A few days ago, I got a letter from a student. In his letter, he told me, “I have this friend at school. She’s one of my good friends but lately she has been ___36__ strange. When I talked to her the other day, she said coldly, ‘Do I look like I care?’ She was being all strange to me. She told me __37___ she thought I was a bad friend, but she still thinks I am her best friend. I am so confused.”

In my letter in reply, I gave him my advice:

After reading your question, I can understand why you’re confused. It sounds like your relationship with your friend is a little shaky. There could be several reasons for her __38__. For example, maybe she has a lot on her mind and is __39__ a few challenges of her own. She may not feel comfortable talking to anyone about them __40__ and may just need a little time to sort through her own feelings. Or, on the day you talked to her, she could have been having a bad day and didn’t realize she was very cold to you. I could list a few more __41__for you, but you know, __42__, the only person who knows why your friend reacted that way is your friend. My__43__ to you is to tell her how you feel. Let her know she hurt your feelings and ask why on some days she’s nice to you, and on other days she isn’t __44__ nice. It could be that your friend is making some other new friends at school and is having difficulty __45___ her old relationships. Whatever her reasons are, you should let her know that you are a unique, caring person who certainly deserves a good friendship at school, _46__ you wouldn’t have taken the time to write me. If your __47__ with this person fades a bit, it’s OK, because you will develop may other friendships.

36. A. proving                  B. thinking                C. showing             D. acting      

37. A. before                 B. if                     C. until                D. in case

38. A. background              B. feelings               C. reaction           D. appearance

39. A. getting alone           B. going through           C. blaming for        D. standing up

40. A. already                 B. too                  C. yet               D. afterwards

41. A. choices                 B. questions             C. opportunities       D. excuse

42. A. last but not least         B. to conclude         C. to be honest        D. as a result

43. A. letter                 B. focus             C. recommendation       D. advice

44. A. too                    B. as                   C. also                  D. such

45. A. refusing                 B. finding                C. remembering         D. balancing

46. A. and                    B. otherwise            C. because           D. so

47. A. attitude               B. progress             C. hesitation            D. closeness

阅读理解

　　The main idea of a paragraph is what all the sentences are about. Read the paragraph and ask, “What's your point?” That will help you zero in on the main idea.

　　Read each paragraph carefully. Choose the best answer to the following questions.

　　1．John loves to play games. His favorite game is chess because it requires a great deal of thought. John also likes to play less demanding board games that are based mostly on luck. He prefers Monopoly because it requires luck and skill. If he's alone, John likes to play action video games as long as they aren't too violent.

　　2．Maria is watching too much television. A toddler shouldn't be spending hours staring blankly at a screen. Worse yet, some of her wild behavior has been inspired by those awful cartoons she watches. We need to spend more time reading books with her and pull the plug on the TV!

　　3．Samantha, I can't eat or sleep when you are gone. I need to hear your scratchy voice and see your lovely toothless smile. I miss that special way that you eat soup with your fingers. Please come home soon!

　　4．Someday we will all have robots that will be our personal servants. They will look and behave much like real humans. We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and they will be able to respond in kind. Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn from experience. They will be smart, strong, and untiring workers whose only goal will be to make our lives easier.

1．What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?

[　　]

A．John dislikes violence.

B．John likes to think.

C．John enjoys Monopoly.

D．John enjoys playing games.

2．What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?

[　　]

A．Watching a lot of television isn't good for Maria.

B．Books are good.

C．All cartoons are bad.

D．Some cartoons are bad for Maria.

3．What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?

[　　]

A．Samantha, you have bad manners.

B．Samantha, you should see a dentist.

C．Samantha, I miss you.

D．Samantha, I have lost my appetite.

4．Which sentence from the Paragraph 4 expresses the main idea?

[　　]

A．Someday we will all have robots that will be our personal servants.

B．We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and they will be able to respond in kind.

C．They will look and behave much like real humans.

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 53-56.
Important words to learn: E Essential I Improver A Advanced
shoot [?u:t]
▲verb (shot, shot) WEAPON→1 E to fire a bullet or an arrow, or to hit, injure or kill a person or animal by firing a bullet or arrow at them: If he’s not armed, don’t shoot. ⊙The kids were shooting arrows at a target.⊙She was shot three times in the head.⊙He has a license to shoot pheasants on the farmer’s land. ⊙A policeman was shot dead in the city centre last night. ⊙ The troops were told to shoot to kill. SPORT→2 A to try to score points for yourself or your team, in sports involving a ball, by kicking, hitting or throwing the ball towards the goal: He shot from the middle of the field and still managed to score. MOVE QUICKLY→3 A to move in a particular direction very quickly and directly: She shot past me several meters before the finishing line. ⊙ He shot out of the office a minute ago ─ I think he was late for a meeting.⊙They were just shooting off to town so we didn’t stop to speak.
shooter ['?u:t?] noun[C]He’s thought to be the best shooter in the league.
▲idioms have shot your bolt UK INFORMAL to have already achieved all that you have the power, ability or strength to do and to be unable to do more: He started off the game well but seemed to have shot his bolt by half-time.
? shoot yourself in the foot to do something without intending to which spoils a situation for yourself
? shoot your mouth off INFORMAL to talk too much in a loud and uncontrolled way: It’s just like Richard to go shooting his mouth off about other people’s affairs.
? shoot for the moon US to ask for the best or the most you could hope for: You might as well shoot for the moon and ask for a promotion as well as a raise.
? shoot questions at sb to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly, one after the other: He shot questions at me so quickly that I didn’t even have time to answer.
? shoot the breeze US INFORMAL to talk with someone or a group of people about things which are not important: We sat out on the porch, just shooting the breeze.
▲ phrasal verbs shoot sth down to destroy an aircraft or make an aircraft, bird, etc. fall to the ground by shooting at it: He was killed during the war when his plane was shot down.
shoot sb down to shoot and usually kill someone, showing no sympathy: I saw Tom shoot him down like a dog in the street.
shoot for/at sth US to try to do something: It’s worth taking chances when you’re shooting at a chance of fame and wealth.
shoot out If opposing groups or people armed with guns shoot it out, they shoot at each other until one of the groups or people is dead or defeated.
shoot through AUSTRALIAN INFORMAL to leave a place very quickly, especially in order to avoid having to do something
shoot up INCREASE→INFORMAL to grow in size, or increase in number or level, very quickly: David has really shot up since I saw him last. ⊙Prices shot up by 25%.
▲ noun PLANT→1[C]the first part of a plant to appear above the ground as it develops from a seed, or any new growth on an already existing plant: Two weeks after we’d planted the seeds, little green shoots started to appear. ⊙FIGURATIVE The first green shoots (="hopeful" signs) of economic recovery have started to appear.
FILM→2[C USUALLY SINGULAR] when photographer take a series of photographs, usually of the same person or people in the same place: We did a fashion shoot on the beach, with the girls modeling swimwear. WEAPON→3[C]an occasion on which a group of people go to an area of the countryside to shoot animals
shooting ['?u:ti?] noun 1 A [U]when bullets are shot from guns or other weapons: We heard some shooting in the night. 2 A [C]when someone is injured or killed by a bullet shot from a gun: There have been a number of shootings in the capital this week. 3[U]the sport of shooting animals or birds: pleasant/grouse shooting ⊙ He goes shooting most weekends.
【小题1】What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “You will be bound to see that the green shoots of your English level start to grow.”?

John wanted a bike. He had asked his parents for the   36   and they said he must earn it. But  37   ? He thought about this as he walked home.    38   many people wanted to ask boys to work for them. Maybe he could   39   away snow for the neighbors. But this was   40  . He’d have to wait a long time for that. He couldn’t cut grass for this garden because he had no    41   to do the work    42   .

Then he   43   one of his classmates, Dick, delivering newspapers. “ I could    44    that,” he thought. “ Maybe I could even get the bike    45    away. I could pay for it a little each week.” He ran to   46   up with Dick. John asked a lot of    47    about having a paper   48  . He learned that it was possible to earn twenty-five dollars each week. He learned that the job  49  about three hours each   50   . Dick gave him the phone number of this newspaper manager.

John    51    flew home. After he had explained his   52   , his mother smiled. “I think it’s a great   53   ,” she said. “I’ll call the newspaper.”

“Wait, Mom,” John said. “I’ll call.    54    , I’m going to be a   55  now.”

36. A. money                B. chance                            C. permission                       D. bike

37. A. when                  B. where.                            C. why                               D. how

38. A. Few                   B. A few                       C. Not                                 D. No

39. A. get                            B. take                         C. throw                              D. clear

40. A. spring                 B. summer                    C. autumn                           D. winter

41. A. time                   B. tool                         C. way                                D. friends

42. A. with                   B. for.                          C. at                                        D. by

43. A. saw                    B. heard                       C. learned                            D. discovered

44. A. do                      B. make                       C. deliver                                   D. seize

45. A. far                            B. right                        C. out                                 D. back

46. A. keep                   B. set                           C. look                                D. catch

47. A. news                  B. questions                  C. information                            D. problems

48. A. trade                  B. business                   C. route                               D. shop

49. A. paid                   B. wasted                            C. spent                               D. took

50. A. mornings            B. night                        C. week                               D. newspaper

51. A. almost                B. quickly                    C. even                               D. obviously

52. A. dictionary           B. suggestions               C. act                                  D. plan

53. A. mistake               B. fun                          C. dream                             D. idea

54. A. Above all            B. More or less             C. After all                          D. As a matter of fact

55. A. reporter                     B. businessman             C. newspaper                       D. salesman