Alexandra Nechita was born in Romania in 1985 and moved to California when she was still a baby. As a little child, she loved colouring in her colouring books. Her parents hoped she could spend more time playing with other children, so they took away her colouring books. Alexandra began drawing her own pictures and colouring them in.

By the time Alcxandra was seven ycars old, she had begun painting with oil paints. When

Alexandra took a local art class, her teacher was amazed at the young artist’s unusual style of painting. Alexandra’s work was similar in some ways to the paintings by famous artists like Picasso. These artists did not use a realistic style of painting. They allowed their imaginations to play an

important part in their work. The interesting thing was that little Alexandra had never seen the work of these artists. People called her “Little Picasso”. This was a great honour, but Alexandra’s style of

painting was all her own.

Alexandra’s first public show was held at a Los Angeles public library when she was

only eight years old. People were amazed at how young Alexandra was, but mostly they loved her imaginative artwork. It did not take long for Alexandra and her work to become famous. She appeared on television programs and in newspapers and magazines all over the world. The sale of a single piece can earn the young artist thousands of dollars. But that is not why Alexandra creates artwork. She just cannot imagine doing anything else that would bring her such joy and satisfaction.

Today, Alexandra is a full-time artist. She also works to help support the arts in schools. Alexandra is a strong believer in the power of art as a tool of communication and a bridge to building peace throughout the world.

【1】When did Alexandra begin drawing pictures?

A. At the age of eight. B. At the age of seven.

C. At the age of two. D. In the year of 1985.

【2】Alexandra was called “Little Picasso” because .

A. shc learned to paint from Picasso B. her style of painting was like Picasso’s

C. she was one of Picasso’s big fans D. her style of painting was unusual

【3】What can we learn from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?

A. Only painting can make her so happy and satisfied.

B. Only money can make her so happy and satisfied.

C. Anything can make her feel happy and satisfied.

D. Nothing can make her feel happy and satisfied.

【4】According to the passage, which word can best describe Alexandra?

A. Polite. B. Generous. C. Patient. D. Creative.

came from Europe.They had dandelion seeds on their clothes. The seeds fell from their clothes onto the ground. Since then, dandelions have spread all over.

Most people believe that dandelions are weeds. They do not want them in their gardens. But some people think that dandelion flowers are pretty. And others think that dandelions taste good. They cook dandelion leaves or put them into a fresh salad. The leaves must be picked before the flowers come out or they will not taste good. Some people make dandelion flowers into wine.

Dandelions do not die easily. If the winter is not very cold, their leaves may stay green.

When the spring arrives, their flowers come out. Each night their bright yellow flowers close

up. When the sun shines the next day, they open up again. Dandelion flowers are very unusual. They do not have to get pollen (花粉) from another dandelion flower in order to form seeds. So after several days, the yellow flower turns white and soft. A tiny brown seed forms at the bottom of each white petal (花瓣). When the wind blows, the petals float away.

Each white petal carries a seed away. This lets the dandelions spread their seeds all over.

New dandelions grow where the seeds land.

【1】The underlined word “weeds” means .

A. pretty flowers B. fresh vegetables C. wild plants D. green trees

【2】When is the best time to pick dandelion leaves to eat?

A. After their flowers come out. B. After their flowers turn white.

C. Before their flowers come out. D. Before their flowers close up.

【3】What is the best title for this passage?

A. The History of Dandelions B. Dandelions: Flowers or Food

C. The Use of Dandelions D. How to Grow Dandelions

【1】What happened to Jack’s toy horse?

A. Its head was broken off. B. It was taken by soldiers.

C. It was broken by Joe. D. It was lost in the war.

【2】The best word for the blank is .

A. fast B. hard C. slow D. quick

【3】What is the song mainly about?

A. Dangerous war. B. Interesting games.

C. Pleasant summer. D. Valuable friendship.

movies. Different students loved different movies. Their teachers took a survey of the students’ favourite movies for the year. The graph below shows the results.

【1】The graph shows the results of .

A. teachers’ favourite movies in a class B. students’ favourite movies in a class

C. teachers’ favourite movies in a grade D. students’ favourite movies in a grade

【2】According to the graph, the most popular movie was .

A. Mr Mann’s Journey B. Cheeky Monkeys

C. Super Croc D. Mystery Island

假设你是(Liu Qing)，你的朋友Julie将要在周日坐飞机到你那儿看望你。手上仅有一张地图，可就不太明白如何到达？请你通过Email的形式告诉她怎样才能到达你家。并祝她旅途愉快。

要求：1.按书信的形式书写，有些句式可根据题意做适当的发挥；

2.词数：60～70。

Dear Julie，

I hope you have a good trip.

Yours，

Liu Qing

I have taught many children. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death events. In their mind what they really want is going for success, the development of many other qualities is sadly forgotten.

However, while some seem to be lost on the way to success, others take an opposite opinion. Many people are strongly against competition. Among them, most are young people who have suffered from such pressure from their parents. They seem to look for failure by not trying to win or achieve success. ____△____, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” They don’t want to admit（承认）that if they have really tried and lost, they would mean more.

Clearly, this belief(信念) is the same as that of those who try to prove（证明）themselves. Both come from the wrong belief that self-confidence depends on how well one does by comparing with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. If such fear begins to be unimportant, we can have a better knowledge of competition.

【1】For some people who like competition, winning is really________.

A. troublesome B. unfriendly C. important D. opposite

【2】Which of the following sentence should be put in the blank “____△____”in Paragraph 3?

A. By not trying B. By not losing C. By comparing D. By valuing

【3】What is the right structure of this passage?（ stands for a paragraph）

A. B. C. D.

【4】How does the writer make these different ideas clear?

A. By giving explanations. B. By giving examples.

C. By giving excuses. D. By giving suggestions.

【5】What is the best title of this passage?

A. The Competition and Failure. B. The Competition and Success.

C. The Competition and Comparing. D. Two Ideas of Competition.

【1】What can you see if you choose Tour A?

A. Yewdale Valley B. Coniston Water

C. Castlerigg Stone Circle D. Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top farm

【2】How much will Simon, a boy of 12, and his father pay if they want to choose Tour A and Tour B?

A. 84.00 B. 109.00 C. 104.00 D. 144.00

【3】When does the coach leave Windermere if you choose Tour B?

A. 09.45 hrs B. 17.00 hrs C. 12.00 hrs D. 16.30 hrs

I’ve been singing and performing poetry since I was six years old. I used to sing for my mother’s friends. 【1】

I have written three books of poetry and songs. I gave all the money from the books to children’s charities(慈善). 【2】

Money from the second book was spent on homeless children in Bosnia.

I visit patients at a local hospital every Saturday morning. I talk and sing for them. I guess that’s really fulfilling (令人满意的) to me, when I sing to someone who is dying, and someone who is really sick and who doesn’t even know what’s happening. 【3】

Everyone can give love, and love is what everyone wants. That’s a really important lesson to me.

【4】

Making someone happy makes you happy, and they go on and make others happy and it’s like a chain(链).

【5】

When you are 7, 13, or 102 years old, love is the same.

(2015·长沙中考)China is a nation of etiquette (礼仪)．Chinese people are among the most hospitable people in the world.If foreigners visit a Chinese family，they would be surprised at the warmth that they would receive as guests.

When you visit a Chinese family，the host usually makes tea for you.Then he will serve you snacks (小吃)like biscuits or candy.Someone in the family will also chat with you，never letting you feel lonely.

At the same time，other family members will prepare a meal for you.Chinese people treat(款待) their guests with a big meal.They always present more food than the guest can eat.On the table，the guests must be the first to eat.Perhaps one of the things that surprises a western guest most is that the Chinese host likes to pick food for visitors，which won't happen at western tables.The Chinese family go out of their way to make you feel at home.As you are done eating，the host usually says，“It seems that you didn't eat much.Please have more.”Although you tell them you are full，they still put more food in your bowl.

Being warm and hospitable has long been an important part of Chinese culture and tradition.As Confucius (孔子) said thousands of years ago：

To meet friends from afar

How happy we are!

【1】What does the underlined word “hospitable”mean in this passage?

A. 好客的 B. 勤劳的 C. 朴实的

【2】As a guest in a Chinese family，you are usually offered ________by the host.

A. coffee and snacks

B. juice and snacks

C. tea and snacks

【3】Why does a western visitor feel surprised when the host picks food for him?

A. Because he thinks it's not polite.

B. Because he thinks it's not necessary.

C. Because it won't happen in western countries.

【4】What the Chinese family do for the guests is to ________.

A. make them feel at home

B. show their wealth

C. make them feel uncomfortable

【5】What's the meaning of the words by Confucius at the end of the passage?

A. 学而时习之，不亦说乎？

B. 有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？

C. 人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？

—No，she is very thin．

A．a little of

B．a bit of

C．a little

D．littles of