1 . When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor, Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never invited us to play in his yard, but he was a very kind person. When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees. He never watered his new trees. Once I asked why, he said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you watered them, each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker, so you had to make things difficult for them and pick out the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow (浅的）roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water under the earth by themselves. Deep roots were very important. So he never watered his trees. He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs died several years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I watched him plant about twenty-five years ago. They’re very big and strong now. I planted some trees a few years back and carried water to them for a whole summer. After two years of caring too much, whenever a cold wind blows in, they shake a lot.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. Mostly I pray (祈祷) that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to face difficulties. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere, so what we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we could face it strongly and won’t be beaten down.

1. We know from the reading, the doctor ______.

A．didn’t know how to plant trees at all

B．had his own ways of planting trees

C．wasn’t good at his own medical job

D．had nothing to do but plant trees

2. When Dr. Gibbs said “... pick out the weaker trees early on.”, he meant that ______.

A．some weak trees would be easily found out at the beginning

B．he would choose the weak trees to water earlier

C．the weak trees would be sent to his patients later

D．he would not plant weak trees so early anymore

3. The passage tells us that the writer ______.

A．beat all his trees with a rolled-up newspaper

B．often water his trees

C．took too much care of his trees

D．didn’t have a large field

4. The writer wants to change his prayer, hoping that ______.

A．his trees will be stronger than Dr. Gibbs'

B．his trees will not be beaten down

C．his sons will be better at planting trees

D．his sons will be able to face difficulties

5. Which can be the best title of the reading?

A．Watering Trees

B．Growing Roots

C．Doctor and his Neighbor

D．Father and his Children

4 . Parents should stop blaming (责备) themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.

I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself (懒散地躺) on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don't know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”

He hasn't forgotten them. He' s just decided that he' s not going to use them. She confessed (坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.

Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.

“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.

1. This text is most probably written by ________.

A．an expert in teenager studies	B．a headmaster of a middle school
C．a parent with teenage children	D．a doctor for mental health problems

2. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ________.

A．the change from good to bad that ' s seen in a child

B．the way that parents often blame themselves

C．the opinion that a child has of his parents

D．the advice that parents want their children to follow

3. The boy on the sofa would most probably be described as ________.

A．lazy

B．quiet

C．unusual

D．rude

4. From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ________.

A．pay no attention to them	B．are too busy to look after them
C．have come to hate them	D．feel helpless to do much about them

5. What is the author's opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?

A．Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.

B．Parents shouldn’t pay attention to the change at all.

C．Parents should work more closely with school teachers.

D．Parents are to blame for the change in their children.

5 . Homestay provides English language students with the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom and the experience of being part of a British home.

What to Expect

The host will provide accommodation and meals. Rooms will be cleaned and bedcovers changed at least once a week. You will be given the house key and the host is there to offer help and advice as well as to take an interest in your physical and mental health.

Accommodation Zones

Homestays are located in London mainly in Zones 2, 3 and 4 of the transport system. Most hosts do not live in the town centre as much of central London is commercial and not residential (居住的). Zones3 and 4 often offer larger accommodation in a less crowned area. It is very convenient to travel in London by Underground.

Meal Plans Available

◇ Continental Breakfast

◇ Breakfast and Dinner

◇ Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner

It’s important to note that few English families still provide a traditional cooked breakfast. Your accommodation includes Continental Breakfast which normally consists of fruit juice, cereal (谷物类食品), bread and tea or coffee. Cheese, fruit and cold meat are not normally part of a Continental Breakfast in England. Dinners usually consist of meat or fish with vegetables followed by desert, fruit and coffee.

Friends

If you wish to invite a friend over to visit. you must first ask your host' s permission. You have no right to entertain friends in a family home as some families feel it is an invasion of their privacy.

Self-Catering Accommodation in Private Homes

Accommodation on a room-only basis includes shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and often a main living room. This kind of accommodation offers an independent lifestyle and is more suitable for the long-stay student. However, it does not provide the same family atmosphere as an ordinary homestay and may not benefit those who need to practise English at home quite as much.

1. The passage is probably written for       

A．host willing to receive foreign students

B．loreigners hoping to build British culture

C．travellers planning to vist famlies in London

D．English learners applying to live in English homes

2. Which of the following will the host provide?

A．Room cleaning.

B．Medical care.

C．Free transport.

D．Physical trainning.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?

A．Zone 4 is more crowded than Zone 2.

B．The business centre of London is in Zone 1.

C．Hosts dislike travelling to the city centre.

D．It is not very convenient to travel in London-bu underground.

4. According to the passage. What does continental Breakfast include?

A．Dessert and coffee

B．Fruit and vegetables.

C．bread and fruit juice

D．Centre and cold meat.

5. Why do some people choose self-catering accommodation?

A．To experience a warmer famliy atmosphere.

B．To enrich their knowledge of English

C．To entertain friends as they like.

D．To enjoy much more freedom.

6 . 阅读表达

When people think of New York City, most of them probably picture the attractive lifestyles of the rich and famous or think of Broadway, Times Square and other tourist attractions. However, there is another side of New York City. The summer after tenth grade, I went with my group on a mission to New York City for a week.

I had always known that poverty existed in major cities, but you had never seen it to a degree as high as we did there. We worked at several different locations with our small groups. One day, we served at a soup kitchen and what I saw astounded me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We saw people from all walks of life. We met people who came there because they had no jobs, no home and no money.

Another day, we volunteered at a homeless shelter. We helped people there do some cleaning and spent time talking to them and listening to their stories. It was incredible to see how thankful they were to us for just spending a couple of hours talking to them.

Every person we met on that trip had a unique story. Whatever their stories were, there was a common thread we saw in them—hope and thanks. These were people who had nothing, yet they were so hopeful about their futures and they were thanking us.

My experience during that summer changed my life. I used to picture my future as containing a big house and a lot of money, but now I see my future as helping others. After college, I would really like to work for some sort of global aid organization that deals with the social issues, such as poverty and homelessness.

1. What do most people have in mind when thinking of New York City? (No more than 10 words)
2. What does the underlined word “astounded” in the paragraph 2 mean? (One word)
3. What did the author discover in the people at the homeless shelter? (No more than 15 words)
4. What kind of organizations does the author want to work for after college? (No more than 10 words)
5. How does the author’s experience inspire you? (No more than 20 words)

7 . 阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

I’ve always been creative since I was a little girl. My childhood was filled with arts, crafts (手工) and music, and every day was an exciting adventure of creation.

Somewhere along the way, however, I lost touch with my creative self. At 21, I landed a job at a big insurance company out of my business degree. I would go to the office, sit at my desk and repeat the same work five days a week 9 to 5. The days were long and tedious. Working this way for one year was painful enough, let alone a lifetime. Before long I decided to make a change.

One thing I had developed an interest in was sewing, so I took a sewing course at a community college. It was only a five-week course but it awakened my interest and got my confidence up.

As I dreamt bigger, I began looking into college courses for Fashion Design and three months later I signed up for a part-time design course. I attended classes two nights a week. Although exhausting, it gave me energy, enthusiasm and happiness.

As it became clearer that fashion was what I wanted to do full time, the reality of my day-to-day work at the insurance company became harder. I felt bored. No energy, no motivation and zero fulfilment (满足感).

I knew I needed to make a bigger change. After struggling for quite a while, I made a difficult decision—leaving my job and studying my design course full time. Two years later I got my diploma.

The last few years have been exciting because I’ve been following my heart to do what I love. Today I am living a creative life as the designer of my own fashion brand.

Sometimes it’s hard to make a change, but I’m so glad I set the wheels of change in motion with that very small first step because it has led me to where I am today.

1. What was the author interested in when she was a little girl? (no more than 10 words)
2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 mean? (1 word)
3. How did the author feel when she was taking the part-time design course? (no more than 10 words)
4. What did the author do to get back to her creative life? Give two of the facts. (no more than 15 words)
5. Do you consider the author as your role model? Please explain. (no more than 20 words)

8 . There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health, wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into n habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize it had effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.

Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position, or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start, step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

1. People who are unhappy           .

A．always consider things differently from others

B．usually are affected by the results of certain things

C．usually misunderstand what others think or say

D．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things

2. The phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “           “.

A．have a good taste with social life

B．make others unhappy

C．tend to scold others openly

D．enjoy the pleasure of life

3. We can conclude from the passage that           .

A．we should pity all such unhappy people

B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life

C．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness

D．unhappy people cannot understand happy persons

4. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should         .

A．prevent any communication with them

B．show no respect and politeness to them

C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects

D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes

5. In this passage, the writer mainly           .

A．describes two types of people in our 1ife who have negative effect on others

B．give some examples to laugh at the unhappy people in our society

C．suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness

D．tells people get away from unhappy people and how to be happy in life

9 . No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts.

I learned this lesson from an experience many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no couch, and they didn't even practice to prepare for the Game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my sadness we were beaten. I couldn't believe I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to realize that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my attitude about their ability and confidence.

I stared doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important,I began to treat them like winners. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations. We met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our failure on the spring practice field. we won our first game and our second, and continue to improve .Finally, we faced the number one team in the state.I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest thrills of my life !

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can influence the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and encouraged them. I helped them to see themselves differently, and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not born.

1. Who did the author think would become the winners at first?

A．The old team.	B．Their own team.
C．The number one team.	D．The other team

2. When did the author's team win their first game?

A．Before their training.	B．During the spring practice.
C．At the start of the vacation.	D．Six months after their failure.

3. What does the underlined word “thrill" probably mean in Paragraph 5?

A．Interests

B．Fears

C．Excitements

D．Concerns

4. How did the author help their team to win?

A．By building up their confidence.	B．By giving them a lecture.
C．By buying them a book.	D．By changing the leader.

5. What can we learn from the text?

A．Time is money.	B．Winners are born.
C．Losers are always beaten.	D．Practice makes perfect.

10 . Festivals and celebrations of all kinds have been held everywhere since ancient times. Most ancient festivals would celebrate the end of cold weather, planting in spring and harvest in autumn .Today's festivals have many origins: some are seasonal, some for special people and some for special events.

Dragon Boat Festival celebrations take place in China on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. They are held in memory of Qu Yuan, a famous person who wrote poems in Ancient China. It was the first traditional Chinese festival added to UNESCO'S List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Thanksgiving is celebrated mainly in North America, in October or November. Traditionally, it was a chance to give thanks for a good year, Now. i is also a time for families to get together for a big dinner.

May Day s a festival to celebrate the start of summer, with celebrations held across Europe and in parts of North America. People prepare decorations with flowers and dance around poles.

The Spring Festival that is also called Chinese New Year is one of the most important Festivals in China.It stars with a new moon and ends 15 day later on the full moon, marking the beginning of spring .During this festival,people eat dumpling, fish and meat and may give children lucky money in red paper. Nowadays, more and more countries around the world are holding celebrations for Chinese Spring Festival.

Festivals let us enjoy life , be proud of our customs and forget our work for a little while.

1. How many festivals are introduced in the text?

A．Two.

B．Three

C．Four

D．Five.

2. Which of the following is held to honor a special person?

A．May Day.	B．Thanksgiving.
C．The Spring Festival.	D．Dragon Boat Festival

3. What do people traditionally eat in the Spring Festival?

A．Pies and chicken.	B．Dumplings and fish.
C．Noodles and meat.	D．Sandwiches and Turkey.

4. Where is Thanksgiving mainly celebrated according to the text?

A．In China	B．Across Europe.
C．in North America	D．In South Africa.

5. What is the text mainly about?

A．The introduction of some festivals.	B．The activities of some festivals.
C．The customs of some festivals.	D．The history of some festivals.