1 . The elderly residents (居民) in care homes in London are being given hens to look after to stop them feeling lonely.

The project was dreamed up by a local charity (慈善组织) to reduce loneliness and improve elderly people’s wellbeing. It is also being used to help patients suffering dementia, a serious illness of the mind. Staff in care homes have reported a reduction in the use of medicine where hens are in use.

Among those taking part in the project is 80-year-old Ruth Xavier. She said: “I used to keep hens when I was younger and had to prepare their breakfast each morning before I went to school. ”

“I like the project a lot. I am down there in my wheelchair in the morning letting the hens out and down there again at night to see they’ve gone to bed.”

“It’s good to have a different focus. People have been bringing their children in to see the hens and residents come and sit outside to watch them. I’m enjoying the creative activities, and it feels great to have done something useful.”

There are now 700 elderly people looking after hens in 20 care homes in the North East, and the charity has been given financial support to roll it out countrywide.

Wendy Wilson, extra care manager at 60 Penfold Street, one of the first to embark on the project, said: “Residents really welcome the idea of the project and the creative sessions. We are looking forward to the benefits and fun the project can bring to people here.”

Lynn Lewis, director of Notting Hill Pathways, said: “We are happy to be taking part in the project. It will really help connect our residents through a shared interest and creative activities.”

1. What is the purpose of the project?

A．To ensure harmony in care homes.	B．To provide part-time jobs for the aged.
C．To raise money for medical research.	D．To promote the elderly people’s welfare.

2. How has the project affected Ruth Xavier?

A．She has learned new life skills.	B．She has gained a sense of achievement.
C．She has recovered her memory.	D．She has developed a strong personality.

3. What do the underlined words “embark on” mean in paragraph 7?

A．Improve.

B．Oppose.

C．Begin.

D．Evaluate.

4. What can we learn about the project from the last two paragraphs?

A．It is well received.	B．It needs to be more creative.
C．It is highly profitable.	D．It takes ages to see the results.

4 . Returning to a book you’ve read many times can feel like drinks with an old friend. There’s a welcome familiarity - but also sometimes a slight suspicion that time has changed you both, and thus the relationship. But books don’t change, people do. And that’s what makes the act of rereading so rich and transformative.

The beauty of rereading lies in the idea that our bond with the work is based on our present mental register. It’s true, the older I get, the more I feel time has wings. But with reading, it’s all about the present. It’s about the now and what one contributes to the now, because reading is a give and take between author and reader. Each has to pull their own weight.

There are three books I reread annually .The first, which I take to reading every spring is Emest Hemningway’s A Moveable Feast. Published in 1964, it’s his classic memoir of 1920s Paris. The language is almost intoxicating (令人陶醉的)，an aging writer looking back on an ambitious yet simpler time. Another is Annie Dillard’s Holy the Firm, her poetic 1975 ramble (随笔) about everything and nothing. The third book is Julio Cortazar’s Save Twilight: Selected Poems, because poetry. And because Cortazar.

While I tend to buy a lot of books, these three were given to me as gifs, which might add to the meaning I attach to them. But I imagine that, while money is indeed wonderful and necessary, rereading an author’s work is the highest currency a reader can pay them. The best books are the ones that open further as time passes. But remember, it’s you that has to grow and read and reread in order to better understand your friends.

1. Why does the author like rereading?

A．It evaluates the writer-reader relationship.

B．It’s a window to a whole new world.

C．It’s a substitute for drinking with a friend.

D．It extends the understanding of oneself.

2. What do we know about the book A Moveable Feast?

A．It’s a brief account of a trip.

B．It’s about Hemingway’s life as a young man.

C．It’s a record of a historic event.

D．It’s about Hemingway’s friends in Paris.

3. What does the underlined word ＂currency＂ in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Debt

B．Reward.

C．Allowance.

D．Face value.

4. What can we infer about the author from the text?

A．He loves poetry.

B．He’s an editor.

C．He’s very ambitious.

D．He teaches reading.

5 . Molai grew up in a tiny village in India. The village lay near some wetlands which became his second___________. He learned the value and beauty of _________ there from a very young age.

When he was 16, Molai began to notice something _________ happening around his home. A flood had hit the area earlier that year and the _________ it caused had driven away a number of birds. _________, the number of snakes had declined as well. He _________ that it was because there weren’t enough trees to protect them from the _________. The solution, of course, was to plant trees so the animals could seek _________ during the daytime. He turned to the _________ department for help but was told that nothing would grow there. However, Molai went looking on his own and __________a nearby island where he began to plant trees.

________ young plants in the dry season was ____________for a lone boy. Molai built at the __________ of each sapling(幼树)a bamboo platform, where he placed earthen pots with small holes to____________ rainwater. The water would then drip(滴落)on the plants below.

Molai __________ to plant trees for the next 37 years. His efforts have resulted in 1,360 acres of naturally-grown land that has become home to many plants and animals.

1.

A．dream

B．job

C．home

D．choice

2.

A．nature

B．youth

C．culture

D．knowledge

3.

A．precious

B．interesting

C．disturbing

D．awkward

4.

A．waste

B．tension

C．pain

D．damage

5.

A．Besides

B．However

C．Therefore

D．Otherwise

6.

A．agreed

B．realized

C．remembered

D．predicted

7.

A．noise

B．heat

C．disease

D．dust

8.

A．directions

B．partners

C．help

D．shelter

9.

A．labor

B．police

C．forest

D．finance

10.

A．rebuilt

B．discovered

C．left

D．managed

11.

A．Decorating

B．Observing

C．Watering

D．Guarding

12.

A．tough

B．illegal

C．fantastic

D．beneficial

13.

A．back

B．top

C．foot

D．side

14.

A．cool down

B．keep off

C．purify

D．collect

15.

A．returned

B．learned

C．failed

D．continued

6 . Need a Job This Summer?

The provincial government and its partners offer many programs to help students find summer jobs. The deadlines and what you need to apply depend on the program.

Not a student? Go to the government website to learn about programs and online tools available to help people under 30 build skills, find a job or start businesses all year round.

Jobs for Youth

If you are a teenager living in certain parts of the province, you could be eligible(符合条件) for this program, which provides eight weeks of paid employment along with training.

Who is eligible: Youth 15-18 years old in select communities(社区).

Summer Company

Summer Company provides students with hands-on business training and awards of up to $3,000 to start and run their own summer businesses.

Who is eligible: Students aged 15-29, returning to school in the fall.

Stewardship Youth Ranger Program

You could apply to be a Stewardship Youth Ranger and work on local natural resource management projects for eight weeks this summer.

Who is eligible: Students aged 16 or 17 at time of hire, but not turning 18 before December 31 this year.

Summer Employment Opportunities(机会)

Through the Summer Employment Opportunities program, students are hired each year in a variety of summer positions across the Provincial Public Service, its related agencies and community groups.

Who is eligible: Students aged 15 or older. Some positions require students to be 15 to 24 or up to 29 for persons with a disability.

1. What is special about Summer Company?

A．It requires no training before employment.

B．It provides awards for running new businesses.

C．It allows one to work in the natural environment.

D．It offers more summer job opportunities.

2. What is the age range required by Stewardship Youth Ranger Program?

A．15-18.

B．15-24.

C．15-29.

D．16-17.

3. Which program favors the disabled?

A．Jobs for Youth.	B．Summer Company.
C．Stewardship Youth Ranger Program.	D．Summer Employment Opportunities.

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What are the speakers talking about?

A．A company.

B．An interview.

C．A job offer.

2. Who is Monica Stansfield?

A．A junior specialist.

B．A department manager.

C．A sales assistant.

3. When will the man hear from the woman?

A．On Tuesday.

B．On Wednesday.

C．On Thursday.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Where did the woman go at the weekend?

A．The city centre.

B．The forest park.

C．The man’s home.

2. How did the man spend his weekend?

A．Packing for a move.

B．Going out with Jenny.

C．Looking for a new house.

3. What will the woman do for the man?

A．Take Henry to hospital.

B．Stay with his kid.

C．Look after his pet.

9 . After years of observing human nature, I have decided that two qualities make the difference between men of great achievement and men of average performance curiosity and discontent. I have never known an outstanding man who lacked either. And I have never known an average man who had both. The two belong together.

Together, these deep human urges (驱策力) count for much more that ambition. Galileo was not merely ambitious when he dropped objects of varying weights from the Leaning Tower at Pisa and timed their fall to the ground. Like Galileo, all the great names in history were curious and asked in discontent, “Why? Why? Why?”

Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don’t have to be learned. We are born with them and need only recapture them.

“The great man,” said Mencius (孟子), “is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And the crowd desires restful average. It encourages us to occupy our own little corner, to avoid foolish leaps into the dark, to be satisfied.

Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked them, we think how terrible it would have been, had we missed the chance. We will probably have to force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent and keep them awake.

How should you start? Modestly, so as not to become discouraged. I think of one friend who couldn’t arrange flowers to satisfy herself. She was curious about how the experts did it. How she is one of the experts, writing books on flower arrangement.

One way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You haven’t any special ability? Most people don’t; there are only a few geniuses. You haven’t any time? That’s good, because it’s always the people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts ofUncle Tom’s Cabinwhile cooking. You’re too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78.

However you start, remember there is no better time to start than right now, for you’ll never be more alive than you are at this moment.

1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to ________.

A．propose a definition

B．make a comparison

C．reach a conclusion

D．present an argument

2. What does the example of Galileo tell us?

A．Trial and error leads to the finding of truth.

B．Scientists tend to be curious and ambitious.

C．Creativity results from challenging authority.

D．Greatness comes from a lasting desire to explore.

3. What can you do to recapture curiosity and discontent?

A．Observe the unknown around you.

B．Develop a questioning mind.

C．Lead a life of adventure.

D．Follow the fashion.

4. What can we learn from Paragraphs 6 and 7?

A．Gaining success helps you become an expert.

B．The genius tends to get things done creatively.

C．Lack of talent and time is no reason for taking no action.

D．You should remain modest when approaching perfection.

5. What could be the best title or the passage?

A．Curious Minds Never Feel Contented

B．Reflections on Human Nature

C．The Keys to Achievement

D．Never Too Late to Learn

10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does the man want the woman to do?

A．Check the cupboard.

B．Clean the balcony.

C．Buy an umbrella.

2. What is the probable relationship between the speakers?

A．Husband and wife.

B．Employer and employee.

C．Shop assistant and customer.