Huge squares, great buildings and countless treasure—the world’s largest wooden palace, the Forbidden City, is more than 600 years old! It lived through fires and wars. But it still stands at ________ heart of Beijing today. And it never fails to catch its ________ eyes.

Have you ever wondered ________ made this marvel (奇迹)?

In 1406, when ________ Ming Emperor Yongle decided to move the country’s capital from Nanjing to Beijing, he started to build a palace at the heart of Beijing. His vision (愿景) was big. It took a million workers 14 years ________ it.

People sent materials from all over China to Beijing. Nanmu, the rarest of all Chinese woods, ________ to make huge wooden pillars (柱子). People can only find it deep in those warm forests over 1,800 km away from Beijing. Workers had to float the wood on rivers all the way north to Beijing.

Stones were also transported to the palace. The ________ stone in the Forbidden City is 250 tons. It was found 80 km west of Beijing. Because of its weight, people could only move it during winter. They poured water onto the road to create ice. Then thousands of workers in front kept pulling the stone on the ice to the palace.

The project even changed the local landscape (地貌). While building a river around the palace, workers dug up soil and piled it on a hill behind the Forbidden City. That’s exactly ________. The palace also holds many stories about ancient Chinese culture that still stays with us today. For example, there are mythical (神话的) animals ________ on the palace’s roofs. The number of animals shows the status of a building—the more animals there are, ________ the building is.

1.

A．a

B．the

C．an

D．/

2.

A．visitor’s

B．visitors’

C．visitors

D．visitors’s

3.

A．who

B．what

C．why

D．how

4.

A．third

B．the three

C．three

D．the third

5.

A．to finish

B．finishing

C．finish

D．to finishing

6.

A．were used

B．was used

C．used

D．were using

7.

A．heavy

B．heavier

C．more heavy

D．heaviest

8.

A．where Jingshan came from

B．what Jingshan came from

C．when Jingshan came from

D．who Jingshan came from

9.

A．to stand

B．are standing

C．standing

D．stand

10.

A．greater

B．the greater

C．great

D．greatest

A boy lost his arms in an accident. Since then, he has had to ________ his younger brother. Except for writing with his toes, he was ________ to do anything else. As the two brothers grew up together, they had their own problems and would often quarrel (争吵). Then one day, his younger brother went away and lived ________. The boy was heart-broken and didn’t know what to do.

A ________ thing happened to a girl. One night the girl was ________ dinner when it caused a fire. The fire took her hands away. ________ her elder sister wanted to take care of her, she refused. At school, she studied hard. She learned to be self-reliant (自力更生的). “I am lucky. Though my arms are broken, my heart can still fly,” she once wrote.

One day, the boy and the girl were both ________ to a TV program. The boy told the TV host about his uncertain (不确定的) future, while the girl was full of hope for her life. They were both asked to ________ something on a piece of paper with their   toes. The boy wrote: My younger brother’s arms are my arms. While the girl wrote: Broken wings, flying heart.

They had both ________ the same hard times, but their different attitudes determined(决定) the nature of their lives. It is true that ________ is unpredictable (不可预知的). Disasters can strike at any time. How you deal with the misfortune (不幸) when you are faced with it is the test of your personalities.

11.

A．take on

B．depend on

C．carry on

D．go on

12.

A．unusual

B．unlucky

C．unhealthy

D．unable

13.

A．alone

B．lonely

C．only

D．own

14.

A．strange

B．similar

C．different

D．wonderful

15.

A．watching

B．working

C．serving

D．preparing

16.

A．Though

B．Because

C．Since

D．If

17.

A．connected

B．invited

C．appeared

D．suggested

18.

A．put

B．draw

C．write

D．make

19.

A．gone over

B．turned over

C．looked through

D．gone through

20.

A．weather

B．nature

C．life

D．action

A man came home from work late, tired and found his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” “If you must know, I make $20 an hour.” “Oh.” The little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I please borrow $10?” The father was angry, “If the only reason you ask is that you can borrow some money to buy a useless toy, then you, to bed.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and closed the door. After about an hour or so, the man calmed down. He started to think. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the little boy’s room and opened the door.

“Are you asleep, son?” he asked.

“No, Daddy,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier.” said the man, “Here’s the $10 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. “Oh thank you, Daddy.” he said happily. Then, reaching under his pillow (枕头) he took some money. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.

“Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father asked.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied, “Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”

21. Which of these tells about the boy in the story?

A．He was alone at home before his father came back.	B．He was a middle school student.
C．He got angry easily.	D．He didn’t love his father.

22. How much money do you think was already there under the boy’s pillow?

A．About $40.

B．About $20.

C．About $10.

D．About $5.

23. What do you think the father will do after he knows the truth?

A．He will be very angry with his son.	B．He gives his son more money to buy toys.
C．He will work harder and make more money.	D．He will try to spend more time with his son.

Even in early time, people could realize the importance of dreams and knew that dreams gave meaning to life. Every great achievement has been the result of years of dreaming. If a person has a dream and holds fast to it, he or she will find a way to bring it into reality.

Children do not have much experience or knowledge. However, they are natural dreamers. We should not laugh at them for being naive. Many great men were dreamers when they were children. One such dreamer was Thomas Edison. He used to be ostracized(排斥) when he was in primary school, but his achievements were greater than everyone else’s in his time.

Teenagers and young people should also be encouraged to dream The world is full of successful teenagers and young people. They dreamt big and their dreams changed their lives and even the world. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are the good examples. They have developed technology and brought great progress to human besides making money for themselves.

Older people should believe that it is never too late to dream and that human mind is never too old to make dreams turn into reality. Colonel Saunders realized his dreams at the age of 67 and set up the biggest fried chicken company(KFC) in the world.

To dream is a wonderful ability which can lead to wonderful results. Olympic records were broken by players who were brave enough to dream. No one is too young or too old to dream and to make dreams come true.

24. What does the example of Colonel Saunders show us?

A．Setting up a big company is a wonderful ability.

B．Developing technology can bring great progress.

C．Even older people can make their dreams come true.

D．People should be brave enough to dream when they are young

25. The underlined word “naive” in the passage means “________” in Chinese.

A．逆反的

B．幼稚的

C．调皮的

D．冲动的

26. The best title(题目) for the passage is ________.

A．From Dream to Reality	B．Good Examples of Dreams
C．Achievements in History	D．A List of Successful Dreamers

How do you feel when your teacher asks you to work on a group project with other students? Do you like to work together with others or work alone?

The Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, carried out a survey of students’ ability to work together in groups. They found that students who do well on tests by themselves are also likely to be better at working with other people. This finding was true for many countries. Students in Japan, South Korea, Finland and Canada, where test scores are high, also did well in working together to solve problems. But this is not the case for every country. Chinese students, who tend (倾向于) to have high scores as well, displayed just average collaborative (合作的) skills.

“One reason might be that Chinese parents and teachers focus too much on grades,” said Zhao Zhongxin, former vice president of the Chinese Family Education Association. “Students have a lot of exam pressure and they view school as a place for competition.” “However, collaborative skills are very important for preparing students for today’s society,” he added. Luckily, more Chinese parents and teachers are realizing the importance of this and are thinking of ways to help students improve these skills.

Another interesting finding from the PISA survey was that girls tend to be better than boys at working together. They said girls show more positive attitudes towards relationships, which means they are more willing to listen to others’ opinions.

PISA also found that the classroom environment tends to influence how well students collaborate. In classes where there are a lot of activities that require communication, such as class debates, students tend to have better attitudes toward collaborating.

27. In which country should the students improve their collaborative skills?

A．China.

B．South Korea.

C．Canada.

D．Finland.

28. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A．Chinese parents and teachers don’t care about grades.

B．Chinese students have little exam pressure.

C．Collaborative skills are not important in China’s society.

D．Chinese parents hope to help students improve their collaborative skills.

29. What can we learn from the PISA survey in the passage?

A．Students with good grades are likely to be worse at working in groups

B．Boys tend to be better than girls at working together.

C．The classroom environment tends to influence how well students collaborate.

D．Chinese students are the best at working with others.

30. What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Students in Canada should improve their collaborative skills.

B．The PISA carried out a survey and got interesting findings.

C．Boys should improve their collaborative skills.

D．Teachers should improve the classroom environment.

Shi Peng won the top prize in a college, students’ start-up (创业) competition for setting up a website to help children find playmates (玩伴).   

Shi was brought up by his grandparents in a village in Hubei Province.     31     Later, the 22-year-old student at a university in Wuhan decided to set up a special website for children. He hoped that his website could help children meet new friends of the same age and feel less lonely.

    32     According to his research one about 6,000 children in cities like Guangzhou, Wuhan and Suzhou, most of them don’t have brothers or sisters and they are in need of playmates. “From my own experience, I think it’s a great idea to have such a website on which children can find playmates," Shi said.

The website is set up mainly for pre-school children in kindergarten (幼儿园) and their parents. All the users of the website must use their real names.     33     Through the website, parents who are busy during the day can get in touch with other parents who are free and willing to find some playmates for their children.

       As it gets more and more popular among children and parents, the website now holds many colorful online activities.     34     The website also provides parents with valuable chances to communicate with each other.
        Ni Wufan is one of the professors in Shi’s university. He said, “    35    ” He also agrees that our society needs more creative ideas like Shi’s to deal with children’s problems.

A．This is to make sure that the children are safe.

B．I have some different opinions about Shi’s website.

C．The website is a great example of start-up projects.

D．He hardly had any playmates growing up as a child.

E．There’re many interesting online games for children to play.

F．Shi Peng did some research before he set up the website.

G．They include scientific tests and group games for children.

36. 我有很多问题想要问你。
I have ________ to ask you.