Curiosity is an important characteristic of a genius. You can’t find an intellectual giant who is not a curious person.

  1  This is necessary if you are to have a curious mind. Some things you know and believe might be wrong, and you should be prepared to accept things you don’t know or you don’t quite agree on.

  2 If you just accept the world as it is, you will certainly lose your “curiosity”. Try to discover what is beneath(在…下面) the surfaces of things around you.

Ask questions from time to time. A sure way to discover what is beneath the surface is by asking questions: What is that? Why does it make that way? How does it work? And so on. 3  

See learning as something that is fun. If you see learning as a burden, it will just make the burden heavier. But if you can find learning interesting, it will open another door.  4  

Read different kinds of reading materials. Don’t spend too much time on just one subject.  5  It will introduce you to other possibilities that may interest you.

A．Search for ideas to write about.

B．So make an effort to enjoy the learning process.

C．Discuss your ideas with other people.

D．Feed your mind with interesting facts about different subjects.

E. Keep an open mind.

F. It is the simplest way for curious people to increase their knowledge.

G. Try to look into the things.

短文填词（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

Once upon a time there was a farmer who worked hard in the fields

every day. One day, w____ he was ploughing the fields, he heard a            

striking sound. He saw a _____ lying by the trunk. He                      

picked it_____ and found that it was a fat rabbit. He thought                   

to h_____," Since it is so easy to get a rabbit like that, why should I           

work so hard all day long?’! He t____ his hoe away and lay by the           

tree every day, _____ (梦想着) for more rabbits to come.                    

When he f____ realized his foolishness and returned to his                   

fields, he found that all his crops were ____ (死了). The story tells             

us that we should not wait for unexpected gains ____ chance.                   

Or, we should not hope to get ______(报酬) without hard work.              _

Once upon a time there was a farmer worked hard in the fields     1.      

every day. One day, while he was ploughing the fields, he heard a   2.   

bumping sound. He saw a rabbit lie by the trump. He picked it  3.   

up and found that it was a fat rabbit. He thought to him,“Since it  4.  

is so easy get a rabbit like that, why should I work so hard all day  5.  

long?” He threw his hoe away and lay by the tree every day, dreamed for 6.    

more rabbits to come. When he finally realized his foolish and returned  7.  

to his fields, he found that all his crops are dead. This story tells that    8.    

we should wait for unexpected gains by trusting to chance and luck.    9.   

Or, we should not hope to get reward without hard work.               10.     

第二部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节 （共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
A
A businessman walks into a bank in San Francisco and asks for the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000．The bank officer says  the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan. So the businessman hands over the keys to a Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there.
Two weeks later, the businessman returns, and repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.
The loan officer says, “We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction(业务) has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is that why would you bother to borrow $5,000?”
Laughing, the businessman replies, “Where else in San Francisco can I park my car for two weeks for $15?”
46．The businessman walks into the bank with the true purpose of _________.
A．borrowing $5,000                     B．meeting the loan officer
C．finding a place to park his car        D．showing how rich he is
47．The loan officer is puzzled because _________.
A．he never thought he could meet a multimillionaire in his bank   
B．he thinks the businessman is crazy to leave his car in the bank
C．he never thought the businessman could drive a Rolls Royce  
D．he thinks $5,000 is so small a sum of money to the businessman
48．The underlined word “collateral” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “_________”.
A．security           B．payment       C．reward      D．deal
49．Which of the following words can best describe the businessman according to the story?
A．Honest.          B．Clever.           C．Rich.             D．Kind.

We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang．Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests’ coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.

The guests arrived．I introduced my two daughters to each of them．The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.

Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile．They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.

I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt．We do it with the best of intentions.

But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child．I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined．I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes．I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.

I said, "What are you doing, my dear?"

She turned to me with a sad expression and said, "Mommy, why don’t people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I ‘m not pretty? Is that why they don’t say nice things about me as much?"

I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.

Now, whenever I visit a friend’s home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.

The underlined expression “make a big ‘to do’ over” (paragraph 4) means ______.

A．show much concern about              B．have a special effect on

C．list jobs to be done for           D．do good things for

The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her ______.

A．beautiful hair                         B．pretty clothes

C．lovely smile                      D．young age

Kristen felt sad and cried because ______.

       A．the guest gave her more coats to carry

       B．she didn’t look as pretty as Kelly

       C．the guests praised her sister more than her

       D．her mother didn’t introduce her to the guests

We can conclude from the passage that ______.

       A．parents should pay more attention to the elder children

       B．the younger children are usually more easily hurt

       C．people usually like the younger children more

       D．adults should treat children equally