My favourite English teacher could draw humour out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary,Addison’s essays,and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious,even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own,some of them seemed dead,but the second time,after his explanation,I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humour. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions (典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.

  My least favourite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period,to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas,short stories,reactions to what we had read,and so on.   Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe,that class clown,who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage. ” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.

  So what makes the difference? Humour is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing,or it can tear them apart. It is true that humour is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating.

(   ) 1. The passage mainly discusses        .

   A. teaching   B. literature

   C. humour   D. knowledge

(   ) 2. The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1

probably means “________”.

   A. funny   B. tiring

   C. inspiring   D. brilliant

(   ) 3. With his favourite English teacher,the writer found it most amazing that________.

   A. his teacher was very learned

   B. his teacher was very humorous

   C. the works by Johnson and Addison were very humorous

   D. few were able to find humour in works by Johnson and others

(   ) 4. The English teacher the writer disliked most        .

   A. was not able to make students laugh

   B. hurt his students’ feelings

   C. didn’t let his students do the grading

   D. had no sense of humour

 最近，你们班召开了以“我的中国梦”为主题的班会活动。请写一篇日记，记述班会情况及自己的感受。内容要点如下：

1. 每位同学都畅谈了自己对中国梦的理解；

2. 你谈到了自己的梦想；

3. 如何实现自己的梦想。

注意：

1. 词数100左右；

2. 不可逐条翻译；

3. 开头已给出，不计入总词数。

Recently we had a class meeting on the topic of My Chinese Dream.

 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(A) ，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多条的词用斜线(\) 划掉。

修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1. 莓处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起) 不计分。

Do you read reviews after you see a movie? I use to do that,but I usually regretted. I read so much about a movie on advance that I often ended up not go to see it at all. The writers point out everything that is wrong with the film,but seldom mentions anything good about one. They also tell many things and even the ending of the movie. Lately I have changed way I choose movies to watch. I read reviews afterwards if necessary. What is very importance to me is that I don’t watch the talk shows in that people discuss movies. And I don’t ask other people how they like of it. Now,I enjoy myself even more.

  I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York,when one of my students,15-year-old Mikey,gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.

  I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were forged by my students. If I were to deal with them,I’d be busy 24 hours a day.

  The forged excuse notes made a large pile,with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull, “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off. ”

  Isn’t it remarkable,I thought,how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes,they were brilliant.

  So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents,but actually they are not. True,Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.

“Now,this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note—the first class,ever,to practice writing them.

You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study. ”

Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God^?. ” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends. The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down,looking at papers,and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office. ”

  When I stepped into his office,he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson,that task,whatever the hell you were doing,was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you. ”

(   ) 5. What did the author do with the students found dishonest?

   A. He reported them to the headmaster.

   B. He lectured them hard on honesty.

   C. He had them take notes before lunch.

   D. He helped improve their writing skills.

(   ) 6. The author had the students practice writing ex cuse notes so that the students could learn

   A. the importance of being honest

   B. how to write excuse notes skillfully

   C. the pleasure of creative writing

   D. how to be creative in writing

(   ) 7. The underlined word “forged” in the second para graph means "________"

   A. former   B. copied

   C. false   D. honest

(   ) 8. What did the headmaster think of the author’s way of teaching?

   A. Effective.

   B. Difficult.

   C. Misleading.

   D. Reasonable.

  Women are friendly. But men are more competitive. Why? Researchers have found it’s all down to the hormone oxytocin (荷尔蒙催生素) .Although known as the love hormone,it affects the sexes differently.

 “Women tend to be social in their behaviour. They often share with others. But men tend to be competitive. They are trying to improve their social status ,” said Professor Ryan.

 Generally,people believe that the hormone oxytocin is let out in our body in various social situations and our body creates a large amount of it during positive social interactions (互动) such as falling in love or giving birth.

  But in a previous experiment Professor Ryan found that the hormone is also let out in our body during negative social interactions such as envy.

  Further researches showed that in men the hormone oxytocin improves the ability to recognize competitive relationships,but in women it raises the ability to recognize friendship.

  Professor Ryan’s recent experiment used 62 men and women aged 20 to 37.

Half of the participants (参与者) received oxytocin. The other half received placebo (安慰剂).

  After a week,the two groups switched with participants. They went through the same procedure with the other material.

  Following each treatment,they were shown some video pictures with different social interactions. Then they were asked to analyze the relationships by answering some questions. The questions were about telling friendship from competition. And their answers should be based on gestures,body language and facial expressions.

  The results indicated that,after treatment with oxytocin,men’s ability to correctly recognize competitive relationships improved,but in women it was the ability to correctly recognize friendship that got better.

Professor Ryan thus concluded, “Our experiment proves that the hormone oxytocin can raise people’s abilities to better distinguish different social interactions. And the behaviour differences between men and women are caused by biological factors (因素) that are mainly hormonal. ”

(   ) 1. What causes men and women to behave differently according to the text?

   A. Placebo.

   B. Oxytocin.

   C. The gesture.

   D. The social status.

(   ) 2. What can we learn from Professor Ryan’s previous experiment?

   A. Oxytocin affects our behaviour in a different way.

   B. Our body lets out oxytocin when we are deep in love.

   C. Our body produces oxytocin when we feel unhappy about others’ success.

   D. Oxytocin improves our abilities to understand people’s behaviour differences.

(   ) 3. Why did Professor Ryan conduct the recent experi ment?

   A. To test the effect of oxytocin on the ability to recognize social interactions.

   B. To know the differences between friendship and competition.

   C. To know people’s different abilities to answer questions.

   D. To test people’s understanding of body language.

(   ) 4. The author develops the text by _________.

   A. explaining people’s behaviours

   B. describing his own experiences

   C. distinguishing sexual differences

   D. discussing research experiments

  There is a new market near my house. My mother often goes there and buys 1.        we need for our meals. But I had never been there before. Yesterday I went to the market with my mother. There were 2.        many people that we could hardly make our way out of the 3.     (crowded) .

  There were 4.        kinds of vegetables,fish and fruit everywhere. People were talking about the goods and the prices. The sellers’ shouts could be 5. (hear)

every now and then. I remembered that the day 6       .

  I asked Mother to buy some fresh fish. Most of the fish there was 7.        (freeze) ，but we had not much trouble 8.        (find) some fresh fish at the other part of the market. My mother bought something else as well. It was my

9.        time to go to the market,and I was 10.        (deep) impressed by what I saw in the market.

  My father’s friend Jane recently related a story to us. Due to some unfortunate circumstance her sister Cathy was left in the snow,far away from her cabin and companions during a trip to mountains. She was 1        because a man on his snow plow (伊雪车) found her and took her to a 2     at 2:00 am.

  The hospital first 3        Cathy was dead because she had been 4        in the snow for hours. But luckily,they were able to revive (使复苏) her. Cathy has been in hospital 5      .When she woke up,the doctor couldn’t 6 Jane that Cathy would be as 7        as before,but it seemed that she would be okay and back to normal 8     ! 

  Jane was 9        of money,and she got into trouble since she needed to 10        her sister’s hospital fees. Today she came to ask if my father could 11        her a few hundred dollars,since her employer didn’t give all her salary in advance 12        the situation.

  My father was 13        to give only $ 150 to her. I’m only a college student. I don’t have too much 14        of my own,but I was thinking about what I could do to help her. Finally I managed to 15        together $ 100 from my own money and passed it to her. She was really surprised,but also 16        grateful,and I felt happy that I could help ease someone else’s 17     in time of need.

  It may not be a huge 18        of kindness,but I felt great that I could be there to 19        someone—emotionally and financially. It always reminds me that I can reach out to those in need 20        I am not wealthy!

(   ) 1. A. worried   B. freezing

   C. lucky   D. weak

(   ) 2. A. base   B. hospital

   C. cabin   D. hotel

(   ) 3. A. found   B. reported

   C. discovered   D. thought

(   ) 4. A. waiting   B. blocked

   C. trapped   D. lying

(   ) 5. A. ever since   B. at once

   C. soon after   D. for long

(   ) 6. A. remind   B. assure

   C. say   D. warn

(   ) 7. A. pretty   B. active

   C. same   D. heavy

(   ) 8. A. too   B. yet

   C. forever   D. soon

(   ) 9. A. aware   B. afraid

   C. short   D. fond

(   ) 10. A. apply for   B. pay for

   C. long for   D. stand for

(   ) 11. A. lend   B. offer

   C. present   D. provide

(   ) 12. A. in view of   B. in need of

   C. in honour of   D. in spite of

(   ) 13. A. willing   B. prepared

   C. able   D. likely

(   ) 14. A. freedom   B. money

   C. thought   D. time

(   ) 15. A. gather   B. join

   C. hold   D. bring

(   ) 16. A. instantly   B. strongly

   C. lightly   D. extremely

(   ) 17. A. fear   B. pain

   C. burden   D. press

(   ) 18. A. act   B. trick

   C. plan   D. behaviour

(   ) 19. A. meet   B. cure

   C. pity   D. support

(   ) 20. A. if   B. though

   C. because   D. when

  Stay on the brighter side of life One very important component of optimism is gratitude or feeling grateful. In fact,there is a strong connection between a grateful attitude and a heightened sense of well-being. Appreciate all the positives in your life by starting a gratitude journal in order to remember what you’re grateful for.1.        Feeling down? Instead of feeling sorry for yourself waiting for the universe to throw you a bone,try acting like you’re happy—even if you aren’t. A sincere smile and a forced smile will cause the same chemical reactions in your brain,so you can actually fool your mind into feeling better by making it react chemically as if things were going well.2.        Reassure yourself that everything is good—even if you don’t feel it.

 “3.        If you’re stuck in traffic,then everything else must be going horribly too”’says Anne Parker,a wellness counselor. By blowing negative events out of proportion,you’re setting yourself up for feeling down all day. Instead,acknowledge that you’re stuck in traffic,but also bring to mind something good,like the beautiful scenery outside the window. That way,you’ll get in the habit of forbidding negative circumstances from blanketing your whole day.

  Swearing to lose 20 pounds or to run a marathon seems like goals leading to happiness,but they take time to achieve.4.        You may even end up admitting that you have been defeated. However,if you focus on the small milestones that occur along the way,you will feel positive about your progress,which will give you the strength to keep going.

  5.        Try making someone else’s day better. A report by United Healthcare and Volunteer Match found that volunteers are 72% more likely to characterize themselves as optimistic compared with non-volunteers. Plus,89% of volunteers say that volunteering has improved their sense of well-being,and 92% say that it enriches their sense of purpose in life.

   A. Try to help someone in need.

   B. Want to give your attitude a lift?

   C. People tend to think in an either-or way.

   D. Act in an optimistic way—smile,laugh,tell a joke.

   E. You’ll fail to appreciate more important things in your life.

   F. By focusing on not having accomplished them yet,you will start to feel down on yourself.

   G. By remembering the pleasant things in your life,you can actually turn a negative attitude around.

(   ) 1. To protect your skin from the sun,we should wear     

   A. a sun hat and dark-coloured clothes

   B. a baseball hat and dark-coloured clothes

   C. a sun hat and light-coloured clothes

   D. a baseball hat and light-coloured clothes

(   ) 2. You should put sun cream on your body EXCEPT     

   A. on your ears and neck

   B. on darker skin

   C. on dry skin

   D. around your eyes and eyelids

(   ) 3. We should spend time in the sun because     .

   A. we can drink more water

   B. it improves dry skin

   C. it’s a chance to wear cool sunglasses

   D. it helps keep our skin and bones healthy

(   ) 4. According to the text,which of the following is TRUE about sun cream?

   A. You needn’t put sun cream on often.

   B. Too much sun cream is dangerous to your skin.

   C. You need to use sun cream even on a cloudy day in summer.

   D. Sun cream starts to work immediately

 假设你是Li Hua ,昨天是你18岁的生日，请根据下列要点，用英语写一篇日记。

要点：

1. 简要描述庆祝生日的时间、地点、方式和参加对象；

2. 描述让你最感动的一个场景；

3. 最后写出你的感受。

注意：

1. 内容积极向上，语意连贯，结构完整；

2. 不能写成诗歌形式，不能使用具体的人名和地名；

3. 词数100左右；开头已给出，不计人总词数。

March 20,2014  Fine Yesterday was my 18th birthday.         

All are welcome!

Student Union