浙江省新目标（Go for it）版初中英语九年级上学期期中模拟试卷（7）

    Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some ways. Different cultures celebrate the beginning of a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

    In Western countries, people usually celebrate New Year from midnight on December 31st to January 1st, People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal(正式的)clothes, and they may drink champagne(香槟) at midnight. During the first minute of the new year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead, But some cultures prefer to celebrate the new year by waking up early to watch the sunrise. They welcome the new year with the first light of the sunrise.

    Many cultures also do special things to get rid of(摆脱)bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes, The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh(重新). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the new year.

    Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year. One widespread Spanish tradition for good luck is to eat grapes on New Year's Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck he will have in the new year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck on New Year's Day. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck-but to get good luck for a whole year, you have to eat 365 of them!

    One Thursday afternoon, when I was in Grade 9, a new boy came into my classroom. He was short and thin. He walked up to the teacher and told her, very seriously, that he was new. His name was Christian. He sat down, took a look at me, and then looked away. I didn't think he was very nice and I was sure he wasn't the type I would like to become friends with.

    During that year, I didn't talk to him much, but he smiled at me when our eyes met, always shyly. He never ate lunch with anybody, and he never talked to anybody but me.

    But one day I joined those unkind kids who were making fun of him. We made fun of him though I thought it was wrong.

    "Haven't you got any friends?" a kid asked Christian, who had walked past us alone, head down.

    "No, he hasn't got any friends. He's too stupid and shy," I said. Then Christian looked up at me with the saddest dog eyes I had ever seen. I felt very sorry at that moment.

    That night, I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get Christian's face out of my mind. In the weeks that followed, he never met my eyes in class and never smiled at me. It was really hard for me to decide to write him a note asking him to forgive (原谅) me. But I thought I should.

    The next day in class, I wrote him a note telling him how sorry I felt. About five minutes later, I turned and saw tears in his eyes. "You will never realize what your apology (道歉) has meant to me, Jimmy," he said to me. "I hope we can become friends."

    We had lunch together that noon and we had the best talk I had ever had. Over the years at high school, we were close friends.

    When I think back, I realize that, if I had not apologized, I would never have known what a lovely person Christian was!

    Apologies can really change your life, so never miss the chance to tell somebody you are sorry.

    Do you still remember the great snacks(小吃) in your childhood? Do they remind you of your happy childhood?

    Sugar Figure(糖人)

    In the old days, you could always find people who made sugar figures at the school gate. First, the maker would take a little maltose(麦 芽糖) with a small spoon, using his hands to make a figure, such as the Monkey King， the White Dragonet, and so on. It was not expensive, only 1 yuan for one. If one child bought a sugar figure, many other children would crowd around and admire him.

    TaTa Bubble Gum(大大泡泡糖)

    Almost every kid is fond of bubble gum. They often gather together to see who gets the largest bubble. I still remember my cousin once blew a big bubble and then it broke, covering her face with gum! It was cheap. I could get 2 for 1 yuan.

    Baby Face Ice-cream

    We prefer to call it snowman ice-cream. It tastes very delicious. It was rather expensive, I remember the price was 2 yuan for each piece, which was not easy for me to buy them in those days. Each time I got one, the happiness would last for several days.

    Malt Sugar Candy

    Malt Sugar Candy is usually called Tangguar in northern China, and is offered during the days just before the Spring Festival. It's delicious but cheap, and you could get five pieces for 1 yuan. My friends and I would get together to enjoy Tangguar. What a happy time!

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    I am Li Hua.                                   

    I hope our school will consider my advice.

    Harold was very disappointed(失望的)last night. All the other students in his English class went to a party at the house of their teacher, Miss White, but Harold had never been there. He followed his teacher's map, but he made one little mistake.

    From their school, he walked along Main Street to Central Avenue(大街)and turned left. He walked to the bus stop, opposite the post office. He took the Central Avenue bus and got off at Fifth Street. He turned left and walked along Fifth Street three blocks(街区)to Park Avenue and turned right. He walked to the bus stop at the corner of Park Avenue and Sixth Street. He took Bus Number 42, but he got off at the wrong stop. He got off at River Road instead of Rolling Road. He turned left and walked on, and at last he got completely lost.

    Harold was very unhappy. He really wanted to go to the party last night, and he couldn't believe he had made such a stupid mistake!

Dear Joe,

    I wrote you the letter to tell you about what the world used to be like when I was young. Life used to be very different then. We didn't have cell phones when we wanted to talk to our friends. We didn't have e mails either, so we had to write letters.

    When we traveled from town to town, we used to walk or ride horses or take a cart(马车). Later we had buses and very few people had cars. Air travel was a luxury and we used to dream of riding on an airplane but now everyone does. It's so common.

    Food is another big difference. There weren't any supermarkets so we used to grow our own food. We would exchange some with people from other towns to buy the things we didn't have. We didn't have a refrigerator(冰箱)so we kept things cool in a special room downstairs.

    But the biggest difference is electricity. We didn't have any in our town! At night, we used to light candles when we wanted light and we burned coal(煤)or wood to keep warm. We didn't have television. In summer, we used to go swimming in the river.

    Life used to be very different, but we were happy.

Love,

Grandpa