E
A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute” someone might say, “are you talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”
The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two weeks to prepare, a period I spent searching for briefcase (公文包) and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class. I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.
I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.
“All right then,” I said. “Okey, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit at the edge of the desk, overlooking a forest of hands. Every student would yell. “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. Once at a time, once at a time!”
A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I inspected the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.
【小题1】The author took the job to teach writing because ______.

第四部分读写任务 (共1小题，满分30分)
阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。
[阅读材料]
An elderly carpenter（木匠） was ready to retire．He told his employer of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family．He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire．They could get by．
The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor．The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work．He resorted to（采用） poor workmanship(工艺，手艺) and used inferior（低劣的） materials．It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career．
When the carpenter finished his work, the employer came to inspect the house．He handed the front-door key to the carpenter．"This is your house," he said, "my gift to you．"
The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently．
[写作内容]
1．以约30个词概括短文的要点；
2．以约120个词在这个故事内容的基础上展开讨论并包括以下内容：
（1）    今天的付出和明天的收获之间的关系；
（2）    构筑房屋和构建生活之间的关系；
（3）    对你的议论进行总结。
[写作要求]
1.   作文中可使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，
但不得直接原文抄袭。
2.   题目自拟。
[评分标准]          概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。

On October 19, 1959, the first Special English program was broadcast on the Voice of America. It was an experiment. The goal was to communicate by radio in clear and simple English with people whose native language is not English. Experts said the goal was admirable, but the method would not work. They were proved wrong. The Special English programs quickly became some of the most popular on VOA. And they still are.

Forty years later, Special English continues to communicate with people who are not fluent in English. But during the years its role has expanded. It also helps people learn American English. And it provides listeners, even those who are native English speakers, with information they cannot find elsewhere.

     Today, Special English broadcasts around the world seven days a week, five times a day. Each half-hour broadcast begins with ten minutes of the latest news followed by 20 minutes of feature programming. There is a different short feature every weekday about science, development, agriculture and environment, and on the weekend, about news events and American idioms.

Three elements make Special English unique. It has a limited vocabulary of 1500 words. Most are simple words that describe objects, actions or emotions. Some are more difficult. They are used for reporting world events and describing discoveries in medicine and science. Special English is written in short, simple sentences that contain only one idea. No idioms are used. And Special English is spoken at a slower pace, about two-thirds the speed of Standard English. This helps people learning English hear each word clearly. It also helps people who are English speakers understand complex subjects.

Through the years, Special English has become a very popular tool for teaching English, even though it was not designed as teaching program. It succeeds in helping people learn English in a non-traditional way. Individuals record the programs and play them over and over to practice their listening skills. In countries around the world, English teachers assign Special English to their students. They praise it for improving their students' ability to understand American English and for the content of the programs. Universities and private companies in many countries produce packages of Special English materials for student use.

At the beginning, Special English program was         .

       A．well received

       B．rejected by native people

       C．doubted by some professionals

       D．intended for teaching English

What kind of English is spoken on Special English?

       A．British English.

       B．American English.

       C．Both British and American English.

       D．Not certain.

Which of the following are the elements that make Special English unique?

       a．limited vocabulary

       b．short simple sentences

       b．good communication method

       d．slow speed

       e．interesting feature programming

       A．a, b, c      B．a, c, d       C．a, b, d      D．b, d, e

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

       A．Special English has been founded for less than 50 years.

       B．Native English speakers don’t have a great affection for Special English.

       C．Special English usually starts with 20 minutes of the latest news.

       D．People can learn some idioms from Special English.

From the last paragraph we can infer that        .

       A．listening to Special English can be a student’s homework

       B．listening to Special English can improve the content of the program

       C．some student record the Special English material for sale

       D．learning English from VOA is a traditional way for English learner.

On October 19，1959，the first Special English program was broadcast on the Voice of America．It was an experiment．The goal was to communicate by radio in clear and simple English with people whose native language was not English．Experts said the goal was admirable，but the method would not work．However，____________________．The Special English programs quickly became some of the most popular on VOA．And they still are．

  Forty years later，Special English continues to communicate with people who are not fluent in English．But during the years its role has expanded．It also helps people learn American-English．It succeeds in helping people learn English in a non-traditional way．And it provides listeners, even those who are native English speakers, with information they cannot find elsewhere.

Today，Special English broadcasts around the world seven days a week，five times a day．Each half-hourly broadcast begins with ten minutes of the latest news followed by 20minutes of feature(特写报道)programming．There is a different short feature every weekday about science，development，agriculture，and environment，and on the weekend about news events and American idioms．These programs are followed by in-depth(深入的)15 minutes features about American culture，history，science，medicine，space，important people or short stories．

1.What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words)

______________________________________________________

2.Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following sentence?

(Special English has played a more important part in many areas over the years．)

_____________________________________________________

3.Please fill in the blank in the first paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence．(Please answer within 10 words．)

________________________________________________

4.What do you think about Special English?(Please answer within 30 words．)

________________________________________________________

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the second paragraph into Chinese．

________________________________________________________

Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets(彗星)which other scientists had made. The orbit（轨道） of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.

    However, Halley had a friend named Isaac Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse(椭圆形).

    Now Halley set to work. He figured out(解决，计算出)the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearance had been 75 to 76 years apart.

    This seemed very strange to Halley. Three different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.

    It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain to make a prediction(预言)of what would happen in the future. He decided that this would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested. In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet had been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.

1.Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ____.

    A. some different comets appearing several times

    B. the same comet appearing at different times

    C. three different comets appearing at the same time

    D. several comets appearing at the same time

2.Halley made his discovery ____.

    A. by doing experiments

    B. by means of his own careful observation

    C. by using the working of other scientists

    D. by chance

3.Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year____.

    A. 1704     B. 1705     C. 1706     D. 1707

4.This passage in general is about ____.

    A. Halley and other scientists

    B. the orbit of a comet

    C. Newton and Halley

    D. Halley and his discovery

5. Which of the following is TRUE?

    A. Edmund Halley was an American scientist.

    B. Halley made his discovery by doing experiments.

    C. Isaac Newton was a famous mathematician.

    D. The orbit of a comet had the shape of an around.