I’m lying on my back in my grandfather’s orchard(果园)，looking up at the branches above me.It is one of the last days of summer.Already the days are shorter and the nights are cooler.Some kinds of apples are already ripe(成熟的).Others will be ready to pick soon.I think of my grandmother’s apple pie，and how I used to make it with her.She died last year，before the apple harvest，and I have not had her pie since.I really miss her.I hear bees busily humming about，visiting the late summer flowers.The gentle hum of their wings nearly sends me to sleep.

The sky is as blue as my grandfather’s eyes.Above me，big white clouds race across the sky like pieces of cotton blowing in the w ind.School starts in another week，and time seems to have slowed down.

“Sophie！”calls my  grandfather.“Is that you？”I stand up，take his hand，and tell him all about my day as we walk through the orchard.We talk about apples，and bees，and Grandma.He tells me that he misses her too.

He puts his rough，brown farmer’s hand around my shoulder and pulls me close.“You know，Sophie，”he says，“I spent the morning in the attic(阁楼)，and you’ll never guess what I found.It’s the recipe(烹饪法) for Grandma’s apple pie.I used to help her make it sometimes.I can’t do it all alone，but you used to help her too.Maybe between the two of us，we ca n work it out.Want to try？”

“But it won’t be the same without Grandma，” I tell him.

“That’s true，”he says，“but nothing_is_the_same_without_Grandma.Still，I don’t think that she would want us never to have another apple pie.What do you say？” I nod yes，and we walk towards home...towards an afternoon in the farmhouse kitchen，making Grandma’s famous apple pie.

1.We learn from the passage that Sophie　　　　.

A．likes to watch clouds in the attic

B．comes to the orchard after school

C．enjoys Grandma’s apple pie very much

D．picks many apples in the orchard

2.Sophie’s grandfather spent the morning in the attic______　　　.

A．looking for Grandma’s recipe for apple pie

B．helping Sophie’s grandmother make apple pie

C．trying to make apple pie all alone for Sophie

D．talking about apples，and bees，and Grandma with Sophie

3.The underlined part in the last paragraph shows

A．how much Sophie’s grandmother loved Sophie

B．how much Sophie’s grandfather likes apple pies

C．how much Sophie loves her grandfather’s orchard

D．how much Sophie’s grandfather misses Grandma

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．My grandfather’s orchard           B．My grandmother’s apple pie

C．A morning in the attic              D．The last days of summer

第二节完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
I love spending weekends with my grandparents. I felt especially welcome and    36    in Grany’s small kitchen. It was there that we had conversations and Grany always seemed to include a bit of    37    with every recipe she prepared.
I remember one Saturday morning    38   . After breakfast I asked Grany, “What kind of soup are you making today?” “Vegetable beef,” she answered, “And you can help by chopping some carrots and celery.” As I slowly peeled carrots, I    39   , “I’ve got to give an oral work report next week and I’m    40   .”
Grany looked at me and said, “Most people are afraid of    41    speaking. But remember, the only thing you have to fear is fear    42   .”
“But I don’t like standing up in front of everybody.    43    I forget what I’m going to say?”
“Have you prepared    44   ?” asked Grany.
“Well, no. That would be a lot of    45    work.”
“But do you like my soup?” she asked. Soup? I wondered. I thought we were talking about my life.
“I love your soup, Grany.” I said.
“Well, you know, a lot of people don’t    46    homemade soup these days. They say it’s too much trouble. First you have to cook a nice broth（肉汤）and then chop all the vegetables into bite-size pieces.”
“But I don’t    47    a little trouble,” she said. “It adds variety and flavor to my soup and to my life. My soup would be    48    bland（淡而无味的）without the vegetables, and so would my life if it didn’t have the little    49   .”
After pausing she added, “Besides, you have to remember God knows exactly    50    he’s cooking up in your life. You’ve got to trust him with the recipe.” She smiled and then walked to the sink to start washing the dishes.
While I help Grany  51  , I thought as well what she had said. I still had a few days to  52    my oral report.
That Saturday, Grany gave me food for thought as well as a bowl of her homemade soup. Every spoonful of Grany’s masterpiece was    53    with delicious bits of meat and vegetables. As I enjoyed the meal with my grandparents,    54    my problems didn’t seem quite so big any more. I was determined to work on them. Grany had said hard work    55   . Maybe I too could turn a little trouble into something as special as Grany’s homemade soup.tesoon
36. A. experienced                B. relaxed                     C. withdrawn                D. tortured
37. A. wisdom                            B. affection                  C. anecdote                   D. fantasy
38. A. as usual                            B. above all                  C. in general                 D. in particular
39. A. wept                          B. suspected                  C. complained               D. mourned
40. A. scared                        B. received                   C. conservative             D. deliberate
41. A. public                        B. private                            C. personal                   D. authentic
42. A. others                        B. itself                        C. audience                   D. judges
43. A. Only if                      B. How come                C. So what                   D. What if
44. A. assessment                 B. regulation                 C. deadline                   D. notes
45. A. absolute                            B. subjective                 C. extra                        D. flexible
46. A. decorate                     B. inspect                            C. make                       D. foresee
47. A. add                           B. mind                        C. expose                     D. appoint
48. A. even                          B. pretty                       C. much                       D. far
49. A. ups and downs            B. part and parcel          C. cats and dogs            D. pros and cons
50. A. how                          B. when                       C. what                        D. where
51. A. eat up                        B. do up                       C. pick up                    D. clean up
52. A. distribute                   B. practice                    C. boycott                    D. decline
53. A. loaded                       B. equipped                  C. reformed                      D. resisted
54. A. therefore                    B. however                   C. somehow                  D. moreover
55. A. left off                      B. kept off                    C. took off                   D. paid off

Contrary to many people believe, highly intelligent children are not necessarily certain to achieve academic success. In fact, so-called gifted students may fail to do well because they are unusually smart. Ensuring that a gifted child reaches his or her potential requires an understanding of what can go wrong and how to satisfy the unusual learning requirements of extremely bright young people.
One common problem gifted kids face is that they, and those around them, place too much importance on being smart. Such an emphasis can encourage a belief that bright people do not have to work hard to do well. Although smart kids may not need to work hard in the lower grades, when the work is easy, they may struggle and perform poorly when the work gets harder because they do not make the effort to learn. If the academic achievement of highly intelligent children remains below average for an extended period, many teachers will fail to recognize their potential. As a result, such students may not get the encouragement they need, further depressing their desire to learn. They may fall far behind in their schoolwork and even develop behavior problems.
IQ is just one element among many in the recipe for success—Children develop well or struggle in school for a host of reasons apart from IQ. These include motivation and persistence, social competence, and the support of family, educators and friends.
Because highly gifted children solve the most varied thought problems faster and more thoroughly than those with more average talents do, they need additional intellectual stimulation while they wait for the rest of the kids to learn the basics. Two central approaches are used to satisfy the educational needs of such children: acceleration and enrichment. Acceleration means studying material that is part of the standard subjects for older students. Enrichment involves learning information that falls outside the usual subjects.
A child might skip one or more grades as a way of accelerating in school. But being with older children for the entire school day—and perhaps for grade-based extracurricular activities such as sports—can make a child feel inferior in every filed outside of academics. One very bright fourth-grader who had skipped two grades remained far ahead of his classmates intellectually, but as his classmates reached adolescence, his social and other shortcomings became painfully apparent. While acceleration is not an option, or not a good one, enrichment can be. After all, school is not a race but an adventure in learning. As such, the goal is not finishing first but absorbing as much knowledge as possible in the time assigned. Thus, providing opportunities for a child to study topics outside the regular subjects can be at least as valuable as pushing him or her through the required material faster.
【小题1】What is the basic reason for the low academic achievement of highly intelligent children?

A．Skipping one of more grades and studying together with older children.

B．Learning the same material in the standard subjects for older students.

C．Learning information that is not included in the regular subjects.

D．Learning how to read with fluency even in their pre-school days.

A．He is in favor of enrichment rather than acceleration.

B．He is in favor of acceleration rather than enrichment.

C．He speaks highly of both enrichment and acceleration.

D．He thinks neither enrichment nor acceleration is a good choice.

Popular breakfast foods in the United States, as in many other countries around the world, include coffee, milk , juice, eggs, and bread. Some other breakfast items served in the United States are thought by many to be traditionally American. However, they actually come from other cultures.

             A very popular breakfast food in America is the pancake--- a thin , flat cake made out of flour and often served with maple syrup. The idea of the pancake is very old. In fact, pancakes were made long ago in ancient China.

             Bagels, a round thick bread with a hole in the middle , are also popular for breakfast in America. Polish people in the late 1600s came up with the idea for the first bagels and this new kind of bread soon took off across Eastern Europe.

             In the late 1800s, thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe travelled to the United States and brought the recipe for bagels with them. Today, New York bagels are said to be the best in the world. Many people have them with cream for breakfast on the go.

             Doughnuts (usually spelled “donut” in the United States) came from France. They were served to American soldiers in France in the World War Ⅰ. After the war, American soldiers asked cooks in the United States to make doughnuts for them. Now , served with coffee, they are a very popular breakfast food across the United States.

1.This reading is mainly about ________

A. famous places to eat breakfast.     

B. why people in the United States eat breakfast

C. the most popular types of pancakes in the United States

D. the history of popular breakfast foods in the United States.

 2.The oldest breakfast food in the passage is ______

      A. the pancake   B. the bagel    C. the doughnut    D. The passage doesn’t say.

 3.Which sentence is true for both bagels and donuts?

      A. They both came from Europe      B. They are both easy to make

      C. They are both sweet              D. people in New York make them best

 4.Who brought bagels to America?

      A. Polish people     B. Jewish People   C. Chinese People   D. American soldiers

5.Who served donuts to American soldiers during World War Ⅰ?

      A. French people                   B. Jewish people  

C. other American soldiers           D. cooks from the United States.

Always Changing

Mark is leaving, and I’m feeling kind of sad.
You probably don’t know Mark, but you might be lucky enough  36 someone just like him. He’s been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of years combining  37 professional skills with a sweet and gentle nature.
And now he’s moving on to an exciting new professional  38 . It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime, and we’re  39 for him. But that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to him.
Life has a way of throwing these curve(曲线)balls  40 us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation, something comes along to   41 the recipe.
Our ability to cope with change  42 to a great degree, our peace, happiness and contentment in life.
But how do we do that? A friend of mine is fond of reminding us that“survivability depends upon  43 .”And then there’s Chris the California surf-rat, who once told me that the answer to life’s problems can be  44 in four words:“Go with the flow.”
I’m not exactly sure , but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of   45 —both good and bad . No matter how excellent your skill , there will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no  46 . The truly successful person expects the unexpected, and is prepared to    47 adjustments should the need arise-as it almost  48 does.
That doesn't mean you don't keep trying to make all your  49 come true．It just means that when things come up that aren't  50 in your plan，you work around them—and then you move on。
“Change，indeed，is painful，  51 ever needful，”said philosopher Thomas Carlyle．“And if memory has its force and worth，so also has  52 .”
we're going to miss Mark. But rather than stay on the  53 of our parting，we'll focus on our hopes for a brighter future－for him，and for us．And then we'll go out and   54  
everything we can to make that future happen．  55 our plans change--again.