1 . Zoe Chambers was a successful PR (Public Relations) consultant (顾问) and life was going well—she had a great job, a beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through.” she said. “After everything I’d done for the company, they dismissed me by text!I was So angry and I just didn’t feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life.”

Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later, she is still on the farm.

“The moment I arrived at Kathy’s farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay.” said Zoe. “ Everything about

my past life suddenly seemed meaningless.”

Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. “It’s a hard life, physically very tiring. ” she says. “In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy’s wonderful dinners. ”

Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing-—watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, “It’s one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had. I could never go back to city life now. ”

1. When working as a PR consultant in London, Zoe thought she lived a        life.

A．satisfying

B．tough

C．meaningless

D．boring

2. The most important reason why Zoe went to visit Kathy’s farm is that          .

A．Zoe lost her job as a PR consultant

B．Kathy persuaded her to do so

C．Zoe got tired of the city life

D．Zoe loved Wales mare than London

3. How does Zoe feel about the country life according to the passage?

A．Tiresome and troublesome.

B．Romantic and peaceful

C．Mentally exhausting but healthy

D．Physically tiring but rewarding.

4. Which of the following is closest to the main idea of the passage?

A．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

B．Where there is a will, there is a way.

C．A misfortune may turn out a blessing.

D．Kill two birds with one stone.

2 .        People often fall ill because of me. ____ , they can hardly blame me; it is largely their own ____. A tired person may get ____, especially when he goes to crowded places with polluted air. A sudden change in ____ is another factor. In hot summer, people turn on the air-conditioner upon returning home. They will catch a cold easily.
       My latest victim is an energetic student. After school, he played football hard for two hours. Though ____, he still went to the cinema .Then he got back home and took a cold shower immediately.
       I seized this golden chance to ____ him. He reacted, trying to ____ me , but I was already ____ deep in his throat. He kept sneezing(打喷嚏) and his nose was running ____ he put on some warm clothes, it didn’t work, for there were too many of us. Besides, his sore throat kept ____ him, and he developed a cough to force me and my family out, but ____ .
       The next day he couldn’t go to ____. He had lost his appetite and was not as ____ as before. His mother made him orange juice every few hours for more vitamin C, which would help his ____.
       For two days he was ____ by his mother. As he rested more, his defense strengthened and I began to feel the ____.   I knew I had to ____ him before long. But I am not the one who gives up easily, and I made every effort to fight back ____, it was my turn to feel ____ now, for his defense system was starting an all-out attack against me. I became ____ and finally my time was over.
       Do you know what I am?1.

A．Therefore

B．Besides

C．However

D．Then K

2.

A．business

B．responsibility

C．excuse

D．fault

3.

A．punished

B．blamed

C．caught

D．killed

4.

A．temperature

B．season

C．place

D．condition

5.

A．excited

B．hurt

C．late

D．tired

6.

A．injure

B．bother

C．attack

D．destroy

7.

A．get on with

B．get rid of

C．put up with

D．take hold of

8.

A．reproducing

B．waiting

C．hiding

D．disappearing

9.

A．Since

B．Once

C．Whether

D．Although

10.

A．reminding

B．upsetting

C．comforting

D．influencing

11.

A．escaped

B．succeeded

C．regretted

D．failed

12.

A．bed

B．work

C．school

D．hospital

13.

A．peaceful

B．afraid

C．active

D．happy

14.

A．recovery

B．development

C．study

D．growth

15.

A．protected

B．nursed

C．scolded

D．affected

16.

A．loss

B．operation

C．pressure

D．movement

17.

A．leave

B．catch

C．forget

D．beat

18.

A．Uncertainly

B．Unfairly

C．Unusually

D．Unfortunately

19.

A．painful

B．tired

C．nervous

D．ashamed

20.

A．bigger

B．weaker

C．smaller

D．stronger

3 . Tens of thousands of theatre tickets will be given away to young people next year as part of a government campaign to inspire a lifelong love for theatre.
The plan to offer free seats to people aged between 18 to 26—funded with £2.5 million of taxpayers’ money—was announced yesterday by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary. It received a cautious welcome from some in the arts world, who expressed concern that the tickets may not reach the most underprivileged.
The plan comes as West End theatres are enjoying record audiences, thanks largely to musicals teaming up with television talent shows. Attendances reached. 13.6 million in 2007, up 10 percent on 2006, itself a record year. Total sales were up 18 percent on 2006 to almost £470 million.
One theatre source criticised the Government’s priorities(优先考虑的事) in funding free tickets when pensioners were struggling to buy food and fuel, saying: “I don’t know why the Government’s wasting money on this. The Yong Vic, as The Times reported today, offers excellent performances at cheap prices.”
There was praise for the Government’s plan from Dominic Cooke of the Royal Court Theatre, who said: “I support any move to get young people into theatre, and especially one that aims to do it all over England, not just in     London.”
Ninety-five publicly funded theatres could apply for funding under the two-year plan. In return, they will offer free tickets on at least one day each week to 18 to 26-year-olds, first-come, first-served. It is likely to be on Mondays, traditionally a quiet night for the theatre.
Mr. Burnham said: “A young person attending the theatre can find it an exciting experience, and be inspired to explore a new world. But sometimes people miss out on it because they fear it’s ‘not for them’. It’s time to change this perception.”
Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: “The real issue is not getting enthusiastic children into the theatre, but improving arts education so that more young people want to go in the first place. For too many children theatres are a no-go area.”
1. Critics of the plan argued that ______.

A．the theatres would be overcrowded

B．it would be a waste of money

C．pensioners wouldn’t get free tickets

D．the government wouldn’t be able to afford it

2. According to the supporters, the plan should ______.

A．benefit the television industry

B．focus on producing better plays

C．help increase the sales of tickets

D．involve all the young people in England

3. Which of the following is TRUE about the plan?

A．Ninety-five theatres have received funding.

B．Everyone will get at least one free ticket.

C．It may not benefit all the young people.

D．Free tickets are offered once every day.

4. We can infer from the passage that in England ______.

A．many plays are not for young people

B．many young people don’t like theatre

C．people know little about the plan

D．children used to receive good arts education

5. According to the passage, the issue to offer free tickets to young people seems ______.

A．controversial

B．inspiring

C．exciting

D．unreasonable

4 . There were smiling children all the way.Clearly they knew at what time the train passed their homes and they made it their business to stand along the railway,wave to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penang.Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favorite relatives.This is the simple village people of Malaysia.I was moved.

I had always traveled to Malaysia by plane or car,so this was the first time I was on a train.I did not particularly relish the long train journey and had brought along a dozen magazines to read and reread.I looked about the train.There was not one familiar face.I sighed and sat down to read my Economics.

It was not long before the train was across the Causeway and in Malaysia.Johore Baru was just another city like Singapore,so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past.As we went beyond the city,I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green.Then the first village came into sight.Immediately I came alive;I decided to wave back.

From then on my journey became interesting.I threw my magazines into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life.Then everything came alive.The mountains seemed to speak to me.Even the trees were smiling.I stared at everything as if I was looking at it for the first time.

The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry.I looked at my watch and was surprised that it was 3:00 pm.Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth.I looked at the people all around me.They all looked beautiful.When my uncle arrived with a smile,I threw my arms around him to give him a warm hug (拥抱).I had never done this before.He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile.We walked arm in arm to his car.

I looked forward to the return journey.

1. The author expected the train trip to be　　　.

A．adventurous	B．pleasant
C．exciting	D．dull

2. What did the author remember most fondly of her train trip?

A．The friendly country people.

B．The mountains along the way.

C．The crowds of people in the streets.

D．The simple lunch served on the train.

3. Which of the following words can best take the place of the word “relish” in the second paragraph?

A．choose	B．enjoy
C．prepare for	D．carry on

4. Where was the writer going?

A．Johore Baru.	B．The Causeway.
C．Butterworth.	D．Singapore.

5. What can we learn from the story?

A．Comfort in traveling by train.

B．Pleasure of living in the country.

C．Reading gives people delight.

D．Smiles brighten people up.

5 . In America, when people say “man’s best friend”, they don’t mean another person. Instead, they are talking about a lovely animal：A dog! These words show the friendship between people and animals. Dogs and other pets can give happiness to people’s lives. Some people think of their pets as their children. A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!
Animals can help people, too. Dogs can be taught to become the “eyes” for a blind person or “ears” for a deaf people. Scientists have found that pets help people live longer! They make people happier, too. Because of that, animals are brought into hospitals for “visit”.
Americans hold “Be-Kind-to-Animals Week” in the first week of May.
Pets shows are held during the week. Even if you don’t live in America, you, too, can do this. How? First, think about how animals make your life richer. If you have a pet, take more time this week to play with it. Remember to give it delicious food. Also, be sure to keep your pet from those unwanted babies.
If you don’t have a pet, be kind to animals around you. For example, if you see a street dog, don’t kick it or throw things at it. Instead, just leave it alone, or better yet, make friends with it. If others around you do bad things to an animal, try to stop them. As people, we must protect animals who can’t speak for themselves.
1. “A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!” means that__________

A．pets have the right to inherit (继承) money.

B．money can give pets happiness.

C．it’s the best way to spend money.

D．some pets are taken as children.

2. Why are dogs brought to hospitals?

A．Because they are ill and need to see doctors.

B．Because they can make the patients happier.

C．Because they can find out the problems of the patients.

D．Because doctors can do experiments on them.

3. What’s the most popular activity in the “Be-Kind-to-Animals Week”?

A．Holding a pet show in the week.

B．Playing with pets the whole week.

C．Cooking delicious food for pets.

D．Making friends with other people’s pets.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．A lot of people are interested in dogs.

B．Dogs can help people do many things. Z+X+X+K]

C．Pets are lovely and need care and protection.

D．We have done a lot of things for pets.

5. The words “man’s best friends” shows____________.

A．the friendship between people.

B．the friendship between people and animals.

C．the friendship between animals.

D．the friendship between men and women

6 . Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21-year-old twin sons: a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart.
"I have two kids in college, and I want to say come home. ' but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education," says Jacobs.
The Jacobs family, did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid from the schools, and each son increased his' borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program. They will each graduate with $ 20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to finish school.
With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear from more families like the Jacobses. More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans. College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around.
At the same time, tuition (学费) continues to rise. A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147% . Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade.
"If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won't have an affordable system of higher education," says Patrick M. Calan, president of the center. "The middle class families have been financing it through debt. They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt."
Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them. The good news, however, is that federal loans account for about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted.
1. According to Paragraph 1. why did the plan of the Jacobs family fail?

A．The twins wasted too much money.	B．The father was out of work.
C．Their saving ran out.	D．The family fell apart.

2. How did the Jacobses manage to solve their problem?

A．They asked their kids to come home.

B．They borrowed $20, 000 from the schools.

C．They encouraged their twin sons to do part-time jobs.

D．They got help from the schools and the federal government.

3. Financial aid administrators believe that________.

A．more families will face the same problem as the Jacobses

B．the government will receive more letters of complaint

C．college tuition fees will double soon

D．America's unemployment will fall

4. What can we learn about the middle class families from they text?

A．They blamed the government for the tuition increase.

B．Their income increased steady in the last decade.

C．They will try their best to send kids to college.

D．Their debts will be paid off within 25 years.

5. According to the last paragraph the government will________.

A．provide most students with scholarships

B．dismiss some financial aid administrators

C．stop the companies from making student loans

D．go on providing financial support for college students

7 . Below is a housing guide for students going to London.
University accommodation (住所)offices
Many university accommodation offices have their own list of registered landlords (房东). Others also provide information on accommodation agencies and other housing organizations. The advantage of using your university accommodation office is that you can get some support if you have 'a problem. The disadvantage is that they are unlikely to have enough registered landlords to house all their students.
Property papers: Loot and Renting
Loot is an important source (来源) of information about private housing for co-renters. The offers are from private landlords, agencies and individuals looking for other co-renters. They also have a website: www. loot. com. The advantage of using Loot is that there are some excellent bargains. The disadvantage is that there is no quality control over the offers.
Renting is another useful paper. The offers in this paper are mainly from accommodation agencies. Their website is at www. Renting.co. uk.
Accommodation agencies
The majority of rented accommodation in London is probably advertised through accommodation agencies. The advantage of using accommodation agencies is that you will have access to a large number of accommodations. A good agent will listen to your requirements and can save you time in looking for the right accommodation. The disadvantage is that they will make a range of charges to potential renters.
Noticeboards
Around the universities you will find a number of noticeboards where offers of accommodation will be posted. These will either be from landlords or from students. Some universities will also have online noticeboards where students can advertise to other students.   Advertisements from students can be an excellent way to find                                                                                                      accommodation. However, advertisements from landlords can be problematic.
Word of mouth
Some of the best housing in London is never advertised but is passed on from one group of students to another by word of mouth. It might be that you can find out about good offers from final year students. However, don't suppose that just because you have found out about housing from a friend it is necessarily, going to be better than that found through any other source.
Family
Faced with the very high rents charged in London, some students and their parents will consider buying as an alternative. In some cases this might be a good choice.
1. What is the advantage of using Loot?

A．It has more offers from accommodation agencies than Renting.

B．It gives you personal information about other co-renters.

C．Their website is designed mainly for students.

D．There are some good bargains.

2. A good agent can help you .

A．know more people

B．find cheap accommodation

C．get the right accommodation quickly

D．get free information about most accommodations

3. The information passed on by word of mouth is important because .

A．it is better than that found through any other source

B．it helps you find some of the best housing never advertised

C．the final year students always offer better information

D．the landlords have little valuable information

4. For students going to London for the first time, which of the following provides the most reliable information?

A．University accommodation offices.

B．Loot and Renting.

C．Noticeboards.

D．Family.

8 . Poorer children would be offered the chance to attend lessons on Saturday to help catch up with their middle class peers (同龄人), the shadow schools secretary, Michael Gove, said today. The Conservatives would give English state schools the freedom to choose to have longer teaching hours and extra classes at the weekend, he told the Association of Teachers and Lecturers’ annual conference.

Gove said the move would help to close the achievement gap with richer children whose parents could afford extras such as tutoring and music lessons.

He told delegates (代表) in Manchester: “For children who come from homes where parents don’t have the resources to provide additional stretch and cultural experiences, there are benefits in having those children in the learning environment, in school, for longer.”

“Parents would love to have schools starting earlier in some circumstances, and certainly going on later in the afternoon, given the reality of their working lives,” he said. He held up the example of Kipp (Knowledge is Power Program) schools in the US, which are often based in the poorest communities and open from 7:30 am to 5pm on weekdays, plus Saturdays.

But it would be up to schools to decide to offer longer hours, Gove added.

Parents said Saturday classes could become a “badge of dishonor” if pupils were forced to go, while teachers raised concerns about their workload.

Margaret Morrissey, of Parents Outloud, said: “I think the suggestion the government made about one-to-one teaching for these kids would be a more preferable way of improving these children’s performance. I’m just not sure whether taking away a child at weekends is actually going to make them cleverer in the week.”

The ATL’s general secretary, Mary Bousted, said: “If we want Saturday schools, then we need more teachers doing the extra hours, not the same teachers working longer.”

1. The program is intended for children____________.

A．who are from middle-class families

B．whose parents can’t afford extra help

C．who perform poorly academically

D．whose weekends are mostly unoccupied

2. “Additional stretch” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to_________.

A．music lessons

B．physical relaxation

C．entertainment activities

D．out-of-school improvement

3. Why did Gove mention Kipp schools in the US?

A．To make a comparison.

B．To introduce a new program.

C．To seek supportive evidence.

D．To prove his program is better.

4. What is Margaret Morrissey’s opinion about the new program?

A．Favorable.

B．Doubtful.

C．Optimistic.

D．Acceptable.

5. Which of the following is true?

A．Teachers may not like the program.	B．Schools are trying to make profits.
C．The program is already under way.	D．The program is popular with children.

9 .
SYDNEY: As they sat sharing sweets beside a swimming pool in 1999, Shane Gould and Jessicah Schipper were simply getting along well, chatting about sport, life and anything else that came up.
Yet in Sydney next month, they will meet again by the pool, and for a short time the friends will race against each other in the 50-meter butterfly in the Australian championships at Homebu Bay.
Gould, now a 47-year-old mother of four, has announced she will be making a return to elite competition (顶级赛事) to swim the one event, having set a qualifying (合格的) time of 30. 32 seconds in winning gold at last year’s United States Masters championships. Her comeback comes 32 years after she won three golds at the Munich Olympics.
Schipper, now a 17-year-old girl from Brisbane with a bright future of going to Athens for her first Olympics, yesterday recalled (回忆) her time with Gould five years ago. “I was at a national youth camp on the Gold Coast and Shane had come along to talk to us and watch us train.” Schipper explained. “It seemed as if we had long been good friends. I don’t know why. We just started talking and it went from there.”
“She had a lot to share with all of us at that camp. She told us stories about what it was like at big meets like Olympics and what it was like to be on an Australian team. It was really interesting.”
Next time, things will be more serious: “I will still be swimming in the 50m butterfly at the nationals, so there is a chance that I could actually be competing against Shane Gould.” said Schipper, who burst onto the scene at last year’s national championships with second places in the 100 m and 200 butterfly.
1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Stories happening in swimming competitions.

B．Two women swimmers winning Olympic golds.

C．Lessons learned from international swimming championships.

D．Friendship and competition between two swimmers.

2. Gould and Schipper are going to ________.

A．talk about sport and life	B．go back to elite competition
C．set a qualifying time and win gold	D．take part in the same sports event

3. Gould won her three Olympic golds when she was ________.

A．15

B．17

C．22

D．30

4. The underlined word “it” in the fifth paragraph probably refers to ________.

A．the Olympics	B．the youth camp
C．the friendship	D．the Australian team

5. What Spper said showed that she ________.

A．was no longer Gould’s friend	B．had learned a lot from Gould
C．was not interested in Gould’s stories	D．would not like to compete against Gould

10 .
In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard, the pay was poor; What’s more, the working conditions were terrible.
First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did receive a low pay.
But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.
1. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at the time?

A．to pay for his schooling	B．to save for his future
C．to contribute to charities	D．to gain some experience

2. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT ________.

A．loading boxes in the freezing cold	B．having limited time for breaks
C．working and studying at the same time	D．getting no pay for lunch time

3. What is the subject discussed in the text?

A．The writer’s unhappy school life.

B．The writer’s eagerness to earn money.

C．The writer’s experience as a full-time worker.

D．The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.

4. How is the text organized?

A．Topic-Argument-Explanation

B．Opinion-Discussion-Description

C．Main idea-Comparison-Supporting examples

D．Introduction-Supporting examples-Conclusion