Every year between February and April,when the southwest monsoon (季风)blows ,a fever seizes the Thais (泰国人).It is the kite flying in Thailand __1__a strong feeling of interest that is nothing  2   of feverish.

During the summer, in the moths of March and April ,the skies   3   cities ,towns and villages  throughout the Kingdom are   4      with kites of all descriptions --long-tailed dragons,twisting snakes ,beautiful butter-flies,or familiar cartoon characters wheeling and weaving in the waim air.

One afternoon ,a friend and long-time kite flier invited me to   5     him  at the Pramane Ground ."What's the attraction?"I asked as he flew a huge kite."Well ,you can feel  a bit of a   6    at first ."he replied,""a grown man standing there holding the end of a string and    7    up into the sky .But once you forget yourself ,you get caught up in the   8   of controlling something inthe air where you cannot follow.You're on the ground :the kite's in the air but it's you that are making it al    9    .Come on ,go fly a kite."

I took his advice in the   10   it was meant and ,holding the hand of my young daughter si that others woukd think I was only satisfying a child's   11    ,I bought a rainbow-colored snake .After a few failed runs we got the kite into the air   12    greater ease than I expected.It was only at my daughter 's crying ,"My go,my go "that I realized I'd been holding the string ,completely   13   what I was discovering was a very pleasing pastime.

Like many other    14    of popular culture ,the sport of kite flying in Thailand has been   15   down from generation to generation.Its origins(起源)are    16    probably in ancient China,although it seems likey that Thai kites are as old as the    17   itself.It was a craze    18    by everyone from the king down.

"It's a great tradition (传统),that has the    19    of bringing generations togeter,"says my friend ,"What you see today at the King's Cup is the   20    as the people of the past would have seen more than two hundred years ago."  

1.A.fires             B.fights          C.turns         D.keeps

2.A.long             B.short           C. fond         D.proud

3.A.on              B.over            C.around       D. in

4.A.alive            B.ready           C.open         D.equal

5.A.see              B.care            C.accept       D. join

6.A.hero             B.fool            C.master       D.fireman

7.A.flying           B.missing         C.staring        D. jumping

8.A.match           B.comfort         C.excitement    D.movement

9.A.happen          B.begin           C. attend       D.break

10.A.way            B.while           C.language     D. need

11.A.game           B.sport           C. request       D. best

12.A.for             B.with            C.beyond       D.under

13.A.tired of         B.fit for          C. helped with    D. devoted to

14.A.laws           B.rules           C.forms         D. researches

15.A.put            B.handed          C.sat           D.looked

16.A.rooted          B.left           C.dated          D.hoped

17.A.history         B.Kingdom       C.time          D.earth

18.A.imagined        B.used          C.enjoyed       D.told

19.A.effect           B.right         C. name         D.science

20.A.same           B.kite          C. invention      D. relation

Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world’s best marathoners can run!

In April, Jean finished the Boston Marathon in 1 hour 34 minutes 22 seconds. That’s about 33 minutes faster than the winning male runner! She competed on the track, too. She was second in the 800 meter wheelchair race at the 1992 Olympics.

Jean doesn’t like to be told she’s brave. “I’m in sports because I’m a competitive person!” Jean was born with spina befida(脊柱裂), a birth illness that damages the spine（脊椎）. She began to use a wheelchair to get around in high school. Then she tried wheelchair race and was amazed.” Players crashed into each other and fell out of their chairs,” she says, “It was fun.”

Jean tried other wheelchair sports. At the University of Illinois, her wheelchair basketball team won two national titles.

Now Jean coaches and teaches. She tries to get people to set goals. “When I sign my autograph（亲笔签名）, says Jean, “I write, dream big and work hard.”

What made Jean take part in sports?

A. She was brave.          B. She was competitive. 

C. She was strong.          D. She was disabled.

What does the underlined word “coach” mean?

A. to train or give instruction and advice   B. to experiment

C. to get hold of and stop               D. to repeat

What is Jean’s advice on how to succeed?

       A. Work hard.             B. Hope for the best.

       C. Dream a lot.            D. Have great wishes and work hard.

I arrived at the bus station much too early for the London bus, which was not to leave until five to twelve. I pushed through the crowds, looking for somewhere to sit down. Scores of people were standing about, or struggling along with their bags and the cases to find the right lines. There was a party of school girls. I could see teachers trying to keep them in order. But there was nowhere for me to sit.

  I stepped into the station buffet. I looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. I found a seat opposite a large mirror on the wall. Just then a friend of mine called Jim came in and sat with me. "What time is your bus?" asked Jim. "Oh, there's a plenty of time yet," I answered. "Oh, I'll get some drinks then," said Jim. We talked while drinking. Then I looked at the clock again. "Good heavens! It's going backward!" I cried. "A moment ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven." "You are looking at the clock in the mirror," said Jim. I could kick myself for being so stupid. I had not realized that the marks for one and eleven on the face of the clock were the same. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. I have never liked mirror since then.

The London bus left ________. 

A. at five to twelve                        B. before five to twelve

C. after five to twelve                     D. until five to twelve

The writer went to the station buffet because ________.

A. he was thirsty                

B. he saw the station buffet was not so crowded

C. it was still early for his bus and he couldn't find a place to sit at the bus station

D. he had changed his mind; he wouldn't go to London

The writer sat ________.

A. behind a mirror                     B. facing a mirror

C. under a mirror                      D. near a mirror

Jim came to the station buffet at about ________.

A. twenty to twelve                    B. twenty past twelve

C. half past one                       D. twenty past eleven

What time was it when the writer looked at the clock again?

It was ________.                                       

A. half past eleven                     B. twelve thirty

C. twelve twenty                    D. eleven thirty                                

The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses(冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral(道德) freedom.

A single angry word has lost many friends. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whoever the gods would destroy they first make them mad.” “Keep cool,” says Webster, “anger is not argument.” “Be calm in arguing,” says George Herbert, “for fierceness(狂怒) makes error a fault.”

To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.

Self-control is man’s last and greatest victory.

If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.  

What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. The importance of self- control.   B. How to conquer oneself?

C. The relation between a man’s moral freedom and his feelings.

D. A man should keep cool.

What’s the meaning of “whoever the gods would destroy they first make them mad”?

A. If you are mad, the gods will kill you.

B. If you lose your temper first, gods will kill you first.

C. If you can’t control yourself, you will be crazy.

D. If the gods want to kill you, they will make you mad first.

Which of the following is NOT true, according to passage?

A. The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself.

B. You will make a small mistake serious if you don’t keep cool.

C. You must measure a man’s strength by the power of the feelings which conquer him.

D. Anger brings with folly and ends with regret.

Which of the following can’t help you avoid anger, according to the passage?

A. Be calm in arguing.      B. Check your temper or anger by speaking low.

C. Keep your mouth shut.   D. Try to make the other angry first.

If you look up the word “create” in the dictionary , you will find it means “to bring into being, to cause something each of us does daily to exist”．

       We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way. First, this includes an awareness of our surroundings．It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world．This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture（质地）, as well as taste, when we plan a meal．Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss．

       A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things．There is nothing new under the sun. The creativity is remaking or recombining（重组） the old in new ways. For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph．

       A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results．To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another．

       These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities．(257 words)

Which of the following activities is NOT a creative one according to the passage?

A. To prepare for a meal．

B. To arrange the furniture in a special way．

C. To buy some books from a bookstore．

D. To “write” a letter with the computer．

“There is nothing new under the sun” really implies that _________．

       A. a new thing can only be created at the basis of earlier things  

       B. a new thing is only a tale

       C. we can seldom create new things            

       D. we can hardly see really new things in the world

What is the relationship between a new thought and its being put into practice?

       A. It’s more difficult to create a new thought than to put it into practice．

       B. To find a new thought will clearly lead to the production of a new thing．

       C. A man with an excellent ability of practice can easily become an inventor．

       D. One may come up with a new thought, but may not put it into practice．

The best title for this passage is__________．

       A. How to Develop One’s Creativity          

       B. What Is Creativity

       C. The Importance of Creativity          

       D. Creativity, a Not Faraway Thing