1 . 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。

It’s eight o’clock on Christmas morning, and my dad says he wants to listen to the news. My 11-year-old self is wondering why on Earth grown-ups would be interested in the news when there are important things to be done, such as handing out presents. And then, while I am only half-listening, something strange happens: the newsreader begins talking about a Christmas message. Hadn’t we heard that report earlier?

My older brother, Colin, figures out what’s happening. “Pete, Pete, it’s a tape recorder! We’ve got our tape recorder!”

It finally dawns on me: my dad recorded the news and is playing it back now.

Colin and I had both been blind from birth. At the special school that Colin and I attended, a recorder of your own was the height of desire. However, realistic about family finances, we had no real expectations of getting one.

The tape recorder my dad bought us would have cost more than four times his weekly wage. He could only afford it by borrowing the money. I know my mum and dad would have thought long and hard before being in the debt.

The new toy controlled the rest of the Christmas holidays. Once we had mastered the controls, we recorded anything and everything: each other, our parents, the milkman, the dog... and we very quickly learned how much fun we could have with it.

It wasn’t the first time I had been attracted by a tape recorder. I vividly remember walking into a room when I was four and hearing a child’s tuneless singing. I stopped dead. “It’s you,” Dad said.

It turned out that he had borrowed a tape recorder. So for the first time, in the same way that a sighted child might react to seeing themselves in a mirror, I got the sense of myself as a separate person who existed outside my head and was experienced by other people.

注意：
1.词数150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I took my first steps down the path to my career as a broadcaster when I returned to school.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ten years later, I walked into a radio station, in the hopes of selling myself as a broadcast journalist.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . In life, there’re a mass of choices we have to make. What we choose may ________ our destiny (命运). Therefore, it’s ________ to make the right choice at stake. To tell the truth, we should do many things about making a _______ choice, but I believe the two ________ I’ll mention are the most significant.

Firstly, we’d better think about and compare the positive and ________ sides of specific objects and get the one whose ________ are more than that of the other or the one which is more ________ for us. The process is like choosing a person between two ________ for a job. the relevant qualities such as previous work experience, academic record in college will be ________, and then naturally, you’ll ________ the most qualified candidate for the job.

Secondly, we also ________ observe objective both on short terms and on ________ terms. Take hunting for a job as an example, when we think about different kinds of ________, we should not only take the short-term salary or treatment into ________ but also we should see the employee training and promotion so that we can learn a lot and have a ________ development in the future through hard work. There’s also an example. It often takes ________ for a start-up to begin an undertaking (事业) in the beginning. It seems that he doesn’t make a good choice. ________, he may become a successful businessman after ________ for years and solving problems in the way.

All in all, whenever we face ________, it’s wise that we not only select the option with more ________ but also see objects on long terms, and then make a choice finally.

1.

A．cause

B．destroy

C．predict

D．decide

2.

A．comfortable

B．constant

C．believable

D．important

3.

A．stupid

B．clever

C．tough

D．noble

4.

A．factors

B．topics

C．bonuses

D．paragraphs

5.

A．necessary

B．normal

C．negative

D．mistaken

6.

A．disadvantages

B．advantages

C．possibilities

D．interests

7.

A．active

B．suitable

C．optimistic

D．natural

8.

A．candidates

B．athletes

C．choices

D．talents

9.

A．insured

B．charged

C．judged

D．guided

10.

A．reject

B．choose

C．praise

D．appoint

11.

A．had better

B．rather than

C．prefer to

D．tend to

12.

A．long

B．professional

C．secondary

D．remote

13.

A．tasks

B．occasions

C．jobs

D．conditions

14.

A．timetable

B．sheet

C．account

D．chart

15.

A．upset

B．flexible

C．comprehensive

D．promising

16.

A．risks

B．measures

C．spirits

D．wisdoms

17.

A．Anyway

B．Therefore

C．However

D．Afterwards

18.

A．studying

B．persisting

C．hesitating

D．considering

19.

A．challenges

B．persons

C．attitudes

D．options

20.

A．effects

B．incomes

C．desires

D．benefits

4 . Last summer, I was suffering from too much stress, I’d just graduated from a challenging doctoral program and was ________ from the years of research, study and writing. I took a vacation to celebrate, but the academic intensity had become a ________ . Sitting on the beautiful lawn of the hotel on Mackinac Island, I just felt like I should be studying or working as usual.

________ seeing natural beauty would have relaxed me, but I couldn’t ________ . I couldn’t help looking at my cell phone repeatedly in case I missed something important. “ Enough,” I murmured. I needed to ________ , but why couldn’t I?

A dragonfly buzzed around me. With each ________ , this creature’s wings changed color — blue one moment, green the next. Dragonflies usually fascinated me with their quick movements that ________ me of acrobats (杂技演员) in the wind, but I wasn’t in the ________ that day. What I needed then was ________ , not movement. As if on cue, the dragonfly came to rest on a blade of grass in front of me.

I watched that dragonfly carefully for many minutes. So did the dragonfly. “It’s not a matter of relaxing,” it seemed to say. “It’s a matter of ________ the now, the here. Life is so short. Be here in the moment and let the ________ take care of itself.” Suddenly, I ________ this beautiful creature, who only had months to live, was “instructing” me about the ________ of life and felt much relaxed. The dragonfly seemed ________ that its message had been delivered. It sprang from the grass and flew away. I didn’t see it again. But I would never forget what it taught me: Be here and ________ yourself.

1.

A．distracted

B．withdrawn

C．exhausted

D．separated

2.

A．tradition

B．strength

C．burden

D．habit

3.

A．Generally

B．Eventually

C．Particularly

D．Exactly

4.

A．settle down

B．break down

C．slow down

D．get down

5.

A．concentrate

B．unwind

C．continue

D．pause

6.

A．movement

B．change

C．advance

D．performance

7.

A．convinced

B．informed

C．reminded

D．warned

8.

A．way

B．mood

C．state

D．position

9.

A．progress

B．admiration

C．consideration

D．stillness

10.

A．remembering

B．understanding

C．appreciating

D．recognizing

11.

A．life

B．history

C．moment

D．future

12.

A．guessed

B．realized

C．agreed

D．admitted

13.

A．value

B．content

C．reality

D．principle

14.

A．concerned

B．doubtful

C．satisfied

D．regretful

15.

A．enjoy

B．collect

C．suit

D．conduct

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节和给定段落开头语进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

When I was six years old, I visited my grandfather’s farm in Kansas and he sent me into the woods to gather pecans (胡桃) for us to enjoy later. The pecans were about the size of a man’s thumbnail and just about the tastiest snack I’d ever had.

However, pecan picking was really tiring and my little bucket was only half full after working hard for a long time. I thought I wouldn’t let Grandpa down. Just then something caught my eye. A large brown squirrel was a few feet away. I watched as he picked up a pecan, hurried to a tree, jumped up to the trunk and disappeared in a large hole. A moment later the squirrel popped back out and climbed down to the ground to pick up another nut. Once again, he took the pecan back to his hiding place inside the hollow of the tree.

Not so secret anymore, I thought. I dashed over to the tree and looked into the hole. It was filled with pecans! Golden pecans were right there for taking. This was my chance. Handful by handful, I scooped all of those pecans into my bucket. Now it was almost full! I was so proud of myself that I couldn’t wait to show Grandpa all the pecans.

I ran back and shouted, “Look at all the pecans!” He looked into the bucket and asked, “Well, well, how did you find so many?” I told him how I’d followed the squirrel and taken the pecans from his hiding place.

Grandpa congratulated me on how smart I’d been in observing the squirrel and his habits. Then he did something that surprised me. He handed the bucket back to me and put his arm gently around my shoulders.

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:

“That squirrel worked very hard to gather his winter supply of food,” he said.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

I picked up that little bucket full of pecans and carried it back to the tree.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . The other day, while taking a drop-in art class, I had an experience that I don’t always have when I’m engaged in something creative. I was fully in the zone. My instructor even commented: “You’re on fire today.” Painting after painting was flying out of me. I felt free—a very unfamiliar feeling for me.

Class started off with quick thirty-second figure drawing, then we worked our way up to one-minute, and then finally four-minute sketches (素描). Ever since the instructor told me not to go over the same line twice, I’ve really struggled with finding my freedom in figure drawing. But that day I was completely free, and as a consequence, my line quality was much better. I felt completely unconcerned with what the teacher thought of my work. It was one of the most enjoyable creative experiences I’ve had.

Afterwards, I was reflecting on why this was such a pleasurable experience. This is how I always want to feel while creating.

I think this was so enjoyable because it was a drop-in class. Not a full course. Not to get a master’s degree. Therefore, I felt no responsibility for getting it right. I was able to take it less seriously and just have fun with it. And I wasn’t monitoring myself to make sure that I was improving.

If you practice at your chosen craft, you will improve over time. Worrying about whether you’re getting better doesn’t help you improve. It actually slows down your growth. Your intellect might think it’s helping out, but it’s actually slowing you down and making your creative process less fun. Eventually, there’s truth to the simple saying—practice makes perfect. Since there’s no perfection in the world of creativity, practice makes better.

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Create even though it won’t be perfect. Create because it won’t be perfect. Create even though it won’t be perfect. Create because it won’t be perfect. Create because your spirit needs to express itself. That is where the freedom is. That is where the joy is.

1. What does the underlined part in the first paragraph mean?

A．The author was very clever.	B．The author got a little bored.
C．The author made a wise choice.	D．The author devoted herself to her work.

2. What do we know about the author in the drop-in art class?

A．She did what she liked.	B．She learnt the basic skills of sketching.
C．She had no inspiration to create works.	D．She couldn’t keep up with other students.

3. What can we learn about the author from the text?

A．She focuses on gaining better drawing skills.

B．She has no sense of responsibility in her daily life.

C．She thinks joy mainly results in a person’s perfection.

D．She has found the reason for the pleasurable experience.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Practice makes perfect

B．Begin enjoying drop-in art classes

C．Try to find the key to successful work

D．Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good

8 . It was June 14 and the last day of middle school arrived. The atmosphere in the halls was ________ as the students ran around the school ________ the final bell so they could celebrate the ________ of summer vacation. As I cleaned out my drawers, I ________ a student’s past homework assignment dating back to 1964, long before I became a teacher. The ________ yellow paper had been wedged (塞入) behind two drawers, yet it was in pretty good ________.

The day before, I held a party for the students. The feelings were ________, as I knew that this would be the last time I would see all of these students together. I thought back to ________ they were all in middle school and would visit me on my birthday. They ________ it an annual tradition. I will treasure these ________ for the rest of my life.

I have been a teacher now for nearly two decades, and one thing I’ve learned is that to ________ with and understand students deeply means taking the time to ________ care. We must communicate ________ messages about our world with opportunity and hope. We must take the time to celebrate each person’s life for what it is. It’s about showing care, compassion, and belief in people on a ________ basis. You can be the change in a student’s life that brings them a sense of ________.

1.

A．tense

B．romantic

C．electric

D．friendly

2.

A．ringing

B．anticipating

C．stopping

D．pretending

3.

A．arrival

B．welcome

C．pause

D．end

4.

A．searched for

B．reached for

C．came across

D．began with

5.

A．coloured

B．recycled

C．torn

D．faded

6.

A．silence

B．contact

C．shape

D．operation

7.

A．bittersweet

B．guilty

C．awkward

D．abstract

8.

A．how

B．when

C．what

D．who

9.

A．considered

B．made

C．called

D．labeled

10.

A．students

B．assignments

C．moments

D．intentions

11.

A．connect

B．correspond

C．compete

D．cooperate

12.

A．truly

B．barely

C．properly

D．concisely

13.

A．subjective

B．respective

C．relevant

D．positive

14.

A．weekly

B．temporary

C．regular

D．voluntary

15.

A．self-worth

B．self-doubt

C．self-criticism

D．self-defense

10 . My neighbors across the street take pride in one of the most striking trees in the neighborhood—a towering oak that is over 75 years old. This year, after a wet, warm summer, leaves were a bit different in my Massachusetts town. And through some combination of events, that glorious oak seemed to have dropped all of its uncountable leaves on a single windy day. I arrived at home that afternoon to find our front walkway, driveway and sidewalk completely blanketed.

My son and I had a great time making a leaf pile for jumping and enjoying pillowy fun. The whole time, I was fascinated by the speed of this year’s leaf drop. Even though I was aware that it was an accident of wind patterns that left all the leaves in our yard, I kept looking up and feeling a zing of awe at the suddenly bare branches that watched quietly over our neighborhood, starting its restful season before setting spring leaf buds.

And I felt thankful for those fallen leaves as I was reminded of my favorite quote from the author and naturalist Hal Borland. He wrote it referencing October, but this year’s later drop had me change the month:“November is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations (星座) above them once again.”

When I lay in that pile of dry, crisp leaves and looked up into the oak tree across the street, I felt a clarity and peace that comes along with the inconveniently early sunsets and chilly temperatures of the transition from fall into winter. I could still admire the tree as I had in spring and summer, but I could also see through it, beyond it, to the big sky that blankets us all.

1. What’s unusual this year?

A．Outdoor activities are limited due to heavy winds.

B．A series of special events happened in the neighborhood.

C．The weather is especially cold in winter in Massachusetts.

D．The neighbors’ big tree dropped all its leaves within a day.

2. What kind of feeling does the underlined part “a zing of awe” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Anxiety.

B．Sorrow.

C．Comfort.

D．Amazement.

3. Why is Hal Borland’s lines quoted in Paragrapn 3?

A．To express the author’s admiration for the naturalist.

B．To emphasize the importance of getting close to nature.

C．To express the author’s feelings about the leaf-falling season.

D．To emphasize the beauty of the author’s childhood memories.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Sky Far Beyond.

B．The Fall of Massachusetts.

C．The Beauty of a Newly-bare Tree.

D．The Memories of Peace and Beauty.