1 . Many people believe that you lose the ability to learn new languages as you get older. Language experts, however, will tell you that you’re never too old to learn a new language. As you get older, it can be more difficult to learn a new language, though.

Children and adults learn new languages in different ways. For children, language is their life. They study for thousands of hours every year, because they need to learn languages to become part of their communities. Adults, on the other hand, are already part of a language community. Learning a new language means becoming part of another language community, and adults rarely get the chance to practice as much as young children do.

Moreover, children learning a new language are expected to make mistakes. This gives them freedom when learning to be daring and confident. Adults, however, often feel pressured to be perfect when learning a new language. This can discourage many people and make it even harder to learn a new language.

When young children learn a new language, they come to see all kinds of languages as a “normal” part of society. This mindset(思维模式) helps them embrace learning a new language without feeling like they’re doing something unusual or “too hard”.

So if you want to learn a new language, go for it! It’s never too late to learn a new language. If you’re older, it may take more work, but it can be done. If you’re a young child, though, now it is the time to step out and learn a new language!

1. By saying “language is their life” in Paragraph 2, the author means that children ________.

A．can’t live without language	B．lead a happy life every day
C．practice a new language a lot	D．are taken good care of by adults

2. What may make it hard for adults to learn a new language?

A．They often feel pressured.	B．They usually have too many interests.
C．They think making mistakes is natural.	D．They always make all kinds of mistakes.

3. Which of the following shows the difference between children and adults in learning a new language?

A．The behavior they have.	B．The learning attitudes.
C．The future plans they have made.	D．The materials they are using.

4. According to the author,   a new language ________.

A．can never be learned by the old people

B．can be learned by the old people easily

C．can be understood only by the old people

D．can be learned by both the old and the young

2 . John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.

Luckily, he had strong-willed (意志坚强的), caring mother. John remembers that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe. She told him not to be dependent on (依靠) others, including his mother. “You have to earn success,” said she. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”

These words came from a woman less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son—then 15—to Chicago.

Chicago in1933 was not the promised land (乐土、希望之地) that black southerners were looking for, John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But there John could go to school, and there he learned the power of words—as editor of the newspaper and yearbook of Du Stable High School. His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks.

While others discouraged (阻止、使气馁) him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by: “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” She also let him pawn (典当) her furniture (家具) to get the $500 he needed to start the Negro magazine.

It is natural the difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind. “Son, failure is not in your vocabulary.”

Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America—worth $150 million.

1. Why did John’s mother decide to move to Chicago? Because ________.

A．John’s father died in his hometown when he was very young

B．life was too hard for them to stay on in their hometown, while life in Chicago would be better for blacks

C．there were no schools for blacks in their hometown

D．John needed more education and he could go to school there

2. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Chicago was the promised land for black southerners in 1933.

B．John’s mother worked hard as a writer to make their life better.

C．With the help of his mother, John got the money to start the Negro magazine.

D．Now John is the poorest man in America.

3. What kind of woman was John’s mother? She was a ________.

A．woman with little school education but knew a lot about life

B．woman who would not do anything for her son

C．strong woman with much knowledge

D．woman who didn’t know how to encourage her son

4. The underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph means ________.

A．if you try, you will succeed in the end

B．a failure is difficult to beat, even if you try

C．a try is always followed by failure

D．nothing but a try can help you out of failure

5. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．How John H. Johnson became somebody.

B．The mental support John’s mother gave him.

C．The importance of a good education.

D．The key to success for blacks.

3 . One day a factory owner entered a foreign supermarket, when lady gave a warm smile and welcomed him. He was very moved, felt ________, and was not able to forget the warmth in her smile. He was ________ her as he was shopping; she was giving the ________ smile to all the customers who ________ into the supermarket.

The factory owner started ________ if she was ever fed up with (厌倦) doing the same ________ again and again, so he walked up to ________ and asked, “My dear lady, are you ________ of doing this job, and how long have you been doing this?”

The lady ________ and said, “No, sir, have worked here for the last 10 years and I ________ my job. The factory owner was ________ and asked, “Why have you stayed here for ten years, and why do you like your ________?” The lady smiled again and said, “Sir, because I am ________ my country.” The factory owner found this ________ He said, “You are serving your ________ by smiling?”

The lady said, “Yes, sir. As most of our customers are ________, they spend foreign currency (外币) here. So our country has lot of money and becomes ________. People like you who are happy with our services will visit ________ often and spend money in our country.”

Amazed at her attitude, the factory owner ________ her and went back to his own country. He worked hard to show the same attitude ________ his workers, and today his company is one of the best companies in the world.

1.

A．sad

B．terrible

C．happy

D．nervous

2.

A．watching

B．missing

C．greeting

D．looking

3.

A．different

B．same

C．small

D．large

4.

A．ran

B．entered

C．arrived

D．walked

5.

A．wondering

B．asking

C．guessing

D．imagining

6.

A．cooking

B．drawing

C．thing

D．writing

7.

A．her

B．it

C．me

D．him

8.

A．fond

B．tired

C．proud

D．afraid

9.

A．angered

B．cried

C．smiled

D．sighed

10.

A．hate

B．find

C．lose

D．like

11.

A．worried

B．surprised

C．frightened

D．scared

12.

A．job

B．career

C．position

D．role

13.

A．rescuing

B．restoring

C．serving

D．representing

14.

A．interesting

B．dull

C．humorous

D．normal

15.

A．boss

B．country

C．family

D．shop

16.

A．newcomer

B．beggars

C．strangers

D．foreigners

17.

A．richer

B．larger

C．weaker

D．poorer

18.

A．much

B．little

C．less

D．more

19.

A．awarded

B．thanked

C．paid

D．punished

20.

A．with

B．about

C．towards

D．in

4 . Four girls went to school every day by taxi.

One day one of the girls said “There’s a test this morning. Let’s get to school late. Then we won’t have to take the test.”

“What can we say to the teacher?” one of the girls said. “He’ll be angry. We’ll need a good excuse.” The girls thought for several moments, then one of them said, “Let’s tell him that our taxi had flat tire (轮胎漏气).”

“That’s a good idea,” the other girls said. “We’ll tell him that. They arrived at school an hour later. The test was already finished.

“Why are you late?” the teacher asked. “You missed the test.” “Our taxi had a flat tire.” one of the girls said.

The teacher thought for a moment, then he said, “Sit down, one of you in each corner of the room.” The four girls did this. Then the teacher said, “Write on a piece of paper the answer to this question: Which tire was flat?”

1. How did the girls get to school every day?

A．on foot

B．by taxi

C．by train

D．by bus

2. Why did the girls want to be late for school?

A．They did not want to take a test.

B．They did not like school.

C．They had not done their homework.

D．They wanted to go shopping.

3. What was the girls’ excuse for being late?

A．They could not get a taxi.	B．They got up late.
C．Their taxi had flat tire.	D．They forgot the time.

5 . Darwin, the world-famous scientist, developed a habit in his later years that seldom changed, even when guests were present. The following shows his daily schedule during that time.

Time	Activities
7:00 a.m.	got up and took a short walk
7:45	a.m. had breakfast alone
8:00 a.m.—9:30 a.m.	worked in his study (He considered this period his best working time.)
9:30a.m.—10:30am.	went to the sitting room and read letters
12:00	had a walk, starting with a visit to the greenhouse, the number of times depending on his health, usually alone or with a dog
12:45 p.m.	had lunch with the family; read The Times and answered letters
3:00 p.m.	rested on the sofa in his bedroom and listened to a novel read by his wife
4:30 p.m.—5:30 p.m.	worked in his study, clearing up matters of the day
6:00 p.m.	rested again in the bedroom with his wife reading aloud
7:30 p.m.	had tea while the family were having dinner
10:00 p.m.	went to bed

1. According to Darwin, what was the best time to work?

A．8:00 a.m.—9:30 a.m.	B．9:30 a.m.—10:30 a.m.
C．10:30 a.m.—12:15 p.m.	D．4:30 p.m.—5:30 p.m.

2. How long did Darwin work in his study every day?

A．Four and a half hours.	B．Three hours.
C．Two and a half hours.	D．Two hours.

3. What can we learn about Darwin from this passage?

A．He was very ill.	B．He ate meals a day.
C．He disliked reading.	D．He lived regular (有规律的) life.