I hated dinner parties .But I decided to give them another shot because I’m  in London. And my friend Mallery invited me . And because dinner parties in London are very different from those  in New York,  “I’m having a dinner party ” means : “I’m booking a table for 12 at a restaurant  you can’t afford ang we’ll be sharing the cheque evenly , no matter what you eat.” Wors , in  Manhattan there  is  always someone who  leaves before  the  bill arrives  .They’ll throw  down cash, half of what  they owe, and then people like me, who don’t  drink, end  up paying even  more . But if try to use the same  trick  , the hostess will shout; “Where are you going ?” And it’s not like I can  say I have somewhere to go : everyone knows I have  nowhere to go.

But in London, dinner patise are in people’s homes . Not only that, the guests  are an interesting  mix .The last time I went to one , the guests were from France , India ,Denmark and  Nigeria; it was like a gathering  at the United Nations . In New York ,the mix is less striking . It’s  like a gathering at Bloomingdat="le’s" , a well-known de partment  store.

For New Yorkers, talking ,talking  about  other  parts  of the world  means Brooklyn  and Queens in New Yorkers.But at Mallery’s ,when I side that I had been to Myanmar recently, peo ple knew where it was , In New Yorkers people would think it was a usual culb.

1.What does the word “shot” in Paragraph I pro baly mean?

A.  Choice B. Try   C. Style   D.Goal

2. What does  the writer  dislike most about  dinner  parties  in New Yorkers

A. There  is a stange mix of people.

B. The restaurants are expensive.

C. The bill is not fairly shared.

D. People  have  to  pay cash 

3.What does the author think of the parties in London?

A. A bit unusual   B. Full of tricks  C.Less costly  D. More interesting

4.What  is the author’s opininon of some New Yorkers from her experience?

A.Easy-going B. Self-centred.   C.Generous D.Conservative

Wings of Angel 

I used to hate myself because I wasn’t “normal”. Everyone else could play on the monkey bars and ride on a bicycle, but not   21  . I had a severe spinal cord disorder (脊髓病) and I knew I would always be much   22   than others.

I hated going to school and I hated people   23   at me. I hated seeing others smiling broadly and standing   24   and tall. And most of all, I hated looking in the   25   and seeing an ugly hunchback (驼背).

My friends found me   26   because I didn’t let others get close to me. I thought I was going to go on like this for the rest of my life   27   Angela appeared.

That afternoon, I was sitting by myself in a corner of the school — a spot where no one would   28   me. That’s when I first heard her voice.

“Hi. Can I sit down?”

I raised my head and there she was, with an irresistible smile on her round face.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

“Ants.”

“What are they doing?”

“No   29  .”

“I bet they’re playing games and making friends. Don’t you think so?”

That was how our   30   started and it didn’t stop. We talked about everything under the sun—the ants, the clouds, my little niche (处境) — until it was sunset.

Then suddenly, she saw my   31  . She just stared.

    My heart   32  . What I feared most had happened and I knew for sure she would   33   me now.

She stood up, pointed at my back and said, “I know   34   your back is hunched.”

I closed my eyes like a criminal waiting to be   35  . I begged in my heart for her to   36  , but she just kept on going. “I know what you’ve got in there. Do you?”

“No,” I answered   37  .

She bent and whispered in my ears.

“Your back is hunched because you’ve got a pair of wings from the angels.”  

I was   38  . I looked into her eyes and her   39   touched my heart. From that day on, I started to learn to   40   myself because I have the wings of an angel and a kind-hearted friend.

A. them          B. it              C. me            D. her  

A. sadder          B. shorter               C. weaker           D. slower

A. looking       B. smiling       C. aiming          D. glaring  

A. still            B. alone          C. straight          D. together

A. street           B. sun             C. corner          D. mirror

A. distant          B. disappointed   C. hopeless         D. unlucky 

A. after           B. while         C. since            D. until

A. disturb        B. seek             C. comfort          D. ignore

A. wonder        B. idea             C. way             D. problem

A. games         B. performance   C. conversation      D. competition

A. face           B. back             C. eyes             D. wings

A. sank          B. beat             C. broke           D. ached

A. look up to   B. catch up with   C. look down upon D. put up with

A. that          B. how            C. whether          D. why

A. tied          B. arrested       C. punished      D. sentenced

A. relax         B. leave            C. stop             D. forbid

A. shyly          B. weakly         C. proudly       D. firmly  

A. astonished  B. ashamed          C. annoyed        D. upset

A. wisdom      B. beauty           C. honesty       D. kindness 

A. control       B. like            C. forgive        D. forget

I hated practicing, but I stuck_______ _it and now I can play pretty well.

My son and I were trying to sell the house we had repaired but in the barn(谷仓)there were bats(蝙蝠)and they would not leave. The barn was their home. They told us so in their own way. They hung there in the barn and seemed determined to stay for the season. Don’t worry about it, Dad, " Patrick said. They keep down the mosquitoes(蚊子).”
Unfortunately they also kept the buyers away. when we had asked a person to sell　the house for us he had refused to show it because of the bats. Bats are popular, “Patrick comforted me. They’re ecological(生态学的).”Isn’t there a machine you can buy that produces high frequency sounds to keep bats away?” “I don’t know,” said Patrick. But I like bats, and whoever buys this house will probably like them too. “Probably?” I hated that word. “How many bats are　there ,anyway?” “I counted about 90 last night,” said Patrick. “They were dropping out from under the edge of the roof.” “You mean there are more — outside?” “They’re everywhere, Dad. But look at it this way. When the cold weather comes, they’ll be off to Mexico. Maybe in the spring we can keep them out. Don’t worry about it,” he said for the hundredth time. “It’s not a problem.”
The bat expert I called was even more active than Patrick. I think you’ve got a large number there,” he said in wonder, I’ve been trying to attract bats to our house for 25 years. A single bat eats up his weight in mosquitoes and black flies three times every night. You’re a very lucky man.” I offered to share my luck with him. He could take them away. Bats have a remarkable homing instinct(本能),”he said, “They’d fly straight back even if I transported them 100 miles. Once they have settled, you can’t stop them from coming back.” I was silent.
Finally we managed to rent “(出租)the house to a young family, who were also interested in buying it. What about the bats?” I said to Patrick.
“Oh, they love the bats,” he said. “No mosquitoes. No black flies. It’s one of the things that attracted them.”
“Do you think they will really buy the blouse?”
“Probably.”
“Probably? Well, if they do ,I suppose I’ll have to admit that I was wrong.”
“You mean you’re going to eat your words?”
“Yes, I am.”
36.  What was the problem the author had with his house?
A.?Bats were living in the barn and wouldn't go away.
B.?The author and his son couldn't sleep well because of the bats.
C.?The author and his son might be able to stay for the season.
D.?The house was still badly in need of repair.
37.?What did Patrick suggest the author should do to stop the bats living in the barn?
A.?He should buy a high frequency machine.
B.?He should move them one hundred miles away.
C.?He should reduce the number of mosquitoes.
D.?He should close the barn in the spring.
38.?Why did the author fall silent when he talked with the bat specialist?
A.?He felt sure about the situation.
B.?He found out that it would be impossible to remove the bats.
C.?He learned that he would be able to share his luck with the expert.
D.?He liked the advice given by the expert.
39?What happened regarding the house in the end?
A.?Some people agreed to rent the house.
B.?The author failed to find anybody who wanted to live in the house.
C.?The bat expert made the decision to buy the house.
D.?The bats left the house for Mexico in the spring.
40.?Why did the author think he might have to “eat his words”?
A.?He felt sorry for the bats.
B.?He might be mistaken about being unable to sell the house.
C.?He realized he might be wrong about the bats’ actions.
D.?He was happy about selling the house.

Four years ago, I felt lucky after escaping one of those terrible 2-mile runs. I hated running; it was just something that   1  came easily to me. At that time, if you had told me that I would one day run a marathon, I’ d have told you honestly that I had a better   2  of winning the lottery（彩票）.
The turning   3  came when I met Mrs. Green. She was fifty years old, going through chemotherapy（化学疗法）for her cancer, and still managed to run 30 miles a week. I thought that if Mrs. Green could run 6 miles at a time, I could run at least two. In February, in cold weather, I started a 2-mile   4  around my neighborhood. Two months later, I   5  the running for the first time. I felt very tired, but I felt happy.
Over the next several years, I continued to push each run for a few   6  minutes, slowly building my endurance（耐力）. I didn’t need to  7  against other runners, for my most important competitor was myself.
After continuing to   8  myself, I knew it was time to step my training up. I   9  I would train for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon.
The race day   10  came, and I was filled with excitement and worry. It was final time to see what I was made of. The   11  ended up surprisingly. I did   12  through the last few miles, but after my running, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d finished. As I   13  the finish line, I experienced the strongest sense of   14  and happiness I had ever had in my life. I am now a marathoner.
As John Bingham once said, “The miracle（奇迹）isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the   15  to start.”