【推荐1】In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet,despite the competition,my -year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest,a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests,and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's the strange thing about being a parent.

So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

A revelation(启示)came last week when I asked her, " Don't you want to win again？" No," she replied," I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade. "

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously(自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall,I offered suggestions for characters,conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided" by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade,I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting(借用)my daughter's experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me,it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps,putting myself far enough a way to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment， grow and find their own voices.

1. What do we learn from the first paragraph？

A．A lot of distractions compete for children's time nowadays.

B．Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

C．Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.

D．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience？

A．She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year's writing contest？

A．She had won a prize in the previous contest.

B．She wanted to share her stories with readers.

C．She was sure of winning with her mother's help.

D．She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

【推荐2】When I first got the bird, it must have only just been hatched. Its mother had disappeared, leaving it alone and shivering in the face of the north wind. I decided to take it straight back and build it a new home.

At that time, we grew a great many flowers in our house. Next to one hanging orchid (兰花) I hung another empty flowerpot and it was in this pot that the bird was to have its new home. When Dad got home, he immediately discovered the new addition to our family. Without saying a word, he turned around and left the house. After some time, he returned and I saw that he had a handful of grass and pine needles. Obviously, Dad thought the nest I had made was far too rough and so he had decided to decorate it himself.

“A bird born at this time of year won’t survive the winter.” In spite of this prediction on the bird’s future, Dad very carefully fashioned the nest himself. Soon I found “Nuo Nuo” (Dad had named him) had started to grow feathers. They looked like such fine little hairs that you could only notice them if you looked really closely. I only discovered them because every day I would cup him in my hands and look at him.

Dad probably realized that he had been a little cruel in his prediction. You see, he had already started training Nuo Nuo to walk. As you know, Nuo Nuo lived in a flowerpot, not a cage or anything. When he had nothing else to do, he walked around his little home. There were times when he was a bit naughty too and he jumped down onto our dining table.

It was obvious that Nuo Nuo didn’t realize he was a bird. He perhaps thinks he was one of the family. But it is not enough for a bird to walk, it must fly as well. Dad soon began attempting to make him learn this new ability, but it was not an easy task. After all, nobody in our family had mastered the art of flying. we didn’t even have wings. How could we ask Nuo Nuo to do something that we had no means of doing ourselves?

The flying lessons went on regardless. Dad jumped off a chair, waving his arms as if his life depended on it, in an attempt to encourage Nuo Nuo to shake his wings. Surprisingly, this stupid action of Dad’s did actually have an effect. Nuo Nuo began to shake his wings and started to rise.

Everything is hard at the beginning. But seeing as what we had already started, the fact that Nuo Nuo couldn’t fly was no reason not to continue trying. Nuo Nuo learnt to fly finally and he survived the winter as well.

1. According to the text, what is the new addition to the family?

A．one hanging orchid	B．another empty flowerpot
C．the little bird	D．a handful of grass

2. Why is it not an easy task to make the bird learn to fly?

A．Because the bird was raised in the cage.

B．Because the bird was one of the family.

C．Because the family didn’t want to teach him to fly.

D．Because the family didn’t have relevant experience.

3. What’s the family’s attitude towards the bird?

A．Cruel	B．Considerate
C．Tolerant	D．Unconcerned

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．All the predictions may come true.

B．Nothing is difficult at the beginning.

C．Everything deserves a try though hard.

D．There is always a reason to do something.

【推荐3】Alex Elman runs a big business — something difficult to imagine after she lost her sight in her twenties. But Elman says that losing her sight helped her focus on finding success.

Elman’s father planted a hillside vineyard in western Massachusetts in 1981. It’s where Elman fled during the darkest period of her life. When she was 27 years old, she went blind due to complications from juvenile diabetes (糖尿病) 17 years ago. She recalled, “I hid in my home. I hid in the place. For me, that was the safest place in the world.”

Elman is now the founder of Alex Elman Wines, a growing portfolio (系列产品) of organic wines from all around the world: Chianti from Italy, Torrontes from Argentina. Elman doesn’t work alone. Her assistant, a guide dog named Hanley, is something of a wine snob, and quite a beggar. Hanley travels to all of the wineries that Elman does, from South America to Europe.

At first, Elman resisted the idea of a guide-dog. Now it’s hard to imagine her life, or her business, without him. She said. “When someone tells me something is organic and I don’t really believe it because I taste something funny on it, I’ll put it in front of his face and if he likes the wine, he’ll go to sniff it. If it’s not right, he’ll turn his head away. He gets in the dirt with me. He scratches around. He makes sure that we see earthworms and butterflies. That’s how we know that the soil is actually organic, and that there are no chemicals.”

Elman told CBS News she believes the loss of her vision was a gift. She said, “It allowed me to pay attention to what I thought was important and also to be able to teach people that the broken hang nail is not a big deal, you know what I mean? Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t sweat the big stuff either.”

1. Elman hid herself in her father’s vineyard probably because she ________.

A．suffered from juvenile diabetes

B．was extremely painful for her blindness

C．would like to help her father with the work

D．expected to recover her sight sooner or later

2. The underlined phrase “the broken hang nail” (in Paragraph 5) probably refers to _____.

A．a nail which is of no use

B．a disadvantage you have in your life

C．a person who is hard to deal with

D．a task that is not easy to accomplish

3. This passage is mainly to tell us that _________.

A．Alex Elman leads a miserable life

B．Hanley brings Alex Elman much fun

C．Alex Elman gets along well with her pet

D．a blind woman tastes success in wine business

【推荐2】One day Mrs. Smith was sitting in her doctor’s waiting room when a young boy and his mother entered the office. The young boy caught Mrs. Smith’s attention because he wore a patch over one eye. She was surprised at how unaffected he seemed to be by the loss of an eye and watched as he followed his mother to a chair nearby.

The doctor’s office was very busy that day, so Mrs. Smith had an opportunity to ask the little boy what had happened to his eye while he played with his soldiers. He considered her question for a long moment, then replied,” I’m a pirate!” Then he returned to his game.

Mrs. Smith was there because she had lost her leg from the knee down in an auto accident. Her trip today was to determine whether it had healed enough to be fitted with a prosthesis. The loss had been a disaster to her. Intellectually, she knew that this loss should not interfere with her life; but emotionally, she just couldn’t overcome this obstacle. Her doctor had suggested imagination, but she had been unable to imagine such an emotionally unacceptable, lasting image.

The word “pirate” changed her life. Instantly, she was transported. She saw herself dressed as Long John Silver, standing aboard a pirate ship. She stood with her legs wide apart—one artificial. Her hands were clenched at her hips, her head up and her shoulders back, as she smiled into a storm. Cold water blew across the board as great waves broke against the ship. Still she stood firmly — proud, fearless.

A few minutes later, the nurse called her. As she balanced on her walking sticks, the young boy noticed her amputation. “Hey, lady,” he called, “what’s wrong with your leg?”

Mrs. Smith looked down at her shortened leg for a moment. Then she replied with a smile, “Nothing. I’m a pirate, too.”

1. According to the first two paragraphs, which word can best describe the boy?

A．Enthusiastic.

B．curious.

C．athletic.

D．optimistic.

2. We can infer from the underlined sentences that _______________.

A．The pirate’s life attracted Mrs. Smith a lot

B．Mrs. Smith became a pirate after she left the hospital

C．What the boy said had a great influence on Mrs. Smith’s life attitude.

D．Mrs. Smith got to know the meaning of the word and became a knowledgeable person

3. What can we learn from this story?

A．Let bygones be bygones.

B．Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.

C．We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

D．A lack of imagination is lack of the half life of beauty.

【推荐3】When school started in August,I threw myself into everything I did, including playing volleyball. I decided to become beautiful, or at least skinny. I stopped eating completely.Soon I began losing weight, which thrilled me, and I even grew to love the tiredness and lightheadedness(头晕）that came with my poor diet , for those feelings meant that I was winning .

One day my coach, Coach Smith, felt something was wrong with my health. She talked with me about my eating and was angry that I wouldn't listen to her when she tried to make me eat. She tried to persuade me and so we fought constantly. Then my hunger started to affect my performance . I was so tired that practice and games were becoming a struggle. One afternoon Coach Smith asked me what I had eaten and I told her nothing yet. She looked at me, with disappointment in her eyes, knowing she couldn't make me stop, and walked away.

Several weeks later I attended a dinner for our volleyball team.I stood there as my coach managed to say something nice about me.I realised that I had ruined my senior year by being disrespectful, and I had ruined hers as well. So that evening I wrote her a letter apologising and thanking her.

Then one Saturday, as I was reading in the library, I felt someone gently take my arm and say softly,"Jones,how are you doing?"I looked up and saw the familiar face."Thanks for the letter,"she said."It meant a lot."

When I think of a coach,I think of someone who gives instruction-not a friend. But Coach Smith is different, she dealt with my problem in a determined way even though I hated her for it.I didn't deserve her kindness,but she gave it anyway.I will forever be grateful for her help , and now for her friendship .

1. When the author ate a poor diet and had a sense of tiredness, how did she feel?

A．Stupid.

B．Proud.

C．Funny.

D．Nervous.

2. Why did the author fought with Coach Smith?

A．She refused to go on a diet.

B．She caused failure of her team.

C．She changed the training course.

D．She kept her idea of losing weight.

3. Why did the author write a letter to Coach Smith?

A．She felt sorry for eating too little food.

B．She decided to improve her performance.

C．She was grateful for Smith's care for her health.

D．She wanted to build a close relationship with Smith.

【推荐1】Since I was born and brought up in a rural town, I have a great interest in nature. Taking the chance of studying abroad in my second year at college, I decided to go to Canada just because I wanted to see the beautiful phenomena there. So after I finished the study program, I went to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories.

I clearly remember the sixth night in Yellowknife. Suddenly my host mother came to my room around 8 p.m. and told me to change clothes and go outside quickly carrying her camera.

The northern lights were flickering in the sky! I was shocked and just stood there with my mouth open. I forgot to take pictures of the mysterious lights.

Since that night, whenever it was sunny, I went outside at night and looked at the sky. It was so cold that I lost all feeling in my hands and feet.

As I took pictures of the northern lights, I came to find a characteristic movement of the lights. They first appear in the north part of the sky and then they gradually come down to the south part of the sky. After that, suddenly, they come in the middle of the north and south only for a while, which is the time when the best northern lights can be seen. Since it is only a few seconds for the northern lights to come down to the middle to the sky, it is very hard to get good pictures.

The stronger the sun acts, the better and stronger the northern lights flicker in the sky. That’s because they come about from the collisions between atmospheric gases and solar wind. Much more solar wind comes to the earth when the sun is active, which leads to best northern lights. And the colors of the northern lights depend on the height of the collisions and the kinds of gases.

1. Why did the host mother ask the author to go out?

A．She wanted to tell him something important.

B．She wanted to take a walk with him.

C．She wanted him to see the northern lights.

D．She wanted to take a picture of him.

2. The author forgot to take pictures after going out because _______ .

A．the host mother didn’t remind him to take the camera

B．he lost his feeling in his hands and feet

C．the lights flickering in the sky disappeared too soon

D．he was shocked by the wonderful sight

3. When is the best time to see the northern lights?

A．When they are between the north and south.

B．When they come down to the south part of the sky.

C．When they appear in the north part of the sky.

D．When they rise in the east part of the sky.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Ways to take good pictures of the northern lights.

B．The time of the best northern lights.

C．The relationship between the sun and the northern lights.

D．The colors of the northern lights.

【推荐3】Every week for the past thirty years, I have hosted a Sunday dinner in my home. People, including total strangers, call or e-mail to book a spot. I hold the salon in my studio. The first fifty people who call may come-twice that many when the weather is nice and we can overflow into the garden.

    1    Last week it was a philosophy student from Lisbon, and next week a dear friend from London will cook.

People from all corners of the world come to break bread together，to meet to talk，and often to become friends. All ages, nationalities, races, and professions gather here, and since there is no organized seating, the opportunity for connecting couldn’t be better. I love the randomness (随意).

I have a good memory^ so each week I make a point to remember everyone’s name on the guest list and where they’re from so I can introduce them to one another. If I had my way, I would introduce everyone in the whole world to one another.

    2    Many travelers go to see things like the Tower of London, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and so on. I travel to see friends，even-or especially-those I’ve never met.

In the late 1980s, I edited a series of guidebooks to different countries.    3    Instead, each book contained about a thousand biographies of people who would be willing to welcome travelers in their cities. Hundreds of friendships evolved from these encounters, including including marriages and babies.

The same can be said for my salon. At a recent dinner a six-year-old girl from Bosnia spent the entire evening glued to an eight-year-old boy from Estonia. Their parents were surprised, and pleased, by this immediate friendship.

    4    Most of them speak English, at least as a second language. Recently a dinner featured a typical mix: a beautiful painter from Norway, a truck driver from Arizona, a newspaper editor from Sydney and students from all over.

It is unnecessary to understand others; one must, at the very least, simply tolerate others.

    5    No one can ever really understand anyone else, but you can love them or at least accept them.

I am a world citizen. All human history is mine. My roots cover the earth. We should know each other. Okay, now come and dine.

A．I believe in introducing people to people.

B．People are the most important thing in my life.

C．There were no sights to see, no shops or museums to visit.

D．Tolerance can lead to respect and, finally, to love.

E．After all, our lives are all connected.

F．Every Sunday a different friend prepares a feast.

G．There is always a collection of people throughout the world.

【推荐1】A team of international scientists is due to set off for the world's biggest iceberg in a mission aiming to answer fundamental questions about the impact of climate change in the polar regions. The scientists, led by the British Antarctic Survey(BAS), are trying to reach a newly revealed ecosystem that had been hidden for 120, 000 years below the Larsen C ice shelf.

Last year, part of the Larsen C ice shelf calved(崩解) away, forming a huge iceberg-A68-which is four times bigger than London, and revealing life beneath for the first time. Now scientists say it is a race against time to explore these new ecosystems before they are transformed to the light. Marine biologist Dr Katrin Linse from the BAS is leading the mission.

“The calving of A68 provides us with a unique opportunity to study marine life as it responds to a huge environment change,” she said. “It is important that we get there quickly before the undersea environment changes as sunlight enters the water.”

Professor David Vaughan, science director at the BAs, said, “We need to be bold on this one. Larsen C is a long way south and there's lots of sea ice in the area, but this is important science, so we will try our best to get the team where they need to be. He said climate change had already affected the sea around Antarctica and is warming some coastal waters. “Future warming may make some habitats warm. Where these habitats support unique species that are adapted to love the cold and not the warm, those species are going to either move or die.”

There is growing concern about the possible impact of climate change in the Antarctic. Earlier this month, a report revealed that melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are speeding up the already fast pace of the sea level rise. The research, published by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Mediome, said, “At the current rate, the world's ocean will be, on average, at least 60cm higher by the end of the century.” However, it found that the process is accelerating, and more than three quarters of the acceleration since 1993 is due to melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, the study shows.

1. Why are the scientists eager to go to the iceberg?

A．To study how the iceberg was formed.

B．To study a newly discovered ecosystem.

C．To explore a new way to prevent climate change.

D．To explore the geography of the Larsen C ice shelf.

2. What do the underlined words "this one" in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A．The Larsen C ice shelf.

B．Climate change in Antarctica.

C．The A68 iceberg with the ecosystem beneath it.

D．The condition of animal species in Antarctica.

3. What can we learn about the A68 iceberg from the text?

A．It is 4 times as big as London.

B．It is part of an ice shelf in the Arctic.

C．It will disappear in a very short time.

D．It has uncovered an unknown ecosystem in Antarctica.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．There is no need to worry about climate change in Antarctica.

B．The ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting at a steady rate.

C．Many creatures living in deep water will die out due to climate change.

D．By 2100, the sea level will have risen to a much higher level than now.

【推荐2】One of the greatest killers in the Western World is heart disease. The death rate from the disease has been increasing at an alarming speed for the past thirty years. Today in Britain, for example, about four hundred people a day die of heart, disease. Medical experts know that people can reduce their chances of getting heart disease by exercising regularly, by not smoking, by changing their diets, and by paying more attention to reducing stress in their work.

However, western health-care systems are still not paying enough attention to the prevention of the disease. There is a need for more programs to educate the public about the causes and prevention of heart disease. Instead of supporting such programs, however, the US health-care system is spending large sums of money on the surgical treatment of the disease after it develops. This emphasis on treatment clearly has something to do with the technological advances that have taken place in the past ten to fifteen years. In this time, modern technology has enabled doctors to develop new surgical techniques. Many operations that were considered impossible or too risky a few years ago are now performed every day in US hospitals, The result has been a huge increase in heart surgery.

Although there is no doubt that heart surgery can help a large number of people, some people point out that the emphasis on the surgical treatment of the disease has three clear disadvantages. First, it attracts interest and money from the question of prevention. Second, it causes the costs of general hospital care to rise. After hospitals buy the expensive equipment that is necessary for modern heart surgery, they must try to recover the money they have spent.To do this, they raise costs for all their patients, not just those patients whose treatment requires the equipment. The third disadvantage is that doctors are encouraged to perform surgery…even on patients for whom an operation is unnecessary…because the equipment and expert skills are there. A government office recently stated that major heart surgery was often performed even though its chances of success were low. In one type of heart surgery, for example, only 15 percent of patients improved their conditions after the surgery. However, more than 100 000 of these operations are performed in the United States every year.

1. What effect has modern technology had on medicine?

A．It has reduced the costs of medical treatment.

B．It has helped save the lives of most patients.

C．It has encouraged doctors to do more heart surgeries.

D．It has helped educate people about the prevention of heart disease.

2. “To do this” (in Paragraph 3) means_________________.

A．to help patients recover

B．to increase the number of heart surgeries

C．to get back the money spent on the equipment

D．to buy new equipment for the treatment of heart disease

3. The author would agree that___________.

A．more money should be spent on the prevention of heart disease

B．heart surgery has helped most patients improve their conditions

C．modern technology has made heart surgery more risky than before

D．the public have known a great deal about the causes of heart disease

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．The Greatest Killer in the West

B．Heart Disease: Treat or Prevent

C．Modem Technology and Heart Surgery

D．Heart Surgery: Advantages and Disadvantages

【推荐3】Trust me, you don’t want to get caught under a tsunami! Tsunamis are one of the world’s most powerful natural forces. They can cause huge amounts of damage.

But do you know exactly what a tsunami is? They are huge, powerful waves in the ocean that grow as they reach the shore. Most tsunamis are actually caused by earthquakes. An earthquake happens when a big piece of the Earth’s crust( 地 壳 ) suddenly moves. When the piece of ocean floor moves, it creates big holes. The water floods in to fill these holes. When the water moves that quickly, it creates a huge wave. This is how tsunamis are born!

Other natural disasters like landslides, volcanic eruptions, and glaciers breaking off can also cause tsunamis. Once the water starts moving because of the force of the disaster, large waves begin to spread. These waves can move very fast. They have been recorded at speeds from 400 up to 500 miles per hour! They can also move across very long distances.

At first, the waves of the tsunami may not seem that tall. That’s because when the waves travel through the deep parts of the ocean, the top of each wave is very short. But as that wave comes near to the coast, it grows in height. Remember, the tsunami travels quickly. If you are sitting on a beach, you may not see the wave coming at first. But when the wave arrives, it will be like a towering wall of water. Some waves are as tall as 100 feet high. The biggest tsunami ever recorded happened in 1958 in Lituya Bay, Alaska. The wave was over 1,720 feet tall, and it wiped out trees, vegetation, and everything else in its way.

As frightening as tsunamis can be, you don’t need to worry too much about them. They don’t happen that often. Only about two tsunamis happen every year. And it is said that serious, really damaging   tsunamis only happen about every fifteen years. So don’t worry.

1. Based on the information in the article, which natural disaster is not responsible for causing a tsunami?

A．tornado

B．volcanic eruption

C．earthquake

D．landslides

2. If a tsunami forms in the deep ocean, 2,000 miles off the coast of Sri Lanka, how long at least will it take the tsunami to reach the coast of Sri Lanka ?

A．2 hours

B．3 hours

C．4 hours

D．5 hours

3. Which of the following about tsunami is true?

A．The waves of the tsunami always move slowly over a long distance.

B．People on a ship in the deep ocean will notice a tsunami at once as soon as it forms.

C．When people on the beach first notice a tsunami, the waves are not tall.

D．People will not notice a tsunami until it gets close to the coast.

4. Where would this passage most likely to be found?

A．in a newspaper

B．in a science magazine

C．in a textbook

D．in a story book