1 . “If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” These words come from the author of the book The Secret Garden, first published in 1911.     1     Very soon after this, homes with gardens began to be built. This is what started the British love of gardening! Today, millions of Brits like to say that they have “green fingers”, with around half the population spending their free time gardening.

    2     Each spring, children plant sunflowers and wait to see which one is the tallest. Expert gardeners know just the right corner for roses, and others spend hours trying to grow perfect vegetables to enter into competitions. And while many Brits like nothing better than spending their Sunday cutting the grass, some are happy just to sit under the branches of the trees and enjoy the beauty of the world around them.

But in cities, limited space has led to people looking for new solutions.     3     Today, there are over 4,000 people in London waiting for such pieces of land. One recent idea has been to turn rooftops and walls into private gardens.     4    

As well as being good for the environment, gardening is also good for the soul.     5     And if you're in any doubt about this, take a moment to reflect on this line from The Secret Garden: “Where you tend a rose... A thistle (蓟) cannot grow.”

A．What other free-time activity allows you to be at one with nature and create more beautiful living things?

B．Those without outside space can rent small pieces of land on which to grow things.

C．These gardens have helped make the cities greener and improve air quality.

D．For many people in the UK, their garden is their own private world.

E．Do you think people would like to reject the houses with gardens?

F．At that time, only the very rich in Britain had gardens.

G．Many people grow their own tea gardens.

2 . Do You Have a Positive Attitude?

Who would you rather hang around with? Someone who always acts in low spirits? Or someone who manages to see the good around him，even when things aren't always going great?     1    

Having a positive attitude can help you in many ways.     2    Your friends will definitely appreciate you more if you see the silver lining rather than just the dark clouds!

    3    The less pressure you feel, the better you will feel overall. So if you've been feeling tired, put on a happy face and you just might feel better soon.

But how can you have a positive attitude when life is hard? It's more than just turning life's lemons into lemonade.     4    But it's worth it.

A positive attitude doesn't mean ignoring life's troubles. It just means looking for the good in things, rather than being a pessimist and concentrating on the bad in things. Sometimes your attitude can make all the difference.

Identify (识别) those areas of your life that might not be going so well.     5    Focus on one at a time and think of ways you can find the positive in things.

A．The answer is to have a positive attitude.

B．Having a positive attitude can take some hard work.

C．They are likely to make you have negative thoughts.

D．Having a positive attitude can also reduce your stress level.

E．If you have a positive attitude, you're more fun to be around.

F．When you feel better physically, you naturally feel better mentally.

G．It's no surprise that people enjoy being around positive people rather than negative people.

3 . In 1949, a Swedish engineer named Curt Lindquist created a material which was made of fiber and cotton and could absorb water quickly.He turned this new material into dishcloths which have been available in Europe ever since, and now they are gaining ground in Canada.

I love microfiber cleaning cloths, but I stopped buying them when I started cutting down on plastic and things containing chemicals. I had heard that Swedish dishcloths would replace traditional towels, but I didn't see how they could be much better than my regular cotton dish towels. At that time, the company Swedish Wholesale sent me a sample pack of 10 to have a try and I am really kind of gobsmacked—they perform really well and are of great use. The ones are hard at first, but get soft once they are wet. They are made in Europe, which means they aren't exactly a local product.

The best part of dishcloths may be that they are completely biodegradable. The ones I got are made of biodegradable plant­based fiber and cotton. After innocent spills and wiping up water, I just wash mine out in the sink and squeeze them well, and then let them dry on the dish rack. But for more intensive washing, they can go into the washing machine or dishwasher.They are much less likely to give shelter to bacteria compared to traditional dishcloths because of their unique composition.

I have been using mine for about a month, and I'm curious to see how long the pack will last, but so far they have been satisfactory. I worried that they would just be something I would have to throw out at the end of their lives, but that they can be composted, which is a key factor, makes a big difference. I will report back after more time has passed, but for now I can't imagine going back to everything else.

1. Why did the author stop buying microfiber cleaning cloths?

A．They were made of chemicals.	B．Something was wrong with them.
C．New dishcloths would be given to her.	D．She wanted to cut back on her daily expense.

2. What does the underlined word “gobsmacked” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Surprised.

B．Nervous.

C．Embarrassed.

D．Disappointed.

3. What is the author's attitude to the new dishcloths at last?

A．Uninterested.

B．Doubtful.

C．Negative.

D．Positive.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Dishcloths Made in Europe	B．Giving Swedish Dishcloths a Try
C．The Function of New Dishcloths	D．The Differences Between Two Dishcloths

4 . 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。

One of my strongest childhood     1     (memory) is sitting in the back of the car with a map. On long journeys,     2     was my job to trace our route with my finger and call out directions even though my parents knew exactly     3     we were going. I can remember that magical feeling of power and     4     (responsible), as if somehow I was the one in control.

Understanding a map creates a new sort of relationship with the outdoors. If you can learn to do that     5     an early age, it will carry through the rest of your life. Studies have shown that if you can get someone     6     (interest) in outdoor activities before the age of 14, it will stay with them. For me, a map is a passport to getting outside.

Running your finger along the place names on a map     7     (be) a journey through history as well as geography. Map reading can also be a brilliant way     8     (entertain) children and build their confidence. Naturally, they     9     (strike) by the relationship between the world and them. I     10     (sincere) hope many of us will be taking with us a newfound love of getting out and about in the countryside.

5 . How to Be Productive During Difficult Times

When we are struggling, or when we have a hard time focusing, we may turn to others for help. We may even wish we had a hero to help us. Well, today here is some advice for you.

Turn ourselves into our own heroes.

When we make ourselves heroes, we not only gain focus but also a sense of purpose.     1     For example, it can give us hope as stories in the books often do. In stories, writers often give their hero, the main person in the story, a purpose.     2    

Write out our tasks and ideas.

In stories, heroes also have tasks, which they want to finish and ideas, which they see for themselves. So we can write out our tasks and ideas, not just for a project but for our life as well. With clear tasks and ideas, events in our life no longer seem to be separate events.     3     There's just a lot of value in having tasks and ideas.

    4     When we know our strengths, we can use them fully. In difficult times, we can make our life easier by focusing on our strengths. It is even more important to identify weaknesses. All heroes have them. On their journey they face their weaknesses and learn from them.

Have small goals within a larger goal.

As we know, the hero's journey is not a one—time thing. It is a journey we are on in our entire life.     5     Our life's journey is ongoing and ever—changing. We should be realistic with our goals and to be kind to ourselves, especially during difficult times.

A．Learn from heroes in stories.

B．We often live a life without purpose.

C．Know our strengths and weaknesses.

D．They become part of our larger stories.

E．So have small goals that we can measure in some way.

F．We can do the same for ourselves and identify our purposes.

G．Making ourselves the heroes in our own stories helps us in many ways.

6 . My work started in 2003 at my local animal shelter’s Adoption Department. It seems like such a long time ago. In the 13 years that have passed, more than 50,000 animals have passed the doors of the shelter. Most of them, I do not remember. But occasionally there are animals who stand out. Tabby was one such animal.

Tabby was one of the many homeless dogs. What’s more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby’s chances at adoption seemed remote at best. But one day a woman named Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, who suffered from epilepsy (癫痫) had seen Tabby’s picture on the shelter’s website. They were interested in meeting her! Most boys would want a puppy, a dog who could grow with him and run through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would never be able to do that. But as they say, "love is blind". After meeting her, they decided to adopt Tabby!

If Tabby’s story had simply ended with her successful adoption, it would still have been something very special indeed but it was what happened after her adoption that some might label as "magical" or perhaps even miraculous. As Gary and Tabby did everything together, they became so "in tune" with one another that Tabby began to telegraph Gary’s seizures (疾病发作) before they occurred, giving his family a warning that one was about to strike. What’s more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby’s arrival.

How could it be? There are some things that happen in this world that challenge all logic and understanding. Sometimes, the best that we can do is to accept a miraculous thing, which we didn’t attempt to explain. Because when you try to explain it, you lose the beauty and wonder of it all.

1. Which sentence can be used to describe Tabby?

A．She was so lovely that she could be easily adopted.

B．She suffered a lot from the disease-epilepsy.

C．She was so strong that she could run very fast.

D．She was homeless and couldn’t see or hear.

2. What does the underlined word "miraculous" in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Amazing.

B．Typical.

C．Interesting.

D．Special.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Gary learnt about Tabby from a magazine.

B．Gary was cured in the company of Tabby.

C．Tabby could indicate a seizure before it struck.

D．Most boys would have the same decision as Gary.

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

A．Love is Blind: a Miraculous Dog	B．Give Me Food: My Dear Master
C．Love is Everywhere: a Poor Dog	D．Take Me Home: My Dear Boy

7 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

Over the years, I've been guilty of hurriedly shutting the front door to many strangers when they came to my home knocking with the intention of selling things. I hated it when they tried their best to persuade me to buy the things they promoted. But earlier this year, around Easter time, a dear friend of mine, Linda, had an experience that changed my mind and attitude towards these "intruders".

Last winter, Linda went through a very messy divorce and was very depressed. So she quit her job and left Los Angeles, where she encountered her ex-husband in college. She flew to Boston on the east coast of the US. Later, she settled in a new neighborhood in East Boston. However, shortly afterwards, the company where she worked went bankrupt（破产）. Suffering a series of bitter blows. she fell ill, a severe case of flu. She had to stay at home for the whole week, feeling extremely bad and hopeless.

Early one morning, Linda lay in bed, feeling painful all over. Then all of a sudden, there was an upsetting knock on her front door. Struggling out of the bed, she dragged herself to the window. There, outside, she saw a young lady carefully holding some leaflets（传单）and a TV set model. She knew of a large TV set establishment nearby and assumed a message was about to be gently delivered. "This is the last thing I need today." She muttered to herself and hesitantly opened the door.

Coughing bitterly, Linda stuck her head out. "Excuse me, madam…" the young lady said with a smile. "I'm sorry but I am not the slightest bit interested in any TV whatever." Linda interrupted her impatiently. "As a matter of fact, I am feeling terribly awful." "Is there anything I can do for you, madam?" the young lady asked with concern. "No thanks, just leave me alone." Linda then shut the door in her face. The young lady politely turned and left in silence.

注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:

A few hours later, another knock.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

Linda was surprised by this lovely action.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________