What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt？Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?

This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming, and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion (蒲公英) standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.

I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe；my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood, I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate. Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad’s face as he unwrapped those black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.

1.The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was _________.

A．doing shopping                         B．having a debate

C．reading a message                       D．leaving for Wyoming

2.The author's inspiration for the gift came from _________.

A．a photo of a flower                      B．a story about a kid

C．a call from the mother                    D．a text about Christmas

3.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refers to a poem by _________.

A．the father         B．the author         C．William Blake       D．Edgar Allan Poe

4.The author made the gift by ________.

A．searching for the poems online

B．drawing the background by hand

C．painting the letters in three colors

D．matching the words with pictures

5.What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To show how to design images for gifts

B．To suggest making gifts from one’s heart

C．To explain how computers help create gifts

D．To describe the gifts the author has received

The British people are famous for being quite reserved(保守的). We are known around the world for having the biggest "personal 1 "? the distance between us and the person we are 2 to. I have 3 been more aware of this than over the last month, since I arrived in China. Getting used to Chinese colleagues 4 close by me and even placing their hands on my arm is proving quite 5 . My natural British reaction is to 6 back and move away, even though I realize it is a friendly gesture by the Chinese person.

I have 7 many people holding hands or putting their arms around each other as they walk along the streets of Beijing. This would rarely be seen in the UK , even between very close friends.

And 8 at someone in Britain is considered very 9 . But here, I find myself being stared at often. It 10 me long to realize this was not rude in China, but a 11 of curiosity.

I visited Datong last week, where the local people are 12 used to Westerners. An elderly woman couldn't believe her 13 when she saw me. And 14 feel offended(使不舒服) by her staring at me, I was 15 to see her smile back when I said "Nihao."

When I visited one of Datong's middle schools to talk about English Weekly, the students asked me to 16 their copies of the newspaper. And one girl at the Yungang Grottoes asked to have her picture taken with me. I 17 like a celebrity(名人)!

I have 18 over the last month how true it is that the British are very 19 . We can learn a lot about 20 from China's culture and habits. And I am learning more every day.

When I was a boy, I belonged to the Boy Scouts(童子军)，so I used to go camping every summer, and once something happened which I have never been able to explain.

We were camping in a place above a river. After arriving, we all rushed down to the river and had a swim. Standing by the river, we noticed that it was surrounded by cliffs (悬崖).If someone wanted to reach the river at this point, he had to walk past our camp.

Several days later, the scoutmaster had to be away for a day. That afternoon, we had supper early. We were sitting round the fire, eating and talking, when a man walked past and went down towards the river. We all felt that this man looked very strange, but, because each of us was afraid of looking very stupid, no one said anything.

We ate rather slowly, taking as long as possible. After finishing, we collected our plates together so that we could take them to the river where we always washed them.  But no one moved towards the river, we stood looking at each other ashamed. Then all shouting at once, we began talking about the man who had walked past us. We agreed how strange he looked and we wondered what he could be doing by the river. We knew that he could only return by passing through our camp.

An hour passed. Then one of the boys suggested we should creep(悄悄移动)down by the river so that we could see what the man was doing. Moving very slowly and keeping in the shadow, we crept down towards the bank. One boy climbed a tree so that he could see everything clearly. He called to us that there was no one there, so we ran down to the bank, looking everywhere carefully. We could not understand where the man had gone.

When it got dark, we went back to our camp feeling bewildered. We told the scoutmaster what had happened in the evening. Smiling, he doubted that we had seen the man, but finally suggested we go and look again. We did, but there was no one there.

Many years have passed, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. What did we see? I do not know.

1.The writer in the text mainly tells us _________.

A．the story of his childhood                 B．a strange camping experience

C．about a stranger by the river               D．about a good place for camping

2.Why did the boys eat their supper slowly?

A．They wanted to delay going to the river bank.

B．They were waiting for their scoutmaster.

C．They had a supper earlier than usual.

D．They were talking while eating.

3.The underlined word “bewildered” in the text probably means _________.

A．ashamed                              B．nervous

C．unable to understand                    D．eager to know something

4.When he heard what had happened, the scoutmaster __________.

A．realized who the man was

B．started to worry about the man

C．went back to look for the can

D．felt it hard to believe the boys

5.The writer still remembers the event because________.

A．the boys acted foolishly

B．the camping place is beautiful

C．there has been no explanation for the event

D．he particularly enjoyed his camping that summer.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳答案。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Time is the most valuable thing that mankind has.___1_____ Many people try to manage their time. They arrange information and tips in order to effectively do so.

____2___ Time can be managed easily by finding out what is important and arranging these things in the order of importance. In this way you know your direction before making any plans and do not waste time and energy unnecessarily.

Now comes the next question.___3___ The answer is that you need to find out what steps you need to take to do and what you want to do. Then you know how much time to spend for each thing. These steps are like goals.

___4___ Not having them is like walking blindly in a dark room, trying to find the door.

Time management also demands a set schedule that works best for you. In this way you will be able to arrange your tasks based on their importance and finish them. In this way you will not waste your time in beating around the bush.

___5___ There are lots of things that we need to do in a short time. Therefore, having good time management skills is at the top of the list of things we all need.

A．We all live in a fast paced world now.

B．Using every passing second effectively can benefit us.

C．Could you divide your time equally while doing your work.

D．How do you manage time and what type of information is needed to do so ?

E. Setting goals is the most important part of time management.

F. Managing time is not that hard.

G. The aim of time management is to give us a feeling of satisfaction.

Yesterday I had a walk with a friend in the street. When we were passing by a house, I  36   a BlackBerry cell phone. I picked it up and it still  37  ! I started checking the contact list and calling numbers. I wanted to see  38   I could get some information about the owner of the phone.  39   , only one person answered and she didn’t recognize the   40   that I was calling from. In the end, she said,” It is just so nice that you are trying to   41   whose phone it is.”

   Since that lady didn’t know whose phone it was, my friend   42   me to go back to the street. I   43   . We went back to the street and to the house   44    which we had found the BlackBerry cell phone. I   45   the door. Two college students   46   and said they hadn’t lost their phones. But when I told them the story and    47   some names on the contact list, one of them said that he   48   had those names so it must be the phone of one of his   49   .

   They said it was   50   that I too the time to find the   51   .I really didn’t have anything to say because in my mind I was just doing the   52   thing. I never considered   53   the phone----it wasn’t mine. I immediately tried to find the owner because that is exactly what I would want   54   to do if any of my family members   55   their phones.

1.A. bought               B. dropped                C. repaired               D. found

2.A. rang                   B. sang                      C. worked                  D. shook

3.A. that                    B. if                          C. what                    D. how

4.A. Probably            B. Interestingly         C. Finally                   D. Unluckily

5.A. number              B. street                    C. man                      D. name

6.A. talk about          B. think of                 C. find out                 D. care about

7.A. advised              B. pushed                  C. helped                  D. showed

8.A. laughed             B. understood           C. argued                  D. agreed

9.A. at the back of    B. in front of             C. on the top of        D. far away from

10.A. turned to          B. looked for             C. knocked on          D. broke into

11.A. answered         B. shouted                C. ran                        D. passed

12.A. spelled             B. wrote                    C. mentioned            D. remembered

13.A. sometimes       B. also                      C. hardly                   D. always

14.A. kids                  B. parents                 C. students                D. friends

15.A. exciting            B. necessary             C. wonderful             D. impossible

16.A. phone               B. information          C. buyer                    D. owner

17.A. important        B. right                     C. strange                 D. brave

18.A. giving               B. borrowing            C. mending               D. keeping

19.A. them                B. him                       C. someone               D. myself

20.A. lost                   B. described             C. needed                 D. lent