先通读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从下面四个答案中选择可以填入空白处的最佳答案。（本大题共10分，每小题1分）
Everybody wants a new start for a new school year. So, students often go back-to-school shopping. They buy school things and shoes. But, the story is not so easy.
"Mum, I want this pair of shoes!"
"Dear! Those are 900 yuan! That is too __16___ !"
"But all the boys in my class wear this brand (牌子)!"
So the real story is: Kids___17____to catch up with school fashion.
Chinese students __18__ uniforms at school. Parents think all the kids look the same, but kids know the differences. The "rich" kids wear amazing watches, ride good 19__and use cool pencil cases. They show off their expensive things to 20__ kids. Then everyone else wants them too. For example, some "rich" kids use a pencil box that _21_1,000 yuan! It not only holds pencils, but also has a thermometer (温度计), a compass (指南针), a music box and even games in it! But think about it. Do you really need ____22___ a special pencil box? What can you do with a compass or a thermometer in class? They only distract (分散注意) you.
As for these "rich" kids, they are not rich at all. 23__ parents buy them all their school things. They may have an advantage now, but it won’t last forever. If you want to show off __24__ money you have, you have to make it yourself first. So, study hard. You will get a great job in the future.
Parents should also learn __25___to refuse their kids’ demands (要求). They should tell their kids: as students, what is really important is not school fashion but good school grades.

Dear Mom and Dad,
I will go to Alice’s home with her after school, and I will have supper and sleep there. Don’t    21   about me. You know that Alice is one of my    22  friends. If you want to talk with me, you can    23   68610598 after 6:00 pm.
Please forgive me for not telling you first. I don’t think you will    24 me to do so if I tell you first.   25  I think teenagers should be allowed to stay at their friends’ houses sometimes. I am sixteen years old and I’m not a little kid    26 . I hope I can make decisions for    27  .
At home, there are too many   28  for me to obey: Don’t stay out so    29  ; don’t have meals before    30   hands; don’t watch TV without finishing homework, etc. Parents should be    31   teenagers, but we need freedom, too.
I don’t like doing my homework    32   at home. I’d love to study    33   Alice. We can learn a lot from each other.    34   please allow me to stay at Alice’s house once a week. If you    35  , Alice can stay at our house with me, too.
Yours,
Lillian

口语应用。根据对话的内容，用适当的句子补全对话。（满分10分）
A: Have you seen Jim these days?
B: No, he’s gone to Japan to see his grandfather.
A: 20. ____________________________
B: Yes, he lived there before he came here.
A: 21. ____________________________
B: About one month.
A: 22. ____________________________
B: Yes, I’ve just received a letter from him.
A: 23. ____________________________
B: He said he had a very good time there and he also wanted me to give his best wishes to you.
A:24. ____________________________

 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。

Have you ever heard of Agatha Christie, an excellent writer? Agatha Christie is, without a doubt,   16   mystery writer in the world. Her books have been translated into more than 100 languages. All 77 novels and story collections she wrote are still on the market 25 years after her   17  .

    Agatha Christie was born in 1890 in a southwest England seaside town. She enjoyed a very comfortable childhood in a big house with   18   servants(仆人). Agatha was known   19   an imaginative child. With her sister and brother away at school, she often played alone. She passed the time by making up stories which she told to   20  .

Agatha Christie’s first novel was published in 1920. In it, she   21   one of her most popular characters, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. He went on to appear in 33 of her novels, and in several movies   22  . Although Poirot appears again and again in her novels, Christie certainly could not be considered as repeating her ideas. Her powers of invention and her ability to surprise continue to attract   23  readers around the world.

Christie also wrote several   24  . One of these, “The Mousetrap”, became the longest-running play in the history of theater. It is about a murder mystery that   25   in a country house. All these mysterious stories earned her the title “Queen of Crime”.

1.

A. more practical                  B. more famous         

 C. the most famous                 D. the most practical                          

2.

 A. loss           B. birth           C. death        D. arrival

3.

A. much         B. plenty of        C. lots          D. a lot

4.

A. as            B. like             C. by           D. for

5.

 A. her brother    B. her             C. herself        D. her sister

6.

 A. created       B. produced        C. built          D. continued

7.

A. also          B. besides          C. as well        D. either

8.

 A. million        B. millions         C. millions of     D. million of

9.

A. stories        B. plays            C. movies        D. comedies

10.

 A. takes place    B. takes in          C. takes off       D. takes down