A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before.

University tuition fees (学费) are currently capped at ??3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.

In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average ?? 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just ?? 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than ?? 10.000. Average debts for graduates are ?? 12，363.

Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."

Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweather aged 15 from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money.

Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?

A. Students understand personal finances differently. 

B. University tuition fees in England have been rising.

C. Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings.

D. The students' payback ability has become a major issue.

The phrase "to raise the ceiling" in paragraph 2 probably means "______".

A. to raise the student loans                       B. to improve the school facilities

C. to increase the upper limit of the tuition     D. to lift the school building roofs

According to Stephen Moir, students_______.

A. are too young to be exposed to financial issues

B. should learn to manage their finances well

C. should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans

D. benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance

What can we learn from the passage?

A. Many British teenagers do not know money matters well

B. Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts.

C. Financial planning is a required course at college.

D. Young people should become responsible adults.

“Keep an eye on Esther. I’ll be back in a second,” Joy Warren said to her three-year-old son Stephen, who was sitting in the back of the Buick. She didn’t like leaving the children alone in the car, but the baby was sleeping soundly. And it would only be a moment.

   She had hardly walked 40 yards when she saw the car moving. It headed straight towards the river. Unable to swim, Joy shouted, “My babies are in that car!”

Daniel Whitehead, a 17-year-old student, was walking by the river when the Buick crashed into the water just yards ahead .Without thinking, Daniel jumped in. Though a competitive swimmer, he was shocked by the icy chill.  

Two minutes earlier, Skip Womack had pulled to a halt as the Buick ran in front of him. Now seeing it hit the water and hearing Joy’s cries, Skip got out of his truck and jumped into the water. He had only one thought: If I don’t get them out, they’ll drown.

Daniel reached the car and grabbed a door handle. But the water was only four inches beneath the window, and the door wouldn’t open. With one powerful punch, Daniel and Skip broke a window. Daniel reached inside and lifted Stephen out. He placed him on his back and set out for shore. At the same time, Skip squeezed himself through the window .He managed to free Esther from beneath her seat belt. After he got out of the car with the baby, he held her over the water and swam toward the shore. All this took place just seconds before the Buick disappeared beneath the water.

Later, driving home, Skip thought of his wife and children—how close he’d come to leaving them behind. He thought of the miracle he’d lived through, and how two children were still alive because he and Daniel happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Why did Joy leave her children in the car?

A. He did not like shopping with a child in hand.

B. She didn’t like waking up her baby.

C. Stephen was big enough to take care of his sister.

D. It was icy cold outside.

Daniel and Skip, who saved the lives of the two kids, _____.

A. had been good friends

B. were two close friends of Joy Warren’s

C. were Joy Warren’s neighbors

D. were strangers before the accident

How did Daniel get Stephen out of danger?

A. He squeezed into the car and carried him out.

B. He pulled him out through the broken window.

C. He freed him from his seatbelt before he got him out.

D. He held him over the water and swam back to shore.

What happened to Joy Warren’s Buick?

A. It had four inches of water in it.

B. One of its windows could not be opened.

C. It was pulled out of water and set on the shore.

D. It sank to the bottom of the river.

How did Skip feel in his way home?

A. He felt lucky to be still alive after having saved the lives of two kids.

B. He missed his wife and children, whom he left behind in the morning.

C. He felt very thankful to Daniel, without whom he would not have made it.

D. He wondered how he and Daniel could be in the right place at the right time.

    Jenna, a popular girl from Westood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new   36   in high school.

      37  , high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts(选拔赛) for cheerleaders(拉拉队队员). She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be  38   for her to be selected. Two hours later, the  39  read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart  40   as the list ended without her name. Feeling  41  , she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

    Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was   42  . She moved on to English and history, and was  43  to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to  44  math for the time being.

    The next day Jenna went to see Mrs Biden about being on the school  45  . Mrs Biden wasn’t as  46   as Jenna. “ I’m sorry, but we have enough  47   for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we’ll take then.” Jenna smiled  48   and left. “Why is high school so     49    ?” she sighed.

    Later in  50  class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much  51   . By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to   52   at her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to  53   . High school was just as her mom had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond  54   a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the  55   fish you can be.”

36. A. processes         B. decisions          C. challenges          D. exercises

37. A. Therefore         B. However          C. Otherwise          D. Besides

38. A. difficult          B. easy              C. boring             D. interesting

39. A. editor            B. boss              C. candidate           D. judge

40. A. jumped           B. sank              C. stopped            D. raced

41. A. strange           B. happy             C. awful              D. lonely

42. A. struggling         B. improving         C. working            D. complaining

43. A. ashamed          B. disappointed        C. shocked           D. relieved

44. A. put up            B. prepare for         C. worry about         D. give up

45. A. committee        B. newspaper          C. radio              D. team

46. A. enthusiastic       B. artistic             C. sympathetic         D. realistic

47. A. speakers          B. readers             C. cheerleaders        D. writers

48. A. widely           B. weakly             C. excitedly           D. brightly

49. A. similar           B. ordinary            C. different            D. familiar

50. A. physics           B. history             C. English            D. math

51. A. pleasure          B. hope               C. trouble             D. sorrow

52. A. fit in             B. look out            C. stay up             D. get around

53. A. swim            B. try                 C. ask                D. escape

54. A. in return for       B. in case of            C. in terms of         D. instead of

55. A. slimmest         B. smallest              C. best              D. gentlest

假如你叫李华，请给某英文报社写一封信，反映如下情况并谈谈你的建议。

       1．现在有许多同学使用手机，原因一是认为时髦，二是认为便于同家人和朋友联系。

       2．一些学生把手机带进教室，课堂上的铃声影响了课堂纪律。有的同学还在课堂上发短信，浪费了宝贵的学习时间。

      建议：……

      注意：1．信的开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数； 2．词数：100字左右

Dear Editor,

I’m a senior high school student．Now many students use mobile phones.

Your sincerely,

                                                            Li Hua

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree. My teacher’s last 36  of the term was called “ Smile”. I am a very friendly person and always 37  at everyone. So I thought this would be very 38 .

Soon after we were given the project, my 39  went out to McDonald’s. We were waiting to be 40 , when all of a sudden everyone around us began to 41 , and even my husband did. There standing behind me were two homeless men 42 .

As I looked down at the short gentleman with 43  eyes, he said, “ Good day.” The second man stood behind his friend. I 44  the second man was mentally challenged（智障）and the blue-eyed gentleman was his helper.

The young 45  at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, “ Coffee is all ,Miss.” Because that was all they could 46 .

I smiled and asked the young lady to give me two more breakfast meals on a 47 tray（托盘）. I then said to the men, “ I did not do this for you. God is here 48  through me to give you hope.”

When I joined my husband, he smiled at me, saying, “That is 49  God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.”

I returned to 50 with this story in hand. I 51 “my project” and the teacher read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “ Can I 52  this with the class?”

I slowly 53 and she began to read and that was when I knew that we, as human beings, share this to help people and to be 54.

In my own way I had 55 the people at McDonald’s, my husband, sons, teacher, and every person that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.