1 . I have wanted to be a writer since I was eleven. Not just any writer, but a _________ published writer. I remember sending a copy of my story to Puffin Canada. Several weeks later, it sent me a _________ encouraging me to continue writing, and also _________ that they did not publish short stories. It was ___________ of the publisher to write back, but the truth was that I had come no closer to my ___________ of becoming a world-famous author.

Yet I am ___________ a hopeful writer. The only ___________ is that now I am 17, and my English classes are no longer spent ___________ imaginative short stories. I ___________ those sixth-grade classes when I was given the freedom to write whatever I liked.

Last year, some of this inspiration left over from my childhood ____________ into what seemed a brilliant idea for a ____________. I worked late each night, eager to finish my first novel. I got little sleep and my homework load was increasing, ____________ I refused to allow anything to block my success as a published writer.

When I had over 80 double-spaced pages, sadly, it became increasingly difficult to write on. It was terrible to see months of work ____________. My dreams were not one inch closer to __________ than five years before. Perhaps by now I have finally learned the truth about writing: it ____________ more than a dream. Perseverance and brilliance are right up there, too.

1.

A．cute

B．kind

C．real

D．folk

2.

A．story

B．letter

C．notice

D．gift

3.

A．explaining

B．broadcasting

C．stressing

D．insisting

4.

A．cruel

B．helpful

C．kind

D．innocent

5.

A．mind

B．nerve

C．motive

D．dream

6.

A．often

B．never

C．still

D．then

7.

A．reason

B．difference

C．belief

D．interest

8.

A．writing

B．telling

C．copying

D．reading

9.

A．regret

B．envy

C．miss

D．skip

10.

A．burst

B．developed

C．broke

D．slipped

11.

A．share

B．secret

C．plan

D．novel

12.

A．but

B．though

C．so

D．for

13.

A．returned

B．valued

C．finished

D．wasted

14.

A．future

B．reality

C．belief

D．effect

15.

A．matters

B．offers

C．takes

D．creates

2 . Our lives are measured by the passing years and shaped by major milestones such as graduating from school, getting jobs, getting married and having children. Sometimes, however, it’s the little things that we find play an important role. Often we don’t even notice them until they change or we suddenly don’t have them anymore.

My wife and I live on the top floor of an apartment. Looking out of the bedroom window, there were no buildings as high as ours and, as a result, we never had to close our curtains at night. If I was awake in bed at night, I could look up and see the stars. I would wonder if there were planets revolving around them, and were any of those planets like ours. I’ll probably never know the answers but the questions themselves intrigue me.

Last summer, the neighbors sold the little house next door and it was bought by a developer to build a new apartment building. It will be four floors tall, the same as ours. When the new building is ready for new residents, we have to start closing our curtains at night.

Perhaps I will be able to wait until everyone else is likely to be sleeping and reopen my curtains. That’s one possible course but I really doubt we’ll do this. More likely we will close the curtains before going to bed and not reopen them until morning. That means that when I wake up in the middle of the night as usual, the room will be dark and there will be nothing to see, no view out the window of the beautiful night sky and no interesting questions to think about.

I’m sure the night sky is filled with wonders we may never actually see and probably can’t even imagine. With that mind-set I have enjoyed lying in bed in the small hours of the night and looking at the heavens and wondering. Our little town is growing as it unavoidably would but I’m going to miss the stars.

Sometimes, it’s the little things.

1. What does the underlined word “intrigue” mean in Paragraph 2?

A．Trick.

B．Interest.

C．Shock.

D．Escape.

2. What may the author do when the new building is ready for use?

A．Plan to move out of the town.

B．Communicate with neighbors.

C．Keep the curtains closed when sleeping.

D．Appreciate the appealing night sky as usual.

3. What does the author think of the development of the little town?

A．Destructive.

B．Understandable.

C．Beneficial.

D．Meaningless.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To arouse readers’ interest in the star observation.

B．To state the inconvenience of living on the top floor.

C．To remind the readers of the significance of little things.

D．To complain about the damage of building construction.

3 . I strongly believe that it is rather important to be a good listener. And although I have become a better listener than I was ten years ago, I have to admit I’m still only an ________ listener.

Effective listening is more than simply ________ the bad habit of interrupting others while they are speaking or finishing their sentences. It’s being ________ to listen to the entire thought of someone ________ waiting impatiently for your chance to respond. In some ways, the way we fail to listen is symbolic of the way we live. We often treat communication as if it were a ________. It’s almost like our goal is to have no time ________ between the conclusion of the sentence of the person we are speaking with and the beginning of our own. My wife and I were recently at a cafeteria having lunch, overhearing the conversation around us. It seemed that no one was really listening to one another. ________, they were taking turns not listening to one another. I asked my wife if I still did the same thing. With a smile on her face she said, “only sometimes.”

Slowing down your responses and becoming a better listener ________ you in becoming a more peaceful person. It takes ________ from you. If you think about it, you’ll notice that it takes an enormous amount of energy and is very stressful to be sitting at the edge of your seat trying to ________ what the person in front of you (or on the telephone) is going to say so that you can ________ your responses. But as you wait for the person you are communicating with to finish, as you simply listen more ________, to what is being said, you’ll notice that the pressure you feel is off. You will immediately feel more ________and so will the people you are talking to. They will feel safe in slowing down their own responses because they won’t feel in ________ with you for “air time”! Not only will becoming a better listener make you a more patient person, it will also ________ the quality of your relationships. Everyone loves to talk to someone who truly listens to what they are saying.

1.

A．active

B．adequate

C．accurate

D．amazing

2.

A．developing

B．offending

C．avoiding

D．escaping

3.

A．moderate

B．resistant

C．comfortable

D．objective

4.

A．rather than

B．apart from

C．other than

D．in spite of

5.

A．game

B．race

C．trade

D．burden

6.

A．limit

B．control

C．drain

D．gap

7.

A．Instead

B．However

C．Therefore

D．Meanwhile

8.

A．allows

B．aids

C．forbids

D．enables

9.

A．pleasure

B．patience

C．instinct

D．pressure

10.

A．interrupt

B．suggest

C．guess

D．ensure

11.

A．show up

B．pick out

C．break into

D．fire back

12.

A．effectively

B．attentively

C．honestly

D．eagerly

13.

A．relaxed

B．excluded

C．convinced

D．impressed

14.

A．touch

B．accordance

C．competition

D．communication

15.

A．determine

B．enhance

C．describe

D．decorate

4 . It was 6 p. m. on 24 January 2001, the first day of Chinese New Year. I was working as a tour guide and was on my way to ________ a group for a night tour around Kuala Lumpur. As I drove along the road, a small hatchback flew across the centre divider from the ________ direction and crashed into my car head-on. I passed out and was ________ by the ringing of my mobile phone. It was a travel agent, asking me if I had arrived at the Mandarin Oriental for my assignment. Then I went into shock.

In the hospital, I saw my crushed feet hanging from my body, blue and lifeless, and I pleaded with the doctors to save them at all costs. They calmly promised to do their best.

Days after that, I was informed that I lost the job. My heart ________. How was I going to support my 65-year-old mother? And plus, I have so many other commitments.

I felt utter helplessness, but a lot of unexpected ________ came my way. I had many visitors during my 14 days in hospital and when I was ________ at home. Friends and relatives helped me with my financial stuff or simply came to cheer me up.

But I was only 30, and wanted to see the world. When the casts were removed, I did not let the sight of my weak legs ________ me. I worked hard at my physiotherapy with only one ________: I must walk again. After the five-month ________, I was back on my feet. After eight months, I was walking without the aid of crutches. By February the following year, I had started globetrotting again.

Today, after eight years, I have travelled to many countries as a tour leader and am determined not to let the pain interfere with my work.

The ________ made me realize how lives can change in a split second; five out of the six people in the overcrowded car that hit me lost their lives. In my ________ state of mind, I recalled how motorcyclists wrapped their jackets around their arms and ________ away my shattered side window to save me. I also recall the Chinese family who ________ taboo (禁忌) and drove me to the hospital ________ my bloodied condition on Chinese New Year. The kindness I’ve experienced taught me never to give up hope on anyone or in any situation. I ________ life more, not only my own but also everyone I know, and will always try to help when I know of someone in trouble.

1.

A．find out

B．search for

C．pick up

D．attend to

2.

A．opposite

B．same

C．wrong

D．right

3.

A．awakened

B．astonished

C．annoyed

D．activated

4.

A．beat

B．sank

C．jumped

D．ached

5.

A．results

B．disasters

C．blessings

D．promises

6.

A．recovering

B．working

C．testing

D．reflecting

7.

A．frighten

B．please

C．discourage

D．encourage

8.

A．aim

B．idea

C．statement

D．destination

9.

A．exercise

B．therapy

C．experiment

D．examination

10.

A．incident

B．accident

C．event

D．prelude

11.

A．nervous

B．mixed

C．foggy

D．unconscious

12.

A．cleared

B．moved

C．pulled

D．pushed

13.

A．overlooked

B．emphasized

C．considered

D．abandoned

14.

A．in spite of

B．in addition to

C．on account of

D．in case of

15.

A．understand

B．sacrifice

C．save

D．value

5 . 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。

Tomato Changed My Life

Doing things-without being planned was never my strength.

As a 14-year-old, I would refuse to go for walks around the block with my friends if I was the least bit behind in my schoolwork.

Unlike most teenagers, I lived not in my room, but in an unused kitchen upstairs where I spread my books and papers on a large round table. I spent considerable time there, working continuously for hours, and my mother worried. She would try to lure (引诱) me away. “Come and watch the parade!” she would call from downstairs. “All neighbors are out there!” She thought of all kinds of tricks-the swimming pool, ice cream, stray cats and turtles-to remove me from my -studies, but nothing ever worked.

Later, in college, the pattern continued. The library and my college dorm replaced the unused kitchen at home. When spring came along friends would stop by my dorm or peer into my library room to persuade me to play Frisbee on the lawn. “No, I would almost always say.” I have too much to do.

My college study days were gone, but not my need and love for schedules. My friends and sisters tried to keep me away from my plans, but they were hardly ever successful.

This summer, though, while house sitting for my parents, I was persuaded to change my plans in the most unexpected way. The sight of tomatoes growing in my mother’s garden lured me out of my tightly scheduled world. They drew me with the power of a lover’s gaze. Hundreds of them were turning ripe and red by the minute, decorating the garden like decorations on a Christmas tree.

“If I have time, I’ll make tomato sauce (番茄酱).” I told myself. But my long week in the house by myself was already filled with things to do: writing, and finishing a project that I brought home from the office.

Then, watching the fascinating tomatoes continuously falling to the ground in ever-greater numbers, again I mentally argued about all the things I had planned and needed to do.

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。
Finally, I gave in.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A month later, my parents came back.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection between ideas. Critical thinking has been the subject of much debate and thought since the time of early Greek philosophers such as Plato and Socrates and has continued to be a subject of discussion into the modern age, for example the ability to recognise fake news.

Critical thinking might be described as the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. In nature, critical thinking requires you to use your ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information.

Critical thinkers rigorously (严厉地) question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not.

One of the most important aspects of critical thinking is to decide what you are aiming to achieve and then make a decision based on a range of possibilities.

Once you have clarified that aim for yourself you should use it as the starting point in all future situations requiring thought and, possibly, further decision making. Where needed, make your workmates, family or those around you aware of your intention to pursue this goal. You must then discipline yourself to keep on track until changing circumstances mean you have to revisit the start of the decision-making process.

However, there are things that get in the way of simple decision making. We all carry with us a range of likes and dislikes, learnt behaviours and personal preferences developed throughout our lives; they are the hallmarks of being human. A major contribution to ensuring we think critically is to be aware of these personal characteristics, preferences and biases (偏见) and make allowance for them when considering possible next steps.

The more clearly, we are aware of ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, the more likely our critical thinking will be productive.

1. What will you be by using critical thinking?

A．A creative philosopher.	B．A passive recipient of information.
C．An independent organizer.	D．An active learner.

2. Which of the followings belongs to critical thinking?

A．Setting up direct targets.	B．Coming up with imaginative ideas.
C．Analysing original reasons.	D．Making various possible decisions.

3. What can we infer from paragraph 6?

A．Personal preferences will change critical thinking.

B．Individual behaviours will stop you pursuing the goal.

C．Tastes and preferences vary from individual to individual.

D．Critical thinking gets in the way of simple decision making.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．What is Critical Thinking?

B．How does Critical Thinking work?

C．How is Critical Thinking Productive?

D．What effect does Critical Thinking cause?

7 . 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。

During COVID-19 lockdown, my husband, Peter and I needed something     1     (brighten) up our day. Peter found some flower pots,     2     (hope) flowers would attract some birds.

At a flower shop, I saw lavender flowers (薰衣草花) matched beautifully with some yellow flowers. The saleswoman said,” Hummingbirds (蜂鸟) love those flowers.” I liked the idea of small     3     (visitor) flying around flowers, so we brought both flowers home and put them on     4     balcony.

Every day, we’d look out onto the balcony and enjoy the vivid     5     (arrange). The best part was the hummingbirds’ showing up. They brought joy that we     6     (great) needed. Being apart     7     family, I was concerned about     8     would happen if we were infected with the virus.

One morning, I noticed that a hummingbird’s tiny head     9     (stick) between two boards and another was trying to free it by pulling its tail. I ran to fetch Peter, but when we returned, the birds were     10     (go)! I let out a sigh of relief, recalling the saying “He who endures (忍耐) to the end shall be saved.” Those hummingbirds didn’t give up. Why should I?

8 . I usually find myself saying that with age comes wisdom. It makes perfect _______ when you consider all of the life experiences we have to learn from. _______, that saying was just blown away by a five-year-old!

Robert and I took a road trip to _______ a friend. Our visit was filled with _______ activities like a trip to the zoo, botanical (植物学的) garden, playing on play-grounds and _______ in coloring books.

Helen, Robert’s five-year-old son, was my coloring partner. We _______ at the kitchen table each having our own coloring book. The book I had was on _______. On the front inside cover were the _______ of completed, colored illustrations (插画) of each page of butterflies in the book. When I saw this I _______ told Helen, “Look, they have the pictures of the butterflies and how they are ________ to look. You can look at the picture and then color the butterfly to ________ what they show.”

Helen’s ________ to me was, “Oh, no. You don’t have to color the butterflies like the picture. You can color them any way you ________ .”

What a ________ and powerful nugget (有用的想法) of wisdom. I colored my butterfly any color I wanted and then created a butterfly ________ . If I had copied the picture from the front of the book, it still would have been ________ , but it wouldn’t have been uniquely mine.

Perhaps we can ________ from our auto pilot way of thinking and look at some ________ in our lives differently. Helen opened my eyes to new ________ in creativity. So, with age can come wisdom, but let’s ________ the wisdom of children.

1.

A．headway

B．profits

C．sense

D．products

2.

A．Therefore

B．Besides

C．Somehow

D．However

3.

A．meet

B．interview

C．greet

D．help

4.

A．strange

B．fun

C．dangerous

D．boring

5.

A．learning

B．reading

C．writing

D．coloring

6.

A．settled in

B．woke up

C．sat down

D．lay down

7.

A．flowers

B．butterflies

C．stars

D．characters

8.

A．pictures

B．sizes

C．names

D．shapes

9.

A．secretly

B．kindly

C．wisely

D．casually

10.

A．expected

B．allowed

C．supposed

D．told

11.

A．match

B．change

C．understand

D．observe

12.

A．advice

B．hope

C．encouragement

D．reply

13.

A．choose

B．find

C．want

D．imagine

14.

A．typical

B．special

C．unique

D．simple

15.

A．masterpiece

B．video

C．photo

D．film

16.

A．different

B．beautiful

C．clear

D．ugly

17.

A．gain

B．suffer

C．recover

D．pause

18.

A．areas

B．purposes

C．standards

D．assumptions

19.

A．abilities

B．possibilities

C．challenges

D．opportunities

20.

A．approve

B．appreciate

C．remember

D．recall

9 . If you have a thought in mind that you can achieve the same goal within less amount of time and hard work by cheating to achieve success, then you shall feel bad later in future. You may have achieved a goal but you choose a wrong path. So, always remember that the path you choose in your life chooses your destination and then you shall not have an option to change it.

It is good to fail though it may take you to terrible feelings of life but in return, you will learn many things that life offers. The struggle is true but after that, the sweet of the fruit will build up your confidence to face any kinds of problem in the future. But if you prefer cheating, then you shall always live in fright.

Honour is like a coat, which you can wear confidently. If you cheat to achieve a goal, then you cannot hide it. Billy was lazy in hard work and used to delay all his work. He always thought of taking a fake degree to enter a big company. When the company CEO asked him to write a program for a certain topic, then he was quite shocked as he was unable to do the work, because he had no knowledge on the programming language and had faked his certificate.

Honour teaches you how to be disciplined. Being well-educated people, we should know what is good for us. It is always good to fail because at the end of the day, you will learn something new that will help you grow much stronger rather than cheating to achieve success, which will make you regret sooner or later.

All in all, success can be achieved via shortcuts but honour can never be. It’s better to live everyday with honour than to cheat.

1. Which opinion does the author agree with?

A．No option can be changed.	B．You can’t achieve without cheating.
C．Your path determines your end.	D．With a thought in mind you can realize your dream.

2. What can we conclude from the second paragraph?

A．Those things that hurt, instruct.	B．There is honour among thieves.
C．You’ll fail if you stop trying.	D．Face the problem and you’ll succeed.

3. Why is Billy mentioned in the text?

A．To make you believe hiding is cheating.	B．To prove honour makes you feel confident.
C．To encourage you to wear a coat confidently.	D．To advise you to learn the programming language.

4. What will make you regret later in the future?

A．Growing much stronger.	B．Learning something new.
C．Failing at the end of the day.	D．Cheating to achieve success.

10 . I am a father of two sons. I’m only 60 but when I was diagnosed (诊断) with lung cancer it ________ my world. My son was working in Holland and I got to ________ the news to him over a poor What’s App connection. He got enough that he went to his ________ and told him he wanted to ________ home. I spent the next three days trying to ________ him to tell him to finish out his contract. ________, he followed my advice and stayed another few weeks and finished out the ________.

When he came back by air, he and his brother came out from Alberta to BC. We spent the weekend ________ before I began radiation, which was our ________ time. I had no idea how this was going to play out. I had my legal ________ sorted by then and took the time to talk about it and what I wanted my ________ to look like.

And then I plunged into (开始) treatment. I’m one of the ________ ones. I never even lost my ________ in radiation. I won’t say I ________ through it. I was extremely tired, and even worse, the radiation ________ the swallow right out of my esophagus (食道).

The ________ I want to leave you with though is “Be ________”. If you have the ability to get to your father’s ________, then do it. My son came again three weeks ago to help me through the ________ in my life. After he had been here a couple of days, he said, “Dad you have never looked ________.” Words to warm my heart.

1.

A．protected

B．created

C．rocked

D．covered

2.

A．sell

B．write

C．break

D．read

3.

A．boss

B．wife

C．professor

D．lawyer

4.

A．fly

B．drive

C．leave

D．race

5.

A．cheat

B．reach

C．find

D．promise

6.

A．Honestly

B．Fortunately

C．Surprisingly

D．Jokingly

7.

A．paper

B．tour

C．interview

D．job

8.

A．working

B．sleeping

C．camping

D．crying

9.

A．precious

B．bitter

C．spare

D．dark

10.

A．marriage

B．stuff

C．occupation

D．duty

11.

A．passing

B．wedding

C．appearance

D．life

12.

A．suitable

B．brave

C．lucky

D．able

13.

A．money

B．hair

C．love

D．fame

14.

A．looked

B．saw

C．sailed

D．follow

15.

A．healed

B．took

C．guided

D．burned

16.

A．message

B．treasure

C．memory

D．theory

17.

A．aboard

B．outside

C．back

D．there

18.

A．heart

B．circle

C．height

D．side

19.

A．path

B．crisis

C．victory

D．success

20.

A．worse

B．younger

C．sicker

D．better