广东省东莞市石碣镇2019-2020学年八年级下学期英语第一次质量检测试卷

    The Spring Festival is a great festival. It's one of 1 festivals in China. People usually go home to be with their family2 the festival is coming.

    In fact, from Little New Year, people start 3 preparations for the Spring Festival. They want to have 4fresh beginning in the new year. The first thing that people usually do is to clean 5 houses. They believe good cleaning can sweep bad luck away. They also buy food to welcome the festival.

    There is a story about the Spring Festival. A long time ago, a monster called Nian6 people on New Year's Eve. People did not know what to do at first. Finally, they knew Nian was afraid7 red, fire and loud noise. Then they posted red couplets (对联), set off fireworks and played the drums. Later, Nian never came to the village again. Even today, people celebrate the festival in this way.

    During the Spring Festival, people usually visit their family members, friends and wish each other good luck. The traditional ways of 8 the Spring Festival are having a big family dinner on New Year's Eve and watching the Spring Festival Gala. In 2020, the Spring Festival 9 on January 25. Did you10a happy time? Did you do anything special?

    Once there was a good vegetable patch (菜地), and there grew avery big tree. Both the vegetables and the tree1 the place wonderful. But no one knew that thevegetables in the patch and the tree couldn't2 each other for a long time. The vegetablesdidn't like the tree's shade (树荫) because it stoppedthem from getting enough3. The tree, on the other hand, hated thevegetables. The4 wasthat the vegetables drank nearly all the water before it could get to him,leaving him a little water.

    They kept this situation5 the vegetables got completely bored with thetree one day. Then they decided to use up all the water in the ground so thatthe tree would die.

    What would the tree do? Without question, thetree answered back6 refusing to shade the vegetables from the sun.It was so hot that the vegetables became dry. Before long, all of them7died.

    At that time, thevegetables and the tree realized that it was8to help each other than to fight. Theylearned that they should9 those around them. From then on, they decidedto work together, using both the shade and the water to grow. Before long, theytogether showed10 a beautiful picture.

    Horses are beautiful animals. They can be in different colors, and can run quickly. People like to watch horses because they are strong and beautiful.

    Horses are mammals (哺乳动物). The mother horse usually has one baby in spring, and feeds the baby milk. Horses have long legs and big eyes, so they can see almost all the way around them. They can walk and jump.

    Horses can live up to 20 or 25 years. Sometimes people can tell how old a horse is by looking at its teeth! They usually sleep by standing up. Horses only need about three hours of sleep per day!

    People need to take care of the horses"hooves". If a horse is doing a lot of walking on hard ground, people put horseshoes on them. When the hooves need trimming (修剪), people take off the horseshoes, and then give them new ones.

    For food, horses eat food such as grass, corn, apples and carrots. They don't eat other animals. Their stomachs are small, so they eat a little at one time, but they eat many times.

    Some horses are very famous. For example, Bucephalus, the famous horse of Alexander the Great. When Alexander was a boy, he got a horse. Nobody else could ride on it. Alexander named the horse Bucephalus and the horse carried him in many battles (战役). Here is another example. Napoleon had many horses, and Marengo became famous after Battle of Waterloo.

    You might have heard the story of The Tortoise and the Hare (《龟兔赛跑》). The hare lost because he was sleeping of keeping running during the race. However, there is another more interesting story.

    Once a time, a rabbit (家兔) and a turtle (海龟) were arguing about who was faster. could give an answer, so they decided to have a race.

    Before the race, the story The Tortoise and the Hare the rabbit of his friend, the hare." He should be able to teach meuseful lesson." So he called the hare." How can I the race?" he asked. The hare answered, "Don't belike me!"

    The next day, the two animals met. When the fox called "Go!" in  a loud , the rabbit started running as fast as possible. Soon, he couldn't see the turtle. He didn't slow down. He ran the whole race he reached the finishing line.

    In the end, however, he was sothat he found the turtle was already at the finishing line!" How did you get here so fast?" asked the rabbit. The turtle smiled and said, "Well, I also called the tortoise. He told me to take a taxi!"

Better hygiene (卫生) habits can help you stay healthy

According to the World Health Organization, 60 percent of people's health problems are related(与…相关) to everyday hygiene habits. As the COVID-19 spreads across the world, governments and organizations in many countries have suggested that people should pay more attention to their daily hygiene practices.

In China, for example, people usually share dishes together at the dining table. But this habit has a high risk of spreading diseases through saliva(唾液). To fight against COVID-19, many cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have called on people to order separate(分开的)meals or use serving chopsticks(公筷) to take their food. Many people also suggest that Chinese should continue these habits after the outbreak.

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked people to develop healthy hygiene habits. For example, people should cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when they cough or sneeze.

    According to a survey by YouGov, a British market research company, many Americans have taken action to change their daily habits in the face of COVID-19.

1）简单地介绍疫情（时间，症状，防范措施等）；

2）描述居家隔离期你在干什么（至少三点）；

3）谈谈你的感想。