江苏省靖江市2015-2016学年八年级上学期英语期末考试试卷

— He is so clever．

— __________! I have a meeting to attend that day. Thank you all the same.

    When I was a junior high school student in 1980, God gave me a gift, it was happiness.

    One weekend, I went to visit my grandparents in the countryside. On my way home a car ran over me and cut off my1because of its high speed.

    Several days later when I woke up at the hospital, I realized I had to spend the rest of my life2arms. How sad I felt at that time! Even I was full of fears.3slowly I knew I had to face the fact and got over it. I couldn't get my arms back even though I4every day.

    However, it's easier to5than to do. It6me nearly half a year to get out of the sadness completely. I got so much from my7story. From then on, I could treat my life with a normal(正常的) mind. But in our daily life, I often see my classmates get8about little things: They get a bad grade on a test; their bus comes9; they don't have a mobile phone but10have, and so on. But I only11life. I was lucky to realize from an accident: It is a waste of our life to focus on（关注）what you have12. We should always think of what we have. So why are so many people unhappy? Someone may say, “My whole life would improve13I have a new car.” But when you get the car and what14? For a whole week you are walking on air. Then you go right back to being unhappy.

    Happiness depends on(取决于) what we have! It's in our heart. It's a state of mind, even though you own the whole world, you may still feel15.Happiness comes from mastering the art of appreciating(感激) and taking pleasure in what you really have.

A

    There are many different kinds of TV shows. Which do you like best?

    Do you have any foreign friends? Do you know their characteristics（特征）?

    The Germans are very quiet and they always keep calm. They don't like to speak more words. They look very serious. They like different kinds of amusements（娱乐）. The Germans are very hard－working. They like tidiness, especially the women, who always keep their home clean.

    In some ways, the Englishmen look the same as the Germans. They are very quiet and never talk too much with the strangers. They are really polite, so we often hear they say “Thank you.” Or “Sorry.” The gentlemen are also the Englishmen.

    The French's holidays are very long. They like traveling and usually spend their long time staying in other countries. The Frenchmen are more outgoing than the Germans. It is very easy to make friends with them.

    Compared to the Frenchmen, the Americans are more outgoing. And they are even opener than all of the Europeans（欧洲人）. They don't like to depend on others. So it is very common that the students do part-time jobs in their free time. And in Americans' eyes, success is an important part in their life.

    An old man was fishing on the bank of a river. A child came to see him fishing. The old man was really good at fishing and it didn't take long for him to catch a full basket of fish. The old man saw that the child was very cute, and he wanted to give her a whole basket of fish. But the child shook her head. The old man was surprised and asked, “Why don't you want the fish?”

    The child answered, “I want the fishing rod(竿) in your hands.”

    The old man asked, “Why do you want the rod?”

    “It doesn't take long to eat all the fish in a basket. But if I have the fishing rod, I can go fishing by myself and I won't be afraid of not having any more fish to eat.”

    I think you will certainly say that the child is very smart. Wrong! If she doesn't know how to fish, she can not have fish to eat, even though she has the fishing rod. It's useless to only have a fishing rod. Fishing skills are the most important, not the fishing rod.

    Too many people think that if they have a “fishing rod” in their life, they will no longer fear(害怕)the wind and rain. They are just like the child, who thought that if she had a fishing rod, she would have fish to eat.

    Mr. Jones had a quarrel with Mrs. Jones the other day. So they were very angry with each other. For several days they did not sto each other at all. One evening Mr. Jones was very t when he came back from work, so he went to bed at once after d. Of course he did not say ato Mrs. Jones before he went upstairs. Mrs. Jones washed the dishes and then did some sewing. When she went up to bed much l than her husband, she found a p of paper on the small table near her bed. On it were the words, 'Mother—Wake me up at 7 a.m.—Father.'

    When Mr. Jones w up the next m, it was nearly 8 a. m. —and on the small table near his bed he saw a piece of paper. He took it and rthese words: 'Father—Wake up. It's 7 a.m. —Mother.'

    We need animals. Every animal has its place in the balance(平衡) of nature. We should try to help save the animals.

    Some people think zoos are good places. The zoos give the animals the comfortable and safe living places. If the animals get hurt or ill, people will take care of them. The zoo is a good place to know the rules in the wild world. We can be much closer to nature. We can know more about the animals in the zoos by watching, listening even smelling instead of just looking at the pictures in books.

    Some people don't think animals feel happy in the zoos. Animals like pandas, wolves and bears usually live in the wild. They play and find food by themselves. They are free and happy in the wild. If they are in the zoos, food is enough and rooms are comfortable. They do not need to do their best to find food to eat or places to stay in. They just walk around, sleep day and night, but they are not free at all.

    I think we should build national parks as wild life nature reserves to protect animals. If we do nothing, animals will get fewer and fewer.

    The kangaroo is the world's largest living marsupial (有袋动物). It was first found on the island of southwestern Australia. The animal was given its name by a famous English tourist in the 18th century.

    The kangaroo may be 7 feet(2.1m) tall when standing upright and the male can weigh as heavy as 200 pounds(90kg). The female (雌性) is smaller and lighter than the male. The kangaroo's head is small, but its ears are large, and its fore feet are really small. The animal has strong back legs and long tail.

    The kangaroo usually covers from 5 to 10 feet(1.5 to 3m) with each jump. The female is usually faster than the male. The mother kangaroo has a pouch (育儿袋) in its abdomen (腹部). The baby kangaroo grows up in the mother's pouch slowly.

    The kangaroo lives on grass and other plants. It is always moving from one place to another, lying down to sleep on the ground during the night. It likes to enjoy the warm sunshine. When it's in danger, it can use its back legs and strong tail to protect itself.

    Answer the following questions with No more than 6 words.