第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Until quite recently, I knew only three things about my father: I knew his name, David S. Johnson, Jr. I knew he was an only child, and I’d been told he was killed on April 12, 1945, somewhere in Germany.
I used to come to visit my Granny. “Daddy David and his two friends were out in the fields, making sure the way was safe for the others to follow,” she told me. “All of a sudden there was an explosion. All three of them were killed.” Granny was looking down, stroking one thin hand with the other. Then there were no words but silence.
I began my search and collection for information about my father as my 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his death drew near. I was told that the explosion had blown him to bits and I had great difficulty collecting anything I could find about him bit by bit. Bits of information about his began falling into my hands, my mind and my heart. Longing to know my father kept me connected to him. It was time to transform my longing into knowledge.
Once upon a time he was alive, and my mother and father were deeply in love. They were married, and they had a child, my brother David. Then my father left for the war.
I was born in January 1945. On February 15 my father wrote me a letter of welcome. The letter is kept in my baby book, “Dear Susan, you have a very good family. Your dad is sort of a less able person. Your mother is the most wonderful person I’ve ever known. I’ve always marveled at my great good fortune to have her and been loved by her. If you follow her words and examples, you may expect to meet life in the best possible way, and your path will always be the right one. Your father, Dave.”
Black on white paper, the words are from my father. From them I grow into a person of loyalty and love. How I long for stories that will bring him to life!
1．The writer got to know her father’s story of death from         .
A．her father’s friends  B．someone in Germany
C．her grandmother             D．a little child
2．The author meet difficulty finding information about her father because          .
A．it was too  late for her to start the search    
B．the explosion left little about her father
C．she only found pieces of hands and legs
D．she didn’t have enough knowledge to do it
3．Which of the following statements is TURE?          .
A．Her parents had only one child       B．Her father died before her birth
C．Her father was a disabled man D．The writer never saw her father
4．We know from the last paragraph that the author         .
A．still hates her father for having left
B．is curious about her father’s death
C．shows much respect for her father
D．is sure that her father may survive

Ⅲ阅读（共两节。满分40分）
第一节阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
   阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Do you have any idea what you would like to be and do after graduation? A lot of people don't begin thinking about career until they reach junior or senior year, which, in my opinion, is too late.
When people are trying to decide what they want to do, it helps to know something they love. Ever since I was little, I’ve always been doing someone’s hair, make-up or nails, starting with Barbie dolls and progressing to humans. Over the years my family has really inspired me to do this and now I fix friends’ and family members’ hair for weddings, dances and other big events.
I have been thinking about what I would like to do for a career since middle school. I did some research and discovered that I might really enjoy being a cosmetologist so, I went to my hair stylist and asked her lots of questions about what it takes to reach her level and what she would recommend I do. I considered her advice and then did more research.
I used Aveda’s website to get information on the Aveda Institute and what type of credits(贷款) I would need from high school to apply. I found their institute has three parts: theatrical knowledge, practical experience, and professional business-building skills. For the past few years, I have been looking at Aveda in more and more detail. This school not only offers cosmetology, but also massage therapy(疗法). I grew up in Minnesota(美国北部的一个州), so I plan to apply to the institute in Minneapolis that several people have highly recommended. It helps students become “future industry leaders in hair care, skin care, makeup and total body wellness”. It is affordable and everyone there is friendly and understanding.
Having done the groundwork and thinking about what I’d like to do after high school, I know that I will definitely pursue my dream of becoming a cosmetologist.
1. After reading the text, we can infer the author is interested in ________.
A. traveling abroad         B. service business         C. social activities  D. acting on the stage
2. Why does the author think it’s too late for people to start thinking about careers in junior or senior year?
A. Because he/she began to think about them when very young.
B. Because many people are too old to learn.
C. Because a lot of people can’t grasp the opportunity.
D. Because many people have little they love.
3. We know from the text that a cosmetologist is ________.
A. a chemist working at college             B. a person who works in the institute
C. a doctor in a hospital                        D. a person doing all types of body care for people
4. The author plans to apply to the institute in Minnepolis NOT because ________.
A. the people there are good to others           B. some people advise him/her to do so
C. the institute is free of charge                    D. the institute is helpful to his/her future
5. The author of the text may be a ________.
A. married person                                       B. middle school student             
C. college student                                        D. a teacher in an institute

阅读下在短文，从短文后各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出适合填入对应空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

A woman id her sixties lived alone in her little cottage with a pear tree at her door. She spent all her time taking care of the tree. But the children nearby drover her    21     by making fun of her. They would climb her tree and then run away with pears,     22  “Aunty Misery” at her.

One evening, a passer by asked to    23    for the night. Seeing that he had an   24  Face, she let him in and gave him a nice    25  . The next morning the stranger, actually a sorcerer (巫师), thanked her by granting (允准) her   26    that anyone who climbed up her tree 27  not be able to come back down until she   28 it.

When the children came back to steal her   29  , she had them stuck on the tree. They had to beg her

long   30  she gave the tree permission to let  31   go. Aunty Misery was free from the   32  at last.

One day another man    33   her door. This one did not look trustworthy to her,   34  she asked who he was . “I am Death, I’ve come to take you   35   me.” said he.

Thinking fast Aunty Misery said, “Fine, but I’d like to  36   some pears from my dear tree to remember the 37          

it brought to me in this life. But I am too    38  to climb high to get the best fruit. Will you be so   39   as to do it for me?” With a deep sigh, Mr. Death climbed up the tree   40  and was immediately stuck to it. No matter how much he warned or begged, Aunty Misery would not allow the tree to let Death go.

21.  A. hopeless    B. painful   C. dull   D. crazy

22.  A. calling     B. shouting   C. announcing       D. whispering

23.  A. stay       B. live       C. hide             D. lie

24.  A. interesting B. honest    C. anxious          D. angry

25.  A. gift       B. kiss      C. treat             D. smile

26.  A. suggestion  B. demand     C. permission       D. wish

27.  A. could      B. should     C. might            D. must

28.  A. permitted   B. promised   C. answered         D. declared

29.  A. branch    B. food       C. tree             D. fruit

30.  A. after      B. while      C. since            D. before

31.  A. it        B. them       C. him              D. her

32.  A. trick     B. question    C. trouble          D. difficulty

33.  A. stepped into   B. left for C. stopped at      D. walked around

34.  A. so       B. but          C. although        D. because

35.  A. with     B. off          C. upon            D. for

36.  A. choose    B. pick         C. shake           D. hit

37.  A. honor     B. pleasure      C. hope            D. excitement

38.  A. light     B. short        C. old             D. thin

39.  A. proud     B. kind         C. fine            D. smart

40.  A. disappointedly       B. cheerfully      C. unwillingly     D. eagerly

.

Ⅲ 阅读（共两节。满分40分）

第一节 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分, 满分30分）

阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中, 选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as Mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.

Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk”, he said, “is for Elizabeth” 。

I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me, she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.

They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional”. But she lived “on the surface”.

As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.

I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came.

My hope turned to disappointment, the little interest, finally, peace — it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

Now the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work, I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside — a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times.

Give me an answer, my desk, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

31. The writer began to love her mother’s desk _______.

A. after Mother died             B. before she became a writer

C. when she was a child          D. when Mother gave it to her

32. The passage shows about _______.

A. Mother wrote her daughter in careful words

B. Mother cared much about her daughter in words

C. Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done

D. Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter

33. The word “gulf” in the 4th paragraph means _______.

A. part of the sea going far in land

B. free talks between mother and daughter

C. different ideas between the mother and daughter

D. deep understanding between the old and the young

34. What did Mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?

A. She had never received the letter.

B. She read the letter again and again till she died.

C. For years, she often talked about the letter.

D. She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in her life.

35. What’s the best title of the passage?

A. My letter to Mother                 B. Mother and children

C. My Mother’s Desk                  D. Talks between Mother and Me

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her free time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip (退稿条) from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and ruined hopes can surface.

A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?”

“No”, she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.

1. What do we learn form the first paragraph?

A. Now too many entertainments take up too much time.

B. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

C. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her free time.

D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A. She had won a prize in the previous contest.

B. She wanted to share her stories with readers.

C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

4. What’s the author’s advice for parents?

A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.