1 . Dear Editor,

After I attended your summer camp about health and lifestyle choices, I realised I hardly ever felt well, either physically or mentally. I often felt sleepy and dizzy, and lacked passion. Most worrying, though, I got the flu easily and experienced many toothaches, too.

At the end of the camp I heard, "Change the world by changing yourself." This stimulated my motivation. A dentist once examined me and told me that too much sugar in my meals had damaged my teeth and health. I made up my mind to change two things in my life: to eat nothing with sugar and to exercise regularly.

After that I stopped buying all the sweets, biscuits, and sugary drinks that I used to have every day. Whenever I went out with friends. I brought snacks from home, things that didn't have any added sugar: fruit, nuts, dried meat, etc.

My exercise was very simple: I went outside every day for at least 30 minutes and did something active. Sometimes I played table tennis or badminton with my cousins. Other times I jumped on my skateboard and rode around my neighbourhood, or just took a long walk.

The results have been fantastic. I feel more dynamic and stronger than ever, in both body and mind.I sleep soundly at night now. I no longer suffer from a flu virus or toothaches either. Best of all, in my opinion, is how I feel about myself. I feel like I'm in control of my own life. To make choices about myself is within my own power. I CAN change myself. I just need to try.

Yours truly,

Wang Lu

Dear Editor,

As I took part in the summer camp about personal life choices, I started to analyse my choices, especially what I did to relax and how it was affecting my whole life.

After starting high school, I felt stressed out and always relaxed by playing computer games. I got so absorbed that I played the games day and night. Playing was fun, but I felt even more worn out afterwards! So after the camp, I realised that it was very, very important to adjust my lifestyle. I decided to take control of my life and find other ways to relax.

It was a big struggle not to join my friends in playing online games as I'm mad for them. However, I realised that to succeed in quitting, I had to replace it with something else. So I thought about what to try. Rock climbing, bowling, watching comedies, and playing basketball were the things I thought of doing instead.

Now my dad and I go rock climbing together monthly! It has enhanced the quality of my life, improving my health and increasing my happiness. I get refreshed through climbing, spend more time with my dad, and get to meet new friends.

After six months of trying out new ways of relaxing, I feel much more energetic. I feel that I can change myself for the better. And if that's true for me, then it might truly be possible to change the world for the better. As Gandhi said," Be the change you want to see in the world."

Sincerely,
George Fielding
1. 阅读文章，总结文章主旨大意。

These are two _________ from _______and_________, who attended_________ and wrote to the editor to inform the editor of their_________, _________, ___________and___________.

2. 根据文章，完成下列表格。

	Wang Lu	George Fielding
Problem	did not feel _______ felt _______, lacked _______ got_____, experienced _____	felt ________ felt even more _______ after ________
Decision	to ________ to ________	to _______________
Action	stopped __________ exercises every day for _____________	goes _____________
Result	more ______ in _______ sleeps________, no longer ____________ feels like ____________	feels much more ______ feels he can __________

2 . Growing pains and gains

It’s not easy to grow up. Actually it’s far from easy. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. We are always doing things that someone else makes us do and aren’t allowed to do all the things we like. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. When we look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude (态度), we realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!

As a young girl my parents forced my sisters and me to do so many things that I never liked. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music, just because it was what they wanted me to do. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched my life in so many ways. I realize that my parents and teachers were always pushing me along, not because they wanted me to suffer but because they wanted me to succeed in life. They’ve always wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.

Every moment of our lives we are either living or dying, so live life to its fullest! We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just small pains in life. They might seem so huge at the time but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no fear and live life like that. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps (凸块) on our road to success we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!

1. What was the girl forced by her parents to do when she was young?

A．Take music lessons.

B．Turn gains into pains.

C．Take a look back on hardships.

D．Live a successful life by suffering a lot.

2. What’s the author’s attitude towards her parents now?

A．Concerned.

B．Thankful.

C．Passive.

D．Unfriendly.

3. What does the underlined phrase “to its fullest” mean?

A．Directly.

B．Terribly.

C．Carefully.

D．Completely.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Growing pains are necessary for us to grow up.

B．We all have to experience growing pains.

C．A little hard work and sweat are harmful to us.

D．Life without fear is a better choice for us.

5 . Two years ago, my 11-year-old son sat me down for a talk. “Mom, it’s time,” he said. “Hear me out: It’s time we got actual TV. And you need an iPhone.”

This funny conversation two years ago marked a shift in our relationship. Perhaps for the first time, I began to really listen to my son’s opinion about our home technology. Since his reasoning was sound and his suggestions within budget, I took his advice and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

I’d known for a while that my son understands technology better than I do. On airplanes, he grabbed my phone to put it in airplane mode. He wired the speakers in our house. After something was stolen from our front yard, he picked out, set up, and now monitors our security camera. When my computer died, I took him shopping with me.

As a teenager now, he has a busy social life, with skateboarding, basketball, and online gaming with his friends. I see our time together decreasing and our shared interests shrinking. That’s why I jumped at the chance when a friend mentioned writing technology reviews. I’m a writer, but I’d need a partner who has more tech knowledge than me. When I presented the idea to my teen, he immediately accepted.

It’s changed our relationship in surprising ways. Where he used to get annoyed quickly at my technical ignorance, he’s learned to be more patient and explain things to me in a way that I can convey to an unknowing audience. The parent-child dynamic is not only changed; it’s even slightly reversed (颠倒). He’s leading me. I’m asking him for help and advice. My son has risen to the occasion. He’s taking it seriously, and to watch him mature in this way is an honor. As someone who’s not much of a reader, he now searches instruction manuals. Without any prompting, he’s even emailed and called, yes, made an actual phone call to customer service or tech support when sample products weren’t working as expected.

I never imagined being a tech reviewer, but it’s proved to be a valuable way to learn from, work with and enjoy time with my teen.

1. What did the writer think of her son’s advice?

A．It sounded ambitious.	B．It was comprehensive.
C．It was complicated.	D．It sounded sensible.

2. What does the writer intend to do in paragraph 3?

A．Prove her son’s better mastery of technology.

B．Give examples of her son’s gift in technology.

C．Describe their close parent-child relationship.

D．Express her satisfaction of her son’s competence.

3. Why did the writer take her friend’s advice of writing technology reviews?

A．Because she planned to learn more tech knowledge.

B．Because her son was experienced in review writing.

C．Because she wanted to improve their relationship.

D．Because she hoped that her son could be successful.

4. What makes the writer feel honored?

A．Her son’s attitudes to some unknown audiences.

B．Her son’s dominance of the parent-child dynamic.

C．Her son’s tolerance and patience to their relationship.

D．Her son’s growth and careful attitude to the work.

6 . Sitting in the classroom I felt confused, for I couldn’t read the blackboard. Then Mum took me to the hospital. Within a few days, I was diagnosed (诊断) with a severe visual impairment (视力障碍). In fact, I was practically blind. Amazingly, I’d managed to reach the age of 13 without anyone realizing, not even me! “It all makes sense now,” Mum said. As a kid living on a farm, I was forever falling over things. I was known as the clumsy (笨拙) one to my parents and four sisters. But now, I was being told that I saw the world differently — I could only make out the outlines of things. I was given reading glasses but they didn’t help much.

Refusing to let my diagnosis hold me back, I continued doing everything I loved. As long as everything was in its place, I could feel my way around.

Later I got married to Lance and had amazing kids. I could change nappies (尿布) and dress the kids fine — it just took a little longer as I relied on touch to work out where things were. Cooking, on the other hand, was not my forte. I was terrible — always mixing up sugar and salt!

Nowadays, my grandkids have all been brought up not to leave toys on the floor or move chairs away from the table. “We don’t want Grandma tripping,” Lance will say.

Over the year, I’ve enjoyed lovely family holidays, but sometimes felt like Lance or the kids were too protective of me. So I was thrilled when I booked myself on a trip to the Gold Coast with people who were just like me in a travel company. I’m not missing out — my life is beautiful. I’m so lucky to have a wonderful family and lots of experiences.

Life is precious — you don’t need to “see” that.

1. What can we know from the first paragraph?

A．The reading glasses got the problem fixed.

B．She always tripped because she was awkward.

C．She got severe visual impairment at the age of 13.

D．Nobody realized her sight was poor until she was 13.

2. What does the underlined word “forte” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Weakness.

B．Favourite.

C．Strength.

D．Business.

3. What can we know about the author?

A．She is able to see things clearly now.

B．She led a lonely and hopeless life.

C．She could help care for the kids.

D．She went to the Gold Coast all by herself.

4. What can we learn from the author’s story?

A．We need to go to travel frequently on our own.

B．We should always turn to the family for help.

C．Everyone should pay special attention to the blind people.

D．Everyone can enjoy the beauty of life with a positive mind.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The question was once asked of a     1     (high) successful businessman, “How have you done so much in your lifetime?” He replied, “I had dreams. Then I went to bed and     2     (think) about my dreams. In the night I dreamt about my dreams. And when I     3     (awake) in the morning, I saw the way to make my dreams come true.”

“While other people were saying, ‘You can’t do that, and it is    4     (possible)’. Actually, I was well on my way to     5     (achieve) what I wanted. As Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President    6     the US, said: ‘We grow great by dreams.’”

All big men are    7     (dreamer). Some of us let these dreams die, but     8    nourish and protect them; nourish them through bad days     9     they bring them to the sunshine and light which come always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true. So please, don’t let anyone steal your dreams, or try to tell you they     10     (be) too impossible. Sing your songs and dream your dreams; hope your hope and pray your prayer.

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

In the English Reading Week, one of my classmates recommended a quote to us,    1     goes like this, “Your future     2    (depend) on many things, but mostly on you.” I can’t agree     3    (much) with this view. It’s true that our future     4    (determine) by many things, such as opportunities and help from others, but our own attitude, determination,     5     hard work play a more important role. In     6     words, we are the master of our own future.

Take Abraham Lincoln for example. He was born in a poor family, and only received a     7    (limit) education in his childhood. Yet through his painstaking efforts, he     8    (change) not only his own fate but also the history of America. Even to this day, Lincoln     9    (regard) as one of the most inspiring figures in the world.

Therefore, I     10    (firm) believe that our future is in our own hands.