Minimalism (简约主义) is a term that describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is reduced to its most basic features.

As for me, minimalism functions well not in art or design, but in my daily life.

When I was packing for university, I found it extremely difficult to let go of some of the things I owned. I knew I couldn’t take everything with me, but I kept asking myself “how could I possibly throw this away?”, “what if I need it one day?”, and “what about all of the memories?” Now that I’ve moved, and left that stuff behind, I don’t even miss it. Whether or not I got rid of it, it barely makes a bit of difference to me now.

I’ve learned that over time people forget, or their need for a particular object eventually disappears. Either they store it away or they get rid of it.

You might think nostalgically（怀旧的） about the toys you cared about when you were a child, but what is making you smile now is not the thing itself but the memory of it. 1’ve heard it a hundred times, “you don’t need things to make you happy.” It takes something life-changing like moving across the country to realize how true this is.

Speaking of which, for a lot of people, minimalism is about able to move. It’s about being able to go almost anywhere at any time because you don’t have many possessions to carry. When you keep things you don’t need they become a burden that ties you to a place. Moving to university was a good time to let go of a lot of stuff. And when I visit for the holidays, I’ll probably get rid of even more, to lighten the burden.

Of course there are exceptions. There are some things that are irreplaceable, very rare or expensive or we simply love and cherish for some reason or another, since we are humans. But after we keep those, how much is left that we don’t really need?

Hence, minimalism. And why does minimalism bring happiness? That was a bit of a roundabout way of saying that, it’s because what really makes me happy is freedom. And the key to freedom is minimalism because minimalism reduces our attachment to things.

Attachment to too many objects creates a great mess and can severely hold back our freedom to do whatever we want, while minimalism helps us start new projects, move, travel, learn new things, work, expand, be debt-free, be healthy – really living life to our full potential.

I left the nest to fly onwards and upwards, I can’t do it with old things weighing me down. And that is why I have adopted minimalism with open arms.

1.In paragraph l, the writer gives the definition of minimalism to      .

A．introduce a topic                       B．present his own idea

C．describe a scene                        D．offer an argument

2.Many people don’t want to let go of some of their belongings because       .

A．they haven’t had any life-changing experiences

B．they fear their memories will be gone with the thrown-away stuff

C．they hope to live life to their full potential by storing things away

D．they may have to change their lifestyle because of the loss of them

3.Which of the following is NOT the reason why the writer favors “minimalism” in life?                          

A．It takes the burden off her while she is moving.

B．It reduces her attachment to her personal things.

C．It enables her to gain the freedom that she desires.

D．It helps her to realize how true life is.

4.By saying “there are exceptions”, the writer means       

A．little is left if we keep what we cherish most in our life

B．minimalism should be practised accordingly in different situations

C．minimalism is a method difficult to employ in reality

D．life is full of exceptions so it’s difficult to preserve what we value

5.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Minimalism brings happiness.

B．Minimalism is applied in many fields.

C．Minimalism makes people think nostalgically.

D．Minimalism is about able to move.

第二节：信息匹配 （共5小题，满分10分）

Here are five letters from readers listed in 1-5. All the greetings and signatures are left out. Suppose you are a secretary of the magazine CR (Crazy English Reader), for each one find a suitable reply from A-F. Mark the correct letter (A-F) on your answer sheet. There is one extra reply which you don’t need to use.

51. I am a reader of CR. Recently I found students translate some articles of CR. I appreciate your offering an opportunity to us beginners to practice using English. So I want to ask how they can obtain these articles and translated them for you, and what qualities you require. Thank you.

52. I love your Crazy English Reader magazine! It provides valuable data for work in our English teaching. My wife and I are teaching Conversational English so I’ve been giving you a bit of a plug at our middle school. I told the students to “get a copy!” It’s good stuff! Fantastic!

53. I’m one of Yao’s fans from Guangzhou. I have read the Yao Ming articles in No.7 Crazy English Reader. I want to know his correspondence address and the official website. Could you please tell me? Thank you very much indeed.

54. First of all, I must say thank you very much to all the CE Reader editors who gave us a really good English magazine. Secondly, I want to give you a piece of advice. In each passage, you gave us some new words with their Chinese translation. However, as far as my knowledge, I think you should give us not only the Chinese meaning but also the English meaning so as to know the words more accurately. Thank you!

55. I am an editor of the English Monthly of our school. I have a question that is how to say the position of the paper e.g. and so on. I hope you can help me to tell me the word in English. The more the better. Thank you so much! I love the book very much. Now, I do this work, I need study more information about this work, if you have time, please email me. Thank you.

A．  Thank you for your suggestion. We may try that in some future issues of CR. I think the best way to improve your reading vocabulary is to be able to guess the meaning of the word from the other words around it. Also, if you have an English dictionary, it’s good to look up the words and then mark them down in a notebook and review them later on. Then if you really want to learn how to use the words, try using them in conversation or in writing. Hope this helps.

B．  The best way for you to learn the different positions in a newspaper or magazine is to get a copy of an all-English magazine or newspaper and then copy down the different positions. There are also titles such as Managing Editor, reporter, Copy Editor, Photo Editor and Layout Editor. I hope this helps. If you have some more specific questions, you can send them to me and I’ll try to answer.

C．The best way to reach Yao directly is through his home team, the Shanghai Sharks. You can write him at 2570 Xietu Road, Shanghai. For more information on Yao, you can look at the sports section in sina. com. I hope this helps. Another idea is that you can try to write Yao while he’s living and playing in Houston. You can try to reach Yao in the US at:   Yao Ming   Compaq Centre 10  Houston, TX 77046

D．  Thank you for being such a careful reader of CR. Yes, you’re right we made a mistake in the writing of that Chinese word. Each issue we try to read very carefully each article and its translation to make sure there are no mistakes, but unfortunately a few mistakes always get by. But you encourage us to keep improving, so thank you.

E．  Yes, we do have several students who help us translate some of the articles in our magazine. We contact these translators directly after interviewing their translation work. Afterwards we assign the articles to them for translation. If you are interested in being one of our translators you can send us some information about yourself and a sample of your translation work.

F．   Thank you for helping us to promote CR. We’re glad it’s helpful to your students. We always try to include articles that reflect real life. It’s our hope that CR will not only improve student’s English but also open up a different worldview.

第二部分：（共两节，满分45分）：

第一节：阅读理解 （共20小题； 每小题2分，满分40分）

         Every country has its heroes. The heroes are the people the nation and especially the young people admire. If you get a list of the heroes of a nation, it will tell you the potential（潜势）of that nation.

If today in America, you ask the high school students to list their heroes, their choice would probably fall into three groups. The first group of heroes would be the rock stars —the people connected with rock music. There is no doubt that such people do have talent but one wonders if one should hold up rock stars as a model (推举…为榜样). The rock stars too often are involved with drugs and their personal life is not all that good. The rock stars are rich and wear the latest fashion styles. However, one should seek more in a hero than such things as money and good clothes.

A second type of hero for the American youth is the sports star. Again you have a person who has a great ability in one area — SPORTS. However, too often the personal life of the sports star is a bit of a mess. Too frequently drugs and drinking are a part of life of the sports star.

A third type of hero is the TV or movie star. This person may have lots of acting talent and is quite handsome. However, the personal life of too many actors is quite sad and they should not be held up as a model for young people.

Today, the rock star, the athlete and the actor all have become the models of the youth in America. Really, do you hear a young person say that his hero is a doctor, a teacher, or a scientist? These people are not rich and do not wear fashionable clothes. However, they are talented people who work hard to make the world a better place for everyone.

What is really sad is that the young try to imitate their heroes. They like to wear the same clothes and follow their styles. If the heroes of today for the American youngsters are only rock stars, athletes and actors, the future does not look too bright.

1. The hero discussed in this article means a person ______.

A. who has done something brave         B. who plays an important role in a play

C. whom people greatly admire           D. who rides the waves and moves with the tides

2. What is true of the groups mentioned in this article?

A. They are not fright but are good-looking.     

B. They are rich but are strict with themselves.

C. They are talented in some area but lead an indecent life. 

D. They are perfect in every way.

3. American young people will not admire ______.

A. a university professor B. a popular singer    C. a football player    D. a film actress

4. According to the writer, people should hold up as their model those______.

A. who are rich and wear the latest fashion clothes   B. whose personal life is good

C. who can express people’s feelings       D. who work in the interests (利益) of the people

5. What is the writer’s attitude towards American youth’s admiration for their heroes?

A. He is understanding.    B. He is critical.   C. He is angry.     D. He is uninterested.

“Some day, there will be no Americans left in the NBA.” Said 12-year-old Xing Tao, who joined his school’s team two years ago, after watching Yao in a televised NBA game. “The players will all be Chinese, like Yao!”

To China Yao is a home-grown superstar who helped make the world’s first basketball league closer to Chinese players. To the NBA, the 2.23-metre centre offers an opening of a different sort into the world’s largest new market.

Yao’s NBA first appearance against the Indiana Pacers in October reached 287 million households in China. By contrast （对照）, there are only about 105 million households in the US. That game might have been a bit of a let down to  Yao’s fans. He played just 11 of the 48 minutes, had two rebounds and got no points.

Compare that with his performance on December 19, and also against Indiana, Yao won 29 points and 10 rebounds. “This was one of the most exciting games I’ve had,” Yao said after Houston’s 95-83 victory.

“Yao Ming has brought the NBA closer to the Chinese,” said NBA spokeswoman Cheong Sau Ching, who is based in Hong Kong. “That makes the dream seem achievable for other people in China.”

The 22-year-old Yao is not the country’s first player in the NBA; Wang Zhizhi broke down that wall as a player with the Dallas Mavericks（小牛队）in April 2001. But Yao’s combination of modesty and his skills make him a favourite back home.

60．What’s the direct reason for Xing Tao to join the school’s basketball team?

A．He watched an NBA game

B．He liked basketball

C．He hoped to play for Houston Rockets

D．He had a dream that he would become a basketball star.

61．What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Middle school students want to play basketball

B．Yao Ming makes NBA closer to China

C．There’ll be no Americans left in the NBA

D．There are many new stars from China in the NBA

62．What does “letdown” in paragraph six mean?

A．failure        B．surprise      C．disappointment     D．sadness

63．Why does Yao Ming win more popularity than Wang Zhizhi at home?

A．He has performed excellently            B．He is modest   

C．His height                           D．A ＆ B

你将阅读的是一篇关于鲨鱼袭击的文章。有五处段落从文章中被取出了。请从A-F这六个选项中选出正确的选项填入空格中。选项中有一项是多余选项。

When I was eight, my parents, my younger brother, Stewart, and a girl called Margo Edwards, who was at school with us, went on holiday to Mozambique. One day, we took out a small rowing boat with an outboard motor on it, and went fishing on a lagoon at a place called San Martina.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, there was this disturbance in the water. I remember at first everyone thought it was a dolphin, but it wasn't leaping in and out of the water, and before long we could see this grey fin moving purposefully towards us.

It then circled around our rowing boat, and I remember my father saying: 'Well, I think that's a shark . . .'

My mother was screaming, and father was shouting obscenities at this thing, which he was to bash (痛击) back with one of the oars. I had never seen my parents in obvious terror before, and that's something which never leaves you.

My mother clutched the three of us around her. I remember she had a navy blue robe, with huge starfishes and sunflowers on it, and us three kids gratefully huddled together inside it.

As soon as we were in the fishing boat there was this almost hysterical laughter, and I remember feeling very cold, and being unable to stop trembling.

We all talked about it continually, too, and probably made out we were far braver than we were. And there was lots of re-enactment(表演). I remember that we made mud pools. One of us would be crawling along, playing the shark, and the others screaming and shouting: 'Kill the shark'.