When I was learning calligraphy (书法), my teacher told me a story.
A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practiced handwriting with old sheets of newspaper complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you'll write better.”
The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered，“When you used old newspaper to practice handwriting, you would think you were writing a draft. It didn't matter if you wrote badly as old newspaper was plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn't pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper and you'll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity of chances and you'll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you'll do the handwriting much more attentively than practicing. Of course you've made rapid progress.”
Indeed, we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspaper”．We don't care if we scrawl and waste it, thinking that it will come endlessly—the “old newspaper” is inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.
Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there's no chance for us to draft. That's because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed.
Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of the best paper.
【小题1】The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought ________.

When talking with young Swedish students, Mo Yan showed respect for Chinese authors that he learned writing from, particularly Shen Congwen, who was twice nominated（提名）for the Nobel Prize.

“Lu Xun, Lao She, Mao Dun and Shen Congwen, they are more qualified（有资格的）for the Nobel Prize than me,” he said,. Among the writers he learned from, he said he especially felt close to Shen Congwen, as they have similar life experiences.

Both of them left school early and did not get formal education. Shen quit after high school and Mo only finished the fifth grade. They both joined the army after school. “ We both learned from the book of life,” said Mo.

The themes of their writing are also similar. Both writers have their hometown as the theme and root of their writings. Shen’works are mostly about his hometown, Xiangxi, and most of Mo’s stories are set in his hometown, Gaomi, in Shandong Province.

Mo said he also learned from Shen how to deal with characters in a fiction. Unlike most Chinese writers, Shen has a humanistic（人文主义的） touch towards all of his characters. Said Mo, “In his works, there are no particularly bad person or good person. Even gangsters（匪徒） and thieves have their humane（仁慈的）side,” he said.

“I try to use the same approach in my writing. It shows the ability of a novelist when he treats all the characters as humans,” he said.

Mo said he also learned Lu Xun’s depth and Lao She’s humor. “They are all my teachers, and I am the student,” he said. “I feel ashamed from my heart that teachers did not get the prize, but the student got it.”

1.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the similarity between Mo Yan and Shen Congwen?

A．Writing themes                         B．Sense of humor

C．Life experiences                        D．Approaches in writing

2.By saying “We both learned from the book of life”, what did Mo Yan mean?

A．They both love reading throughout their life.

B．They both earned their living by writing books.

C．They both got nutrition（营养）from life.

D．They both experienced many difficulties.

3.According to Mo Yan, Shen Congwen was special in the way _________.

A．he described bad persons                 B．he created characters

C．he made sentences                      D．he told stories

4.From what Mo Yan said in the last paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A．he is a modest person                    B．he feels shy

C．Lu Xun’s depth influenced his early life     D．he thinks he doesn’t deserve the prize

阅读理解

　　Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount(数量) of listening they need before they start speaking, and children who start speaking late are often long listeners. Most children will “obey”(服从) spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” can hardly describe the cooperation(合作) shown by the children. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gestures(手势) and by making noises.

　　It is agreed that babies enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two special noises are used by them to show their happiness, pain, friendliness, and so on. But since these cannot be said to be a kind of communication, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. From about three months old they play with sounds for enjoyment, and by six months they are able to add new sounds to their store. This self-imitation(自我模仿) leads to deliberate(有意的) imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises is that can these imitations be considered as speech?

　　It is a problem we need not get our teeth into(全身心地做……). The meaning of a word depends on what a special person means by it in a special situation, and what a child means by a word will change as he gets more experience of the world.

　　Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I wonder, however, whether anything is gained when parents try to use this ability to teach new sounds.

1．Before children start speaking, ________.

[　　]

A．they need equal amounts of listening

B．they need different amounts of listening

C．they can all cooperate with the adults(成年人) by obeying spoken instructions

D．they can't understand and obey the adults' spoken instructions

2．Children who start speaking late ________.

[　　]

A．may have problems with their hearing

B．probably do not hear enough language spoken around them

C．usually pay close attention to what they hear

D．often take a long time in leaning to listen properly

3．The problem that a baby's imitations can be considered as speech ________.

[　　]

A．is important because words have different meanings for different people

B．is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually

C．is one that can never be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age

D．is one that should be completely ignored because children's use of words is often meaningless

4．Baby's first noises are ________.

[　　]

A．a reflection(映射) of his moods(情绪) and feelings

B．an early form of language

C．a sign that he means to tell you something

D．an imitation of the speech of adults

5．From the last paragraph we know that ________.

[　　]

A．parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds

B．children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak for themselves

C．children who are good at imitating learn new sounds more quickly

D．even after they have learnt to speak children still enjoy imitating

阅读下面短文并用英语回答问题，（请注意各小题后面的词数要求）。

[1]I don't know about you, but I look a lot older than I really am. Now I know I could solve much of that by coloring my hair with some product like "Just for Men", but I refuse to go there just yet. But it really gets upsetting sometimes. For example, at my brother's wedding four years ago, the photographer thought I was his father. Really, I'm not kidding.

[2]And just a few weeks ago, I was a riding in a car with another one of my brothers when he stopped to pick up his paycheck. Anyway, his boss saw me in the car and asked him if _________________. Now, he only saw me from a distance, but it still hurt. Again, I'm not making this up.

[3]So I've decided to fight this battle in my own way. Since I obviously look old, I'm going to act young to compensate(弥补) for it. So what I am doing to act young? Well, it all has to with the way I move around.

[4]First, I try to walk faster than everyone else. That one is not a big deal for me, as I've always had a tendency to walk fast. It's a family trait（特性）.

[5]Second, I try to use quick movements. That means getting up from a sitting position quickly, sitting down quickly, lying down quickly, getting up from a lying position quickly, changing directions quickly, turning quickly, etc. Now this one presents a little more of a challenge to me. I have to be careful not to hurt or damage a sensitive body part.

[6]Of course, if all of that doesn’t work, there’s always the “Just for Men.”

1.What is the problem with the writer ? (no more than 10 words)

2.Fill in the blank in Paragraph2 with proper words. (no more than 5 words)

3.What does the underlined word “it” (Line, Paragraph3) probably refer to ?    (no more than 3 words)

4.How does the writer try to act young ? (no more than 8 words)

5.Why is the writer careful when moving quickly? (no more than 10 words.)

Here are six steps to better studying.
Pay attention in class
Do you have trouble paying attention in class? Are you sitting next to a loud person? Tell your teacher or parents about any problem that is preventing you from paying attention.
Take good notes
Write down facts that your teacher mentions or writes on the board. Try to use good handwriting so you can read your notes later. It’s a good idea to keep your notes organized by subject.
Plan ahead for tests and projects
Waiting until Thursday night to study for Friday’s test will make it hard to do your best. One of the best ways to make sure that doesn’t happen is to plan ahead. Write down your test dates. You can then plan how much to do after school each day, and how much time to spend on each topic.
Break it up
Ask for help
You can’t study effectively if you don’t understand the material. Be sure to ask your teacher for help. If you’re at home when the confusion occurs, your morn or dad might be able to help.
Sleep tight
So the test is tomorrow and you’ve followed your study plan—but suddenly you can’t remember anything! Don’t panic. Your brain needs time to digest all the information you’ve given it. Try to get a good night’s sleep and you’ll be surprised by what comes back to you in the morning.
【小题1】We know from the passage that a loud person is       .