Many countries such as Iraq, Uganda, Guatemala, and many others have been known to abduct(诱拐)children and force them to serve in the army. The reason is that the enemy isn’t likely to suspect children as a real threat. Many non-government organizations are also known to abduct and force children into being child soldiers. Below we have some quotes from former child soldiers.

“The army was a nightmare. We suffered greatly from the cruel treatment we received. We were often beaten, mostly for no reason at all, just to keep us in a state of terror. I still have a scar on my lip and sharp pains in my stomach from being violently kicked by the older soldiers. The food was not enough, and they made us walk with heavy loads, much too heavy for our small bodies. They forced me to learn how to fight the enemy.”

——Emilio, 14

They gave me pills that made me crazy. When the craziness got in my head, I beat people on their heads and hurt them until they bled. When the craziness got out of my head, I felt guilty. If I remembered the person, I went to them and apologized. If they did not accept my apology, I felt bad.

­­­——Michael, 13

As seen in the quotes, the army is not very friendly toward children. Forced to act like adults, kill like adults, and carry an adult’s load, these children sometimes die from exhaustion(筋疲力尽). Below are some facts about child soldiers.

Today, as many as 300,000 children under the age of 18 serve in government forces or armed rebel groups. Some are as young as eight years old. Children are most likely to become child soldiers if they have no money to buy food and clothes. Many children join armed groups because of economic or social pressure, or because children believe that the group will offer food or safety. Child soldiers are used all over the world. Here is a list of where child soldiers are used.

59.Many countries force children to serve in the army because__________.

A.children are brave and strong

B.the enemy doesn’t consider children as a threat

C.there aren’t enough adults to join the army

D.they think children are very easy to control

60.Which of the following words can best describe Emilio’s feeling about his army life?

A.Adventurous              B.Happy                     C.Boring                     D.Terrible

61.When Michael became crazy, he would_____________.

A.try to kill people                                             B.apologize to people

C.beat people violently                                    D.feel guilty about himself

62.According to the passage, many children who become child soldiers_________.

A.are very poor                                                     B.have lost their parents

C.are loyal to their country                       D.are braver than other children

 

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night.The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

    My father realised it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him.I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same.I’m so glad I did

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape.After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea.As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背) in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby.We couldn’t believe it —there aren’t any whales along the coast here.The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale — actually as big as our boat — was obviously stuck and could not move.The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡) and waves.” She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said.At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently.With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water.Then it swam up right beside its mum.They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction.We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel.Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe — and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes.Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half.That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day, Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.

1.The author says “I’m so glad I did.” (in Para.2) because __________.

A.he witnessed the whole process of fishing

B.he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

C.he experienced the rescue of the whales       

D.he spent the weekend with his family

2.The harbour survived the storm owing to__________.

A.the shape of the harbour        B.the arms of the bay

C.the still water in the channel   D.the long coast line

3.The mother whale failed to help her baby because__________.

A.she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

B.the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

C.she had no other whales around to tutu to for help

D.the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

4.What is the theme of the story?

A.Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness.

B.Fishing provides excitement for children.

C.It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals.  

D.It’s vital to protect the environment.

 

 

第二部分:阅读理解(第一节20小题。第二节5小题;每小题2分,满分50分)

第一节:阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题纸上将该

选项标号涂黑。

     When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.

     It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie's basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted a red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.

     "Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint. " She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted big stripes ( 条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!

     The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn't wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother's face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.

     My mother shut the ear door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, "What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors' trees, but this! Come inside right now !" I stood there glaring back at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.

     "Now go clean it up!" Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.

     Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need some sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.

1. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?

   A. To introduce Stephanie to her.          B. To prevent her from seeing his painting.

   C. To put the materials back in the yard.    D. To show his artwork to her.

2. In his mother's eyes, the writer __ .

   A. was a born artist                          B. always caused trouble

   C. was a problem solver                      D. worked very hard

3. The underlined word "rainbow" in the last paragraph refers to __ .

   A. the rainbow in the sky                     B. the stripes on the pavement

   C. something imaginative and fun              D. important lessons learned in childhood

4. It can be learned from the passage that parents should       .

A. encourage children to paint          

B. value friendship among children

C. discover the hidden talent in children 

D. protect rather than destroy children's dreams

 

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