1 . What are the things that scare you: snakes, spiders or fierce tigers? Or maybe you have a fear of heights or visiting the dentist. Although some of us just get scared or a bit nervous about these things, for others it can cause an unreasonable reaction that can’t be controlled-something we call a phobia (恐惧症).     1    

Sometimes it’s good to be aware of the possible dangers from things. Our brain warns us of the risks that might lie ahead, but then we often get prepared and overcome them. Clinical psychologist Warren Mansell told the BBC, “Our fears are rooted in our brains-we don’t need to learn to be afraid of animals like snakes or spiders.”    2    With a phobia, your breathing gets quicker, your pulse speeds up, you sweat and your brain is unable to control these reactions.

    3     Speaking to the BBC, Lauren Rosenberg, a fear and phobia expert, says, “Phobias usually are a copy behaviour from a higher authority, like a parent or teacher, or a kind of mental suffering from a past event that comes back to trouble you continuously.”

There are many different complex phobias some people suffer from, such as agoraphobia－caused by being away from home, and iatrophobia-fear of doctors.    4    Therapy (心理治疗) is one choice, where you gradually get used to whatever it is you fear. Lauren Rosenburg says she likes to work with people to clear their bad memory and help them breathe. But if you do have a phobia, continually trying to avoid what you’re afraid of by yourself is likely to make the situation worse.    5    

A．Then how can they be overcome?

B．But where does a phobia come from?

C．But phobias are stronger than just fears.

D．The right thing to do is to find help to overcome it.

E．Overcoming a phobia can take patience, devotion and courage.

F．Are there any phobias that tend to be more common than others?

G．It occurs when someone develops an unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or object.

2 . A young girl, who enjoys being the center of attention, may act out for her friends and family. Then one day her mother tells her to stop being so silly and grow up. This negative attention may make the girl feel ashamed of her behavior and from then on, hold back her free-spiritedness and then go through life feeling as if she can’t fully express herself for fear of being laughed at.

The girl’s experience shows how people live with shame when they have been criticized (批评) for just being themselves.

When it comes to teenagers, there are times they can be extremely difficult and try their parents’ patience. When parents become frustrated, they may say things like “I am starting to really not like you. ” They may not mean what they say. They may just be tired of arguing with the teenager and have become emotionally overwhelmed. However, the teenager doesn’t know their words are out of frustration, and may feel his parents are telling him they’re sorry they ever had him. The child may conclude that he is a bad person. Such casual criticism by parents can linger and stick to children like glue.

How to make this better? The next time a child shows you a drawing he’s done, or sings a song for you in an effort to get your attention, recognize that your response may be extremely important toward the child’s willingness to continue to explore these creative efforts. When a child is dancing and an adult makes fun of him, the negativity he feels can completely shut the child down from that activity, or even worse, fill him with shame as if something’s wrong with him.

That is why it is so important for parents to recognize that children are exploring their world.The more encouragement we how then and he more we keep their sense of what’s possible alive, the more likely they will be to explore and find their own enthusiasm in life.

They will keep alive their joy and their dreams for the future. As parents, I don’t think we can hope for anything more.

1. How does the author introduce the topic of the passage?

A．By describing a scene.

B．By giving an explanation.

C．By making a comparison.

D．By providing an example.

2. What effect can parents’ mindless criticism have on children?

A．They may have a low opinion of themselves for long.

B．They may no longer feel afraid of being made fun of.

C．They may want to challenge their parents’ patience further.

D．They may work harder to live up to their parents’ expectations.

3. What are parents advised to do when a child seeks for attention?

A．Point out his weaknesses.

B．Protect his passion for exploration.

C．Comment on his behavior.

D．Encourage his reflection on himself.

3 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

The excitement about Thanksgiving was really building. Grandma arrived with a homemade pecan pie. Dad was searching for his electric carving knife. Mama was in the kitchen humming a song. Little baby Lonnie bounced up and down. Dad smelled the air and sighed. My big brother, Slim, who was anything but slim, sneaked off to his room with a slice of the pecan pie. Even our dog Fido was wagging his tail.

Having set a pretty table, Mama looked up, smiling. “Help me carry in the food,” she said. Slim, who had come out of his room by this time, went racing into the kitchen. " I'll get it! I'll get it!” The rest of us piled in behind him, everyone grabbing a dish. Then we watched Dad carry in the biggest, brownest, best-smelling turkey we had ever seen with Mama's hand under the plate, just in case. Together they lowered the turkey to its place at the table.

It was the tradition in our family to think of something for which we were most thankful. We all ran to the table yelling something like “I'm thankful for school being out” or “I'm thankful for pecan pie!” All eyes were on that enormous turkey as we took our seats.

Yes, everything was perfect except for one thing. On that special day, it was Dad who sat at the head of the table and carved the turkey. It was an honor that he had eagerly expected for days. Mama always called Dad a clumsy ox. He frequently tripped (绊倒) over his own two feet, and he could drop just about anything.

We automatically eased back when Dad tested the electric carving knife in the air. Dad went to work on the white meat first with surprisingly few problems. Slice after slice landed neatly on the plate with thick gravy (肉汁)。Dad leaned forward and grabbed the end of the left turkey leg and cut it off, placing it whole on the plate. His oily fingers shone brightly in the light of the chandelier (大吊灯)，and Mama waved her napkin. “I'm all right, Mama,” he said. “I'm all right. ”

注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:

But when Dad pulled back the right turkey leg, it slipped from his oily fingers.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

As Lonnie yelled, we found a turkey leg was missing.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . 假定你是校英文报Teens Today的学生主编，本学期该报拟开设专栏“科技与人文”(Technology and Humanity), 向全校同学征集稿件。请你写一封征稿函，内容包括：
1. 稿件要求；
2. 投稿方式；
3. 录用奖励。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

5 . 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。

My friend has a sweater that her uncle bought in the 1970s. That sweater is still going strong and she wears it everywhere. Well-made, long-lasting clothing is    1     we should buy and wear. In reality, however,60% of clothing nowadays     2    (abandon)within a year of purchase, which produces vast quantities of waste that global landfills (垃圾填埋场) are struggling    3     (absorb).

If we choose long-lasting clothes, it helps solve two key    4     (issue) at once-overconsumption and the declining quality of many clothes in stores these days. A focus on quality would make us likely to pay     5    (much) for better-made items, which would reduce the desire to keep shopping, while slowing demand for fast fashion overall.

You could buy secondhand clothing, too, as    6     useful way to extend the lifespan (寿命) of items already    7     (create). But I've come to think that whether you buy something new or used       8     (matter) less if you commit to keeping clothes in use for decades. The same goes for    9    (nature) fibers; this xkw quality counts, of course,    10    it is less important if you throw away clothes within a few months from time of purchase. The most important thing is to make them last.

6 . Ever wondered if dogs can learn new words? Yes, say researchers as they have found that talented dogs may have the ability to grasp new words after hearing them only four times.

While previous evidence seems to show that most dogs do not learn words, unless eventually very well trained, a few individuals have shown some extraordinary abilities, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“We wanted to know under which conditions the gifted dogs may learn novel words,” said researcher xuekw Claudia Fugazza from the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. For the study, the team involved two gifted dogs, Whisky and Vicky Nina. The team exposed the dogs to the new words in two different conditions.

In the exclusion-based task, presented with seven known toys and one new toy, the dogs were able to select the new toy when presented with a new name. Researchers say this proves that dogs can choose by exclusion when faced with a new word, they selected the only toy which did not have a known name.

However, this was not the way they would learn the name of the toy. In fact, when they were presented with one more equally new name to test their ability to recognize the toy by its name, the dogs got totally confused and failed.

The other condition, the social one, where the dogs played with their owners who pronounced the name of the toy while playing with the dog, proved to be the successful way to learn the name of the toy, even after hearing it only 4 times. “The rapid learning that we observed seems to equal children’s ability to learn many new words at a fast rate around the age of 18 months,” Fugazza says. “But we do not know whether the learning mechanisms(机制) behind this learning are the same for humans and dogs. ”

To test whether most dogs would learn words this way, 20 other dogs were tested in the same condition, but none of them showed any evidence of learning the toy names, confirming that the ability to learn words rapidly in the absence of formal training is very rare and is only present in a few gifted dogs.

1. What was the purpose of the study published in Scientific Reports?

A．To better train dogs’ ability to learn new words.

B．To further confirm previous evidence about dogs.

C．To prove extraordinary memory abilities of gifted dogs.

D．To explore favorable conditions for gifted dogs’ new-word learning.

2. How did the dogs react when exposed to two new names in the first condition?

A．Slow to understand.

B．Quick to learn.

C．At a loss.

D．In a panic.

3. What was found about dogs’ new-word learning in the social condition?

A．Learning through playing applied to most dogs.

B．The social condition helped dogs learn new words.

C．Dogs’ new-word learning turned out to be less effective.

D．Dogs shared similar learning mechanisms with children.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Gifted Dogs Can Learn New Words Rapidly.

B．Dogs Identify Newly-named Toys by Exclusion.

C．Dogs Can Acquire Vocabulary through Tons of Training.

D．Gifted Dogs Have Similar Learning Abilities to Humans.

7 . I saw my first tree today. Dad used to tell me stories about the trees that still existed when he was a boy. There weren’t very many even then, with the urbanization program in full swing.

The O’Brien home was one of the few examples of old-style wooden structures that hadn’t been destroyed in Boston’s urban-renewal campaign. The family had been able to avoid this because of its wealth and political influence, and the house was passed on through generations to the present. Old man O’Brien had no children, so when he died, the Urban Center bought it. Then an official discovered that the house had a backyard-in the yard was a live tree!

When the news of the tree’s discovery leaked out, quite a few sightseers stopped by to have a look at it, and the local government, realizing the money-making potential, began charging admission and advertising the place. By now it had become a favorite spot for family trips like ours.

Dad paid the fee and we walked through a doorway hidden in a bookshelf and into the backyard. I just couldn’t help noticing the tree!

It was located at one end of the yard, with a fence around it for protection. It was similar in form to the plastic trees I’d seen, but there was much more. You could see details more delicate than in any artificially made plant. And it was alive. But best of all was the smell-fresh, living smell, unfamiliar to the world outside with metal, plastic, and glass. I wanted to touch the bark, but the fence prevented me from doing so.

On the way back, I read through the brochures. One part said the O’Brien home would be torn down next year to make room for some insurance building, and the tree will have to go, too.

I just sat still, fingering the object in my pocket that I had picked in the O’Brien’s backyard. I think it’s called an acorn (橡子).

1. Why could the tree in the O’Brien’s backyard survive till today?

A．It possessed some special characteristics.

B．It had a very strong fence around to protect it.

C．It was preserved together with the house by its owner.

D．It got the local government’s attention as a tourist attraction.

2. How might the author feel after the trip?

A．Annoyed.

B．Calm.

C．Excited.

D．Upset.

3. Which statement best shows the theme of the passage?

A．Social progress and urbanization come at a cost.

B．Social progress should give way to nature protection.

C．Humans value nature protection over social progress.

D．Urbanization has more advantages than disadvantages.