2 . When I decided to buy a house in Europe ten years ago, I didn't think too long. I liked traveling in France, but when it came to picking my favorite spot to _______, Italy was the clear winner.

During my first visit to Italy, I _______ to ask for directions or order in a restaurant. But every time I tried to _______ a sentence of Italian together, the locals smiled at me and _______ my language skills. That encouragement helped me to get through the language _______. After I made Italy my permanent home, I discovered how _______ Italians are. Neighbors will bring me freshly made cheese and will come to my door to _______ me to close the window in my car when rain is coming. It's these small _______ of kindness that make a new country feel like home.

As a foodie, the way to my heart is through my stomach, and nowhere fuels my _______ quite like Italy. Each town has its own traditional ________, and every family keeps a recipe passed from one generation to another. Families ________ for big meals on Sundays, birthdays, and whatever other excuses they can ________. These meals are always ________ by laughter and joy. Whatever ________ life in Italy might have, the problems are ________ once you sit down to a big meal with friends and family.

1.

A．study

B．rent

C．visit

D．settle

2.

A．planned

B．struggled

C．refused

D．happened

3.

A．string

B．hang

C．mix

D．match

4.

A．improved

B．assessed

C．admired

D．praised

5.

A．course

B．barrier

C．area

D．test

6.

A．open-minded

B．strong-willed

C．warm-hearted

D．well-informed

7.

A．remind

B．allow

C．persuade

D．order

8.

A．tricks

B．promises

C．acts

D．duties

9.

A．ambition

B．success

C．appetite

D．growth

10.

A．costume

B．dish

C．symbol

D．tale

11.

A．gather

B．cheer

C．leave

D．wait

12.

A．put up with

B．stand up for

C．come up with

D．make up for

13.

A．signaled

B．confirmed

C．represented

D．accompanied

14.

A．disadvantages

B．meanings

C．surprises

D．opportunities

15.

A．created

B．forgotten

C．understood

D．identified

3 . When was the last time you used a telephone box? I mean to make an actual phone call — not to shelter from the rain. Ages ago, right? The last time I used a phone box for its intended purpose was…2006. I was conducting auditions (试演) for my play in my tiny old shared house in London. Hoping to impress some talented actors to come and work for me for nothing, I spread some throws over the sofas and lit candles to make it seem a bit more ”young professional”.

As I rushed outdoors to empty the wastepaper baskets, the door swung shut behind me. Suddenly I was locked outside. My mobile phone was inside, but luckily there was a telephone box across the street. So, I called Directory Assistance, got put through to our landlady’s managing agent, and had a spare key sent to me with just enough time to get back in before the actors arrived.

As it has been many years since I last used one, I should hardly be surprised that then are no longer any public telephones near my house. The last one standing has just been turn into a “mini community library”: any passer-by can “borrow” a book from its shelves return it later, or replace it with another title from their own collection.

For a few months after the “library” opened, I didn’t bother taking a look, as I had assumed that it would be stuffed full of cheese love stories. Then I noticed fork conducting spring cleans dropping boxes of voluminous books on various subjects there. And these books were free. This unbeatable price-point encouraged me to experiment with dozens of titles that I would never normally consider buying. And I’ve discovered some great books!

If I ever get trapped outside my house again, my local telephone box will, sadly no longer be able to connect me with my keys. But it can certainly keep me entertained while I wait for my wife to rescue me.

1. What does the underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refer to?

A．The play.	B．The shared house.
C．The sofa.	D．The telephone box.

2. Why did the author use the telephone box in 2006?

A．To place an urgent call.	B．To put up a notice.
C．To shelter from the rain.	D．To hold an audition.

3. What do we know about the “mini community library”?

A．It provides phone service for free.	B．Anyone can contribute to its collection.
C．It is popular among young readers.	D．Books must be returned within a month.

4. Why did the author start to use the “library”?

A．He wanted to borrow some love stories.

B．He was encouraged by a close neighbour.

C．He found there were excellent free books.

D．He thought it was an ideal place for reading.

4 . While taking a 20-hour train ride along the edge of the Taklimakan Desert in northwestern China, I had the kind of humbling, educational, and above all else, wonderful ________ with a local that all travelers long for. A young Chinese man ________ me on the train. My ________ friend spoke virtually no English, so I happily took the ________ to practice my Chinese.

Over several hours, he would tell me about how he had ________ a two-year professional school to quickly find a job ________ highways in order to help support his family. Perhaps the most ________, however, was the fact that this man spent hours studying every day after hard physical labor. Without batting an eye, he would ________ a translated Emerson passage before asking about the literary influence of American ________ as a whole. ”And what do you all learn about Russian authors?” I ________ him asking at one point.

It would have been easy to ________ my assumptions about this highway builder who had never been more than a few hundred miles from home. But this highly informed, ________ , and admirable person prevented me doing so. In the course of a couple of hours, he ________ me just how much one can gain from ________ with an open mind, and a willingness to ________ with locals from all walks of life.

1.

A．experiment

B．encounter

C．competition

D．appointment

2.

A．treated

B．saved

C．lectured

D．approached

3.

A．true

B．so-called

C．new

D．long-lost

4.

A．chance

B．advice

C．trouble

D．right

5.

A．visited

B．financed

C．attended

D．founded

6.

A．building

B．sweeping

C．checking

D．guarding

7.

A．typical

B．obvious

C．natural

D．remarkable

8.

A．publish

B．quote

C．сорy

D．download

9.

A．writers

B．historians

C．workers

D．students

10.

A．anticipate

B．imagine

C．recall

D．catch

11.

A．look into

B．rely on

C．go over

D．deal with

12.

A．well-behaved

B．multi-skilled

C．warm-hearted

D．self-educated

13.

A．asked

B．warned

C．showed

D．promised

14.

A．traveling

B．reading

C．searching

D．teaching

15.

A．cooperate

B．side

C．negotiate

D．engage

5 . 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。

Eva spent the first week of high school trying to keep her head above water. One of the major headaches for her was finding her way in the huge school building. It was a six-story building. On each floor, hallways stretched in four directions, leading to classrooms, laboratories, and teachers’ offices. Somewhere in the building, there was also a library, a cafeteria, and a gym.

Having a poor sense of direction, Eva found it impossible to get around in such a huge building. All the different hallways and rooms were too much to think about, let alone commit to memory. She decided that she would memorize where her classes were and then pretend that the rest of the place didn’t exist.

In her first PE class, Eva was shocked when Coach Pitt announced that everyone had to run one mile around the track outside. She searched the faces of her classmates for signs of panic. There was nothing she feared more than having to run a whole mile. To Eva, “a mile” was used to describe long distances. It was ten miles from her home to her grandfather’s, and that always seemed like a long way, even in a car!

When Coach Pitt blew his whistle (哨子), Eva figured she would be left in the dust. However, while some of her classmates edged ahead, others actually fell behind. ” It’s just the beginning, “she thought.” I’ll come in last for sure. “

Soon Eva began to breathe hard, with her heart pounding and legs shaking. Feeling desperate, Eva started using a mind trick on herself. She stopped thinking about the word” mile. “Instead, she focused on reaching the shadow cast on the track by an oak tree up ahead. Then she concentrated on jogging to the spot where the track curved (拐弯). After that, she tried to see if she could complete her first lap. One lap turned into two, then three, then four.

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:

When Coach Pitt said “Nice work!” to her at the finish line, Eva was surprised.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

Eva decided to use the same trick to deal with the school building.

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6 . In April last year, I saw a post on the PNP (Pilots N Paws) website from a family in Topeka. They had to move to Virginia but they were on a very tight _______. They could not afford to pay for _______ for their dog, Tiffy, and _______ wanted to take her with them.

It just _______ that I was planning another PNP flight with another pilot, Karen, who _______ to take Tiffy from Kansas City to Virginia. What I was to do was fly to Topeka to _______ Tiffy.

When I met Tiffy’s owners, they seemed very _______. George, the husband, was trying to be calm, but I could tell this was _______ for him, having to leave his dog to a _______ and trust that everything would __________.

After some goodbyes, I asked George and his wife to help me __________ Tiffy into the plane. I promised to take care of Tiffy and __________ them as soon as we got to Kansas City.

The flight was __________, and Tiffy was a great passenger. The next day, she __________ with Karen and made it back to George in Virginia within a few days. He was so __________ and sent me a nice e-mail with pictures. It felt great to know that I had helped bring this family together again.

1.

A．turn

B．budget

C．schedule

D．connection

2.

A．food

B．shelter

C．medicine

D．transportation

3.

A．desperately

B．temporarily

C．secretly

D．originally

4.

A．appeared

B．proved

C．happened

D．showed

5.

A．waited

B．offered

C．hurried

D．failed

6.

A．see off

B．look for

C．hand over

D．pick up

7.

A．confused

B．nervous

C．annoyed

D．curious

8.

A．hard

B．fine

C．common

D．lucky

9.

A．coworker

B．passenger

C．stranger

D．neighbor

10.

A．speed up

B．work out

C．come back

D．take off

11.

A．feed

B．follow

C．change

D．load

12.

A．call

B．join

C．leave

D．serve

13.

A．unnecessary

B．unexpected

C．unavoidable

D．uneventful

14.

A．returned

B．fought

C．flew

D．agreed

15.

A．thankful

B．generous

C．proud

D．sympathetic

7 .    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。

When I was in middle school, my social studies teacher asked me to enter a writing contest. I said no without thinking. I did not love writing. My family came from Brazil, so English was only my second language. Writing was so difficult and painful for me that my teacher had allowed me to present my paper on the sinking of the Titanic by acting out a play, where I played all the parts. No one laughed harder than he did.

So, why did he suddenly force me to do something at which I was sure to fail? His reply: “Because I love your stories. If you’re willing to apply yourself, I think you have a good shot at this.” Encouraged by his words, I agreed to give it a try.

I chose Paul Revere’s horse as my subject. Paul Revere was a silversmith (银匠) in Boston who rode a horse at night on April 18, 1775 to Lexington to warn people that British soldiers were coming. My story would come straight from the horse’s mouth. Not a brilliant idea, but funny; and unlikely to be anyone else’s choice.

What did the horse think, as he sped through the night? Did he get tired? Have doubts? Did he want to quit? I sympathized immediately. I got tired. I had doubts. I wanted to quit. But, like Revere’s horse, I kept going. I worked hard. I checked my spelling. I asked my older sister to correct my grammar. I checked out a half dozen books on Paul Revere from the library. I even read a few of them.

When I handed in the essay to my teacher, he read it, laughed out loud, and said, “Great. Now, write it again.” I wrote it again, and again and again. When I finally finished it, the thought of winning had given way to the enjoyment of writing. If I didn’t win, I wouldn’t care.

注意:
1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

A few weeks later, when I almost forgot the contest, there came the news.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I went to my teacher’s office after the award presentation.

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