1 . When I tried out for the football team during the summer before 9th grade, I never imagined how important this sport would become in my life. Football is a
In the first year, I played on the defensive line. This was an amazing
In September, during my junior year, my name was mentioned in the local newspaper as the key defensive lineman on the team. After playing a fantastic season, I was given the
In this sense, the world of football has taught me an important life lesson:
| A．tough | B．popular | C．typical | D．dynamic |
| A．set | B．control | C．test | D．require |
| A．mistakes | B．adventures | C．accidents | D．injuries |
| A．performance | B．position | C．moment | D．advantage |
| A．with | B．over | C．through | D．into |
| A．valuable | B．lost | C．extra | D．regular |
| A．pride | B．choice | C．name | D．honor |
| A．Unfortunately | B．Similarly | C．Happily | D．Gradually |
| A．practices | B．tryouts | C．seasons | D．operations |
| A．But | B．Or | C．So | D．And |
| A．examined | B．changed | C．provided | D．completed |
| A．shoulder | B．hand | C．leg | D．foot |
| A．explore | B．avoid | C．love | D．support |
| A．Knowledge | B．Belief | C．Experience | D．Opinion |
| A．enjoyable | B．possible | C．sensible | D．responsible |
2 . My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?”
Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what the teacher might have found out. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.
“Oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance. “My father is going to have a fit as a result of it,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward (朝向天空). I told the truth, “I did it.” It was hard enough to say what I had done.
My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I had never known my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.
“I know how much you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face. “Here is the field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours now. It’s time we got a new one for the school anyway. You will not be punished, but remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed (恶行), but I am rewarding you for your truthfulness.”
I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide — the very one that I had been saving up money to buy.
The lesson my teacher taught me stays with me every day, and it will echo forever.
1. From the story, we can learn that the boy .| A．didn’t break the window on purpose |
| B．lacked the courage to admit his guilt |
| C．tried to think about what he had done |
| D．didn’t know what the teacher had found out |
| A．be punished by the teacher |
| B．make his father angry |
| C．pay for the broken window |
| D．get a bird field guide |
| A．Afraid—Surprised—Thankful. |
| B．Frightened—Amazed—Proud. |
| C．Regretful—Guilty—Excited. |
| D．Nervous—Afraid—Satisfied. |
| A．Every coin has two sides. |
| B．Honesty is always valued. |
| C．Bad luck never comes alone. |
| D．You can’t be too careful. |
1. 多跟同学交流沟通；
2. 积极参加学校活动；
3. 向老师寻求帮助。
注意：1. 词数不少于90；
2. 可适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出, 不计入总词数。
Coming from the Bronx, Jennifer Lopez knew from an early age it would be tough to achieve her dream. In an interview in 2002 she remembered, “I had such a will in me. I had such a passion in me. I could overcome my situation. But a lot of people will get beaten down and be held back by that.” Lopez was not beaten down by her situation. She worked hard dancing, singing, and acting in theaters and her hard work paid off with small roles in television and films.
Lopez’s big breakthrough came in 1996 when she played the main role in the movie Selena. For this movie, Lopez got paid $1 million and became the highest paid Latin actress of all time. Since then, she has had starring roles in several successful movies, including Out of Sight with George Clooney.
Then, Lopez turned her attention toward music. In 1999, she released her first album, On the 6. Two songs from the album, “If You Had My Love” and “Waiting for Tonight”, both reached number one on the Billboard music charts. The album sold more than three million copies around the world.
After starring in The Cell (2000), Lopez released her second album, J. Lo, in 2001. The album went straight to the top of the billboard chart. At the same time when her album came out, Lopez’s new movie, The Wedding Planner, opened in theaters. It became the number one movie at the box office. This meant that Lopez was the first entertainer to ever have a number one album and a number one movie at the same time!
But her entertainment career was not the only thing Lopez focused on that year. 2001 was also the year Lopez started her own line of clothing, called J. Lo, and she married Cris Judd, a dancer who performed in her videos. The marriage did not last long, and Lopez and Judd divorced nine months later.
In 2002, Lopez starred in the films Enough and Maid in Manhattan, which became Lopez’s biggest movie yet, earning $19 million.
1. In what movie did Lopez play the main role in 1996?2. How many copies was the Lopez’s first album sold around the world?
3. What is the passage mainly talking about?
4. Do you think will and passion are important to make a person successful? Give your reasons. (about 40 words)
5 . Learning to say “yes, and”
When I first heard about the improvisation (即兴交流) class, I was hesitating. As a quiet and shy girl, I feared improvising in front of strangers. However, I knew I wanted to work as a science communicator after finishing my Ph.D., so it seemed like a perfect chance to learn how to speak and communicate with others effectively. I signed up, knowing the experience would give me help.
During our first class, we learned an important concept of improvisation: “yes, and.” It means that, as improvisers, we’d better accept what fellow performers say. If someone says that rhinos (犀牛) are librarians, for example, then rhinos are librarians. We do not question the logic; we say “yes” and then continue with the scene as if nothing is wrong.
The first few scenes were hard, but as weeks turned into months, I became more comfortable and even started to enjoy our classes. I became better at listening, relating to my conversation partners, and communicating clearly in the moment. Once when I was giving a presentation about my science, an audience member surprised me with a question that didn’t grow out of the information I’d presented. Instead of getting confused and nervous, I took the “yes, and” approach—accepting the question and letting my mind focus on why it was asked. That helped me find an appropriate answer. I got pretty excited about it.
The benefits of improvisation go beyond communication. Before attending the class, I would get stuck when my experiments produced unexpected data, thinking that I had made a mistake. But now, instead of getting discouraged, I will stay open to the possibility that the results are real, keep exploring the data and end up identifying a new type of cell—one that isn’t behaving as expected.
I think all scientists can benefit from this lesson. If the data say rhinos are librarians, then it’s worth finding out whether rhinos are, in fact, librarians. As scientists, our job isn’t to challenge data that support, a preconceived story, but to say “yes, and.”
1. Why did the author attend the improvisation class?| A．To get a different experience. |
| B．To finish her Ph.D. at university. |
| C．To give up her job as a science communicator. |
| D．To improve her speaking and communicating ability. |
| A．She formed her own idea quickly. |
| B．She came up with lots of creative responses. |
| C．She paid more attention to the logic of answers. |
| D．She became a good listener before giving an opinion. |
| A．explain the process of using the method |
| B．prove the benefits of the improvisation class |
| C．share her own research experiences with readers |
| D．attract fellow scientists to attend the improvisation class |
| A．They should attend the improvisation class. |
| B．They should question all preconceived ideas. |
| C．They should carry on research by admitting earlier data. |
| D．They should try to improve their academic knowledge. |
6 . Growing up in rural Malawi, Africa, William Kamkwamba learned to accept that life was hard. He lived with his parents and seven sisters in a small clay house without electricity or running water. Like most boys in his village, William was expected to assist his parents on the family farm, as well as keep up with his school work. Each night, like most Malawians, his family went to bed early because the kerosene oil they needed to light the lamps was costly.
When he was 10, a terrible drought left many Malawians hungry and William’s family was no exception. At the age of 13, William and many other children were forced to drop out of school when their parents could no longer afford his schooling. William had to work even harder to help his family, but he wasn’t ready to give up his education. He went to the local library and took out some books to study. One book, called Using Energy, sparked William’s interest in science and gave him an idea that significantly changed his future.
In the book, William found a picture of a windmill, and a brief description of how it could be used to generate electricity from wind. He knew that there was plenty of wind in his village, and realized that if he could build a windmill like that, he could give his family and the people in his village a much better life. There was just one problem. The book didn’t explain how to build a windmill, and neither did any of the other books in the library.
What happened over the next year demonstrated William’s incredible ambition and determination. He began to collect any kinds of materials he thought could be useful—scraps of wood, broken bicycles, old shoes—and started to build a windmill next to his family’s house. He endured many challenges and failures. Other people in his village called him crazy and said his idea would never work. Finally, at the age of 14, William completed his first windmill. When they saw electric lights and heard the sound of music on the radio coming from William’s house, the village people came running. He had done it. William Kamkwamba had found a way to capture the wind.
Kamkwamba’s autobiography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, tells the story of how the rest of the world came to know about his achievements. With the help of international supporters, his village now has clean running water, solar powered lighting, and electric power. As a result of his actions, Kamkwamba was invited to study engineering at Dartmouth College, one of the top-ranking universities in the U. S. He also travels the world and gives talks about how he made his dream a reality.
1. William went to the local library because ________.| A．he wanted to find some materials for his invention | B．it was his favorite way to kill time and relax |
| C．it was believed to be a way to change his fate | D．he wanted to continue his education |
| A．why the windmill is so attractive | B．how William got inspired by a book |
| C．why William decided to continue his education | D．how a windmill works to produce electricity |
| A．brave and patient | B．honest and forgiving |
| C．ambitious and determined | D．reasonable and humorous |
| A．We should strike while the iron is hot. |
| B．A good beginning makes a good end. |
| C．One who lives his dream can make a difference. |
| D．You’d better not put all the eggs in one basket. |
7 . A campaign (活动) is being launched to encourage children to surrender 30 minutes of screen time a day to head for the great outdoors.
The Wild Network — a collaboration (合作) of nearly 2,000 organisations — is attempting to attract youngsters away from the television and computer screen and to fields, woods and parks. Members of the network include the National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Play England and the National Health Service (NHS) sustainable development unit. Organisers say it is the UK’s biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature and outdoor play, and claim it could help improve fitness, mental alertness (机敏) and general well being.
A documentary film, Project Wild Thing, which forecast the launch at more than 50 cinemas across the UK also looked at the increasingly fragile link between children and nature.
Andy Simpson, chairman of the Wild Network, said, "The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation. Time spent outdoors is down, roaming (漫步) ranges have fallen largely, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost."
Suggestions of how to get more time in nature include collecting conkers (七叶树果), camping or snail racing, and observing autumn colours on trees.
The network also aims to make suggestions to politicians on how government can do more to get children muddy and bright-eyed.
This is not the first time the message of “less screen, more play” has been brought up. Children in the 1980s were requested to do the same by the BBC TV series Why Don’t You, which somewhat confusingly called on its viewers to “switch off your TV set and go to do something less boring instead”.
1. What does the underlined word “surrender” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Give up. | B．Get around. | C．Take up. | D．Run away. |
| A．To make children read more books. |
| B．To help children tell the natural world. |
| C．To encourage children to take part in outdoor activities. |
| D．To get children out of too much homework from school. |
| A．Wild Network | B．the BBC | C．the National Trust | D．Play England |
| A．TV viewers will turn away from television. | B．Children have already been close to nature. |
| C．Politicians have controlled the campaign. | D．The government will play an important role |
8 . Can you imagine a world without music? Studies show that public schools across the country are cutting back on music classes to save money. Worse, some schools have never had music classes to begin with. But without them, students’ academic(学业的) growth and emotional health could suffer. In fact, music classes are necessary for all students in schools.
A recent study by Brown University has shown that students who had music classes were better in math and reading skills than those without having music classes. Another study by The College Board found that students taking music and art classes got higher points. Students’ academic success seems to depend on taking part in music education.
Music programs in public schools also help to add to a student’s sense of pride and self-confidence. Teens today have too many learning tasks. Besides, they have family problems, self-confidence problems, relationship troubles, and choices about drugs and alcohol. All of these can stop academic success, but music education can help. Students who took part in school music programs were less likely to turn to drugs. Music programs encourage students to work together to produce an excellent performance.
Music crosses language, class cultural and political boundaries(界限). Music allows students from different countries to connect. For example, at a school talent show, a new Japanese student played a piano duet(二重奏) with an American classmate. Although they could not communicate verbally, they were able to read the music in order to play the duet. Two students from different cultures worked as a team with self-confidence and a common purpose through music.
The gift of music is priceless. We need to be sure of having necessary music classes for all students. The world is losing its music, and putting music into schools is the first step to get it back.
1. What can we know about education with music classes?| A．It wastes a lot of money from parents. | B．It leads to a lot of emotional problems easily. |
| C．It helps students improve their school work. | D．It has a bad influence on the quality of education. |
| A．not all students take part in music classes |
| B．students with great success attend music classes |
| C．students having music classes are better in all courses |
| D．music plays an important role in students’ academic success |
| A．Different cultures have different styles of music. |
| B．Music makes cross-country communication possible. |
| C．Japan has a good international relationship with America. |
| D．Japanese and American students are good at playing the piano. |
| A．Music education in schools | B．How to get music back? |
| C．Music—a bridge to understanding | D．The importance of listening to music |
9 . Parents may fear that if their high school student isn’t motivated (有动力) to do well in classes, there’s nothing that will change that. But a new study found that students’ learning motivation often did change and usually for the better.
1,670 students from grades 9 to 11 took part in the study in two school years, during which they completed several surveys that assessed their motivation. After each survey, the students were placed into six different profiles (档案), from worst — those who were not motivated at all, to best — those who had an inner desire to learn.
The study found about 67 % students did change their profiles during the two years and there was an overall positive change in students’ motivation. For example, 8% of the students were in the best profile — autonomously motivated — in the first year, and that increased to 11.4% in the second year. The worst profile, the not motivated, described 2.8% of the students in the first year, dropping to 2.1% in the second year.
“The other good news in the study was that if we can find better ways to motivate students, if we can get them in a better profile, they tend to stay there,” said Kui Xie, lead author of the study and professor of educational studies at the Ohio State University.
Why did students move in a positive direction? One reason may be simply because they’re a year older and more mature (成熟).
But the study did find two factors that impacted how likely they were to become more motivated. One was the previous achievement. Students who had higher grade the first year were more likely to remain in better profiles in the second year of the study. The other factor was school belongingness, with students who felt they were more a part of their school in the first year being more likely to move to or stay in a better profile in the second year.
“This may be one area where we can help students become more motivated,” Xie said. “Belongingness is something schools can change. They can find ways to help students feel like they are part of the school community.”
1. What did Kui Xie’s study discover?| A．Students’ willingness to study can be improved. |
| B．Teenagers’ inner desire to learn can be assessed. |
| C．Students from grades 9 to 11 are easy to be inspired. |
| D．Teenagers’ learning motivation is parents’ most concern. |
| A．The background of the study. |
| B．The influence of the study. |
| C．The purpose of the study. |
| D．The process of the study. |
| A．Their average ages. |
| B．Their previous scores. |
| C．Their personal profiles. |
| D．Their motivated schoolmates. |
| A．Schools should put students in better profiles. |
| B．Students should have their own assessment plan. |
| C．Schools should use motivation strategies to inspire students. |
| D．Students should improve their communication with their parents. |
10 . What role might arts play in response to climate change and related economic and ecological crises?
It’s often said that a novel, a painting, a song or a motion picture changed how a lot of people thought or felt about the world. Anthropologists (人类学家) and historians rightly argue that major changes in society have sprung up not from the arts, but from-our relationship to our environment. Nevertheless, artists’ efforts help shape the terms by which society adapts to such changes and their consequences. Think of how Beethoven marked the beginnings of modern democracy and the nascent (初期的) Industrial Revolution. Or how Hollywood writers and directors inspired massive support for the U.S. war effort during the early 1940s.
We have stepped into a century in which the societal systems have been built since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Our food system，transport system，energy system，financial system，and possibly our political and governance systems were designed during an era in which fossil fuels met the great quantity of our fast-growing energy demand. But fossil fuels are exhaustible resources, and their reduction will drive evermore desperate methods of extraction (提炼), create evermore environmental risk and require evermore capital-even as alternative energy sources they are also costly. Further, burning fossil fuels changes our planet’s climate. So, at the same time our economy will need to be redesigned to run on entirely different energy sources, and the natural world will be shifting around us in unprecedented (空前的) ways, with more frequent disastrous storms，floods，droughts etc.
Everything will be up for negotiation, redesign and change. And artists have the opportunity and duty to translate the resulting tumultuous (动荡的) human experience into words, images，and music that help people not just to understand these events mentally, but also to come to grips with them willingly. The economic and environmental shifts described above are currently being detailed in ever-greater specificity in hundreds of reports released yearly by climate and energy experts. What’s missing in their carefully worded journal articles is the human dimensions of imagination, joy or sorrow, inspiration, and passion. Art can help us cope with the possible effects of our collective challenges. It can help prepare society for a possibly painful future. It can give voice to suffering and loss, helping people deal with life’s unavoidable stress. And it can also offer beauty, which can be especially important in hard times.
Meaningful art can and must express the chaos we encounter and help us process it mentally and emotionally. To achieve this, artists need to dig deeper, observe more closely and help their audiences connect abstract explanations and forecasts with actual experiences.
1. The author mentions Beethoven to suggest that__________.| A．musicians can easily adapt to changes in society |
| B．music can control the social change of the world |
| C．anthropologists are right about major changes in society |
| D．art serves as a bridge for people to understand the world |
| A．start to create | B．begin to deal with |
| C．try to record | D．take an interest in |
| A．are expected to show human experience in works |
| B．deal with the unpleasant events willingly |
| C．help people forecast painful future |
| D．are the voice of suffering and loss |
| A．Art in Greater Need during Climate Change |
| B．The Relationship Between Society and Art |
| C．The Climate Clues Hidden in At History |
| D．The Best Ways to Change the World |
