1 . Italy’s one-euro-home sales have been attracting a lot of interest over the past few years. Some towns like Mussomeli in Sicily and Zungoli in Campania have managed to _________ abandoned properties to foreigners pursuing the Italian dream. However, some have _________ to sell their empty homes. Among them is Patrica, a remote village of barely 3,000 residents located south of Rome, where more than 40 properties deserted in the early 1900s have been left _________.

In an attempt to breathe new life into the dying village, the town’s mayor Lucio Fiordaliso has been trying to _________ the success of other Italian villages who’ve put their empty homes up for sale for one euro, or just over a dollar. “The process is not _________. We first mapped out all abandoned houses and contacted the original owners to ask for permission. Only then can we place these properties up for sale with their _________, which makes the process very complicated.” However, the permission from one owner of the house sometimes is not enough for the sale of potential one euro homes. That is because most relatives sharing the same property often _________ one another for personal reasons or some hardly speak or know each other.

Another reason that the one euro plan never really started in Patrica could be due to the _________of its homes. Some of the houses are simply too neglected to sell, even if the owners were willing to agree to it. _________, Patric a local Gianni Valleco and his two brothers decided to place their parents’ abandoned home on the market to see what would happen. But they soon disappointedly found that the house was far from __________.

In the meantime, Fiordalis o has been coming up with new ways to __________ newcomers. He prompted several locals to entirely restyle their old family homes and put them to use after decades of neglect. “The mayor’s move finally gave us a good excuse to fully restore the property which had been sitting there __________,” says the locals. The mayor also decided to start operating some commercial activities like an B&B or a restaurant or a shopping center.

“There is __________, but then when many foreigners actually see the bad shape of the old homes they’d prefer to opt for turn-key apartments that are already restyled or in need of just __________ fixes,” says Fiordaliso. “So it’s much more convenient to buy one of these newer ones than __________ an old building in need of major reconstruction, where the final cost would end up being much higher.” Despite these challenges, Fiordalis o hasn’t given up on selling the town’s long forgotten homes.

1.

A．assign

B．restrict

C．shift

D．return

2.

A．forgot

B．emerged

C．continued

D．struggled

3.

A．shaking

B．shining

C．decayed

D．burnt

4.

A．catch up with I

B．make fun of

C．pay attention to

D．take pride in

5.

A．optional

B．rigid

C．simple

D．special

6.

A．initiative

B．budget

C．approval

D．determination

7.

A．disagree with

B．negotiate with

C．text to

D．cooperate with

8.

A．location

B．condition

C．exhibition

D．ownership

9.

A．For example

B．By contrast

C．In fact

D．On the contrary

10.

A．sufficient

B．desirable

C．spacious

D．enough

11.

A．appeal to

B．back up

C．hold back

D．count on

12.

A．independently

B．uselessly

C．permanently

D．purposefully

13.

A．claim

B．coverage

C．audience

D．interest

14.

A．minor

B．temporary

C．urgent

D．costly

15.

A．build

B．furnish

C．rent

D．grab

2 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．It was on a cross street.	B．They had no time to see it.
C．It had no parking space.	D．They weren’t in favour of it.

2.

A．It is too small in size.	B．It blocks the air-conditioner.
C．It admits heat from the late afternoon sun.	D．It stops the sun beating down on the curtains.

3.

A．Parking and desk space.	B．Parking and air-conditioning.
C．Privacy and cleanliness.	D．A cheerful kitchen and a separate dining area.

4.

A．The one on 68th Street.	B．The one on 72nd Street.
C．The one on 88th Street.	D．The one on 80th Street.

3 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．The museum is old and needs repairing.

B．The museum is located in the main square.

C．The museum has been popular with global visitors.

D．The museum has a large collection of Latin American art.

2.

A．The Belleview.	B．The Lighthouse Café.
C．Harvey’s.	D．Stonecroft House.

3.

A．They are too expensive.	B．They have a long history.
C．The provide good food.	D．They are well-received by local people.

4.

A．The Belleview has been there for over a century.

B．Harvey’s has just been taken over by new owners.

C．The Lighthouse Café is right by the sea.

D．Stonecroft House has a new chef.

4 .

A．He’ll move into his new apartment in a couple of months.

B．He’d like the woman to find him a new apartment.

C．The apartment might be too expensive for him.

D．The apartment is far from his expectation.

5 . Superb Spring Gardens

Sunshine on your face, the scent of blossom in the air, the dreamy song of a blackbird.What better way to while away a spring day than in a country garden filled with flowers like magnolia, rhododendron, primula, iris, daffodils or bluebells? Here are a four of the best.

LONDON The Savili Garden Egham, Surrey. Open daily. Part of the Windsor Great Park estate, with one of the country’s finest plant collections. Aptly named Spring Wood is planted with magnolia and rhododendron, including many Loderi hybrids, the flowers of which are deliciously scented, while the Azalea Walk is at its peak in mid to late May. Brilliant for families with a great cafe, too. windsorgreatpark.co.uk/en

YORKSHIRE The Hirnalayan Garden Grewelthorpe, North Yorkshire. Open daily from 12 April. Set in a valley between Harrogate and Ripon, this garden features hundreds of native Himalayan plants in a setting that is perhaps as close as you can get to being in an actual Himalayan valley - especially on a misty morning. Many of the rhododendrons are wild species, collected and grown from seed and now in their mature prime. 01765 658009, himalayangarden.com

SCOTLAND Arduaine Garden Near Oban, Argyll. Open daily from 1 April. Set on Scotland’s west coast amid stunning scenery, this beautiful garden benefits from the influence of the Gulf Stream. Now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, the historic garden featured over 200 rhododendrons by the 1920s, which are still spring highlights, as are stands of primula and iris. But the real stars are the stretches of colourful and jaw-droppingly beautiful Himalayan plants. 01852 200366, nationaltrust.org.uk/arduain-garden

WALES Bodnant Garden Near Colwyn Bay, Clwyd. Open daily. Rightly considered one of the UK’s finest gardens, Bodnant springs to life with pools of daffodils in Old Park Meadow, along with national collections of magnolia and rhododendron.Extensive plantings of cherry fill the garden with sweet scent in mid-spring, alongside plentiful bluebells. For these weeks from mid-May, thefamous Laburnum Arch, a long walkway with golden-yellow flowers, alone is worth a visit to experience it. 01492 650460, nationaltrust.org.uk/bodnant-garden

1. The purpose of this page is to _________.

A．introduce the beauty of the superb spring gardens in the UK

B．urge garden lovers to visit the websites of the four gardens

C．promote different regions in the UK by introducing their gardens

D．advertise four spring gardens and encourage visits to them

2. Born in London and a rhododendron lover, Sally has always been longing to visit Himalaya in person someday. She’s also fascinated by Himalayan plants. Which garden will she most probably visit during April?

A．The Savill Garden	B．The Himalayan Garden
C．Arduaine Garden	D．Bodnant Garden

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A．All four gardens boast magnolia and rhododendron.

B．Two gardens are open to the public only during April.

C．The National Trust takes care of two of the four gardens.

D．Tourists can call to know more about the four gardens.

6 . Cleaning up a messy bedroom can seem like a frightening task, but if you prepare a simple plan, you can clean up thoroughly and quickly. Here’s a basic speed cleaning roadmap:

■First, bring in a garbage bag and pick up trash around the room. Getting garbage out of the way ensures you’ll avoid spills or soiling linens like sheets or table-cloths while cleaning.

■Next, take care of the bed. An uncluttered bed with a smooth blanket and neat pillows sets the tone for the entire room. If you have time to change the sheets, do it first. If not, shake out the blanket on the floor to refresh it, and then make the bed. A neat bed can also hold items such as picture frames or books, where you can neatly line them up and easily put them back after cleaning.

■Put things in their proper place. Bring any kitchen items back to their rightful place. Place clothes either in the laundry bin, or make a pile in your closet to fold later. Put books in a neat pile or on a shelf. If you have items from other rooms lying around, start a sorting pile that you can remove and deal with later. We want the bedroom to be clean, and don’t want this whole thing turn into a game of “Where does this go?”

■Wipe down the furniture with microfiber dust wipes. Who needs polishing spray and a rag when you’re in a hurry! Pre-cut and folded microfiber cloths work great to dust furniture, a TV, bookshelves and picture frames.

■Vacuum or sweep the floor. This is an essential step, since a lot of dust and crumbs settle here. A quick run around the room will be effective. If you have more time, go for a second round.

To be consistent, start in one corner of the room and work your way around it in one direction. If you move aimlessly around, you can lose focus. Also, try to attack one chore at a time, instead of doing multiple chores at once. Once all these tasks are completed, your bedroom should look much more inviting!

1. What does the author suggest doing when we are about to organize the things in our rooms?

A．Dealing with the items from other rooms immediately.

B．Playing a game of “Where does this go?”

C．Lining up the things on the bed.

D．Sorting the things and later dealing with them.

2. What does the author mean by saying “Who needs polishing spray and a rag when you’re in a hurry!” in the fifth paragraph?

A．Polishing spray and rags are intended for specific people.

B．Polishing spray and rags are necessities to clean the furniture.

C．Polishing spray and rags can also clean the furniture but they take longer time.

D．Polishing spray and rags are useless if we have limited time to clean our bedroom.

3. Under the instruction of the speed cleaning roadmap, what is NOT recommended to do?

A．Throw away the garbage in the room at first.

B．Change the sheet if time permits.

C．Do as many chores at a time as possible.

D．Clean the floor in the end.

7 . I used to think my little corner of urban England was somewhere I could get away from the stress and strain of modern-day life — until they moved in next door. There are two of them. They are white, woolly and probably have sharp teeth as well as loud bark. But every time their constant barking interrupts my sleep, I remind myself that, in many respects, I am lucky. The neighbors don’t hold all-night parties, nor do they shout or throw crockery at each other, and though their dogs may bark, they don’t bite.

According to a recent consumer magazine report on “nightmare neighbors”, dogs are the fifth most common source of bad relations between neighbors. Noise of any description heads the list of complaints, followed by DIY enthusiasts, parking quarrelling, and arguments over house extensions.

So what alternatives are there? One is to take legal action. But this can be time-consuming and expensive and does nothing to improve already difficult relationships. The other alternatives are to sell up and go, or to try to reach a solution with the help of someone neutral. Mediation UK— the United Nations equivalent of garden fence conflicts — was set in 1984 to help resolve community disagreements.

In most cases, the lack of communication is found the main cause of conflict. David Nation of Plymouth Mediation points to poor public housing and widespread unemployment as additional factors. He also reports more cases of complaints from people who live in flats. Large houses built in the nineteenth century and designed as single-occupation family homes have, he says, been changed into flats with little or no attention to sound insulation. Dividing walls are paper thin and hardly block out sound at all.

Buyers can also be put off by the external appearance of neighboring houses. Anything from wild, uncared for gardens to unusual external color schemes can put off buyers — even though the offending property is next door. But it could be worse. John Gladden, of Norbury in Surrey upset his neighbors in St Oswald’s Road by mounting a huge fish in fiberglass (玻璃纤维) and putting it on the roof of his house. The local council argued that he should have got planning permission; residents thought the fish did nothing to improve the appearance of the neighborhood, and war broke out. Sightseers poured in and homes near the suburban property can now be hard to sell.

1. Why doesn’t the writer like her next-door neighbor’s dogs?

A．They wake her up.	B．They sometimes bark.
C．They are aggressive.	D．They remind her of sheep.

2. What does “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．the color scheme

B．the garden

C．the situation

D．the house

3. The purpose of this passage is to _______.

A．inform people what to do if they have problems with their neighbors

B．describe the writer’s own problems with her neighbors.

C．illustrate the types and causes of problems between neighbors

D．explain the activities of the organization Mediation UK

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．He is a musician.	B．He is interested in computer programming.
C．He advertised his room for rent.	D．He’s living with some other students now.

2.

A．In the newspaper.	B．On campus(大学校园).
C．At the neighborhood.	D．On the college brochure.

3.

A．It must be in a good condition.	B．It must have clean surroundings.
C．It should guarantee her privacy.	D．It doesn’t cost much to rent.

4.

A．Amy will share the house with Tom.	B．Amy is not easy to live with.
C．Tom is also the owner of the house.	D．Amy and Tom are both studying in college.

9 .

A．The room is really dirty.

B．The room is not as dirty as the woman expects.

C．In the woman’s eyes, the room is not dirty.

D．The man doesn’t think the room is dirty.

10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．In the newspaper.

B．At the campus housing office.

C．On the college pamphlet.

D．In the neighbourhood.

2.

A．Math.

B．Music.

C．Computer.

D．English.

3.

A．It must be in a good location.

B．It must have a kitchen.

C．It should guarantee her privacy.

D．It doesn’t cost much to rent.

4.

A．Betty will share the house with Jeff.

B．Betty is not easy to live with.

C．Jeff is the owner of the house.

D．Betty and Jeff are both studying in the same college.