2 . I enjoy throwing stuff away. I’d love to go full minimalism (极简主义), but my wife and two teenage kids do not share my dream of a house with almost nothing in it. I have tried. When the kids were little, I taught them my two favorite games – “Do We Need It?” and “Put It in Its Place”— and made them play every few months. Their enthusiasm never matched mine.

If I’m going to be honest, my own tidying skills are not as great as I’d like. My “discarded” pile is never quite the trash mountain I want because I make up excuses for why things are useful. I consider this unhealthy. I want to be better at moving on.

So, this time I found help—the classics for people like me: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. Kondo’s commitment to her craft is astonishing. Her philosophy is only to keep things you love. Can I go full Kondo? I will try. One central idea is to clean by category. You start by collecting all clothes and gathering them together for consideration. It makes you rethink how you organize. Next, hold each item and ask if it brings you joy. This way you’re choosing what to keep. And that’s how I find myself with all my clothes on my bedroom floor. My wife walks by and gives me a look that says I’m nuts. She’s probably not wrong.

Somewhere near the bottom of this chaos is my special jacket. I move through the pile: pants, shirts, suits and shoes. Then my last category: jackets. I haven’t worn it in about 30 years. Somehow, it has survived. Now, has its time come?

I hold it in my hand. There is a tear just below the collar that widens as I hold it. It’s literally falling apart. Will I ever wear it again? Not a chance. Does it feel good to wear? Does it bring me joy? Actually, yes. At this moment, my daughter walks in. She asks about the jacket. I tell her the story. She thinks I should keep it. It’s cool and unique and full of memories. She is arguing that nostalgia (怀念) is the very reason.

I’m not entirely convinced by my daughter’s arguments. I believe in looking ahead, not backward. Nevertheless, sometimes it’s hard to let go. So I gently place the jacket on the “keep” pile.

1. What can we learn about the author’s family members from Paragraph1?

A．They can’t tolerate what the author insists on.

B．They are less passionate about full minimalism.

C．They are strongly opposed to full minimalism.

D．They completely support what the author does.

2. What does the underlined word “discarded” probably mean in Paragraph 2?

A．abandoned

B．disposable

C．organized

D．classified

3. What drives the author to read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?

A．To learn how to categorize.	B．To develop a passion for minimalism.
C．To persuade his family members.	D．To improve his tidying skills.

4. What’s the text mainly about?

A．The importance of categorizing skills	B．The changes brought by minimalism
C．The author’s efforts to go minimalism	D．An inspiration got from the book

3 . On Thursday morning, two teenage boys were saved by a drone (无人机) in Australia while lifeguards were still training to use the machine.

The swimmers, aged 15 — 17, got into difficulties about 700 feet off the coast of Lennox Head, New South Wales (NSW). A passer-by saw them _______in dangerous waves. Lifesavers _________sent the drone to drop a lifeboat and the pair made their way safely to the _______.

The drone, known as “Little Ripper”, was actually not _______ to be saving anyone just yet-lifeguards were being trained to _______the machine. When a call came through about the swimmers in _________, the drone happened to be nearby.

Jai Sheridan was the lifeguard who_______ the drone. He described the experience as_______.The Little Ripper certainly proved itself today. It was _______the drone when the alarm was raised. I directed it toward the swimmers, and dropped the ________. With its support they made their way to safety. They were ________, but not hurt. The teens were saved in just 70 seconds with the drone — while a lifeguard would have taken up to six minutes to________ the rescue.”

John Barilaro, an official of the state ________ the rescue as historic. “It was the world’s__________ rescue by the unmanned airplane,” he said. Never before has a drone been used to ________ swimmers like this.“

1.

A．playing

B．surfing

C．struggling

D．training

2.

A．finally

B．secretly

C．immediately

D．gratefully

3.

A．island

B．ship

C．hospital

D．shore

4.

A．advised

B．supposed

C．allowed

D．guided

5.

A．get familiar with

B．make use of

C．grow used to

D．take care of

6.

A．charge

B．place

C．action

D．trouble

7.

A．flew

B．brought

C．checked

D．designed

8.

A．funny

B．useful

C．amazing

D．important

9.

A．studying

B．piloting

C．boarding

D．approaching

10.

A．lifebelt

B．lifeline

C．lifeguard

D．lifeboat

11.

A．tired

B．sick

C．excited

D．surprised

12.

A．record

B．complete

C．experience

D．report

13.

A．thanked

B．greeted

C．imagined

D．praised

14.

A．latest

B．best

C．first

D．quickest

15.

A．save

B．warn

C．protect

D．defend

5 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同学写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

Once upon a time there was a rich man. He had a lot of money, but he felt unhappy all the times. Finally, the rich man left home to look happiness. He visited many places and met many rich men. All of them said they were not happy, too. On his way to home, the rich man saw a farmer work in the field. He went up to the farmer and asked, “Could you tell me if you feel happy?” “Yes, I’m quite happier. I always feel satisfying about everything in my life,” the farmer answered. “Please tell me how you find happiness,” asked the rich man. The farmer answered with a smile on his face. “It’s very easy of me to answer the question. If you work hardly, have three meals a day and go to bed early with worries, you’ll be the happiest man in the world.”

6 . When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings (缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes. He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”   

I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could — and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.

I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.” 

Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.

1. What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?

A．He told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” had said.

B．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings.

C．He asked her to write down what “enemy” had said and pay attention to the real ones.

D．He refused to take the list and have a look at it.

2. What does “Week by week her list grew” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．She discovered more shortcomings of mine and corrected them for me.

B．She made a list of my shortcomings and kept on adding new ones to it.

C．She found that I had more shortcomings as time went on.

D．She pointed out that my shortcomings grew more serious.

3. Why did her father listen to her quietly?

A．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true.

B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while.

C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment.

D．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth.

4. Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?

A．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend

B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had

C．My Father’s Experience

D．My Childhood Life and Lessons

7 . From the time I was seven, I had a dream of becoming a member of the students’ union. I always _______ my school leaders for taking responsibility for all of us. I dreamed of being a leader. The years flew by, and soon I was able to take part in the elections, _______ I would win. But the reality struck that I didn’t have a chance. Girls across the school _______ knew me. I just did not have what it _______ to win a school election. _______ I cried in my room that evening, I suddenly took a deep breath and decided I wouldn’t stop dreaming. 

What were the points that would work in my favour? I had good grades, and I was friendly and helpful. I would not allow my plain appearance to _______ me back from putting my best foot forward. That evening, I began my election _______ a whole year in advance. 

I loved making friends and I liked being helpful, so I decided that perhaps I could use these _______ to work up to my advantage. In order to learn how to _______ a great election speech, I also ________ a course on effective public speaking. 

The day after the election, when the head teacher ________ I won the second highest number of votes, the students ________. Suddenly, I realized that I had ________ much more than I had dreamed of. I had won acceptance and love of my schoolmates and they knew me as somebody who would ________ them. I was able to put a smile on their faces and ________ their day.

1.

A．admired

B．remembered

C．praised

D．believed

2.

A．planning

B．praying

C．considering

D．judging

3.

A．almost

B．gradually

C．hardly

D．quite

4.

A．took

B．educated

C．provided

D．meant

5.

A．Once

B．Until

C．As

D．Although

6.

A．put

B．leave

C．hold

D．fight

7.

A．speech

B．chance

C．dreams

D．plans

8.

A．people

B．qualities

C．ways

D．attitudes

9.

A．reach

B．present

C．show

D．repeat

10.

A．attended

B．prepared

C．reminded

D．ran

11.

A．discussed

B．admitted

C．announced

D．promised

12.

A．nodded

B．cheered

C．gathered

D．waited

13.

A．achieved

B．celebrated

C．devoted

D．developed

14.

A．rely on

B．take in

C．look for

D．stand by

15.

A．brighten

B．bless

C．expand

D．enrich

10 . The earthquake was over and the city was in ruins.

I had no choice but to walk home as all the   _______ had stopped as a result of the quake. On my way home I   _______ an old lady at a bakery shop giving out free bread, which made my heart _______. A man was holding a sign saying, “Please use our house.” He was _______ his house for people to go to the restroom.

The next day I drove to have my car _______. There was not enough gas now and many gas stations were either closed or had very _______ lines. I got worried, _______ I was behind fifteen cars. Finally, when my _______ came, the man smiled and said, “_______ this situation, we are only giving $30 worth of gas per person. Is that alright?” “Of course. It’s nice that we are all able to ________ ,” I said. His smile gave me so much comfort.

At the escape center I saw a man ________when people brought food to him. It was the first time in three days that food had been brought to their center. However, after he cleaned up the tears, his next ________ surprised me. “I am very ________ that we are provided with food. But people in the city next to us haven’t ________ any food at all. Please go to that center as well.” Hearing that, I realized there was a bright future on the other side of this ________.

1.

A．life

B．business

C．rescue

D．traffic

2.

A．noticed

B．missed

C．ignored

D．caught

3.

A．kind

B．broken

C．warm

D．empty

4.

A．opening

B．selling

C．repairing

D．building

5.

A．used up

B．taken up

C．filled up

D．washed away

6.

A．direct

B．fine

C．long

D．thin

7.

A．since

B．once

C．until

D．unless

8.

A．time

B．turn

C．duty

D．decision

9.

A．Except for

B．Together with

C．Instead of

D．Because of

10.

A．share

B．offer

C．learn

D．choose

11.

A．crying

B．eating

C．smiling

D．singing

12.

A．ways

B．roles

C．words

D．promises

13.

A．sure

B．grateful

C．surprised

D．proud

14.

A．bought

B．wasted

C．prepared

D．received

15.

A．disaster

B．chance

C．city

D．center