A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．
Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．
At her peak(巅峰), Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．
Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．
But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to(上瘾) drugs．Her album sales declined (下降) and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse （嘶哑的）, unable to hit the high notes as she used to．
In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness-Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, Houston admitted: "It (show business) is too much for me and I wanted out．"
Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos(混乱), may she rest in peace．
【小题1】Whitney Houston died ______．

A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle (水坑) between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet. He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn’t possibly imagine how this had happened. It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out, especially Jack,  he would never hear the end of it. When the girls found out, especially Martha and Jackie, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived.
He prayed this prayer, “Dear God, I need help now! Five minutes from now I’m dead meat!” He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered. As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water. Susie lost her balance in front of the teacher and dumped (倒) the bowl of water in the boy’s lap. The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, “Thank you, Lord!”
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule (嘲笑), the boy was the object of sympathy (同情). The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out. All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. Martha even gave him her own candy. The sympathy was wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been turned to someone else—Susie. She tried to help, but they told her to get out.
When school was over, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Susie whispered back, “I wet my trousers once, too!”
【小题1】The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 means _______.

A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle (水坑) between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet. He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn’t possibly imagine how this had happened. It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out, especially Jack,  he would never hear the end of it. When the girls found out, especially Martha and Jackie, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived.

He prayed this prayer, “Dear God, I need help now! Five minutes from now I’m dead meat!” He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered. As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water. Susie lost her balance in front of the teacher and dumped (倒) the bowl of water in the boy’s lap. The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, “Thank you, Lord!”

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule (嘲笑), the boy was the object of sympathy (同情). The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out. All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. Martha even gave him her own candy. The sympathy was wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been turned to someone else—Susie. She tried to help, but they told her to get out.

When school was over, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Susie whispered back, “I wet my trousers once, too!”

1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 means _______.

A．the boys would never play with him

B．the boys would treat him as usual

C．he would hardly hear any praise from the boys

D．he would be laughed at by the boys endlessly

2.After Susie dumped water in his lap, the boy was in a state of _______.

A．disappointment     B．relief             C．anxiety           D．anger

3.What did the other kids do after the incident?

A．They offered him dry clothes.

B．They laughed at the boy rudely.

C．They helped the boy do the cleaning.

D．They urged the boy to get out angrily.

4.Why did Susie dump water in the boy’s lap?

A．The boy asked her to do so.               B．She just did it by accident.

C．The teacher told her to do so.              D．She knew the boy’s trouble.

5.Besides Susie, _______ also knows what had really happened to the boy.

A．Martha           B．Jack              C．the teacher        D．the boys

A Shelter for the Homeless

Last summer I was a volunteer (志愿者) at a shelter for the homeless, a place for homeless people to sleep at night. I wasn’t working that summer and was  36  only two classes in summer school, so I had some  37  time.

Three nights a week, I  38  in the kitchen of the shelter along with four other volunteers. We planned and  39  for 45 people hot meals  40  vegetables, chicken, fish and fruit. The homeless people  41  this good food because many of them usually didn’t eat well.

I  42  this volunteer work, making  43  with the four volunteers in the kitchen. One was a very nice elderly housewife, one a movie actor, another a young teacher, and the other a college student,   44  me.

I talked to a lot of the homeless people at the shelter. Their life stories  45  me with sympathy (同情). Some of them had  46  with alcohol (酒) or drugs while others only had bad  47 . One woman worked for almost 30 years for a small company, and  48  she lost her job. She looked for a  49  job,but couldn’t find one, for she was too  50  . She could do nothing but sell her furniture — sofas, chairs, and tables  51  she could pay for her food.The woman  52  on job hunting, but she 53 couldn’t find one.She had no money for her  54  and had to sleep in her car. Then she had to sell her car. Alone,   55  , and homeless, she finally came to the shelter.

A.

The most   1thing during my long summer holiday last year, of course is my trip __2__England．This was my first time to go abroad, so it really made me   3.

At first，I went to Shakespeare's   4．It was the house   5Shakespeare was born and   6his early years．  7sitting room, hallway, bedrooms, and kitchen were furnished （布置） in sixteenth-century    8．I also went to see the Shakespeare Exhibition．It showed Shakespeare's life and career in both Stratford and London.

I really enjoyed this nice trip to England,   9I learnt a lot．I'm very happy that I could visit such an interesting   10．I want to go there again in the future.

11A．unforgettable          B．unexpected         C．fashionable         D．famous

12A．at                     B．for               C．on                D．to

13A．excited                B．disappointed       C．exciting             D．disappointing

14A．school               B．birthplace         C．room               D．home

15A．who                 B．that                C．when              D．where

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

17A．It's                    B．Its                 C．It had              D．It was

18A．style                  B．site                C．shape              D．shade

19A．for which            B．which              C．from which        D．in which

20A．place                  B．town               C．country            D．summer

B.

When I was a boy,  every holiday that I had seemed wonderful．In those days the sun seemed to shine always brightly   1.the water was always warm．Sometimes we left the beach and walked in the country,   2.ruined houses and dark woods and climbing trees．There were   3.in one’s pockets or good places where one could   4.ice creams．Each day seemed a lifetime.

Although I am now thirty-five years old, my idea of a good   5.is much the same as it was．I   6.like the sun and warm sand and the sound of waves beating the rocks．I no longer wish to   7.any sand house or sand garden, and I dislike sweets．  8., I love the sea and often feel sand running through my fingers.

Sometimes I   9.what my ideal holiday will be like when I am old．All I want to do then, perhaps, will be to lie in bed, reading books about   10.who make houses and gardens with sands, who watch the incoming tide, who make themselves sick of too many ice creams.

11.A．and                 B．yet                 C．but               D．or

12.A．exploring            B．examining          C．repairing         D．measuring

13.A．sweets             B．sand              C．ice-creams       D．money

14.A．make               B．sell                 C．buy               D．offer

15.A．house              B．holiday             C．garden            D．tide

16.A．hardly              B．almost               C．still               D．perhaps

17.A．destroy             B．fix                 C．use               D．build

18.A．But                B．However           C．Otherwise        D．Besides

19.A．wonder            B．feel                  C．understand        D．believe

20.A．children            B．boys                 C．girls              D．grown-ups