2 . When I was first married to my wife, I lived and worked in Ontario, moving from small town to big city as I pursued my career as a radio broadcaster. We have two sons, both of whom were born in Toronto, but they moved, with us, to Ottawa when they were quite young. They grew up there, and then, chasing their own careers, they also moved. One went to Canada’s east coast near a city called Halifax and the other headed to the west coast to Vancouver. We had a dilemma; we were left in the middle.

At the time I was still working and my job was in Ottawa. However, as we began to consider retirement we wondered where we should spend our final years. We couldn’t be close to both of our children and there was no telling when they might again relocate. For several reasons we settled on a small town on Vancouver Island. At least we were close to one of them. However, he had his sights set on Hollywood and, when an opportunity presented itself, he left Canada and headed south. I helped him move.

So, there we were, and still are, in our little west coast town. We love our little corner of paradise but we have paid a price. We have not been there for some important events such as the births of two of our grandchildren. We have missed watching each of them grow up; we have missed the normal, noisy households that have young people in them. Our home, while very comfortable, is also very quiet.

Every fall we travel to see the children. We usually fly, first to California to see our son Scott and spend a week or more with him trying to catch up on everything we’ve missed. Then, usually in November, we make the even longer trip east across Canada to see Travis and our grandchildren, who are now teenagers, actually into their twenties. They seldom come to visit us. The distances are just too great and it is costly.

Fortunately, both our boys are doing well and our grandchildren are growing up straight and tall. We love all of them and we are secure in the knowledge that they love us but the reality is that they don’t need us. We have done our jobs and, at least in theory, we can sit back, relax and enjoy the time remaining to us. They have also missed having a set of parents and grandparents around.

Life has been good for our family but we have all paid a price.

1. What does the author mean by saying “We had a dilemma.”?

A．They were not happy about their sons’ absence.

B．They were unwilling to separate from their sons.

C．They were not yet prepared for retirement at that time.

D．They couldn’t decide which son to live close to.

2. Why does the author say they have paid a price?

A．They have lost lots of money because of his retirement.

B．They have to give a large sum of money to their sons.

C．They have been absent from their children’s life.

D．They have to afford very expensive fare to visit their sons.

3. Why do not the author’s grandchildren visit them regularly?

A．They are quite occupied with their homework.

B．It’s not easy for the kids to visit their grandparents.

C．They don’t need their grandparents any more.

D．The weather of winter in Canada is very awful.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Grandparents’ Love	B．Suffering Separation
C．A Price to Pay	D．Hidden Emotions

3 . When Lina was awoken by the sound of thunder, she was alone on the island. The air was cool and bullfrogs croaked. It was that brief moment when the summer sun had set but the stars hadn’t yet appeared. Lina rubbed her eyes and looked around. “Hello?” she called. “Celia? Marie?” There was no response.

The moon was rising now, shedding light on the island. They had always called it “Forgotten Island” because no one but they seemed to remember its existence. It wasn’t on any of the maps they could find, and even the forest rangers didn’t know about it. Lina loved that the island, hidden in a heavily-wooded side stream of the river, was a secret between the three friends---her, Celia, and Marie. But now Lina was here alone, and it was night. Worse still, it was her own fault.

“Come on, Lina, let Marie row the boat.” Celia had said. Marie was two years older than Lina, but she was a hopeless rower. That’s why Lina refused and rowed the boat to the island. The argument that followed the refusal took the usual form. Celia took Marie’s side, as she always did. Lina exploded and yelled at them to just leave. So they got back in the boat and left.

A bolt of lightning crossed the darkened sky, accompanied by a deafening thunder clap. The storm was here. As the first cold raindrop slid down her neck, Lina’s mind returned to her current problem. She was stuck here by herself. She just hoped she didn’t become as forgotten as the island. The thought of it sent a chill down her back.

Suddenly, Lina spotted something in the water. It was a boat, and inside it were Marie, Celia, and Marie’s dad, who was steering through the fast flowing waters. As the boat approached, they saw Lina waving and the worried expressions on their faces turned to relief.

In her excitement Lina jumped into the river. Only once she was in the icy water did she remember how fast the water was moving. Luckily a strong arm reached into the water and pulled her out. She smiled weakly at Marie’s dad and, without a word, hugged Celia and Marie. They didn’t seem to mind becoming wet.

1. What is special about the island?

A．It is very near the ocean.	B．It is a popular place for boating.
C．It is surrounded by thick forest.	D．It has never been reached by others.

2. Why did Lina get angry?

A．Lina was left alone on the island.	B．Marie would not help row the boat.
C．Marie didn’t know how to row the boat.	D．Celia supported Marie in the disagreement.

3. What caused Lina to feel scared?

A．Her shame about the unnecessary argument.

B．The first raindrop of the approaching storm.

C．The idea that no one would come to save her.

D．The drop in temperature as the sun went down.

4. What can we infer about the three girls?

A．All of them could swim well.	B．They had an adventurous spirit.
C．They lived far away from the island.	D．They didn’t make up in the end.

4 . 假设你是李华，是一名在Eric家里的交换生(exchange student)。昨晚，你和几位同学在房间里大声讨论周末班级出游事宜，影响了Eric一家休息。
请给Eric写一封道歉信，内容包括：
1.表示道歉; 2.说明原因; 3.提出解决办法。
注意：1.词数80左右;2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Eric,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does the woman think of cold water?

A．It has too much sugar in it.

B．It makes people’s stomachs ache.

C．It makes people feel comfortable in hot days.

2. Who sometimes bought the man ice cream in summer?

A．His father.

B．His mother.

C．His grandmother.

6 . What does the woman mean about Uncle Jim?

A．He has a good sense of humor.

B．He eats more than other people.

C．His manners are just fine.

7 . What did the man like to play in the past?

A．Tennis.

B．Baseball.

C．Basketball.

8 . What is the least expensive according to the man?

A．The new fridge.

B．The washing machine.

C．The bed.

9 . A man walked into a small Irish pub and ordered three beers. Bartender was surprised, but he served that man three beers. One hour later the man ordered three beers again. The very next day that man ordered three beers again and drank quietly at a table. This repeated several times and shortly after the people of the town were whispering about the man, who was ordering three beers at once.
A couple of weeks later, the bartender decided to clear this out and inquired: “I do not want to pry, but could you explain, why do you order three beers all the time?” The man replied: “It seems strange, isn’t it? You see, my two brothers live abroad at the moment, one – in France and another – in Italy. We have made an agreement, that every time we go to pub each of us will order extra two beers and it will help keeping up the family bond ”.
Soon all the town have heard about the man’s answer and liked it a lot. The man became a local celebrity. Residents of the town were telling this story to newcomers or tourists and even invited them to that pub to look at Three Beer Man.
However, one day the man came to pub and ordered only two beers, not three as usual. The bartender served him with bad feeling. All that evening the man ordered and drank only two beers. The very next day all the town was talking about this news, some people pray for the soul of one of the brothers, others quietly grieve.
When the man came to pub the next time and ordered two beers again, the bartender asked him: “I would like to offer condolences to you, due to the death of your dear brother”. The man considered this for a moment and then replied: “Oh, you are probably surprised that I order only two beers now? Well, my two brothers are alive and well. It‘s just because of my decision. I promised myself to give up drinking.”
1. The man ordered three beers all the time because _______.

A．people were fond of drinking beers in this pub.

B．he missed his two brothers living abroad very much.

C．this would help him become a local celebrity.

D．it was an agreement with his brothers to keep up the family bond.

2. We can infer from the passage that______.

A．news traveled fast in the town.

B．the man became famous in the town because he was a heavy drinker

C．the man’s brothers liked drinking beer very much

D．the man was strong-minded to give up drinking

3. The bartender served the man with bad feeling because ________.

A．he thought the man should order three beers

B．he thought one of the man’s brothers had passed away

C．he would earn less money

D．the man decided to drink two beers

4. The underlined word “condolences” in the last paragraph can be replaced by______.

A．gratitude

B．sympathy

C．appreciation

D．surprise

10 . Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby．They found out that it was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael ________to his sister in Mommy’s tummy(肚子)．He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her．
The pregnancy progressed ________for Karen until the labor pains came．Soon it was every five minutes ...every minute．But something serious ________during delivery．Finally, Michael’s little sister was born．But she was in serious ________ ．With siren(警报) howling in the night, the ambulance________the infant(婴儿) to the Intensive Care unit at St．Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee．
The days passed by．The little girl got________ ．The doctors told the parents, "There is very little hope．"Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery (墓地) about a burial plot．They had ________a special room in their home for the new baby — now they planned a funeral(葬礼)．
After two weeks in Intensive Care, it looked as if a funeral would come ________the week was over．Michael, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister, “I want to sing to her,” he saiD． Kids were never ________ in Intensive Care．But Karen made up her mind to take Michael ________they liked it or not．If he didn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive．
She________ him in an oversized suit and ________him into ICU．He looked like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse ________him as a child, “Get that kid out of here now!” The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually________ lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse’s face, saying in a ________tone of voice, “He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!”   Karen towed Michael to his sister’s bedside． He gazed at the tiny baby ________the battle to live．And he began to sing．________the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang:
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray…”
________the baby girl responded． The pulse rate began to________down and became steady．
“Keep on singing, Michael．” encouraged Karen．“You never know, dear, how much I love you．Please don’t take my sunshine away…”As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's breath became as smooth as a kitten’s purr．
“Keep on singing, Michael．” “The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping…” Michael’s little sister relaxed as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her．
Funeral plans were________．The next day — the very next day — the little girl was well enough to go home!
The medical staff just called it a miracle．Karen called it a miracle of God’s love!1.

A．sang

B．talked

C．played

D．whispered

2.

A．quietly

B．toughly

C．normally

D．hopefully

3.

A．rose

B．raised

C．arose

D．aroused

4.

A．condition

B．place

C．situation

D．position

5.

A．took

B．rushed

C．carried

D．sent

6.

A．worse

B．better

C．conscious

D．awake

7.

A．made up

B．fixed up

C．built up

D．set up

8.

A．until

B．when

C．after

D．before

9.

A．asked

B．admitted

C．allowed

D．acknowledged

10.

A．no matter

B．even if

C．whether

D．as if

11.

A．dressed

B．put

C．wore

D．fit

12.

A．forced

B．marched

C．hid

D．followed

13.

A．required

B．replied

C．recognized

D．regarded

14.

A．mild-mannered

B．well-managed

C．warm-hearted

D．cold-blooded

15.

A．tough

B．strong

C．hard

D．firm

16.

A．lost

B．losing

C．lose

D．having lost

17.

A．In

B．On

C．At

D．With

18.

A．Finally

B．Patiently

C．Instantly

D．Interestingly

19.

A．quiet

B．calm

C．slow

D．fast

20.

A．changed

B．prepared

C．abandoned

D．switched