1 . My father had died when I was young, so if I didn’t acknowledge my mother’s birthday, likely no one would. On her birthday, I decided to bake her some cookies, take them to her house and leave them with a little note for her.

But what to write about? My mother and I had not always been close. Pouring out words of love seemed insincere, but there were plenty of things I did appreciate, so I wrote a letter expressing my appreciation for what she had taught me. She taught me to live within our means and not to go into debt. She taught me the color of someone’s skin was irrelevant. She taught me helping others in need was its own reward. She taught me to value the elderly. She taught me how to see the shapes in the clouds. She taught me to appreciate the way the air smelled after a rain.

Having finished the letter, I sent the cookies and the handwritten letter to my mother. That evening, she called and thanked me, saying it was a wonderful birthday present.

Two years later, she suffered a fatal heart attack. While cleaning out her house, I came across a photocopy of the birthday letter I had written to her in the drawer of the bedside table in the guest room. And then room after room, drawer after drawer revealed more photocopies of the same letter. There was one in the kitchen drawer and one taped to the inside of the kitchen cabinet. I also found one in a drawer in both bathrooms, another in the living room and two more in her bedroom.

Finally, I opened the drawer beside her bed, where I found an old handkerchief and as I pulled it out, a wrinkled piece of paper fluttered to the floor. It was the original birthday letter. It had been smoothed over and over again. I realized at that moment that the best things I could have given my mother weren’t really things at all.

1. What did the author learn from her mother?

A．Live a happy life regardless of how much money one has.

B．We should treat people of different skin colors differently.

C．One can be rewarded a lot of money when helping others.

D．It’s of great importance to explore the beauty of nature.

2. While cleaning out his mother’s house, the author probably felt ________.

A．alarmed but convinced	B．confused but happy
C．surprised but touched	D．puzzled but inspired

3. What does the author mean by saying the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A．What her mother value was her love not the gift itself.

B．She should never have sent any present to her mother.

C．Of all the gifts she had given her mother, nothing was best.

D．No gift was better than what she had given her mother.

2 . You may have heard of Osceola McCarty, who worked for 75 years as a washer woman. After she retired, she went to the bank and _______ surprisedly , that her small monthly savings had_______ to over $150,000. She donated $150,000 to the USM for a scholarship (奖学金) fund for students with financial _______ .

What you have not heard is how Osceola's gift has _______my life. I was a_______student and I had my heart set on going to USM. But I_______a regular scholarship by one point on my entrance exams, and a scholarship was the only way I could attend. One Sunday, I_________the story about Osceola and her generous_______in the newspaper, and went to the financial aid office and became the first_______of an Osceola Scholarship.

I first ________Osceola at a press conference — meeting her was like finding family. Osceola__________married and lived alone, so my family has since become her family. My grandma and she talk________on the phone and she________ us in family gatherings. It was amazing that I used to cycle right by a________every day on my way to school and I did notice how everything was clean and neat there, but I didn't know it ________to be where she lived.

Osceola gave me much more than a scholarship. She taught me about the gift of ________. She worked her whole life and gave to others, which reached deep inside of me and fueled my________ to give back when I can. Eventually I plan to add to her scholarship fund. I want to give Osceola the ________ she's always wanted, so I've adopted her as another grandma. And when I graduate from USM, she'll be sitting in the audience________my mother and my grandmother—right where she ________ .

1.

A．believed

B．discovered

C．checked

D．collected

2.

A．grown

B．arrived

C．reduced

D．lost

3.

A．interest

B．support

C．need

D．limit

4.

A．meant

B．served

C．affected

D．infected

5.

A．curious

B．worried

C．concerned

D．devoted

6.

A．missed

B．got

C．ignored

D．wasted

7.

A．got across

B．came across

C．went across

D．looked across

8.

A．donation

B．money

C．reputation

D．message

9.

A．user

B．helper

C．learner

D．receiver

10.

A．found

B．knew

C．saw

D．got

11.

A．ever

B．never

C．once

D．just

12.

A．randomly

B．fluently

C．suddenly

D．regularly

13.

A．joins

B．attends

C．contacts

D．touches

14.

A．restaurant

B．house

C．library

D．shop

15.

A．appeared

B．seemed

C．occurred

D．happened

16.

A．doing

B．working

C．giving

D．helping

17.

A．conclusion

B．preparation

C．attention

D．passion

18.

A．position

B．fund

C．family

D．job

19.

A．around

B．between

C．above

D．under

20.

A．belongs

B．lives

C．excepts

D．hates

3 . What is Joey doing now?

A．Making a pudding.

B．Playing a video game.

C．Decorating a Christmas tree.

4 . 假定你是李华，你的英国朋友Lucy即将回国，希望你能推荐一款具有中国特色的纪念品以馈赠亲友。请你给她写封邮件。内容包括：
1．推荐的物品；
2．推荐原因；
3．表达期望。
注意：1．词数 80 左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . 假定你是班长李华，你班英国交换生Tom在篮球比赛中意外受伤，请你代表全班给他写封信，表示慰问。内容包括:
1. 表达同情；
2. 安慰、鼓励、帮助；
3. 表达祝福。
注意:
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . Just before Christmas in 1994, a letter arrived at our house. The postmark was from Tuskegee, Alabama, so we all knew who it was from. We excitedly gathered around mother as she opened it.

My Dear Mother,

I didn’t get the leave I expected for Christmas. I’ll miss all of you. Please leave the Christmas tree up until I make it back. I hope to be home by March.

Love from your son,

Clifton

My heart sank. I felt extreme sadness that my favorite brother wouldn’t be home for Christmas. My mother, being the optimist she always was, said, “Well, it looks like we’ll get to have two Christmases this year!”

After Christmas, my sister and I worked together to make sure we kept that Christmas tree looking as pretty as possible. This was no easy feat. By mid-January, the branches drooped so low to the ground. Each day, ornaments would come crashing to the ground and there were brand new sprinklings of pine needles all over the wooden floor. My sister and I took turns sweeping them up. We repositioned the ornaments to the stronger branches on the tree, hoping they would stay on.

Each time we freshened that tree up, my sister and I were full of thoughts about Clifton and how happy we would be to see him again. It made us feel that he was close by, even though he was hundreds of miles away.

On March 5, the doorbell rang. We ran to the door and gave Clifton a big hug. As he hugged mother, I could see him peek over her head at the Christmas tree.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “Thank you.” Clifton opened his presents and told us all sorts of stories about his work in Tuskegee. That night as we slept, we heard a crash in the living room. We all ran to see what had happened. The tree had toppled onto the sofa and there were needles and broken ornaments everywhere. We all had a good laugh. It was fortuitous (巧合的) Clifton got home when he did.

1. How did the author feel when he read the letter?

A．Deeply sad.	B．Quite annoyed.
C．Very regretful.	D．A little disappointed.

2. Why did the author try hard to freshen the Christmas tree up?

A．Because his mother asked him to keep the tree up.

B．Because he wanted to keep all the ornaments on the tree.

C．Because he longed to have another Christmas with his brother.

D．Because he intended to keep the Christmas tree alive until next December.

3. What do you think is the tone of the passage?

A．Satisfied.

B．Upsetting.

C．Unconcerned.

D．Hopeful.

7 . My father, a soldier, was ordered to move again. It came as a _____________   because we had     just moved into the present duty station a few weeks before.

It was the fourth time we’d got to move to a ___________   place in just two years, which was truly our “home” in Hawaii that we’d only _________________   through my father’s music with ukulele     (尤克里里)._________ was the thing that connected my father with Hawaii, a reminder of his home and_______.

Everything was   _________________   this time. We   were just arriving,   but he was already   ___________ to   leave again   without   us. Our father,   the person who could make   us _________   the “new”   family, was gone.   Suddenly, we   were surrounded   by cousins who ___________   knowing each   other, joining in   a cultural   __________________   of which we   only knew the surface. We   were   __________   in the family.

One day, I ________________   my father’s ukulele that I had watched him play was   ________________   in the corner. When I tried to play it, though unskillfully, I felt closer to him and our Hawaiian roots. Then   I picked up an old   song   book, and ____________   myself   to play. I would play   and sing, __________   my   father had been here. Finally   my   father______________with   a newly-bought ukulele, and we had a mini concert. He was________ that I had learned so much.

What I really ______________   was that   music   has the ________________   to do truly extraordinary things________ us with our culture and each other, our past and our present.

1.

A．surprise

B．test

C．lesson

D．story

2.

A．dangerous

B．cold

C．dark

D．new

3.

A．suffered from

B．heard about

C．heard from

D．looked after

4.

A．Music

B．Food

C．Money

D．Nature

5.

A．language

B．culture

C．economy

D．school

6.

A．good

B．wrong

C．different

D．sad

7.

A．excited

B．prepared

C．eager

D．pleased

8.

A．put in

B．break in

C．take in

D．fit in

9.

A．grew up

B．got up

C．set up

D．looked up

10.

A．relic

B．exchange

C．competition

D．tradition

11.

A．customers

B．teachers

C．strangers

D．doctors

12.

A．found

B．bought

C．shared

D．broke

13.

A．picked

B．served

C．left

D．limited

14.

A．allowed

B．advised

C．taught

D．told

15.

A．even if

B．as if

C．so that

D．now that

16.

A．responded

B．succeeded

C．returned

D．recovered

17.

A．moved

B．confident

C．tired

D．angry

18.

A．missed

B．showed

C．hated

D．learned

19.

A．duty

B．space

C．honor

D．power

20.

A．showing

B．connecting

C．punishing

D．praising

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the probable relationship between the speakers?

A．Mother and son.

B．Brother and sister.

C．Husband and wife.

2. What does the man think of the woman’s idea?

A．It’s smart.

B．It’s against their traditions.

C．It’ll make them stressed out.

3. Where do the speakers come from?

A．China.

B．Britain.

C．America.

9 . 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。

It was my daughter's fifth birthday,    1    is also the fifth anniversary of her death, and I was having a hard time.Years passing doesn't make the loss less     2    (pain).In memory of the day,my husband and I drove to find     3    new hiking spot with our 3-year-old son.

As we drove,suddenly some guy in a huge truck nearly    4    (run)us off the road.It was frightening,so I told my husband we should just turn back for home.    5     our son wasn't ready to give up.He asked if we could go to a playground instead.After some     6    (silent),we went off.My son usually just plays off to the side with his toy cars, never       7    (take)a trip down the slide.

But maybe that day my son sensed that I was struggling.He climbed to the top of the slide and started racing his cars     8     it.Then he went down it     9    (he).All alone,for the very first time.He did it again and again,with the biggest smile.It brought so much joy to my heart.When I was ready to give up,my son taught me that the day could     10    (save). All it took was a small act of joy.

10 . Recently, I said something like this to my 13-year-old son: “I've told you a thousand times, just do your work and we can stop fighting. Why don't you just listen to me? I hate having to shout to get you to pay attention.”

Creating a peaceful relationship with our children is a huge test of emotional intelligence-and particularly empathy. In the above example, there are a number of emotional intelligence failures. I was angry, so I was reacting unconsciously instead of responding intentionally. Under my anger was a feeling of powerlessness and fear. I was scared that he is not self-motivated and won't do well. I reacted to the fear by attacking. I was trying to use my force of will to make him obey.

The first rule of emotional intelligence: When people feel pushed, they resist. I was blaming him, interpreting his lack of interest in homework as a kind of personal attack on me and implying that he was making me behave the way that I behaved. I was focused on what I wanted and my perspective.

I'd like to focus on this last point, because it turns out that this lack of perspective-taking—this lack of empathy—is the key to easing parent-child tension.

When I increase empathy and relook at the situation with compassion, I see a different story. Perhaps he was afraid, too. Perhaps he felt powerless, too. Perhaps he's learned the exact same pattern I've modeled: When you're afraid, attack.

That moment of curiosity is the doorway to empathy, and it's a game changer. Empathy is not actually a complex skill. It's a basic part of the social brain. That little pause of curiosity is a way to step out of the stress reaction, and step into being the person we choose to be.

Hopefully, I'll remember to take that all-important pause and ask myself :I wonder what's really going on for him right now.

1. What phenomenon is described in paragraph 1?

A．The parent-child tension.	B．The poor emotional intelligence of parents.
C．The peaceful communication.	D．The silent resistance from children.

2. What emotional intelligence failures did the writer make in the relationship with his/her son?

A．Lacking a sense of fear.	B．Forcing his/her son to give in.
C．Making personal attacks.	D．Making intentional responses quickly.

3. What's the best title for the text?

A．Parent-Child Conflicts	B．The Test of Emotional Intelligence
C．The Doorway to Empathy	D．The Key to Easing Parent-Child Tension