1 . The Price of a Dream

I grew up poor. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, they could still afford a dream. My dream was athletics.

By the time I was sixteen, I was good at baseball and football. My high school coach was Ollie Jarvis. He not only believed in me, but taught me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction (信念).

One summer a friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket — cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a house for my mother.

Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. I was afraid of this, but my mother said, “If you make your bed, you have to lie in it.” 

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as mad as I expected him to be. “Your playing days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them,” he said.

I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why I dream of buying my mom a house.

“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” he demanded.

“Three point twenty-five an hour,” I replied.

“Well,” he asked, “is $3. 25 an hour the price of a dream?”

That question exposed the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play rookie-league ball, and offered a $20, 000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother my dream house.

1. Why was the writer grateful to Coach Jarvis?

A．Because Coach Jarvis made him set a goal.

B．Because Coach Jarvis supplied him with new clothes.

C．Because Coach Jarvis gave him financial support.

D．Because Coach Jarvis helped him show conviction.

2. What did the writer want to do when he was offered a job?

A．Balance summer baseball and the work schedule.

B．Refuse the job offer for summer baseball.

C．Give up summer baseball for the job.

D．Ask his coach Jarvis for advice.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined part “If you make your bed, you have to lie in it.” in paragraph 4?

A．You must eat the bitter fruit of your own making.

B．Believe in yourself, but above all be patient.

C．You must rely on yourself first, then others.

D．A good beginning makes a good ending.

4. What did the writer do at the end of the story?

A．He failed to buy his mother a house.

B．He succeeded as a sportsman.

C．He became a successful businessman.

D．He made some money in the summer job.

2 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

I’m an only daughter of my parents. So they are worried about everything I do. For example, when I ride my bike, my parents won’t let me ride by myself. They are afraid I might fall off my bike and hurt me. They are taking great trouble to support the bike, with my mother even carry a first-aid box. I’m free to ride and I often say angry, “Why not to let me ride alone?” Now, most families have one child. Parents want to do everything for their children. This does no good for them. Too much love from parents prevent children from being independent. In my opinions, parents should let their children do that they should do alone.

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Soon after Dave left college, one of his uncles,    1    was rich and had no children     2     his own, died,     3    (leave) Dave a lot of money, so he decided to set up his own real estate agency(地产公司).

He found a nice office,    4    (buy) some new furniture and moved in. He had only been there for a few hours     5     he heard someone    6    (come) towards the door of his office.

“It’s my first     7    (custom)!” he thought. He quickly picked up    8    telephone and pretended to be very busy answering an important call from someone in New York who wanted to buy a big and expensive house in the country.

The man knocked at the door when this was going on, came in and waited    9    (polite) for the agent to finish his conversation. Then he said to him, “I’m from the telephone company, and I    10    (send) here to connect your telephone.”

4 . When I was reading a post about taking someone to the movies, something happened a couple of years ago suddenly hit me.

I used to drink Cokes and they had a competition where there was a code inside the bottle cap. You might win something so long as you went to a website and entered the code. I won some free Cokes. But what astonished and delighted me was the Grand Prize I won then.

The Grand Prize was free movies for a year. They pointed out that one movie a week was what free movies for a year meant. All of the tickets were valid(有效的)for one year from the day I received them. So I must use them in the following year. 1 used quite a few taking friends to movies we all wanted to see.

Then I donated 20 tickets(all I had left by that time)to the local Women's Transition House. Women and children could go there when they want to avoid a bad situation in general and get help to make a new start. It was the best thing I did with the tickets.

My workplace team had decided to help people in need, so we collected donations for that particular New Year's Day. I knew that the Women's Transition House provided some childcare for the women so they could go for job interviews and things like that.

I put those tickets in a box and wrote a note on the outside. And I asked the Women's Transition House staff to give movie tickets to women there over the holidays to have some fun to do, with or without their children, which made me really happy.

1. How did the author get the tickets?

A．By visiting a website by chance.	B．By reading a post.
C．By getting a code from a website.	D．By winning the prize for drinking Cokes.

2. How many tickets did the author donate?

A．10.

B．20.

C．30.

D．40.

3. Which of the following best describe the author?

A．Lucky and caring.	B．Strict and careful.
C．Responsible and patient.	D．Brave and kind.

4. Which of the following proverb can best explain the main idea of this article?

A．Actions speak louder than words.	B．Good luck favors those who are always ready.
C．The roses in their hands, the flavor in mine.	D．God helps those who help themselves.

5 . Around this time of year when the weather gets cooler in Arkansas, there are a lot of homeless people, as well as people with different situations who just need help.

Oftentimes Our family serves at a soup kitchen where they give out bags of food to needy families in our area. And we’ll help put those bags of food together and hand them out, among other things.

There are a lot of reasons why serving the community is important to me, but one of them has to do with my father. My grandfather died when my father was 4 years old and my grandmother had four kids all under the age of 5, all born pretty close together. That was a time when things were so bad in the country. There wasn’t work and often the family hardly made ends meet, so my grandmother put the kids in a childrenˈs home so that they could at least have food to survive.

My dad said he never forgot the local charity would bring the kids a gift for Christmas. The kids worked hard in the children’s home and the only present they got was from the local charity. He never forgot this kindness and always appreciated the local charity for what it did when he Was a little boy.

My dad was such a hardworking worker- family meant the world to him. I was the seventh baby in my family and my mother had me just after she turned 40. She was one of those high-risk pregnancy moms, and Iˈm so grateful she had me. My mom and dad made a happy home for us, and I’m so grateful for that. I hope my children are catching those lessons, not just from Mom and Dad, but from grandparents and everyone else in their lives.

1. Why does the author consider serving the community important?

A．His father led a hard life in his childhood.

B．He was inspired by his fatherˈs life experiences.

C．He was grateful for what his father had done for him.

D．His father worked hard and took good care of the family.

2. Why did the author’s grandmother put the kids in a childrenˈs home?

A．The family had too many children.

B．The kids were born too close together.

C．It provided food for the kids to survive.

D．The kids could lead a very comfortable life there.

3. Which can best describe the author’s father?

A．Kind and creative.	B．Strict and helpful.
C．Devoted and patient.	D．Grateful and hardworking.

4. What can we learn from the passage ?

A．Father meant the world to the family.

B．The author hopes his kids learn to be grateful.

C．The kids received Christmas gifts from their parents.

D．The author’s family opens a soup kitchen to offer help.

6 . Fansida Dine

Our menu consists of classic European dishes made from the freshest ingredients with great care paid to every little detail. That is why our dishes can be considered as food art that impresses both vision and taste. Located at Fansida Building, it is near Aljunied MRT.Come and join us here at Fansida Dine for a true blue European fine dining experience like no other.

Pillars Restaurant

Pillars is equipped with a good team with vast experiences in catering. Creativity is what our team of chefs are equipped with to create surprises for customers. Our traditional dishes have also received good and positive comments from our group of customers. With a strong and organized team, we deliver timely and quality services to customers at all times. You say it; we do it.

Char-Grill Bar

Char-Grill Bar has won “Asia’s No.1 Brand Western Cuisine (西餐) Bar”. With its large central kitchen as a support, Char-Grill Bar’s long term goal is to sincerely invite those who wish to own their business in western cuisine to join the chain and set up a shop to progress and grow together.

Ireland’s Potato

Originating from Taiwan, Ireland’s Potato was inspired by the Irish’s passion for potatoes.As there’s an Irish saying, “There are two things in the world that cannot be joked about: 1 is Marriage, 2 is Potato.” Ireland’s Potato firmly support this belief to serve customers.

1. Why can the dishes in Fansida Dine be considered as food art?

A．They have special food design.

B．They are made at Fansida Building.

C．They have many different traditional tastes.

D．They are made from freshest ingredients with great care.

2. Which one is your best choice if you are hungry at 1:00 am?

A．Fansida Dine.

B．Pillars Restaurant.

C．Char-Grill Bar.

D．Ireland’s Potato.

3. Who will pay special attention to Char-Grill Bar?

A．Tom who lives near Aljunied MRT.	B．Sara who wants to become a teacher.
C．Jake who wants to have a western cuisine bar.	D．Lucy who likes eating potatoes very much.

7 . Fire Safety Training Online

This e-learning fire safety training course is aimed at all staff. This fire safety awareness online course enables individuals to improve their knowledge and understanding of the safety. Fire safety is an important part of any business. With the e-learning fire safety course you can ensure a safe environment for your staff and customers with minimum disruption (混乱) to your business. As this course is online, it benefits from constant updates to ensure the content remains accurate to any changing legislation (法规).

WHAT DOES THE LAW REQUIRE?

The Fire Safety Order requires all employers to:

Carry out a Fire Risk Assessment.

Provide appropriate training to their staff— this should be related to a person’s job role. Everyone should have basic fire safety training so this course is ideal.

Provide training for fire wardens (管理人) —Fire Risk Assessments Ltd provides this training online due to this being unique to your site and fire procedures.

THE TRAINING PROGRAM

The average time to complete the course is approximately 30 minutes. After completing each section, people need answer a few multiple (多的) choice questions correctly before progress to the next section is possible.

COURSE CONTENT

Main goals including preservation, prevention, protection and procedures

Characteristics of Fire

Legal Requirements

Fire Evacuation (疏散)

Means of putting out Fire

Interactive Quiz

Should you wish to book or find out more about the above course, please call Fire Risk Assessments Ltd on 0208763 S610 to speak to one of their training advisors. Alternatively, you can email them at enquiries@firera.co.uk or visit their website at www.firera.co.uk.

1. This advertisement is most probably intended for______.

A．law makers

B．firefighters

C．employers

D．government officials

2. What do people need to do after finishing each section?

A．answer some questions correctly.	B．put out a fire in 30 minutes.
C．conduct a Fire Risk Assessment.	D．learn related legal requirements.

3. For more information, you should______.

A．have an appointment with a training advisor	B．visit Fire Risk Assessments Ltd in person
C．write a letter to Fire Risk Assessments Ltd	D．visit the website www.firera.co.uk

8 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

Thank you for your letter, what really made me happy. I’m glad to know that you’ve come China to learn kung fu in a school in my hometown. I’m surely you’ll have a good time. Actually, I start to learn kung fu when I was seven years old, for I have long been out of practice. Luckily, I will go home in two weeks for summer vacations. Then I can spare some time to learn it again, such that we can practice together on every day. Best of luck with yours learning kung fu in China. See you sooner.

9 . Children who use screens for seven hours or more a day are showing signs that their brain cortex（大脑皮层）is thinning prematurely（过早地）, according to a new major US study.

The ongoing $300 million research is funded by the National Institute of Health and shows results of the effects of technology on children.   The aim of the study, called Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development, is also to show how screen time affects emotional development and mental health. The researchers also determined that children who spend more than two hours of daily screen time score lower on thinking and language tests.

Researchers made the early findings by scanning the brains of 4, 500 children.

The brain cortex is the outermost layer of neural（神经中枢的） tissue that processes information from the physical world. It is critical for cognitive functions such as perception（直觉）, language, memory and consciousness but thins as we mature into old age.

Though the difference was significant from participants who spent less time using smart devices, the study director cautioned against drawing a conclusion.

Dr Gaya Dowling, an NIH doctor working on the project, cautioned against drawing a conclusion because they aren’t completely sure it’s being caused by the increased use of modern technology. They won’t be able to draw a definitive outcome until they follow them over the course of several years.

Dr Dowling said: “It won’t be until we follow them over time that we will see if there are outcomes that are associated with the differences that we’re seeing in this single snapshot.”

A 2014 study showed that there is a direct correlation between the thickness of the brain cortex and IQ score. The cortex begins to thin after the age of five or six as part of the normal aging process.

The findings showed that people with a significant increase in IQ did not have the expected cortical thinning and people with a significant decrease in IQ had exaggerated（夸张） cortical（皮质的）thinning.

A major data release of the initial data is scheduled for early 2019.

1. What belongs to the findings of the new major US study?

A．Screen time can result in a smaller brain.

B．The brain cortex gets thinner as we mature into old age.

C．Too much exposure to screen can lead to a poorer health.

D．Children who are interested in computer are academically poor.

2. Why is Dr Gaya Dowling against drawing a conclusion?

A．There are some doubts about their findings.

B．He thinks that further study is needed.

C．The number of the participants is not large enough.

D．They should ask for the government’s permission.

3. What is the finding of the 2014 study?

A．The brain cortex has much to do with IQ score.

B．The brain cortex’s thickness is determined by IQ.

C．Different people have different cortical thinning.

D．Aging is a natural process for creatures.

4. What will probably happen when a person reaches the age of five or six?

A．His IQ score will get higher and higher.

B．He will be more addicted to modern technology.

C．He will show more interest in modern technology.

D．His brain cortex will become thinner and thinner.

10 . On Thursday morning, two teenage boys were rescued by a drone (无人机) in Australia while lifeguards were still training to use the machine.

The ______, aged 15-17, got into difficulties about 700 feet off the coast of Lennox Head, New South Wales (NSW). A passerby saw them ______ in dangerous waves. Lifesavers ______ sent the drone to drop a lifeboat, and the pair made their way safely to the ______.

The drone, known as “Little Pipper”, was actually not ______ to be saving anyone just yet---lifeguards were being trained to ______ the machine. When a call came about the swimmers ______, the drone happened to be nearby.

Jai Sheridan was the lifeguard who ______ the drone. He described the experience as ______. “The Little Ripper ______ proved itself today. It is a highly efficient (高效的) piece of lifesaving equipment. I was ______ the drone when the alarm was raised. I directed it towards the swimmers, and dropped the ______. With its support they made their way to safety. They were ______, but not hurt. The teens were rescued in just 70 seconds with the drone---while a lifeguard would have taken up to six minutes to ______ the rescue.”

John Barilaro, an official of the state, ______ the rescue as historic. “It was the world’s ______ rescue by the unmanned aircraft”, he said. “Never before has a drone been used to ______ swimmers like this.”

Last December, the NSW state government ______ some “Little Ripper” drones for 247,000 pounds. ______ some are designed to spot sharks, others are ______ with lifeboats, alarms and loudspeakers. “It was money well spent,” said John Barilaro.

1.

A．swimmers

B．pilots

C．visitors

D．rescuers

2.

A．playing

B．surfing

C．struggling

D．training

3.

A．finally

B．secretly

C．immediately

D．gratefully

4.

A．island

B．ship

C．hospital

D．shore

5.

A．advised

B．supposed

C．allowed

D．guided

6.

A．operate

B．repair

C．work

D．power

7.

A．in charge

B．in place

C．in action

D．in trouble

8.

A．flew

B．brought

C．checked

D．designed

9.

A．funny

B．useful

C．amazing

D．important

10.

A．necessarily

B．basically

C．probably

D．certainly

11.

A．studying

B．piloting

C．boarding

D．inspecting

12.

A．lifebelt

B．lifeline

C．lifeguard

D．lifeboat

13.

A．sick

B．tired

C．excited

D．surprised

14.

A．record

B．complete

C．experience

D．report

15.

A．thanked

B．greeted

C．imagined

D．praised

16.

A．latest

B．best

C．first

D．quickest

17.

A．rescue

B．warn

C．protect

D．reward

18.

A．offered

B．bought

C．booked

D．made

19.

A．Since

B．Unless

C．While

D．Before

20.

A．equipped

B．connected

C．covered

D．filled