1 . Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York--he in computers, she in special education. "Teaching means everything to us," Tim would say. In April1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's purpose.
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee.“I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire," Tim recalls.   He placed the brochure on his desk, "as a reminder."
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. “We didn’t want to give the children rubbish,” says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members-included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books I’ve never heard of .”
The Richters spend about ＄400 a month sending books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die,” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”
1. What led Tim to think seriously about the meaning of life?

A．His health problem.	B．His love for teaching.
C．The influence of his wife.	D．The news from the Web.

2. What did Tim want to do after learning about Imagination Library?

A．Give out brochures.	B．Do something similar.
C．Write books for children	D．Retire from being a teacher.

3. According to the text, Dollly Parton is          .

A．a well-known surgeon	B．a mother of a four-year-old
C．a singer born in Tennessee	D．a computer programmer

4. Why did the Richters go to Dollywood?

A．To avoid signing up online.

B．To meet Dollywood board members.

C．To make sure the books were the newest.

D．To see if the books were of good quality.

5. What can we learn from Tim’s words in the last paragraph?

A．He needs more money to help the children.

B．He wonders why some people are so busy.

C．He tries to save those waiting to die.

D．He considers his efforts worthwhile.

2 . My father was Chief engineer of a merchant ship, which was sunk in Word War II. The book Night of the U-boats told the story.

Memories

In September, 1940, my mother, sister and I went to Swansea, where my father’s ship was getting ready to sail. We brought him a family photograph to be kept with him at all times and keep him sale.

Then I remember my mother lying lace down, sobbing. She had heard from a friend that the ship had been sunk by a torpedo.

I can remember the arrival of the telegram, which in those days always brought had new. My grandmother opened it. It read, “Safe, Love Ted.”

My most vivid memory Is being woken and brought down to sit o my father’s knee, his arm in a bandage.

He was judged unfit to return to sea and took a shore job in Glasgow for the rest of the war. For as long as I can remember, he had a weak heart. Mother said it was caused by the torpedoes. He said it was because of the cigarettes. Whichever, he died suddenly in his early 50s.

Ten years later I read Night of the U-bouts and was able to complete the story.

Torpedo

One torpedo struck the ship. Father was in the engine room, where the third engineer was killed. He shut down the engines to slow the ship making it easier for it to be abandoned.

By the time he got on deck he was alone. Every lifeboat was gone except one which had stuck fast. When he tried to cut it free it swung against the ship, injuring his hand and arm. He had no choice but to jump — still with the photograph in his pocket.

Three days later, he and other survivors were safe in Glasgow. All 23 with him signed the back of the photograph.

In my room is the book and the photograph. Often, glass in hand, I have wondered how I would have dealt with an explosion, a sinking ship, a jump into a vast ocean rind a wait for rescue? Lest we forget, I have some more whisky and toast the heroes of the war.

1. We can infer that the mother and children went to Swansea ________.

A．to meet a friend	B．to see the father off
C．to take a family photo	D．to enjoy the sailing of the ship

2. What did the author learn about the father from the telegram?

A．he was still alive.	B．His knee was broken.
C．His ship had been sunk.	D．He had arrived in Glasgow.

3. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 6 refers to the father’s ________.

A．weak heart	B．taking a shore job
C．failure to return to sea	D．injury caused by a torpedo

4. What can we know about the author’s father after his ship was attacked?

A．He lost his arm.	B．He repaired the engines.
C．He managed to take a lifeboat.	D．He was the last to leave the ship.

5. What is the passage mainly about?

A．A group of forgotten heroes	B．A book describing a terrifying battle.
C．A ship engineer’s wartime experience.	D．A merchant’s memories of a sea rescue.

3 . Jenna, a popular girl from Westwood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new _________ in high school.

_________, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts (选拔赛) for cheerleaders (拉拉队队员). She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be _________ for her to be selected. Two hours later, the _________ read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart _________ as the list ended without her name. Feeling _________, she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was _________. She moved on to English and history, and was _________ to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to _________ math for the time being.

The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school __________. Mrs. Biden wasn’t as ____________ as Jenna. “I’m sorry, but we have enough ____________ for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we’ll talk then.” Jenna smiled ____________ and left. “Why is high school so ____________?” she sighed.

Later in ____________ class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much ____________. By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to ____________ her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to ____________. High school was just as her mom had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond ____________ a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the ____________ fish you can be.”

1.

A．processes

B．decisions

C．challenges

D．exercises

2.

A．Therefore

B．However

C．Otherwise

D．Besides

3.

A．difficult

B．easy

C．boring

D．interesting

4.

A．editor

B．boss

C．candidate

D．judge

5.

A．jumped

B．sank

C．stopped

D．raced

6.

A．strange

B．happy

C．awful

D．lonely

7.

A．struggling

B．improving

C．working

D．complaining

8.

A．ashamed

B．disappointed

C．shocked

D．relieved

9.

A．put up

B．prepare for

C．worry about

D．give up

10.

A．committee

B．newspaper

C．radio

D．team

11.

A．enthusiastic

B．artistic

C．sympathetic

D．realistic

12.

A．speakers

B．readers

C．cheerleaders

D．writers

13.

A．widely

B．weakly

C．excitedly

D．brightly

14.

A．similar

B．ordinary

C．different

D．familiar

15.

A．physics

B．history

C．English

D．math

16.

A．pleasure

B．hope

C．trouble

D．sorrow

17.

A．fit in

B．look out

C．stay up

D．get around

18.

A．swim

B．try

C．ask

D．escape

19.

A．in return for

B．in case of

C．in terms of

D．instead of

20.

A．slimmest

B．smallest

C．best

D．gentlest

4 . 完形填空（共20小题；阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D中)，选出可以填入空白处。

One evening, I was resting in a cafe. I_______a pair of newly bought white leather (皮革) shoes, which were rather expensive. Then a boy came to me.

He was in a(n)_______ shirt, looking pale and about eleven. No sooner had I begun to speak than he opened the _______in his hand and took out the tools of shoe-polishing. He _______down, took off my leather shoes, and began to shine them. He was busy doing his work_______heavy rain began to pour down. People rushed to the café for_______from the rain. More and more people crowded _______and gradually separated the boy from me.

Hours passed, and it turned _______I had no shoes on my feet and _______where the boy had been. I thought he would not ________my shoes, and I would have to go home on my bare feet.

When it was near midnight the________ended, and there were fewer and fewer people in the café.

The café was to be________ I had to move to the door, head________ just as I went to the gate, I________found that a boy of about eleven, looking very familiar, was sleeping at the ________with his head leaning against a box and his upper body being ________he held a package made of his shirt tightly in his arms. I shook him slightly and woke him up. He ________up and rubbed his eyes for a while before he recognized me. Then he opened the package________, gave me my leather shoes, and apologized to me shyly. I ________him and wrapped him with his unfit shirt, which had wrapped my leather shoes. On my way home, the________of the boy stayed in my mind.

1.

A．took

B．wore

C．mended

D．owned

2.

A．old

B．unfit

C．small

D．dirty

3.

A．bag

B．package

C．box

D．suitcase

4.

A．seated

B．bent

C．put

D．looked

5.

A．when

B．after

C．because

D．since

6.

A．protection

B．rest

C．hide

D．preparation

7.

A．out

B．away

C．in

D．off

8.

A．dark

B．light

C．dim

D．bright

9.

A．thought

B．wondered

C．guessed

D．imagined

10.

A．shine

B．keep

C．return

D．carry

11.

A．rain

B．coffee

C．time

D．work

12.

A．opened

B．locked

C．stopped

D．closed

13.

A．lowered

B．dropped

C．raised

D．held

14.

A．shortly

B．surprisedly

C．sadly

D．immediately

15.

A．table

B．door

C．bed

D．cafe

16.

A．wet

B．bare

C．pale

D．cold

17.

A．stayed

B．as

C．jumped

D．got

18.

A．finally

B．suddenly

C．unfriendly

D．hurriedly

19.

A．recognized

B．forgave

C．paid

D．inspired

20.

A．feature

B．shirt

C．image

D．form

5 . EVENTS

Bicycle tour and race

A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27 (Sat & Sun.). At 5:30 am, the riders will leave Tian’anmen Square and ride the first 35 kilometres as a training leg. Then the next 55-kilometre-leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive part of the tour. The riders and their bikes will then be takern from Jixian to Changli.

The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometres. Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper. Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside. At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing.

Cost: 200 yuan          

Telephone: 4675027

Brazilian footballers

The Brazilian Football Club will play Beijing Guo’an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26. The club has four national team players. Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Romario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes.

Ticket prices: 60; 100; 150 yuan

Time/Date: 4:30 pm, August 26 (Sat. )     

Telephone: 5012372

Rock climbing

The Third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26-27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training Base. More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it. A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing. Free for spectators (观众).

Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou.

Time/Dates: 9-12 am, August 26 and 27

Telephone: 7143177, 7144850, Wang Zhenghua

1. The main purpose of announcing the above events is to give information about_________.

A．visiting teams	B．famous players
C．things to do for the weekend	D．prices to pay for the sports events

2. If you take part in the bike tour, you will ride for ________.

A．35 kilometres	B．55 kilometres
C．75 kilometres	D．110 kilometres

3. The underlined word “leg” in “Bicycle tour and race” probably means_______.

A．race	B．practice
C．part of the training	D．part of the tour

4. What is special about the rock climbing competition?

A．A foreign team takes pan in it.

B．You can watch it without paying.

C．You don’t have to be a sportsman to take part.

D．The bus trip to the place of the competition is free.

5. If you want to find something to do for Saturday aftermoon, which telephone number will you call?

A．4675027

B．7143177

C．5012372

D．7144850

6 . Sports account for a growing amount of income made on the sales of commercial time by television companies. Many television companies have used sports to attract viewers from particular sections of the general public, and then they have sold audiences to advertisers.

An attraction of sport programs for the major U. S. media companies is that events are often held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons—the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing. Sport events are the most popular weekend programs, especially among male viewers who may not watch much television at other times during the week. This means the television networks are able to sell advertising time at relatively high prices during what normally would be dead time for programming.

Media corporations also use sports to attract commercial sponsors that might take their advertising dollars elsewhere if television stations did not report certain sports.   The people in the advertising departments of major corporations realize that sports attract made viewers. They also realize that most business travelers are men and that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance.

Golf and tennis are special cases for television programming. These sports attract few viewers, and the ratings(收视率)are unusually low. However, the audience for these sports is attractive to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, including many lawyers and business managers. This is why television reporting of golf and tennis is sponsored by companies selling high-priced cars, business and personal computer, and holiday trips. This is also why the networks continue to carry these programs regardless of low ratings.   Advertisers are willing to pay high fees to reach high-income consumers and those managers who make decisions to buy thousands of “company cars” and computer, with such viewers, these programs don’t need high ratings to stay on the air.

1. Television sport programs on weekend afternoons         .

A．result in more sport event

B．get more viewers to play sports

C．make more people interested in television

D．bring more money to the television networks

2. Why would weekend afternoons become dead time without sport programs?

A．Because there would be few viewers

B．Because the advertisers would be off work

C．Because television programs would go slowly

D．Because viewers would pay less for watching television

3. In many families, men make decision on          .

A．holiday

B．sports viewing

C．television shopping

D．expensive purchases

4. The ratings are not important for golf and tennis programs because         .

A．their advertisers are carmakers

B．their viewers are attracted by sports

C．their advertisers target at rich people

D．their viewers can afford expensive cars

5. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Television viewers are determined by male viewers

B．Rich viewers contribute most to television companies

C．Sports are gaining importance in advertising on television

D．Commercial advertisers are the major sponsors of sport event

7 . Around twenty years ago I was living in York. _____ I had a lot of experience and a Master’s degree,I could not find _____ work.

I was _____ a school bus to make ends meet and _____ with a friend of mine, for I had lost my flat. I had   _____   five interviews(面试) with a company and one day between bus runs they called to say I did not   _____   the job. “Why has my life become so   _____？”I thought painfully.

As I pulled the bus over to   _____   a little girl, she handed me an earring   _____   I should keep it   ______   somebody claimed (认领) it. The earring was painted black and said “BE HAPPY”.

At first I got angry. Then it   ______   me—I had been giving all of my   ______   to what was going wrong with my ______   rather than what was right！I decided then and there to make a   ______   of fifty things I was happy with. Later, I decided to   ______   more things to the list.That night there was a phone call for   ______   from a lady who was a director at a large   ______.She asked me if I would   ______   a one­day lecture on stress(压力) management to 200 medical workers. I said yes.

My   ______   there went very well, and before long I got a well­paid job.To this day I know it was because I changed my way of   ______   that I completely changed my life.

1.

A．As

B．Though

C．If

D．When

2.

A．successful

B．extra

C．satisfying

D．convenient

3.

A．driving

B．repairing

C．taking

D．designing

4.

A．working

B．travelling

C．discussing

D．living

5.

A．prepared for

B．attended

C．asked for

D．held

6.

A．lose

B．like

C．find

D．get

7.

A．hard

B．busy

C．serious

D．short

8.

A．wave at

B．drop off

C．call on

D．look for

9.

A．ordering

B．promising

C．saying

D．showing

10.

A．in case

B．or else

C．as if

D．now that

11.

A．hurt

B．hit

C．caught

D．moved

12.

A．feelings

B．attention

C．strength

D．interests

13.

A．opinions

B．education

C．experiences

D．life

14.

A．list

B．book

C．check

D．copy

15.

A．connect

B．turn

C．keep

D．add

16.

A．her

B．a passenger

C．me

D．my friend

17.

A．hospital

B．factory

C．restaurant

D．hotel

18.

A．listen to

B．review

C．give

D．talk about

19.

A．plan

B．choice

C．day

D．tour

20.

A．operation

B．speaking

C．employment

D．thinking

8 . Big Brothers Big Sisters is based on the simplicity and power of friendship. It is a program which provides friendship and fun by matching vulnerable young people(ages 7-17) with a volunteer adult who can be both a role model and a supportive friend.

　　Volunteer tutors come from all walks of life—married, single, with or without children. Big Brothers and Big Sisters are not replacement parents or social workers. They are tutors: someone to trust, to have fun with, to talk and go to when needed.

A Big Sister and Little Sister will generally spend between one and four hours together three or four times each month for at least twelve months. They enjoy simple activities such as a picnic at a park, cooking, playing sport or going to a football match. These activities improve the friendship and help the young person develop positive self-respect, confidence and life direction.

Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations exist throughout the world. It is the largest and most well-known provider of tutor services internationally and has been operating for 25 years.

Emily and Sarah have been matched since 2008. Emily is a 10-year-old girl who has experienced some difficulties being accepted by her schoolmates at school. “ I was pretty sure there was something wrong with me.”

Emily’s mum came across Big Brothers Big Sisters and thought it would be of benefit to Emily by “providing different feedback (反馈) about herself other than just relying on schoolmates to measure her self-worth.

Sarah wanted to get involved in a volunteer program. “I googled it and found out how to be a part of it. I thought it would be fun for me to get involved in making time to do something because sometimes it is all work and no play.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters has been of great benefit and enjoyment to both Emily and Sarah. They love and look forward to their time together and the partnership has certainly helped Emily be more comfortable in being the wonderful, happy and unique girl she is!

1. What is the aim of Big Brothers Big Sisters?

A．To offer students public services.

B．To help students improve their grades.

C．To organize sport activities for young people.

D．To provide partnership and fun for young people.

2. A volunteer is usually expected to work within a year for at least______.

A．24 hours

B．36 hours

C．48 hours

D．72 hours

3. According to Emily’s mother, this program may provide Emily with______.

A．advice from her teachers

B．a new way to assess herself

C．a new way to judge her schoolmates

D．more comments from her schoolmates

4. Why did Sarah want to get involved in the program?

A．She used to be a volunteer.

B．She needed a part-time job.

C．She felt a bit bored with her life.

D．She wanted to get a challenging job.

5. According to the passage, “vulnerable young people” are probably those who are _________.

A．popular at school	B．rather weak physically
C．easily hurt emotionally	D．confident in themselves

9 .         Franz Kafka wrote that “a book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us”. I once shared this sentence with a class of seventh graders, and it didn't seem to require any explanation.

We'd just finished John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. When we read the end together out loud in class, my toughest boy, a star basketball player, wept a little, and so did I. “Are you crying?” one girl asked, as she got out of her chair to take a closer look. “I am,” I told her, “and the funny thing is I've read it many times.”

But they understood. When George shoots Lennie, the tragedy is that we realize it was always going to happen. In my 14 years of teaching in a New York City public middle school, I've taught kids with imprisoned parents, abusive parents, irresponsible parents; kids who are parents themselves; kids who are homeless; kids who grew up in violent neighborhoods. They understand, more than I ever will, the novel's terrible logic-the giving way of dreams to fate.

For the last seven years, I have worked as a reading enrichment teacher, reading classic works of literature with small groups of students from grades six to eight. I originally proposed this idea to my headmaster after learning that a former excellent student of mine had transferred out of a selective high school-one that often attracts the literary-minded children of Manhattan's upper classes-into a less competitive setting. The daughter of immigrants, with a father in prison, she perhaps felt uncomfortable with her new classmates. I thought additional “cultural capital” could help students like her develop better in high school, where they would unavoidably meet, perhaps for the first time, students who came from homes lined with bookshelves, whose parents had earned Ph.D.'s.

Along with Of Mice and Men, my groups read: Sounder, The Red Pony, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The students didn't always read from the expected point of view.

About The Red Pony, one student said, “it's about being a man, it's about manliness.” I had never before seen the parallels between Scarface and Macbeth, nor had I heard Lady Macbeth's soliloquies read as raps, but both made sense; the interpretations were playful, but serious. Once introduced to Steinbeck's writing, one boy went on to read The Grapes of Wrath and told me repeatedly how amazing it was that “all these people hate each other, and they're all white.” His historical view was broadening, his sense of his own country deepening. Year after year, former students visited and told me how prepared they had felt in their first year in college as a result of the classes.

Year after year, however, we are increasing the number of practice tests. We are trying to teach students to read increasingly complex texts, not for emotional punch but for text complexity. Yet, we cannot enrich the minds of our students by testing them on texts that ignore their hearts. We are teaching them that words do not amaze but confuse. We may succeed in raising test scores, but we will fail to teach them that reading can be transformative and that it belongs to them.

1. The underlined words in Paragraph 1 probably mean that a book helps to __________.

A．realize our dreams	B．give support to our life
C．smooth away difficulties	D．awake our emotions

2. Why were the students able to understand the novel Of Mice and Men？

A．Because they spent much time reading it.	B．Because they had read the novel before.
C．Because they came from a public school.	D．Because they had similar life experiences.

3. The girl left the selective high school possibly because__________.

A．she was a literary-minded girl	B．her parents were immigrants
C．she couldn't fit in with her class	D．her father was then in prison

4. To the author's surprise, the students read the novels__________.

A．creatively

B．passively

C．repeatedly

D．carelessly

5. The author writes the passage mainly to__________.

A．introduce classic works of literature	B．advocate teaching literature to touch the heart
C．argue for equality among high school students	D．defend the current testing system

10 . My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other _______, including her “sixth sense”,_______ she rarely gives the impression she’s missed anything.

Michelle looks after her children pretty much like the rest of us,_______ that she doesn’t push too hard on them,_______ really benefit a lot from her relaxed attitude. She knows when to clean the house, she moves around so fast that often the _______ don’t realize she’s blind.

I _______ this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very _______ about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was _______ excited about her finger-painting project.

“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to _______ colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle ________ with us.”

To my great ________, my child had learnt about color from a blind friend!

Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my ________ showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment. She really ________ what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never felt how good finger paints felt ________ Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.

I realized Kayla didn’t know that Michelle was blind. It had just never ________ in conversation.

When I told her, she was ________ for a moment. At first, she didn’t believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla ________. And I knew my child was ________ because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her artwork. Michelle had also heard Kayla’s ________ in her work.

We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle really did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my ________. ” Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.

1.

A．ways

B．means

C．methods

D．senses

2.

A．which

B．when

C．that

D．as

3.

A．and

B．except

C．even

D．but

4.

A．who

B．that

C．she

D．which

5.

A．guests

B．family

C．children

D．friends

6.

A．realized

B．heard

C．recognized

D．witnessed

7.

A．excited

B．sad

C．satisfied

D．enjoyed

8.

A．especially

B．not so

C．a little

D．not at all

9.

A．paint

B．draw

C．create

D．mix

10.

A．stayed

B．painted

C．talked

D．played

11.

A．excitement

B．encouragement

C．delight

D．surprise

12.

A．attitude

B．color

C．picture

D．paper

13.

A．touched

B．distinguished

C．saw

D．understood

14.

A．after

B．before

C．until

D．when

15.

A．referred to

B．turned out

C．come up

D．talked about

16.

A．curious

B．quiet

C．puzzled

D．worried

17.

A．cried

B．insisted

C．complained

D．informed

18.

A．right

B．wrong

C．worried

D．uncertain

19.

A．shortcomings

B．difficulties

C．pride

D．description

20.

A．paper

B．pens

C．hands

D．eyes