浙江省宁波市慈溪市2020届九年级上学期英语期中试卷（含听力音频）

Things like hula hoops (呼啦圈) used to be very popular. Did you ever own any of these? If you didn't, don't feel too bad. They were all fads. A fad is something that becomes very 1 among a large number of people, but only for a short time. 2 can become a fad very quickly, but can stop being popular just as quickly. 3 it is no longer "cool", a fad goes away. Anything can become a(n) 4 —fashion, food, music, technology, even language.

In the late 1970s, Erno Rubik, a professor was looking for a 5 way to teach his students about 3D objects. He 6 a six-color plastic object that would be called the Rubik's Cube (魔方). The goal was to get each side of the cube a 7 color. It was very challenging. It took a few years for the toy to become popular, but then 8, in 1982, it seemed everyone had one. People bought over a hundred million of the 9. There were 50 books available that year offering solutions. Then, just as suddenly as the craze (风尚) started, it 10. By 1983, people were not interested in the Rubik's Cube anymore, perhaps because so many people 11 had one in their home.

In 2012, a South Korean musician named Psy released a song called "Gangnam Style". The music video show Psy pretending (假装) to horse ride while he is dancing. In six months, it became the first Youtube video ever to reach a billion views (观看). Six months after that, 12 went on to reach two billion views. The song and video started a worldwide 13 craze. "Gangnam Style" had a huge influence on world popular culture. U.S. President Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron even 14 the dance. "Gangnam Style" became less and less popular, 15 the "Korean Wave" of culture remains popular all over the world.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

By SAM EHREN DEC. 30, 2018

In recent years military (军事的), movies are becoming more popular, such as 2017's British hit Dunkirk, 2014's American Sniper. It's common to see heroes fighting for their countries on the big screen. But even though we are used to seeing patriotic Western soldiers saving the world, Chinese filmmakers are also showing that China also has heroes that they want to share with the audience.

Operation Red Sea is based on the real-life events of the Chinese Navy who rescued hundreds of Chinese and foreign nationals from Yemen in 2015. This military action movie came out on Feb. 16^th, 2018 in Chinese cinemas. It became headlines across the country, from newspapers to social media.

Many Chinese people may have thought that the Chinese military only dealt with disaster and public safety within Chinese boundary. However, the success of Operation Red Sea changed people's ideas.

"These days there is more and more news in China about the military, perhaps reflecting the global environment and China becoming a great power," Beijing-based film and box office Jiang Yong said. "It's influencing young people more."

Operation Red Sea was co-produced by the Chinese Navy's media arm, and came hot after Chinese box office records Wolf Warrior 2 (《战狼2》). The Chinese military's willingness to show its latest arms and equipment (装备) is due to the fact that " the national strength of China has risen and in some aspects even surpasses (超过) other leading powers", Chinese naval expert Li Jie told the Global Times.

If you go shopping in any toy store, you can see clearly the different games and toys for boys and girls: there are a lot of pink toys on one side of the store for girls; and dark-colored cars, guns and soldiers for boys. Some big stores with toys may even have a pink floor for girls and a blue floor for boys. In fact, it is difficult to buy a toy for a girl that is not pink.

Some people think that too much pink is bad for girls. Sue Palmer, writer of Toxic Childhood, is very worried that most girls over the age of three are crazy about the color. According to some scientists, this happens for two reasons. Firstly, most companies offer too many products in pink. Also, many parents think their little daughter looks cute in pink. Sue Palmer says that girls at this age cannot make proper decisions by themselves, but the pink can affect the choices and the decisions they will make in the future.

Some parents are worried too—for example, Vanessa Holburn, thirty-two, who has two girls under the age of four. Their bedrooms are a sea of pink and Vanessa is not happy. "Pink says that you are soft and gentle. Blue says that you are strong and powerful. I want my daughters to be strong and powerful. I'm worried that pink will not help them with that," she says.

But not everyone thinks there's something wrong with pink. Grayson Turner is a father of three girls and he isn't worried at all. "People forget that things change all the time," he says. "My girls used to love pink when they were little, but as they get older, they change." Turner explains that his twelve-year-old daughter never wears pink clothes anymore. "This love of pink is just a fashion and all fashions change," he adds. "It's only since the 1940s that people have started dressing girls in pink—before that it was a color for boys."

Scene 1

(The setting is a room in the palace of the Queen of Sheba. The Queen sits at one end of the room on a chair. Zahrah stands on one side of the chair. Amram is showing some silk to the Queen.)

Amram: Would Your Majesty be good enough to feel the silk? See how fine and soft it is!

(Amram comes a little closer to the Queen and holds out some purple silk. She feels it.)

Queen: Yes, it is. And I like this bright purple color very much. (She turns to Zahrah.) Zahrah, what do you think of it?

Zahrah: I like it very much, and it is a good color for a queen, Your Majesty. (She folds up the silk and puts it to one side.)

Amram: The king of my own country, the wise King Solomon, likes this bright purple better than any other color.

Queen: I have heard many things about your king.

Amram: He is a good king, Your Majesty, and a kind man. All his people love him.

Queen: I have also heard that he is very wise. Is it true, Amram, that King Solomon understands what animals say?

Amram: It is true, Your Majesty.

Queen(Smiles): It's very hard to believe.

Amram: If I told you what happened one time when I was with the king, I think you would believe it.

Queen: I'd like to hear your story.

Amram: Well, one day our king and some men of his palace were riding on horseback to a nearby city. The king was riding ahead of the rest of us. All at once he pulled his horse to stop. He looked down at the sand in the road.

Queen: Go on.

Amram: Then the king turned his horse off the road and onto the grass. He kept his horse on the grass a little way before turning back onto the road.

Queen: Did he say why he stopped and then turned his horse off the road?

Amram: King Solomon told us he had seen some ants hurrying along in the sand of the road. He said he had heard them say they were afraid that the horses would walk on them.

Queen(Surprised): And that was why your mighty king turned off the road?

Amram(Proud): Yes, Your Majesty. The mighty King Solomon stopped to hear what the little ants in the sand were saying. He turned off the road to save them from being hurt.

Queen: Then he must be as wise and as kind as people say he is.

Amram: Now you can believe it, can't you?

Queen: I won't fully believe it until I see and hear him myself, Amram.

Amram: Then why don't you come to our country and pay him a visit, Your Majesty?

Queen: Yes, I think I shall do that, Amram. But first I must think of a way to test this wise king. You may go now, Amram.

Amram: Good day, Your Majesty. (He backs away.)

(Curtain)

May Day is the day when we celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of spring. It's a time of new life, with new leaves on the trees and wildflowers growing in the woods and fields. On that day, children in Britain and other parts of Europe often make May baskets and hang them on a neighbor's door as a gift of love and friendship.

Here are the steps of making this kind of basket.

Step 1 Fold paper into a cone (圆锥形) and stick it to keep the shape.

Step 2 Cut top of the cone with scissors.

Step 3 Make two holes on opposite sides of the cone. Leave 5cm form the top.

Step 4 Pass ribbon (彩带) through holes and tie it to create a basket handle.

Step 5 Fill your basket with different kinds of flowers.

A

B

C

D

E

He Wei: This is Fun Times Park—the biggest amusement park in my city!

Alice: I'm  to try the rides!

He Wei: Where should we start? There's Space World, Water World, Animal World…

Alice: Oh, could you tell me where the  are first?

He Wei: Pardon? Restroom? You want to rest? But we haven't even  yet!

Alice: Oh no, I don't mean a room for resting. I mean… you know, a washroom or bathroom.

He Wei: Hmmm… so you mean … the toilet?

Alice: Yes! Sorry, maybe the word "restroom" is not often used in China.

He Wei: Right. We normally say "toilet" or "washroom" in English. , they are just over there.

Alice: OK. I'll be quick! I wonder when the park today.

He Wei: Nine thirty. So you don't need to hurry.

A lot of people like keeping pets. The most common pets that are  (keep) across the world are cats and dogs. The followings are the major advantages (优点) of keeping pets. Pets dogs need regular walking and exercise for proper development. As you take your dog out for  walk, you are also going to exercise your whole body. In fact, dog owners spent a lot more time (walk) than other people.

 sharing your problems and difficulties with good friends is good, study show that spending some time with your pets might be more useful. Also, when doing something difficult, people experience (little) stress if they have their pets with them. This could possibly be because pets do not question or judge their (own); they simply support them. People who walk with their pets, especially dogs, are more welcoming and it (provide) them something to talk about with other people. This way, they can make friends much (easy).

Keeping pets has many advantages, but  also has some disadvantages. Pets come with extra work and this can cause stress to people.

请你用两段话写一篇短文，第一段简要说明图表内容，第二段从图表中选出一项你喜欢的阅读方式，结合自己的经历，谈谈这种阅读方式的好处。

要求：1）词数：80-100字。

2）首句已给出，不计于总词数。参考词汇仅供参考。

3）文中不得出现真实的人名、校名。

参考词汇：different interests, hobbies, easy to take, good for eyes, relaxed, moved, old feelings, open one's eyes, increase knowledge…

Recently, a survey was done among 20,000 people about the ways of reading.