1 . With new term approaching, as a new teacher, I needed to find a reference book in our school library. Therefore, I went in search of the _______. Before leaving, I struck up a(n) _______ with her and then I was completely _______ by her experience.

During the winter break, she had gone by herself to Death Valley, a rarely visited desert. She just rented a car and packed up some simple equipment. All the way, she _______ saw another human being as she drove or _______. The photos she showed me _______ me from freezing New England to the brilliant sunshine of Death Valley, where she could appreciate the appealing landscape. But what really _______ me was how fearless this woman is. So weak is she that I used to think that she was _______ to step out of the comfort zone.

I asked her if she was _______ of being out in the vast wilderness alone and she said no ________. She even loved being alone surrounded by such incredible ________, seeking the meaning of life. Further talk revealed that her life has been ________. She was a young single mother with 2 kids and worked at odd jobs day and night to ________. To her credit, she obtained her degree in education and found a decent job.

Actually, our brief talk inspired me to lead a more ________ life and she taught me to see a person beyond the ________.

1.

A．tutor

B．clerk

C．assistant

D．librarian

2.

A．conversation

B．discussion

C．complaint

D．activity

3.

A．bothered

B．attracted

C．moved

D．confused

4.

A．voluntarily

B．definitely

C．occasionally

D．barely

5.

A．hiked

B．slept

C．behaved

D．dived

6.

A．banned

B．protected

C．transported

D．dragged

7.

A．scared

B．delighted

C．upset

D．amazed

8.

A．unable

B．unaffordable

C．appointed

D．desperate

9.

A．free

B．frightened

C．incapable

D．typical

10.

A．without excuse

B．without hesitation

C．with doubt

D．with caution

11.

A．books

B．fantasy

C．sands

D．beauty

12.

A．tough

B．smooth

C．unpredictable

D．changeable

13.

A．succeed

B．escape

C．survive

D．suffer

14.

A．colorful

B．meaningful

C．comfortable

D．recreational

15.

A．restriction

B．range

C．surface

D．reach

2 . As an ordinary man, I have a special habit to confess. Whenever I walk down the street, I offer to pour a bottle of water from the nearby river into the dirt of a street tree. It’s just my personal habit, and I think it doesn’t make a difference, but I’d like to do it. I mention this in light of a campaign launched by the Arboricultural Association to call on the public to water new street trees.

The UK government has committed to planting millions of trees to help meet climate targets and aims to increase tree cover from 14.5% to 16.5% by 2050. However, as John Parker, chief executive of the Arboricultural Association, says, “Planting a tree is just the start of the story. The health and survival of new urban trees is threatened by increasingly dry weather. It is recommended that the newly planted trees be given about 50 litres of water per week for the first three years.” While in rural settings, the newly planted trees and woods can take care of themselves and adapt, the challenging conditions mean trees in the urban areas need a bit more care.

Long ago, I assumed that the good of street trees was to soften the hard edges of urban environments. But, what an underestimation of tree power that was! A study from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities illustrates they can provide inspiration or a calming atmosphere in an otherwise crowded city. Trees are responsible for easing urban heat island effects and air and pollutant filtration. And I think they provide the habitat for wildlife, especially birds.

Trees can’t run away. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for urban residents, city trees are stuck with us. If we want to continue enjoying all the good they do, we should try to understand their needs and do all that we can to support them. A bottle of water won’t do much, but next time you all together have a bucket of water to pour, you know what big effect will happen.

1. What does the author think of his personal habit?

A．It is of little effect.	B．It is enforced.
C．It is of much significance.	D．It is common.

2. What does John Parker say about urban trees?

A．They have started to be watered regularly.

B．More work needs to be done for their living.

C．They are threatened by the increasing flood.

D．The newly planted ones can’t look after themselves.

3. What can we learn about street trees from paragraph 3?

A．Their usage is overrated.

B．Their value is thought highly of by the public.

C．They benefit residents physically and mentally.

D．They can thoroughly solve environmental problems.

4. What can be concluded from the last paragraph?

A．When in need, ask for it.	B．Tall trees catch much wind.
C．Many hands make light work.	D．Misfortunes seldom come alone.

3 . 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。

Once upon a time, there lived a poor but cheerful shoemaker. He was so happy that he sang all day long. The children loved to stand around his window to listen to him.

Next door to the shoemaker lived a rich man. He used to sit up all night to count his gold. In the morning, he went to bed, but he could not sleep because of the sound of the shoemaker’s singing. One day, he thought of a way to stop the singing. He wrote a letter to the shoemaker inviting him over for a cup of tea.

The shoemaker came at once, and to his great surprise, the rich man gave him a bag of gold as a gift. The shoemaker took the bag and thanked the rich man. When he returned home, the shoemaker couldn’t wait to open the bag. He had never seen so much gold in his life! He sat down at his bench and began, carefully, to count it. The children watched through the window.

There was so much there that the shoemaker was afraid to let it out of his sight. So he took it to bed with him. But he could not sleep for worrying about it. So he got out of bed and went to hide it in the attic (阁楼), but he was not sure if that was a good place.

Very early in the morning, he got up and brought his gold down from the attic. He had decided to hide it up the chimney (烟囱) instead. But after breakfast, he thought it would be safer in the chicken house. So he hid it there. But he was still uneasy, and in a little while he dug a hole in the garden and buried his bag of gold in it.

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:

He was in no mood for singing and found it difficult to focus on his work.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

At last the shoemaker felt so unhappy that he took his bag of gold and ran next door to the rich man.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . When I first built my website 3 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing.

Naturally, I went to various websites and blogs for _________. I noticed features like social media buttons, advertisements, comments and more. At first glance, these seemed _________ since every website had them. But as I _________ my site, I found they were not. Instead, a clean, user-friendly design had _________ effects. Without advertisements or social media buttons, more people were _________ in my articles. It seemed that the _________ my website became, the better the results were.

Later, I noticed the _________ of simplicity in other areas of life.

As a kid, I was too thin. As an athlete, I needed to get stronger. So I spent hours designing the right combination of exercises. But when I _________ got stronger, I assumed that I was missing some kind of exercise. So I kept _________ something new. But it took me years to realize that the key was the exact opposite.

I __________ the complex workouts and focused on just one or two exercises. Surprisingly, there was a noticeable __________ in my strength in just four months.

From __________ to workouts, my skills didn’t improve overnight. Instead, I made progress by ignoring, reducing and __________ non-essential choices. I think this principle also __________ to most things in life. So when you make a list of your plans, decide what truly matters to you and __________ the rest.

1.

A．attention

B．relaxation

C．inspiration

D．recognition

2.

A．familiar

B．essential

C．similar

D．special

3.

A．abandoned

B．tested

C．copied

D．imagined

4.

A．temporary

B．harmful

C．serious

D．positive

5.

A．trapped

B．disappointed

C．absorbed

D．uninterested

6.

A．simpler

B．richer

C．cheaper

D．faster

7.

A．impact

B．limit

C．fault

D．purpose

8.

A．finally

B．gradually

C．obviously

D．barely

9.

A．adding

B．achieving

C．admiring

D．avoiding

10.

A．carried on

B．gave up

C．took out

D．set down

11.

A．blow

B．gap

C．drop

D．rise

12.

A．websites

B．comments

C．articles

D．features

13.

A．making

B．removing

C．facing

D．accepting

14.

A．responds

B．appeals

C．applies

D．objects

15.

A．turn off

B．put off

C．cross off

D．show off

5 . As the saying goes, life is sweet. But while we may wish for consistently sweet moments, life often serves us other _________.

Recently, we celebrated my mom’s birthday. In her nineties now, as she _________ the closing stages of a long and remarkable life, she struggles with dementia (痴呆), leading to her mind and body not _________ the way she would want.

The day before the celebration, we _________ to bake cookies with her great grand kids. Not just any cookies, but 60 _________ sugar cookies cut in different shapes, covered with lots of sprinkles (糖屑). Though the kids worked as carefully as they could, they made the kitchen a total mess, _________almost as many sprinkles on the floor as on the cookies. They went on for hours, rolling dough, baking, cutting shapes, and _________ with four kinds of sprinkles.

The next day, the birthday _________ was a success. We took many pictures, and the beautiful cookies were shared. In an _________ way, those sweet sprinkles have not only stuck in my mind but remained almost everywhere in our home for the past few days. In every __________, I continue to find them, in all the colors of the rainbow, four shapes and sizes, sweet, and after I __________ step on them, not so sweet.

Truly, these are bittersweet moments, filled with __________ emotions. From such moments, we unwillingly learn that much in life is __________ our control: the separations and losses, the __________ of life, the passage of time. Life serves up many flavors. __________, we can choose our attitudes on the journey.

1.

A．memories

B．flavors

C．experiences

D．smells

2.

A．forgets

B．realizes

C．nears

D．questions

3.

A．functioning

B．changing

C．failing

D．growing

4.

A．decided

B．asked

C．managed

D．continued

5.

A．new-born

B．snow-covered

C．hard-won

D．home-made

6.

A．working on

B．preparing for

C．cutting off

D．resulting in

7.

A．checking

B．decorating

C．struggling

D．volunteering

8.

A．cake

B．wish

C．gift

D．party

9.

A．unexpected

B．unknown

C．undoubted

D．unlimited

10.

A．picture

B．cookie

C．room

D．house

11.

A．dangerously

B．successfully

C．emotionally

D．accidentally

12.

A．new

B．strong

C．mixed

D．negative

13.

A．within

B．through

C．beyond

D．toward

14.

A．shortness

B．meaning

C．record

D．style

15.

A．Instead

B．However

C．Meanwhile

D．Therefore

6 . Reading is a healthy habit that everyone should develop from childhood because of the benefits that come with it.     1     Therefore, take your time and start by reading slowly. The following will discuss the effects of not reading books, so you can basically consider and judge where you are and understand how reading can be beneficial.

    2     People who don’t read and don’t like to read find it harder to learn than people who actually read. For example, most students who fail to develop a reading habit find it difficult to get through school. This then leads to students dropping out, which is bad for society. Reading is a habit that strengthens the brain and develops your inborn love of wanting to learn more. Therefore, not being addicted to books closes you off from this.

Narrow mindedness. Reading a variety of books broadens the readers’ mind. Most people who don’t read have a certain narrow mindedness to them that can easily be noticed.     3     When you don’t read, you’re forced to take everything at face value and then create and shape your views in this way.

Low brain power. One advantage of reading is its ability to improve brain function. Reading can help people become better thinkers and use brains more effectively. People who don’t read usually have low brain power because they don’t exercise the brain as much as readers do.     4    

Poor imagination. Reading books allows you to tap into your imaginative power.     5     This is important because it expands (拓展) your thought process as well as the ability to understand. People who don’t read books usually are short of the inspiration necessary to create imagination. This makes it difficult to be creative.

A．Learning difficulty.

B．The reason for this is simple.

C．Such exercise strengthens the brain.

D．Inability to fully understand the world.

E．It then makes you picture what you read.

F．It is developed slowly just as any habit would.

G．The ability to read is important in today’s world.

7 . Mark and his friends decided to visit Mount Matterhorn, a beautiful mountain in Europe this year. It can not only be _________ from countless viewpoints, but also offered a pyramid-shaped peak.

Since it was a very hard climb to the top, they _________ to make camp at the last possible spot with one of the most extraordinary views, and decided to _________ the next day, not intending to finish the whole climb.

While Mark was _________ how a handful of people were making their way to the _________, he changed his mind and invited his friends to join him. _________, no one was willing because it was too dangerous, and they were _________ with where they were. Luckily, there was a group of climbers who were just _________ past and were on their way to the top. Mark quickly asked them if he could join them, and he was _________.

When they eventually reached the top, Mark was __________ as it’s so beautiful and it’s not at all that __________ as told. A climber next to him, pointing his finger at the __________ where Mark and his friends and many others had set their camps, smiled and explained. “You see, most people in the crowd right there end up satisfied in the __________ of their journey.” continued the man. “Many of them never think that they have the potential to achieve more, so they remain part of the crowd their whole life.”

Hearing that, Mark __________ how many times he was like those who have a(n)__________ they want to reach but not follow through till the end.

1.

A．traveled

B．appreciated

C．preserved

D．removed

2.

A．hesitated

B．struggled

C．pretended

D．stopped

3.

A．continue

B．return

C．escape

D．settle

4.

A．organizing

B．confirming

C．observing

D．considering

5.

A．crowd

B．camp

C．peak

D．pyramid

6.

A．Plus

B．However

C．Instead

D．Therefore

7.

A．satisfied

B．busy

C．familiar

D．patient

8.

A．skiing

B．riding

C．jogging

D．walking

9.

A．accepted

B．ignored

C．greeted

D．threatened

10.

A．out of breath

B．out of control

C．in amazement

D．in relief

11.

A．tough

B．unique

C．worthwhile

D．unusual

12.

A．habitat

B．spot

C．source

D．temple

13.

A．ch arm

B．hope

C．memory

D．middle

14.

A．promised

B．announced

C．wondered

D．doubted

15.

A．decision

B．conclusion

C．rejection

D．goal

8 . I was quite young when I married. My wife shared with me my love for animals and she got several ________ pets, including one cat.

The black cat was beautiful. We named him Pluto. I liked him best so that I often fed him alone. Our friendship ________ for several years, during which, however, my wife and my job ________ me. Gradually, ________ became my new friend; I became quick to ________; I forgot how to smile and laugh.

One night I came home quite late from the inn. Walking with ________ steps, I made my way with effort into the house. As I entered, I saw Pluto was trying to stay out of my way to ________ me, which made me angry beyond ________. I lifted my foot and gave him a heavy kick ________. The cat burst into a tragic scream, like a ________ cutting through the peaceful dark sky.

It seemed a ring ________ me. I followed up the cry, calling “Pluto”. No response. Turn on the light, and I found him, curled up below a chair. I felt regretful and ________, attempting to comfort it. No response. I knew I had made an ________ mistake.

I made my efforts to ________ him in my manner, feeding him alone and eventually quit drinking. Maybe sometimes some evil things inside ourselves pushed us to do wrong, but we must bear in mind that we ought to treasure what is ________ us accompanying us in our lives.

1.

A．adoptive

B．adorable

C．ambitious

D．adaptable

2.

A．started

B．appeared

C．lasted

D．passed

3.

A．left

B．claimed

C．beat

D．defeated

4.

A．regret

B．silence

C．music

D．wine

5.

A．adjust

B．anger

C．arrange

D．abandon

6.

A．smooth

B．flexible

C．stable

D．uncertain

7.

A．avoid

B．stop

C．bend

D．accuse

8.

A．actions

B．words

C．reason

D．reach

9.

A．constantly

B．purposely

C．intently

D．appropriately

10.

A．storm

B．thunder

C．rainbow

D．lightning

11.

A．awakening

B．striking

C．knocking

D．uplifting

12.

A．stressed

B．frightened

C．guilty

D．delicate

13.

A．unforgettable

B．unforgivable

C．unaffordable

D．unforeseen

14.

A．do away with

B．get away with

C．make up with

D．catch up with

15.

A．observing

B．assisting

C．impressing

D．surrounding

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。

I’ve been a leader of a youth group in my community for a number of years. Among all those organized group activities, the kids’ favorite is called ARK night, with ARK standing for Acts of Random Kindness. A couple of times a year, on a Sunday night, we go out into our community to perform kind acts for others.

We split into small groups and complete assignments around town. One group typically goes downtown to where the homeless population is gathered and hands out sandwiches and cold water in the summer, and hand warmers and hot bread in the winter. Sometimes a group makes posters and goes to local police and fire stations to say thank you. We often have groups that visit nursing homes and hospitals to share a smile and conversation with the patients.

One time, the small group I was leading left Post-it notes with positive messages on the windshields (挡风玻璃) of all of the vehicles in the visitors’ parking lot at the hospital. The hope was that someone who was sad or worn out after visiting a patient would be cheered up by our note.

We had spent the first part of the evening in my home, with the kids writing positive messages on their Positive notes, things like “Tomorrow is another day.” “Keep smiling.” “Things will get better.” and “Have a nice day.” One girl had curvy, beautiful handwriting and she decorated the corners of her notes with pretty multi-colored hearts.

After the kids left their notes on all those cars, one girl said to me, “We didn’t see one single person. How will we know that our notes made a difference?”

“We’ll just have to trust that they did,” I said. Normally, the kids could see the reactions of the people they were helping, and I could tell they were disappointed at the lack of interaction with people during this assignment. I wondered about it, too. Would the notes cheer anyone up, or would they be thrown away like the advertisements that are sometimes left on car windshields?

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 day, I noticed a post by a friend of mine on Facebook.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was one of our Post-it notes!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . 假设你是李华，你校英语俱乐部将举办一次英语演讲比赛。请你以“Every Setback Is a Test for Us”为题写一篇演讲稿，内容包括：
1. 描述你自己经历的一次挫折；
2. 你克服挫折的体会。
参考词汇：setback 挫折 n.
注意：
（1）词数不少于100；（2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯。
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________