1 . The fall leaves are really starting to change now. It looks like the trees and mountains have become a canvas painted by a loving artist. The bright, beautiful reds are_________in the sunlight and the yellows look like gold. Some trees have only a few leaves changed, some are half-way and others have already completely_________. Some of the leaves are falling to the ground to turn it into a colorful_________. I am enjoying this so much because I am completely aware when winter arrives all of the trees will be_________with the leaves down. It is always a little sad to see but I know it is the circle of life. Those dead leaves will become the soil that feeds the trees and_________new life next spring.

Today I noticed a lovely little girl from our community picking up the fallen leaves from the ground. The prettiest reds, yellows, and oranges were picked up and_________in her arms. Soon she had quite a pile and carefully carried them over to her Mom and then with a smile gave them to her as if they were delicate flowers. Her Mom accepted them with a smile and together they put them out on their porch and stared at them like the priceless_________.

I watched this_________from my living room window with a smile on my face as well. The world creates a circle of love as well as a circle of life. And I am positive that the former like the latter will never end. It will_________all through this life and into the next. Take your place in the circle. Give love. Receive love. Live every day of your life to the__________with love. And your soul will shine bright like the most beautiful tree in autumn.

1.

A．shining

B．burning

C．flashing

D．shaking

2.

A．gone

B．reserved

C．fixed

D．transformed

3.

A．pad

B．bed

C．curtain

D．carpet

4.

A．fruitful

B．bare

C．safe

D．natural

5.

A．tears up

B．brings about

C．holds back

D．differs from

6.

A．held

B．received

C．admired

D．searched

7.

A．potentials

B．chances

C．treasures

D．exchanges.

8.

A．scene

B．view

C．story

D．notice

9.

A．return

B．break

C．continue

D．panic

10.

A．fastest

B．easiest

C．coolest

D．fullest

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

I can still remember the afternoon when we climbed the mountain as if it were yesterday.

It was a sunny day. Eager to spend some time outside, I went up the mountain with my uncle. The mountain was hard     1     (climb) and had tough rocks and streams on it. In the end, exhausted and hot, I couldn’t go any     2     (far). So we went back down the mountain in the end.

On the way back down, my uncle asked me a question     3     left me speechless for a second: “What’s your dream, young lady?”

“I have no idea,” I answered     4     thinking it for a while. Then he smiled and told me about his story. He didn’t perform well at school when he was a student. Although nobody thought he could succeed, he knew clearly     5     his dream was－to be a businessman. “I knew I wasn’t gifted when it came to studying,     6     I tried to buy snacks from a market and sell them after class,” he told me. After he left school, he started selling different items to find out which one was most attractive to customers. Of course, he often had no money in his pocket, but however tough life was, he never gave up.

“There is no doubt that a person who puts in a great deal of effort to reach his or her goal will have good luck at some point. The meaning of life is to chase your dream,” he said gently. That night I     7     hardly fall asleep. I lay in bed tossing and turning, asking myself, “What’s my motivation?”

I once wanted to be a top student, but the hard work needed meant putting everything into following my passion. If I find myself lacking willpower, what should I do? Leaving home early the next morning, I climbed the mountain again by myself. It made me think:     8     we don’t experience the climb, how can we get to see the scenery on the top of the mountain? In the end, I reached the top and     9     (fascinate) by the warm breeze and sunshine.     10     could be more pleasant than that.

3 . Directions: Write an English composition in 120—150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.

“Life is not easy for any of us. We must work, and above all we must believe in ourselves. We must believe that each one of us is able to do something well, and that,   when we discover what this something is, we must work until we succeed.”

—Madame Curie

读了居里夫人的这段话，你有何感想？请结合生活中的具体事例对你的观点加以说明。
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4 . Around four years ago, I received a call from the principal of our school as to the “Parents View” talk the next morning. He asked me to speak to the group. After the call, my whole body became feverish and panicky. The time from his call to the next morning seemed like years. The whole night, I could not sleep with many ominous apprehensions in mind. One of them was to call the principal with regret and tell him that I could not come. Finally, I gathered some courage. I thought, “If I miss this opportunity, surely the school will never invite me again to any of their programs.”

I reached the school in time. Before my turn came, my whole body was trembling. When my turn came and I started speaking, my heartbeat increased and my mouth went dry. I wasn’t even able to read the written speech properly. I was not aware of where I was standing and what I was reading. That was the day when I realized my biggest weakness, Public Speaking.

After my speech，I met with the principal and explained what happened to me. He told me that this happens to everyone. Even great speakers faced the same things when they started. He suggested that I come again next time.

Around one month later, I was invited to refer to a topic on Motivation. This time I was feeling comfortable. My speech was appreciated by the principal as well as the teachers, because I was able to get my idea across to them. They encouraged and praised my efforts.

After the successful delivering, I became more confident. I said to myself, “If I can speak in front of such a learned audience, like the principal who educates others, I can now speak in front of others too.”

I started delivering lectures in my plant, on various topics like Self-Motivation, Personality Development, Personal Excellence, Spoken English and Presentation Skills. This has become a passion for me. I learned that everything is possible if we have the courage to take the first step.

1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Practice Makes a Man a Better Speaker.	B．Public Speaking Makes a Man Embarrassed.
C．Principal Provides the Best Chances.	D．Spoken English Develops in Speeches.

2. The author had bad feelings before the speech because ______.

A．he disliked the principal	B．he had got a high fever before that
C．he regretted turning down another invitation	D．he feared he couldn’t perform it properly

3. What does the underlined part “ominous apprehensions” in the first paragraph mean?

A．Unlucky opportunities.

B．Negative ideas.

C．Curious colleagues.

D．Happy comments.

4. What can we conclude from the passage?

A．Nothing is to be got without pains but poverty.

B．Knowledge makes one humble, while ignorance makes one proud.

C．A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

D．Necessity is the mother of invention.

5 . Directions: Read the following two passages. Fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word. For the other blanks, fill in each blank with one proper word. Make sure that your answers are grammatically correct.

As a student, I get so many assignments every day. I have to stay up late in order to finish all my homework. I used to complain about all this pressure       1     school with my classmates. We did not appreciate our teachers for their hard work. We only knew that we got a lot of homework.

After a few months, we did not complain about homework anymore because we knew that our teachers worked     2     (hard) than we did. We had no right to complain. Sometimes, we said, “I didn’t go to bed until 12:00 o'clock last night. Now I just want to sleep.” Our teacher would answer us, “I go to bed at 1:00 a.m. every day.” Since we knew how hard teachers work, we started to appreciate them. To give our thanks, we wrote a big card to the teachers       3    it was teachers’ day. When they got our card, they       4     (touch) because their students finally knew the teachers’ effort.

After giving the card, I realized       5     powerful the sentence “thank you” is. When we give our thanks to somebody, the world is full of love. I say “thank you” to my friends, family, classmates, teachers, and even strangers. I like to see the smiles on their faces, so saying “thank you” every day is the way I make the world a better place.