I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke（唤起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.

Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions（认识）of the limited English speaker.

I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is ,because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.

I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal（内在的） language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence（本质）, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.

1.By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______.

A. she uses English in foreign trade             B. she is fascinated by languages

C. she is a writer by profession                   D. she works as a translator

2. The author used to think of her mother’s English as ______.

A. impolite           B. amusing           C. imperfect          D. practical

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. Americans do not understand broken English.

B. The author’s mother was not respected sometimes.

C. The author’ mother had positive influence on her.

D. Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother.

B. The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English.

C. The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English.

Over the last 25 years, British society has changed a great deal. In some ways, however, very little has changed. Ideas about social class whether a person is “working-class” or “middle-class” are one area in which changes have been extremely slow.

In the past, the working-class tended to be paid less than middle-class people, such as teachers and doctors. As a result of this and also of the fact that workers’ jobs were generally much less secure, distinct differences in life-styles and attitudes came into existence. The typical working man would collect his wages on Friday evening and then give them to his wife, leaving a little for drinking or betting.

The type of what a middle-class man did with his money was perhaps nearer the truth. He was and still is likely to take a longer-term view. Not only did he regard buying a house to provide him and his family with security. Only in very few cases did workers have the opportunity (or the education and training) to make such long-term plans.

Nowadays, much has changed. In a large number of cases factory workers earn as much. Social security and laws have made it less necessary than before to worry about “tomorrow”. Working-class people seem slowly to be losing the feeling of inferiority(自卑感)they had in the past. In fact there has been a growing tendency in the past few years for the middle-classes to feel slightly ashamed of their position.

The changes in both life-styles and attitudes are probably most easily seen among younger people. They generally tend to share very similar tastes in music and clothes. They spend their money enjoying themselves, and save for holidays or longer-term plans when necessary. There seems to be much less difference than in precious generations. Nevertheless, we still have a wide gap between the well-paid and the low-paid. As long as this gap exists, there will always be a possibility that new problems will appear between different groups.

1.Which of the following is seen as the main cause of class differences in the past?

2. The writer seems to suggest that _______.

3. According to the passage, what was the typical feature of the middle–class in the past?

4. Working-class people's sense of security has increased as a result of all the following factors EXCEPT that _______.

5.Which of the following statements is incorrect?

Taylor sings with heart

The music industry is never short of teen pop stars with wonderful looks, but it doesn’t often find one like US singer Taylor Swift. “Beneath Taylor Swift’s not-a-girl, not-yet-a-woman sweetness hides a very skillful songwriting technique (技巧),” writes Leah Greenblatt with Entertainment Weekly.

Songwriting, the country singer explains, is “how I deal with problems. I am used to writing about things that really influences me most.” So in her songs, there is always something true and honest. They seem like stories from a diary. And that certainly helps Swift attract her audience.

She’s sold more than 13 million copies worldwide of her first two albums, 2006’s self-titled debut (首张专辑) and 2008’s Fearless. She’s the youngest artist ever to be named Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Not surprisingly, there were great expectations for her third album, Speak Now, which came out late last month, where she again returned to her own life for material. The 14 songs “are all about the last two years... when life was a little bit bigger and crazier,” says Swift. “So I’ve written about the lessons and confusion and heartbreak and all the different things that go along with being 18, 19 and 20.”

1.What led to Taylor’s fame?

A. Her wonderful looks.        B. Her songwriting skills together with her looks.

C. Her beautiful voice.                  D. Her special life experience in her teenage years.

2.Which of the following is true?

A. Taylor is now in her twenties.

B. Taylor’s the youngest Artist of the Year at the Academy Awards

C. Taylor has produced three albums up till now.

D. Taylor has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.

3.What may be written in the album, Speak Now?

A. Her unhappy experience with her boyfriend. k*s5*u

B. Her concern for her popularity.

C. Her happy childhood.

D. Her worries for environmental pollution. 

Remember that people on line may not be who they seem, because you can't see or even hear the person. It would be easy for someone to misrepresent himself/herself. Thus someone who says that “she is a 12-year-old girl.” could really be an old man.

The underlined word misrepresent means _____.

A. making a wrong judgment about       B. understanding somebody wrongly

C. giving a wrong description of         D. forming a wrong opinion about

It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!
Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time.
As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(丰富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.
We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!

1. 1.

   The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.

   1. A.
      are related to your studies
   2. B.
      you easily achieve
   3. C.
      make you happy
   4. D.
      make it difficult for you to do something
2. 2.

   How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?

   1. A.
      She is fearful
   2. B.
      She is grateful
   3. C.
      She feels trapped
   4. D.
      She feels hateful
3. 3.

   We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.

   1. A.
      life without challenges is dull
   2. B.
      life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness
   3. C.
      we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours
   4. D.
      we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up
4. 4.

   The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.

   1. A.
      life is full of hardships
   2. B.
      growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way
   3. C.
      everyone is painful in growing up
   4. D.
      everyone should do what they don’t like when young