浙江省新目标版初中英语八年级下学期期末模拟试卷（1）

Nature is all around us. It is the sky, the ground, the forest, the mountains, and the deserts. It is lakes, rivers, seas, plants, and animals. Usually, we say nature is anything that is natural, that is, anything not made by people. Even though it is easier to find nature away from cities, it is possible to find natural places in cities. These natural places have important benefits (好处) for people living in the city.

Nature away from cities or in cities is Important for a number of reasons. Plants clean the air and help take people's minds off busy city life. Along with all of these good things, scientists have found other benefits of nature. They have found that nature helps children feel better and study better in school.

One study involving (涉及) children in the United States has found that children who have many trees and plants near their houses feel happier than those who do not. Another study has found that children who often see and touch nature do better on tests in school. Other studies have shown that children who play in nature are more kind than other students and are not sick as much.

                 Maybe part of them comes from meeting other children. When a home has a lot of natural places around it (like yards or parks), children go to such places to play. While playing, they meet other children and often become friends. This might explain why children who live near nature are happier and tore kind Scientists have also found that children who have the chance to play and relax are able to study better. This would explain how nature helps children do better on tests in school.

    Tara worked in a hospital as a nurse. One evening there was a big dance party at the hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses would be there, but it was Tara's turn to look after the sick children. She liked dancing very much, so she felt very sorry.

    She went to each sick child one after another and said good-night, until she came to one little boy, Dennis. He was eleven years old, but he was already able to talk like an adult (成人). Poor Dennis had a very serious illness, and now he was hardly able to move any part of his body except his hands. Tara knew he would never get any better, but he was always happy and always thinking about other people instead of thinking about himself.

    Dennis knew that Tara loved dancing, so now when she came to say good-night to him, he greeted her with the words, "I'm very sorry that you have to miss the dance because of us. But we are going to have a party for you. If you look in my drawer (抽屉), you'll find a piece of cake. I saved it from my supper today, so it's quite fresh. And there is also a dollar there. You can buy something to drink with that. And I'd get up and dance with you myself if I was able to," he added.

    Suddenly the hospital dance party seemed very far away and not at all important to Tara.

    You probably know some basic facts about deserts (沙漠). For example, most people know that deserts are dry places where more water evaporates (蒸发) each year than falls even with heavy rain. However, there are many facts about deserts that you may not know. Reading the following may help you find out more about these unusual areas.

    Most deserts have less than 10 inches of rain each year. However, in some deserts of South American, it is true that rain almost never falls. In one desert in Chile, no rain has fallen for 45 years in a row! All the rain falls within a single month!

Temperatures in deserts can reach above 37.8℃ during the day, but can fall below zero at night. Areas that are too cold for anything to grow are called "frigid deserts." Other deserts are cold for long periods. The Gobi in Asia has icy temperatures for as long as six months at a time.

    Although deserts can be low and flat, some have rocky hills and even mountains. Some also have lakes and plains covered with small rocks. Sand makes up only about 2 percent of North American deserts, 10 percent of the Sahara in northern Africa, and 30 percent of the Arabian Desert.

    To survive in a dry desert environment, plants and animals, including humans, must make some adaptation. Desert plants cannot grow too close together because each plant would not get enough water. Other animals stay in holes underground or rest in the shade during the heat of the day.

    Deserts cover about one fifth of Earth's land area. The largest desert in the world is the Sahara. The Sahara stretches from the Atlantic Ocean eastward to the Red Sea, spreading across parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Mali, and Mauritania. It covers an area about the size of the United States.

    December 25th is Christmas Day. In most countries it is the most i day in the year. All the people come back to their homes to enjoy the day with their parents or their children. O Christmas Day bells ring everywhere. The ringing bells tell people Christmas is coming. People sing and dance day and night. They have a good time.

    Most families buy a Christmas t for their children. And there are some presents hanging from the tree here and there. People a put presents in children's stockings. In many places, Father Christmas himself brings presents to them. He is a kind man and in r clothes. There is a big b on his back. In it there are a lot of presents.

    Christmas is also a day when people enjoy all kinds of f. But some poor people have no homes and have no food to eat. They even d of cold and hunger on Christmas Day.

    The t meaning of Christmas is to spread love and joy to people around. And that is also the s of Christmas.

    Beatrice Biira is from Uganda, Africa. To get a good education is (important) goal a person can have. Even when she was only little girl, she saw how important it was to get a good education. A sheep named Mugsia helped her achieve, or reach that goal.

    After (accept) Mugisa from a charity group, Beatrice's family took care of the sheep and its kids. the money they made from selling milk and one of the kids, the family were able to buy (thing) they needed. But Beatrice wanted more. She (real) wanted to go to school.

     ten-year-old Beatrice had to start first grade with much younger students, she worked much harder. Soon she (catch) up with her friends. Beatrice's good grades made possible for her to go to school in the United States. Even though it was hard for Beatrice (live) so far away from her family, it has been making a big difference to her life to get a good education.

    My family has always been poor, but we love our pets more than everything else. In December, things got even1for our family. In the end, we lost our2and we only had our two German dogs.

    It was a cold winter, but3 we found a place where our two beautiful dogs could live with us.4 ， after living there for one week, all of our money was gone and our dog food was5.

    We tried to6someone to help. But nobody would give a7I began to have bad dreams at night. I was scared that our dogs would8without food. I called one last place in town-a small pet supply(用品) store.

    There, a young girl answered the phone. I told9about what we were going through. To my10this sweet girl told me that she would buy the dog food11us. She didn't even ask us to pay back the money. She12,"I just feel so bad for your dogs and I know13you feel. I just think I have to do something."

    Hearing this, I started crying. My14went away. I knew that our dogs would have food, all because of this young girl. She didn't know me, but she still would like to help my dogs. This young girl,15I don't even know her name, will always be an angel(天使) to me. She is an angel to my dogs as well.

注意：1）短文必须包括所有要点，并适当发挥:

2）文中不得出现真实的人名和校名;

3）词数: 80字左右;

4）短文首句仅供参考，不计入总词数。

    During the outbreak, we found many people helped others out of the danger and trouble. …

    All of them are great and I love them!