The American expression“shoo-in”means someone or something that seems sure to win a race or competition．

    Before a big football game，supporters of e ach team are certain to argue about which side will win．

    Sometimes，however, one team appears so much stronger than the others that everyone agrees it will win．The stronger team is a shoo-in．There is no way that it can lose．

    The expression shoo-in comes from horse racing．It comes from the word “shoo''．That’s not the shoe we wear on our foot．It's another word，S-H-O-O．“To shoo”is an expression hundreds of years old that means to urge a person or animal to move in a desired direction．

Many years ago，dishonest riders sometimes agreed secretly to control their horses so that one chosen horse would win the race．All but one of the riders would hold back thei horses．The chosen rider would shoo his horse ahead of the others，and win the race.

    The other riders would secretly bet large amounts of money that the chosen horse would win．

    The public soon learned about such races．They began to call the winner of such a race a“shoo-in"．

    These days，people use shoo-in to describe any athlete or competitor that seems certain to win，even without cheating．American runner Edw in Moses won more than one hundred races before he ran the hurdles race in the nineteen-eighty-four Olympic Games．Everyone said Moses was a shoo-in and that he could not lose．And they were right．He won the gold medal．

36．One of the dishonest riders was sure to win the race because          

  A．the other riders had agreed to fail in the race

  B．he used to be best at riding

  C．the public had confidence in him

  D．he could control his horse easily

37．The reason why American runner Edwin Moses was regarded as a“shoo-in”is     

  A．owing to his honest character

  B．due to his great effort shown in more than one hundred races

  C．that he won over l00 competitions before the l984 Olympic Games

  D．that the old meaning of“shoo-in''had changed

38．Which of the following statements is NOT true?

  A．“Shoo-in'’originated in the word“shoo'’．

  B．The public did not know they were being cheated．

  C．Some riders bet a lot of money on the chosen horse．

  D．US runner Moses deserved a shoo-in．

39．The main idea of the passage is that“shoo-in’’          

A．is used to admire a person who seems to be sure to win a race

B．is a word used to describe a dishonest person

C．is used for any athlete or competitor that seems too clever to be cheated

D．is used for anyone or anything that is certain of winning a game

40．This passage can best be titled           

  A．Be Sure to Win    B．Shoo-in，a Sure Winner

  C．Winner in a Competition  D．The Birth of Shoo-in

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Driving to a store after a busy day at work, I saw a man standing near the store holding a sign that said, “will work for food.” I knew at that moment that I was going into the store and   36  him something to eat.

As I   37  the car park, I saw in my car mirror a lady come out from a hairdresser’s and  38   the man. I thought she must be going to give him some  39  or something to help him out. In the store I was   40  to get the things I needed and also the chicken dinner and a soda that I wanted to give the man outside. I hurried out to my car and   41  that I was going to be able to hopefully help this man.

When I drove out of the car park, I couldn’t see the  42  . As I turned the corner I saw the man sitting in a  43  area away from the hairdresser’s and still  44  up the sign. I immediately  45  over and gave the man the dinner and soda and said“  46  this will get you through today.” He looked at me and said “Thank you so much！”As I got back into my car, I looked in the  47  and saw the man swallowing the dinner as if he hadn’t eaten for days.

I was so  48  that I was able to help him and at the same time I was so sad that the woman from the hairdresser’s,   49  ,had asked the man to   50  from her shop. It’s sad to say that  51   I live in a small city where homeless is not as  52  as in larger cities, people are uncomfortable with these people in  53  . All they need to do is lend a helping hand  54   and it could make a huge  55   in their lives.

A. cook            B. buy              C. pay              D. serve

A. turned into        B. got over         C. called at            D. pointed out

A. interview       B. comfort          C. blame                D. approach

A. example        B. space                C. money                D. comfort

A. preparing      B. hurrying         C. hesitating           D. planning

A. explained       B. wondered         C. agreed               D. felt

A. man            B. food             C. lady                 D. sign

A. different      B. strange          C. famous           D. comfortable.

A. making          B. holding          C. taking               D. building

A. turned          B. thought          C. pulled               D. looked

A. Hopefully      B. Finally          C. Luckily          D. Naturally

A. store          B. mirror               C. square               D. crowd

A. popular            B. anxious          C. pleased          D. patient

A. immediately    B. obviously            C. carefully            D. nervously

A. stop           B. suffer               C. move             D. change

A. whether         B. because          C. though               D. unless

A. poor           B. visible              C. selfish             D. happy

A. danger          B. action               C. need             D. moment

A. at times            B. at the time          C. at one time          D. at a time

A. difference     B. mistake          C. decision         D. living

________ in the regulations that you should not tell other people the password of your e-mail account．

1. A.
   What is required
2. B.
   What requires
3. C.
   It is required
4. D.
   It requires

There are still many things that Peter Cooke would like to try his hand at — paper-making and feather-work are on his list. For the moment, though, he will stick to the skill that he has been delighted to make perfect over the past ten years: making delicate and unusual objects out of shells.

As he leads me round his apartment showing me his work, he points to a pair of shell-covered ornaments(装饰品) above a fireplace. “I shan’t be at all bothered if people don’t buy them because I have got so used to them, and to me they’re lovely. I never meant to sell my work commercially. Some friends came to see me about five years ago and said, ‘You must have an exhibition — people ought to see these. We’ll talk to a man who owns an art gallery’”. The result was an exhibition in London, at which 70 per cent of the objects were sold. His second exhibition opened at the gallery yesterday. Considering the enormous prices the pieces command —around ￡2,000 for the ornaments — an empty space above the fireplace would seem a small sacrifice for Cooke to make.

There are 86 pieces in the exhibition, with prices starting at￡225 for a shell-flower in a crystal vase. Cooke insists that he has nothing to do with the prices and is cheerily open about their level: he claims there is nobody else in the world who produces work like his, and, as the gallery-owner told him, “Well, you’re going to stop one day and everybody will want your pieces because there won’t be any more.”

“I do wish, though,” says Cooke, “that I’d taken this up a lot earlier, because then I would have been able to produce really wonderful things — at least the potential would have been there. Although the ideas are still there and I’m doing the best I can now, I’m more limited physically than I was when I started.” Still, the work that he has managed to produce is a long way from the common shell constructions that can be found in seaside shops. “I have a miniature(微型的) mind,” he says, and this has resulted in boxes covered in thousands of tiny shells, little shaded pictures made from shells and baskets of astonishingly realistic flowers.?

Cooke’s quest(追求) for beautiful, and especially tiny, shells has taken him further than his Norfolk shore: to France, Thailand, Mexico, South Africa and the Philippines, to name but a few of the beaches where he has lain on his stomach and looked for beauties to bring home. He is insistent that he only collects dead shells and defends himself against people who write him letters accusing him of stripping the world’s beaches. “When I am collecting shells, I hear people’s great fat feet crunching(嘎吱嘎吱地踩) them up far faster than I can collect them; and the ones that are left, the sea breaks up. I would not dream of collecting shells with living creatures in them or diving for them, but once their occupants have left, why should I not collect them?” If one bases this argument on the amount of luggage that can be carried home by one man, the beauty of whose work is often greater than its natural parts, it becomes very convincing indeed.

What does the reader learn about Peter Cooke in the first paragraph?

A. He has produced hand-made objects in different materials.?

B. He hopes to work with other materials in the future.?

C. He has written about his love of making shell objects.?

D. He was praised for his shell objects many years ago. 

When mentioning the cost of his shell objects, Cooke ____.

       A. cleverly changes the subject.

       B. defends the prices charged for his work.

       C. says he has no idea why the level is so high.

       D. notes that his work will not always be so popular.

The “small sacrifice” in Paragraph 2 refers to _________.?

A. the loss of Cooke’s ornaments?          B. the display of Cooke’s ornaments?

C. the cost of keeping Cooke’s ornaments    D. the space required to store Cooke’s ornaments

What does Cooke regret about his work?

A. He is not as famous as he should have been.?B. He makes less money than he should make.

C. He is less imaginative than he used to be.?    D. He is not as skillful as he used to be. ?

What does the reader learn about Cooke's shell-collecting activities?

A. Not everyone approves of what he does.

B. Other methods might make his work easier.

C. Other tourists get in the way of his collecting.

D. Not all shells are the right size and shape for his work

Annealing

Annealing is a way of making metal softer by heating it and then letting it cool very slowly, if metal is heated and then cooled very quickly, for example by dipping(浸) it in water, it will be very hard but also very brittle(脆)—that is, it will break easily. Metal that has been annealed is soft but does not breaks as easily. It is possible to make metal as hard or as soft as is wished, by annealing it. The metal is heated, and allowed to cool slowly for a certain length of time. The longer the heated metal takes to cool slowly, the softer it becomes. Annealing can also be used on other material, such as glass.

1. Annealing can make metal ____

　　A. hard and tough(韧)　B. hard but brittle　　C. soft but tough　　D. soft and brittle

2. Why do people put hot metal in water?

　　A. To make it hard.　　B. To make it soft.　C. To make it cool.　D. To make it brittle

3. In annealing, the required hardness of a metal depends on 　______

　　A. the quantity of water used　B. the temperature of the metal

　　C. the softness of the metal　  D. the timing of the operation

4. As suggested by the text, how can glass be made less brittle?

　　A. It can be heated and then cooled quickly.

　　B. It can be cooled and then heated slowly.

　　C. It can be heated and then cooled slowly.

D. It can be cooled and then heated quickly.