At present time, roller skating (滑旱冰) is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn’t easy at all. Before 1750, people never tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making instruments (工具). In his free time he liked to play the violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think. He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin had an idea. He thought that he would attract much attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll (滚动). Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin was very proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into the room while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be very surprised.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyone was really surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with all eyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke into many pieces with a very loud noise.
Nobody forgot Merlin’s wonderful entrance after that.
【小题1】The first paragraph tells us that people began to skate on wheels from 1750 because (of ) _______.

 Do you know the open-air art gallery in London's Blackall Street? Probably -not. Not many  Londoners know it either, but Henri does and he is willing to show it to you.

     Henri used to sleep in parks until he met a charity(慈善机构) that helps homeless people get  back on their feet by becoming tour guides.

     Rather than show traditional London sights, “Unseen Tours" take people off the beaten track. Henri has been teaching tourists about the history and architecture of Shoreditch, where he slept on public benches for three years.

     When he felt separated from the society, contact with the volunteer network "The Sock Mob" gave Henri hope. "Not everyone just looked down on me," he said. The tours aren't the only actions trying to help those who have suffered a misfortune to stand tall again.

     An innovative(创新的) college for homeless people in London, the first of its kind in the country, is attracting hundreds of students. The Recovery College, set up by St Mungo's charity, is providing courses designed to improve technical skills and life skills.

     According to Andy Williams, who helps to organize the college, the most popular courses have proved to be about raising self-confidence and developing self-pride.

     Steve, now in his 50s, told a reporter how much of a difference it makes to "have a bit of confidence". He had difficulty learning to read and had to leave school when he was 12. Because Steve's problem was not recognized at the time, he was "seen to be unable to read or write", and suffered with depression and alcohol addiction. He says the status of "student" is itself important for people who are used to being treated as outcasts（被遗弃者）

     Some charities aim not only to help the homeless become independent but also to make them popular. The Homeless World Cup started ten years ago. Today the tournament draws teams from 48 countries made up of players-men and women-who are, or have been, living in the streets.  It gives them a chance to become football heroes.

1.The underlined part "take people off the beaten track" means "take people to______.”

A. famous galleries                          B. traditional sights

C. unusual places                            D. public benches

2.How does the Recovery College help the homeless people?

A. By training them to be guides

B. By offering them different courses.

C. By keeping in contact with them.

D. By asking more students to help them.

3.At the age of 12, Steve _______ .

A. wasn't treated as a normal student

B. had much confidence in himself

C. didn't want to study at school

D. left school because of depression

4.The purpose of the Homeless World Cup is to help the homeless people _______.

A. become football stars                     B. improve life skills

C. gain self-confidence                      D. find proper jobs

5.Which is the best title for the passage?

A. Confidence Back Now.                    B. London Tour.

C. The Popular Homeless.                    D. Football Heroes.

Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn’t easy at all. Before 1750, people never tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making instruments. In his free time he liked to play the violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called him a dreamer.

One day Merlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think. He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin had an idea. He thought that he would attract a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.

Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin was very proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into the room while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be very surprised.

On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyone was really surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with all eyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke into many pieces with a very loud noise. But nobody forgot Merlin’s wonderful entrance after that.

1.The story tells us that people began to enjoy roller-skating _______.          

2.People called Merlin a dreamer because ___________.        

3.___________ made Merlin think of skating on wheels.

4.What was Merlin’s problem after he rolled into the room?

5.The text is mainly about_________.

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21~30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

    Tales of the supernatural are common in all parts of Britain. In particular, there was (and perhaps still is) a belief in fairies(仙女). Not all of these   21          are the friendly, people-loving characters that appear in Disney films, and in some folktales they are   22            and cause much human suffering. This is true in the tales about the Changeling. These tell the story of a mother whose baby grows           23           and pale and has changed so much that it is almost   24          to the parents. It was then   25              that the fairies had come and stolen the baby away and   26            the human baby with a fairy Changeling. There were many ways to prevent this from happening: hanging a knife over the baby’s head while he slept or covering him with some of his father’s clothes were just two of the recommended   27               . However, hope was not lost even if the baby had been   28                . In those cases there was often a way to get the   29              baby back. You could   30            the Changeling on the fire — then it would rise up the chimney, and you would hear the sound of fairies’ laughter and soon after you would find your own child safe and sound nearby.

1.A. babies             B. believers       C. fairies                    D. supermen

2.A. powerful           B. cruel               C. frightened              D. extraordinary

3.A. sick                B. slim                C. short                     D. small

4.A. uncomfortable   B. unbelievable      C. unacceptable       D. unrecognizable

5.A. feared             B. predicted          C. heard                     D. reported

6.A. covered          B. changed         C. replaced              D. terrified

7.A. cases              B. tools               C. steps                   D. methods

8.A. missed            B. stolen           C. found                    D. lost

9.A.1ittle               B. pale                C. sad                     D. real

10.A. seize             B. burn               C. place                     D. hold

完形填空（共15题，每小题1分，满分15分）
阅读下面短文，掌握大意，然后从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A long time ago, in a small house in Scotland, two friends lived together. Their names were John and Bobby.
John and Bobby were not  16   , and they had few things except friends,    17    they were happy. They lit a warm fire when it was cold outside. They had food to eat when they were hungry. They were  never     18     because they had each other.
John and Bobby     19     to take long walks together. After their     20     John usually cooked the dinner. John and Bobby ate the dinner and then     21    in front of the fire. They had a(n)     22     but happy life.
Then John developed a(n)     23     disease and died in the spring of 1858. He was  24     in a grave (坟墓). After that, Bobby stood at John’s grave and shouted. “Come on, Bobby,” John’s     25     said. “It’s time to go home.” Bobby went home, but later he returned to the grave. He     26     near it. He stayed there all night.
Bobby stayed at the grave site the next day, and the day after another. For the next 14 years, Bobby never left the    27    . When the weather was cold, he slept in a small house near the grave. When it was     28    , he slept on the ground near John’s grave.
29    , in 1872, Bobby died, too. John’s friends buried him in a     30     grave near John’s. Why was Bobby’s grave so little? Bobby, John’s best friend, was a dog.
16. A. rich                  B. lucky          C. beautiful      D. funny 
17. A. and               B. or         C. but             D. so
18. A. lonely           B. alone         C. worried                D. separate
19. A. failed   B. competed  C. imagined         D. liked
20. A. work           B. rest     C. run                 D. walk
21. A. sang                B. talked          C. sat    D. studied
22. A. hard                 B. sad          C. easy         D. simple
23. A. serious  B. unhealthy   C. big     D. sick
24. A. put                   B. escaped       C. stored         D. buried
25. A. friends B. children  C. parents   D. brothers
26. A. got up    B. turned down         C. sat down D. put up
27. A. garage   B. grave         C. home          D. town
28. A. cool                  B. warm        C. wet                D. rainy
29. A. Luckily    B. Quickly        C. Finally   D. Interestingly
30. A. large     B. small    C. firm     D. weak