Reading and Blank-filling

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

1

Frederic Chopin （1810—1849） was a great composer and an excellent pianist. He composed twenty-four short ___1___ （piece） for the piano called preludes （前奏）. The longest one， Prelude No.15， is better ___2___ （know） by its nickname， the “Raindrop” Prelude. How did it get its nickname？

One day in 1838， when Chopin’s lover George Sand went out ___3___ a rainstorm， Chopin became ___4___ （worry）. While he ___5___ （wait） for Sand， he wrote Prelude No.15.

When Sand came back， Chopin played the music to her. Sand thought the notes sounded like raindrops. She let Chopin listen to ___6___ raindrops falling on the roof. This made Chopin unhappy. He insisted ___7___ he never paid attention to those sounds or ___8___ （copy） them.

However， like Sand， many people hear raindrops in this prelude. Some notes repeating throughout the piece sound like raindrops. The flow of the music is like rain， too. The piece starts___9___ （soft）， but it gets louder， like rain getting ___10___ （heavy）. Then the music gets quiet and finally ends， like rain when it stops.

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————

2

A high-tech zebra crossing with flashing lights and audio warning （语音提示） ___1___ （put） into use for the ___2___ （one） time in Bishan district， Chongqing. It can also take pictures of the people ___3___ are against the traffic rules in the area.

At a busy road in front of a gate of Bishan Middle School， the crosswalk is installed （安装）___4___ （keep） the students safe when they cross the road after school.

The zebra crossing area has light strips. When people cross the street， they flash to “tell” ___5___（drive） to slow down and wait for people to go across the street. At the same time， display screens on either side of the crosswalk tell people to only cross the street when the light ___6___ （be） green.

Jiang Fei， ___7___ traffic officer in Bishan， said that the lighting system was very useful in the evening and ___8___ a rainy and foggy day.

Rong Sheng from the school’s safety department said， “In the past， our school safety guards___9___ （have） to stand in the middle of the road after school to stop the cars.”

Now the students feel ___10___ （safe） than before after the installation of the smart crosswalk.

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————3

Have you ___1___ （notice） that some people are not as healthy as before though life has improved a lot？ Nowadays some people eat more， so they are getting ___2___ （heavy） than before. This makes ___3___ easy for people to get sick. Eating unhealthy food is another problem. It will___4___ （sure） make people healthy to stay away from junk food and try to eat more ___5___ （kind） of food per day. To become healthier， people should still exercise more. Doing sports daily will make people keep ___6___ a good condition. Many people are quite busy studying and ___7___ （work） and they go to bed very late， even when they have to go to school ___8___ to work early the next morning. If such a situation ___9___ （keep） on for a long time， people will finally get sick. Doing sports is a good way to get ___10___ （relax）. It will do good to people’s health.

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————4

Do you believe a rose plant says “I want some water” or a tree shouts “My arms hurt”？ Maybe you will say this could only happen in some ___1___ （children） stories.

In fact， plants are not always ___2___ （silence）. So far， a recent study has found plants shout when they ___3___ （be） in need of water or having their stems cut. “Even in a quiet field， there are ___4___ （actual） some sounds that carry information. However， the pitch （音高） "is too high for people ___5___ （hear），” said Lilach Hadany， ___6___ professor from Tel Aviv University. The researchers used microphones to record some tomato plants and found that stressed plants send out more sounds ___7___ unstressed plants. “When ___8___ （tomato） are not stressed at all， they are very quiet，” Professor Hadany said. They also trained a machine in telling the differences between thirsty plants and cut plants. The result shows that when the causes of stress change， they shout differently. After ___9___ （record） many kinds of other plants， they found that many plants ___10___ corn， wheat and grape plants send out sounds when they are under stress， too.

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————

5

When I’m growing up， I don’t hear “I love you” ___1___ my father. If your father never says them to you when you are a child， it’ll get harder and harder for him to say those words as he ___2___ （get） older. I can’t remember when I last ___3___ （say） those words to him， either.

I decided ___4___ （make） the first move. In the next phone conversation I said， “Dad… I love you！” There was a ___5___ （silent） at the other end and Dad was ___6___ （surprise） to answer， “Well， the same back to you！”

“Dad， I know you love me; you will say ___7___ you want to say，” I cried.

Fifteen ___8___ （minute） later my mother called and asked ___9___ （nervous）， “Paul， is everything OK？” A few weeks later， my father said on the phone， “Paul， I love you.” I was at work and the tears （眼泪） were running in my eyes as I finally “heard” the love. As we both sat there in tears we knew that this special moment took our relationship to ___10___ new way.

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————

6

A good book may be among the best friends. Books play ___1___ important role in our life.

One of my favorite books is Robinson Crusoe. This book ___2___ （write） by Daniel Defoe， and it has already influenced lots of students ___3___ me. Every time I read it， I see a tall and strong image of Robinson. The whole book tells some ___4___ （story） of his adventures and courage. He is such a brave man ___5___ I love him very much. When Robinson was young， he ___6___ （dream） of sailing on the sea. Unluckily， after ___7___ （grow） up， he lived on a desert island for twenty-eight years. He met lots of difficulties， but the idea of giving up never came to his mind. He went out of the island at last because of ___8___ （he） fighting spirit. It encouraged me ___9___ （deep）. Our life cannot be lucky all the time， and only hard work can lead us to a better life. That is ___10___ （say）， “No pain， no gain.”

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————

7

Do you know anything about “The Twenty-Four Solar Terms （二十四节气）”？ It is known as the ___1___ （five） "great invention from ancient China. As the eighteenth solar term， October 23 basically marks the ___2___ （begin） of the Frost’s Descent， also called “Shuangjiang” in Chinese.

The solar term Shuangjiang means ___3___ time of year when frost starts to sweep across China. In autumn， as the weather gets cool and cold， the temperatures fall so fast ___4___ a water drop in the air becomes icy in the end， bringing deadly cold winds as well. It ___5___ （think） of as autumn’s last chapter （篇章） and the start of the following winter.

Eating orange-colored persimmons （柿子） is a traditional Chinese custom of the Frost’s Descent. The Chinese think these orange fruits not only keep out the cold， but also provide the human body ___6___ rich VC. In order to fight off ___7___ （difference） winter illnesses， people ___8___ （usual） prefer the helpful things.

Shuangjiang， as the last solar term of autumn， is an end as well as a start for Chinese people ___9___ （work） for a happier and ___10___ （health） life， surely.

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————

8

Teens and their parents talk about their problems in “Teen Talk”. Today we hear from Anna and her parents， Mr and Mrs Smith.

ANNA， “Whenever I do my homework， I like to play songs. This causes problems between me"" ___1___ my dad. He gets angry if he hears the music. He thinks I don’t study hard enough. But it is___2___ （fair） because I’m not lazy. I love music and it helps me feel ___3___ （relax）. My mom allows me to listen to music， but sometimes she’s not happy because my room is ___4___ a mess.”

MR SMITH， “I think Anna should listen to music after she studies. Besides， she plays her music too loudly. I hope she can turn down the music so ___5___ I can hear my favorite shows on TV. Sometimes I get mad at ___6___ （she） about this.”

MRS SMITH， “Anna is ___7___ （real） good at singing. She gets a lot of praise from her music teacher. However， I’m worried because she spends quite a lot of time ___8___ （think） about music. Her room is dirty but she never ___9___ （clean） it.”

Write to “Teen Talk” with your ___10___ （suggest）. What should this family do？

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————

9

Ten-year-old Orion Jean has always known that kindness is important. He often practiced it by volunteering with his family. However， after ___1___ （enter） the National Kindness Speech Contest， he became more active in it. Now he works to spread kindness everywhere through projects which help others. He calls ___2___ （he） action “the Race to Kindness”.

After a teacher told him about the contest， Orion had only 24 hours to write， memorize___3___ record his speech. In it， he talked ___4___ the importance of kindness. “Kindness is like spreading hugs around the world to those ___5___ need it，” Orion said. He encourages ___6___ （listener） to join him in “the Race to Kindness” by doing small， kind acts for others. Orion’s speech won the contest. He used his $500 prize ___7___ （collect） 619 toys for a local children’s hospital. After that， Orion wanted to make an even ___8___ （big） influence. In charity he packed meal boxes for people in need including a kind message for each receiver.

Orion says， “If someone is treated ___9___ （kind）， it can make their day brighter and encourage that person to be kind to somebody else. And then it just ___10___ （grow） and makes the world a better place.”

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————

10

It was five days before Teachers’ Day. Tim’s mother was very busy. But she didn’t forget ___1___（buy） cards for her son’s teachers. She drove to a gift store on her way home from work. When she came back， she put the cards on the table ___2___ the living room.

When Tim came home， Mother said to him， “Here are five cards for your teachers， and there___3___ （be） a pen， stamps and our book of addresses. Can you write the cards when I ___4___ （cook） the dinner？” Tim did not say anything. He walked out of the living room and went into his room. Tim’s mother was a little unhappy， ___5___ she didn’t say a word. She knew that her son always talked little. She was just thinking， “___6___ can I make him write the cards？”

A few minutes ___7___ （late）， Tim came back with a box of cards. All of them had ___8___ （address） and stamps on them. Tim’s mother was very ___9___ （surprise） and asked， “Oh， what are these？” “Mom，” Tim answered， “I bought the cards and wrote all of them a few days ago.” Hearing this， his mother was very moved and said， “You’re ___10___ （real） great， dear.”

1. _______________" 2. _______________" 3. _______________ "4. _______________ "5. ————————

6. _______________" 7. _______________" 8. _______________" 9. _______________" 10. ——————