Pierre is a 25-year-old penguin at the California Academy of Sciences. Due to his old age, he was going bald, which made him feel too cold to swim in the pool. Therefore, biologists at the academy had a wetsuit created for this penguin to help him get back in the swimming pool.

Unlike marine mammals, which have a layer of fat to keep them warm, penguins depend on their waterproof feathers. Without them, Pierre was unwilling to jump into the swimming pool and ended up trembling on the side of the pool while his 19 peers played in the water.

"He was cold; he would shake," said Pam Schaller, a senior biologist. Schaller first tried a heat lamp to keep Pierre warm. Then she got another idea: if wetsuits keep humans warm in the cold Pacific, why not make one for Pierre?

Schaller designed the suit, which covered Pierre’s body and had small openings for his flippers.

“I would walk behind him and look at where there were any gaps, and cut and refit and cut and refit until it looked like it was extremely suitable,” she said.

One concern was that the other penguins would reject Pierre in his new suit, but in fact, they accepted his new look. He swam freely and got along with others well, although he was the only penguin with a black stomach.

Schaller couldn’t say for sure whether the wetsuit allowed Pierre to recover his fine feathers, but “certainly we were able to keep him comfortable during a period of time that would have been very difficult for him to stay comfortable”.

Pierre will take off his suit after his new feathers grow back.

1.Pierre felt too cold to swim in the pool because of _____.

A. not having a layer of blubber

B. having few feathers due to old age

C. having no wetsuit

D. others penguins rejecting him

2.The idea of making a wetsuit for Pierre came from _____.

A. total invention

B. waterproof feathers

C. the use of wetsuit on humans

D. the use of heat lamp

3.Schaller followed Pierre in order to see _____.

A. whether other penguins would reject him

B. if anywhere of wetsuit needed to be cut and refit

C. if the wetsuit kept warm

D. whether the wetsuit would keep the feathers from recovering

4.The best title of the passage is _____.

A. Wetsuit for An Old Penguin

B. Old Penguin Getting Bald

C. Unwilling to Swim

D. Strange Look of PierreＢ

Anthony Horowitz suffered a lot as a child. He was, as he puts it, “not very bright” and couldn’t win the attention of his very wealthy parents, who preferred his “clever” older brother. At age 8, Horowitz was sent away to an abusive (虐待的) boarding school in his native England, even though he screamed and begged his parents year after year not to send him. “The thought was, ‘It’ll be good for him’,” Horowitz recalls.

It was not. Horowitz did badly in his studies, had few friends and was bullied (欺负) for five years. “My teachers couldn’t have had a lower opinion of me,” he said. “I wasn’t even smart enough to rebel (反抗). The one thing I remember from the very earliest age was this desire to write. When I was 10 years old, I remember asking my parents to get me a typewriter for my birthday because I wanted to be a writer.”

Now, at 55, Horowitz is one of the world’s most successful children’s book authors. His Alex Rider series has sold more than 5 million copies, and the eighth book featuring the young spy, Crocodile Tears, came out this month.

The Alex Rider books tell the adventures of 14-year-old Alex Rider, an agent for the British intelligence agency MI6.

Horowitz said he doesn’t try to write for kids; it just comes out that way. “I have a feeling it’s to do with purity and simplicity. I give as little information as is necessary to describe the room, the character in the room, and get on with the action,” he said.

That style has also made Horowitz a successful writer of television shows for adults in Britain because, he says, writing books for kids is a lot like writing television for grown-ups: In both cases, it’s all about entertaining people with a good story.

Now, Horowitz couldn’t be happier with his life. He sums up his success, “…you can be anything you want to be if you just believe in yourself. I do believe it completely.”

1. In his childhood, Anthony Horowitz _______.

A. was more intelligent than his brother

B. was paid more attention to by his parents

C. hated to be sent to the boarding school

D. led a miserable life because of poverty

2. In the boarding school, Horowitz’s teachers _______.

A. showed great concern for him                                 B. often abused and bullied him

C. taught him how to write stories                    D. thought little of his ability

3. Which of the following is true of Anthony Horowitz?

A. He was the beloved child of his family.

B. Although he is successful, he isn’t very happy.

C. He emphasizes the plot rather than character in stories.

D. He developed his writing ability in the boarding school.

4. What advice does Horowitz give to readers?

A. Confidence is the key to success.                      B. Hardship teaches valuable lessons.

C. Interest is the best teacher.                              D. Diligence is the parent of success.

Language is always changing. In a society where life continues year after year with few changes, the language does not change either. The earliest known languages had difficult grammar but a small, limited vocabulary. Over the century, the grammar changed, and the vocabulary grew. For example, the English and Spanish people who came to America during the sixteenth century gave names to all the new plants and animals they found. In this way, hundreds of new words were introduced into English and Spanish vocabularies. Today life is changing very fast, and language is changing fast too.

There are several major(主要) language families in the world. Some scientists say there are nine main families, but other scientists divide them differently. The languages in each family are connected, and scientists think that they came from the same parent language. About 3 percent of the people in the world speak languages that are not in these major families.

1.The early language had ________.

2.In the next few hundred years we can expect language to _____.

3.What this article shows is that _____.

Even though it was only October, my students were already whispering about Christmas plans. With each passing day everyone became more  31  waiting for the final school bell. Upon its   32  everyone would run for their coats and go home, everyone except David

David was a small boy in ragged clothes. I had often  33 what kind of home life David had, and what kind of mother could send her son to school dressed so 34 for the cold winter months, without a coat, boots, or gloves. But something made David   35  . I can still remember he was always  36 a smile and willing to help. He always  37 after school to straighten chairs and mop the floor. We never talked much. He  38  just smile and ask what else he could do ,then thank me for letting him stay and slowly  39 home.

Weeks passed and the  40  over the coming Christmas grew into restlessness until the last day of  41 before the holiday break. I smiled in  42  as the last of them hurried out the door. Turning around I saw David 43 standing by my desk.  

“I have something for you” he said and   44 from behind his back a small box.  45   it to me, he said anxiously, “Open it. ”I took the box from him, thanked him and slowly unwrapped it. I lifted the lid and to my 46  saw nothing. I looked at David’s smiling face and back into the box and said. “The box is nice, David, but it’ s  47 . ”

“ Oh no it isn’t ,” said David “ It’s full of love, my mum told me before she died that love was something you couldn’t see or touch unless you know it’s there .”

Tears filled my eyes  48  Ilooked at the proud dirty face that I had rarely given  49  to. After that Christmas, David and I became good friends and I never forgot the meaning 50 the little empty box set on my desk.      

PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION（30分）

Directions: Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are 4 choices marked A,B,C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage．

Short reader – submitted stories – for the woman you should think of today!

——Compiled by Amy Zerello

Great Minds Reminded of Mom

After a long, exhausting day, a friend of mine, Allen, headed home. On the road, he passed an elderly woman who was standing by a car with a flat tire. If that were his mother, he thought, he would want someone to help her. With a tired sigh, he turned around and drove back.

Just as he reached the stranded woman, a truck pulled up and a burly farmer got out. "Kindof reminds you of your mom, too?" the man asked as the two of them pitched in together to change the tire for the woman.

-- Contributed by Katherine L. Houge

Your Biggest Fan

While waiting in a bookstore for a guest author to sign her latest book, I leafed through some of the Civil War novels she had written. The woman in line behind me commented, "Those are the best books I've ever read. I couldn't put them down." Before I could reply, the author frowning, looked over and said, "Oh, come on, Mom!"

-- Contributed by Marilyn Kopp

Head of the Household

My husband, Jeff, and I came across several problems while assembling our new computer system, so we called the help desk. The man on the phone started to talk to Jeff in computer jargon(行业术语), which confused us even more.

"Sir," my husband politely said, "please explain what I should do as if I were a four-year-old."

"Okay," the computer technician replied. "Sweetie, could you please put your mommy on the phone?"

-- Contributed by Lena Worth

How does it feel to tickle your mom’s funny bone?

Now send your own funny story to us! You could earn up to $ 300!

56．Who would the burly man be in the first joke?

A．Another kind helper.       B．The old lady’s son.

C．Allen’s friend.         D．A policeman.

57．What was the guest author’s mom trying to do in the second story?

A．Push hard to get her daughter’s signature.

B．Promote her daughter’s books by pretending to be a fan.

C．Show her pride in her daughter’s achievement.

D．Persuade Marilyn Kopp to buy her daughter’s book.

58．The computer technician on the phone in the third story________.

A．actually could find no way to solve Jeff’s problems

B．teased Jeff about his poor knowledge of computer jargon

C．wanted to talk to Lena instead

D．believed that Jeff’s mom would know more computer jargon

59．What is the main purpose of the jokes?

A．To make fun of moms.    B．To honor moms.

C．To educate moms.           D．To amuse moms.

60．The passage is most possibly found________.

A．in a storybook         B．in a commercial ad

C．in a magazine          D．in a student’s textbook