With the popularity of Harry Potter novels, the number of children applying to boarding schools has risen, many of them hoping to find their own version of Hogwarts. However, others have interpreted this trend as a reaction to longer working hours and the break up of more marriages. The boarding schools of fiction are presented as one long midnight feast with pillow fights making firm friendships. However, some people say the reality is children having more homesickness and a lack of individual attention. Modern boarding schools have done much to get rid of the image of the mass dormitories with 40 or more beds in one room, some going as far as providing private rooms with bathrooms. Similarly, they make great announcements for their academic advantage, particularly in light of the increase in exams, homework and university entrance requirements facing children wishing to succeed in the modern world.
Alongside these more conventional schools, two types of boarding schools have also become more popular recently. Sports academies and stage schools seek to cater for children with particular interests and talents, while so-called troubled-teens have been able to turn to a range of religious or wilderness schools to solve their problematic behavior.
Boarding schools allow children a safe space in which to accomplish greater control and independence over their daily lives. Teachers and staff can look after and support but they are unlikely to be over-protective. This can be a great preparation for university or for working away from home in later life as it provides an intermediate step between childhood and full independence.
However, Parents are a child’s most natural support and best role models to learn from. If they are separated from them for long periods of time, this may damage their relationship and leave the child feeling anxious or alone. Schools are unlikely to be able to copy the detailed knowledge of each individual child that a parent has and therefore cannot be as effective in supporting the child.
To sum up, boarding schools have both their advantages and disadvantages, so it is up to you to decide whether to send your children to boarding schools or not.
【小题1】What do we know from the passage?

I’m Adam Gun from Istanbul, Turkey. I’m in a good school. And at the age of 15, in my first year of high school. I’m a great fan of tennis and cycling. I play tennis twice a week for two hours each time. Sometimes I want to play more, but I just keep playing for hours on end, never getting tired of doing it. This is one of the rare things I love in my life, in addition to cycling.
Like tennis, I find that I’m able to ride for ever and ever. Since Istanbul is made up of large and small hills, it’s a nice challenge to ride my bike every day. Although there aren’t many cycling places in Istanbul, I’m lucky enough to live near the biggest park. It’s downhill from my house to the park and I enjoy cycling up as much as floating down, because it’s challenging.
Now I have been thinking about being a lawyer and following my father’s footsteps, but I just don’t think I’m into it. I have heard people tell me over and over again: If you want to be happy with your life, you need to like and enjoy your job. Well, I’m not sure about the fact that I will enjoy being a lawyer when I grow up. I’m just not the type of person who sits down and studies for hours. So I just need opinions on whether to become a tennis player(hopefully), to become a cyclist(hopefully) or to become a lawyer.
【小题1】We can know that Adam Gun is satisfied with ______.

In 2004，the World Health Organization，WHO，warned of a possible outbreak of another serious disease which may be even more deadly than SARS．The WHO believes that it is likely that bird flu will spread to human beings in the next few years．If it does，up to seven millions people could die from the disease．

Diseases like bird flu are caused by viruses，that is，tiny things which change and become more dangerous over time．When a new type of a common virus changes，it may be able to get past the body’s immune(免疫的)system．If that happens，humans are in great danger until a cure or treatment becomes available．

There have always been viruses and people always get sick，of course，but as we saw with SARS，the situation is more difficult today．People travel more than ever before，which means that disease can spread quickly and across large areas——in fact the whole world．

Scientists are already working on drugs that will prevent or limit the effect of a new virus，but the process takes time．It is just as important to make sure that countries，especially poor countries，are prepared to deal with the disease. New disease usually affect poor areas the most，so we must help develop health care in all countries．

The situation is more serious today because           ．

A．people travel more                                      B．people don’t eat healthy food

C．there aren’t enough hospitals                        D．scientists can’t find a cure

From this passage we know           ．

A．bird flu will surely spread to human beings in the next few years．

B．a virus changes and become less dangerous over time．

C．SARS is 1ikely to come again in some years．

D．poor areas usually suffers more from new diseases than rich areas．

The possible title of this passage is

A．The Work of WHO

B．Scientists Are Working Hard on Drugs for Diseases

C．What Is a Virus

D．Virus Changes and Causes New Diseases Over Time

According to sociologists(社会学家), every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification(阶层). Class, power and status are important in deciding people’s rank in society.

Class means a person’s economic position in society. A commonly used classification is lower class, middle class and upper class. While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined, they do describe societies like the United States quite well. One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class, 46% the middle class, and 1% the upper class. Interestingly, a surgeon earning ＄500,000 a year and a bus driver earning ＄50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class!

Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people. Obviously, people in positions of great power (such as governors) exercise(行使)big power, but people who take orders from others have less power. Power and class do not always go hand in hand, however. For example, the governor of a state has great power, but he or she may not belong to a corresponding (相应的)economic class. Generally, however, there is a relationship between power and class.   

To our knowledge, there aren’t too many people who aren’t millionaires in the U.S. Senate!

Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society. It can also be affected by power and class, but not necessarily so. For example, a university professor may have a high status but not belong to a high social class or have a lot of power over others.

1.What can we learn about “the middle class” from Paragraph 2?

A．People earning ＄50,000 a year belong to the middle class.

B．Nearly half Americans belong to the middle class.

C．People generally consider bus drivers as the middle class.

D．Sociologists have a clear definition of the middle class.

2.According to the text, we know that _____.

A．power and class do not always correspond with each other

B．status refers to a person’s economic position in society

C．people with high status have a lot of control over others

D．class is less important in deciding a person’s social rank

3.Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text?

完形填空（共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I went to Beijing this National holiday, and it was an interesting experience of my life.
My friends told us the taking the “hard  31 ” to Beijing would be really terrible. So we didn’t know what to   32 . But we were pleasantly surprised when we finally boarded the   33 , which was relatively modern and  34 . During the 14-hour ride we ate peanuts and talked. It was not  35 at all.
It was morning when we arrived. We stepped out of the railway station, having sat in hard seats and not getting much  36 . However, we had energy. First we tried to get return tickets to Shanghai, but the ticket seller  37  us that tickets would not be on  38  for another two days. We were a little worried about getting  39 , but we made up our minds to   40  for the hotel to put our bags down. After 41  our way past the “gypsy” taxi drivers that tried to  42  us 100 yuan for the ride, we found a taxi and it  43  cost us 30 yuan to get   44 we had planned to go. When we reached the hotel, there was a   45  for airplane and train tickets. Somehow the man behind the counter could get tickets that day, which we   46 . The most important lesson about China I ever  47  is to get someone to do your work for you, and it seems to work out much   48 . We were not able to get tickets, but the travel agents could.
While in Beijing we saw a lot of places of   49 ,  most of which were very  50 . It was fun to be with thousands of people in one place. There aren’t any words to describe it.