1 . Mother’s Day is a time of memory and celebration for Mom. The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations date back to ancient Greece in honour of Rhea, the Mother of Gods. During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called “mothering Sunday”. Celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent(四旬斋)，“mothering Sunday” honoured the mothers England.

During the time many of the England’s poor worked as servants for the wealthy.AS most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday, the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along.

As Christianity(基督教) spread throughout Europe, the celebration changed to honour the “Mother Church”---the spiritual power that gave   them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival combined with mothering Sunday celebration. People began honouring their mothers as well as the church.

In the United States Mother’s Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe as a day devoted to peace. Then in 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign(运动) to establish a national Mother’s Day. Ms Jarvis persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, Virginia to celebrate   Mother’s Day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the 2nd day Sunday of May. By the next year Mother’s Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

Ms Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessmen, and politicians demanding to establish a national Mother’s Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement that Mother’s Day was a national holiday and it was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.

While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother’s Day on the 2nd Sunday of May.

1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the first paragraph?

A．To raise questions.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To interest readers.	D．To solve problems.

2. The earliest Mother’s Day was celebrated to___________.

A．mark the birth of Greece	B．prepare for the autumn harvest
C．honour the Mother of Gods	D．honour the mothers of England

3. The fourth and fifth paragraphs mainly talk about___________.

A．the feast of Mother’s Day in the U.S.

B．the origin of Mother’s Day in the U.S.

C．the development of Mother’s Day in the U.S.

D．the celebration of Mother’s Day in the U.S.

4. The passage is intended to______________.

A．give readers some information	B．persuade readers
C．report a story	D．amuse readers

2 . James Gross, a psychology professor at Stanford University, has a 13-year-old daughter who loves math and science. “It hasn’t occurred to her yet that’s unusual,” he says. “But I know in the next couple of years, it will.”

She’s already being pulled out of class to do advanced things with a couple of other kids, who are guys. And as someone who studies human emotion for a procession, Gross says, “I know as time goes on, she will feel increasingly lonely as a girl who’s interested in math and science, and be at risk of narrowing her choices in life before finding out how far she could have gone.’’

Gross’ concern clearly shows what has been a touchy subject in the world of science for a long time: Why are there still so few women in science, and how might that affect what we learn from research?

Women now make up half the national workforce, earn more college and graduate degrees than men, and by some estimates represent the largest single economic force in the world. Yet the gender gap in science persists, to a greater degree than in other professions, particularly in high-end, math-intensive fields such as computer science and engineering.

According to US Census Bureau statistics, women in fields commonly referred to as STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) made up 7 percent of that workforce in 1970, a figure that had jumped to 23 percent by 1990. But the rise essentially stopped there. Two decades later, in 2011, women made up 26 percent of the science workforce.

1. According to James Gross, in the near future his daughter may       .

A．become a great scientist

B．feel lonely and have fewer choices

C．be pulled out of class with some guys

D．learn math and science better and better

2. We can learn from the text that       .

A．women are cleverer than men in college

B．men represent the largest single economic force

C．women make up more than 50% of the national workforce

D．the number of women graduating from college is larger than that of men

3. How does the author develop the last paragraph?

A．By providing examples.

B．By making comments.

C．By following time order.

D．By explaining the process.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Why It Is Important to Get More Women Into Science

B．James Gross, Confusion About His daughter

C．Situation of Women in the Whole Country

D．Future of women in the Workforce

3 . Mrs. Jones was over eighty, but she still drove her old car like a woman half her age. She loved driving very fast, and was proud of the fact______she had never, in her thirty-five years of driving, been punished______a driving offence(犯规).

Then one day she nearly______her record. A police car______her, and the policemen in it saw her______a red light without stopping. Of course, she was stopped. It seemed______that she would be punished.

____Mrs. Jones came up to the judge, he looked at her seriously and said that she was______old to drive a car, and that the______why she had not stopped at the red______was most probably that her eyes had become weak______old age, so that she had simply not seen it.

When the judge had finished what he was______, Mrs. Jones opened the big handbag she was______and took out her sewing. Without saying a word, she______a needle(针) with a very small eye, and threaded it at her first attempt. When she had______done this, she took the thread out of the needle again and handed______the needle and the thread to the judge, saying, "Now it is your______. I suppose you drive a car, and that you are quite sure about your own eyesight." The judge took the______and tried to thread it. After half a dozen tries, he had still not succeeded. The case(案例) against Mrs. Jones was______, and her record______unbroken.

1.

A．which

B．when

C．that

D．this

2.

A．about

B．on

C．to

D．for

3.

A．kept

B．won

C．missed

D．lost

4.

A．watched

B．after

C．followed

D．ran after

5.

A．pass

B．go

C．past

D．rush

6.

A．sure

B．indeed

C．certain

D．perhaps

7.

A．Before

B．While

C．Until

D．When

8.

A．so

B．very

C．too

D．quite

9.

A．cause

B．reason

C．matter

D．trouble

10.

A．light

B．lamp

C．sign

D．one

11.

A．with

B．because

C．for

D．of

12.

A．speaking

B．saying

C．talking

D．telling

13.

A．seeing

B．getting

C．carrying

D．bringing

14.

A．took

B．brought

C．picked

D．chose

15.

A．almost

B．hardly

C．successfully

D．successful

16.

A．both

B．all

C．neither

D．either

17.

A．time

B．turn

C．chance

D．job

18.

A．thread

B．glasses

C．needles

D．needle

19.

A．dismissed

B．passed

C．settled

D．studied

20.

A．was

B．kept

C．seemed

D．remained

4 . When I was in seventh grade, I was a candy striper(志愿当护士助手的小姑娘)at a local hospital in my town. Most of the_________I spent there was with Mr. Gillespie. He never had any_______ and nobody seemed to care about his_______.

I spent many days there holding his hand and talking to him, _______anything that needed to be done. He became a close friend of mine, _______he responded with only an occasional squeeze(捏)of my hand. Mr. Gillespie was in a coma(昏迷).

I left for a week to vacation with my parents, and when I came back, Mr. Gillespie was_______ . I didn’t have the     _______to ask any of the nurses where he was, for fear they might _______me he had died. Several_______later, when I was a junior in high school, I was at the gas station when I noticed a familiar face.

When I ________who it was, my eyes were filled with tears. He was __________! I got up the nerve to ask him if his name was Mr. Gillespie. With a(n)________look on his face, he replied yes. I ________how I knew him, and that I had spent many hours talking with him in the hospital. His eyes welled up with tears, and he gave me the warmest hug I had ever ________ .

He began to tell me how, ________ he lay there asleep, he could hear me talking to him and could________me holding his hand the whole time. Mr. Gillespie________believed that it was my voice and ________that had kept him alive.

Although I haven’t ________   him since, he fills my heart with________every day. I know that I made a difference between his life and his death.

1.

A．time

B．energy

C．money

D．effort

2.

A．patients

B．relatives

C．visitors

D．problems

3.

A．condition

B．requirement

C．interest

D．thought

4.

A．talking about

B．helping with

C．pointing out

D．looking for

5.

A．so

B．as if

C．yet

D．even though

6.

A．gone

B．mad

C．died

D．excited

7.

A．right

B．chance

C．courage

D．time

8.

A．cheat

B．warn

C．remind

D．tell

9.

A．days

B．years

C．months

D．weeks

10.

A．heard

B．wondered

C．realized

D．asked

11.

A．great

B．lucky

C．successful

D．alive

12.

A．happy

B．proud

C．nervous

D．uncertain

13.

A．explained

B．remembered

C．apologized

D．told

14.

A．dreamed

B．received

C．wanted

D．shown

15.

A．because

B．as

C．unless

D．if

16.

A．notice

B．appreciate

C．imagine

D．feel

17.

A．firmly

B．rightly

C．hardly

D．wrongly

18.

A．touch

B．worry

C．humour

D．treatment

19.

A．forgotten

B．seen

C．missed

D．called

20.

A．respect

B．regret

C．joy

D．sympathy

5 . A

Insects (昆虫) are a very healthy food. They have almost as much protein (蛋白质) as meat from a pig or cow and are low in fat. Eating insects is also very good for the environment since they need less land and water than larger animals.

Marcel Dicke, who studies insects, explained in a talk how insects also produce more meat from the food they eat. For example, imagine a farmer feeds a cow 10 pounds of food. Those 10 pounds of food produce about 1 pound of meat for people to eat. However, imagine the farmer gives a certain number of insects 10 pounds of food. Those 10 pounds of food produce 9 pounds of meat for people to eat!

Eating more insects can also help people in poor areas. Many people can raise and sell insects, which can provide jobs and food.

But insects will not replace (替代) animal meat very quickly. First, people in some countries would have to change how they think about eating insects. Many people in North America and Europe eat a lot of meat like beef and pork. But they do not traditionally eat insects. In fact, for many people in the west, eating insects sounds crazy! They believe insects are dirty and dangerous. Insects make them feel uncomfortable.

Some people are trying to deal with this problem. For example, David George Gordon wrote a book named “The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook”, which tries to show people that insects can be delicious. Other insect experts travel around telling people about the benefits (好处) of eating insects. But they still have a lot of work to do.

1. Eating insects _____.

A．is not healthy

B．makes people put on fat

C．helps protect large animals

D．is environmentally friendly

2. The example of Marcel Dicke is given to show _____.

A．the high cost of food production

B．it’s quite easy for farmers to raise insects

C．raising insects is a good choice for farmers

D．the different ways of feeding cows and insects

3. The long way eating insects has to go mainly results from _____.

A．their terrible taste	B．people’s old beliefs
C．family traditions	D．eating methods

4. We can infer from David and other insect experts that _____.

A．people can make a lot of money from insects

B．insects should be better protected

C．people should eat more insects

D．it’s dangerous to eat insects

6 . An old woman diverted (转移) attention from the book when I was sitting in my car. She walked slowly towards my parked car with a large shoulder bag. She stopped and put a hand out to rest against the car. She gently closed her eyes, took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Was there a way I could do anything to help her? But I wondered if the lady noticed me sitting inside the car, she would feel embarrassed and walk away.

I stilled my body while my mind searched for answers. I turned my head towards my driver, wanting him to ask the lady if we could give her a ride. Because of my head movement, she noticed me and moved her hand away from the car. Her calm expression changed to a cautious one. I grabbed the water bottle next to me, smile, gently opened the door and offered the bottle to her. She looked at me hesitatingly, shook her head with downcast (低垂的) eyes and walked away.

I was so annoyed with myself. I should have been more careful not to move. However, she was back I opened the door and patted the seat next to me. She sat down, opened her bag and offered me a banana. I took it and offered her the water bottle again. She took it. I ate, she drank and we smiled. She rested for a couple of minutes.

Those minutes brought such tranquility (宁静) to me. She took my head in both her hands and kissed my forehead, and then she left. I was trying to help someone in distress(不幸，苦恼). In turn, I became distressed and she took away my distress and replace it with tranquility.

1. What did the author want to do when the old woman rested against her car?

A．She wanted to communicate with the old woman

B．She wanted to let driver warn the old woman off.

C．She wanted to make the old woman notice her existence.

D．She wanted to help the old woman without bothering her.

2. Why did the old woman choose to rest against the author’s car?

A．Because she was too tired to walk further.

B．Because it was a comfortable place to stay.

C．Because she thought there was nobody in the car.

D．Because she could put her large shoulder bag on the car.

3. Why did the author feel blue?

A．The old woman refused her water.

B．The old woman left without saying a word.

C．The old woman suspected the author’s kindness.

D．She interrupted the old woman’s quiet moment of rest.

4. The old woman came back to ________.

A．drink some drink

B．accept and thank the author’s kindness

C．rest for another few minutes

D．offer a banana to the author

7 . 如今，在车站、餐厅、商场等公共场所都能看见许多成人和学生在不停地摆弄手机。现在，请你针对这一现象，用英语写篇短文。短文词数120字左右，要点必须包括：
1. 描述现象。 2. 分析原因（至少两条）。
3. 说明影响。 4. 提出建议。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Dreaming about whether you would want to read minds, see through walls, or have superhuman strength may sound silly, but it actually gets to the heart of what really matters in your life.

Every day in our work, we are inspired by the people we meet doing extraordinary things to improve the world.

They have a different kind of superpower that all of us possess: the power to make a difference in the lives of others.

We’re not saying that everyone needs to contribute their lives to the poor. Your lives are busy enough doing homework, playing sports, making friends, seeking after your dreams. But we do think that you can live a more powerful life when you devote some of your time and energy to something much larger than yourself. Find an issue you are interested in and learn more. Volunteer or, if you can, contribute a little money to a cause. Whatever you do, don’t be a bystander. Get involved. You may have the opportunity to make your biggest difference when you’re older. But why not start now?

Our own experience working together on health, development, and energy the last twenty years has been one of the most rewarding parts of our lives. It has changed who we are and continues to fuel our optimism about how much the lives of the poorest people will improve in the years ahead.

1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Your life style.	B．Your life value.
C．Your trouble in life.	D．Your life experience.

2. Why does the author say they are inspired every day?

A．They possess different kinds of superpowers.

B．They have got the power to change the world.

C．Some people around them are making the world better.

D．There are many powerful people in their life and work.

3. What does the author stress in Paragraph 5?

A．Learning more and contributing more to a cause.

B．Rising above self and acting to help others.

C．Working hard to get a bigger opportunity.

D．Trying your best to help the poor.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．The author believes the lives of the poorest will get better.

B．Much more progress will be made in the near future.

C．The work on health is the most valuable experience.

D．People’s efforts have been materially rewarded.

9 . The National Gallery

Description:

The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.

Layout:

The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th-to15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.

The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titan and Veronese.

The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.

The East Wing houses 18th-to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.

Opening Hours:

The Gallery is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm (Fridays 10 am to 9 pm) and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.

Getting There:

Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).

1. In which century’s collection can you see religious paintings?

A．The 20th	B．The 17th
C．The 18th	D．The 13th

2. Where are Leonardo da Vinci’s works shown?

A．In the East Wing.	B．In the main West Wing.
C．In the Sainsbury Wing.	D．In the North Wing.

3. Which underground station is closest to the National Gallery?

A．Charing Cross.	B．Leicester Square.
C．Embankment.	D．Piccadilly Circus.

10 . The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert (警觉的). Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus—until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns: she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?

Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly(随意地)on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise(同样地) when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.

1. The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby's ________.

A．sense of hearing	B．sense of sight
C．sense of touch	D．sense of smell

2. Babies are sensitive to the change in ________.

A．the size of cards	B．the colour of pictures
C．the shape of patterns	D．the number of objects

3. Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats?

A．To reduce the difficulty of the experiment.

B．To see how babies recognize sounds.

C．To carry their experiment further.

D．To keep the babies' interest.

4. Where does this text probably come from?

A．Science fiction.	B．Children’s literature.
C．An advertisement.	D．A science report.