1 . As my family and I drive to my grandmother's house, my dad points out all the houses he lived in as a_________. I count 12, probably _________ one or two along the way.

At 16, my dad had to_________ high school to support his mom and six siblings. He tells my brothers and me stories of when he was our _________.One time, he came home from school to find a(n)_________ house and a notice that his family would be removed from the property. But he says it like it was _________. We start to understand why he has no _________of his younger self. His dad spent all his money on gambling and alcohol.

There is no anger in my dad's tone. _________, there is a sense of longing as he _________the few times he and his dad would sit together and watch football. His little sister would ____________at birthday parties because she could never have one of her own at home. We ____________my dad his first birthday party when he was at least 40.Forty birthdays before his first party. My brothers and I have had one every single year.

He tells us to make a(n) ____________to work hard and stay in school. We've heard it so much that sometimes we ____________our eyes. But his words now ____________in my head, and I find new ____________every time I recall them: “There's nothing you can't do if you stay in school and work hard.” I wonder how different my father's life could have ____________if he'd had just one person saying those words to him.

My dad works 16 hours a day. He's gone before I'm ____________and home just as I'm falling asleep. He works hard so we can have a good home and do the things he never could. It makes me think the world is at my ____________and nothing is impossible. For 18 years, my dad has always told me this, but now it's my ____________: I am so ____________of you, Dad.

1.

A．kid

B．worker

C．teacher

D．designer

2.

A．admitting

B．remembering

C．missing

D．covering

3.

A．do well in

B．put up with

C．be active in

D．drop out of

4.

A．father

B．age

C．weight

D．height

5.

A．furnished

B．huge

C．empty

D．glorious

6.

A．anything

B．nothing

C．something

D．everything

7.

A．families

B．books

C．friends

D．pictures

8.

A．Instead

B．Therefore

C．Otherwise

D．Besides

9.

A．expects

B．declares

C．imagines

D．recalls

10.

A．clap

B．cry

C．smile

D．rush

11.

A．allowed

B．guaranteed

C．threw

D．agreed

12.

A．decision

B．living

C．effort

D．choice

13.

A．close

B．roll

C．wipe

D．open

14.

A．resound

B．disappear

C．change

D．lose

15.

A．success

B．answers

C．methods

D．significance

16.

A．figured out

B．made out

C．came out

D．turned out

17.

A．up

B．off

C．back

D．down

18.

A．fingertips

B．bottom

C．body

D．best

19.

A．description

B．day

C．turn

D．time

20.

A．impressed

B．proud

C．ashamed

D．tired

2 . Facial recognition software has found an unlikely new application: scanning the faces of thousands of British children in school canteens.

Nine schools in North Ayrshire will today start taking lunch payments by scanning the faces of pupils, claiming that the new system speeds up queues and is more secure than the card payments and fingerprint scanners they used previously. “It’s the fastest way of recognising someone at the till,” said David Swanston, the managing director of CRB Cunninghams, the company that installed the systems. “In a secondary school you have around a 25-minute period to serve potentially 1,000 pupils. So we need fast productivity at the point of sale.” He said the average transaction time was cut to five seconds per pupil.

However, privacy campaigners say there is little need to spread out facial recognition technology, which has been criticized for often operating without gaining approvals from the owners. Swanston argued that CRB Cunningham’s system, which uses cameras to check against coded face-print modes stored on servers at the schools, was different from live facial recognition systems that scan through crowds to identify faces. Live facial recognition has previously caused debate after being used by schools for security or to monitor attendance.

North Ayrshire committee said that 97 percent of children or their parents had given agreement for the new system. “Pupils often forget their PINs and unfortunately some have also been the victim of PIN cheating, so they are supportive of the planned developments and appreciate the benefits to them,” the council said.

But some parents said they were unsure whether their children had been given enough information to make their decision, and suggested that peer pressure had also played a role.

1. What can we infer from Swanston’s word?

A．He speaks highly of the system.

B．The software is intended to promote the sales.

C．The technology has previously caused debate.

D．The system will be helpful when the students forget their PINs.

2. What is not the advantage of the facial recognition software?

A．It speeds up the queues.

B．It is safer than the previous payments.

C．It operates without being approved of.

D．It benefits the pupils who often forget their PINs.

3. What’s the author’s attitude to the application of facial recognition technology?

A．Supportive	B．Disapproved
C．Objective	D．Critical

4. What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．Facial recognition has been the best way adopted so far.

B．Parents disagree with the application of facial recognition system.

C．The facial recognition system can benefit the pupils who are forgetful.

D．Schools speed up canteen queues with facial recognition technology.

3 . 假定你是李华，学校将举行一个关于汉字书写体系（the Chinese writing system）的讲座。你打算邀请你的英国朋友Jack来参加，并请他谈谈如何学习汉字（Chinese characters）。请给他写封邮件，讲座安排如下：
时间：12月19日下午2:00 – 4:00
地点：念慈体育馆一楼多功能厅（the multi-functional hall）
内容：先由Mr. Smith做讲座，然后学生可以自由发问。
意义：培养学生学习汉字的兴趣；重视对汉语的学习。
注意：1、写作词数应为80左右；
2、请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Jack,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

4 . Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot… you can travel fast or slow. The movement of your feet gets you where you need to go. But it also gets you so much more!     1    

Walking helps you in various ways. First it makes your heart stronger. Studies show regular walking lowers your chance of heart disease. Walking for 30 minutes per day also helps control blood pressure. It can reduce your chance of having a stroke or developing some cancers, too.

Want to lose weight? You need to burn 600 more calories each day than you eat.     2    

Walking helps your brain health. As people age, their brains don’t work as well. One in 14 people over 65 years old suffers from memory loss. Older people who walk six miles or more per week keep their brains in better shape.     3     You don’t have to think about it, so you can consider other things. You can consider problems or think of ideas. You can think over conversations again or just remember funny things that have just happened recently.

Walking is also good for your wallet. It saves the cost of going to a gym.     4     A pedometer(计步器) can get you started. Begin with trying to take 1,000 steps in 10 minutes to set the right pace.

You can make walking part of your day. Instead of parking right next to your office, park a distance away— and walk. Do not take the elevator, but walk.     5     They are what they sound like. Rather than sit, you walk and talk things over.

Make walking a habit, and see how it makes you feel.

A．It is not easy to do that regularly.

B．Walking is the easiest way to do that.

C．You can even have walking meetings.

D．Putting one foot in front of the other isn’t difficult.

E．More walking and less driving help to make you healthy.

F．Walking quickly for 150 minutes each week to get a good workout.

G．Walking is a basic, simple exercise that’s suitable for almost everyone.

5 . You accidentally step into quicksand(流沙）. You begin to sink. Can you drown? Quicksand is sand with so much water between its particles (颗粒) that is soupy. Quicksand can no longer support weight. So does this mean one can drown in quicksand?

The truth is that it is very rare to drown in quicksand. This is because of two things. The first reason is that most quicksand pools are not deep. Usually, a person will sink only a few inches before hitting solid ground. If it is a deep pool, an adult will usually hit solid ground after sinking only to his or her waist. Deeper pools are rare, but even then, there is a reason why people are not swallowed（吞没）up after accidentally stepping into quicksand.

The reason is that quicksand is dense（稠密）. When something is dense, its particles are crowded close together. Quicksand is denser than the human body. This means that humans will naturally float in quicksand! The upward push of quicksand is greater than the downward push of the human body.

Usually you will sink to your chest before you begin to float. Your lungs, acting like giant balloons, help you float. You will only sink further if you are loaded down, perhaps with a heavy pack. Take off your pack, and you cannot drown. You cannot be swallowed.

One man escaped from quicksand after he sank up to his chest. How did he do it? He swam. People can swim in quicksand if they move slowly enough. The man slowly made swimming motions with his arms and legs. He swam slowly and carefully for an hour. He did not stop making the swimming motions once. Finally, he reached the edge of the quicksand pool. He did not drown. He climbed out unharmed.

1. According to the text, quicksand is sand_________.

A．with high temperature	B．mixed with a lot of water
C．that we see on the beach	D．that can pull everything into it

2. What can we infer from the passage?

A．People often drown in quicksand.

B．Most quicksand pools are very deep.

C．Only fat people can be trapped in quicksand.

D．People won’t be swallowed up even in deep quicksand pools.

3. Why do people float in quicksand?

A．Quicksand pools are usually not deep.

B．Quicksand can support heavy weight.

C．Quicksand is denser than the human body.

D．The downward push of quicksand is greater.

4. The text mainly talks about________.

A．quicksand pools.

B．the safety of quicksand.

C．the dangers of quicksand.

D．ways to escape from quicksand.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Where do Paul and Judy live?

A．In Northern Australia.

B．In the center of Australia.

C．In Southern Australia.

2. How do Paul and Judy have classes?

A．By computer.

B．By radio.

C．By television.

3. When do the lessons begin according to the talk?

A．When all the students answer the teacher.

B．When the bell for classes rings.

C．When the teacher comes.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Chinese carmakers are taking the lead in developing the intelligent cockpit (驾驶座舱),    1     is becoming a key part of the modern driving experience.

Intelligent cockpits combine smart technologies with     2     (vary) driving functions, such as voice recognition for vehicle commands and the entertainment and navigation (导航) systems.

According to a report     3     (publish) by patent research firm PatSnap last week, globally there have been 193, 000 patent applications related     4     intelligent cockpits.

Of those, China owns 82, 300 applications, accounting for 42.56 percent of the total and     5     (rank) first worldwide. It means that the country has become the     6     (much) important market for intelligent cockpit technology, according to the report.

Japan ranks     7     (two) with 31, 900 patent applications and the United States follows with 19, 300. The patent applications of the top three nations account for around 70 percent of the total.

A representative from PatSnap has said the three countries represent the development trend of the automobile industry to a certain degree as they     8     (be) the three largest auto producers worldwide.

It can     9     (see) that under the global trend of autonomous, connected, electric and shared vehicles, the intelligent cockpit has become one of the vital development     10     (direction) of the future of mobility, the report said.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

My neighbor told me immediately after I got home that my uncle had visited and just left my place. As I thought of this, I ran even     1    (fast) down the road.

I ran until it occurred to me that I     2    (leave) the house 15 minutes before. Having been running for about another 15 minutes, I needed to know how I missed     3    (he).

Now thinking more reasonably, I reached for my phone     4    (call) him up. Twelve calls     5    (miss) from his mobile number. I must have been running so fast that I didn’t even notice. As I was about to make the call, his call came in, again. I picked his call and told him I was on the way to meet him. He was     6    (astonish) at my words. Then he said I would have caught up     7    him if I had run the right way. He had been standing about five buildings from mine, talking to     8    old friend.

I had taken the wrong way.     9    (actual), all I needed to do before was know     10     my uncle was and I would have saved my time and energy.

9 . Most of us need to heal(治愈）once in a while. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually. Sometimes it’s all the above. For some of us, the hardest part of _______ is simply to believe that it’s possible.

Years ago, I was watching my oldest son practice free throws. The boy was good. He made a dozen shots through the _______ without a miss.

“How do you do that?” I said.

“Before I release (放开) the _______,” he said, “I see it in my mind_______ the net. I see it in my_______ to make it happen.”

I loved those _______. It struck me that they might also be said for healing. We need to _______ healing can happen and _______ it in our minds to see it in reality. Belief doesn’t assure(保证) us of the outcome we hope for. But it sets us in motion to move toward it.

My late husband, the coach who taught the boy to shoot free_______, was diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live. With a firm belief that healing was possible, he stretched those six________ into four years. He worked hard to heal. At the same time, he also learned to________ and let go. 

Healing begins when we ________ the past, accept the present and believe that all things are________.

A few years ago, I had surgery for a ________ ankle (脚踝) and spent eight weeks in a ________. At the end of those eight weeks, I expected to start walking again. That didn’t happen. 

I started going to physical therapy (治疗). I believed it could help, so I ________ at it. Just when it seemed I’d never again walk ________ I did before, I did just that. 

When hope grows dim(暗淡）, believing________ the way and makes all things possible. We need to believe healing is possible. If we can see it in our minds and feel it in our________ and believe it in our souls, we can let go of the past, accept the ________ and begin to move forward with our lives.

1.

A．belief

B．appreciation

C．healing

D．understanding

2.

A．hole

B．net

C．goal

D．track

3.

A．impression

B．anxiety

C．pain

D．ball

4.

A．going after

B．going up

C．going through

D．going away

5.

A．mind

B．view

C．eyes

D．head

6.

A．words

B．throws

C．directions

D．behaviour

7.

A．reduce

B．believe

C．direct

D．observe

8.

A．put

B．imitate

C．picture

D．record

9.

A．throws

B．dreams

C．guns

D．jokes

10.

A．days

B．minutes

C．weeks

D．months

11.

A．respect

B．accept

C．relax

D．survey

12.

A．let go of

B．look forward to

C．get away from

D．concentrate on

13.

A．right

B．fantastic

C．balanced

D．possible

14.

A．slim

B．broken

C．joint

D．painful

15.

A．room

B．period

C．wheelchair

D．suburb

16.

A．started

B．kept

C．abandoned

D．tired

17.

A．as

B．that

C．with

D．what

18.

A．presents

B．approaches

C．lights

D．creates

19.

A．hands

B．heads

C．spirits

D．hearts

20.

A．fortune

B．fact

C．disappointment

D．present

10 . Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. The day after it has been known as Black Friday.     1    and it has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the US since 2005.

 Black Friday is a great time to go shopping.     2     The biggest one is that there are not enough low-priced items. Each store may only have a few. These items are in great need, so people stand in long lines to get them. They may wait three to four hours before a store opens. They may be hoping to get a low price on a TV or computer, but not everybody can get one.     3     

    4     It was first used in Philadelphia in the 1950s. The police called this day Black Friday because of the heavy traffic it caused. In the 1960s, stores tried to rename the day “Big Friday”. It did not stick. The name “Black Friday” continued to spread across the country. It seems that it is here to stay.

 Now people all over the country take part in Black Friday events.     5    Stores have held Black Friday events in the UK, Australia, and Brazil since 2012. In Mexico, stores offer a weekend of discounts every year. They call it “El Buen Fin”, which means “the good weekend” in Spanish. I guess people everywhere like to buy things on sale.

A．It is even spreading to other parts of the world.

B．However, there are problems.

C．It is the start of the holiday shopping season,

D．Some people leave, disappointed.

E．The situation makes people worried.

F．So where does the name Black Friday come from?

G．Some Black Friday events have been crazy.