I’ve often puzzled over something that happened to me one winter when I was eight. Over the years I had been wondering if my  31  was nothing more than a kid’s imagination.

   There was a  32  near our house. In winter it was the greatest  33  place in the world. One  34  all I wanted to do was go skating. I had been waiting for weeks  35  the water was frozen solid. Mom had one rule: “Never ice-skate alone.” But I couldn’t  36  any longer that afternoon. So I  37  my skates under my coat and ran to the pond. Several people were skating near the shore, and some kids were playing hockey．I was not really  38  ．

The hockey game had attracted   39  audience, so I skated in the other direction until their cheering  40  . But another noise came soon. The ice was cracking beneath me. Freezing water  41   my body, and I sank like a rock.  My feet  42   the bottom. Just when I thought I wouldn’t last another  43 , I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Don’t worry,” someone said. I swung my  44  around. I couldn’t see anybody. But I heard the voice again，“Push your feet into the bottom and you’ll shoot straight up to the surface.” I did as I was told and  45 . I crawled to the shore and lay down,  46  ．The next thing I knew was people were   47    around me, covering me with coats.   

When I awoke, I was home in my own bed. Mom sat next to me,   48  my hand. “I saw nobody there. It must be an angel that came to my  49  ．” I said. Mom smiled, “I just thank God you’re safe.”

    For a long time I thought I would  50  a more realistic explanation if I just thought hard, but I never did.

1.A. attention   B. behavior        C. explanation          D. reason

2.A. river      B. pond         C. lake                 D. dam

3.A. skating    B. fishing      C. swimming         D. skiing

4.A. afternoon B. morning      C. evening              D. night

5.A. after          B. until        C. as                   D. if

6. A. go        B. run          C. sit                  D. wait

7.A. found      B. threw            C. took                 D. hid

8.A. lonely     B. single       C. alone                D. afraid

9.A. noisy      B. happy        C. small                D. young

10. A. changed      B. disappeared      C. increased            D. stopped

11.A. filled        B. controlled       C. covered         D. loaded

12.A. hit       B. dragged      C. set              D. tapped

13.A. day       B. hour         C. minute               D. second

14.A. head      B. hand         C. arm                  D. leg

15.A. left          B．succeeded   C. tried           D. survived

16.A. worried       B. surprised        C. excited          D. exhausted

17.A. lying         B. standing     C. laughing        D. crawling

18.A. raising       B. shaking      C. holding          D. washing

19.A. place     B. mind         C. defense              D. rescue

20.A. take up   B. make up with     C. bring up             D. come up with

Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn’t easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn’t exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.

One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball(化装舞会). He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.

Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.

On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was astonished to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin’s grand entrance for a long time!

49. The text is mainly about _________.

A. a strange man              

B. an unusual party

C. how roller skating began     

D. how people enjoyed themselves in the 18^th century

50. People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he _________.

A. often gave others surprise     B. was a gifted musician

C. invented the roller skates      D. was full of imagination

51. Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to _________.

A. impress the party guests       B. arrive at the party sooner

C. test his invention             D. show his skill in walking on wheels

52. What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?

A. The roller skates needed further improvement

B. The party guests took Merlin for a fool

C. Merlin succeeded in beyond expectation.

D. Roller skating is easy and fun.

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1—15各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

The subject of what separates art and design has been debated for a long time. Artists and designers both create visual works using a/an   1   knowledge background, but their reasons for doing so are   2   different. Some designers consider themselves artists, but few artists consider themselves   3  .

So what exactly is the difference between art and design? Perhaps the most fundamental difference that we can all agree on is their   4  . Typically, the process of creating a work of art starts with nothing, a blank sheet of paper. A   5   of art is born from a view or value that the artist holds within himself or herself. They create the art to share that feeling with others, to   6 

the viewers to relate to it, learn from it or be   7   by it. The most renowned and successful art today is something that establishes the strongest   8   connection between the artist and their

  9  .

By contrast, when a designer sets out to   10   a new piece, they almost always have a

  11   starting point, whether a message, an image, an idea or an action. The designer’s job isn’t to invent something   12  , but to communicate something that already exists, for a purpose. That purpose is almost always to motivate the audience to do something: buy a product, use a

  13  , visit a location, or learn certain information. The most   14   designs are those that most effectively   15   their message and motivate their consumers to carry out a task.

1.A. unique                B. separate               C. shared                             D. accepted

2.A. entirely              B. occasionally          C. hardly                              D. unnecessarily

3.A. inventors  B. designers              C. writers                                     D. viewers

4.A. purpose            B. product                  C. interest                           D. cost

5.A. love                     B. type                        C. part                                  D. work

6.A. stop                    B. allow                      C. require                                     D. move

7.A. understood       B. fooled                     C. inspired                           D. discouraged

8.A. political              B. social                      C. physical                           D. emotional

9.A. supporters        B. audiences             C. buyers                             D. enemies

10.A. sell                    B. imagine                 C. create                             D. draw

11.A. fixed                 B. good                       C. strange                           D. positive

12.A. surprising                 B. special                   C. creative                          D. new

13.A. phone               B. service                            C. language                        D. name

14.A. important                 B. creative                 C. successful                      D. unusual

15.A. learn                          B. receive                   C. confuse                           D. communicate

When you want to go shopping, decide how much money you can spend on new clothes. Think about the kind of clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes on sale.

There are labels(标签) inside all new clothes. The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes. The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash in cold water. The label on a coat may say “dry clean only”, for washing may ruin this coat. If you do as the directions on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best for a long time.

Many clothes today must be dry cleaned. Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check to see if they will need to be dry cleaned. You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed.

You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made. Well-made clothes last longer. They look good even after they have been washed many times. Clothes that cost more money are not necessarily better made. They do not always fit better. Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.

1.If you want to save money, you had better buy clothes that ________.

2.The labels inside the clothes tell you________.

3.The first thing for you to do before you buy clothes is ________.

4.We learn from the passage that cheaper clothes ________.

5.The best title for the passage should be ________.

Mr. Jackson was tired of living in his old house in the countryside and wanted to sell it and buy a better one. He tried to sell it for a long time, but was not successful, so at last he decided to go to an estate agent.

The agent advertised(登广告) the house straight away, and a few days later, the owner saw a very beautiful photograph of his house, with a wonderful description of his garden in an expensive magazine.

Having read the advertisement through, the house owner hurried to phone the estate agent, saying, “I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but I've decided not to sell my house after all.” “Why?” the agent asked in a surprised voice. “Because from the advertisement in that magazine I can see it's just the kind of house I've wanted to live in all my life.”

1. Mr. Jackson wanted to sell his house because _____.

2.The reason why Mr. Jackson went to the estate agent was _____.

3. At last Mr. Jones _____.

4. What do you think of the advertisement in magazines?

5.What’s the meaning of “an estate agent” in paragraph one?