I feel it enormous responsibility, as a mother of two little girls, to lead you down a path that is relatively healthy when it comes to beauty and self-image.

????????????? In a lot of women’s eyes I’ve probably already failed in that respect due to the amount of pink princess Barbie (芭比娃娃) mess cluttering up (堆满) Vera’s room. But I will say something about Barbie: I played with that stuff for a solid decade when I was growing up and here I am now at a healthy weight with a healthy outlook on my body and image. I have a successful career. If Barbie was really so damaging to my femininity (女性气质) and self-image I highly doubt I could list all of the accomplishments.

But I get it too. It’s hard for women to maintain a healthy self-image. I have girlfriends around whom I have to brace myself to see, because just being around them makes me self-conscious. I look at old pictures of my mother and wonder why I’ve never been able to be as skinny as she was. And then I have friends who are thinner than their mothers ever were. We women go round and round in circles, holding hands and trying to be one another sometimes. Men like to think we dress and style ourselves for them, but why would we when they hardly notice? I’ve never tried so hard to look good when I know I’m about to meet up with a stylish girlfriend. It’s she who will notice my slimmed-down waist or the thinnest, little bracelet on my arm.

And I have no doubt that the two of you, Veronica and Juliette, will endlessly compare yourselves to each other. You will wonder why one of you got longer legs or shinier hair. The thing I’ll tell you is this: not even the prettiest of us feel settled. The girl you think looks the most perfect in the world is probably the girl who wants to change herself more than anyone else.

Don’t take these on. You are not worthless. You are so full of love and light and you should let it shine through your every second. If someone pushes you down for standing tall then just push yourself back up and stand even taller. And know that the reason they push you down in the first place is just because they’re scared.

1.From the second paragraph, we can infer that the author _____.

A. regrets buying so much Barbie stuff for her daughters

B. thinks loving Barbie makes her not confident about her self-image

C. owes her beauty and success to playing with Barbie

D. thinks playing with Barbie caused no damage to her beauty and success

2.In the third paragraph, the author intends to show that _____.

A. women tend to be proud of their beautiful friends

B. she cares much about her appearance

C. she feels proud of her mother’s beauty

D. women tend to admire others and compare with each other

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The author is disappointed that few men take notice of her slim figure.

B. The author cares more about looking good before her girlfriends.

C. Girls should constantly compare themselves with others to improve their beauty.

D. Only the prettiest girl can feel confident about her beauty.

4.The author advises her daughters that _____.

A. they should be cautious not to be pushed down by others

B. they should care much about their strong points instead of appearances

C. they should try to grow taller than others

D. they should care more about others’ opinions

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

Nowadays, a hospital always manages to keep its beds full. This is good on the one hand, and it’s bad on   36  hand.

One day, I went to see a sick friend at the hospital. I first went to the   37  desk, where I could get a permit to visit the patient.

  38  I could ask which room my friend was in, the lady set down my name, age, filled out a form and   39  a bell. I was just about to tell her what I was coming for when two men arrived with a wheelchair,   40   me in it and pushed me down the hall.

“I’m not   41 ,” I shouted. “I’m just looking for a friend.”

“When he comes,” one man said, “we’ll   42  him up to your room.”

In a minute I   43  myself in a small room. In no time they undressed me and covered some other things   44  me. One man said “If you need anything, press the button.”

“I want to get my   45   back.” I begged.

“Oh, you can   46    us,” a voice said, “Even if the   47  happens, we will see that your wife will get everything.” They left and locked the door   48   them.

I was trying to think of how to escape by the door when Dr. Ward came in with several of his   49 .

“Thank God you finally came,” I said.

“It hurts that badly?” he asked.

“No, on the contrary, I am not ill   50 .”

Dr. Ward looked   51 . “If you don’t feel any pain, that means it’s much more   52  than we expected.” Then he turned to his students: “This is the most difficult kind of patient to deal with because he refuses to   53  that he is ill. __54__ he won’t tell us where it hurts, he will never be well again until we find the hurt out for   55  by doing exploratory surgery (手术探查) .”

第二节 完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）  

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

My wife and I moved into our home nine years ago. We16 a lot of time and 17  in the yard to get it looking the way it does today. We live on a corner, and the entire side of the yard is surrounded by a professionally built rock wall.

We did the best to cultivate(耕种) it and called this area our rock garden. 18   We had found flowers and plants, Denise or I will plant them, just to bring some 19 to the area.

Last summer I found a tiny little  plant that I could not immediately

20. I was sure that we didn’t plant it. We decided to let it 21 to grow until we could  22  what it was.

Weeks passed, and as I made my way back to the 23  plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I 24 to nurture(培育) it and weed around it. As I picked up rocks from the area to get to the 25, I noticed something 26 . The sunflower had not started to grow from where I first saw the stalks(茎）appear. 27  it had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to 28 the sun.

That's when I realized that if a tiny little sunflower wouldn't let a big rock stand in its way when growing up, then we have the29 to do the same.  30 we believe in ourselves, like that little sunflower, we can

31 the type of nourishment(营养）and growth. We need to believe in

32,  knowing that we have the ability to 33 our desires. If you stand all like the sunflower and are 34 of who and what you are, then the environment will begin to 35 you. You will find a way to go under or around your obstacles( 障碍）in order to reach your goals.

16. A. took         B. spent        C. cost         D. pay

17. A. strength      B. energy       C. power        D. force

18. A. However      B. When       C. Whenever     D. Whatever

19. A. weed         B. color        C. water        D. soil

20. A. classify       B. accept       C. clarify      D. identify

21. A. remain       B. prevent       C. continue     D. leave

22. A. figure out     B. hold out       C. stand out    D. try out

23. A. endangered   B. convenient     C. mysterious   D. enormous

24. A. refused       B. decided       C. adapted      D. proposed

25. A. seeds        B. stalks         C. rocks        D. weeds

26. A. unusual      B. common       C. fantastic    D. unnatural

27. A. Casually     B. Basically       C. Actually     D. Strangely

28. A. enlarge      B. expand        C. reach        D. spread

29. A. chance       B. choice        C. power        D. ability

30. A. What if      B. As far as       C. Only if      D. As long as

31. A. inspire       B. attain          C. lose         D. refuse

32. A. ourselves     B. yourselves      C. themselves   D. myself

33. A. preserve      B. comfort         C. achieve      D. suggest

34. A. ashamed      B. pride          C. proud        D. ambitious

35. A. ensure       B. support        C. satisfy      D. protect             

第二节 完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）  

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

My wife and I moved into our home nine years ago. We16 a lot of time and 17  in the yard to get it looking the way it does today. We live on a corner, and the entire side of the yard is surrounded by a professionally built rock wall.

We did the best to cultivate(耕种) it and called this area our rock garden. 18   We had found flowers and plants, Denise or I will plant them, just to bring some 19 to the area.

Last summer I found a tiny little  plant that I could not immediately

20. I was sure that we didn’t plant it. We decided to let it 21 to grow until we could  22  what it was.

Weeks passed, and as I made my way back to the 23  plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I 24 to nurture(培育) it and weed around it. As I picked up rocks from the area to get to the 25, I noticed something 26 . The sunflower had not started to grow from where I first saw the stalks(茎）appear. 27  it had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to 28 the sun.

That's when I realized that if a tiny little sunflower wouldn't let a big rock stand in its way when growing up, then we have the29 to do the same.  30 we believe in ourselves, like that little sunflower, we can

31 the type of nourishment(营养）and growth. We need to believe in

32,  knowing that we have the ability to 33 our desires. If you stand all like the sunflower and are 34 of who and what you are, then the environment will begin to 35 you. You will find a way to go under or around your obstacles( 障碍）in order to reach your goals.

16. A. took         B. spent        C. cost         D. pay

17. A. strength      B. energy       C. power        D. force

18. A. However      B. When       C. Whenever     D. Whatever

19. A. weed         B. color        C. water        D. soil

20. A. classify       B. accept       C. clarify      D. identify

21. A. remain       B. prevent       C. continue     D. leave

22. A. figure out     B. hold out       C. stand out    D. try out

23. A. endangered   B. convenient     C. mysterious   D. enormous

24. A. refused       B. decided       C. adapted      D. proposed

25. A. seeds        B. stalks         C. rocks        D. weeds

26. A. unusual      B. common       C. fantastic    D. unnatural

27. A. Casually     B. Basically       C. Actually     D. Strangely

28. A. enlarge      B. expand        C. reach        D. spread

29. A. chance       B. choice        C. power        D. ability

30. A. What if      B. As far as       C. Only if      D. As long as

31. A. inspire       B. attain          C. lose         D. refuse

32. A. ourselves     B. yourselves      C. themselves   D. myself

33. A. preserve      B. comfort         C. achieve      D. suggest

34. A. ashamed      B. pride          C. proud        D. ambitious

35. A. ensure       B. support        C. satisfy      D. protect