Even before my father left us, my mother had to go back to work to support our family. Once I came out of the kitchen, complaining, “Mom, I can’t peel potatoes. I have only one hand.”

Mom never looked up from sewing. “You get yourself into that kitchen and peel those potatoes,” she told me. “And don’t ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”In the second grade, our teacher lined up my class on the playground and had each of us race across the monkey bars, swinging from one high steel rod to the next. When it was my turn, I shook my head. Some kids behind me laughed, and I went home crying.

That night I told Mom about it. She hugged me, and I saw her “we’ll see about that” look. The next afternoon, she took me back to school. At the deserted playground, Mom looked carefully at the bars.

“Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She stood by as I struggled to lift myself with my right hand until I could hook the bar with my other elbow. Day after day we practiced, and she praised me for every rung I reached. I’ll never forget the next time, crossing the rungs, I looked down at the kids who were standing with their mouths open.

One night, after a dance at my new junior high, I lay in bed sobbing. I could hear Mom come into my room. “Mom,” I said, weeping, “none of the boys would dance with me.”

For a long time, I didn’t hear anything. Then she said, “Oh, honey, someday you’ll be beating those boys off with a bat.” Her voice was faint and cracking. I peeked out from my covers to see tears running down her cheeks. Then I knew how much she suffered on my behalf. She had never let me see her tears.

6. Which of the following expressions can be used most suitably to describe Mom’s attitude when she made the child to peel potatoes?

A. Cruel.             B. Serious.             C. Strict.    D. Cold.

7. From the passage, we know monkey bars can help a child train ______.

A. the skill to throw and catch things

B. the speed of one’s hand movement

C. the strength and skill to hang and sway

D. the bodily skill to rotate round a bar

8. What does the sentence “I saw her ‘we’ll see about that’ look” imply?

A. Mom believed every aim could be achieved if you stuck to it.

B. The race across monkey bars was not difficult enough for a child to give up.

C. Mom was determined to prove she herself was better than the teacher.

D. What the child had said brought Mom great attraction and curiosity.

9. When the child looked down at the kids, they were standing with their mouths open because ______.

A. they felt sorry for what they had done before

B. they were afraid the author might fall off and get hurt

C. they wanted to see what the author would do on the bars

D. they were astonished to find the author’s progress

10. The most probable conclusion we can draw after reading the passage is ______.

A. the last incident was sad enough to make Mom weep

B. the child’s experience reminded Mom of that of her own

C. Mom could solve any problem except the one in the last paragraph

D. in fact Mom suffered more in the process of the child’s growth

请选出与所给句子或划线部分意思最接近的答案：（共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分）

1.

Was it by accident or by design?

  A. Was it on purpose or not?           B. Was it designed by somebody?

  C. Was it an accident?             D. Did it happen accidently?

2.

 Did I really hear a voice or was it only my fancy? 

  A. Did I really hear a voice or was it only my image？

  B. Did I really hear a voice or was it only what I like?

  C. Did I hear a voice or someone crying in my dream?

  D. Did I notice a voice or it is not the really one?

3.

 He is above stealing.

  A. He is good at stealing.                 B. He never steals.   

C. He likes stealing.                  D. He is forced to steal.

4.

 He is a bad actor.                    

  A. He is not good at performance.            B. He is a little good at performance.

  C. He is a very dangerous person to do anything.   D. He is not fit for being an actor.

5.

 He is lacking animal force.             

  A. His energy is not full enough.              B. He is as strong as an animal.

  C. He can do something with his own force.    D. He has enough energy.

6.

 He is anything but a doctor.

  A. He is only a doctor.                B. He is not a doctor.

  C. He is somebody else.                D. What he does isn’t like a doctor.

7.

 Anything is at your service.

  A. Your work is to serve everything.  B. You can serve everybody with your own effort.

   C. We all want to get your service.   D. You can use everything you need as you like.

68. You’ve tried three times. Tony’s been standing for two hours; let the dog see the rabbit!

  A. let the dog run after a rabbit          B. ask the dog to watch rabbits

  C. it’s Tony’s turn to do something      D. it’s your turn to do something.

8.

What price going for a walk?

  A. What about going for a walk?        B. How much do you need for going for a walk?

  C. How much could I get for a walk?   D. What is the price you’ll pay for a walking?

9.

 He talked and talked but never came to the point.

   A. He talked a lot on the key point.  B. He talked a lot but didn’t focus on the key point.

   C. He talked less than he need to.    D. He talked more than he really needed to.

10.

 He began to smell a rat in the matter.

   A. feel that there was a rat near him         B. feel something not going so good

   C. feel a rat would make something wrong  D. smell a rat’s smell in the matter

11.

 John is always reasonable.               

   A. John is open-minded and easy to get along with.

   B. John always has a reason to do what he wants.

   C. John is always good at reasoning in some case.

   D. John can reason something others couldn’t.

12.

 I must pop off now.                   

   A. I must go now.                 B. My pop music life is ended now.

   C. I am not popular.                  D. I must make my corn pop.

13.

 He doesn’t care a pin for her.           

   A. He doesn’t like a needle for her.     B. He wasn’t a pin to her.

   C. He doesn’t care about her.            D. He doesn’t want to throw a pin on her.

14.

 You mustn’t take everything so personally.

   A. You mustn’t want to take everything as his own.  

B. You may not think of everything as yours.

C. You couldn’t gain everything which doesn’t belong to you.

D. You mustn’t think that somebody is criticizing you when he is not.

15.

 What a peach of a room!

   A. What a wonderful room which holds so many peaches!

   B. What a big peach in the room!

   C. What a big peach room it is!

   D. What a nice room it is!

16.

 Your number comes up.

   A. Your number becomes larger and larger.         B. Your number keeps going up.

   C. You are lucky.                             D. You are unfortunate.

17.

 Somebody’s number is up / goes up.

   A. Somebody’s number is end.         B. Somebody’s number may keeps going up.

   C. It’s time for somebody to go west.    D. It’s time for somebody to add up his number.

18.

It feels nice and soft.   

   A. It is nice and soft.               B. It is nice but soft.    

C. It is soft except nice.           D. It feels very soft.

19.We see more of Blair these days.  

   A. These days we can watch more about Blair.

B. We know more about Blair these days.

   C. We have seen Blair more times these times.

D. These days found we could see Blair.

If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter.J.K. Rowling's wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children's books, which has set off a large quantity of films and an increased sales of classics such as The lord of the Rings.

Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn't like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.

Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computes games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Cordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre－budget report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.

Reading Recovery is aimed at six－year－olds, who receive four months of individual daily half－hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months' progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months' progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.

International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.

6. Which of the following is TRUE of Paragraph 1?

A. Many children's books have been adapted from films.

B. Many high－quality children's books have been published.

C. The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.

D. The sales of presents for children have increased.

7. Statistics suggested that ________.

A. the number of top students increased with the use of computers

B. a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading

C. a minority of primary school children read properly

D. a large percentage of children read regularly

8. What do we know about Reading Recovery?

A. An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year.

B. Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.

C. It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.

D. Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.

9. Reading for fun is important because book－loving children ________.

A. take greater advantage of the project

B. show the potential to enjoy a long life

C. are likely to succeed in their education

D. would make excellent future researchers

10. The aim of this text would probably be ________.

A. to overcome primary school pupils' reading difficulty

B. to encourage the publication of more children's books

C. to remind children of the importance of reading for fun

D. to introduce a way to improve early children reading

完形填空（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1-10各题所给的A.B.C.和D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

We all know that some things are obviously right. For example, it is right to be   1  to other people. It is also right to look after the environment. Some things are   2  wrong, too. For instance, we should not hurt or bully（欺负）others, nor should we litter. Rules often tell us what is right or wrong.

Rules can help the public make the right   3 , and remain safe. Car drivers have to obey traffic regulations that tell them the right things to do on the road to avoid crashes. Cyclists who give signals before turning or stopping help prevent   4 .

If people follow rules without taking other matters into consideration, it will be   5 for them to form what is sometimes called a “black and white” view (黑白分明的观点). For example, they may believe that people should always tell the truth, and that lying is   6  acceptable. Such people always stick to their views, even if it means that they may get into  7 .

Sometimes it may not be so easy to know   8  what is right or wrong. Some people choose not to eat meat because they believe that it is   9  to eat animals, but others argue that they can eat meat and   10  be kind to animals; some insist that stealing is always wrong, but others think that one does not need to feel so guilty (有罪的) when stealing some food to eat, if he lives in a really poor area and he is starving.

Rules help us live together in harmony, because they show us the right way to treat others. However, some people argue that rules may be confusing, having observed that rules change all the time, and that some schools have some regulations and others have different ones---so who is to decide what is right?

1.                A．kind           B．sensitive        C．fair  D．generous

2.                A．equally         B．slightly         C．clearly   D．increasingly

3.                A．suggestions      B．conclusion      C．turns D．choices

4.                A．accidents       B．mistakes        C．falls  D．deaths

5.                A．interesting      B．vital (重要的)    C．easy D．valuable

6.                A．seldom         B．rarely          C．merely (仅仅)  D．never

7.                A．trouble         B．power          C．prison    D．control

8.                A．roughly         B．eventually       C．deliberately (故意地)    D．exactly

9.                A．awful (可怕的)   B．cruel           C．unhealthy D．unnecessary

10.               A．still            B．even           C．later  D．somehow

单词拼写（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）

1.“2 m______ by 3 equals 6.” said my nephew.

2.Can someone r_________ me what I should do next?

3. Mohandas Gandi was the leader who helped gain India’s i_______ fom Britain.

4.China is in Asia, one of the seven c_______ on the earth.

5.Christmas Day is only three days away and many European countries are now bathed in a festival a________.

6.It’s __________(难以置信的) that he has finished it in such a short time.

7.He was six feet tall, with ________(宽广的) shoulder and bright eyes.

8.What _______(困惑) me is why they didn’t show up.

9.Hydrogen ________(结合) with oxygen to form water.

10.Seeing the snake, she couldn’t help s_______.