马勇

一、美国孩子的课余生活

最有美国特色的学生课余生活就是参加社区活动。社区活动项目非常丰富，包括参观银行和警察局、学做面包、到医院去照料病人、到湖边去清理垃圾并且自己承包一段湖堤等。做义工是美国社会的良好传统，几乎所有的中学生都要到社会上的各种义工组织参加服务，像医院、图书馆、童子军、红十字会以及许多公司都积极组织和提供各种义工机会。据统计，美国12岁以上的青少年，有60%以上的人参加过各种义务服务活动，如在当地的流浪者收留中心为无家可归的人做饭等。

除了做义工，美国的学生利用课余时间去打工已成为风潮。联邦政府还专门为青少年打工立法，以保护孩子们的权利。良好的政策环境，保证了美国青少年顺利地工作。特别是每年5月，美国各地就开始举办“少年工作交易会”，暑假需要少年打工的许多单位都拟订了计划，陆陆续续与学生们签订打工合同。

★拓展阅读：

Bruno was a boy of eight. His father worked in a cinema and his mother worked in a shop. He lived not far from his school. He always walked there and walked home. On his way to school， he had to pass a playground（操场）. It was very wet after it rained. One day， when he got home， his clothes were all wet. His mother became angry and said， “Dont play in the water on your way home from school！”On the next day Bruno came home with wet and dirty clothes. His mother became even angrier. “Ill tell your father if you come back wet again，” said his mother. “Hell punish（惩罚） you， you know.” The third day the little boy was dry when he came home. “Youre a good boy today”， his mother said happily. “You didnt play in the water.” “No，” the boy said unhappily.“ There were too many older boys in the water when I got there this afternoon. There wasnt any room（空地方）for me at all！”

1. Bruno went to school ______ every day.

A. on foot B. by bike C. by bus D. by car

2. The playground was between ______.

A. two classrooms B. the shop and Brunos school

C. the cinema and shop D. Brunos house and school

3. The little boy liked to play on the playground ______.

A. when it snowed

B. when there was some water there

C. when the children played football there

D. when his father was busy with his work

4. Bruno was afraid of （害怕） ______ the most.

5. That afternoon， the boys clothes were dry because ______.

答案：

1. A

解析：由文章第一段，第四句He always walked there and walked home. 可知选A。

2. D

解析：由文章第一段，第五句On his way to school， he had to pass a playground. 可知选D。

3. B

解析：由文章大意，孩子多次玩儿水把衣服弄脏受到批评但仍不改过可推断孩子喜欢玩儿水，故选择B。

4. his father

解析：文中第二段中Bruno的妈妈说：“如果他再去湿的操场中玩，就告诉爸爸。”可推断Bruno最害怕他爸爸。

5. nobody made room for him in the water

解析：由文章第二段原句“There were too many older boys in the water when I got there this afternoon”推断男孩儿是因为没有地方玩儿水才没有弄湿衣服。

二、加拿大的节假日

加拿大推崇多元文化，节假日也因民族的众多，地区的差异而数不胜数，全国性的节假日有下述几个。

新年（New Years Day），每年1月1日。

爱尔兰节（Saint Patricks Day），3月17日。Saint Patrick是爱尔兰人尊崇的圣人。他帮助爱尔兰人将害人的蛇驱赶进汪洋大海。绿色是这个节日的象征。人们尽可能地穿绿色服装，喝绿啤酒。

复活节（ Easter Sunday），3月21日后，月圆以后的第一个星期日，本来是庆祝耶酥复活的宗教节日，但目前宗教气氛已逐渐淡化；节日的物品是象征生命力的彩蛋和兔宝贝。

维多利亚日（Victoria Day），5月24日是英国女王维多利亚的生日。

国庆节（Canada Day），7月1日（国家成立于1867年），各大中城市组织上街游行狂欢，晚上燃放焰火。

劳动节（Labor Day），9月份第一个星期一。在多数加拿大人的概念中，此节日标志着夏天的结束。

感恩节（Thanksgiving Day），10月份第二个星期一。南瓜饼是常见的感恩节食物，火鸡是感恩节的标志吉祥物。

停战纪念日（Remembrance Day），11月11日。最初是为纪念死于两次世界大战和朝鲜战争中的将士，但现在已变成纪念所有死于战争中的人，人们照常工作，在当天11：00全国默哀片刻。

圣诞节（Christmas Day），12月25日，其过法与别的国家无二。

节礼日（Boxing Day），过完圣诞的第二天，也就是12月26日（如遇星期天则顺延一天），大家余兴未消，又进入了节礼日。本节日始于英国，传统上是向邮递员等送礼的日子。

★拓展阅读：

My Vacation

My vacation was very interesting. I did my homework on the first day. Then I played table tennis on the second day. On the third day， I watched TV and went shopping on the fourth day. But I liked shopping best.

On Sunday，I went to a shopping center with my mother. The shopping center wasnt far from my home. It took us about ten minutes to get there on foot. The shopping center was very big. There were all kinds of things. Every day a lot of people go there to buy things. It opens at eight in the morning and closes at nine p.m. Now， I was helping my mother buying things. I had a shopping list in my hand. We were looking for things on the shopping list. After staying in the shopping center for about two hours， we got all the things and walked home.

What did you do when you were on vacation？

1. What did the writer do on the second day in vacation？

A. Did her homework. B. Played table tennis.

C. Played computer games. D. Watched TV.

2. On Sunday， the writer went to with her mother.

A. buy some things B. a shopping center far away

C. a restaurant near her house D. a museum

3. It took the writer to get the shopping center.

A. less than 10 minutes on foot

B. more than 10 minutes on foot

C. 10 minutes by bike

D. less than 12 minutes on foot

4. According to this passage， how did the writer felt about her vacation？

5. Please describe the shopping center with your own words.

答案：

1. B

解析：文中第一段指出，在假期的第一天作者写了作业，第二天打了乒乓球。B选项正确。

2. A

解析：文中第二段指出：在周日的时候，他和妈妈一起去了离家不远的购物中心买东西。B选项错在far away，不选。所以我们只能选择A：作者和妈妈去买东西。

3. D

解析：文中第二段指出，作者用了大概10分钟的时间走到购物中心，这里的about并不能使我们知道到底是多于10分钟还是少于10分钟。但我们可以知道比12分钟要短。

4. She thought it was very interesting and she liked her vacation very much.

解析：文章开头便指出了作者认为自己的假期非常有意思。

5. It was near the writers house and was very big. There were all kinds of things in it. Too many people went there to buy things every day.

解析：我们只要把第二段讲述的购物中心的特征摘出来即可。该购物中心大、人多、东西也多。

人教版新目标英语七年级（下）Unit 11 How was your school trip？课外阅读延伸