Everybody sleeps，but what people stay up late to catch or wake up early in order not to miss varies by culture.

From data collected，it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep，on average，are sporting events，time changes，and holidays.

Around the world，people change sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight-saving time（夏令时间）. Russians，for example，began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to“winter time”starting on October 26.

Russia's other late nights and early mornings generally correspond（相一致）to public holidays. On New Year's Eve，Russians have the world's latest bedtime，hitting the hay at around 3:30 a. m.

Russians also get up an hour later on International Women's Day，the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.

Similarly，Americans' late nights，late mornings，and longest sleep fall on three-day weekends.

Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey（冰球）final.

The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation. The worst night for sleep in the U. K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it，and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights，the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing，though，compared to Germans，Italians，and the French，who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the World Cup.

It should be made clear that not everyone has a tool to record their sleep patterns；in some of these nations，it's likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that's the case，the above findings are still striking. If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings（明显改变）in our sleep levels throughout the year，how much sleep are the rest of us losing？

【小题1】What do we learn about the Russians regarding sleep?
A. They don't fall asleep until very late.
B. They don't sleep much on weekends.
C. They sleep longer than people elsewhere.
D. They get less sleep on public holidays.
【小题2】The underlined word“deprivation”in the last paragraph but one means ___________.
A. depression B. loss
C. observation     D. trouble
【小题3】What is the most probable reason for some rich people to use a tool to record their sleep patterns?
A. They have trouble falling asleep.
B. They are involved in sleep research.
C. They want to get more sleep.
D. They want to go to bed on regular hours.
【小题4】What does the author imply in the last paragraph?
A. Sleeplessness does harm to people's health.
B. It is important to study our sleep patterns.
C. Few people really know the importance of sleep.
D. Average people probably sleep more than the rich.

假设你是李华，你的美国老师Miss Morgan要求你们明天下午去听一个美国历史的讲座。你因故不能参加。请你根据以下要点，写一封短信向Miss Morgan请假。
内容要点:  1. 表示歉意； 2. 理由:去机场接从法国回来的舅舅；
3. 询问:是否有录音，以便补听讲座。
注意:1. 词数:100词左右；
2. 可根据内容要点适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Miss Morgan，
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

In a society such as the United states or Canada, which has many national, religious, and cultural differences, people highly value individualism—the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize information. Instead, they work individually and find answers themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.
In most Asian societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history, and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the Orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposed rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan, and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments. In the classroom, the teaching methods are often very formal. The teacher lectures, and the students listen. There is not much discussion. Instead, the students recite rules or information that they have memorized.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these systems of education. For example, one advantage to the system in Japan is that students there learn much more math and science than American students learn by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.
The advantage of the educational system in North American, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is , however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from high school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have..

	Students in the US and 【小题1】	Students in China, Japan and Korean
What do they value?	【小题2】	【小题3】 goals and purposes
Ways of study	working individually	listen to the teachers
	forming their own  ideas and opinions	memorizing and 【小题4】
	a lot of discussion in the classroom	not much discussion
【小题5】	Learning to think for themselves	learning much more math and 【小题6】 by the end of high 【小题7】
		studying more hours each day and more days each year
	good for a society that values 【小题8】 ideas.	good for a society valuing 【小题9】 and self-control
disadvantages	students haven’t memorized many basic rules and facts when before 【小题10】	Information is forgotten easily

 

   El Nifio, a Spanish term for “the Christ child”, was named by South American fisherman who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American’s economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought (干旱）in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施）can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers (下水道）make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino’s harmful effects—and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.
【小题1】What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1?

A．It is named after a South American fisherman.

B．It takes place almost every year all over the world.

C．It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas.

D．It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean.

【小题2】What may El Ninos bring about to the countries affected?

A．Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall.

B．Droughts become more harmful than floods.

C．Rich countries’ gains are greater than their losses.

D．Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically.

【小题3】The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that_________.

A．more investment should go to risk reduction

B．governments of poor countries need more aid

C．victims of El Nino deserve more compensation

D．recovery and reconstruction should come first

【小题4】What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To introduce El Nino and its origin.

B．To explain the consequences of El Nino.

C．To show ways of fighting against El Nino.

D．To urge people to prepare for El Nino.

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Nowadays，after­class activities are becoming increasingly popularly in senior high school.We also have many kind of after­class activities in our school，such as English Corner，Sunshine Radio Station，Happy Reading Club and so on.I’m most interested English Corner，because it can not only help me make some new friends but also improving my spoken English.Beside，I’m a member of Sunshine Radio Station.On Monday mornings，every student are able to enjoy my sweet voice all over our school.Here I can have a unforgettable experience and I hope my dream of be a host may come true one day.These after­class activities make me become more confidence and enrich my school life as well as.