河南省郑州市2020-2021学年八年级下学期英语期末试题

During the Tang Dynasty there lived a man named Meng Jiao. He loved poetry(诗). He loved studying it. He loved writing it as well. He gave all his life to the art. And luckily, his hard work showed. It helped him become a poet (诗人).

But poetry was not a good paying job. Meng Jiao was poor most of his life. When he got older, he realized this had to change. He decided to take the Ke Ju exams. The Ke Ju was the official(官方的) test of China. The exams were open for anyone even a farmer to take. Whoever passed it could get the job of an officer.

Meng Jiao studied hard for the tests. He took them several times though each time he failed. It was until he was forty-six years old that he passed.

To celebrate, Meng Jiao put on new clothes and worn red flowers. Then he rode on a horse through Chang'an City.

During his ride, Meng Jiao wrote a poem. In English, it is "Horseback riding quickly through the spring wind, while seeing all the sights and flowers of Chang'an in one day." On that day, he was able to let go of the unhappiness of the past.

The poem was passed down through the years. But people said it would be impossible to really enjoy everything in one day. This led to the phrase" The warm spring wind suits the good feeling." It describes how happy people are when things work out really well.

If you looked into his messy yard in Austin, Texas, you might think Vince Hahnemann had forgotten to take out the rubbish for a few years. In fact, Vince has been collecting old kitchen things, bottles, street signs, bicycles, baskets, toilets and other objects people unwanted since 1989 - all for his "Cathedral (教堂) of Junk". The cathedral-like structure（教堂形建筑物), which began with a few pieces of rubbish, grew to be over two floors high and weighed over 60 tons:

For many years, Vince's Cathedral of Junk was an amazing work of art. Inside the structure, there were certain areas that visitors could walk through. Art lovers would perhaps wonder how all these objects had been brought together to make a piece of art. Old golf clubs, bike wheels and scarves were on the ceilings(天花板). Things of similar colors were grouped together, creating colorful walls.

Tourists and fans visited the Cathedral of Junk every day. But Vince said he built it just for fun. He loved the fact that other people enjoyed it too. Tourists could bring kids and picnics. He even allowed people to get married or have parties there. Some people liked to bring their own rubbish to add to the Cathedral and think that was cool. But Vince didn't agree. He must find something interesting.

Some people worried that the building was not safe. In June 2010, Vince finally decided to break the Cathedral down into smaller works of art. Visiting Vince's yard is still worth (值得的) the trip, though.

Are you a dog person? Maybe you have one at home and enjoy taking it for walks and lying with it on the sofa. For me. they're dangerous, smelly animals. But thinking about the life-saving skills that some dogs have, maybe I should give them a second chance.

But that's about it - it's just a pet. To really be man's best friends, they need to do something useful. Some doge with an amazing sense of smell are trained as sniffer dogs(嗅探犬).

Other types of working dogs including guide dogs and dogs hearing all provide a life-saving service to their owners. . And there are also trained dogs providing comfort for people in hospitals, old people's homes or schools.

It's also possible to train dogs to notice changes in blood glucose levels (血糖水平)of people with Type I diabetes(糖尿病1刑).One sick man with such a dog told the BBC, "In the three and a half years we've been together, he has probably saved my life 3,500 times. "

To save a life for a dog biscuit(饼干)seems a small price to pay, so maybe I should have better opinions of our four-legged friends.

I never imagine I'd have to go through something as terrible as what happened yesterday. At first I thought we were about to have a perfect summer night. Neither Dad nor I saw the dark1. When I finally noticed them, I said, "Those clouds look scary. Look at the sky. It became yellowish. Doesn't it look2?"

Dad said, "Don't worry. I read the Daily Weather, the Weather Examiner and the Weather News. They all said there wouldn't be any rain today."

"But3eyes tell me those are storm clouds," I said.

"Don't4your eyes, Freddie," said Dad. "Trust the experts who5the weather."

"Any expert looking at those clouds would say it's going to be6,"Ⅰ said. "It'll blow over,7you'll have a good sleep," Dad said.

Hours later, I was awakened by the sound that I had thought was my alarm. I was8to find that the red LED lights read 2: 11 a.m.9I heard a deafening crack (爆裂声). While the10filled my ears, a blinding light lit up my bedroom. From the window, I saw a long, thin cloud11from the sky and touch the ground. It took a few moments before I12what was happening.

The storm was so powerful that my13shook under its force. I started to14. I hid under my quilt, covering myself from head to toe(脚趾),listening to the storm.

When I woke up again, I didn't understand what was going on around me. Was I awake all night? Is it still storming? No… no. I think that is the15shining. It was morning and I had lived!

I think I'm going to keep trusting my eyes.

The two-week summer vacation ended. Kevin went nowhere during his vacation. He had the money, but he hated to travel . He used to take vacations with Gary, his youngest brother, but they at the end of their last vacation. Each of them has the last three years waiting for the other to say sorry.

Kevin felt . But whether or not he was wrong, ne was no 66aanethe first move.

He did do one thing new and different during his vacation. He went to a new coffee shop on Foothill Street. It served 25 kinds of delicious coffee at good prices.

The shop was air-conditioned at a perfect . About eight small roundtables were inside. Outside were four bigger tables. Each had four white chairs it ,and several big umbrellas provided shade (荫凉).

Kevin always sat at a table outside by himself and read the free newspaper. Between articles, he took by watching the nearby cars and passers-by. The coffee shop was next to a huge parking area. Kevin his outdoor seat a wonderful place.

The coffee shop, with its excellent location and coffee, helped make his vacation a pleasant . But he knew in his heart, his vacation would be a one if his brother was there to join him just one day.

There was once a wise king. He placed a large rock on a very busy road and hid nearby so he could see if anyone would move the huge rock out of the way.

The first man to pass by was one of the city's richest persons. As he walked around the rock, he shouted, "I must let the king know how angry I am!"

Then smartest person in the town came to the rock. She complained(抱怨) loudly that the king should do a better job of keeping the roads clear. Then she walked around the rock too.

Finally, a farmer came along, carrying vegetables. As soon he arrived at the rock, he set down his vegetables and tried move the rock, "Other people might need this road," the farmer said to himself. "Why I move this out of the way?"

After he pushed the rock off the road, he noticed a note that read : "You're the person I've been looking for. You are now the king."

A: Daniel, help me!

B: Hey, Xiaoming! ?

A: I feel terrible! I have a lot of headaches.

B: . What gives you headaches?

A: There are so many things. For example, my parents give me a headache.

B: Your parents?

A: Yes. My parents always say I'm lazy and slow.

B: ?

A: No, I don't think so.

B: I think you should sit down and talk to them.

A: All right. I'll have a try. But, hmm...

B: ?

A: Grades! My classmates always get better grades than me.

B: That's too bad. But they must work harder than you.

A: Maybe you are right.

要点：1）你认为在周末做什么事情有意义;

2）你为什么这么认为。

要求：1）文中不得出现真实姓名和学校名称;

2）词数90左右。

What makes a meaningful weekend?