馬勇
一、美國孩子的課余生活
最有美國特色的學生課余生活就是參加社區活動。社區活動項目非常豐富,包括參觀銀行和警察局、學做面包、到醫院去照料病人、到湖邊去清理垃圾并且自己承包一段湖堤等。做義工是美國社會的良好傳統,幾乎所有的中學生都要到社會上的各種義工組織參加服務,像醫院、圖書館、童子軍、紅十字會以及許多公司都積極組織和提供各種義工機會。據統計,美國12歲以上的青少年,有60%以上的人參加過各種義務服務活動,如在當地的流浪者收留中心為無家可歸的人做飯等。
除了做義工,美國的學生利用課余時間去打工已成為風潮。聯邦政府還專門為青少年打工立法,以保護孩子們的權利。良好的政策環境,保證了美國青少年順利地工作。特別是每年5月,美國各地就開始舉辦“少年工作交易會”,暑假需要少年打工的許多單位都擬訂了計劃,陸陸續續與學生們簽訂打工合同。
★拓展閱讀:
Bruno was a boy of eight. His father worked in a cinema and his mother worked in a shop. He lived not far from his school. He always walked there and walked home. On his way to school, he had to pass a playground(操場). It was very wet after it rained. One day, when he got home, his clothes were all wet. His mother became angry and said, “Dont play in the water on your way home from school!”On the next day Bruno came home with wet and dirty clothes. His mother became even angrier. “Ill tell your father if you come back wet again,” said his mother. “Hell punish(懲罰) you, you know.” The third day the little boy was dry when he came home. “Youre a good boy today”, his mother said happily. “You didnt play in the water.” “No,” the boy said unhappily.“ There were too many older boys in the water when I got there this afternoon. There wasnt any room(空地方)for me at all!”
1. Bruno went to school ______ every day.
A. on foot B. by bike C. by bus D. by car
2. The playground was between ______.
A. two classrooms B. the shop and Brunos school
C. the cinema and shop D. Brunos house and school
3. The little boy liked to play on the playground ______.
A. when it snowed
B. when there was some water there
C. when the children played football there
D. when his father was busy with his work
4. Bruno was afraid of (害怕) ______ the most.
5. That afternoon, the boys clothes were dry because ______.
答案:
1. A
解析:由文章第一段,第四句He always walked there and walked home. 可知選A。
2. D
解析:由文章第一段,第五句On his way to school, he had to pass a playground. 可知選D。
3. B
解析:由文章大意,孩子多次玩兒水把衣服弄臟受到批評但仍不改過可推斷孩子喜歡玩兒水,故選擇B。
4. his father
解析:文中第二段中Bruno的媽媽說:“如果他再去濕的操場中玩,就告訴爸爸。”可推斷Bruno最害怕他爸爸。
5. nobody made room for him in the water
解析:由文章第二段原句“There were too many older boys in the water when I got there this afternoon”推斷男孩兒是因為沒有地方玩兒水才沒有弄濕衣服。
二、加拿大的節假日
加拿大推崇多元文化,節假日也因民族的眾多,地區的差異而數不勝數,全國性的節假日有下述幾個。
新年(New Years Day),每年1月1日。
愛爾蘭節(Saint Patricks Day),3月17日。Saint Patrick是愛爾蘭人尊崇的圣人。他幫助愛爾蘭人將害人的蛇驅趕進汪洋大海。綠色是這個節日的象征。人們盡可能地穿綠色服裝,喝綠啤酒。
復活節( Easter Sunday),3月21日后,月圓以后的第一個星期日,本來是慶祝耶酥復活的宗教節日,但目前宗教氣氛已逐漸淡化;節日的物品是象征生命力的彩蛋和兔寶貝。
維多利亞日(Victoria Day),5月24日是英國女王維多利亞的生日。
國慶節(Canada Day),7月1日(國家成立于1867年),各大中城市組織上街游行狂歡,晚上燃放焰火。
勞動節(Labor Day),9月份第一個星期一。在多數加拿大人的概念中,此節日標志著夏天的結束。
感恩節(Thanksgiving Day),10月份第二個星期一。南瓜餅是常見的感恩節食物,火雞是感恩節的標志吉祥物。
停戰紀念日(Remembrance Day),11月11日。最初是為紀念死于兩次世界大戰和朝鮮戰爭中的將士,但現在已變成紀念所有死于戰爭中的人,人們照常工作,在當天11:00全國默哀片刻。
圣誕節(Christmas Day),12月25日,其過法與別的國家無二。
節禮日(Boxing Day),過完圣誕的第二天,也就是12月26日(如遇星期天則順延一天),大家余興未消,又進入了節禮日。本節日始于英國,傳統上是向郵遞員等送禮的日子。
★拓展閱讀:
My Vacation
My vacation was very interesting. I did my homework on the first day. Then I played table tennis on the second day. On the third day, I watched TV and went shopping on the fourth day. But I liked shopping best.
On Sunday,I went to a shopping center with my mother. The shopping center wasnt far from my home. It took us about ten minutes to get there on foot. The shopping center was very big. There were all kinds of things. Every day a lot of people go there to buy things. It opens at eight in the morning and closes at nine p.m. Now, I was helping my mother buying things. I had a shopping list in my hand. We were looking for things on the shopping list. After staying in the shopping center for about two hours, we got all the things and walked home.
What did you do when you were on vacation?
1. What did the writer do on the second day in vacation?
A. Did her homework. B. Played table tennis.
C. Played computer games. D. Watched TV.
2. On Sunday, the writer went to with her mother.
A. buy some things B. a shopping center far away
C. a restaurant near her house D. a museum
3. It took the writer to get the shopping center.
A. less than 10 minutes on foot
B. more than 10 minutes on foot
C. 10 minutes by bike
D. less than 12 minutes on foot
4. According to this passage, how did the writer felt about her vacation?
5. Please describe the shopping center with your own words.
答案:
1. B
解析:文中第一段指出,在假期的第一天作者寫了作業,第二天打了乒乓球。B選項正確。
2. A
解析:文中第二段指出:在周日的時候,他和媽媽一起去了離家不遠的購物中心買東西。B選項錯在far away,不選。所以我們只能選擇A:作者和媽媽去買東西。
3. D
解析:文中第二段指出,作者用了大概10分鐘的時間走到購物中心,這里的about并不能使我們知道到底是多于10分鐘還是少于10分鐘。但我們可以知道比12分鐘要短。
4. She thought it was very interesting and she liked her vacation very much.
解析:文章開頭便指出了作者認為自己的假期非常有意思。
5. It was near the writers house and was very big. There were all kinds of things in it. Too many people went there to buy things every day.
解析:我們只要把第二段講述的購物中心的特征摘出來即可。該購物中心大、人多、東西也多。
人教版新目標英語七年級(下)Unit 11 How was your school trip?課外閱讀延伸