五、阅读理解
Using Stars to Help Us Weigh
半斤等于八两吗？
Q: The Chinese idiom “半斤八两” means “same difference”. Are half of one jin and eight liang the same?
A: They used to be the same. Chinese people measured(衡量) weight differently in the past. At that time, one jin(500 grams) was made up of 16 liang. So half of one jin was eight liang.
People used a steelyard balance(杆秤) to weigh things. It had 16 gradations(秤星) on its arm. Each gradation stands for one star in the sky. The 16 gradations stand for 16 stars—the Big Dipper（北斗七星）, Sagittarius（南斗六星） and the stars of fortune, prosperity and longevity(福禄寿星).
It was said that if you cheated someone while trading(做生意), you would lose the blessing(庇佑) of these stars. This helped to keep people honest while trading.
After 1949, China started to do more international trade. To make things easier, we changed 16 liang for one jin into 10 liang for one jin.
()1. What does the phrase “same difference” mean?
A. Two things are quite different.
B. Two things are not exactly the same.
C. Things are very different from the past.
D. Two things are just the same.
()2. How much was one liang in the past?
A. 500 grams.
B. 50 grams.
C. 31.25 grams.
D. 62.5 grams.
()3. Which star has something to do with having a long life?
A. The Big Dipper.
B. Sagittarius.
C. The star of fortune.
D. The star of longevity.
()4. The gradations reminded people .
A. to cheat while trading
B. to be honest while trading
C. to do more international trade
D. to make weighing easier

1.D 2.C 3.D 4.B

1. 根据原文，过去1斤由16两组成，半斤即为8两，因此“same difference”在此处表示两个事物是一样的，对应选项D。2. 原文说明过去1斤为500克，等于16两，因此1两的重量为500÷16=31.25克，对应选项C。3. 原文提到16个秤星包含福禄寿星，其中“longevity”意为长寿，对应The star of longevity，选D。4. 原文指出若交易时作弊会失去星的庇佑，这有助于人们在交易时保持诚实，对应选项B。

一、根据句意和中文提示写出单词
1. My dog is lying in the cage, but he is still （醒着的）.
2. You shouldn't （打架）with your classmates, even if you are angry.
3. The little girl felt when her parents were out.
4. The parrot can learn to （重复）simple words after people.
5. He is interested in learning about （昆虫）around us.

awake, fight, lonely, repeat, insects

1. 句意为“我的狗躺在笼子里，但它还是醒着的”，“醒着的”对应英文单词awake，此处作表语；2. 句意为“即使你生气，也不应该和同学打架”，“打架”对应英文单词fight，shouldn't后接动词原形，构成短语fight with；3. 句意为“小女孩父母外出时感到孤独”，此处需填形容词lonely，作feel的表语；4. 句意为“鹦鹉能学着重复人们的简单单词”，“重复”对应英文单词repeat，learn to后接动词原形；5. 句意为“他对了解我们周围的昆虫感兴趣”，“昆虫”对应英文单词insect，此处指一类事物，用复数形式insects。