Lang Lang is a world-class young pianist who grew up in Shenyang. He went to a piano school in Beijing when he was just eight. “You need 36  .” his father said. “But if you don’t work hard, no fortune will come.”

What made him said was   37   his piano teacher in Beijing didn’t like him. “You have no talent(天赋). You will never be a pianist.”   38   a nine-year-old boy, Lang Lang was badly   39  . He decided that he didn’t want to be a   40   any more. For the next two weeks, he didn’t touch the piano.   41   , his father didn’t push, but waited. 

Luckily, the day came when his teacher asked him to   42   some holiday songs. He didn’t want to, but as he placed his fingers on the piano keys, he   43   that he could show others that he had talent   44   .That day he told his father   45   he had been waiting to hear---that he wanted to study with a new teacher.   46   that point on, everything turned around!

He started   47   competitions(比赛). In the 1994 International Young Pianists Competition, when it was   48   that Lang Lang had won, he was too   49   to hold back his tears. Soon   50   was clear that he couldn’t stay in China forever---he had to play on the world big   51   .In 1997 Lang Lang   52   again, this time to Philadelphia, U.S. There he spent two years practicing, and by 1999 he had worked hard enough for fortune to take over. After his   53   performance at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, gigs(特邀演出) in Lincoln’s Center and Carnegie Hall started   54   , Lang Lang finally worked to reach the place where fortune spots(发现)him, and lets him   55  .

36. A. exercise             B. fortune            C. knowledge        D. wealth

37. A. whether             B. why                 C. when               D. that    

38. A. Like                  B. With                C. To                   D. As     

39. A. hurt                  B. weakened         C. ruined                     D. frightened

40. A. singer              B. pianist                     C. conductor         D. player

41. A. Hopefully          B. Patiently           C. Wisely             D. Painfully

42. A. play                  B. sing                        C. write                      D. study

43. A. seemed             B. admitted                 C. noticed            D. realized

44. A. in all                 B. above all          C. after all                   D. at all   

45. A. that                   B. what                       C. which               D. when

46. A. From                 B. As                    C. Since              D. After

47. A. receiving                  B. accepting          C. winning                   D. beating  

48. A. told                   B. mentioned        C. announced        D. recognized

49. A. excited               B. encouraged       C. shocked                   D. satisfied

50. A. this                    B. it                           C. that                  D. what

51. A. concerts             B. tours                       C. competitions     D. stages

52. A. started               B. left                         C. moved                     D. performed

53. A. successful           B. cheerful            C. respectful         D. meaningful

54. A. pulling               B. breaking           C. falling                     D. pouring

55. A. brighten           B. shine                       C. admire                    D. develop

A little under one-third of U.S. families have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.
Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. families, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe（预订） to an Internet service over the next 12 months. The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found that the main reason why potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives rather than concerns over cost.
Forty-four percent of these families say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.
The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005. Roughly half of new subscribers converted（转变） from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of families had no prior access.
"The industry continues to chip （击破）away at the core of non-subscribers, but has a long way to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more similar to pay-TV," he predicted.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “holdouts” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

The first people who gave names to hurricanes were those who knew them best — the people of Puerto Rico. The small island of Puerto Rico is in the West Indies, off the coast of Florida. This is where all the hurricanes begin that strike the east coast of the United States. Often they pass near Puerto Rico or cross it on their way north. The people of Puerto Rico expect some of these unwelcome visitors every year. Each one is named after the Saint’s Day on which it arrives. Two of the most destructive storms were the Santo Ana in 1840 and the San Ciriaco in 1899.

Giving girls’ names to hurricanes is a fairly new idea. It all began with a story called “Storm”, written by George Stewart in 1941. In it a weatherman amused himself by naming storms after girls he knew. He named one Maria. The story describes how she Maria grew and developed, and how she changed the lives of people when she struck the United States.

Weathermen of the U.S. Army and Navy used the same system during World WarⅡ. They were studying weather conditions over the Pacific Ocean. One of their duties was to warn American ships and planes when a storm was coming. Whenever they spotted one, they gave it a girl’s name. The first one of the year was given a name beginning with [A]. The second one got a name beginning with [B]. They used all the letters from A to W, and still the storms kept coming. They had to use three lists from A to W to have enough names to go around. This was the first list of hurricane names that followed the alphabet. It served as a model for the system the Weather Bureau (局) introduced in 1942.

Before 1950 the Weather Bureau had no special system for naming hurricanes. When a hurricane was born down in the West Indies, the Weather Bureau simply collected information about it. It reported how fast the storm was moving and where it would go next. Weather reports warned people in the path of the hurricane, so that they could do whatever was necessary to protect themselves.

This system worked out fine as long as weather reports talked about only one hurricane at a time. But one week in September 1950 there were three hurricanes at the same time. The things began to get confused. Some people got the hurricanes mixed up and didn’t know which was which. This convinced the Weather Bureau that it needed a code for naming the storms in order to avoid confusion in the future.

1．Hurricanes were first named after the _________.

A. date on which they occurred                         

B. place where they began

C. amount of destruction they did                     

D. particular feature they have

2．The practice of giving girls’ names to hurricanes was started by _________.

A. a radio operator        B. an author                  C. a sailor                     D. local people

3．The purpose for which weathermen of the army and navy began using girls’ names for hurricanes was _________.

A. to keep information from the enemy

B. to follow the standard method of the United States

C. not given in the article

D. to remember a certain girl

4．The Weather Bureau began naming hurricanes because it would help them _________.

A. collect information more rapidly                  

B. warn people more efficiently

C. make use of military (军事的) records          

D. remember them

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

My sister and I grew up in a little village in England．Our father was a struggling   36   , but I always knew he was   37    . He never criticized us, but used   38    to bring out our best. He'd say,“If you pour water on flowers, they  flourish. If you don't give them water, they die.” I   39   as a child I said something   40   about somebody, and my father said, “   41   time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it's a reflection of yourself.” He explained that if I looked for the best   42    people, I would get the best   43  . From then on I've always tried to   44  the principle in my life and later in running my company.

Dad's also always been very    45    . At 15, I started a magazine. It was   46   a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a    47   stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.

I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision,    48    any good father would．When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad   49   me to go into law. And I've   50    regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist,    51     I didn't pursue my    52   . You know what you want. Go fulfill it.”

As   53   turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national    54    for young people in the U.K. My wife and I have two children, and I'd like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad   55   me.

A．biologist     B．manager       C．lawyer       D．gardener

A．strict         B．honest         C．special       D．learned

A．praise        B．courage        C．power       D．warmth

A．think        B．imagine      C．remember    D．guess

A．unnecessary        B．unkind      C．unimportant          D．unusual

A．Another      B．Some         C．Any         D．Other

A．on          B．in            C．at           D．about

A．in case       B．by turns       C．by chance    D．in return

A．revise        B．set          C．review       D．follow

A．understanding    B．experienced      C．serious      D．demanding

A, taking up     B．making up     C．picking up           D．keeping up

A．suggestion B．decision       C．notice         D．choice

A．and              B．as                  C．even if              D．as if

A．helped            B．allowed      C．persuaded    D．suggested

A．always            B．never        C．seldom              D．almost

A．rather     B．but           C．for          D．therefore

A．promise   B．task           C．belief               D．dream

A．which B．he            C．it           D．that

A．newspaper B．magazine      C．program             D．project

A．controlled   B．comforted      C．reminded            D．raised

完形填空

Harriet Tubman was born a slave. She didn’t get a   1   to go to school.   2   a child, Harriet had to work very hard in   3   all day. That way, her owner could   4   a lot of money when he sold his crops. Harriet   5   think that she was being treated fairly.

  6   Harriet grew up, she ran away from the plantation(庄园)to the Northern United States. There, and in Canada,   7   could be free.

Harriet liked to be free. She felt   8   for all of the black people who were   9   slaves.

Harriet returned to   10   to help other slaves to run away. She made   11   that they got to the North and became free.

Harriet was in great   12   because of a law that   13  .The law said it was not permitted to   14   runaway slaves. She also   15   that the slave owners said they would   16   $4000 to anyone who could catch Harriet Tubman.

There were many stories about Harriet   17   slaves run away. In all, she made nineteen trips back to the South and guided about 300 slaves to   18  .When the Civil War broke out, the northern states   19   with the southern states. Harriet   20   the northern states because the Northerners believed that slaves should be free. She worked as a nurse and spied behind enemy lines until the northern states won the war.

1.A.day　　　　  B. chance　　   C. permission　　　　 D. moment

2.A.As　　　　   B.Being　　　　  C.Since　　　　　　　　 D.Like

3.A.the farm   B.a school　　  C.the fields　　　　    D.a factory

4.A.make B.pay　　　　　　 C.got　　　　　　　　    D.spend

5.A.certainly   B.didn’t　　　　  C.did　　　　　　　　　　 D.no longer

6.A.Since　　   B.After　　　　   C.Then　　　　　　　　  D.With

7.A.the white  B.white　　　　  C.black　　　　  　　   　　  D.black people

8.A.happy　　   B.sure　　　　    C.wrong　　　　 D.sorry

9.A.still　　　　  B.yet　　　　　　  C.only　　　　　　　　   D.not

10.A.Canada   B.the South　　 C.the North　　　　   D.the U.S.

11.A.perfect    B.way　　　　    C.possible　　　　　　  D.sure

12.A.anger　　  B.anxiety C.hurry　　　　　　　　 D.danger

13.A.has just been passed　　　　　　   B.had just been broken

C.had just been passed　　　　　　　　   D.has just been broken

14.A.help B.set free C.stop　　　　    　　　　　　  D.catch

15.A.found　　 B.noticed C.found out    　　　　　　  D.made sure

16.A.pay B.make　　　　   C.spend　　　　　　　　 D.get

17.A.help B.helped  C.helping　　    D.to help

18.A.freedom  B.safety　　　　  C.North　　　　　　　　 D.Southern states

19.A.united　　 B.fought  C.made peace　　    D.gave in

20.A.looked for     B.stood for　　 C.looked on　　　　   D.went to