1 . I love parties. I love planning for them, making the invitations, planning the games and decorating my own cake. The only thing that I don’t like is deciding on the guest list. When I was in grade school my mum would tell me the maximum number of friends that I could invite and it was always a number too small for my list. I also liked all different kinds of people. I never quite fit into one of the many little groups at my school, so I just kind of floated around, accumulating friends from various backgrounds. There was an “in” crowd made up of the cool kids who had the power to rule the school — if a coo kid wore two different coloured socks to school one day, everyone thought it was great. But if an uncool kid did the same thing, the other kids would turn away in disgust (厌恶). It made getting dressed in the morning a very scary thing.
Shannon was one of my friends who seemed to unknowingly break the rules of uncoolness all the time. I don’t know why she was targeted, but people found it acceptable to make fun of her. Shannon was a nice girl and wore pretty clothes, but was somewhat overweight and didn’t talk much. She was picked on a lot. Whenever there was an strange noise or smell in the classroom the kids would giggle (咯咯笑) and point at her. Shannon never said anything, but it made me feel sick inside. Shannon was innocent, I thought.
One year to celebrate my birthday, my mum told me I could have a party at our house. I struggled for days deciding on which girls to invite. Once I had chosen all the names, I made the invitations and handed them out to my friends at school.
“Why did you invite her?” asked one of my cool friends when it was discovered that I had invited Shannon. She pressured me to tell her not to come. There were other people I could add in her place who would be more acceptable.
阅读短文完成下面的表格
5W | Details |
Who | Shannon was one of my friends, but she was often |
When | One year to |
Where | Shannon was invited to attend my |
What | One of my cool friends suggested that I should not invite |
Why | I was pressured. If I invited Shannon, maybe I would become the |
2 . It’s hard to talk to Dad sometimes. His silence about his feelings and thoughts made him mysterious and hard to see through. You could never break his hard shell and get to know him. And he seemed to want to stay that way too.
But a year ago when my relationship with my wife and career took a hit, I needed my dad to pull back the curtain so that I could see him as real and accessible. I was facing serious problems and I wanted to know whether he had faced them before and how he had found his way, because I felt like I had lost mine. In desperation, it occurred to me that sending an email might be the key, so I wrote him one , telling him about my regrets and fears, and I asked him to answer, if he felt like it.
Two weeks later, it showed up in my inbox: a much-thought, three page litter. Dad, a 68 -year old retired technologist and grandfather of four, had carefully considered my message, and crafted a response. He mentioned his lost love, the foolish mistake he made in career and the stupid pride he had between him and his parents. He comforted me that “life will still find its right track despite many of its twists and turns”.
I closed the email and started to cry, because I wished I had opened up earlier but was grateful it wasn’t too late. I cried because at 33, in the midst of my own struggles, his letter instantly put me at ease. And I cried because in the end, it was so simple: I just had to hit “Send”.
We’ve since had many email exchanges. This increasing communication opened a door into his world. My problems haven’t been magically solved, but getting to know my dad better has made the tough thing more manageable and life sweeter. It’s hard to tall to Dad sometimes, but I’m glad I found a way to talk to mine.
1. Which of the following best describes the author’s father?| A．Quiet and caring. | B．Optimistic but careless. |
| C．Selfish and lonely. | D．Simple but proud. |
| A．To make an apology. | B．To express thanks. |
| C．To turn to him. | D．To blame him. |
| A．The author regretted not writing to Dad earlier. | B．Dad’s letter of reply is simple. |
| C．Dad helped settle the author’s problems. | D．The author can talk to Dad easily. |
| A．My Mysterious Dad. | B．Emails from My Dad. |
| C．A Retired Technologist. | D．Means of Communication. |
3 . The Language of Flowers
Ding dong! I looked up from the couch. Who in the world could that be? My body was troubled with illness, so I’d
I
Instead of returning to the couch, I
The group had followed him and picked very
The more I understood what the flowers were
| A．hidden | B．given | C．driven | D．broken |
| A．forbid | B．accept | C．act | D．respond |
| A．cautiously | B．reluctantly | C．instantly | D．cheerfully |
| A．size | B．style | C．uniqueness | D．shape |
| A．go together | B．stand out | C．mix up | D．fade away |
| A．informed | B．thanked | C．rewarded | D．telephoned |
| A．delivery | B．program | C．mystery | D．scene |
| A．companion | B．message | C．commitment | D．gift |
| A．expensive | B．rare | C．specific | D．fresh |
| A．explained | B．clarified | C．defined | D．analyzed |
| A．pain | B．fortune | C．sympathy | D．sunshine |
| A．modest | B．tolerant | C．formal | D．meaningful |
| A．involving | B．saying | C．smelling | D．signing |
| A．advocated | B．confirmed | C．required | D．earned |
| A．ambition | B．value | C．curiosity | D．fantasy |
Her pale face stood out against the blackness of her hair. She looked much younger than her fifteen years, a worn coat hanging loose above her. We weren’t supposed to take a child, but an emergency call came through that morning. A home was needed for a young girl immediately.
I, together with four children, hurried to get her room ready. The kids were great. Joanne, our second-eldest daughter, did the cleaning and Margaret, Rob and Jeff helped make the bed. I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I was excited, but scared at the same time because I was told an adopted child might give us a lot of trouble.
That afternoon, Trudy arrived with the social worker Mrs. Kline. She stepped into the front hall and stood against the wall. I will never forget the look in her eyes. The first thing that came to my mind was that she looked like a hunted animal. The children moved towards her, and Jeff grabbed her hand and said proudly, “Come and see your room. I helped make your bed.” Trudy pulled back, speechless.
At this point, I stepped towards her and said, "Welcome to our home, Trudy. “She looked at me with such blank eyes. But with her head bowed, she simply said, eyes moving back and forth like a creature looking for a way out, “No, thank you.”
For the first two weeks, Trudy was very quiet. She would come into the kitchen while I was working, and we would discuss school and what she would like to do in the future. Mrs. Kline had given us all the information about her history, but I never mentioned the terrible things that had happened to her.
As the days went by, Trudy became a delight to have around. Very quickly, it seemed like she had always been with us. The girls would sit in each other’s rooms and giggle(咯咯笑) like typical teenagers. It was a sound that warmed my soul. However, when they talked about new clothes, Trudy fell silent again.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I took Joanne shopping for a winter coat, and Trudy came too.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Back home, I presented the jacket Trudy had tried on.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mama and Papa were like most parents. They wanted the best for their kids. Jeff and Jenna were like most kids. They wanted the best for themselves－the best place in front of the TV, the biggest piece of cake and the most candies.
One night, when the noisy kids were sound asleep, Mama lay awake worrying. She sighed a big sigh, thinking how to teach Jeff and Jenna to mend their selfish ways. Lecturing didn’t work.
As Mama lay there, she thought about how kids learn. Kids learn by doing. They learn to walk by walking. That’s the answer, thought Mama. The kids will learn to help others by helping others. But questions of who, when, and where went unanswered as she drifted off to sleep.
To her pleasure, those questions were soon answered. The next day, they happened to meet Mrs. Marie, the elderly widow who lived just down the road, at the checkout line at the supermarket.
Mama asked the kids to say hello to Mrs. Marie, about whom the kids were a little nervous. She was really old and kind of bent over. And there was that crooked cane she used when she walked. But the real reason they were nervous about her was that two days ago their ball had gone into her yard and knocked over some flowers in the garden and broke the glasses of the attic. They had never apologized.
When Mama and the kids were loading their groceries into the car, Mrs. Marie came out of the supermarket pushing her little collapsible shopping cart.
“Where are you going?” called Mama.
“To the bus stop,” she said, “The bus goes right by my house.” “So does our car,” said Mama.
注意:1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mama asked the kids to help Mrs. Marie into the car and put her things in the trunk(后备箱).
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the car was approaching Mrs. Marie`s house, Mama made a decision.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lost But Not Forgotten
Dad said this could happen. I never believed him. But he was right. So here I am, right in the middle of it. All alone. No one to help me but myself. Two questions come to mind as I sit under this tree, freezing in the snow. How did I get here, and why me?
The first answer is pretty simple. I got lost. Actually it’s more complicated than that. I didn’t pay attention to the boundary signs. I thought the snow looked pretty good. So I told my friend Benito that I’d meet him at the bottom of the hill in twenty minutes. How was I to know a blizzard (暴风雪) was coming? How was I to know that my tracks would disappear?
As for the second question, the answer is obvious. Why me? Because I’m always doing stupid things. Opening my mouth when I should keep it shut. Breaking things I shouldn’t be touching. And in this case, wandering off where I had no business going.
If Dad were here, I know exactly what he’d be saying. I told you this would happen, Deke. Now what are you going to do about it?
The snow just won’t stop falling. It’s getting harder to see, and I’m tired of walking. I’m tired of yelling. No one will hear me. So now I’m sitting under a tree, watching the snow pile up on my clothes. I can barely see my snowboard. It’s a gray shadow in a curtain of white.
What would it be like, I wonder, freezing to death? Don’t just sit there. Build a cave. That’s what Dad would say. But he died in a hospital bed, so he can’t say anything to me anymore. Build a cave. “With what?” I say. “I don’t have a tool. My hands are freezing. There must be something you can use. I look around. All I see are snow-covered trees. Come on, Deke. Use your head. “Like I’m going to dig a cave with my head? I don’t think so.” Then it hits me. The snowboards. I get up. Look for the side of a hill. “I know. I know”.
注意：1.续写的词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I start to dig.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now it’s too dark to see, but I think the cave is finished.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . When I was 7 and Stevie was 6, our parents taught us how to play chess and other games. Playing games was our life back then. Stevie and I were very competitive in everything.
We got older and better so our games were more intense, but also more exciting. The strange thing is that I enjoyed the games vastly and was happy for my brother when he won. But afterwards, I felt my well-being threatened, and then my confidence suffered.
When I was 10 years old I wanted to be successful at my talents. One day, a light came on in my head. I had to find something Stevie couldn’t do. It would have to be unique in every way. Before long, I got Jimmy Nelson’s record on “How to Become a Ventriloquist (腹语师)” and I practiced faithfully every day. After summer vacation, I did my first show for my class. The response was favorable. I performed for family get-togethers and did shows on a number of occasions to practice my new skill.
It isn’t easy learning ventriloquism. The difficult part was developing the voice, because at first, it was soft and hard to hear. I memorized the routines and performed more. With time, I got better responses. The loud laughter was nonstop, in addition to the applause.
Four years later, my mother purchased professional ventriloquial figure, which I named Freddie O’Sullivan. He was lifelike, with moving eyes, moving eyebrows, and could stick out his tongue. Treating Freddie like a real person enhanced my performance.
In college, Freddie was well known. He would tell people that he was the only guy that could sleep in the girl’s dormitory. Over the years, I won many talent awards.
One time, an elderly man looked at Freddie attentively and asked him where he got his trousers. The audience nearby had tears in their eyes. I didn’t know what was going on until I was told later the gentleman hadn’t spoken for 20 years.
Thanks to my brother, I created a lifetime with Freddie.
1. How did the author feel at first when Stevie won a game?| A．Delighted. | B．Confused. |
| C．Depressed. | D．Surprised, |
| A．To gain her parents’ favor in family get-togethers. |
| B．To record her intense and competitive childhood. |
| C．To have a special talent better than her brother. |
| D．To bring joyous laughter to people around her. |
| A．Freddie trained the author professionally. |
| B．Freddie inspired an old man to restart to talk. |
| C．Freddie took the place of the author’s brother. |
| D．Freddie disturbed others in the girl’s dormitory. |
| A．Generous and grateful. | B．Modest and responsible. |
| C．Patient and honest. | D．Sensitive and determined. |
I like staying overnight at my Gramma’s house — that is, until Gramma starts telling me how wonderful my cousin Maya is. Then it’s Maya this and Maya that until I don’t ever want to hear another word about her.
That’s why I wasn’t too excited when Gramma called me on the phone to “come on over and bring your pajamas.” When I got there, it was worse than I’d expected. There, in Grandpa’s big leather rocker, sat Maya, all dressed up and formal-looking and wearing fancy shoes as if she’d just been to a party.
“Surprise, Kristen!” Gramma said. “Your cousin Maya and her parents have traveled in from the East Coast on business. Maya gets to stay with us this afternoon.” Gramma chattered away about how excited she’d been for this surprise get-together, and how cousins ought to get to know each other better.
I hung my baseball cap in the closet and set my backpack by the stairway, all the time smiling and nodding as if I’d been waiting forever for this chance to spend an afternoon with Maya. Grandpa’s chair squawked (咯咯叫) as Maya rocked back and forth. It’s the chair I like best in the house, the one I usually sit in. I sat down on the sofa across from her.
Shortly, Gramma went off to the kitchen to “see about some lunch,” she’d said. That left me stuck in the living room with rocking Maya.
She was still small but taller than I’d remembered her from her last visit four years ago. She was good at small talk, though, and was chatting away about how nice it was to see me again. But I could tell that she didn’t really think so. The last time she was here, we’d had hours of fun together building caves out of Gramma’s sofa pillows.
After that, I’d heard about her only through Gramma’s tales. Maya taking piano lessons. Maya learning math. Maya, Maya, Maya. Now Maya was here, looking great with the latest haircut and a fancy dress.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Glancing down at my jeans and my old sneakers, I wished I hadn’t come.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“How do you know all these things about me?” I asked.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . A screen door (纱门) allows an open view while at the same time affording a degree of privacy.
For the happy student adjusting well at school, calls to home can be infrequent. This is not necessarily a cause for parents to
For the student who is not adjusting well at school, calls to home will probably be made more
For the student away at school, unhappiness can be lonely and frightening and in some cases, it can lead to depression and illness. There is a sense of
No matter what the circumstances are, which have created
| A．Relatively | B．Contrarily | C．Typically | D．Similarly |
| A．sacrifice | B．privacy | C．appreciation | D．communication |
| A．sensitive | B．confident | C．casual | D．modest |
| A．worry | B．regret | C．cheer | D．wonder |
| A．uninformed | B．curious | C．happy | D．sensible |
| A．adding | B．referring | C．adjusting | D．leading |
| A．strange | B．increasing | C．awake | D．normal |
| A．formally | B．frequently | C．sincerely | D．patiently |
| A．disappointing | B．recovered | C．challenging | D．embarrassing |
| A．damaging | B．disturbing | C．demanding | D．exhausting |
| A．protectors | B．reminders | C．inspectors | D．individuals |
| A．maintain | B．establish | C．restore | D．cut |
| A．relief | B．responsibility | C．achievement | D．embarrassment |
| A．get bored with | B．get uneasy about | C．be ignorant of | D．be honest with |
| A．opportunity | B．uncertainty | C．unhappiness | D．nervousness |
1. 我的爷爷是一所部队的杰出的指挥官。（troop, outstanding, commander）
2. 他在与敌人的一次激烈战斗中牺牲了。（violent）
3. 他们的目标是解放那座城市。（objective, liberate）
4. 今天是清明节，我和家人都表情严肃地参加了纪念仪式。（solemn, memorial）
5. 父亲回忆起和爷爷一起度过的美好岁月，眼中含着泪花。（recall, with的复合结构）
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