1 . In the state of Qin, there was a man called Shang Yang. He was a statesman (政治家) and worked out many reforms for the state, like paying more attention to farming and giving rewards to soldiers who were successful when at war. But these reforms were not easily carried out at first. Most people didn’t trust Shang Yang. In order to solve this problem, Shang Yang came up with an idea. He put a thin wooden pole at the south gate of the Qin capital. Many people came to see him and the pole.
Then, in front of the crowd, Shang Yang said loudly, “The man who takes this pole to the north gate will get 10 gold pieces.”
It was a simple job and the reward was so large. However, some time passed and no one stepped forward. They all thought Shang Yang was making a joke.
Hearing no answer, Shang Yang stepped forward and said, "The reward now goes to 50 gold pieces. ”
This reward was unbelievably large. Finally, a man from the crowd came forward. He put the pole on his shoulder and walked to the north gate. True to his word, Shang Yang gave the man 50 gold pieces.
After that, the people of Qin were all talking about what Shang Yang did about the pole. They believed he was a man of his word. So when Shang Yang began carrying out his reforms, the people followed him.
Under these great reforms, Qin grew stronger and stronger. At last, Qin made all the seven states into one empire (帝国).
1. In order to carry out his reforms, what idea did Shang Yang have?| A．Having a wooden pole carrying competition. |
| B．Having a wooden pole cutting competition. |
| C．The man stepping forward first would be praised. |
| D．The man carrying the pole from the south gate to the north one would get some gold pieces. |
| A．Because a man stepped forward. | B．Because there wasn’t enough time. |
| C．Because Shang Yang heard no answer. | D．Because Shang Yang was happy. |
| A．A man who can speak loudly. | B．A man who likes to speak a lot. |
| C．A man who keeps his word. | D．A man of few words. |
| A．Shang Yang became the first emperor. |
| B．The first empire of China appeared. |
| C．The south gate fell down. |
| D．The state of Qin became weaker and weaker. |
2 . One day, Tom’s teacher, Miss Mak, held a class meeting. “There will be a flag day next Saturday. Does anyone want to join this meaningful event?” asked Miss Mak. Tom was interested in raising money for homeless children, but he was not brave enough to talk to the strangers, so he kept quiet in his seat.
“Tom, you haven’t sold flags before,” said Miss Mak suddenly. “Would you like to have a try?” Tom was hesitant, but he finally nodded.
On the flag day, Tom and Angela sold flags in a busy street. “Excuse me. Could y-o-u pl-ea-se buy. . . ? ”said Angela softly to the first person she met. The man smiled and put a five-dollar coin into Angela’s collection bag. Then she said thanks and put a flag under his shoulder. “I did it!” said Angela happily. “It’s your turn now.”
Feeling nervous, Tom began to shake. Soon, he saw a young lady walking towards him. The lady was smiling and holding a few coins in her hand. She asked, “Are you selling flags for Fund for the Homeless Children?” Tom’s face turned red and said yes. Then the lady made the donation and Tom gave her a flag. “You made it! ”laughed Angela.
In the next couple of hours, Angela and Tom sold flags quickly and bravely. At last, their collection bags were so heavy that they had to hold them with both arms. They felt very proud.
1. Why did Tom keep quiet in his seat?| A．He had other plans. | B．He didn’t like Miss Mak. |
| C．He was not interested in the activity. | D．He was not brave enough to talk to the strangers. |
| A．In a busy street. | B．In their school. |
| C．In a tall building. | D．In a small garden. |
| A．Five dollars. | B．Ten dollars. | C．Fifteen dollars. | D．Twenty dollars. |
| A．Bored. | B．Shy. | C．Proud. | D．Sad. |
3 . Sam was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself to find a better-paying job.
Except for Sundays, Sam hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with a better life. Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them.
The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Sam passed with an impressive performance! Soon after, he was offered a better job which paid handsomely. Sam could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food and a vacation abroad. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. To make himself a worthy candidate for the promotion, he registered another course in an open university. Sam’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Delightedly, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough. It would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a larger apartment.
Sam resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see him much of the time, Sometimes Sam had to work on Sundays entertaining clients. As expected, Sam’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful apartment with amazing scenery overlooking the coast.
From then on, he was able to devote more time to his family. It was time for him to enjoy the fruits of his labor finally.
1. Why did Sam’s family complain to him?| A．He failed to buy a large flat. | B．He worked as a deliveryman. |
| C．He could make too little money. | D．He was too busy to accompany them. |
| A．How Sam achieved his life success. | B．Why hard work was so important. |
| C．What Sam provided for his family. | D．When Sam bought the big apartment. |
| A．Caring and modest. | B．Ambitious and responsible. |
| C．Optimistic and generous. | D．Hardworking and humorous. |
| A．Well begun is half done. | B．To know oneself is true knowledge. |
| C．Love and hard work bring luck. | D．Follow your course, and let people talk. |
I watched my dad scowl (绷着脸) as he listened to the voice coming through the telephone receiver. I heard him say, “Yes, Miss Beisner,” and “I understand what you’re saying, Miss Beisner. I appreciate you sharing this information. We’ll see what we can do about the situation. Thank you for calling. Goodbye.”
Miss Beisner was my first-grade teacher, and I loved her. I thought she felt the same about me, but now I was beginning to wonder. The tone of Dad’s voice, the redness in his cheeks, and his repeated clenching. And unclenching of fists made it pretty clear. This was not a warm and fuzzy good news-from-the-teacher call.
As I was deciding whether I should lock myself in my bedroom for the rest of my life or run away from home, Dad hung up the phone. “Jacquie, come here and sit down. We need to talk.”
Uh-oh. When Dad said, “We need to talk,” it meant he needed to talk, and I needed to listen.
I shuffled (拖着脚走) over to the well-worn brown chair in the corner of the living room, plopped down, and waited to hear the nature of my crime.
Dad told me that Miss Beisner thought I was bright but not working up to my ability. She said I had strong verbal skills but weak study habits. Translation: I never closed my mouth, and I seldom opened a book. Apparently, my failure to memorize the addition facts, or even attempt to, was more than she was willing to put up with. Hence, the telephone call.
Dad ended our one-way conversation with a verbal outline for his plan of attack. Bubbles, our Toy Manchester Terrier, was going to teach me math. Silently, I thought, No way is any dumb dog going to teach me how to add, not even our beloved Bubbles. Out loud, I said, “How?”
Dad summoned Bubbles from her bed near the stove and commanded her to sit. “Bubbles,” Dad said, “how much is five plus three?” Bubbles let out eight loud, crisp barks.
I was incredulous (满腹狐疑的). I couldn’t understand how a dog could add, and I was more than a little embarrassed by the fact that the family dog was smarter than me.
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。
Paragraph 1: After that, I threw myself into math with newfound determination.
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Paragraph 2: One day, I asked Dad whether Bubbles really knew how to add.
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5 . When she was 14 years old, Amy’s life was turned upside down by a family trouble.
Amy lived in a small village in India. Her mother fell ill and her father had to spend his time caring for her. As a result, she had to do most of the housework — including washing clothes. What’s worse, her family couldn’t afford an electric washing machine. Instead, she had to do the washing all by hand in the local river, and then carefully carry everything back to her home — a task that took several hours.
Interested in engineering, Amy wanted to make a washing machine which could be used without electricity. She started studying electric washers to learn how they worked. Amy then designed a machine with bicycle pedals (踏板) and chain. To get those, she went to a local shop. Workers there not only gave her the parts, they also helped her make the machine!
Here’s how the machine works: Amy used a cylinder (圆筒) to hold the clothes and put it in a cube (立方体). Next, she connected the bicycle pedals and the chain to the cylinder. As Amy pushed the pedals with her legs, the cylinder cleaned the clothes just like a regular washing machine.
Amy’s invention worked! She had created her own human-powered washing machine — and now a task that used to take several hours took only 30 minutes. Amy’s washing machine was chosen as India’s best invention! And the story of this young woman’s creative invention spread around the world.
“Amy’s invention saves time and money for the world’s poor,” said Jeanine Thomas of the Borden Project, “she made a difference.”
1. What problem did Amy try to solve?| A．Her mother suffered from illness. |
| B．Her family was too poor to afford her education. |
| C．It was a long way to get water from the river. |
| D．It took too much time and effort to wash clothes. |
| A．designing→studying→getting materials→making the machine |
| B．designing→getting materials→studying→making the machine |
| C．studying→getting materials→designing→making the machine |
| D．studying→designing→getting materials→making the machine |
| A．By turning the cylinder around with hands. |
| B．By pulling the chain with machines. |
| C．By pushing the pedals with legs. |
| D．By turning on the machine with electricity. |
| A．Amy changed the way a washing machine works. |
| B．Amy won a big prize and improved her family’s life. |
| C．Amy improved many poor people’s lives with her creativity. |
| D．Amy encouraged many young inventors among the poor. |
6 . Sam is not happy today. He doesn’t do well in his English test this time. Now he is sitting alone in his room.
Seeing this, his grandmother comes and talks to him to make him feel good. She sits down next to Sam and gives him a pencil. Sam looks at his grandmother and doesn’t take it. “Things like this are only for students who do well. I don’t do well!” Sam says.
Sam’s grandmother says, “It’s not a present for you. I want you to learn something from it. The pencil is just like you. It gets a painful sharpening(痛苦的削磨), just like how you get the pain of not doing well in your test.”
“But it will help you be a good student. See, all the good things coming from the pencil are from itself. And you too will find something good in yourself. Finally just as the pencil will make its mark (痕迹) on the paper, you will also leave your mark on anything you choose to do. Just ‘sharpen’ yourself and do well next time!”
Sam feels good right away. He plans to make a change as his grandmother says.
1. Where does the grandmother talk to Sam?| A．In Sam’s school. | B．In Sam’s room. | C．Outside the house. | D．In a pencil shop. |
| A．He believes it too small. | B．He hates pencils. |
| C．He thinks it a present. | D．He doesn’t like it. |
| A．Sam can’t do well without, the pencil. |
| B．Work hard and do well next time. |
| C．The pencil can help him do better. |
| D．A sharpening pencil writes well. |
| A．Foolish. | B．Strange. | C．Interesting. | D．Helpful |
One day after school, Susan’s eight-year-old daughter Liz went home with disappointment. She cried sadly and told her mother that she failed to be chosen for the school basketball team. And Liz kept saying that she was an unlucky girl. Susan knew that her daughter enjoyed playing basketball and had been practicing hard for the chance, so she must be terribly sad.
After knowing about the situation, Susan decided to cheer her daughter up. She went over to Liz, asking, “ Would you like to come with me to the supermarket and be my helper ?” To Susan’ s surprise, Liz agreed at once. Susan then gave Liz twenty dollars and a shopping list, saying she could use the change to get a treat for herself. Liz was excited and rushed away to get ready.
When they arrived at the supermarket, Susan advised Liz to put the twenty-dollar note in her pocket. Liz helped her mother collect goods and fill the shopping cart (购物车) while keeping an eye out for the things she wanted. She worked out how much change she would have, and then chose an apple pie as her treat.
With all goods collected, Liz went to the checkout counter (收银台) happily. Just then, she found her twenty-dollar note was gone! In tears, she rushed to her mother and told her about that. “What a bad day! I’ve met so many terrible things today!” she cried. “Take it easy. We’ll go to the help counter and see what the workers can do,” Susan comforted her.
The workers at the help counter made an announcement (公告) over the loudspeaker, “We have a little girl here who’ s very sad because she lost the twenty-dollar note her mother had given her for shopping. If anyone finds the money, please kindly bring it to the help counter.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Moments later, a worker gave Liz a twenty-dollar note, saying a lady just handed it over.
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“Well , actually I didn’t find the note. I gave away my twenty-dollar note,” the lady said.
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I had all the usual child fears. I couldn’t go to sleep unless the light in my bedroom was on. I dreaded that someday when my mother was distracted, Crazy Betty (our local small-town oddball) would grab me in the grocery store. On the hottest summer nights, my feet had to be wrapped tightly in my bed sheets; if one of them hung bare over the side of the bed, who knew what might grab it in its cold, slimy claw.
But all other frights paled in comparison with the Great Fear, the Titanic of my childhood terrors. That fear — and I admit, I feel a tightening in stomach typing the words even today — was that something would happen to Monk-Monk, my beloved toy monkey. That was the deepest fear of my childhood and I learned from it the lesson of cherishing what’s important in my life.
Looking at Monk-Monk today, you wouldn’t see what I see. You’d see a torn, discolored sock monkey, very much past his prime, stuffing leaking from his stumpy tail, holes on his sock-body inexpertly stitched up with thread that doesn’t match. I see my dearest childhood friend, my companion of a thousand nights. When I was only two and very ill, an aunt made him for me and delivered him to the hospital. I bonded with him fiercely and rarely let him out of my sight. When no one else was around, Monk-Monk played endless games with me, soaked up my tears, and listened to my secrets.
And then Uncle Ken came to visit. He lived in Ohio and occasionally he would come and stay with us for a couple of days. I didn’t know Uncle Ken well, and I didn’t like him very much. I had the feeling that he didn’t really like me, either. He clearly thought it was pretty silly that a big first-grader was dragging a sock monkey around, and he teased me by saying he thought he’d take Monk-Monk home to Ohio with him. His words almost scared me to death. I clutched Monk-Monk more tightly.
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 was at school a few days later when Uncle Ken left.
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Finally Monk-Monk was found jammed behind the sofa.
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Jane Brown sat carefully putting papers into a folder. She had been at the Gateway Nature Center’s office all morning and was tired of filing. She wanted desperately to work with the animals. She had been a weekend volunteer that whole school year and had done extensive research, reading books and websites on natural history. But her mom, who was the assistant director of the center, said Jane was still too young.
Suddenly, the quiet was broken by Amy bursting in. She had been a volunteer a bit longer than Jane and wandered around like she owned the place. “Hurry up, Jane,” she ordered. Jane willed herself to remain still and just smiled back.
Just then, Jane’s mother rushed into the room with Mr. White, the manager. “The hurricane is now approaching the Gulf Shore Preserve,” Mrs. Brown reported. “It needs help preparing for it. I have to go down there with the staff. We’ll take the bridge, so we shouldn’t be gone long. I need you girls to help Mr. White get the storm shutters (护窗) down in the aviary (鸟舍). Then, stay inside with Mr. White. Call me on my cellphone if there’re any problems,” Mrs. Brown directed as she rushed out. Jane was excited to have an opportunity to help the birds.
Amy announced she was now “in charge”. Jane smiled again, saying nothing. Mr. White and the girls worked quickly and were soon back inside. But when Mr. White called Jane’s mother, a worried expression crossed his face. “A storm has flooded the bridge, and they’re stuck there. Also, the storm is heading our way,” he said. Amy was frightened. After silently considering for a few seconds, Jane said calmly, “We should move the birds to the reptile house (爬行动物馆). It’s on higher ground.” Mr. White and Amy nodded. They rushed out of the building. Once inside the aviary, Jane watched Amy lunge (猛冲) from cage to cage.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1.
Jane told Amy not to jump around so much because the birds would be scared by her sudden movements.
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Paragraph 2.
After several hours, the storm stopped, and Mrs. Brown was able to return to the center.
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10 . Since my son went to college in Chicago, I made quarterly trips there for the next three years. My friend George was a cook there and he knew many outstanding restaurants. One of them was a Chinese restaurant called The Bird. It was owned and operated by Chef Benny Moy who happened to be an old friend of George’s.
The dishes Benny prepared were unique, and everything was in his mind when he was cooking. Just by changing, adding or removing an ingredient or two, he could come up with an entirely new dish.
As a fan of Chinese food, I was always attracted by its recipes. After a year went by, I finally gathered the courage to ask Benny if I could spend a week learning cooking in his restaurant kitchen. To my joy, he agreed readily.
I was very nervous the first day I showed up. But I didn’t have to wait long to find out how I would start. “Put on this jacket, go over to the stove and clean the two woks (锅) there,” he said. I was excited. What a beginning; I was allowed to clean the master’s woks.
Then things just seemed to fall into place. Benny was very concentrated when he was doing prep work or cooking. I would just follow him around, trying very hard not to get in his way. Besides, I would talk into my hand-held recorder to document everything he did; in effect, I had all his recipes. He had a teaching style that was all his own. And I just watched and learned everything he did by heart.
At the end of the week, when my time in the kitchen was over, I came away feeling that I have had the most exciting, unusual, unique cooking experiences. Plus, now I know how to cook Benny’s most-known dish: Moo shu pork.
1. What are Benny’s dishes like?| A．Terrible | B．Healthy | C．Creative | D．Typical |
| A．To help Benny out in his restaurant. | B．To learn cooking from Benny. |
| C．To take a cooking course. | D．To become a chef himself. |
| A．By talking with Benny. | B．By observing and taking notes. |
| C．By asking Benny to give them to him. | D．By recording Benny’s steps in cooking. |
| A．Awkward | B．Hopeful | C．Strange | D．Content |
