1 . One day, two old friends were walking through the desert. During the journey they had a quarrel, and one friend couldn't control himself and hit the other one in the face.

The one who was hit was hurt, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he wrote in the sand, "Today my best friend hit me in the face."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis(绿洲). They decided to get some water. The one who was hit fell into the mire(泥潭) and was in danger, but the friend saved him.

When he felt all right, he wrote on a stone, "Today my best friend saved my life."

The one who had hit and saved his best friend felt surprised and asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand but now you write on a stone. Why?"

The other friend replied," When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can blow it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must write it in stone where no wind can ever blow it away!"

Since then the two friends have never quarreled with each other again and they got on better with each other.

1. Why did one friend hit the other in the face?

A．Because he didn't win the quarrel.	B．Because he won the quarrel.
C．Because he couldn't express himself.	D．Because he couldn't control himself.

2. Why did the one who was hit write in the sand?

A．Because he wanted to remember his being hit.

B．Because he wanted to express his anger.

C．Because he wanted to forget his being hit.

D．Because he wanted other people to know his friend was cruel.

3. Why did the one who was hit write on a stone?

A．Because he wanted to forget his friend.

B．Because he wanted to remember his friend.

C．Because he didn't want to forget his friend's kindness.

D．Because he wanted others to learn from his friend.

4. What is the best title for the article?

A．Remember a friend's kindness and forget his shortcoming（缺点）

B．Forget your friend's shortcoming

C．How to forgive a friend

D．It is difficult to make friends

3 . A long time ago, there was an emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he liked, then the emperor would give him the area of land he would have covered.

Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much as possible.

Finally, the horseman was exhausted and dying. He asked himself, “Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I need only a very small area to bury myself.”

The story above is similar with the journey of our life. We push very hard everyday to make more money, to get power. We don’t pay attention to our health, time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding beauties and the hobbies we love. One day when we look back, we will realize that we don’t really need that much.

Life is not only about making money, getting power. Life is definitely not only about work! Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauties and pleasures of life. Life is a balance of work and play. Happiness is also the meaning and the purpose of life.

So, take it easy! Do what you want to do and appreciate nature. Life is fragile and short.

1. What did the emperor promise to the horseman?

A．He could ride his horse.

B．He could get much land.

C．He could ride as fast as he wanted.

D．He could get as much land as he had covered on the horse.

2. What did the horseman get at the end of the story?

A．He got what he wanted.	B．He got a lot of land area.
C．He got nothing.	D．He got a very small area.

3. The passage showed that_______ .

A．We should enjoy life.

B．We only should pay attention to the work.

C．We should not only work hard but also enjoy the life.

D．We should work hard to make much money and get much power.

4. Why should we live a balanced lifestyle and enjoy life?

A．Because work is necessary.

B．Because life is fragile and short.

C．Because we couldn’t get enough power.

D．Because we couldn’t get enough money.

5 . About five weeks ago, I noticed the skin of our pet lizard (蜥蜴) was growing dusty. It worried me. I reported the strange surface on the skin of the lizard to my husband and children the next morning. Seconds later, our lizard emerged from its tank with its old skin flowing behind it.

I didn't think about it much until a morning last week when I knocked my favorite teapot off the table. It burst into hundreds of pieces. As I swept up the mess, I wondered why we had been breaking so many things over the months.

The destruction started three months ago. It was my husband's birthday. He had just lost his job. The uncertainty was starting to wear on us, so I wanted to do something special.

"Let's make a cake for Dad!" I cried.

My kids screamed with joy. We baked, iced and sprinkled for most of the day. Candles on the cake! Balloons on the walls! Flowers on the table!

Two hours before my husband came back home from another job interview, my daughter climbed up to grab a glass vase from a high shelf. It fell and crashed beside the cake. Tiny pieces of glass were everywhere. She sobbed loudly as I threw the cake away. My husband had banana pudding for his birthday.

Three days ago, the light in our living room suddenly went out. After several frustrating hours of unsuccessful attempts to fix it, my husband suggested watching the Michael Jordan documentary (纪录片) series The Last Dance.

The poignancy (酸楚) of Jordan retiring from his beloved basketball to play baseball and what had pushed him to make such a tough decision took me by surprise. As I watched him take off his basketball uniform and replace it with a baseball uniform, I saw him leaving behind the layer that no longer served him, just as our lizard had. Neither of them chose the moment that had transformed them. But they had to live with who they were after everything was different. Just like us. I realized that we have to learn to leave the past behind.

Humans do not shed skin (脱皮) as easily as other animals. The beginning of change is upsetting. The process is tiring. Damage changes us before we are ready. I see our lizard, raw and nearly new.

Jordan said that no matter how it ends, it starts with hope. With our tender, hopeful skin, that is where we begin.

1. What can we learn about the pet lizard from Paragraph 1?

A．Its tank grew dirty.	B．Its old skin came off.
C．It got a skin disease.	D．It went missing.

2. Why did the author's husband have banana pudding for his birthday?

A．The birthday cake was ruined.	B．The author made good puddings.
C．Pudding was his favorite dessert.	D．They couldn't afford a birthday cake.

3. The underlined part "leaving behind the layer" in Paragraph 8 can be understood as________.

A．letting go of the past	B．looking for a new job
C．getting rid of a bad habit	D．giving up an opportunity

4. What does the author most likely want to tell us?

A．Love of family helps us survive great hardships.

B．It's not the end of the world if we break things.

C．We should move on no matter what happens.

D．Past experiences should be treasured.

6 . “Ding... ding...,” the bell rang. The English teacher came into the classroom with test papers in his hand. All the students shouted. The teacher_________with a smile on his face, “I know there are too many tests for you these days, but the test today is very_________.” After hearing the teacher’s words, all the students sat up straight and _________for the test to begin. The teacher started to_________the test papers to each student._________he finished handing out the test papers, he asked them to begin.

There was not a question but only a small black “X” in the middle of the paper. The students were very_________to see that. The teacher _________ the students’ surprise. Then he said, “I would like you to_________about what you see there. You must finish it all by_________ .”

All the students thought about it hard and then wrote down their answers quietly. At the end of the class, the teacher collected their papers and read the answers. __________ of them described the black “X”. The next day, the teacher said, “Everybody only paid attention to the black ‘X’, but __________ wrote about the white paper.” The whole class listened __________ , because they worried that they might fail the exam.

Then the teacher said, “Don’t worry about the __________ of this test. I just want you to think about your life.” Everyone smiles. The teacher added, “The white paper is like our whole life and the black ‘X’ in the middle of the paper is just __________ problems in our daily life. Do you have some more thoughts?”

Then the students discussed and expressed __________ opinions actively. Finally they understood the teacher and this special test.

Our life is a __________ given to us by God, with love and care.________, we just care about the problems like illness and hunger, and never see that these problems are much__________ than everything else we have in our life.

We should try to take our eye off problems and __________ each moment life gives us. Only then can we start a nice   __________   and find true happiness in our lives.

1.

A．asked

B．complained

C．explained

D．guessed

2.

A．difficult

B．hard

C．easy

D．special

3.

A．waited

B．looked

C．searched

D．cared

4.

A．sell out

B．bring out

C．give out

D．put out

5.

A．Before

B．After

C．While

D．Until

6.

A．happy

B．sad

C．surprised

D．relaxed

7.

A．hated

B．forgot

C．remembered

D．noticed

8.

A．hear

B．worry

C．write

D．learn

9.

A．yourselves

B．ourselves

C．myself

D．themselves

10.

A．None

B．All

C．Neither

D．Both

11.

A．somebody

B．nobody

C．Everybody

D．anybody

12.

A．quickly

B．hardly

C．angrily

D．carefully

13.

A．results

B．suggestions

C．presents

D．jobs

14.

A．like

B．in

C．at

D．with

15.

A．her

B．his

C．their

D．your

16.

A．problem

B．challenge

C．gift

D．window

17.

A．Except

B．However

C．Also

D．Besides

18.

A．more important

B．bigger

C．smaller

D．more serious

19.

A．enjoy

B．Waste

C．invite

D．throw

20.

A．door

B．spirit

C．skill

D．journey

7 . 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。
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . A friend of mine met with an accident driving in darkness. His legs were so hurt that he couldn’t move. What was the _______ was that he found himself unable to ask for help—his mobile phone went out of _______ as a result of exhausted (用尽的) battery. Nothing could be done but _______ in cold wilderness. It was 8 hours later that day broke, and then the _______ of the rescue.

It was almost _______ that he could stand the horror in the darkness for so long. Even more surprising was his _______ ,“First of all I checked up my _______ conditions and found myself not in deadly danger. As there was no _______ to call for help, I leaned back in my seat trying my best to keep the wound from _______. In this way I dozed (打盹) off.”

His story put an end to my regret for the ________ of an exploration adventure that happened last year. A group of young men ________ to explore a mountain cave and got lost.________ to find a way out in the dark cave, they were frightened and ran anxiously without a sense of ________. Finally they fell dead in fear and exhaustion. According to the ________people that found them, the place where they got lost was only about 10 meters away from the ________of the cave. If they stayed on the spot when they lost their way and tried to__________themselves, they would probably sense a faint light flashing not far away.

Don’t you think that you can compare it with ________ itself? When you meet with difficulties in life, you are lost in darkness.________ you that it’s unclear yet and you needn’t put up struggle ________. It seems to be a negative (消极的) attitude,________ a person who can do so must have foresight as well as a great courage in the first place.

1.

A．hopeless       `

B．worst

C．more

D．best

2.

A．service            `

B．way

C．control

D．work

3.

A．cry             ``````

B．lie

C．wait

D．sleep

4.

A．delay

B．success

C．team

D．arrival

5.

A．untrue

B．unimaginable

C．possible

D．useless

6.

A．plan

B．decision

C．explanation

D．excuse

7.

A．physical

B．mental

C．working

D．medical

8.

A．method

B．way

C．tool

D．strength

9.

A．rotting

B．spreading

C．bleeding

D．running

10.

A．loss

B．failure

C．disappointment

D．sadness

11.

A．had

B．managed

C．tried

D．planned

12.

A．Willing

B．Unable

C．Determined

D．Deciding

13.

A．hearing

B．sight

C．feeling

D．direction

14.

A．rescue

B．village

C．local

D．brave

15.

A．end

B．top

C．opening

D．side

16.

A．save

B．help

C．stop

D．calm

17.

A．adventure

B．work

C．life

D．mankind

18.

A．Mind

B．Watch

C．Imagine

D．Warn

19.

A．really

B．immediately

C．carefully

D．hopefully

20.

A．and

B．so

C．but

D．while

9 . I watch documentaries, not movies. I read history books, not fiction. I use every free moment to accomplish one of the tasks on my never-ending checklist, and I am completely filled with thoughts of productivity. An hour sleeping is an hour wasted. And like the rest of 21st century America, I like it. But this fixation on productivity is increasingly destroying character and transforming men into robots.

New York Times columnist David Brooks warned American University students of this cultural decline in a speech. “We cut off all things spiritual and emotional in a competitive urge to stand out”, he said, “The pressure to succeed professionally, to acquire skills, to do the things you need to do to succeed in an information age economy really became the overwhelming(难以应付的)pressures, and it sort of weakens the thinking about character and morality.”

Many students happily go to college, viewing it as a next step on their rise to professional achievement. Forcing as many success-building activities into their schedules as they can, they enjoy keeping busy with little sleep. “Today’s outstanding kids are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-improving activity to the next,” Brooks wrote in an article, “We fear failure more than we desire success.”

A century ago, college was about character building. Today, our characters are in decline. We are experts on economics, material things and professional skills. We fail to discuss and understand relationships, emotions and all things spiritual.

Philosopher Karl Popper divided the world into two categories: Clocks and Clouds. Clock problems are those that can be taken apart, examined and solved through deductive reasoning(演绎推理). Clouds cannot be taken apart. Cloud problems represent whole systems that need to be understood in a different way.

“When we have a Cloud problem, we try to turn it into a Clock problem,” Brooks said. And in a reason-centered culture, adding titles to one’s resume becomes a trend. At American University, 85 percent of seniors (and 89 percent of business majors) graduate with at least one practical experience which is often helpful to a student’s future career, but can sometimes draw focus away from academics.

To prevent the death of man’s character, Brooks urges rediscovering our human natures through falling in love. And by love he means love for a task, job, or another person. “Synchronicity is key to happiness,” he said. Rather than crazily increasing our long lists of accomplishments, we need to lose ourselves in what we do, and success will come on its own.

1. From Paragraph 1, we can learn that people ________.

A．are controlled by time	B．are eager to achieve
C．are changing their characters	D．are keen on reading books more

2. What is the author’s attitude towards colleges that existed a century ago?

A．Tolerant.

B．Uncertain.

C．Approving.

D．Curious.

3. The last paragraph mainly tells us that ________.

A．success comes from devotion to work

B．the focus on human natures counts

C．more work contributes to happiness

D．love is more important than focus

4. The purpose of this passage is to ________.

A．criticize students’ desire for achievements

B．stress the importance of productivity

C．warn about the pressure to seek success

D．bring awareness to character building