm visiting my uncle in Spain. He lives in the sunny and beautiful city of Valencia, in Spain.

    Yesterday, I had great fun. My uncle1me to the tomato festival in Bunol, which is just 30 miles away from where my uncle lives. You have2never heard of this festival before. Neither had I. The tomato festival is called "La Tomatina"in Spanish. It was3and messiest tomato fight in the world. When we first got to the square where the festival took place, it was very crowded4people from all around the world, and many trucks were carrying tomatoes. My uncle told me the crowded people here5around 38,000 and this was more than four times the population of Bunol.

    The tomato fight started as soon as the first banger was beaten. Then everyone including me started throwing6at each other. I took red tomatoes and threw7at anyone that ran, moved, bent down, or turned around. Tomatoes must be squashed before people threw them in order not8anybody.

    After a little while, the streets, people and nearby buildings were splashed with red. There was no winner in this fight,9we all had fun. As soon as a second banger was beaten, people stopped throwing.

    I really had10great time, I wish you were here, too. I hope I hear from you soon.

Yours,

Linda

    Last year I did not like my English class at all. Every class was like a bad dream. The teacher spoke so1that I did not understand her most of the time. I was2to answer the teacher's questions because of my poor pronunciation. I just hid behind my textbook and never said3.

    Then one day I 4an English movie called Toy Story. I fell in love with it at once. So I began to watch other English movies, too. 5I could not understand everything the characters said, their body language and the expressions on their faces helped me to get the meaning. I also realized I could get the meaning by6for just the key words. My pronunciation improved as well by listening to the conversations in English movies. I discovered that listening to something interesting is the7to language learning. I also learned useful sentences like "It's a piece of cake" or "It serves you right." I did not understand them 8. But because I wanted to 9the story, I looked them up in a dictionary.

    Now I really10my English class. I want to learn new words and more grammar so that I can have a better understanding of English movies.

    When you are learning a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also learn how to use them. When you read a passage, it gives you a good example for writing.

    Here are some good reading tips.

    Firstly, try to read at the right level (水平). Read something that you can understand. If it is too hard for you, it is not interesting.

    Secondly, try to understand the new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, don't use a dictionary. Instead, try to guess their meanings as you read. Mark (作标记) them with a pencil. Then look them up in a dictionary when you finish reading, and write them in your own vocabulary book. Try to remember them.

    Thirdly, try to read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes or half an hour every day is better than two hours every Sunday. For example, you can read before you go to bed, or after you get up or at lunchtime.

    Lastly, read something that interests you. Choose a newspaper, a book or a magazine about a subject that you like. It will be easy enough for you to understand. There is something interesting in it.

    The Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. During the festival, Chinese people have many activities. They paste up Spring Festival couplets(春联) , greeting the New Year and saying goodbye to the old year. On the first day of the Spring Festival, people wearing new clothes. Nowadays, children get red pockets from their parents and their relatives by web chat. It is a good time for people to visit relatives and friends. More importantly, the Spring Festival is celebrated not only in China but also in other parts of the world.

    The Spring Festival was celebrated in the UK from 1980. Every new year, people also get together and have lots of activities. They sing songs, dance to music, share photos with friends or watch movies in the cinema. Additionally, the Spring Festival has become a key time for Chinese living in the US. They join in a large evening party to welcome the traditional new year. The Chinese New Year will be welcomed with three weeks of celebrations across Australia. Thousands of people come to Sydney's Chinatown. They enjoy fireworks and lion dances. The family dinner on New Year's Eve is an important tradition for Chinese whether they were born in Singapore or moved there from China. They usually hold it at home because having it in a restaurant takes away the meaning of the tradition.

    You have been working hard to learn English. Do you know foreigners are trying Chinese? According to a survey, one in four American young men would like to learn it. There will be over 150,000,000 people learning Chinese around the world in the early 2019.

    "Because of Chinas fast development, Chinese has become more useful. More and more people begin to learn it." said Scott McGinnis, a Washington language expert.

    For example, in 2010, only 30 schools in America had Chinese lessons. This year, more than 300 schools there have Chinese lessons during school days. Last year, China gave 3,000 textbooks to a school in America because they had done a good job.

    Although Chinese is becoming more and more popular, it is one of the most difficult languages to learn. Usually, an English speaker takes about 1, 320 hours to become good at Chinese. He needs only 480 hours for French, Spanish or Italian.

    Every year, the French town of Menton hosts an event called the Lemon Festival in the world. The Lemon Festival usually takes place between mid-February until March. During the festival, around 145 tons of oranges and lemons are sent into the town. Over 300 workers work together to make giant sculptures(雕塑) out of fruits.

    Menton became the first producer of lemons in 1929. The lemons are loved by the world's best cooks. In the late 19th century, a town parade was held to encourage Menton's winter tourism. Kings, princes and artists filled the great and comfortable hotels or their own fantastic houses. Because of its great success, the streets were beautifully planted with oranges and lemons in the following years. In order to develop tourism, in 1934 the Lemon Festival was officially born.

    Sleepy Menton becomes a world of color during the festival time. People find it very exciting and full of fun. The festival is enjoyed for three whole weeks. Along with a daily Lemon and Orange Exhibition, parades on Sundays, fireworks on Thursday nights.

    Every year there will be a special theme for the Lemon festival. This year the theme of the Lemon Festival is: "The regions of France". Some of the events are free, but you need to buy tickets to see the parades.

Walt DisneyMickey Mouse in 1928.

More and more people their health.

Theis great. It's well worth reading.

Tim is going to gave his father a surprise.