One day I heard that one of my dear friends had lost his mother. This made me sad, for my friend was very close to his mother. He had been by her side as she traveled through her long and hard journey with cancer. At this time, many memories about my loved ones that had passed away came flooding to me. Finally these memories passed, but it was really sad to think that my friend would have to go through the pain.

Three times I tried to write an email to my friend and three times words failed me. I am a person who is not often lost for words and I decided to have a sleep. Upon waking up I could hardly wait for my computer to work, the words I needed were there. I was still left with a heavy heart although I had sent an email.

They say that everything in this universe is balanced(平衡的) and indeed it is. Three days later, I received his reply letter. I was happy to hear that he’d been admitted to(录取) Cambridge University. It served as a gentle reminder for me that my friend would be okay and that life would go on.

Everything in life is balanced; the lowest feelings change places with the highest feelings. Without the lows, we would never appreciate the highs. No matter how dark the clouds seem to be, the sunshine is always there and just waiting for the opportunity to shine through.

1.When the author learnt her friend had lost his mother, she ______.

A．gave him some money                   B．wrote an email to him

C．went to visit him                        D．went for a journey with him

2.What good news did the author’s friend receive?

A．He received the author’s email.

B．He was told that life would go on.

C．He would go to Cambridge University.

D．His life would go back to normal again

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

A．The author wrote four emails to her friend.

B．The mother of the author’s friend died from cancer.

C．The author’s friend is a teacher in Cambridge University.

D．The author felt relaxed after sending the email.

4.From the text, we can learn that the author is ______.

A．sincere and warm-hearted

B．proud and confident

C．serious and friendly

D．funny and responsible

5.The author aims to tell us that ______.

A．life is not fair to everybody

B．time waits for no man

C．everyone has good and bad times in life

D．where there is a will, there is a way

While going to the office, I found an old man lying by the side of the bus stop．He seemed very sick and poor．Instinctively．I gave him some money．After a few minutes, I realized that he was probably too sick to get up and buy something with that money．I was thinking about how to help him when my bus arrived, halting my brainstorm．I quickly got on and rode off．

However, that night I couldn't sleep．I felt very angry at my own heartless and selfish behavior．How could I just walk away from that man without a thought for his suffering? I felt restless and very upset． The next morning, while waiting at the bus stop, I hoped to run into him again．But he wasn't there．I thought he may have gone to the sidewalk to sleep for the night．I looked around for him, but he had disappeared．Disappointed, I decided to check for him again on my way back．

While returning from work that day, I came back to the bus stop and resumed my search for him． Thankfully, he was there．I quickly went to a nearby store and got him a blanket, some bread, and biscuits． When I handed them to him, he seemed very grateful．"Now I will be safe from the cold," he smiled． I also gave him some more money and told him to keep it safely．After being able to help him, I felt very at peace．

1.What does the underlined word "Instinctively" in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Immediately．????????????? ????????????? B．Constantly．???????????

C．Naturally．???????? ????????????? D．Generally．

2.Why did the author feel restless and upset that night?

A．He was regretful that didn't give the old man any money．

B．He was exhausted while he was working at his office．

C．He felt guilty in his mind for not helping the old man out

D．He suffered being restless and upset at night for a long period．

3.According to the story, which of the statements below is NOT true?

A．The author left the old man in a hurry as he didn't want to be late for work．

B．The next morning the author did meet the old man and give him a warm hand．

C．The old man was pleased with the author's offer because he wouldn't be exposed to the cold at night

D．The author eventually achieved his resolution to help the old man out．

4.What can we possibly conclude from the moving story?

A．The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose．

B．If at first you don't succeed, try, try again．????????????

C．God helps those who help themselves．

D．Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today．

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Giving money to strangers is rather happy．??????????

B．How can you help a stranger?

C．Don't be sony failing in helping others．????????????

D．A moving story happening at a bus stop．

Freshmen, eager to get home for the Chinese New Year, queue up at the railway station for hours．Days later, they squeeze into a crowded train and dream of the home-cooked meals and love they'll enjoy once they arrive home．This, they say, makes all the trouble of getting home worthwhile.

However, many freshmen come to find that home is not exactly how they remembered it．Living away from their parents has exposed them to a new life of freedom – one that within hours of arriving some begin to miss．Household chores（家务活）and complaining parents are just a few of the things that can ruin students' winter fantasies．“My parents still treat me like I was in senior high,” Song Ying, a 19-year-old freshman at Shandong University, complained．“I get an earful from them every day.”

During her first term away from her Hubei home, Song missed everything – from her parents cooking to the city bus．She cried and ached to sleep in her own bed．So, upon finishing her exams, she fled home, thinking everything would be just as it used to be．But she was wrong．Now, she spends entire days at a friend's home to “avoid all the restrictions”．She logs online to update friends' profile on SNS, skips meals and sleeps in – just like she did on campus.

Things have been even tenser at home for Luo Ruiqi, a 19-year-old freshman at Beijing Jiaotong University．Instead of moving to a friend's house, though, he has decided to challenge his parents' rules for his right to be an adult at home．When they complained about the amount of time he spent in the toilet, Luo said he decided “enough is enough” and lost his temper．He feels guilty about his attitude, but he still argues that he is grown up enough to live by his own rules．“I just want to live my own way of living, wherever I am,” said Luo．

Recent graduates like Wang Kai know what Song and Luo are going through．But Wang, who graduated in 2008 and now works in Beijing, says students should value the time spent with their family and “just try to be nicer.” Wang says he acted the same way when he first returned home from college, but now, living 1,500 km away from his hometown in Hunan, he regrets his behavior．He realizes that his parents meant well．And, looking back, he says that “the way of living that we got used to on campus is not that healthy anyway”.

Parents, meanwhile, are more understanding than you might think．“Living on their own in a strange place can be hard –we've been there before,” said Luo's father．“We want to make sure that they are healthy and happy．Sometimes maybe we just worry too much.” As for the tension that's arisen between father and son, Luo senior laughed and said, “It's not a problem at all – he's my son; we work things out, always.”

1．Having read the passage, we can infer that home is now a(n) ___________for most freshmen.

         A．birdcage                       B．paradise

         C．temporary station in life         D．open house

2．Why are things even tenser at home for Luo Ruiqi during the Chinese New Year?

         A．He has to spend entire days at a friend's home to “avoid all the restrictions”.

         B．He has decided to go against his parents for his right to be an adult at home.

         C．He feels guilty about his attitude towards his parents.

         D．He has wasted much money his parents gave to him.

3．According to the text, there exists a main problem between parents and children that_______.

         A．parents want to bring their children under control as before.

         B．children look down upon what their parents always do.

         C．their way of life is apparently different now.

         D．they are always misunderstanding each other.

4．Who the text implies is mainly responsible for the bad parent-child relationship?

         A．parents         B．social changes               C．professors           D．freshmen

5．What does the underlined part in the 2nd paragraph probably mean?

         A．learn a lot                B．receive much punishment

         C．get a scolding             D．have a narrow escape

Recently, university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged. It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours．

Unplugged is being run by Dr. Roman Gerodimos, a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University．During the experiment, Dr. Gerodimos said there were already signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers．He said：“They’re reporting withdrawal symptoms, overeating, feeling nervous, isolated and disconnected．”

During their 24-hour test, three of the experiment’s participants were followed around by a BBC reporter plus cameraman．They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline, but of course, they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops．

Elliot Day wrote：“Today, my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air．Despite being aware of the social importance of the media, I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers．”

From Caroline Scott, we read：“I didn’t expect it, but being deprived of the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual…I didn’t break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to, but It’s not something I would like to do again！”

And Charlotte Gay wrote：“I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been  my mobile；not only is it a social device, it’s my main access point of communication．”

Earlier in the year, a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media, often plugged into several things at once．So, with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate, how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?

1.What can we learn about the volunteers?

A．Volunteers didn’t write down about their day offline．

B．Volunteers weren’t allowed to use any media for 24 hours．

C．Volunteers were followed around by Dr Roman Gerodimos．

D．Only volunteers in the UK took part in Unplugged experiment．

2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the participants’ feelings？

A．Anxious．         B．Lonely            C．Bored．          D．Despaired．

3.Which of the following is true of Caroline Scott？

A．The media ban affected his temperature．

B．His work went on smoothly without the media．

C．His work was carried on hard without the media．

D．His life was empty without the radio or newspapers．

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．People should use the media devices reasonably．

B．People can easily survive the media devices addict．

C．People can spend more time sleeping in the future．

D．People spend about half the time using the media devices．

5.The text is most probably a         ．

A．newspaper ad      B．book review       C．news report        D．science fiction story

More and more people think it necessary to study in an English-speaking country and it didn’t take long at all for me to decide to come and study in UK.

Having been in the school for 2 months, I’m getting used to school life, and I am starting to make the most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o’clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o’clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays we have short days, in which we have only 6 lessons and finish at 1 o’clock. After lessons, we have two hours of activity time, when you can choose from a wide range of activities, including all the major sports, such as rugby and football, and also the minor sports such as basketball and tennis.

As a boarder( 寄宿者)，the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional food company, and the quality of food is very excellent and also they take the healthy diet very seriously: I remember once I was once asked to take more salad for my meal by a member of the kitchen staff(员工) for I didn’t have enough vegetables. This brings another point of being a boarder: you need to learn how to look after yourself and be responsible(负责) for yourself. One of the huge advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don’t have to pull ourselves out of bed as early as the day pupils!

1.The passage mainly tells us about _______.

A．the author’s school life in the UK as a boarder.

B．the author’s opinion of the school life in the UK.

C．the differences in school life between China and UK.

D．the boarder life in a Britain middle school.

2.According to the second paragraph, we can learn that the author _________ .

A．has not enough time to study              B．likes to play tennis and basketball

C．went to the school two months ago          D．finishes school at 4 o’clock

3.How many lessons do the students have every week in this school?

A．15               B．45               C．27               D．18

4.The underlined words “let me down” in the last paragraph means _______.

A．made me disappointed                   B．made me pleased   C．encouraged me  D．amazed me

5.As a boarder in the school, the author ___________ .

A．is not used to the food there               B．has learned to have healthy diets

C．is specially taken good care of              D．sleep as much as the day pupils