【正文】 now that your holiday shopping dollars are going to support a neighbor instead of a large pany. Local businesses also employ your neighbors, so shopping locally can strengthen the local economy by creating jobs.Local businesses go a long way toward creating a neighborhood identity, and that identity can create a stronger sense of munity among you and your neighbors. In addition, a unique munity identity can make your town more attractive to outsiders, and can also attract more people to local businesses in your neighborhood.The gifts you buy when shopping locally can also benefit your munity. Gifts purchased from small local businesses tend to be more unique than items bought from national chains, as smaller retailers tend to sell more homemade items than their national petitors. Recipients of such items may find such gifts more thoughtful than mass produced items bought from national chains.The accessibility of customer service is another benefit of shopping locally. When you buy something from national chains, especially during the holiday season when such businesses may have to deal with orders, making contact with customer service departments can be a test of patience. A long wait on the phone or online can make the process of contacting customer service departments extremely frustrating. But such frustration is rare when shopping from local businesses, as consumers can simply buy their products in the store. In addition, shopping locally makes it more convenient for friends and family members who also live in your munity to return their gifts.12. The author referred to shopping online in the passage to . A. imply it is convenient to shop online B. show it has been popular with the public C. imply shopping locally is better than that D. tell people they should stop wasting resources13. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that . A. local businesses are in poor management B. shopping locally can help some people get jobs C. a large pany usually gains much profit D. few people support local businesses14. If people love the products from a local business, . A. the business will raise the price of its products B. the products will be sold in the distant places C. it will help develop the munity a lot D. the munity will turn into a tourist destination15. What does the underlined word “Recipients” mean in the passage? A. The persons who receive something. B. The persons who donate something.[來源:] C. The persons who sell something. D. The persons who purchase something.第二節(jié) (共5小題。]5. According to an earlier calendar, New Year’s Day in France was . B. January 1 C. April 1 6. Which of the following first had the tradition of celebrating the April Fools’ Day?A. France. B. England. C. Scotland. D. America.7. What was people’s attitude towards the new calendar?A. They accepted it happily. B. They refused it immediately. C. Some recognized it. D. Some laughed at it.8. The passage mainly tells us .A. what the French did on April Fools’ Day B. How April Fools’ Day e into beingC. when was the new calendar introduced D. why some people were fooled in FranceCIn Britain, many theatres put on shows for children at Christmas and many theatres have a theatreineducation team working there. This team, made up of actors and teachers, writes plays for children, usually performing them in schools. They do different plays for different age groups and the children often take part in the play in some way.Pantomime is a special kind of Christmas show for children. It is loved by people and also allows the audience（觀眾）to join in. “Pantomime” was the name of the Roman actor who performed shows without speakingthis is where the English word “mime” es from.A Pantomime is always based on a wellknown children39。A As puters bee more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly depending on puter keyboards to input Chinese characters. But if they use the puter too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a puter as early as primary school. And puter dependence is more widely spread among university students. Almost all their assignment and essays are typed on a puter.All the students interviewed say they usually use a puter.It’s faster and easier to correct if using a puter. And that’s why puters are being applied more and more often to modern education. But when people are taking stock in puters increasingly, problems appear.