Time is very important in our life. It  36  our everyday moments. However, time never had any importance in my life until I   37   a watch from my father, which organized my life and made me more   38   . It’s round(圆形的) in the center with two silver bands(带，条) that go   39  my wrist(手腕) and all of it is made of silver.

I received this   40   on a gray-sky day. I had to go to the airport at 9:00 a.m. to   41   up my uncle Ali and take him to my father’s house.   42   , I was late because I was  43  with my friends. Later on that day, around 11:00 a.m., I  44  my uncle, but I was very late for him. He had   45   the airport and taken a taxi to my father’s house.

I got to my father’s house at 2:00 p.m. that day and felt  46  of myself at that moment. After I said hello to my  47  father and tired uncle, my father asked me to sit next to him and handed me this watch as a gift from him. Then he said, “Peter, did you have  48  with your friends today?” I answered, “Yes, father, and  49 

apologized for not meeting my uncle Ali.” He said, “What you  50  was not very nice and you should feel sorry for your  51   .” I was ashamed and said, “Father, I’ll never do it again. I promise.” He said, “I hope today you learned something important, and this watch will be a   52   for you.” He told me to take this watch and use it as an organizer of my  53   .

I learned a very important lesson from my father: to  54  time and never to be late to get someone. This watch is  55   to me, not because of its price, but because of the lesson that I learned from it.

1.A. makes        B. organizes           C. orders         D. supplies

2.A. received      B. accepted            C. won           D. achieved

3.A. confident     B. independent         C. efficient        D. responsible

4.A. around       B. in                 C. on             D. with

5.A. card         B. thing               C. gift            D. letter

6.A. call          B. pick               C. put            D. bring

7.A. Otherwise     B. Fortunately         C. However       D. Therefore

8.A. going        B. leaving             C. standing        D. shopping

9.A. forgot        B. remembered        C. saw            D. visited

10.A. arrived       B. recognized          C. left            D. found

11.A. ashamed      B. frightened          C. disappointed    D. shy

12.A. nervous       B. happy             C. angry          D. doubtful

13.A. lunch         B. quarrel            C. appointment     D. fun

14.A. I             B. he                C. they           D. we

15.A. said          B. did                C. thought        D. forgot

16.A. idea          B. word              C. action          D. movement

17.A. wonder       B. hope               C. requirement     D. reminder

18.A. life           B. day               C. way           D. thought

19.A. waste         B. respect            C. ignore          D. enjoy

20.A. useful         B. necessary         C. helpful          D. important

It’s strange that a man born on Labor Day has had to work so hard to succeed in life. Jacob seems like a normal person. He likes music, art and photography. His parents both got college degrees. He used to go to a beach house in Portland every summer. He is a big fan of Mexican food. Reading these facts about him may lead to the opinion that he had a great childhood. However, behind all of these is a past that would be terrible for many kids growing up.

It started when he was only two years old. His parents divorced and then remarried. Going through elementary school and middle school, he was frightened a lot. This may have led to the worst thing that could have happened to a young man.

He developed deep depression. Doing the smart thing, he talked to his parents about his problem. His parents decided that this issue was very serious and Jacob was admitted to West Hills Hospital. He stayed there for two weeks and had his depression diagnosed. Serious insomnia caused the problem.

The solution was daily medication. The medication took care of Jacob’s depression problem. However, it contained a substance with lithium(锂). The side effect he suffered from lithium was that he got spoonfuls of sugar and ate it with anything else that was on his plate. This led to a weight gain of 25 pounds while he was on medication. So he decided he had to lose some weight and stop the medication.

Now he has lost a big part of the weight and he has managed to solve his problem he had in high school. Now he is a happy human being.

Many people would have had a very hard time coming back from depression. Many people probably would have given up their dreams. But Jacob is not like this. He took what was a mess of his life and turned it around to become a great man and a person with a very bright future.

1.When was Jacob possibly born according to the passage? (no more than 3 words)   (2 marks)

2.Why did Jacob suffer from deep depression? (no more than 4 words)   (2 marks)

3.How did Jacob gain the weight of 25 pounds while on medication? ( no more than 5 words) (3 marks)

4.What can we know from Jacob’s story? (no more than 10 words)   (3 marks)

Never before ______ to ______ what his parents expect of him more than it is today ．

         A．he has failed; live up to      B．he failed not; come up with

         C．has he failed; live up to      D．did he failed; come up with

A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car，Paul？”he asked．

Paul answered，“Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you anything？Boy，I wish…” He hesitated．

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

“I wish,” the boy went on，“that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car？”

“Oh yes，I'd love that．”

After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind driving in front of my house？”

Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are？” the boy asked．

He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

“There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about.”

Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

注：urchin 顽童    hesitate 犹豫       crippled 残疾    cent 美分

1.The street urchin was very surprised when ________．

   A．Paul received an expensive car

   B．Paul told him about the car

   C．he saw the shining car

   D．he was walking around the car

2.From the story we can see the urchin ________．

   A．wished to give his brother a car

   B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car

   C．wished he could have a brother like Paul's

   D．wished Paul could be a brother like that

3.The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ________．

   A．to show his neighbors the big car

   B．to show he had a rich friend

   C．to let his brother ride in the car

   D．to tell his brother about his wish

4.We can infer（推断）from the story that ________．

   A．Paul couldn't understand the urchin

   B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother

   C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother

   D．the urchin's wish came true in the end

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

Most children, even the youngest of children, are delighted to be around cats and dogs. But these pets carry plenty of germs and allergens(过敏原), prompting researchers to ask: Are cats and dogs really safe for children?

A study finds that, contrary to many parents’ fears, owning cats or dogs does not increase a child’s risk of developing allergies, and in fact, may actually protect them. The study’s lead author, Dr. Dennis Ownby of the Medical College of Georgia, said that even he was “very surprised” by the results. Ownby and colleagues followed more than 470 children from birth to age 6 or 7, comparing those exposed to cats and dogs during their first years of life to those who were not.

By using skin-prick tests for detecting common allergies, the researchers found that, contrary to what many doctors had been taught for years, children who had lived with a pet were not at greater risk.

Even more remarkable, children who had two or more dogs or cats had an even greater reduction, up to 77 percent, in risk of allergies. Researchers suggest this protective effect may be the result of early exposure to lots of bacteria that are carried by dogs and cats. Exposing young children to these bacteria helps “exercise” their immune（免疫的） systems early in life so that they’re better able to resist allergic diseases later.

“There’s something very important in the first years of life when the immune system is developing that we can retrain it away from an allergic response,” said Dr. William Davis.

And while researchers are not encouraging parents to buy dogs or cats just to reduce a child’s allergy risk, they say if a family already has one or more animals, there’s no need to get rid of them.

56．Why do the researchers feel “very surprised” by the results of the study?

A. Because the results are contrary to what they have expected.

B. Because so many families are going to get rid of their cats and dogs.

C. Because parents are so much worried about their children.

D. Because children with animals may develop allergies easily.

57．Compared with children who have pets, those who haven’t ________.

A. will lose the chance to develop immune system

B. may suffer allergic diseases more often

C. will reduce the harm from bacteria

D. are more likely to resist allergic diseases

58.．It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A. pets are ill-treated by their owners

B. fewer families would like to own cats and dogs

C. keeping pets is a good way to keep children healthy

D. the results of the study can make families with pets feel at ease

59．The underlined word “it” in the fifth paragraph refers to ________.

A. the early life                       B. an allergic disease

C. immune system                     D. something important

60．What may be the best title of the passage?

A. How to protect your kids from allergies.  B. Your pets may be helping your kids.

C. Bacteria do good to your kids.          D. Advantages of owning pets.