.

Al had been working in this factory only eleven months, but he excelled at everything he did. He looked for new tasks-as an opportunity to gain experience. To him, mistakes were not to be denied but considered an opportunity to learn. He was, by far, the most capable man among his workmates, One day, when he was finishing his work of the day, he heard Jack calling him.

“What are you going to do about…?” asked Jack.

“I’ll come off the end rail,” interrupted Al.

“No, I mean about Joe’s promotion?”

“I’m going back to school,” Al said.

“Excuse me!”

“I’m going back to school,” Al repeated.

“You mean you’re quitting!”

Was it that simple? Is this why there was so much misery in men’s lives? “I’m going back to school” was just an excuse, and Al knew it, thought Jack, or Al would not be drunk. It seemed that Al would rather get drunk than fight for his happiness. But why? Jack had no answer.

“Yes, and I’m going back to school. I don’t know what else to do. I can’t believe that this kind of thing can happen. Maybe if I get more education and a better job, it will be different.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Well, what do you want we to do?” Al was getting angry: “I can’t stay here! I can’t work where the most incapable get the biggest reward! I can’t kill Joe and the boss like…”

Al stopped. They both knew what this meant.

“Like I did?”

Al did not answer.

“Yes, I killed two men with my bare hands; yes, I got punished and lost my job-but I kept my soul!”

Al undertood the hidden statement. Al did not know whether it was his anger, or the beer, or both that made him less cautious in the face. He held his hands firmly. Then be heard Jack: “You’ve got the right idea, Al. You’ve got to fight.”

Al needed to think. Instead of taking the subway, he walked five miles back home. By the time he entered his bedroom, he climbed into bed. Turned off his mind, and fell asleed.

67．Choose from the following a right word to describe Jack.

A．Tough.     B．Incapable. C．Lazy. D．Talkative.

68．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Jack was not happy about Joe’s promotion.

B．Al and jack were workmates.

C．The conversation between Al and Jack happened in their workplace.

D．The conversation between Al and Jack happened during the working hours.

69．What can we infer from the underlined part?

A．Jack thinks Al has lost his soul.

B．Jack used to be a killer.

C．Al would be a killer.

D．Don’t be a killer like Jack.

70．Which of the following is true about Al at the end of the story?

A．Al felt so tired from the long walk home and couldn’t help falling asleep.

B．Al and made up his mind and knew what to do.

C．Al forgot all that had happened.

D．Al was too confused to think further.

Before she appeared on the reality show(真人秀) Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middle-aged British woman. Now all this is going to change.
She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a tiny Scottish town. Because of learning difficulties, she doesn’t have much education. But what she does have is a very good voice. As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays. For a living, she sang at local pubs.
When she took the stage on April 10^th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags. The audience laughed at her.
But then she opened her mouth. A few bars into the song and the laughing audience went silent. A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables. Everyone was amazed. At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and applauded wildly.
Almost overnight, Susan became a household name. She won fans and millions of admirers. Her online videos have drawn over 85.2 million hits.
Susan’s story proved the truth of an old saying: “Never judge the book by its cover.” Susan may look ordinary, and doesn’t have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.
Susan’s fans admire her courage, as much as they do her voice. She has experienced mockery and many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone’s respect.
【小题1】According to the passage, Susan Boyle _______.

Having spent two and a half years in China over several visits, I don’t remember ever going through a phase we in the United States call “cultural shock”. This period of difficulty in adjusting to a new culture would probably have set in during my semester at Peking University. Of course, this is not to say that I didn’t notice any differences between the American and Chinese cultures upon my arrival at Peking University, I did notice the differences. Looking back, I remember one of the first differences I noticed: Chinese universities are surrounded by walls.

    To an American, this is one of the most striking aspects of a Chinese university which immediately sets it apart from an American campus. Having grown up in the United States, I had never seen a university surrounded by high, cement(水泥) walls. My idea of a university, based on having seen scores of them in different states of the U.S., was a place of life and learning, an inseparable part of the community in which it was located, open not only to the students of the school itself, but also fully accessible to students from other schools and to the broader public.

    My idea of a university was that it was a center of cultural life, a resource for the entire community. In all my twenty-one years, it had never occurred to me that a school would have a wall around it. Walls enclose and separate; schools expand and integrate(合并). The very idea seemed fundamentally incompatible. I asked a Chinese friend if all Chinese universities have walls around them. “You know, I have never really thought about it. I guess so. I guess all Chinese schools have walls around them, not just universities.” “Why?” I asked, “What’s the point?” “I don’t know. To protect us, I suppose.”  “From whom?” “I don’t know. Don’t you have walls around your schools in the United States?” I thought carefully before answering. “No, I’ve never seen or heard of a university encircled by a wall.” My Chinese friend seemed puzzled. Walls around schools came to strike me as more than just an architectural difference between the United States and China. As China continues to open up to the outside world, these walls seem increasingly out of place.

1.The author felt strange about Chinese culture when he ___________.

A. studied in Peking University            

B. talked with his friends about the walls

C. experienced the “cultural shock” at his arrival

D. spent two and a half years in China over several visits

2.In the author’s opinion, a university is a place ___________.

A. where only students can come to study   

B. which is similar everywhere in the world

C. that should be surrounded by high cement walls             

D. that is an inseparable part of and a resource for the community

3.What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably mean?

A. The two ideas are fundamental.        

B. The two ideas are basically different.

C. The two ideas about “school” and “wall” are suitable.

D. The two ideas about “school” and “wall” are conflicting.

4.What did the author’s friend feel about the walls around universities?

A. He thought it a good idea to have walls encircling schools.

B. He was shocked that American universities are not enclosed.

C. He thought they were necessary to protect students from being hurt.

D. He thought the difference between two countries is only architectural styles.

5.We can infer from the passage that the author thinks _____________.

A. walls are really useful in the universities

B. he can never really understand the Chinese culture

C. Chinese universities should work as public scenic spots

D. walls around the universities are inappropriate in an open China

Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun assignment－to draw a picture of something for which they were __31__.

Most of the class might be considered economically __32__，but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and other traditional goodies of the season. These，the teacher thought，would be the __33__ of most of her students’ art. And they were.

But Douglas made a different kind of __34__.Douglas was a different kind of boy. He was the teacher’s true child of misery，weak and __35__.As other children played at break，Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess at the __36__ Douglas felt behind those sad eyes.

Yes，his picture was __37__.When asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful，he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just an __38__ hand.

His abstract image __39__ the imagination of his peers. Whose hand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer，because farmers __40__ turkeys. Another suggested a police officer，because the police protect and __41__ people. Still others guessed it was the hand of God，for God feeds us. And so the __42__ went－until the teacher almost forgot the young artist himself.

When the children had gone on to other assignments，she __43__ at Douglas’desk，bent down，and asked him whose hand it was. The little boy looked away and __44__，“It’s yours，teacher.” She __45__ the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here or there，__46__ she had the other students. How often had she said，“Take my hand，Douglas，we’ll go outside.” Or，“Let me show you how to __47__ your pencil.”Or，“Let’s do this together.” Douglas was most thankful for his teacher’s hand.

Brushing aside a tear，she went on with her work.

The story speaks of __48__ thankfulness. It says something about teachers teaching and parents parenting and friends showing __49__，and how much it means to the Douglases of the world. They might not always say thanks，but they’ll remember the hand that __50__.

Speaking in his first National Day Rally speech on 15 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien said Singapore’s education system was set for more reforms in the years ahead, particularly for the primary and secondary education．Read the summary of his thoughts on education below．

For a start, the Government is prepared to send and additional 3,000 teachers to Singapore schools, cut the courses of study even further and change the way the mother tongue, especially Chinese, is taught．But, for the changes to be successful, parents need to help．

Singapore has a devoted group of teachers and principals and quite a few of them are outstanding, but the Republic’s schools can be even better．To help the schools make a jump in quality, the Government plans that within the next 6 years, it will send 1,000 more teachers to primary schools, 1,400 to secondary schools and 550 more to junior colleges．Each school would decide how to use its extra teachers．Some may want to make classes smaller so students get more individual attentions while others may have new teachers assist more senior teachers, but the overall goal is to give teachers the time and space to come up with ways to bring out the best in their students．

More teachers must not mean more homework, however．In fact, the Prime Minister wants to see the courses cut down so that there is less pressure on the students．Good grades are important but they should not be the only goal students have．PM Lee is convinced that “we must teach less so that our children can learn more．”

Another change will be in the teaching of the mother tongue so that students can become more fluent．The key is to teach Chinese as a living language not just an academic subject like Latin．Therefore, the focus should be on speaking and reading the language．To do this, there must be an environment outside the classroom that is contributing to strengthening the Chinese lessons．

1.The text is mainly about         in Singapore．

        A．the education reform         B．adding more teachers

         C．the mother tongue             D．ways of teaching

2.The general goal of using extra teachers is to          ．

         A．make classes smaller         B．assist more senior teachers

         C．teach more                  D．help teachers improve teaching quality

3.PM Lee holds that the students should         ．

         A．do more homework           B．give up higher grades

         C．study more courses      D．be given more time to learn more

4.The key to teaching Chinese well is to          ．

        A．make it academic                    B．have a creative environment

         C．give more Chinese lessons        D．encourage speaking and reading a lot