1 . My name is Eivind Trodden, I’m 42 years old and on Svalbard in the North Pole. My background was originally software engineering, and years later I decided to go ahead and get my pilot license. This year I tried my hands at technology and got a job at Svatsat, the northernmost Satellite (卫星) Ground Station in the world. Now I work as a pilot and an operations engineer.

Originally, I moved here for the job. This was the first pilot job I got. After a while, I was attracted by the place, and right now the most important thing for me is to live here.

It is wonderful and full of differences. The polar night is balanced with the midnight sun. Here the year is much like a day. The winter is night. In the morning there is ice, snow and then spring. Then there is the endless day of summer, and finally, the town settles in with the sunset of autumn.

The summer is the most difficult. It is harder to create darkness than light. You have to have good blinds on your bedroom windows. A good trick is to create your own evening. I like to close the blinds and sit down in relative darkness with a good book or a movie before I go to bed.
The dark season is the favorite of many people living here. There are fewer tourists, and people have a chance to get together and be social after the busy summer. You have to be self-controlled though, and not start lighting candles in the middle of the day. Don’t underestimate (低估) the cost of living here. You need a large number of tools to experience Svalbard to the fullest.
1. The author’s present work is probably connected with ________.

A．training the pilots	B．software engineering
C．satellite controlling technology	D．researching the coldest place

2. What made the author settle in the North Pole?

A．The simple lifestyle.	B．His love for the place.
C．Better living conditions.	D．Chances to get a job.

3. Why do many people living at Svatsat like winter most?

A．They have spare time to relax.

B．There are less rules to follow.

C．There are no kids to disturb them.

D．They needn’t light candles any longer.

4. Which can best describe the life in Satellite Ground Station?

A．Busy but boring.	B．Simple but exciting.
C．Colorful and comfortable.	D．Great and different.

2 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；

2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。

We were headed to the nationally famous Blue Owl Restaurant, in historic Kimmswick, Missouri, to celebrate my husband’s birthday. It is said that the restaurant is warm and romantic with smiling waitresses dressed in long blue dresses with white aprons. The food was delicious, and the service was extremely good. This week, the restaurant offers a sweetheart dinner that is well worth the price. So we decided to have a try.

There would be freezing rain today, but it might be around midnight. We would be safely home by then. But then, as we were near the restaurant, it suddenly started raining heavily. We were closer to the restaurant than home so it seemed wise to go to the restaurant.

By the time we arrived, the street in front of the restaurant was a sheet of ice. The parking lot was also a sheet of ice and in front of our car was a pool of water. I couldn’t pull in the parking lot and I knew, even if I parked on the street, we would never be able to get out and walk in the rain.

My husband couldn’t walk steadily (稳步地) and I was not strong enough to help him to cross the street. I was afraid we would fall, so we were planning to give up the meal in the fancy restaurant. But we really wanted to try the special chocolate- covered strawberries that were as large as baseballs. Also, we wanted to take pictures of the two of us.

At that moment, an unknown lady walked toward us.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To our surprise, the lady, who just helped us, was the owner of the restaurant.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . 假定你是李华，想邀请你的外国老师Mr. Smith 担任你校“英文诗歌朗诵比赛”的评委，请你给他写一封邮件。内容包括：
1. 比赛时间、地点；
2. 比赛内容；
3. 期待回复。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
词汇：English Poem Reading Contest 英文诗歌朗诵比赛；judge 评委
Dear Mr. Smith,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . Kurt Campbell was a special student at school. He had difficulty in learning. For him, the hurt and ________ came in fourth grade.

Learning was hard at school. It was a complete ________ for him. His teachers and parents ________ everything to help him but just failed. By the end of his fourth-grade year, he couldn’t spell or read.

His parent ________ from their home in Washington to the town of Edmonds.

Kurt’s parents took him to a new school, where he would ________ the fourth grade.

He wasn’t ________ about going to a new school, but he was terribly upset about taking the fourth grade again. It was a ________ of not being intelligent. He felt worried and afraid. ________, he wasn’t at his old school, so none of the kids would know what he used to be.

But his new teacher, Mrs. Hornall, knew. She had got Kurt’s ________ from his parents. She spent a lot of time with him. Mrs. Hornall helped him ________ words into sentences and taught him how sentences became paragraphs. She even explained patiently to him how stories are ________ new meaning.

Over the next few weeks and months, things began to ________. Kurt could read a Hardy Boys book. When he finished the final exam, he ran down the hall, ________ to his mom and dad, “I did it! I did it!”

“Mrs. Hornall made the ________. She was one of those amazing teachers who paid ________ to me and never once made me feel different from my other classmates,” said Kurt.

1.

A．anger

B．hope

C．regret

D．joy

2.

A．success

B．adventure

C．pleasure

D．struggle

3.

A．tried

B．made

C．bought

D．chose

4.

A．traveled

B．moved

C．escaped

D．searched

5.

A．start

B．skip

C．repeat

D．spend

6.

A．nervous

B．happy

C．curious

D．sure

7.

A．way

B．sign

C．result

D．case

8.

A．Hardly

B．Naturally

C．Fortunately

D．Surprisingly

9.

A．information

B．letter

C．essay

D．notice

10.

A．see

B．pack

C．break

D．put

11.

A．mixed into

B．applied to

C．based on

D．filled with

12.

A．change

B．happen

C．fade

D．grow

13.

A．whispering

B．explaining

C．swearing

D．shouting

14.

A．decision

B．deal

C．difference

D．attempt

15.

A．motivation

B．attention

C．service

D．advice

6 . Amazing Benefits of Listening to Music

If you love listening to music, you’re in good mood. Recent research shows that listening to music improves our mental and physical health.     1    .

Music lowers stress (压力).

           2    . This is an important finding since stress causes many illnesses. To stay calm and healthy during a busy day, turn on the radio.

Music brings happiness.

More than 350 million people are not happy around the world. Music can make people happy, depending on the type of music.     3    . But heavy metal brings people down even more. When you feel low, put on some popular folk music or relaxing music to make you happy.

    4    .

Music can lead people to eat fewer calories and enjoy their meals better. If you’re looking for ways to reduce your weight, try listening to soft music next time you sit down for a meal.

Music raises school performance.

Taking music lessons predicts higher school performance in young children. In one study, children who took singing lessons had learned better than children who took other lessons unrelated to music.     5    , you can let them take music lessons. Or you can encourage them to sing or learn to play an instrument.

A．Music helps you eat less

B．Popular music lifts people up

C．Music gives you hope and confidence

D．Listening to music reduces the stress in your body

E．Here are some amazing benefits of listening to music

F．If you want to help your children get good grades in their studies

G．Musical training can help raise our IQs and even keep us sharp in young age

7 . Children should do housework. That’s a controversial (有争议的) idea, though not everyone will admit it. A few parents will say that their children are too busy for housework. Many more of us believe in our children, but the housework just doesn’t get done.

That’s a problem. For starters, housework is good for kids. Being a part of the routine work of running a household helps children develop an awareness of the needs of others, while at the same time contributing to their emotional well-being.

One small study, done over a period of 25 years, found that the best thing for young adults’ success in their mid-20s was whether they took part in housework at age 3 or 4. Those early shared responsibilities extended to a sense of responsibility in other areas of their lives.

But for all that their help matters, few kids are doing much around the house at all. In a survey of 1,000 American adults, 75 percent said they believed regular housework made kids “more responsible”. Yet only 56 percent of those with children said they required them to do housework.

Sports and homework are not get-out-of-housework-free cards. The goal, after all, is to raise adults who can balance a caring role in their families and communities with whatever lifetime achievement goals they choose. Housework teaches that balance.

What should you do when getting children to do housework? Accept no excuses. Don’t worry if you must repeat yourself again and again. If you’re spending more time getting the child to do this job than it would take to do it yourself, then you’re doing it right. Can a payment help? Maybe. But if you’re trying to teach kids to share the responsibility of a home, paying them for routine housework is not the right message.

1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A．Very few children get housework done.	B．Children are very busy with housework.
C．Housework is a must-do for parents.	D．Family members should respect each other.

2. What do we know about the small study in paragraph 3?

A．Housework helps a man live a happy life.	B．A man’s success depends on his housework.
C．Housework benefits a sense of responsibility.	D．A child must start doing housework at age 3.

3. What does the author advise parents to do in the last paragraph?

A．Balance housework and study.	B．Help the child do housework positively.
C．Do housework by themselves.	D．Pay the child for doing housework.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Adults do less housework at home in the US.	B．It is important for children to do housework.
C．Parents should do housework for their children.	D．Children need more time to do sports at home.

9 . In school we learned about the Earth. We learned that rivers flow from higher ground to lower ground. They usually end at a bigger river or go into a lake or ocean. I can see that every day in Chicago.

Our river goes into the lake. It’s a giant lake. We used to go fishing on the river every summer. Most days you would find me and my grandfather there, fishing. My father was busy working for the city. I did not know what his job was. He said it was in the Sanitary and Ship Canal.

My grandfather would take me to the river. “In the old days,” he said, “this was a clean stream. Now look at it. It is dirty.” Sometimes we even saw dead fish floating on it.

When we brought the fish home, my mother would throw them out. “We can’t eat this. This is dirty, bad fish.” She sounded angry. So my grandfather and I stopped bringing the fish home. Sometimes we would go to fish and throw them back. But mostly we just stayed at home. We were sad about it.

Then one day my father was so busy that he was not at home. That New Year’s Day he worked, too. My mother was worried, “It is too cold.” But he went anyway.

Then two days later the newspaper said, “It is a miracle!” That was the headline. I read the article. It told how the workers on the Sanitary and Ship Canal had done something impossible. They had changed the Chicago River completely. They dug such a great hole that the river rushed away from the lake. It now went to the west. I was excited. So was my grandfather. He said, “Now we can go fishing this summer.”

We both laughed. So did my mother. My father smiled a lot, all day long.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To show the miracle of nature.

B．To explain the concept of the Earth.

C．To introduce the topic of the article.

D．To test readers’ knowledge about rivers.

2. Why did the author stop bringing home fish?

A．The fish in the river were all dead.	B．His mother disliked eating fish.
C．He wanted to protect the river.	D．The fish were too dirty to eat.

3. What miracle did the author’s father and his co-workers create?

A．They saved all the fish in the Chicago River.

B．They kept the Chicago River incredibly clean.

C．They changed the direction of the Chicago River.

D．They dug a huge hole to store the polluted water.

4. Which of the following words can best describe the author’s father?

A．Serious.

B．Devoted.

C．Open-minded.

D．Out-going.