In spite of the uncertainty of the economy, the movie industry has been stricken by a box-office outburst. Suddenly it seems as if everyone is going to the movies, with ticket sales this year up 17.5 percent, to $1.7 billion.

And it is not just because ticket prices are higher. Attendance has also jumped, by nearly 16 percent. If that pace continues through the year, it would amount to the biggest box-office increase in at least two decades.

Americans, for the moment, just want to hide in a very dark place. People want to forget their troubles, and they want to be with other people. Helping feed the outburst is the mix of movies, which have been more audience-friendly in recent months as the studios have tried to adjust after the discouraging sales of more serious films.

As she stood in line at the 18-screen Bridge theater complex here on Thursday to buy weekend tickets for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience,” Angel Hernandez was not thinking much about escaping reality. Instead, Ms. Hernandez, a Los Angeles parking lot attendant and mother of four young girls, was focused on one very specific reality: her wallet.

    “Spending hundreds of dollars to take them to Disneyland is ridiculous right now,” she said. “For $60 and some candy money I can still be a good mom and give them a little fun.”

A lot of parents may have been thinking the same thing Friday, as “Jonas Brothers” sold out more than 800 theaters, and was expected to sell a powerful $25 million or more in tickets.

The film industry appears to have had a hand in its recent good luck. Over the last year or two, studios have released movies that are happier, scarier or just less

depressing than what came before. After poor results for a rush of serious dramas built around the Middle East, Hollywood got back to comedies.

Which of the following is not a reason for the improvement of the movie industry?

A. A growing number of people are going to the cinema.

B. People are richer with the development of economy.

C. More comedies are made than serious films.

D. People have to pay more to watch a movie.   

Ms. Hernandez purchased the movie tickets because ________.

A. she tried to escape reality                           B. she was a crazy movie fan

C. she was fond of Disneyland                        D. she wanted to please her kids

．According to the text, which of the following number is not used to describe the shooting up of the movie industry?

A.17.5%              B. $1.7 billion                C. $60                 D. $25 million

The passage is developed mainly by ________.

A. presenting the effect and analyzing the causes       

B. following the order of time

C. describing problems and drawing a conclusion             

D. making comparison of ideas

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　Miss White was the owner of a little bakery．She was forty years old，and she was not married．

　　A customer who came to Miss White's bakery two or three times a week had never asked for any good bread，but，strangely enough，he wanted only two pieces of old and dry bread each time．

　　One day Miss White found on the customer's finger red and brown dirt．

　　She guessed that the customer probably was a poor artist．He lived in an old house，where he painted pictures and ate dry bread．Miss White，a woman with a kind heart，noticed that the customer began to look thinner and very sad，so she wanted to do something for him．

　　As usual the customer came again and ordered two pieces of dry bread．Suddenly a fire car came by with a great sound．When the customer hurried to the door to look，Miss White quickly cut the bread with a knife and put a lot of butter into it．She covered the bread with paper before the customer turned back to the counter（柜台）．Not long after，the customer returned and shouted angry words with Miss White．“I'll kill you．You have made my picture waste．I have been working hard for three months drawing a picture for a new city hall．I always make my drawing in pencil first，and when it's done，I cleaned the pencil lines with dry and hard bread pieces．”

　　Hearing that，Miss White knew how foolish her kind heart was．

1．A bakery was a place where ________．

[　　]

A．paper was made

B．pictures were painted

C．colors were sold

D．bread was made and sold

2．The customer only bought hard and dry bread because ________．

[　　]

A．he cleaned the pencil lines with it

B．he liked to eat it

C．Miss White only sold it

D．he was very poor

3．In the end，we know that the artist's drawing must be ________．

[　　]

4．The story shows that Miss White was ________．

[　　]

When we are unfamiliar with something, we may feel nervous and fearful. The help of others is a good    36    to help us pull through.

I write for a big newspaper, and I wanted to    37    a story about parachute jumping（跳伞）. To make it a realistic as well as exciting    38   , I decided that I had to make a jump myself    39   . Unluckily, I’m not good at any    40   , let alone（更不用说）parachute jumping.

My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a    41   . He took me to a ground school. The first day’s    42    included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from a(n)   43 . For this, I had to wait until the following    44   .

The next morning, I was taken to the airfield.    45   , a heavy parachute was put on my back. Then I was    46    to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway. Once on board, the plane was soon    47   . I began to feel nervous. As we reached one thousand meters, Harry, my teacher, hooked（钩）a    48    from my parachute to a steel ring inside the plane. The line was to pull my parachute    49   after I jumped.

“Get    50   , Henry,” Harry said. I moved carefully to the door. I wanted to    51   , “NO, no, no!” But no word came.

“Jump!” Harry called    52   . “Jump!”

Away from the plane, and down, down I fell, arms stretched. It worked All at once I was very happy. Then I felt a quick    53   . My big parachute had opened! It was the best    54    I ever had. I looked down. There were rivers, trees, fields and houses. I heard the soft sound of the air. This was    55   .

A. way              B. chance                            C. idea                         D. value

A. tell               B. write                        C. read                         D. copy

A. film             B. poem                       C. story                        D. program

A. secretly         B. instead                            C. finally                      D. first

A. sport            B. driving                     C. lesson                      D. drawing

A. try               B. hand                        C. gift                          D. suggestion

A. jumping        B. journey                    C. training                    D. entertainment

A. tree                     B. tower                       C. building                   D. airplane

A. week            B. month                      C. evening                    D. morning

A. Besides         B. Once                        C. There                       D. However

A. asked            B. invited                            C. forced                      D. taught

A. slowing        B. climbing                  C. landing                    D. filling

A. belt                     B. steel                         C. line                          D. seat

A. light             B. broken                            C. fixed                        D. open

A. ready            B. up                           C. on                           D. away

A. cry               B. rest                          C. laugh                       D. lie

A. softly           B. loudly                      C. nervously                 D. excitedly

A. comfort        B. wind                        C. pull                         D. push

A. failure          B. experience                C. competition                     D. danger

A. tiring            B. shocking                  C. true                         D. fun

请阅读以下短文，然后以约30词概括短文内容的要点。

Is Failure a Bad Thing?

Failure is what often happens in our life．Students may fail in exams, scientists may fail in their research work, and athletes may fail in competitions．

     Although failure happens to everyone, attitudes towards failure are various．Some people don’t think their failure is a very important thing at all．So they pay no attention to it．As a result, they will have the same failure a period later．Some people think themselves are fools and lose their hearts in everything after they get a failure．Consequently, they spend their time and energy on useless things and they may really be fools as they have thought．

     Other people are quite different from the two kinds of people mentioned above．Instead of being distressed and lost, they draw a lesson from every failure and become more experienced．After hard work, they will be successful in the end．It is said that failure is the mother of success．Success will be gained after times of failures so long as we are good at drawing a lesson from our failures．

    In my opinion, failure is not a bad thing, the really bad thing is taking a failure as failure or even lose our heart after failure．

“Write All About It”

Centerville High School Essay（论文）Contest

Rules

1. Students are asked to submit essays of 500 to 700 words of their own work. Any essay containing material plagiarized(剽窃) from another source will be disqualified.

2. Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced, with the student’s name, address, and grade level on a separate sheet of paper.

3. Essays must be turned in by 4:00 p.m. on November 30. They can be brought to Mrs. Elton in Room 104 or to Mr. Markham in the school library.

Essay-Writing Tips

1. Catch your readers’ interest－Your opening should immediately pull your readers into your essay. Asking a question or starting with an anecdote, quotation, or surprising statement are some good ways to do this.

2. Create a picture－Use active words that show your readers what is happening. Instead of telling your readers vaguely that “the room was disordered,” paint a picture using active verbs and lively adjectives.

3. Have a purpose－Well-written essays do more than just describe an incident or express a viewpoint, they also communicate a message.

4.Check for mistakes－Read your paper over to check for mistakes. Ask another student to read your paper and make suggestions. Another pair of eyes will often spot a mistake you’ve overlooked.

5. Format your essay－Neatly type your essay on white paper. Choose an attractive cover for submission. The computer lab will be open after school from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. each day this month so that students can use the computers.

Prizes

Winning essays will be published in the Centerville Times. Everyone who takes part in it will also receive a free pass to enter one school activity this year.

First Prize:      $ 50 savings bond

Second Prize:    Dictionary and reference book

Third Prize:      Pen set and journal

1.Which of the following rules is set for the essay contest?

A．Students can write something exactly as it is written in other books.

B．Students’ personal information should be listed on another piece of paper.

C．Essays must be brought to Mr. Markham in the computer lab on November 30.

D．The students winning second prize will be awarded a dictionary and a book.

2.Which of the following writing tips is given in the passage?

A．Drawing a picture to go with the essay.

B．Trying to communicate an important idea to readers.

C．Asking a teacher to find the mistakes you haven’t found.

D．Making the essay short enough to hold the readers’ interest.

3.The article is written to ____. 

A．convince the students of the prizes available

B．explain how to write a good essay

C．inform the students of the essay contest

D．show how to organize an essay contest