1 . It was midnight, and I was on my knees, burying head in my hands. I struggled to________the sobs that threatened to wake my two tiny children. The call came just hours ago—I got the job. After five interviews and three presentations, I received a generous ________, one that needed my answer by tomorrow.

To others, the decision was ________—live the dream, with its security. But to me, taking the job would_______ compromise my heart.

Exhausted, I rose to my feet, and made my way upstairs to check on my children, finding each curled up in a________sleep. I heard their breathing, soft and even I became one with the moment. And in that breathtaking silence, I heard a voice:________your heart. The words echoed through my soul.

The decision, indeed, was simple. I would ________ somebody else's dream job and keep my own. I felt a great ________ lift off my shoulders. I pursued my options for working for myself. I started to write and edit, ________pages of scripts. I stretched myself and discovered that I could learn anything if I ________ some time to it.

To be sure, I lost a number of business opportunities. But I was available to ________the simple moments with my children. On sunny days, we'd ________ to the zoo with my backpack of work projects. Each night, when I tucked my kids into bed, my ________ was full. Over time, as my kids grew, my business did, too.

Now I have no regrets. I am ________ for the life that I have, a cherished closeness with my now adult children and a variety of fulfilling, passion-filled work. I'm glad I trusted my inner ________.

1.

A．put out

B．jump at

C．turn down

D．hold back

2.

A．card

B．offer

C．letter

D．essay

3.

A．simple

B．smart

C．casual

D．cautious

4.

A．carefully

B．nervously

C．critically

D．eventually

5.

A．light

B．sound

C．fresh

D．hard

6.

A．relax

B．follow

C．rescue

D．inspire

7.

A．decline

B．change

C．respect

D．accept

8.

A．honour

B．backpack

C．weight

D．project

9.

A．publishing

B．preserving

C．exploring

D．accumulating

10.

A．devoted

B．connected

C．limited

D．donated

11.

A．imagine

B．report

C．embrace

D．adjust

12.

A．adapt

B．refer

C．turn

D．head

13.

A．heart

B．room

C．mood

D．book

14.

A．anxious

B．grateful

C．ready

D．famous

15.

A．design

B．hope

C．worry

D．voice

2 . Ben was bothered every time he went through the kitchen. It was that little metal contain on the shelf above his wife Martha’s cook stove, which he had been repeatedly _________ never to touch. The reason, she said, was that it contained a “secret _________” from her late mother, and since she had no way of ever _________ the container, she was _________ that if Ben picked it up and looked inside, he might accidentally drop it and spill its _________ contents.

Ben never saw Martha cook a dish without taking the container of the shelf and sprinkling (洒) _________ a little of the contents over the ingredients. Whatever was in that container, it surely _________ Anyone who ever ate at their house felt Martha was the best _________ in the world. Looking into that container became increasingly _________ for Ben, but he never allowed himself to do so.

Then one day Martha became ill and was kept overnight in the hospital. Feeling lonely and bored in the house after returning home, Ben __________ the kitchen, and then the container on the shelf immediately came into view. It __________ his eyes like a magnet, and he quickly looked away, yet his curiosity brought him back again. He carefully took the container off the shelf, and opened it. Ben became __________ when what was inside came to I his sight. The container was empty, except for a little folded slip of paper at the bottom. He carefully picked it up and slowly __________ it under the kitchen light. Ben immediately __________ the handwriting as that of Martha’s mother. Very __________ it said: “Martha to everything you make, add a dash of love.”

1.

A．forbidden

B．told

C．inspired

D．threatened

2.

A．recipe

B．menu

C．herb

D．tobacco

3.

A．refilling

B．restoring

C．emptying

D．decorating

4.

A．pleased

B．concerned

C．puzzled

D．relieved

5.

A．valuable

B．previous

C．tasteless

D．messy

6.

A．yet

B．even

C．still

D．just

7.

A．failed

B．hurt

C．worked

D．changed

8.

A．wife

B．host

C．housekeeper

D．cook

9.

A．delightful

B．comforting

C．annoying

D．irresistible

10.

A．broke into

B．wandered into

C．ran out of

D．went back to

11.

A．opened

B．wetted

C．blinded

D．drew

12.

A．satisfied

B．calm

C．astonished

D．angry

13.

A．wrapped

B．unfolded

C．tore

D．wrinkled

14.

A．recognized

B．mentioned

C．treated

D．received

15.

A．stupidly

B．simply

C．cautiously

D．safely

3 . 假定你是李华，某英语网站正在讨论对“The man who has made up his mind to win will never say ‘impossible’.”的理解。你打算跟帖参与讨论，内容包括：
1. 你对此的理解；
2. 结合具体实例；
3. 你的启发与感悟。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . “You’d be an intermediate (中级学生),” the clever salesgirl at the Apple Store said brightly. She was talking about the free classes one could sign up for. An intermediate, I thought with pride. “I’ve used Macs since they had green text and discs,” I said, eager to strengthen my position. “And I had a Mac Classic for years.” She smiled, or maybe she was thinking, “If it’s been that long, why are you still an intermediate?”

Why does one remain an intermediate? Sometimes it’s a matter of opportunity: Leaving New England was a blow to my cross-country skiing. No longer living on the banks of a river held up kayaking. Horseback riding, too, requires an opportunity. I know, however, a friend I rode with as a child bought herself a retired police horse in her 40s. A devoted kayaker would not have been prevented by the highways lying between her and rivers.

Sometimes, it’s ability. I have taken up piano later in life. I love music, but I can see that I have no particular gift for it. Gardening was another late job. I wasn’t a natural at that, either.

I admit I’m a little ashamed of being an intermediate. It seems to imply a lack of focus, an unwillingness to push myself to go deeper or further. Do I lack the persistence to become an expert? Am I too easily distracted to put in the 10,000 hours reportedly required to achieve mastery?

Maybe I have to accept that, for now at least, intermediate is my sweet spot. I’ve moved past the frustrations of beginnerhood without meeting the demands of expertise. A beginner is a beginner and an expert is just that. But an intermediate can be low, medium, or high. And wherever you are as an intermediate, you can always go forward, try harder, and learn more.

Who of us can claim to be an expert parent, wife, husband, child, or friend? At best, we’re the high intermediate with much to learn.

1. What did the writer want to prove to the salesgirl in the first paragraph?

A．Her position as a lifelong intermediate.

B．Her good knowledge about Apple computers.

C．Her eagerness to attend free courses.

D．Her ability to afford to buy expensive computers.

2. What did the writer think of opportunities?

A．They are only excuses.

B．They appear just by accident.

C．They are waiting in our life.

D．They just come and go.

3. What do the questions express in Para. 4?

A．The writer’s worries.

B．The writer’s disappointments.

C．The writer’s curiosities.

D．The writer’s doubts.

4. Why is the writer content to be an intermediate?

A．It means the possibility to make improvement.

B．It marks the beginning to achieve mastery.

C．It presents the opportunity to become an expert.

D．It rids people of the difficulty to move on.

5 . Seeing fresh snow over our town, my son CJ and I couldn’t wait to go sledding (滑雪橇) in the park. As we_________aside street where a friend of CJ’s lives, he___________to drop in and play with him. So there I was ___________.

Four teenage boys were the only ones at the park when I arrived. As it is common to see kids___________by their parents there, they eyed me and were_________to know what am other could be doing at the snow hill___________a child. I began to wonder about this myself as I___________my 41-year-old body into a first-graders snow saucer (盘状物) to push off. “If I end up___________myself, it serves me right”, I thought.

As it was early, the saucer hadn’t cut a track into the snow,_________, I really needed to push my way for the first two runs before the saucer would gain any____________.After, reaching the____________, I picked up the saucer and found it a____________job to drag back to the top of the hill. But it____________when the snow sprayed (喷射) on my face as the saucer flew down the track I felt excited even when I was thrown upside down. The____________of being hurt had gone.

On the way back, my heart was flying at the joy of____________the freedom of going really fast through thin air and finding the real self that was lost in my busy life.

1.

A．drew

B．approached

C．destroyed

D．cleaned

2.

A．decided

B．pretended

C．forgot

D．happened

3.

A．worried

B．proud

C．alone

D．nervous

4.

A．scolded

B．left

C．influenced

D．accompanied

5.

A．willing

B．grateful

C．curious

D．afraid

6.

A．like

B．without

C．beyond

D．for

7.

A．knocked

B．removed

C．fooled

D．folded

8.

A．hurting

B．losing

C．cheating

D．persuading

9.

A．otherwise

B．therefore

C．however

D．instead

10.

A．weight

B．security

C．benefit

D．speed

11.

A．peak

B．bottom

C．limit

D．level

12.

A．ridiculous

B．helpless

C．tough

D．meaningless

13.

A．paid off

B．faded away

C．came back

D．flew off

14.

A．history

B．sight

C．fear

D．memory

15.

A．experiencing

B．impacting

C．changing

D．ignoring

6 . 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 1818 Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, the story of a scientist who tries to create a superior, being and instead creates a monster. In the last two centuries, this story     1     (tell) over and over again in countless variations. At first sight, the Frankenstein story appears to warn us that if we try to play God and engineer life we will be punished severely. Yet the story has a     2     (deep) meaning.

The Frankenstein myth confronts. Homo sapiens (智人) with the fact that the last days are fast approaching.     3     some nuclear or ecological disaster strikes, the pace of technological development will soon lead to the replacement of Homo sapiens by completely different beings who possess not only different physiques, but also very different cognitive and emotional worlds. This is something most Sapiens find extremely worrying. We like to believe that in the future people just     4     us will travel from planet to planet in fast spaceships. We don’t like to think about the     5     (possible) that in the future, beings with emotions and identities like ours will no longer exist, and our place will be taken by alien life forms     6     abilities beat our own.

We seek comfort in the fantasy that Dr. Frankenstein can create only terrible monsters, whom we would have to destroy in order to save the world. We like to tell the story that way because it implies that we are     7     best of all beings, that there never was and never will be anything better than us. Any attempt     8     (improve) us will inevitably fail, because even if our bodies might be improved, you cannot touch the human spirit.

We would have a hard time     9     (accept) the fact that scientists could engineer spirits as well as bodies, and that future Dr. Frankenstein could therefore create something     10     (true) superior to us, something that will look at us as condescendingly (居高临下地) as we look at the Neanderthals (穴居人).

7 . Camping is a rite of passage (成人仪式) if you grow up in Canada. It’s a child’s first_________of what living in the wild really means. But growing up as an immigrant from India, I thought it was ___________ .

Then I __________26 and started trying new things. I had been __________mental health issues for quite some time and I discovered being out in nature helped me calm down._________, I decided to try camping.

Then I overheard a(n)__________ between my father and mother. “Why does she have to do this? Doesn’t she know she can just stay at home?” my father asked. “This is what Canadian kids do, it’s okay, she’ll be fine!” my mom__________ . My parents had no___________in me surviving one night in the wild.

My friends and I___________our campsite in the woods. As the day went on, we ate, played by the water and met our camping neighbors. Time felt like it __________; life felt gentler and easier. As the day turned into night, the stars came out and I was amazed by all the__________lights above me. Morning came. I didn’t even realize I was __________ to leave until we started packing everything up.

I wasn’t just leaving, having accomplished something I ___________thought I would do. I was leaving with a real sense of community, a real sense of __________for what the great outdoors had to offer, and a completely different __________ to an activity that I had thought strange for so many years.

1.

A．attempt

B．taste

C．proposal

D．target

2.

A．odd

B．awkward

C．amazing

D．rough

3.

A．grew

B．observed

C．turned

D．recalled

4.

A．involving

B．surviving

C．abandoning

D．experiencing

5.

A．Overall

B．Moreover

C．Somehow

D．Therefore

6.

A．argument

B．debate

C．conversation

D．quarrel

7.

A．explained

B．insisted

C．prayed

D．interrupted

8.

A．mercy

B．empathy

C．faith

D．preference

9.

A．set up

B．beat down

C．drew on

D．rose to

10.

A．shot up

B．slowed down

C．broke out

D．put off

11.

A．swinging

B．bouncing

C．rolling

D．twinkling

12.

A．curious

B．enthusiastic

C．upset

D．desperate

13.

A．barely

B．constantly

C．ultimately

D．merely

14.

A．foundation

B．appreciation

C．resolution

D．recognition

15.

A．contrast

B．attitude

C．priority

D．exposure

8 . About a month ago I noticed something really amazing, which I must call a garden miracle(奇迹). It so happened that when I _______ the double doors of a small storage area in the back of my house where I _______my garden supplies during the long, severe New England winter, I found, in one of the dirt-filled pots, a living, growing plant, topped with two of the most unlikely pink _______you’ve ever seen.

How was this _______? The unheated space had been closed all winter, and it was still cold outside. Once I caught my breath, I _______and discovered something approaching a reasonable explanation-there was a small glass window at the top of the double doors, and it was possible that a ray of sun fell directly on that pot, giving the plant just enough light and warmth to_______ it to grow in its own personal greenhouse.

I can’t help feeling_______ at the lessons this wonderful plant has to teach.

For one thing, I am moved by the happenstance(巧合) of the whole thing. If I had _______my pot six inches to the left or right of that spot, the plant might not have gotten that_______ray of light. If I had ________ the roots of the plant in late fall, there would have been nothing but dirt in that pot.

But there’s something else that________me about this-just how little light and________it took for this plant to grow and flower. I’m not________ we should be mean with love and kindness and all the other warming things we__________for others and for ourselves. But isn’t it comforting to think that just a drop of________can brighten a day, a place, a life?

When it comes to positivity, a little goes a long way. Just ask my little miracle plant.

1.

A．approached

B．shut

C．opened

D．knocked

2.

A．need

B．provide

C．receive

D．keep

3.

A．sticks

B．branches

C．roots

D．flowers

4.

A．essential

B．possible

C．significant

D．different

5.

A．stepped aside

B．stepped away

C．looked down

D．looked around

6.

A．request

B．enable

C．instruct

D．intend

7.

A．excited

B．puzzled

C．amazed

D．amused

8.

A．put

B．found

C．measured

D．missed

9.

A．broad

B．soft

C．strong

D．narrow

10.

A．pulled out

B．cared for

C．thought about

D．brought in

11.

A．requires

B．cheers

C．inspires

D．changes

12.

A．attention

B．warmth

C．time

D．effort

13.

A．expecting

B．imagining

C．doubting

D．saying

14.

A．experience

B．do

C．accept

D．remember

15.

A．water

B．encouragement

C．sunshine

D．support

9 . 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。

The average present merely satisfies a temporary desire; the great one becomes more precious with time going by.

When I was a boy of fourteen, I needed to have 80 hours of community service per year and I used to take care of Mrs. Long’s garden, which was near the Presbyterian Church. As a junior high school student, I devoted myself to it, sweeping the fallen leaves and mowing the lawn (修剪草坪). There I learnt how to cut away dry branches and even helped to plant a sapling (小树苗). Tired as I was every time I finished my work, I did enjoy the time there for learning something new. I clearly remembered that Mrs Long, a nice and caring elder, always treated me to delicious meals and drinks. She also loved taking photos, always with an old camera in hand. It was said that the camera was passed down from her father and she cherished it a lot.

Several days before Christmas, she whispered to me, “When Christmas comes, I shall have a present for you.” I spent much time wondering what it would be. The boys I played with had baseball gloves, ice skates and bicycles, and I was so eager to acquire any one of these that I convinced myself that she intended to choose from among them. But at the same time, I had some doubts whether she would buy me such things because she was not that well-off.

The day before Christmas, I went there as before. With the work done, I was going to leave when she pulled me aside. “Kid, wait for a minute,” she said, leading me into her living room. She seated me on a chair, went to another room, and in a moment stood before me holding a small package that under no circumstances could hold a bicycle or a pair of skates or even a baseball glove. It weighed almost nothing.

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:
I took the package with disappointment. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Opening the package, I was totally astonished. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . 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。

Often, when he came to visit, my grandfather would bring me a present. These were never the sorts of things that other people brought, such as dolls, books or toys. My dolls and toys have been gone for more than half a century, but many of my grandfather’s gifts are still with me.

Once he brought me a little plastic cup. I looked inside, expecting to see something special. But there was only some loose soil in it, which made me disappointed. He smiled at me affectionately. Turning around, he picked up a little teapot from my dolls’ tea set and took me to the kitchen where he filled the little cup with water. Back in the living room, he put it on the windowsill(窗台) and handed me the teapot. “If you promise to put some water in the cup every day, something may happen.” he told me.

At that time, I was only five years old. This whole thing made no sense to me at all. I looked at him doubtfully and asked, “Do I have to water it every day? What will happen?” He nodded to me with encouragement, “Yes, every day, dear.”

And so I promised. At first, curious to see what would happen, I did not mind doing this. But as the days went by and nothing changed, it got harder and harder to remember to put water in the cup. After a week, I asked my grandfather if it was time to stop yet. Shaking his head no, he said, “Every day.” The second week was even harder, and I became regretful of my promise to put water in the cup. When my grandfather came again, I tried to give it back to him, but he refused to take it, saying simply the same words, “Every day.” By the third week, I began to forget to put water in the cup during the day. Often, I would remember only after I had been put to bed and would have to get out of bed and water it in the dark. But I did not miss a single day.

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。

One morning, something amazing happened.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This was perhaps my first lesson in the power of perseverance.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________