Television has turned 88 years old on September 7, 2015, and it has never looked better.

In its youth, television was a piece of furniture with a tiny, round screen showing unclear pictures of low­ budget programs. In spite of its shortcomings, it became well-received. Between 1950 and 1963, the number of American families with a television jumped from 9% to 92% of the population.

As the audience got larger, the technology got better. Television sets became more reliable through the 1960s. Both of the reception and the picture improved. The major networks started broadcasting programs in color.

Even greater improvements were coming according to Sanford Brown, who wrote an article for the Post in 1967. Surprisingly, just about every prediction he made in the article became a reality. For example: All sets in the not­ distant future will be color instruments. He also predicted that TV sets would become smaller, simpler, more reliable and less expensive and may forever put the TV repairman out of work. Smaller sets do not, of course, mean smaller screens. TV engineers expect screens to get much bigger. However, today's 3­D TV is even farther away, if it's coming at all. There is some doubt whether the public would be eager to pay for it, in view of people's cold reception given to 3­D movies.

But the technology with the greatest potential, according to Brown, was cable television (有线电视), which was still in its early stages then. As he predicted, the future of cable television was highly interactive. It wasn't cable television that gave Americans their electronic connection to the world, however. It was the Internet. He even foresaw the future office: using picture phones, big screen televisions for conferences, and computers providing information, at the touch of a button.

Brown ever said, “The future of television is no longer a question of what we can invent. It's a question of what we want.”

1.What can we infer about television sets in the 1960s?

A.They were very popular with Americans.

B.The reception showed no improvement

C.They showed black­-and-­white pictures

D.They were out of order now and then

2.Which of the followings did Sanford Brown fail to predict?

A.Television's good quality.

B.The invention of 3­-D TV.

C.The future office’s model

D.The potential of cable TV.

3.What is the text mainly about?

A.The shortcomings of television.

B.The bright future of television.

C.The development of television.

D.The invention of television.

阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中, 选出可以填人空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A couple of weeks ago, I made a trip to Toronto with my granddaughter who just turned three years old. The two of us were on our way to her parents, and my wife---her . who had been gone for over a week. We were all anxious to again and as I pulled out of Mamere and Papere's driveway in Chelmsford, Hailee and 1 were both about the trip and couldn't wait to arrive at our .

When we completed the "SEVEN"-hour trip to Toronto later that day, the reunion was absolutely________ and I can sincerely say I enjoyed every single minute of that journey.

Hailee is at that“1 want to it myself' stage of her life. And if you can just get over the "hurry-up syndrome" we acquire as ,it is wonderful to witness Who knew that putting a straw into the in a juice box for the very first time could be such an earth-shattering（惊天动地的）event? Or being enough to actually open the fridge door for the first time? Or putting on your own on the right feet-would be so ？

I'll never forget the look on her face the day she was able to into my truck by herself. She finally on my seat, holding onto the steering wheel(方向盘) and declared ，“I did it!" And when she could actually put her own seat belt on -what a(n) ！

Have you ever watched a three-year-old to sip a McDonald's milkshake through a straw? It is hard enough for an adult, too. And every time the icy solution(溶液) touched her lips, you could see the in her eyes. I learned that you can't hurry a child through a milkshake.

1.A. follow B help C. bless D. visit

2.A. mother B. father C. grandma D. aunt

3.A. get together B. turn up C. pay off D. settle down

4.A. concerned B. excited C. hopeful D. anxious

5.A. destination B. conference C. city D. hometown

6.A. hard B. wonderful C. timely D. surprising

7.A. frequent B. final C. tough D. long

8.A. carry B. prove C. do D. explain

9.A. doctors B. parents C. friends D. adults

10.A. bottle B. ring C. hole D. comer

11.A. clever B. strong C. friendly D. early

12.A. shoes B. socks C. sweater D. trousers

13.A. difficult B. satisfying C. useful D. simple

14.A. hide B. jump C. run D. climb

15.A. sat B. leaned C. stood up D. looked up

16.A. carefully B. bravely C. politely D. proudly

17.A truck B moment C. example D. goal

18.A. struggle B. expect C. offer D. hope

19.A when B. then C. though D. yet

20.A. delight B. anger C. fear D. sadness

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

I was nine years old when I learnt to ride a bike. The bike was a birthday present from my uncle. You can imagine how 1. (excite)I was when I saw the bike, and I begged my uncle to teach me how 2. (ride) it right away. However, before I got on the bike, I felt 3. (extreme) nervous and l was afraid that l would fall off and hurt 4. (me). My uncle held onto the seat and helped me to get 5. the bike. While l was riding, he was running along beside me, holding the seat so I would not fall over .I was so 6. (grate) to him for his help. As I was practicing, I became more and more confident. Then, I heard my uncle

shouting, "You are riding it by yourself now!"I was both excited and scared. I was really riding by myself, but 7. if I fell off? Could I use the brakes to stop? As I was wondering about this, my uncle ran after me and got hold of the bike. I 8. (slow) down and came to a stop. My heart was still beating fast when I got off the bike. 9. (late)that day, having learnt how to get on the bike and get off it, I felt like l was walking on air! I am still thankful to my uncle for teaching me to ride a bike on my 10. (nine) birthday.

Wikipedia (维基百科) is a non-profit website funded by donations, started on 15th January, 2001. “Wiki” means “quick” in the Hawaiian language. These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia (百科), to look something up. But how reliable is it?

The site attracts 78 million visitors every month, and it is available in more than 270 different languages. It’s one of the most comprehensive (综合的) resources available, and it’s got much more information than an ordinary encyclopedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can look through and edit the contents or add a new page at any time. And you don’t need any formal training.

Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. And main targets for horrible comments (such as politicians) are forbidden to public editing. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn’t easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it’s also open to “vandals”(故意捣乱者).

Some of the damage is easy to notice. Someone drew horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates’ photo. But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Unbelievably, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the tricks. For example, in an obituary (讣告) for British comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, one newspaper claimed that he co-wrote Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime song “There’ll be Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover”. In fact, he did no such thing.

So if you’re going to use any information from Wikipedia, make sure you double-check it first.

1.What do we know about Wikipedia?

A. It makes profits from its users.

B. It is run by the Hawaiian government.

C. It provides a huge amount of information.

D. It is the most popular website worldwide.

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. 78 million people visit Wiki each day

B. To forbid wrong public editings is quite easy

C. Formal education is needed to do editing for Wifi

D. Some people change the information on Wiki just for fun

3. The example of Norman Wisdom’s obituary is used to show _________.

A. Wikipedia sometimes contains false information

B. some newspapers like The Guardian are irresponsible

C. Norman Wisdom is unpopular with some people

D. Wikipedia affects people’s lives greatly

4.What does the author advise readers to do?

A. To look through Wikipedia frequently.

B. To update Wikipedia on a daily basis.

C. To turn to other websites for valid information.

D. To be careful when using the information from Wikipedia.

In April 2014, the world’s oldest known message in a bottle was discovered floating in the Baltic Sea. It had spent 101years lost in the ocean! The message was finally sent to the author’s granddaughter.

A German fisherman named Konrad Fischer found the brown bottle near Kiel, Germany. He said he nearly threw the bottle back into the water after pulling it out of a fishing net. Then he noticed something inside.

The bottle in good condition contained a Danish postcard with two German stamps, dated May 17, 1913. Although dampness had made most of the writing illegible(字迹模糊的), the readable part of the message asked whoever found it to return it to an address in Berlin. It even contained two stamps to pay for postage.

From the address, researchers found that the postcard was written by a man named Richard Platz, who was 20 years old when he wrote the message. While he was hiking on the Baltic coast with a nature appreciation group, he threw the bottle into the sea. Then the researcher began a research for any living relatives of his. Sure enough, they were able to find his 62-year-old grandfather, Angela Erdmann, who still lives in Berlin.

"It was almost unbelievable," Erdmann said upon being presented with her grandfather's bottle and message, as quoted in The Local. "That was a pretty moving moment. Tears rolled down my face."

Erdmann never knew her grandfather, who died in 1946, but says that the discovery of the bottle has made her want to learn more about him.

The bottle remained on display at the International Maritime Museum Hamburg until May 1. After that, the researchers examined the postcard and tried to figure out the meaning of the rest of the message.

Previously, the oldest message found in a bottle spent nearly 98 years at sea and was discovered in April 2012, according to Guinness World Records.

1.When Konrad picked up the bottle from the sea, __________.

A.he thought it would bring him good luck.

B.he noticed the postcard inside immediately.

C.he decided to uncover the secret of the bottle.

D.he wanted to throw it back into the sea at first.

2.Why did Richard Platz throw the bottle with the message into the sea?

A.He expected his grandfather could find the postcard.

B.He wished the finder would send the postcard to his home.

C.He believed his postcard would be kept secret at sea forever.

D.He thought he could make friends with the finder of the bottle.

3.What can be the best title for this passage?

A.The finding of a floating bottle at the sea.

B.A one-century-old letter to a grandfather.

C.The world’s oldest message in a floating bottle.

D.The oldest Danish postcard in a floating bottle.

Sometimes willpower is a lot like the television remote control hard to find just when you want it most.1.But there are ways to increase your will power.

Don’t try to change your economic situation, win a promotion and lose weight all on the same morning. Set one clear, specific goal and make a realistic plan to achieve it. Extra willpower sometimes requires extra energy, so don’t spread yourself too thin.2.

Whatever your goal is, don’t expect to achieve it overnight. 3.If you are trying to kick a coffee habit, start by replacing your morning cup of coffee with a glass of water, instead of promising never to drink coffee again. Congratulate yourself on the small achievements. These successes help your willpower grow.

4.Ask friends, family or colleagues for assistance and tell them exactly how they can help. If your credit card bills have risen, for instance, let friends know that you are cutting back on expenses. Suggest having a common dinner instead of meeting at an expensive restaurant. Find support group or organization related to your goal and attend their meetings. You can get valuable advice, understanding and information.

If possible, change your environment to encourage positive behavior. Want to get in shape? Keep an set of workout clothes in your office as a reminder to stop by the gym on the way home. Quitting smoking? 5.

A. Real success takes time.

B. Focus on one goal at a time.

C. Change your environment to change your life.

D. Improve your willpower by a support network.

E. Changing your behavior requires more than willpower.

F. Avoid bars or restaurants where you might be attracted to light up.

G. Breaking a bad habit or forming a new and healthy one can be difficult.

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。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（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每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。

Recently a survey has been done find out the reading interests of senior middle school students. With this survey, two thousands senior middle school students from ten schools in Lanzhou were interviewed. They were asking which they liked reading most among the four categories of English articles: news, stories, popular science articles and articles about learning methods.

The survey show that more than a half of the students like to read news most. Twenty-six percent of the students say that English stories are his favorite. Only seven percent of the students are mostly interested in reading articles about learning methods. However, the number of students who enjoy read popular science articles doubles that of those which prefer reading articles about learning methods.

Peter’ shirt looked just the same as Tom’s，but it cost ______ his．

A．as much twice as B．twice as much as

C．much as twice as D．as twice much as

________ around the Water Cube，we were then taken to see the Bird’s Nest．

A．Having shown B．To be shown

C．Having been shown D．To show

I have an appointment _______ Dr．Brown，but I need to change it．

A．to B．off

C．with D．from