I read yesterday (yes, on a blog) that there are now blogging competitions!! I can’t believe it. A man in England won $2,000 for writing the best blog. There’s even a list of the best Chinese bloggers! I’ve read a few of them- before they were famous, I might add. I suppose that one blog can be better than another. It can be better written, more interesting, funnier, and I suppose that blogs are there to be read and judged (点评) by other people. If they’re not good, they’re not read. And they’re not just personal feelings. If they were, they’d be called diaries. Have locks, and be hidden under beds. So I’m OK with this whole competition thing. I just can’t believe I didn’t win!

This has got me thinking about why I’m writing this blog. I’m not doing it to win a competition (or I wasn’t when I started …) and I’m not doing it to show all my personal feelings – I do that in my diary. So, why am I a blogger?

To tell the truth, the first time I heard the word blog I thought it was a new word for a toilet. But I love learning new words so I used my knowledge and found out that a blog was a personal website and the word blog came from the words web log. Now a log is a type of diary kept by sailors (水手), and web, well, we all know that it has nothing to do with catching flies and everything to do with the Internet. Web log… weblog… blog…. Being a writer I loved the idea of getting my views (观点)onto the Internet where anyone could read them, and no editors (编辑) could get their hands on them!

So my first reason for blogging: I’m a writer. I want people to read what I write (un-edited!). And I love writing about anything I choose. I can write about saving the environment or complain about how the people in front of me in the cinema always seem to have big heads. And sometimes I pour out my heart too.

My second reason is that it’s relaxing. I don’t have to do research and write an article. I can let my thoughts go on as long as I like.

Third reason? To keep in touch.  I’m terrible on the phone and all my friends around the world read my blog (or they say they do …). Every now and then, I even upload a photo so they remember what I look like.

Is there a fourth reason? There probably is but now it’s time for dinner. Tomorrow I might even tell you what I ate.

1. The writer thinks a good blog is one that _____________.

  A. can let his thought go freely

  B. wins a blogging competition

  C. helps people keep in touch

  D. is read by large numbers of people

2. The writer loves writing blogs mainly because __________.

  A. his writing about feeling can be shown anywhere

  B. his writing would never be edited by others

  C. he enjoys writing something about big events

  D. he finds himself terrible on the phone

3. There’re __________reasons in the passage to explain why the writer is a blogger.

  A. 2                     B. 3                      C. 4                     D. 5

4. This passage is _________.

  A. a blog about blogging                     B. a diary about blogging

      C. a view on blogging                        D. a judgement on blogging

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed a boy ahead of him had dropped all of the books he was carrying. Mark helped the boy pick them up.   16   they were going the same way, he carried them for the boy. As they walked, Mark knew the boy’s name was Bill. Mark   17   discovered that he loved computer games, baseball and history and that he was having a lot of   18   with his other subjects.

They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in   19   Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed   20   with a few laughs and some shared small talk, and then Mark went home. They   21   to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice and then   22   ended up from the same high school. Just three weeks before they finished school, Bill asked Mark if they could have a talk.

Bill   23   him of the day years ago when they had first met. ‘Do you   24   wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?’ asked Bill. ‘You see, I   25   out my locker because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had planned to   26   from home and I was going home to pack my things. But after we spent some time together   27   and laughing, I realized that   28   I had done that, I would have   29   a new friend and missed all the fun we would have together. So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, you did a lot more. You   30   my life.’

1.A. After          B. Since            C. Although     D. Until

2. A. also          B. still            C. always       D. almost

3.A. questions      B. ideas            C. trouble      D. doubt

4.A. from           B. with             C. to           D. for

5. A. quickly       B. proudly        C. freely         D. pleasantly

6. A. continued     B. hoped            C. preferred        D. offered

7.A. all                B. both         C. every            D. none

8. A. removed           B. reminded     C. asked            D. described

9. A. ever          B. soon         C. even         D. never

10.A. checked           B. took         C. cleaned      D. put

11. A. run away     B. take away        C. put away     D. pass away

12.A. reading           B. playing          C. talking      D. watching

13.A. before            B. if               C. while        D. as

14.A. forgotten     B. made         C. became       D. lost

15.A. helped            B. saved            C. changed      D. improved

—You haven’t been to the West Lake, have you?

—_____. But I will go there with my parents this summer vacation.

        A.No, I haven’t     B.No, I didn’t      C.Yes, I have      D. yes, I did

1 

One day, my English teacher asked me to help her save back-up（备份） copies of her work in the computer. I then realized I was able to know the grades of all of her students. I   1   her how to copy files（文件） from one disk to another and she thanked me.

  A few days later, she asked me to help her again, because she   2   how to do it. When I showed it to her, some students in my class   3   and began to talk among themselves   4   .Later that day, at lunch time, several of them came up to me.

  “Hey, could you help us change our grades? We’ll   5   for it.”

  I could not believe what I heard. I could get paid for something very   6  . “All right. I’ll do it.” The next day, my English teacher   7   me to help him out again. When he was not paying   8   , I changed their grades from Fs to As.

  I soon became very   9   among my friends. They began to treat me like God who could do   10  . Word spread quickly and I became very rich.

  Everything was going fine   11   I was called into the headmaster’s office. When I got there, both of my teacher and the headmaster were very angry. “ I don’t want to   12   what your teacher said, but I have to. She has too much evidence(证据),’’ the headmaster said. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

  “No,” I said finally. I didn’t realize how   13   my behavior had been. I had disappointed my teacher and the headmaster. And there was no way   14  . I had to leave my school. That was a good   15   for me.

1.A. said B. urged           C. knew          D. showed

2.A. lost B. remembered      C. reminded       D. forgot

3.A. listened B. noticed          C. played         D. checked

4.A. quietly B. luckily           C. sincerely       D. angrily

5.A. pay B. praise            C. follow        D. explain

6.A. familiar B. easy             C. interesting     D. pleasant

7.A. challenged B. allowed          C. taught        D. asked

8.A. money B. work            C. attention       D. interest

9.A. common B. popular           C. modest        D. dishonest

10.A. something B. anything          C. nothing        D. some things

11.A. until B. since             C. because        D. after

12.A. believe B. reply             C. hate           D. influence

13.A. hard B. interesting         C. serious        D. important

14.A. up B. in               C. back           D. down

15.A. skill B. lesson            C. story          D. example