1 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.
She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9yearold daughter Bailey.
He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.
Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”
After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.
1. Why did Burke thank J. K. Rowling according to the text?| A．She guided him how to write a good story. |
| B．She encouraged him when he was in trouble. |
| C．Her books helped him through times of confusion. |
| D．Her books helped him improve his bond with his daughter. |
| A．He has found it interesting to read the series. | B．He was too old to understand the series better. |
| C．He has chosen a better way of reading the series. | D．He hopes to play a role in the drama in the future. |
| A．Useless. | B．Normal. | C．Valuable. | D．Boring. |
| A．J. K. Rowling chooses to help improve kids’ health. |
| B．J. K. Rowling gives a magical gift to a single father. |
| C．J. K. Rowling has a deep influence on others’ growth. |
| D．Burke comes to know J. K. Rowling through her series. |
Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off” said the teacher to her class.
An extra day off unsuited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.
“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.
“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”
“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.
Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. I trained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing videogames inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours.
Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped here yes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.
“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents，
“Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”
“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”
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。
At first Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________But things began to change as she was doing the chores.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. Why did Grandpa Pandetti go to the village?
| A．To buy a mirror. | B．To trade his goods. | C．To visit his family. |
| A．He hung the mirror on the wall. |
| B．He told his family about the mirror. |
| C．He made dinner for himself. |
| A．They smiled whenever they looked in the mirror. |
| B．They took the mirror off the wall. |
| C．They made friends with strangers. |
| A．Life in the mountains. |
| B．The Pandettis’ goods. |
| C．A special present for a family. |
A Little Boy
A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and shabby and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at them.
The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy’s parents told him to stay away from the house, and a lot of other neighborhood children were told the same thing from their parents.
Dusk found the boy lingering on and hesitating what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. “What do you want?” the old man said impatiently. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota (定额) to meet for school with selling the magazines. So he got up the courage and said, “Uh, Sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”
The old man just stared at the boy without a word. The boy could see inside the old man’s house and saw that he had dog figurines (小雕像) on the fireplace mantle. “Do you collect dogs?” The little boy asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.
“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” The old man was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”
The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
The little boy headed back down to the old man’s house.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________From that day on something changed inside the old man.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. What did Rosemary’s father do that day?
| A．He went out to look for his wife. |
| B．He prepared meals for his parents. |
| C．He took his wife to the hospital. |
| A．She lost her parents. |
| B．She lost her hands. |
| C．She lost her legs. |
| A．Dependent. |
| B．Beautiful. |
| C．Independent. |
6 . My 15-year-old boy is a high achiever. He is very bright, pursuing everything he does with devotion and determination. And he is a great kid: honest, kind, faithful and caring.
Like a lot of kids who are high achievers, he is a perfectionist and very easy to fall into anxiety. That is manifested in his study, and other things he does as well. For example, he loves tennis but he often worries about losing in the game. Now he has to stop competing because the pressure he puts on himself is becoming unhealthy. He still plays, but playing socially rather than competitively means that it’s an outlet (发泄方式) for him rather than a source of stress.
He does not manage stress well. He puts so much pressure on himself to the point of worrying himself sick over just about every assessment. And he gets so negative about it, everything I say to him is met with negativity, every suggestion with a response that it won’t work, and honestly it’s depressing and tiring.
To help my son, I have a patient conversation with him. He finally follows my advice about physical exercise to ease stress. Whenever he is under a lot of pressure, I will run with him for half an hour and do some push-ups to relieve pressure. Gradually, he becomes less nervous in the later exams and his scores become more and more stable.
Pressure from grades and perfectionism can be really hard to manage when it comes to schooling. As kids, what they need is effective communication and sincere encouragement. So I have always told and shown my son that I’m proud of him, and that pride doesn’t merely depend on top grades.
1. What does the underlined word “manifested” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Rooted. | B．Hidden. | C．Reflected. | D．Involved. |
| A．He often falls ill under pressure. | B．He becomes tired of evaluations. |
| C．He fails to handle stress properly. | D．He views suggestions positively. |
| A．Stop pursuing perfection. | B．Do some exercise with him. |
| C．Talk to others more frequently. | D．Engage in some social activities. |
| A．It is hard for us to pursue the perfectionism. |
| B．The author simply takes pride in his son’s school work. |
| C．We can’t reduce the pressure from grades and perfectionism. |
| D．Communication and encouragement are helpful to teenagers. |
7 . After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first subway that came along.
After a few minutes I asked in English a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters. He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.
In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.
All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.
This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into misadventures.
1. Why does the author decided to take the subway?| A．Because he believed in his ability to deal with the trip |
| B．Because the network covered most of the stops |
| C．Because he lived near the city center |
| D．Because he had a good impression of its cleanliness |
| A．still remained puzzled | B．understood the author well |
| C．answered the author directly | D．pointed at the subway map |
| A．helpful. | B．impolite. | C．warm-hearted. | D．responsible. |
| A．To prove the importance of being careful |
| B．To introduce a young man who didn’t know English |
| C．To complain some cultural misunderstanding |
| D．To describe one of his adventurous experiences |
8 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
Ada looked through the observation window at the kids below, all waiting in line to get into the pool. She turned to her mother with an angry expression on her face. “Mom, they’re all little kids! I’m 15 already! This is ridiculous, isn’t ?”
“I know, Ada,” replied her mother, “but you’re a beginner, too, and you have to start somewhere!”
Ada had never been to a swimming lesson in her life. Between schoolwork and helping on her grandfather’s farm, she hadn’t had time for lessons. The closest swimming pool Ada had been to was the inflatable (充气的) alligator pool her mother bought her when she was five. Now that Ada was older, her mother had found a new job in the city, and Ada faced a new challenge — school field trips to the local pool.
The first day that Ada went with her class to the pool, she had no idea what she was in for. What could be so difficult about swimming? Ada confidently slipped(溜) into the water and held onto the side of the pool, expecting to be able to touch the bottom with her feet. But when Ada let go of the side of the pool, she slipped under the water—the whole pool was one big deep end! Ada threw her arm toward the side of the pool and grabbed (抓住) the ledge (池壁), out of breath. “I really can’t swim! Everyone’s going to laugh at me!” she thought to herself in a panic.
On the next field trip to the pool, Ada sat on the side of a bench, frozen with fear. She huddled (蜷缩) with a towel over her shoulders, too embarrassed to try again. When she came home, her mother noticed right away that Ada was upset. “Honey, I want you to take Bella’s swimming lessons at the local pool. Soon you’ll learn how to swim just like everyone else,” she convinced Ada, showing photos of Bella with her prize-winning students. Ada felt doubtful whether the lessons would help, but she had to overcome her fear.
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。
Then came the time for Ada to take her first lesson.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Soon Bella came over to where Ada sat and introduced herself.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.
Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”
“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”
“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”
The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.
It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!
Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.
Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.
She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”
Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.
注意：续写的词数应为150左右。
Paragraph 1:
As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alexis and Zoe were sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. They were having a hard time concentrating on their assignment because the radio station was playing music from their favorite band, the Shape Shifters.
“I can’t believe the Shifters are going to be playing here and we can’t go!” Alexis complained. “I know,” complained Zoe. “Tickets were sold out in five minutes, and even if we could get some, they are so expensive!”
“It’s totally unfair,” said Alexis. “They should give the tickets to their biggest fans first!” “You mean us, right?” “Obviously,” laughed Alexis. “Everyone knows we’re their number one fans.”
Zoe turned the radio up a little louder. Their favorite song was on, and using a pencil and a banana as microphones (麦克风), they sang loudly as if they were at the concert.
As the song ended, the host started talking about the concert. “The Shape Shifters are playing in town this weekend,” he announced loudly. “And we’re giving away two tickets to Saturday’s sold-out show, right now! We’re looking for the 10th caller who can correctly answer this question: Who is the oldest member of the Shape Shifters?”
Alexis and Zoe looked at each other. They couldn’t believe how easy the question was. “It’s Georgie!” said Alexis. “No, it’s Natasha,” answered Zoe.
“What do you mean?” asked Alexis. “Everyone knows Georgie is 29, he’s much older than the rest of the band.” “Yeah, I know he’s the oldest person, but the question was who the oldest member of the band is. Natasha started the band when she was just 15. The others joined the group after her.” explained Zoe. ” “But…” Alexis wasn’t convinced.
As they listened, they heard the host taking calls from excited fans. “Caller Number Three, you’re up! What’s your answer?” “Georgie,” said the nervous voice. “Wrong again,” boomed the host. “Nobody seems to know the answer! Next caller!”
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。
“You’re right! CALL THE STATION NOW!” Alexis said.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“What are your names, ladies?” the host asked seriously.
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