Last week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan declared a war on paper textbooks. “Over the next few years,” he said in a speech at the National Press Club, “textbooks should be abandoned.” In their place would come a variety of digital-learning technologies, like e-readers and multi-media websites.

Such technologies certainly have their place. But Secretary Duncan is threatening to light a fire to a tried-and-true technology—good old paper—that has been the foundation for one of the great educational systems on the planet. And while e-readers and multi-media may seem appealing, the idea of replacing an effective learning platform with a widely hyped (炒作) but still unproven one is extremely dangerous.

An expert on reading, Maryanne Wolf, has recently begun studying the effects of digital reading on learning, and so far the results are mixed. She worries that Internet reading, in particular, could be such a source of distractions(分散注意力) for the student that they may cancel out most other potential benefits of a web-linked, e-learning environment, and while it’s true that the high-tech industry has sponsored substantial amounts of research on the potential benefits of Web-based learning, not enough time has passed for longitudinal（纵向的） studies to demonstrate the full effects.

In addition, digital-reading advocates claim that lightweight e-books benefit students’ backs and save schools money. But the rolling backpack seems to have solved the weight problem, and the astounding costs to outfit every student with an e-reader, provide technical support and pay for regular software updates promise to make the e-textbook a very pricey choice.

As both a teacher who uses paper textbooks and a student of urban history, I can’t help but wonder what parallels exist between my own field and this sudden, wholesale abandonment of the technology of paper.

1.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. A tried and true technology is paper, long used in educational system.

B. Digital learning technologies will replace the paper textbooks sooner or later.

C. E-readers and multimedia websites are learning methods that are proved effective.

D. Multi-media websites and a good old paper are kinds of digital-learning technologies.

2.What are drawbacks of textbooks according to the passage?

A. Its price. B. Its weight. C. Its content. D. Its appearance.

3.What worries Maryanne Wolf is that ________.

A. paper learning can provide more potential benefits

B. the results of digital reading effects are understandable

C. students may not focus on learning by digital reading

D. digital reading can’t provide potential benefits for users

4.What is the author’s attitude towards digital-learning?

A. disapproving. B. supportive. C. positive. D. objective.

Imagine that you’re an actor or actress performing in a play for the first time. You’ve learned all your lines and you know where to walk on stage. Waiting behind the closed curtain, you can hear the audience whispering. Then your big moment arrives! The curtain goes up, and the crowd falls silent. All you can see is the spotlight shining down on you. 1.The inside of your mouth is dry, and your hands are wet.

If you’ve experienced a moment like this, you know all too well what it means to have stage fright. It’s one of the most common types of fear. 2.You can experience this kind of fear when playing sports, giving a talk, or even speaking in class.

3.The experience differs from person to person, but the same chemical process occurs on each of us. In reaction to anxiety, our bodies produce a chemical that prepares us to either fight or run away quickly. Scientists refer to this as our bodies’ “fight for flight” reaction. As a result, we feel the great energy that makes our hands sweat, our hearts race and knees shake.

4.Practicing your performance and following some simple tips can help you calm down and manage the feelings caused by anxiety. Firstly, dress comfortably and appropriately. Secondly, before the performance, take deep breaths and stretch to help relax your body. Thirdly, stay away from drinks that contain caffeine(咖啡因). 5.Instead, try a banana! Some doctors believe that eating a banana can help calm your heart and the rest of your body. Finally, when you look into a crowd, try to focus on particular people rather than the whole group. These tips have helped many people learn to deal with their fears.

A. These might make your heart race even faster.

B. Maybe you don’t have to be onstage to get stage fright.

C. Stage fright is really part of the body’s reaction to stress.

D. With practice, we can learn how to relax while playing sports.

E. Then you try to speak your lines, but nothing seems to come out.

F. There’s a time when stage fright prevents you from stepping onstage.

G. However, the good news about stage fright is that there are a way to deal with it.

As a child, Bill was untidy. It has been said that in order to _______this, his Mum drew up _______clothing plans for him. On Mondays he might go to school in blue…on Thursdays in black, and so on. Weekend meal _______might also be planned in detail.

People around Bill _______that he was exceptional. One of his friends recalled, “he was _______the kind of kid you didn’t want_______our team. We all knew Bill was _______than us. Even back then, when he was nine or ten years old, he talked like a(an) _______and could express himself in ways that none of us understood.”

Bill was also well _______his classmates in mathematics and science. He needed to go to a school that ________him, Lakeside, an all-boys’ school for ________students.

Lakeside allowed students to go after their own ________, to whatever extent they wished. The school ________itself on helping all its students to reach their ________potential. It was the ideal environment for someone like Bill Gates.

During his time at Lakeside, Bill scored a ________eight hundred on a mathematics test. It was extremely important to him to get this grade—he had to take the ________more than once in order to do it.

Computer time was expensive and, because he was anxious to get more ________and because Bill already had an understanding ________what he could achieve ________, he decided to ________a company: The Lakeside Programmers Group. “Let’s call the real world and try to sell something to it!” Bill announced.

1.A. balance B. keep C. watch D. control

2.A. certain B. strict C. weekly D. timely

3.A. dishes B. conferences C. places D. schedules

4.A. saw B. discussed C. confused D. recognized

5.A. ever B. never C. seldom D. always

6.A. for B. on C. among D. against

7.A. smarter B. older C. stronger D. braver

8.A. child B. teacher C. adult D. man

9.A. back off B. far from C. ahead of D. more than

10.A. defeated B. challenged C. entertained D. monitored

11.A. exceptional B. rich C. ordinary D. special

12.A. friends B. values C. careers D. interests

13.A. looked B. opened C. prided D. tricked

14.A. deep B. sacred C. full D. rich

15.A. logical B. tough C. imaginary D. perfect

16.A. test B. lesson C. task D. measure

17.A. time B. fund C. help D. grade

18.A. to B. of C. from D. behind

19.A. psychologically B. financially C. wisely D. universally

20.A. pick up B. take up C. send up D. set up

Many of van Gogh’s paintings were inspired by warm, yellow sunlight because he loved how it could light up the world in different ways. His painting Sunflowers, for example,1.(fill) with vivid yellows and browns. These colors give 2.painting a feeling of warmth and well-being. However, the sunflowers are actually dead and dying.

The result is a painting that combines the warmth of life that van Gogh loved 3.the feelings of sadness that were all around him. It is a painting that is warm, beautiful and sad, all at the same time.

Van Gogh’s most famous painting. The Starry Night, takes this 4.(mix) of joy and sadness one step further. It is a landscape full of deep blues and shadows 5.represent the sadness van Gogh was feeling as he 6.(paint), rather than what he was actually seeing.

This is why van Gogh’s 7.(image) in his painting look more imagined than real. The stars and moon in The Starry Night are 8.(unusual) bright, 9.(they) light swirling(旋动) above the darkening hills. A tree that looks like black fire cuts through the view of the night, 10.(interrupt) its beauty.

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（∧），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限一词;

2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

In the village where I grew up, everyone knew an old man, that spent all his time in painting. People that lived in the village used to admiring his works and he often gave his paintings to his friends. Whether he was offered money, he would never take it. He said he painted for a pleasure. He once gave one of his paintings to my father, who actually wasn’t interesting in art. Years later I found at our old house. By that time the old man had died and people had started to recognize his paintings as great work of art, which were worth lots of money. So an art gallery make me an offer of $5,000 for this painting and I nearly sold it, so then I decided not to. It reminds me of my childhood and of the old man who didn’t real want to make money by painting.

第二节 书面表达(满分25分)

假定你是李华，你校将迎接英国学生代表团。作为学校书法社团部长，请你写一篇发言稿，要点如下：

1.介绍书法用品

2.阐述书法学习的好处

3.邀请英国学生参加书法练习活动

注意：

1. 词数100左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯

3. 开头以为你写好。

参考词汇 书法calligraphy

文房四宝 the Four Treasures of the Study (writing brush, ink stick, paper, ink slab)

Dear friends,

We’d like to share our culture with you by introducing you to the art of Chinese calligraphy.

_____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

British Women Writers in different periods of time

The English Renaissance

The English Renaissance began in the later part of the fifteenth century and lasted until the 1660s. Among the most famous women writers of this period is Aphra Behn, who is seen as the first professional woman writer in English. She wrote a number of plays that dealt with topics such as racism and slavery. A good example is Oroonoko published in 1688. Aphra Behn's works include also the plays The Amourous Prince, The Town Fop, The Dutch Lover and her only tragedy, Abdelazer.

The neoclassical period

Among the well-known women in British literature during the neoclassical period, from 1660 to the end of the eighteenth century, is Anne Finch. She wrote poetry and tried to express all that she saw and experienced. Two other women are recognized for their contribution to neoclassical British literature: Mary Astell and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Mary Astell was a philosopher and a feminist writer. She is best known now for her theories on the education of women.

The Romantic period

Jane Austen is one of the most famous women writers that worked during the Romantic period (1798-1832). Her works include several novels, most of which focus on marriage as a way for young women to secure social standing and economic security. Her most famous novels are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Another famous woman writer from the English Romanticism is Mary Shelley. She is the author of Frankenstein, History of Six Weeks Tour and The Last Man.

The Victorian period

The Victorian period, between the 1830s and 1900, was the time when the Bronte sisters, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell lived and wrote. Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte produced many British literary classics. Charlotte's novels include Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette and The Professor. Mary Anne Evans adopted the male pen name George as she wanted to set herself apart from the feminine genre of cookbooks and domestic moral tales. Her most famous novel is The Mill on the Floss published in 1860.

1.According to the passage, Aphra Behn’s plays mainly concern ________.

A. racism and slavery B. economic security

C. education of women D. cooking and gardening

2.Which period does Jane Austen belong to?

A. the English Renaissance. B. the Neoclassical Period.

C. the Romantic period. D. the Victorian period.

3.Why did Mary Anne Evans publish her stories under the name of George Eliot?

A. Women were forbidden to write novels then.

B. It helped promote her works.

C. It sounded more popular.

D. Her works would be different.

4.If a reader is interested in women’s education, whose works can be the best choice?

A. Anne Finch’s. B. Mary Astell’s.

C. Mary Wortley Montagu’s. D. Mary Shelley’s.

Visitors to the grounds of New College at England’s Oxford University pass under an iron gate with the advice: Manners make the man. Even after an appropriate update to: Manners make the person, it’s thought-provoking(引人深思的)—especially to today’s Americans.

When we think about what makes the person—it’s more likely the degree, the job, the salary. Since when do we count manners as a measure of success?

We do know that these would make life nicer, if more tolerable. Nevertheless, we forget or overlook our manners. So it seems, does everyone else—including, unluckily, our children.

As a university president, one of my great joys is to visit our campuses and see our students though we’re separated by different generations, interests, and, of course dressing, each student tells me something within the first few minutes that we meet: whether he or she has been taught manners. I sense this in different ways: through her words or her gestures, in the way she listens or how he refers to friends and faculty, how she greets and says goodbye, how he responds when an elderly person enters the room.

In the absence of manners, however, I make some allowances. For instance, the many ethnic(种族的)groups that students represent often have different explanations of what makes up good manners. In other cases, some students may reject what they’ve learned to break from their parents and be accepted by other students. Whether students are being different or openly opposing, a recent experience I had with them tells me that there’s some hope for reviving and good manners.

Good manners don’t just guarantee acceptance. Good manners open doors to deeper connections and more meaningful roles in our society. Good manners are gentle signals that show we care about one another and allow us to relate to another person in a thoughtful way but at a respectable distance.

1.Which of the following is seldom a mark of success to people today?

A. Handsome income. B. Polite behavior.

C. An academic degree. D. High ranks in the office

2.The main idea of paragraph 4 is more likely that ________.

A. manners can be taught in different ways

B. how the president of New College cares about his students

C. generation gap does exist between students and faculty members

D. what students say and do can indicate if they have mannered behavior

3.From the last paragraph we can learn that the biggest benefit by good manners would be that ________.

A. good manners guarantee acceptance of others

B. good manners inspire students to study harder

C. good manners help deeper connections with others

D. good manners guarantee students to get whatever they want

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was not leaning when it was built in 1173 and it was straight like a pole. It started to shift direction soon after construction because of poor foundation in addition to the loose layer of subsoil(底土). At the beginning, it leaned to the southeast before the shaky foundation started to shift leaning towards the southwest. After the period of structural strengthening in the beginning of 21st century, now the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans at an angle of 3.97 degrees.

In 1178, the shift in direction was observed for the first time when the construction had progressed further to the third floor. The tower was very heavy for the three-meter foundation that was built on a weak area of land.

For compensating(补偿) the leaning position, the builders started to construct the upper floors with one side higher than the other one. This caused the tower to lean in the other direction. This unusual structure led to the tower being actually curved. In spite of these efforts, the tower kept on leaning.

The government of Italy started to plan a prevention of the complete collapse of the tower in 1964. However, a request was put forward by the authorities to keep the leaning position because of the tourism industry of the region.

After nearly two decades of careful planning by engineers, historians and mathematicians, the stabilization efforts for the Leaning Tower of Pisa started in 1990. The tower was closed for the general public and the people living nearby moved away. For reducing the total weight of the tower, its seven bells which represented the seven musical notes were removed. The tower was reopened for the general public on December 15, 2001.

In May 2008, after removing another 70 metric tons of earth, the engineers announced that the tower had been finally stabilized and it would remain stable for at least 200 years.

1.Why did the Leaning Tower of Pisa began to lean?

A. It was too high like a pole.

B. Its foundation was far from strong.

C. The work of repair was delayed.

D. Its foundation shook badly.

2.When did people notice the Leaning Tower of Pisa shift its direction?

A. As soon as it was constructed.

B. At the end of the construction.

C. Soon after the construction.

D. In the course of the construction.

3.Why did the authorities prefer to keep the leaning position of the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

A. They wanted to attract more tourists.

B. They lacked funds then.

C. It was a mission impossible to make the Tower up-straight.

D. They were short of engineers, historians and mathematicians.

4.Which of the following is the right order according to this passage?

a. People noticed the tower began to shift its direction.

b. The repair work was carried out last time.

c. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was repaired for the first time.

d. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built.

e. The tower was opened to the visitors again.

f. The government started to make a plan for the tower.

A. c, d, a, f, b, e

B. f, e, a, d, c, b

C. d, e, b, f, c, a

D. d, a, f, c, e, b

Artificial intelligence can ide ntify skin cancer in photographs with the same accuracy as trained doctors, say scientists. The Stanford University team said the findings were "incredibly exciting" and would now be tested in clinics. Eventually, they believe using AI could revolutionize healthcare by turning anyone’s smart-phone into a cancer scanner.

The AI was repurposed from software developed by Google that had learned to spot the difference between images of cats and dogs. It was shown 129,450 photographs and told what type of skin condition it was looking at in each one.

It then learned to spot the hallmarks of the most common type of skin cancer: carcinoma, and the most deadly: melanoma(黑色素瘤). Only one in 20 skin cancers are melanoma, yet the tumor(肿瘤) accounts for three-quarters of skin cancer deaths.

The experiment, detailed in the journal Nature, then tested the AI against 21 trained skin cancer doctors. One of the researchers, Dr Andre Esteva, told the BBC News website: "We find excitedly, in general, that we are on par with excellent skin cancer doctors."

However, the computer software cannot make a full diagnosis, as this is normally confirmed with a tissue biopsy(活检). Dr Esteva said the system now needed to be tested alongside doctors in the clinic. "The application of AI to healthcare is, we believe, an incredibly exciting area of research that can be leveraged to achieve a great deal of societal good," he said. "One particular route that we find exciting is the use of this algorithm on a mobile device, but to achieve this we would have to build an app and test its accuracy directly from a mobile device." Incredible advances in machine-learning have already led to AI beating one of humanity's best Go players.

And a team of doctors in London have trained AI to predict when the heart will fail.

1.From the passage we can infer that ________.

A. Artificial Intelligence must replace human one day

B. we can use Artificial Intelligence to cure skin cancers

C. we can use smart-phone to scan our skin at present

D. the research will be of great help to us and our health care

2.Which one will he agree with according to Dr Esteva?

A. Artificial Intelligence has beaten all of humanity’s best Go players.

B. Artificial Intelligence could support assessments by GPs.

C. We still need professional doctors with the help of the system.

D. There are too many disadvantages for Artificial Intelligence.

3.The underlined words “on par with” in Para 4 likely mean ________.

A. inferior to B. equaled by C. superior to D. opposite to

4.What’s probably the best title of this passage?

A. Cancer Doctors Are Out

B. An APP Scanning Skin Cancers

C. Artificial Intelligence—change our future

D. Artificial Intelligence—as good as cancer doctors