【题目】Summer Rain

The worst days of any summer are the rainy ones. We spend all year looking forward to nice weather and long, hot days. All of winter, with its cloudy days and bitter cold, we dream of those endless days at the beach, lying on the sand and enjoying the bright and burning sun. And then, summer comes, and it rains.

As a child, I would wake up to rainy summer days and come close to crying. It wasn’t fair. We suffered through months of school and experienced bad weather for those short ten weeks of freedom and pleasant weather.

On those rainy summer days, I had nothing fun to do and could only sit inside, staring out at the rain like a bird in a cage. I was an only child, so there was no one else to play with. My father worked from home, so I was not truly alone, but he could not actively play with me since he was at work. It was those days that I would watch whatever was on television or read any books that I could find lying around. I’d drag through the day and pray each night that the rain would not be there the next day.

As an adult, though, my opinion of summer rain has changed. When you have to work every day, summer is not as exciting. Everything seems dull. Such a mindset makes you cheer for anything new or different. I spend the winter dreaming of summer and the summer dreaming of winter. When summer comes, I hate how hot it is. And then I look forward to the rain, because the rain brings with it a cold front, which makes me comfortable. Rainy days are still the worst days of the summer, but summer rain today means positively beautiful — and considerably cooler — weather tomorrow.

【1】When the author was a child, he ______.

A. hated rainy days

B. liked staying indoors

C. preferred cooler weather

D. dreamed on summer days

【2】We can learn from the passage that the author ______.

A. was often left alone at home

B. had no brothers or sisters

C. preferred reading to playing outside

D. could enjoy the brilliant sun in winter

【3】As an adult, the author views summer rain differently because ______.

A. he knows it won’t last long

B. his summer holiday is very short

C. rain makes the weather cooler

D. he can better deal with his holiday

【题目】As far as I’m concerned, education is about learning and the more you learn, .

A. the more for life are you equipped

B. the more equipped for life you are

C. the more life you are equipped for

D. you are equipped the more for life

【题目】Ever walked to the shops only to find, once there, you’ve completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old friend? For years we’ve accepted that a forgetful brain is as much a part of aging as wrinkles and gray hair. But now a new book suggests that we’ve got it all wrong.

According to The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important things, our brains actually get better with age. In fact, she argues that some studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s — much later than previously thought.

Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we keep them, and even produce new ones well into middle age. For years it’s been assumed that brain, much like the body, declines with age. But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.

This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years. It has found that on average, participants performed better on cognitive (认知的) tests in their 40s and 50s than they had done in their 20s. Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, verbal memory (how many words you can remember) and problem solving. Where they performed less well was number ability and perceptual speed — how fast you can push a button when ordered. However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond. In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof that we do get wiser with age.

Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with aging. A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions. It is thought that when we’re younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we’ve learned our lessons and are aware that we have less time left in life: therefore, it becomes more important for us to be happy.

【1】Barbara Strauch probably agrees that ______.

A. the young are better at handling important things

B. people’s brains work best between their 40s and 60s

C. aging leads to the decline of the function of the brain

D. wrinkles and gray hair are the only symbols of aging

【2】The continuing research has found older people perform better on ______.

A. perceptual speed B. number ability

C. vocabulary tests D. body balance

【3】People are happier with aging because ______.

A. they learn to value the time left

B. they know how to share feelings

C. they cannot focus on negative aspects

D. they do not realize the possible dangers

【4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A. People get happier with age.

B. People get wiser with age.

C. People get more forgetful with age.

D. People get more self-aware with age.

【题目】Paper produced every year is the world’s production of vehicles.

A. the three weight of

B. three times the weight of

C. as three times heavy as

D. three times as heavier as

【题目】书面表达

假设你是李华。你班同学决定为小明举办生日聚会。请你写信邀请外教Susan参加，要点包括：1、时间：周五晚8点至9点

2、地点：学生俱乐部

3、内容：生日歌、蛋糕、游戏等

4、要求：备小礼物

注意：1、词数100左右，开头语已为你写好；

2、可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3、答案必须写在答题卡相应的位置上。

【题目】阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

When he was a little boy, Christopher Cockerell once noticed his mother turning the wheel of her sewing machine with her hand. “Won’t it work quickly if a machine【1】(turn) the wheel for you?” he asked. “I suppose it will.” said his mother, without paying any attention to him. Christopher knew she always had a lot of work and that she was【2】stubborn that he could hardly do anything to change【3】mind. But he wanted to help. In his bedroom there was a toy steam engine【4】(buy) by his father as a gift to him. “I will make better use of it,” little Christopher said to himself. So, when his mother was not using her sewing machine, he decided to fix the toy steam engine onto it. When he finished【5】(do) it, he was quite pleased, thinking his mother would like it. “Very clever,” his mother said when she saw it. But then she sat down and went on turning the wheel【6】hand. “I【7】(work) like this for too many years,” she explained. Christopher felt very【8】(disappoint). He couldn’t understand his mother’s【9】(behave).

This teaches Christopher a lesson that anyone【10】tries to improve anything has to learn: many people don’t like new ideas.

【题目】 假如你是李华, 你班的留学生Charles即将结束三周的假期从美国返回。你想委托他为你代购一个剃须刀, 作为生日礼物送给爸爸。请按照以下要求给他写一封电子邮件:

1. 品牌: Gillette. 2. 价格: 30美元左右。 参考词汇: 剃须刀shaver

注意:

1. 词数100左右:

2. 可以适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯:

3. 开头语和结束语已为你写好, 不计入总词数。

Dear Charles,

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

【题目】短文改错

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:在错的词下画一横线,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。

As is known to us all, only before experiencing pains and failures in life can we really grow up good and mature physically and mentally. Once I was among the top student in my class, but later I suffered from serious disease, which almost cost my life. Luckily, I was survived. But I fell behind your fellow classmates due to missing too much lessons. But I was in despair. Then in came my head teacher, who encouraged me to study hard, convinced me that a rainbow only came after rain. And now with great efforts I have made progress.

【题目】Think about the different ways that people use the wind. You can use it to fly a kite or to sail a boat. Wind is one of our cleanest and richest power sources, as well as one of the oldest. Evidence shows that windmills began to be used in the ancient Iran back in the seventh century BC. They were first introduced to Europe during the 1100s, when armies returned from the Middle East with knowledge of using wind power.

For many centuries, people used windmills to grind(磨碎)wheat into flour or____water from deep underground. When electricity was discovered in the late 1800s, people living in remote areas began to use them to produce electricity. This allowed them to have electric lights and radios. However, by the 1940s when electricity was available to people in almost all areas of the United States, windmills were rarely used.

During the 1970s, people started becoming concerned about the pollution that is created when coal and gas are burned to produce electricity. People realized that the supply of coal and gas would not last forever. Then, wind was rediscovered, though it means higher costs. Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind.

【1】From the text we know that windmills _______.

A. were invented by European armies

B. have a history of more than 2,800 years

C. have rarely been used since electricity was discovered

D. used to supply power to radio in remote area

【2】The underlined word in Paragraph 2 probably means________.

A. making something cleaner

B. making something flow freely

C. making something flow in a particular direction

D. making something into small parts

【3】One of the reasons wind was discovered in the 1970s is that_______.

A. it is one of the oldest power sources

B. wind power is cleaner

C. it was cheaper to create energy from wind

D. coal and gas failed to meet the needs

【4】What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A. The global trend towards producing power from wind.

B. The design of wind power plants.

C. The worldwide movement to save energy.

D. The advantages of wind power.

【题目】短文改错

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处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误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(Λ)，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。

During the weekend, I travelled on a plane the first time in my life. I generally travel by train and bus, which is both very cheaper and safer. But that was a long journey, about hundreds of kilometers far away from our city. In the beginning, I didn’t feel very happy, and this feeling didn’t last long. The ride on the plane then is of great excitement. I was soon highly up in the air among the cloud. The views of mountains, fields and rivers were very amazed. I enjoyed my comfortable journey a lot. This experience has shown that travelling in air is actually the safest way of make journeys.