1 . Terri Bolton is a dab hand when it comes to DIY (do-it-yourself). Skilled at putting up shelves and piecing together furniture, she never pays someone else to do a job she can do herself.

She credits these skills to her late grandfather and builder Derek Lloyd. From the age of six, Terri, now 26, accompanied Derek to work during her school holidays. A day’s work was rewarded with £5 in pocket money. She says: “I’m sure I wasn’t much of a help to start with, painting the rooms and putting down the flooring throughout the house. It took weeks and it was backbreaking work, but I know he was proud of my skills.”

Terri, who now rents a house with friends in Wandsworth, South West London, says DIY also saves her from losing any deposit when a tenancy (租期) comes to an end. She adds: “I’ve moved house many times and I always like to personalise my room and put up pictures, so, it’s been useful to know how to cover up holes and repaint a room to avoid any charges when I’ve moved out.”

With millions of people likely to take on DIY projects over that coming weeks, new research shows that more than half of people are planning to make the most of the long, warm summer days to get jobs done. The average spend per project will be around £823. Two thirds of people aim to improve their comfort while at home. Two fifths wish to increase the value of their house. Though DIY has traditionally been seen as male hobby, the research shows it is women now leading the charge.

1. Which is closest in meaning to “a dab hand” in paragraph 1?

A．An artist.

B．A winner.

C．A specialist.

D．A pioneer.

2. Why did Terri’s grandfather give her £5 a day?

A．For a birthday gift.	B．As a treat for her work.
C．To support her DIY projects.	D．To encourage her to take up a hobby.

3. How did Terri avoid losing the deposit on the house she rented?

A．By making it look like before.	B．By furnishing it herself.
C．By splitting the rent with a roommate.	D．By cancelling the rental agreement.

4. What trend in DIY does the research show?

A．It is becoming more costly.	B．It is getting more time-consuming.
C．It is turning into a seasonal industry.	D．It is gaining popularity among females.

2 . Some of the best advice I ever heard was: “Get 3 hobbies, one to keep you physically active, one to express yourself creatively, and one to make you social.” I don’t know if that’s a famous quote but it really inspires me.

Set some physical goals for yourself. Maybe it’s running a marathon, maybe it’s lifting your own body weight, maybe it’s riding a unicycle to work every morning.     1     Just having a goal that’s not immediately obtainable but gives you something to work towards will help give you some direction.

    2     Maybe buy a recorder and learn to play Disney songs, or grab some paints and follow along with a famous painter, or write plays about your dreams, or build tiny furniture. Just something that requires your imagination and creation. Perhaps you’ll never learn how to play that instrument or how to paint. It’s unimportant.     3    

Finding a hobby is probably the hardest one right now. I would recommend some goal-oriented video games with voice chat. I started playing VR paintball last month, which was incredibly helpful for me. You might also want to look into joining an online Dungeons & Dragons game.     4     Chatrooms and forums are fine, but you should make sure you’re using your voice, and hearing other people’s voices.

If you get these hobbies started and set personal goals for yourself in each hobby, you’ll soon start feeling more fulfilled.     5     If after about a month you don’t like one, then try switching to a different hobby in the same category. Eventually, you’ll discover something you like.

A．Find a way to be creative.

B．It doesn’t matter what it is.

C．Talk to your children about creation.

D．It is extremely important to have a clear goal.

E．Try to do each hobby for at least 30 minutes a day.

F．Just get started and move onto another if you have to.

G．You need to find something that requires you to actually talk with others.

3 . 假设你是李华。你们学校近期将举办关于“音乐改变人们生活”的主题演讲比赛。请你结合自身经历，写一篇演讲稿参加比赛。
注意：词数在80左右。
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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。

The world of Chinese literature is one that is familiar     1     us all. But have you ever stopped to wonder     2     works are read outside of China and how they are received？Today，four Sinologists and translators share their experience of Chinese literature     3     us.

Petko: The Shaolin Temple I watched gave me so many reasons     4     fall in love with China. I particularly like classical Chinese literature, especially works from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Annelous: I became interested in languages at a young age.     5     (start) high school, I began reading     6     (book) about Chinese history and culture.

Joachim: At the age of 15, my mother bought me a copy of the classic Shi Ji. After     7    (read) it, I realised the true genius of China's “Grand Historian”, Sima Qian. His     8     (write) had a profound effect on me.

Mai: I     9     (gradual) fell in love with Chinese literature when I started working as a translator. I don't care if a writer is popular or not. What interests me most is the work     10     (it).

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。续写的词数应为150左右。

Standing in front of the mirror one day, I came to the disturbing realization that I fell short of the requirements of my dream. The reflection that stared back was of a skinny brown-haired girl who stood a mere five feet tall. My entire life had been about dedication and trying to be the best dancer in my studio. I’d always had brilliant dreams and high ambitions. I never noticed how hard it might be to achieve something that you really wanted. Most people spend their whole lives searching for their calling, but I’ve known that I was born to be a dancer since I met my brilliant inspiring mentor, Lorie Bernier, 5 feet 1 inch. I’ve devoted sixteen years to helping my dream come true to be a lifelong dance teacher at my studio.

Last summer I attended an audition class in Boston taught by a highly respected Broadway dancer. At this seminar he explained the procedures for getting into a dance company. While listening and taking notes, I was thinking that I certainly had the experience, but there was one area where I didn’t quite measure up. He informed us that at most audition all dancers under 5 feet 6 inches are automatically eliminated or simply overlooked. He said that most casting directors were looking for the stereotyped dancer with long legs, a long neck and a size one waist. Standing half a foot under this height, I felt my heart drop to the floor.

It is really hard to listen to someone basically telling you, “Sorry, but you’ve been working really hard for sixteen years for nothing, so find a new dream.” Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way. Dancing isn’t just a hobby for me; it’s more like an addiction. I exhibit every step heart and soul. Through dance I find a sense of pride and satisfaction that I don’t think anyone could understand or appreciate. To have all that I’ve ever wanted instantly shot down created a sick feeling in my stomach.

Paragraph 1：
Furthermore, I knew that at that moment I could do one of two things.
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Paragraph 2：
However, it really doesn’t matter how high the disadvantages are against me, for I will rise above them.
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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。

Can you imagine making a structure (结构体) out of toothpicks that is strong enough     1    （hold）up a student’s desk? I can’t. But because of such a school project Stan Munro     2    （throw）into his career as a “toothpick engineer” years ago.

One winter break in primary school, my brother’s schoolwork was writing thank-you notes while     3    （I）was making a hut out of toothpicks! Facing a pile of toothpicks, I still remember I was totally at     4    loss what to do next. Under some guidance of my father, I started the     5    （pain）task. Finally, the countless toothpicks became a whole structure with everything     6    （stick）together by glue. Though the process took a lot of patience and was rough for me, there were no words to describe the sense of     7    （proud）after finishing it. Importantly, that helped me find I was better at other things, like writing and playing the piano.     8     Stan Munro, I wasn’t born to be a toothpick engineer!

Isn’t it great that the school provides us with the chance to try different things,     9     gets us to discover our unknown talents? It’s amazing to find what we try in school helps us figure out what we     10    （true）want to do when growing up.

7 . When I first started taking photographs of the night sky, I never thought I’d end up doing it for a living. I’d always been interested in photography. I used to drive my family and friends crazy because I was always taking photographs of them. Then one day I saw a poster of the Earth taken from outer space. Posters like that were really popular in the 1970s. I had seen lots of them, but there was something different about this one. It attracted me and it ended up changing my life!

It hasn’t always been easy though. I remember trying to take a picture of the Comet Hale-Bopp for a photography competition in 1997. I checked with the experts at the local weather station to make sure they weren’t expecting clouds or strong winds. At 3: 30 am I set the camera on a tripod（三脚架）in my garden, and then I began the countdown to 4: 00 am, when the comet was scheduled to appear. I recall thinking, “If everything goes as planned, the photo will show the comet as a line of light moving across a background of stars.” But suddenly everything was terribly wrong! At 3: 59 am, just as I was making the final adjustments, out the bushes came a streak（色条）of black heading straight for my feet, and before I knew it, the camera, the tripod and I were on the ground! The streak of black was my neighbor’s cat Tiddles out for his late-night exercise, and he had ruined the only chance I had for the next 2,000 years of taking photographs of the spectacular（壮观的）comet!

Missed photo opportunities aside, astrophotography is a great job, and it can also be an enjoyable hobby. Surprisingly enough, you don’t need any special equipment: just a 35 mm camera, a tripod and some slow-speed film. But you must remember to take care of your equipment.

1. What does the author mainly describe in the text?

A．How he was trained to be a weather expert.

B．How he took photographs for posters.

C．How he took photographs of people.

D．How he became an astrophotographer.

2. What changed the author completely?

A．Taking family photographs for a living.

B．Taking up astrophotography as a hobby.

C．An attractive poster of the Earth taken from outer space.

D．A popular photograph of the comet.

3. What can we learn from the text?

A．The author wanted to take a picture of the comet for a competition.

B．The author showed people how the comet moved across the sky.

C．The comet was expected to appear at 3:30 am.

D．The comet once appeared in the year of 2000.

4. What destroyed the authors last opportunity to take the picture of the comet?

A．Unexpected clouds.	B．A line of light.
C．A neighbour’s cat.	D．Strong winds.

8 . In my whole life I’ve been interested in martial arts. But it was only when I _______ in another city where there was a kung fu club that I really enjoyed it and fully understood why they call it an art. It is fighting and _______ yourself, but it’s also understanding your body more, making it stronger and healthier. Kung fu is a big _______ of Chinese culture. I have always watched kung fu movies (who doesn’t know Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan or Jet Li?), because I love their _______. When I started to practise kung fu, I realised how _______ it was and a simple kick demanded months of practice. But I loved it! A whole new world was opening to me.

After I _______ four years of kung fu in New York, I wanted to go to the _______ where this martial art originated. I went to China with a travel organisation. It was a trip that included some kung fu and tai chi lessons. It was a(n) _______ group, so there were people from all over the world. We went from Hong Kong to Guilin,Yangshuo, Xi’an, Luoyang and Shaolin Temple and _______ Beijing. We did two kung fu lessons in Yangshuo with the brothers Gao, who had a family style which was ________ Bu Di Zhen. We did one tai chi lesson in Xi’an and two more kung fu lessons in Shaolin Temple. I was ________ by Yangshuo and the Gao brothers. Yangshuo is a beautiful town in the middle of mountains and near the Li river. The Gao brothers’ family ________ of kung fu practice was close to mine in New York. I could only ________ of my next trip to China.

The next year my dream ________: I went to China again, together with some friends of my kung fu club. We ________ one month in Yangshuo, just to practise kung fu, which made me understand more of the rich culture of China.

1.

A．settled

B．shared

C．travelled

D．went

2.

A．defeating

B．saving

C．protecting

D．hurting

3.

A．barrier

B．part

C．origin

D．tradition

4.

A．behaviours

B．movements

C．qualities

D．deeds

5.

A．easy

B．perfect

C．special

D．hard

6.

A．practised

B．conducted

C．observed

D．prepared

7.

A．city

B．town

C．country

D．suburb

8.

A．local

B．native

C．national

D．international

9.

A．finally

B．directly

C．officially

D．naturally

10.

A．shown

B．seen

C．called

D．given

11.

A．disappointed

B．amused

C．impressed

D．confused

12.

A．habit

B．style

C．feature

D．rule

13.

A．think

B．know

C．approve

D．dream

14.

A．came over

B．came true

C．came up

D．came out

15.

A．spared

B．searched

C．recorded

D．contributed