Do you know what really troubles me? For some reason, words with silent letters have always bothered me. For example, consider these words: know, design, island, school, wrist, naughty, and salmon. All of these words have at least one letter that is not typically pronounced, and these words are just a very small part of words with silent letters in them.
Some words are even worse, consider this word: colonel. Not only are some letters not pronounced, but letters that are not even there are pronounced.
Even foreign languages, especially French, are guilty of this needless complexity and confusion. I know there must be some main historical reasons why the words are spelled and pronounced the way they are, but that does not mean bad traditions must continue to survive. Especially if they are no longer logical.[来源:Z_xx_k.Com]
Unfortunately, there is very little that anyone can do for it, because there’s no group of people who can change or have the right to change the English language for everyone. However, the only thing we can do is make changes in the way we talk and write in hopes that it catches on. For example, I pronounce the letter “l” in salmon on purpose to make people annoyed and to sound more different or complicated. I even pronounce colonel the correct or French way.
I can only hope these two minor changes to the English language make sense to you, and you will help to keep up these minor changes forever in your everyday life.
【小题1】We can learn from the passage ________.

Just as some people think that certain numbers are lucky or unlucky, others believe that we can use numbers to understand our personalities, or predict what will happen to us in the future.

Numerology is a way of using numbers to describe a person’s character, and to make predictions about future life events. Numerologists use the numbers 1-9, 11 and 22 — also known as the “master” numbers — to help a person understand his or her personality, life goals, and destiny.

Numerologists consider your Life Path number to be the most significant because this number describes your character. To find this number, add together all the numbers in your date of birth. For example, a person born on April 25, 1985 would add the month (4), to the numbers of the date (2+5), plus the numbers of the birth year (1+9+8+5). In this case the total is 34, so this person’s life path number is 7(3+4). Numerologists believe that people with this number are peaceful and affectionate but can also be very reserved.

Your Expression number describes your talents and predicts how you should use these to fulfill your destiny in life. Numerologists assign a number between 1 and 9 to each of the letters in your name. These numbers are then added together in the same way as before to find your Expression number. Numerologists can also do calculations to predict when the most challenging periods of your life will be.

Numerologists also believe that the day a person is born is important. Each day of the month has a character description. People born on the fourth are said to be responsible, honest, and stubborn. People born on the fifteenth have very strong attachments to family and home. Those who celebrate their birthday on the thirtieth are artistic, creative, and imaginative, and often make good writers.

If we calculate the numerical value of our name and birth date, numerologists believe that we can learn more about our personalities. They also believe that we can predict our destinies, how our lives will progress, and what challenges we may face along the way. To the numerologist, numbers can be used in many more ways than we think.

1.If a person was born on November 8, 1995, what is his Life Path number?

A. 7        B. 8        C. 9        D. 11  zxxk

2.To understand your abilities and how to use them in your life, you should calculate your ______.

A. Life Path number         B. Expression number

C. birthday            D. name and birth date

3.According to the passage, a person born on the fifteenth tends to be _______.

A. stubborn     B. home-loving C. artistic     D. imaginative

4.According to the passage, numerologists believe that _________.

A. Life Path number can be used to predict a person’s most challenging life periods

B. Expression number is the most meaningful for people to learn a person’s character

C. numbers can help people better understand themselves

D. numbers can be used to change a person’s future

5.The function of the passage is __________.

A. to raise doubts about the usefulness of numerology

B. to persuade readers about the benefits of the practices it describes

C. to describe some of the numerological practices and their purpose

D. to tease those who take such beliefs seriously

When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate（light）me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.
When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say:“Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.
When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend, He was in despair(disappointment)and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.
For almost four years I have had remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think:“Yes, I must tell….”We have never met.
It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist，who will only fill up the healing silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.
【小题1】 In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to ______.

When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate （照亮） me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.

When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say: “Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.

When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend. He was in despair and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.

For almost four years I have had a remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think: “Yes, I must tell...” We have never met.

It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist, who will only fill up the healing silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.

1.In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to              .

A．share poems and stories with her friend

B．go to her friend’s house regularly

C．become serious about her study

D．learn from her classmates at school

2.In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means              .

A．our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared

B．we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London

C．our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us

D．we parted with each other in London

3.According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend              .

A．call each other regularly                  B．enjoy writing to each other

C．have similar personalities                 D．dream of meeting each other

4.In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to              .

A．seek professional help                   B．break the silence

C．stay with her best friend                  D．be left alone

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A．Noble Companions                      B．Remarkable Imagination

C．Lifelong Friendship                      D．Unforgettable Experiences

单词拼写（10分）

1.G              changes of climate may have been responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

2.Too much salt can be h              to a young baby.

3.With the d              of science, more and more new technologies are playing important roles in people’s life.

4.She grew up in a w              family, which resulted in the fact that she cared little about money.

5.The postman has to get up before d              every day in order to deliver the letters in time.

6.The skirt is too f              for me. I prefer a plain one.

7.We have found further scientific e              for his experiment.

8.We left the forest hungry, so we went to Calistoga in s              of a place to eat. Unfortunately, it took us almost two hours to find one.

9.The main e              to the park is on Gongyuan Road, near the City Railway Station. Admission is free for children under 12.

10.After the v              quarrel, the young couple realized that their marriage had come to an end.