Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland. The Scots, a brave people, love their country. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland. But there were too many of the Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.
　　One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. “We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle. We must win, or we will die.”
　　They were all very tired. So they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, they fell asleep.
　　The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they went up the hill. Closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle (蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle. The fighting was hard, but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland.
　　The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people liked it. But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.
【小题1】Hundreds of years ago, the Romans ____ .

The art of public speaking began in ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago. Now, twitter, e-mail, blogs and QQ chat offer approaches to communication— but none can replace the role of a great speech.

The spoken word can handle various important functions: persuading or inspiring, informing, paying tribute (致敬), entertaining, or simply introducing someone.

Persuading is used in dealing with or reconciling different points of view. When the leaders met in Copenhagen in December, 2009, persuasive words from activities encouraged them to take former action.

Inspirational speeches deal with emotions. They focus on topics and matters that are close to people’ s hearts. Last year, during the fighting in Iraq, generals used inspiring speeches to prepare the troops for battle.

Some speeches spread knowledge and deepen understanding. When the H1N1 flu was announced, the disease scared many people. Informtive speechs from World Health Organization (WTO) officials helped people to keep their panic under control so they could take necessary preventive measures.

Sad events are never easy to deal with but a speech that pays tribute to the loss of a loved one and gives praise for their contribution can be comforting. Madonna’s speech about Michael Jackson after his death showed the fact that he will continue to live on through his music.

It’s not only in world forums where public speaking plays an important role. It can also be helpful in the course of our own life. You may be asked to do a presentation at college or work to inform others about an area of great importance. On a more personal level, a friend may be upset and need comforting. Or you might be asked to introduce a speaker at a family gathering or to speak at a wedding, where your language will be needed to move people or make them laugh.

Great speaking ability is not something we’re born with. Even Barack Obama works hard to perfect every speech.

1.The underlined word “recociling” in paragraph 3 can best be replaced by “________”

2.The passage mentions the H1N1 flu to show the function of _______

3.The 7^th paragraph mainly tells us that public speaking ______.

4.What would the writer probably talk about following the last paragraph?

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

完形填空 (共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分)

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21—30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A soldier, who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam,  21  his parents from San Francisco, telling them that he wanted to ask a friend to come and live with their family. The son said, “He was hurt  22  in the fighting. He stepped on a landmine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I… I want him to live with us.” His parents   23  , explaining that someone with such a handicap（残疾）would be a heavy  24  on them.

At that point, the son hung up the phone. A few days later, the parents  25  a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building. The police believed it was suicide (自杀).

The heart-broken parents flew to San Francisco to identify the  26  of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror, they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The sad story of the parents was actually caused by their attitude towards  27 . Friends are a very  28  jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their  29  to us. Let’s say a little prayer that God will give you the luck you need to accept people as they are, to help us all be more understanding of those who are  30  from us!

21. A. requested     B. called        C. met          D. emailed

22. A. soundly      B. thoroughly     C. deeply       D. badly 

23. A. refused       B. agreed        C. confused     D. ignored

24. A. expense       B. burden       C. situation      D. weight

25. A. made         B. sent          C. received     D. heard

26. A. name         B. health        C. face         D. body

27. A. soldiers       B. children       C. friendship    D. relationship

28. A. rare          B. huge          C. bright       D. heavy

29. A. minds        B. houses         C. eyes        D. hearts

30. A. absent        B. different        C. far         D. separate

MOSCOW, Sept. 4 (Xinhuanet)--- At least 335 people including 155 children, were killed in the three---day hostage crisis (人质危机) in a southern Russian school, Russia’s Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky said on Saturday.

“We are still identifying the bodies. We have recovered 322 bodies, and 155 of them are children,” Fridinsky was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

The prosecutor said the death toll would probably grow as the clean-up operation is continuing at the site, but it will not rise considerably.

Emergency workers pulled the bodies out of the school on Saturday, after Russian special forces rescued more than 400 children and adults hostages in a special operation that has suppressed (平定)the hostage -taking standoff by Friday night.

Valery Andreyev, regional chief of the Federal Security Service (FSS), said Friday that over 30 armed militants took part in the hostage-taking crisis and Russian troops captured three of them alive on Friday, according to the Interfax news agency.

He said people of Russian origin and foreign nationals were among the killed hostage-takers. Earlier official information showed that ten Arab militants were killed in Friday’s raid (突袭).

Andreyev said a large amount of explosives (爆炸物)and mines planted by hostage-takers in the school have been found.

Rusian Presidnet Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit early Saturday to the southern Russian town of Beslan where commandos (突击队) stormed the school to end the hostage crisis. He accused the attackers of trying to spark an racial conflict that would engulf (卷入)Russia’s troubled Caucasus Mountains region.

63. It can be inferred that the Russian hostage crisis began on ________.

A. Wednesday    B. Monday     C. Friday            D. Saturday

64. The passage suggests that the terrorists _________.

A. hadn’t got any preparation before the attack

B. had informed the government to attack the school

C. had made a sudden attack to the school without any preparation

D. had prepared for the attack in advance

65. The underlined word “spark” in the last paragraph refers to _______.

A. speak out                B. lead to   C. start                       D. make

66. The last sentence of the passage indirectly states _______.

A. the purpose of the attackers’ taking over the   hostage

B. the fighting between attackers and special forces was very fierce

C. Russian President was very sad about the hostage

D. there were many attackers in Caucasus Mountains region

阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。
A Little Hero
A group of Italian soldiers led by a captain were advancing slowly toward the position of the enemy. They arrived at a farmhouse, in front of which sat a small boy, cutting a branch of a tree with his knife.
"What are you doing here?" asked the captain. "Why didn’t you leave with your family?"
　　"I don’t have any family," said the boy. "I’m an orphan. I used to work for the family that lived here. They’ve gone, but I stayed in order to see the fighting."
　　"Have you seen any Austrians pass by here?"
　　"Not within the last three days."
　　"Do you think you could climb that tree and tell me whether you see anything of the Austrians in the distance?"
　　"Sure!"
　　In a few minutes the boy was at the top of the tree.
　　"Look straight ahead," cried the captain, "and tell me what you see."
　　"Two men on horseback - nothing else."
　　"How far away?"
　　"About a mile and a half. They’re standing still." ….
　　"They’re shooting at me," said the boy. "but don’t worry. Let me tell you what’s to the left. Well, there’s a church and I think I see..."
　　 A third bullet passed, and the boy was seen to fall suddenly from the tree, dead.
　　"Poor boy!" said the captain, covering the boy’s body with a national flag and saying, "He died like a soldier and we must bury him like a soldier."
Soon it was covered with flowers. He gave his life to his country.
【写作内容】
学校最近组织了一次中美学生交流活动，你参加其中的“童年生活”讨论。听完Joe讲的故事“A Little Hero” 之后，你准备写一份发言稿，题目是“After Listening to ‘A Little Hero’ ”，内容要点包括：
1. 以约30个词概括你听完A Little Hero的故事；
2. 然后以约120个词谈谈你的童年生活，内容包括：
(1) 对自己童年生活的感受；
(2) 你的童年以及现在的生活和故事中那位小英雄的童年生活有什么不同？
(3) 作为一位高中学生，你未来的理想是什么？
【写作要求】
1. 在作文中可以使用自己亲身的经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容但不得直接引用原文中的句子；
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
【评分标准】
概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。