（浙江）初中英语2022-2023八年级上学期期中专项复习：阅读理解②（新目标版）

 Not like most restaurants, Maria Restaurant in New York only provides (提供) home-cooked food by grandmas coming from all over the world for people.

Joe is a 61-year-old Italian-American and he grew up in New York. He opened the restaurant in 2007. He tried to make home-cooked meals in his restaurant to make people feel at home.

He employed (雇佣) grandmas from different parts of Italy at first, and later, he started employing grandmas from other countries like Argentina, Brazil, France and Greece. Now there are forty grandmas and one grandpa in his restaurant. Most of them came to the US with their children.

There are two kitchens in the restaurant — one for Italian grandmas to cook lunch and the other for grandmas from other countries to cook every evening. The menus in the restaurant are often changing (改变), because grandmas who work on that day decide them.

People who eat in the restaurant think it is great. They can't forget its delicious food and comfortable seats. The most important thing is that the restaurant can always make them think of their own grandmas.

A big umbrella

Nancy：I saw seven girls in one umbrella and none of them got wet.

Toney：Oh, that must be a very big umbrella.

Nancy：No, it wasn't raining.

A good boy

Little Robert asked his mother for two cents （美分）。

"What did you do with the money I gave you yesterday？"

"I gave it to a poor old woman, "he answered.

"You're a good boy, "said the mother proudly. "Here are two more cents. But why are you so interested in the old woman？"

"She is the one who sells candies. "

Break a mirror（镜子）

"What are you so happy about, Jason？"Lisa asked the 98﹣year﹣old man.

"I broke a mirror, "he replied.

"But that means seven years of bad luck. "

"I know"，he said happily. "Isn't it wonderful？I can live for another seven years!"

A lot of families in England grow vegetables. A few people grow unusual or strange vegetables. But a great many people grow tomatoes. My neighbor grows the biggest, sweetest, happiest tomatoes in the world. "How do you do it?" I ask. "Why can't I grow tomatoes like yours?"

"I talk to them," my neighbor says. "I've been talking to my tomatoes for years." Up to now, I have always laughed at this.

This summer, some scientists carried out an interesting experiment(实验), and I have just read their report.

Three sets of tomato plants were grown. Nobody talked to the first set, but every day for a month, a recording(录音) of a man's voice was played to the second set, and a recording of a woman's voice was played to the third set. At the end of the month, the second set of plants had grown four centimeters taller than the first, and the third set of plants had grown five centimeters taller than the second. The plants liked the woman's voice best.

"We can't explain(解释) it," a scientist said, "But sound waves surely help the tomatoes to grow. Plant growers have always paid attention to(关注) light and water. Now we advise you to think of sound waves in the same way."

Do you want to be in good health？Try to do the following things！You can become stronger.

Drink eight cups of water every day. Water helps your body in many ways. If you feel thirsty, just have a cup of water.

Don't forget to eat your breakfast. Breakfast gives you everything your body needs for the morning, so do not forget your breakfast.

Get enough calcium(钙). Your bones(骨头) need it. Milk has more calcium. You may also drink orange juice with calcium in it.

Go for a walk every day after meals. Walking is good exercise, and people need exercise for good health. It's better to walk after meals.

Stretch for five minutes after sitting for one or two hours. Stretching your arms and legs is good for your body.

Use your brain every day. For example, you can do crossword puzzles or read a new book.

Have a rest for about twenty minutes when you are tired. You may do something different to have a break. For example, get up and walk. Or sit down to listen to music.

    A neighborhood party is a great way to have fun and know the people in your neighborhood. And it's also the best way to bring the neighborhood together.

    Before you begin to do this, you first need to decide where to have the party. The neighborhood center is a good place for a neighborhood party. If the weather is nice, people like to have the party outside. It could be in a park or on a street.

    Next, ask your friends and neighbors to help. You can ask them to tell others about the party, plan the party carefully and clean up after the party.

    Be sure to have lots of things to do during the party. Many parties have activities for kids, such as face painting. Most parties have food and drinks. The best parties are when everyone brings something to share. That's also the special part of a neighborhood party!

Most American families like to have a vacation in summer. Summer isa good season for vacation. It is often hot in July and August. Children do notgo to school in those two months. Some people like to stay at home, read books,or watch TV. Many families take their lunch to eat at a place with many treesor a nice lake. Some people have enough time and money to travel to othercountries like France, Japan and Australia. They usually fly to thesecountries. Many families travel by car or train to see interesting places intheir own countries. Their favorite cities are New York, Chicago, Miami, SanFrancisco and Los Angeles. Not everyone likes to go to busy cities. Somefamilies travel to mountains or valleys.

    A farmer had a friend and his friend was famous for growing apple trees.

    One day, the farmer's friend gave him a young apple tree and told him to take it home and plant it.

    The farmer loved the gift. But when he got home, he did not know where to plant it. He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the apples. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and steal the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the apples. Finally he planted the tree in his wood. Nobody could see it, but there was no sunlight in his wood, the tree soon died.

    Later, the friend asked the farmer why he planted the tree in such poor place. "What's the difference?" the farmer said angrily. "If I plant the tree near the road, strangers may steal the apples. If I plant the tree in one of my fields, my neighbors may come at night and steal the apples. If I plant the tree near my house, my children may take the apples."

    "Yes," said the friend, "but at least someone could enjoy the apples. Now no one could eat the apples, and the apple tree died!"

    Everyone knows that exercise is important. We all need to exercise. Doctors say it is good for us. It makes your heart and body strong. Children who often exercise are more alert(灵活). That means they do better in tests and schoolwork than those who don't exercise.

    There are many ways-to exercise. You can walk, run, swim, skate, or play ball games. Make sure you exercise in the following ways: You have to like what you are doing. Exercise enough— but not too much. It's the best to exercise twice a week. Thirty minutes each time is enough. Try all kinds of sports until you find one, two or even three sports that feel right for you. You can exercise at fitness centers. They have a lot of equipment(设备)there. The equipment will help exercise your arms, legs and other parts of your body to make you healthy. Some people buy equipment for their homes. But it's very expensive.

    Work is helpful to health. Scientists find that the hard­-working people live longer than those who have no jobs. Studies show that the jobless are in poorer health than job­-holders. The women have jobs are healthier than housewives.

    Why is work good for health? It is because work keeps people busy, away from feeling lonely. Researches show that people feel unhappy and worried when they have nothing to do. The happiest people are those who are busy. Many high achievers who love their jobs feel they are the happiest when they are working hard. They work as a bridge between their dream and reality, so they have energy every day. By work, people get to know each other. By taking part in all kinds of activities, they find friendship and warmth. This is helpful to health. The loss(丧失) of work means the loss of everything. It makes people down and it will cause more illnesses.

    Besides, work makes one feel hopeful and proud. When a writer finishes his writing or a doctor successfully operates on a patient or a teacher sees his students grow, they are very happy.

    From the above, we can come to a conclusion: the more you work, the happier and healthier you will be.