浙江省杭州市2018-2019学年八年级上学期英语教学质量检测（一）（含听力音频）

Tree Climbing Course

    The students in the USA started to take tree climbing courses in the 1980s. Now over 1,000 schools offer tree climbing courses to students in the USA.

    Xiamen University was the first school in China to teach students to climb trees in 2012.

    Suzhou No. 1 Junior High School also offers a tree climbing course to students.

    Swimming Course

    Starting from 2017, the new students in Tsinghua University need to take a swimming test at the beginning of their university life.

    All primary and middle schools in Hainan will set up swimming courses in 2019. This year the government is busy building swimming pools for schools—at least one for each town, hoping that every student will be able to swim before they leave school from 2020 on.

    On the fourth Thursday in April, there is a holiday in the US called Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. Parents can take their children to work for one day. This allows children to learn about what their parents do at work and understand why work is important, according to ABC News.

    This year, on April 26, US President Donald Trump welcomed several children to the White

    House. They were the children of journalists（记者）and workers at the White House.

    The kids visited the Oval Office. The president does most of his work there. After that, they took photos with President Trump. There was also a mock press briefing (模拟新闻发布会). Kids could ask the White House press secretary (新闻发言人) some questions. They asked about Trump's favorite animal and whether or not he likes candy.

    "Honestly, the children ask me better questions," Trump joked to the kids' parents.

    You must have seen it a lot in Chinese cities: people riding electric scooters（电动滑板车）to work or for fun.

    Riding electric scooters could seem cool at first sight. The scooter balances by itself with one or two wheels（轮子）. Some of them also have a handle（手柄）. Riders lean forward to make the scooter go faster. It also can stop if the rider shifts their weight backwards.

    However, starting from the end of August, people can no longer ride electric scooters on public roads. It is in the interests of traffic safety, according to Beijing's traffic authorities（官方）. There will be a 10 yuan fine（罚款）for those who ride scooters on the road. This follows Shanghai's decision to get scooters off the road last month.

    "The one-wheeled scooters can go as fast as 30km an hour and they don't have brakes（刹车系统）," a traffic policeman told Beijing Youth Daily. "Two-wheeled scooters can even go as fast as cars at 60km an hour. But their brakes cannot compete with that of a car. It's very easy for scooters to run into cars or buses or hurt people on roads."

    But this doesn't mean that scooters are only dangerous on public roads. People who ride them in doors or in their living places should also be careful, according to the Beijing Consumer Association.

    There are still no national safety standards for electric scooters and some of them are very dangerous.

    The association tested more than 20 electric scooters from different companies and found that most had safety problems. Nineteen scooters couldn't come to a full stop in less than 4 meters. This could be very dangerous.

    An important question about eating out is who pays for the meal. If a friend of yours asks you to have lunch with him, you may say something like this, "I'm afraid it'll have to be someplace cheap, as I have very little money." The other person may say, "OK, I'll meet you at McDonald's."

    This means that the two agree to go Dutch, that is, each person pays for himself. He may also say, "Oh, no. I want to take you to lunch at Smith's," or "I want you to try the Chinese dumplings there.

    They're great." This means the person wants to pay for both of you. If you feel friendly towards this person, you can go with him and you needn't pay for the meal. You may just say, "Thank you. That would be very nice."

    American customs about who pays for dates are much the same as in other parts of the world.

    In the old days, American women wanted men to pay for all the meals. But, today, a university girl or a woman in business world will usually pay her bill during the date. If a man asks her for a dance outside the working hours, it means "Come, as my guest." So as you can see, it is a polite thing to make the question clear at the very beginning.

    When you stay away from your home for a long time, you start to miss your good old bed, your good old parents… Believe it or not, you're feeling homesick. You can help yourself to feel less homesick. Here's how:

    A few years ago, my husband and I were on an island for a long vacation with our two daughters. As we wondered about what to do 1, our girls jumped in and told us what they wanted to do. "2 want to go to the butterfly（蝴蝶）museum." said Ariela and Eliana.

    As soon as we3into the main area of the museum, we saw a lot of 4butterflies, all flapping（拍打）their colorful wings. My girls were 5up and down, and I knew we had made the right6to come to the museum. They were having so much fun. I7to our museum tour guide because I was curious （好奇的）, and asked, "8do butterflies live?"

    She said, "About ten days." "What can butterflies do9ten days?" I asked. The guide stopped, looked at me and said, "They make the world a more beautiful place." "Wow," I said, "I10 thought about butterflies like that. Thank you."

    After we said goodbye, I couldn't11thinking about what the guide had said. She was right. We all have12offer the world with the time we have.13we focus our gifts on taking care of each other every day, we can make a14.

    How thankful it is that you can have the influence on your family, friends and neighbors! Like a butterfly, you have your own way of making the world a little15for everyone.

    Come and meet my best friend, Lisa. Lisa is a beautiful girl. Many people like her because her good look. So do I. As my best friend, she likes to do same things as me. We like singing and reading books. There are also some (different) between us. I am shy and I always like to stay by myself. Lisa is much outgoing than me. She is (talent) in telling jokes. She often makes me (laugh). She is good at sports, too. She plays sports every day to keep healthy. She thinks it is not necessary for friends (be) the same. Her favorite (say) is, "A true friend reaches for your hand and (touch) your heart." What do you think of my best friend?

    Hello, everyone!