Growing old is something that nobody can understand until they experience it for themselves．I may not be "old" but I am certainly beginning to  36   it? turned 18 just over a week ago．I am now an adult．

As a child you  37   adults—or "grown-ups" as I used to call them—to always be in control．to know what is right and wrong． 38   as a teenager, I thought that when I reached 18 I would be far more  39   in many aspects of life．But now that I am 18, 1 know that is not true．

It is clear to me now that you do not   40   learning when you are 18．Every day you learn

something  41   , no matter what your age．However, I do understand when you become an adultyou have to  42  more responsibility．

Whereas before I seldom had to clean the dishes, set the table or help out around the house, now I do all of those．I have already  43   myself the nickname "housekeeper"．

I can even drive now, which is pretty   44  , because of the frequency of accidents．But that's not to say that 18 is not   45  to be．Not only can I drink alcohol, but I can also  46 ．In fact, being 18 has made me really interested in politics because it now means that I can change things on  47  Day．More and more of my friends want to become politicians, and it is great to

think that they can change things for the better．

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

As sixth graders, kids were separating into groups, but I wasn't sure where I belonged．

Our teacher gave us a task called "secret friends" for the coming week．We were supposed to do nice things   1  our friends without letting them know who was doing it．We could leave   2  notes or cards either on their desks or in their backpacks．Before doing the task, with our eyes closed, from a basket, we   3  a name of a classmate who we were to secretly befriend over the next five days．

Soon, the task was turned into a competition of giving    4  instead of notes．Everyone was getting cool presents except me．My friend    5   what the teacher had told us without a fault．I received nothing but hand-made cards with nice words about me．

On the last morning, I finally got a package．When I   6  it, the girls around all   7 ．It was perfumed powder, an "old lady" gift．My face went red．

I tried to forget about the   8  gift, but when the same girls   9  it again during the break in the bathroom, I joined in, "How stupid! My grandmother wouldn't  10  want it．" The girls laughed at my   11  and filed （排着队走）out of the bathroom．Washing my hands, I let the water run through my fingers _12_  I thought about my words．It wasn't   13  like me to say things like that．

"I'm your secret friend．" It was Rochelle．" I' m sorry about the gift," she __14 to me, tears streaming down her face．

From a poor family, she was a   15  at school for those with rich parents．Yet she just took all the16  and the horrible treatment silently．

I was sick to my stomach as my   17  words ran through my mind．She had heard everything．How could I have been so cruel?

Later I learned she had felt bad all week about not being able to leave me any cool present and her mum had given up her only luxury（奢侈品）．

And I had   18 everything for her．

I told her that I had only said those things to try to   19  .

"We aren't that different from each other, are we?" She smiled   20 ．Her simple words, spoken from her heart, found their way straight into mine．

Ocean Park Hong Kong is a theme park in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island. The park was built with donations from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (now Hong Kong Jockey Club) and opened on 10 January 1977. The park is operated by Ocean Park Corporation, which is a statutory（法定的）department. It offers affordable marine animal education and entertainment and is a private organization for commercial purposes.

    In the early operation of the park, the main sources of income for the park were the ticket prices and the funding from the Jockey Club. Since the ticket price was low, most of the time Ocean Park was operating under deficit（财政赤字）. In 1 July 1987, the government established a 200 million trust from the funding of Jockey Club, under the Ocean Park Corporation Ordinance. This separated Ocean Park from Jockey Club and became a non-profit organization; it needs to be responsible for its own income and was allowed to use commercial means to operate the park.

    Since it was permitted to use commercial means to operate, it gradually raised its ticket price and the deficit turned into profit. In 1992, 3 million visitors visited the park. Since 1998, the East Asian financial crisis（经济危机）, aging attractions, and the passing away of the killer whale; the park recorded a deficit for a couple years. Although it was allowed to host 2 pandas in 1999, the number of visitors did not go up and Ocean Park was forced to close its water attractions and the "Old Village" attraction and turned to bring in more rides in an attempt to capture the youth demand. Together with the opening up of mainland visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme, Ocean Park recorded an astonishing 4 million visitors in the year 2004-2005, the highest since the park opened.

   In March 2005, Ocean Park made its redevelopment plan. On 23 November 2006, Ocean Park held a groundbreaking ceremony for its redevelopment

6. At the beginning, Ocean Park Hong Kong _________.

was built with the money from the government

was operated by Ocean Park Corporation

was a great success once it was opened

mainly got income from the ticket prices and donations

7. According to the passage, Ocean Park Corporation _________.

belongs to Hong Kong Jockey Club

is an official organization

is a non-profit organization

can not use commercial means to operate

8. How many deficits the Ocean Park experienced so far?

A. 1       B.2        C. 3         D. 4

9. Ocean Park Corporation took all of the measures to overcome the deficits except _________.

A. raise ticket price                   B. close some attractions

C. try to attract young customers        D. host 2 pandas

10. Which of the following statements is Wrong?

Ocean Park Hong Kong is a theme park.

Ocean Park Hong Kong has taken on a new look since 2005.

The East Asian financial crisis didn’t have any influence on Ocean Park.

At present, Ocean Park Hong Kong also attracts many mainland customers.

When I was a sixth grader, kids were separating into groups, but I wasn't sure where I belonged．

Our teacher gave us a task called "secret friends" for the coming week．We were supposed to do nice things   1  our friends without letting them know who was doing it．We could leave   2  notes or cards either on their desks or in their backpacks．Before doing the task, with our eyes closed, from a basket, we   3  a name of a classmate who we were to secretly befriend over the next five days．

Soon, the task was turned into a competition of giving   4  instead of notes．Everyone was getting cool presents except me．My friend followed the teacher's   5  without a fault．I received nothing but handmade cards with nice words about me．

On the last morning, I finally got a package．When I   6  it, the girls around all   7 ．It was perfumed powder, an "old lady" gift．My face went red．

I tried to forget about the   8  gift, but when the same girls   9  it again during the break in the bathroom, I joined in, "How stupid! My grandmother wouldn't   10  want it．" The girls laughed at my   11  and filed out of the bathroom．Washing my hands, I let the water run through my fingers  12    I thought about my words．It wasn't   13  like me to say things like that．

"I'm your secret friend．" It was Rochelle．" I' m sorry about the gift," she whispered to me, tears   14   down her face．

From a poor family, she was a   15  at school for those with rich parents．Yet she just took all the   16  and the horrible treatment silently．

I was sick to my stomach as my   17  words ran through my mind．She had heard everything．How could I have been so cruel?

Later I learned she had felt bad all week about not being able to leave me any cool present and her mum had given up her only luxury（奢侈品）

And I had   18  everything for her．

I told her that I had only said those things to try to   19  .

"We aren't that different from each other, are we?" She smiled   20 ．Her simple words, spoken from her heart, found their way straight into mine．

1.                A．behind         B．like            C．through  D．for

2.                A．convincing      B．rewarding       C．encouraging   D．reminding

3.                A．dragged        B．picked          C．found    D．drew

4.                A．chances        B．gifts            C．hope D．help

5.                A．guidance       B．admission       C．directions D．patterns

6.                A．discovered      B．held           C．grasped  D．opened

7.                A．blamed         B．commented      C．laughed  D．shouted

8.                A．special         B．embarrassing    C．worrying  D．delicate

9.                A．mentioned      B．suggested       C．showed   D．saw

10.               A．just            B．only           C．even D．ever

11.               A．remarks        B．reactions       C．suffering  D．feeling

12.               A．if             B．because        C．since D．as

13.               A．exactly         B．necessarily      C．normally   D．perfectly

14.               A．dashing        B．streaming       C．smoothing D．getting

15.               A．goal           B．wonder        C．centre    D．target

16.               A．challenge       B．ignoring        C．teasing    D．puzzle

17.               A．powerful       B．scary          C．tense D．hurtful

18.               A．ruined         B．disturbed       C．changed   D．broken

19.               A．turn off        B．fit in           C．get in D．show off

20.               A．optimistically    B．honestly        C．persuasively    D．understandingly

Ocean Park Hong Kong is a theme park in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island. The park was built with donations from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (now Hong Kong Jockey Club) and opened on 10 January 1977. The park is operated by Ocean Park Corporation, which is a statutory（法定的）department. It offers affordable marine animal education and entertainment and is a private organization for commercial purposes.

    In the early operation of the park, the main sources of income for the park were the ticket prices and the funding from the Jockey Club. Since the ticket price was low, most of the time Ocean Park was operating under deficit（财政赤字）. In 1 July 1987, the government established a 200 million trust from the funding of Jockey Club, under the Ocean Park Corporation Ordinance. This separated Ocean Park from Jockey Club and became a non-profit organization; it needs to be responsible for its own income and was allowed to use commercial means to operate the park.

    Since it was permitted to use commercial means to operate, it gradually raised its ticket price and the deficit turned into profit. In 1992, 3 million visitors visited the park. Since 1998, the East Asian financial crisis（经济危机）, aging attractions, and the passing away of the killer whale; the park recorded a deficit for a couple years. Although it was allowed to host 2 pandas in 1999, the number of visitors did not go up and Ocean Park was forced to close its water attractions and the "Old Village" attraction and turned to bring in more rides in an attempt to capture the youth demand. Together with the opening up of mainland visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme, Ocean Park recorded an astonishing 4 million visitors in the year 2004-2005, the highest since the park opened.

   In March 2005, Ocean Park made its redevelopment plan. On 23 November 2006, Ocean Park held a groundbreaking ceremony for its redevelopment

6. At the beginning, Ocean Park Hong Kong _________.

was built with the money from the government

was operated by Ocean Park Corporation

was a great success once it was opened

mainly got income from the ticket prices and donations

7. According to the passage, Ocean Park Corporation _________.

belongs to Hong Kong Jockey Club

is an official organization

is a non-profit organization

can not use commercial means to operate

8. How many deficits the Ocean Park experienced so far?

A. 1       B.2        C. 3         D. 4

9. Ocean Park Corporation took all of the measures to overcome the deficits except _________.

A. raise ticket price                   B. close some attractions

C. try to attract young customers        D. host 2 pandas

10. Which of the following statements is Wrong?

Ocean Park Hong Kong is a theme park.

Ocean Park Hong Kong has taken on a new look since 2005.

The East Asian financial crisis didn’t have any influence on Ocean Park.

At present, Ocean Park Hong Kong also attracts many mainland customers.