1 . Cats have no emotions . At least, that's what my husband once claimed. I
When my next-door neighbour moved in, he had a she cat named Juliet. She was an indoor lady, always watching
Then one day when I
Five months later, my neighbour had to
For months after Juliet moved away and the new neighbour moved in, I often
Sebastian
Even now, when my husband and I walk through the backyard and see that window, he
| A．argued | B．quarreled | C．suggested | D．discussed |
| A．energy | B．power | C．strength | D．happiness |
| A．referred to | B．prepared for | C．stuck to | D．approved of |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Besides | D．Meanwhile |
| A．the environment | B．the sky | C．her owner | D．her boyfriend |
| A．forbade | B．prevented | C．accompanied | D．left |
| A．called attention to | B．caught sight of | C．took charge of | D．paid a visit to |
| A．ambitious | B．doubtful | C．skeptical | D．obvious |
| A．secretly | B．straight | C．quietly | D．worriedly |
| A．lovingly | B．angrily | C．hungrily | D．greedily |
| A．in trouble | B．in sorrow | C．in amazement | D．in horror |
| A．settle | B．travel | C．apologize | D．move |
| A．react | B．reply | C．reduce | D．replace |
| A．took | B．caught | C．met | D．sensed |
| A．in place of | B．on the basis of | C．in search of | D．on account of |
| A．explained | B．requested | C．blamed | D．asked |
| A．discovered | B．reformed | C．preserved | D．marked |
| A．street | B．backyard | C．window | D．village |
| A．birthday | B．departure | C．death | D．arrival |
| A．reminds | B．informs | C．tells | D．Accuses |
2 . It’s a Christmas tradition that’s more than half a century old. And it happened completely by accident.
It started in 1955, when a local Sears store in Colorado Springs, Colorado printed an ad, which included a spedial phone number kids could call to know where Santa’s sleigh was at any given moment. Unfortunately, someone made a mistake in printing the phone number and kids were calling the wrong line.
A Colonel(上校) named Henry Shoup began answering his phone at what would become NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. At first, he thought it was a simple error of one caller.
But as the phone kept ringing and tiny voices kept asking about Santa, Shoup realized he couldn’t disappoint them. So he told the staff to issue updates to any one asking about the location of Santa.
The wrong turned into a custom of the holiday and kept growing in popularity, and NORAD finally decided to make it permanent.
It’s become a holiday favourite ever since, adapting to whatever new technology has come along since. In the early days, it was a phone line. Then in the 60s, NORAD put out a special series of “reports” that was played on hundreds of radio stations across North America, broadcasting the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position on Christmas Eve.
Think of it as kind of an early GPS without the computer gear.
Finally, came the Internet and NORAD has now transferred its annual watch onto the Web, with a site devoted to keeping tabs on the most famous journey in the world—what you might call the real amazing race, an around-the-world mission that has to be finished within 24 hours.
This year’s entry allows kids to track Santa in 3Dusing Google Earth and play games at the North Pole using the Kids Countdown Section, and it even offers Santa Cams which are only operational on the night before Christmas.
1. Why did children keep calling Henry Shoup?| A．Because they wanted to play a joke on him. |
| B．Because they wanted to amuse him. |
| C．Because he knew where Santa exactly was. |
| D．Because they wanted to know where Santa’s sleigh was. |
| A．He became annoyed and decided to tell them the truth. |
| B．He became excited and jioned them in searching Santa. |
| C．He thought quickly and took it seriously to satisfy their needs. |
| D．He laughed at them and took no notice of their calls. |
| A．Santa Claus. |
| B．Colonel Henry Shoup. |
| C．NOARD. |
| D．The staff in Henry Shoup’s charge. |
| A．By calling a special phone number. |
| B．By listening to a special series of reports over the radio. |
| C．With the help of a kind of early GPS. |
| D．By scanning the spedial column in the newspaper. |
| A．an old favorite holiday that develops along with new technology |
| B．50-year-old tracking Santa tradition that started by accident |
| C．a real amazing race, an around-the-world mission within 24 hours |
| D．a Colonel and the North American Aerospace Defence Command |
阅读下面短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。
Ashley Power’s mother bought a computer for her when she was eight. When she was thirteen, she was surfing the Internet regularly, but she couldn’t find anywhere for teenagers to meet and talk. And one day she thought, “If I had my own website, I’d make it a really interesting site for teenagers.”
So, when Ashley was sixteen, she launched her own website, called GooseHead. Young people got excited when they searched on this website and step by step they introduced the site to others and made more friends. She had no idea how big a success it would be, but three years later, the site was the most successful teen site in the USA! It was getting 100,000 hits every day, and Ashley had about 30 employees.
After a few years, the website closed down. Then Ashley, who lives in Los Angeles, was asked to write a book called GooseHead Guide to Life. It's safe to say that this is a book for teens that they'll enjoy. The book is about how to design a website and start a business. It begins with a section called “All about Ashley,” where Ashley tells readers what it is like to be the boss of a company when you are only sixteen. “I was so happy. But it was crazy in a lot of ways. I was stressed. I mean, I was only sixteen — I didn’t even have a car! If you were sixteen and you had your own company, you’d be stressed, too!”
In an interview Ashley gave advice to teenagers who wanted to start their own business, “Just be strong and have your dreams and work hard at them. And don’t listen when people tell you that you can’t do it, because I heard ‘no’ a lot. Just keep going until you hear ‘yes’!”
1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us? (within 10 words)2. What does the underlined word “launched” mean in English? (within 2 words)
3. According to Paragraph 3, what did Ashley do after GooseHead closed down?(within 10 words)
4. How did Ashley feel as a young boss of a company? (within 5 words)
5. According to Ashley’s advice to success, what do you think is the most important?Why? (within 15 words)
4 . Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station (加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register (收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off , but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership — a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” — two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.
1. The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City ________.| A．to visit a friend |
| B．to see his parents |
| C．to pay at the cash register |
| D．to have more gas for his car |
| A．turned off | B．moved off | C．put up | D．set up |
| A．He had it pulled back to the gas station. |
| B．The couple sent him a business card. |
| C．The couple offered to help him. |
| D．He called his friend for help. |
| A．something went wrong with the lights |
| B．the meeting lasted a whole day |
| C．he forgot to turn off the lights |
| D．he drove too long a distance |
| A．how to write a thank-you letter |
| B．how to deal with car problems |
| C．the kind-heartedness of older people |
| D．the importance of expressing thanks |
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college an the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopt and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 81. Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant talking as few as one class each semester.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, But I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree！
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember；little steps add up to big dreams.
1. When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be____.
| A．a writer |
| B．a teacher |
| C．a judge |
| D．a doctor |
| A．She wanted to study by herself. |
| B．She fell in love and got married. |
| C．She suffered from a serious illness. |
| D．She decided to look after her grandma. |
| A．She was busy yet happy with her family life. |
| B．She ignored her guilty feeling for her sons. |
| C．She wanted to remain a full-time housewife. |
| D．She was too confused to make a correct choice. |
| A．Failure is the mother of success. |
| B．Little by little, one goes far. |
| C．Every coin has two sides. |
| D．Well begun, half done. |
| A．Caring and determined. |
| B．Honest and responsible. |
| C．Ambitious and sensitive. |
| D．Innocent and single-minded. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出一个最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The key to happiness is how quickly you can get back your focus on what’s important.
—Anonymous
Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!
The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call "The Law of the Garbage Truck."
Many people are like garbage (rubbish) trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy with what you did.
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do anymore."
Successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? If you let more garbage trucks pass you by, you'll be happier. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't.
1. What happened one day when the author was taking a taxi?| A．The taxi almost hit another car. |
| B．The taxi driver was injured. |
| C．The author scolded the driver of the other car. |
| D．The author learned a lesson from the driver of the garbage truck. |
| A．He yelled back at the driver. |
| B．He sent the driver to the hospital. |
| C．He was friendly towards the driver. |
| D．He dumped some garbage in front of his car. |
| A．Many people like to drive garbage trucks. |
| B．Many people dump garbage wherever they like. |
| C．Many people are warm-hearted to make others happy. |
| D．Many people tend to be very much depressed. |
| A．The author used to have a lot of garbage trucks. |
| B．The author used to complain a lot. |
| C．The author used to have a lot of money. |
| D．The author used to be a good manager. |
| A．Ignore them and go on with our own work. |
| B．Try our best to persuade them not to do that again. |
| C．Tell them to dump the garbage in the right place. |
| D．Take over their work and carry the garbage to somewhere else. |
7 . A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin (顽童) was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.
Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…” He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He wished he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”
“Oh yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled (残疾) brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it… Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.
1. The street urchin was very surprised when __________.| A．he saw the shining car |
| B．Paul told him about the car |
| C．he was walking around the car |
| D．Paul received an expensive car |
| A．wished to give his brother a car |
| B．wished Paul’s brother to give him a car |
| C．wished Paul could be a brother like that |
| D．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s |
| A．to show he had a rich friend |
| B．to show his neighbors the car |
| C．to let his brother ride in the car |
| D．to tell his brother about his wish |
| A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin |
| B．the urchin’s wish came true in the end |
| C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother |
| D．the urchin had a deep love for his brother |
| A．A Christmas Present | B．A Street Urchin |
| C．A Brother Like That | D．An Unforgettable Ride |
As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away any possible robbers(抢劫犯). Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.
About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.
Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.
Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck(垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, “Alisa Camacho?” I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eyes. “Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape.
It was nearly 3 a.m. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had got my wallet back. I also had got back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.
1. How did the writer feel when she was walking home after work?
| A．Cold and sick. | B．Lucky and hopeful. |
| C．Satisfied and cheerful. | D．Disappointed and helpless. |
| A．solving her problem at the bank |
| B．taking part in various city activities |
| C．learning acting in an evening school |
| D．preparing for the first night show |
| A．lost her wallet unknowingly |
| B．was stopped by a garbage truck driver |
| C．was robbed of her wallet by a man with a knife |
| D．found some homeless people following her |
| A．Someone offered to take her back home. |
| B．A red-haired man came to see her. |
| C．She heard someone call her name. |
| D．Her wallet was found in a garbage truck. |
| A．would stop working at night |
| B．would stay on in San Francisco |
| C．would make friends with cleaners |
| D．would give up her job at the bank |
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $ 1,000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1,000.
But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘ We are so successful, we are opening a second store.’” And they did — in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multi-million-dollar restaurant chain.
1. Deluca opened the first sandwich shop in order to _______.
| A．support his family | B．pay for his college education |
| C．help his partner expand business | D．do some research |
| A．He put money into the sandwich business. |
| B．He was a professor of business administration (管理). |
| C．He was studying at the University of Bridgeport. |
| D．He rented a storefront for DeLuca. |
| A．It stood at an unfavorable place. |
| B．It lowered the prices to promote sales. |
| C．It made no profits due to poor management. |
| D．It lacked control over the quality of sandwiches. |
| A．had enough money to do it |
| B．had succeeded in their business |
| C．wished to meet the increasing demand of customers |
| D．wanted to make believe that they were successful |
| A．Learning by trial and error. | B．Making friends with suppliers. |
| C．Finding a good partner. | D．Opening chain stores. |
