“It is never too late and you are never too old to start something new!” says Englishtown       Ellen Rema. Ellen began to learn English at the age of 50, and in just a few years, she has made      progress!

Ellen chose to study at Englishtown because no evening classes were       in the German countryside where she lives. At Englishtown, she joins       classes online and speaks with live native English-speaking teacher.

In 2010, Ellen began with the first level of Englishtown and quickly     . “I spent hours and hours studying,” she said “Maybe I wanted too much in a short time. I finished all my       after 2 years and studying English isn’t all about hard work. It should also be       ! I really like the online conversation classrooms, in which I can learn so much about other cultures and traditions. I am open for all      .”

Ellen has been able to        her English to use by visiting England five times! “I am very thankful to Englishtown because most of the English I know now was learned here,” Ellen says. “My life has       with Englishtown.”

1.A. professor   B. friend   C.student  D.reporter

2.A. amazing     B. challenging   C. discouraging         D. disturbing

3.A. satisfied     B. offered C. attended       D. represented

4.A. conversation      B. composition  C. listening         D. reading

5.A. dropped    B. brushed         C. awarded        D. progressed

6.A. channels    B. schedules      C. courses          D. papers

7.A. fun     B. waster  C. weakness      D. wonder

8.A. measures   B. topics    C. timetables     D. fashions

9.A. take   B. set         C. make     D. put

10.A. ruined      B. started  C. changed        D. Turned

Every night，I watched for Miss Ellen's lights to go off. She lives next door and we are best friends，____I'm young and she's old. We both like dogs，cats and birds. Miss Ellen has another best friend，her ____，Imogene. Soon as her lights were off，I went into our kitchen and got a(n) ____ to say good­night to Imogene.

“Imogene？” I kept my voice ____ because Imogene is old and I didn't want to ____ her.

Imogene looked at me ____ I put the egg under  her. She seemed to ___ sitting on that egg. I guessed it must ____ her of good old times.

Every morning，I went to Miss Ellen's home to ____ her bread while she ate Imogene's egg.“ I should let you eat the egg too，but it's Imogene's ___ to me，”she said.

When Imogene stopped laying eggs last year，Miss Ellen became ____ and quiet. That was before I started ____ giving her one of Mom's every night.

One morning when I got to Miss Ellen's kitchen，something was ___.Miss Ellen seldom allowed Imogene in the house，but that day she was on the table. Miss Ellen was ____，holding two eggs in her hands.

“Can you ____ it？My Imogene laid this herself！It's not one of your mother's. Oh！Oh！”She ____and put her hand over her mouth.

I looked at her in ____.“You knew？”

“Yes. I'm sorry. To tell the truth，Imogene ____ that you come to visit her every day. She didn't want you to stop. So we decided to keep ____.”

It took a minute for me to ____.Then I figured it out. Both of them wanted me to come. I touched Imogene's head and smiled at Miss Ellen.

1.A. for                      B．yet                                  C．though                    D．because

2.A. dog                              B．cat                                   C．bird                     D．hen

3.A. egg                              B．apple                         C．cake                      D．drink

4.A. firm                     B．soft                                 C．loud                              D．pleasant

5.A. lose                             B．hurt                           C．keep                              D．frighten

6.A. unless                    B．since                           C．as                                    D．if

7.A. like                              B．consider                   C．regret                       D．mind

8.A. tell                      B．remind                           C．warn                        D．convince

9.A. mix                              B．cut                                  C．borrow                   D．share

10.A. promise                    B．choice                            C．gift                       D．job

11.A. sad                            B．calm                     C．boring                             D．strange

12.A. slowly                   B．secretly                           C．mainly                     D．simply

13.A. important           B．funny           C．wrong                        D．different

14.A. busy                     B．angry                     C．excited                      D．shocked

15.A. believe                     B．feel                                 C．make                            D．see

16.A. remembered          B．stopped                    C．smiled                            D．nodded

17.A. peace                  B．disappointment        C．surprise               D．confidence

18.A. hopes                  B．prefers                            C．suggests              D．loves

19.A. quiet                    B．happy                C．honest                      D．friendly

20.A. start                          B．understand          C．cry                            D．notice

(2013·南通模拟) “It is never too late and you are never too old to start something new！”says Englishtown _____ Ellen Rema.Ellen began to learn English at the age of 50，and in just a few years，she has made ____ progress!

Ellen chose to study at Englishtown because no evening classes were ____ in the German countryside where she lives.At Englishtown，she joins ____ classes online and speaks with live native English?speaking teachers.

“Englishtown is a wonderful place to ____，”she says.“My son always says，mom，you are a bit ___.He cannot understand why I spend so many hours studying，____ love it，I do it for myself.”

In 2001，Ellen began with the first level of Englishtown and quickly ____.“I spent hours and hours studying.”she said.“Maybe I wanted too much in a short time.I finished all my ___ after 2 years，but noticed I still had ____ difficulties.”

Instead of ____，she chose to press on.After four years at Englishtown，she's still studying in the online classroom，but now to perfect her already ____ English，she has set new ____ for herself and ___ understanding grammar points.

“Studying online is never ____，but you need self?discipline，self?motivation and staying power，”she says.“If you really want to learn，never quit even when you notice difficulties or when you think there is no____.Practice，practice，practice！”

Ellen says studying English isn't all about hard work.It should also be ____！“I really like the online conversation classrooms，”she says.“I have learned so much about other cultures and traditions.I'm open for all____.”

Ellen has been able to ____ her English to use by visiting England five times！“I'm very thankful to Englishtown because most of the English I know now was learned here，”Ellen says.“My life has ____ with Englishtown.”

1.A.professor?? B．friend?? C．student?? D．reporter

2.A.amazing?? ????????????? B．challenging

C．discouraging?? ????????????? D．disturbing

3.A.satisfied?? ????????????? B．offered

C．attended?? ????????????? D．represented

4.A.conversation?? ????????????? B．composition

C．listening?? ????????????? D．reading

5.A.live?? B．eat?? C．entertain?? D．study

6.A.crazy?? B．tired? C．worried?? D．attractive

7.A.though?? B．but?? C．while?? D．when

8.A.dropped?? ????????????? B．brushed

C．awarded?? ????????????? D．progressed

9.A.channels?? B．schedules? C．courses?? D．papers

10.A.comprehending?? ????????????? B．reading

C．grammar?? ????????????? D．vocabulary

11.A.fighting back?? ????????????? B．giving up

C．turning away?? ????????????? D．looking around

12.A.significant?? B．shabby? C．broken?? D．excellent

13.A.goals?? ????????????? B．decisions

C．means?? ????????????? D．conclusions

14.A.turns off?? ????????????? B．gets off

C．focuses on?? ????????????? D．puts up

15.A.interesting?? B．boring? C．shocking?? D．unwilling

16.A.vision?? B．success?? C．struggle?? D．tendency

17.A.fun?? B．waste?? C．weakness?? D．wonder

18.A.measures?? B．topics?? C．timetables?? D．fashions

19.A.take?? B．set?? C．make?? D．put

20.A.ruined?? B．started?? C．changed?? D．turned

Ellen and Bill County are both teachers. They met in college and became good friends because of their shared love for children. Two years after the couple got married; Ellen saw a huge change in the life of one of her students, a 9-year-old girl. Three years earlier both of the little girl’s parents had died and there was no one to take care of her. She was taken away to live in a government office. But finally she was taken in and adopted by a family and became their daughter. Ellen said that she noticed the difference in the child’s life after she was placed in a permanent（长久的） home and thought that maybe she and her husband could help a child in a similar way.

They decided to become temporary parents and to take a child into their home on the weekends when the real parents could not take care of him or her. The pair planned to have their own children in a few years, but decided that this would be a way to give to the community in the meantime.

The couple quickly grew to love one of the children they looked after. When he became legally available, Billy became the first child they took in permanently. Six months after adopting Billy, Ellen was told by her doctor that she was unable to have children naturally.  Ellen says she knew then that adoption was the way she was meant to have a family.

Since adopting Billy, now 17, Ellen and Bill have adopted five more children ―Rose, 16; Albert, 11; Joshua, 5 and in June 2003, they added biological brother and sister Tyler and Rylee to the County family.

 The County family has been recognized for their work on adoption, and has received many awards for their efforts. Last June, the family was even interviewed on the television show, “Adoption Stories”.

Ellen says she would like to encourage other families to adopt children. She adds that the best part of being a mother of six is: “Giving Josh a bath, putting a braid-aid on a cut knee or just the everyday Mom things, which makes motherhood such an honor and a privilege.”

41. What is the passage mainly about?

A. How a couple first met at college.

B. Where you can adopt a child.

C. The benefits of adoption to the community.

D. How adoption created a happy family.

42. Why did Ellen and Bill first decide to adopt a child?

A. Because they had always loved children very much.

B. Because they saw the benefits of adoption for a child.

C. Because they were not able to have children of their own.

D. Because they wanted to receive awards for their community work.

43. Which of the children are related to each other by blood?

A. Rylee and Tyler.                     

B. Billy and Tyler.

C. Albeit and Joshua.                  

D. Rose and Albert.

44. What can be inferred from this passage?

A. Ellen had thought of adopting a child before getting married.

B. Only kids under 16 can be adopted by a family.

C. A loving family is important to a child’s happiness.

D. Adopting a child always makes the family become famous.

45. The final paragraph __________.

A. tells the reader how they can adopt a child

B. describes the things that make Ellen happy

C. says what Ellen does every day

D. lists the problems Ellen has with the kids