When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.
I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went in while I wailed and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his presents. Finally he came to the checkout counter (交款处) and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.
Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. "You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you," said the woman. "It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do no."
Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mm-k enjoyed giving them to us.
I would like to say "thank you" to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house collecting blankets (毯子) and clothes for the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.
【小题1】When did the story probably happen?

Perhaps　the　only　test　score　that　I　remember　is　the　55　when　I　was　in　high　school.
The　test　was　the　final　for　a　course.　I　remember　waiting　anxiously　as　my　teacher　Mr.　Right　passed　out　our　papers　one　by　one.　It　was　a　rather　difficult　test.　I　heard　my　classmates　groaning,　and　I　could　tel　by　the　groans　that　the　scores　weren’t　looking　good.
Mr.　Right　put　my　paper　on　my　desk.　There　in　big　red　numbers,　circled　to　draw　attention,　was　my　score,　55!
I　lowered　my　head,　and　covered　the　score　up　quickly.　A　55　is　not　something　that　you　wanted　your　classmates　to　see.“The　scores　were　not　very　good,　none　of　you　passed,”Mr.　Right　said.　“The　highest　score　in　the　class　was　a　55.”
A　55.　That’s　me!
Suddenly　my　sad　look　didn’t　look　so　bad.　I　had　the　highest　score.　I　felt　a　lot　better.
I　walked　home　alone　that　day　with　the　low　but　high　score.　My　father　knew　that　I　had　a　big　test　that　day　and　asked　me　as　soon　as　I　got　home,　“How　did　you　do　in　your　test？”“I　made　a　55,”I　said.
A　frown（皱眉）now　stood　on　my　father’s　face.　I　knew　I　had　to　explain　immediately.　“But　Dad,　I　had　the　highest　score　in　the　calss,”I　proudly　stated.　I　thought　that　explanation　would　make　a　difference.“You　failed!”my　father　replied.“But　it’s　the　highest!” I　insisted.“I　don’t　care　what　scores　others　had,　but　you　failed.　What　matters　is　what　you　do!”my　father　firmly　said.
For　years,　my　father　was　always　that　way.　It　didn’t　matter　what　others　did,　it　only　mattered　what　I　did　and　that　I　did　it　excelently.
We　often　don’t　understand　the　wisdom（智慧）of　good　parents　until　we　ourselves　stand　in　the　parents’shoes.　My　father’s　words　have　carried　me　throughout　life.
【小题1】　The　word　groaning　is　the　closest　in　meaning　to　_____.

Failure is what often happens. It is everywhere in our life. Students may fail in exams, scientists may fail in their research work, and players may fail in competitions. (A) Although failure happens to everyone, but different people’s attitudes(态度) towards failure are different.
Some people don’t think that their failure is an important thing at all. So they pay no attention to it. As a result, they will have the (B)      failure later. Some people think they themselves are fools and lose their hearts in everything after they get a failure. Then they(C)      
their time and energy on useless things. At last, they may really be fools as they have thought.
（D）Other people are quite different from these two kinds of people mentioned above. Instead of being hopeless and lost, they draw a lesson from every failure and become more experienced. (E) they, after, will ,hard, in, work, be , the, successful , end. So we should draw a lesson from every failure and become more experienced.
任务一: 【小题1】 (A)处句中有一处错误，请找出并改正。（可用文字叙述）
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任务二: 【小题2】 在( B )、(C )处的横线上分别填上一个单词（B）        （C）           
任务三：【小题3】将(D)处句子译成汉语：                                              。
任务四: 【小题4】将(E)处的单词连成句子：                                           
                                                                           
任务五: 【小题5】请从下面的选项中给短文选个标题，将答案标号填在此横线上：             
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If an American is satisfied with you，he will put his thumb and forefinger into a circle．That means OK．But in Brazil，the very sign is considered to be rude．In Poland，a guest usually presents flowers to his hostess．The number must be an odd（奇数）one．Besides，the hostess isn’t expected to remove the cover of the bunch of flowers．And usually，the red rose is a sign of love．
Usually we nod to express our agreement and shake our heads to show disagreement．To our surprise these body movements mean the opposite in Bulgaria．
The differences in customs and cultures in the world are really noticeable．We should learn more about them to avoid embarrassment（窘迫）．Then，would you please remember：When in Rome，do as the Romans do．
【小题1】In Poland，if a man gives some odd red roses to a woman as a present，it means that he ____．

It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them. This concern (忧虑) is becoming greater and greater theses days. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal (交易) on Black Friday ( the first Friday at Christmas time). It’s surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal. But sometimes it can be well worth. Many retailers (零售商) offer specials all through the day. Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.
Read advertisements regularly. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business. They will try their best to get us into the store. Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time. We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.
Shop online. Some of us don’t like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift. Some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping.
The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some
specialty stores on the Internet. We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift.
【小题1】 The underlined word “specials” in Paragraph 2 means______.

A survey by baidu.com showed there were 16 million bloggers (写网络日志的人). Xu Jinglei was one of the first famous people that the website sina .com.  invited to open blogs.
The  web log written by Xu Jinglei is now the world’s most popular . Xu , an actress-turned –director, became famous overseas when she won a Best Director Award for the film. A  Letter From an Unknown Woman in 2004.
Her blog has broken the domestic (国内的) record  with more than 10 million visits .
Xu updates (更新) her blog every other day . But if she feels very good she sometimes posts two or three articles in a day .
Visitors leave thousands of messages about each of her articles , praising (赞扬) her open, free writing style, commenting (评论) on films.
(   ) 【小题1】 Now Xu Jinglei’s web log is ________________ .
broken by hacker                       B.written by an unknown woman
C. the world’s most popular              D. closed by government
(   ) 【小题2】 How many visitors does Xu’s blog have ?

Many young people want to be pop stars. Pop stars are rich. Many people think they are leading a happy and easy life. In fact, they had very hard lives. They spend much of their time on travel. Sometimes the travel is interesting, but in most time it is boring to pop stars. The following chart is a day’s life of a pop star.

Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends. They believe that their family members, and in particular, their parents, don’t know them as well as their friends do. In large families, it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for advice.
It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a circle of friends Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among them on the phone. This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members.
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them. Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends. The question of “choice” is an interesting one.
Who chooses your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?
Your answers are welcome.
【小题1】Many teenagers think their ________ know them better than their parents do.

Have successful people ever felt sad? Do they have any “secrets” to success? The answers to these questions can be found in US president Barack Obama’s “back to school” speech. Here is an excerpt(摘录) from his speech.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work—that your ticket to success is through rapping (饶舌音乐) or basketball or being a TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. Not all the homework will seem completely important to your life right this minute. And you may not succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was turned down 12 times before it finally came out. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots (投篮) during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures beat you—you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.
No one’s born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit(承认) when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged (泄气), and you feel like other people have given up on you—don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
【小题1】Why does Barack Obama mention (提到) JK Rowling and Michael Jordan in the fourth paragraph?

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的三个选项（A、B和C）中，选出最佳选项。
Have you ever heard the saying “If you want a friend, be one”?
Here is a story about one new teacher making friends with the girls and boys in her class on the first day of school. As the bell rang, the teacher came in smiling at each girl and boy. Then she said in a quiet voice, “Good morning, girls and boys! How happy I am because I have all of you in my class this year. I’d like to know each of you. I am sure we will enjoy working together. I am sure that the more we get together the happier we’ll be.” Her voice was so sweet and her looking was so friendly. Everyone believed what she said.
She told the girls and boys her name and wrote it on the blackboard. She told them some of the things she liked to do and she was hoping to do with them during the year.
Then she said to the whole class, “Now you know my name and the things I like. Next I want to know your names and the things you like. Then I will feel that I know you.”
Could you make friends by doing the same as this teacher did?
One way of getting to know girls and boys in our class is to know more about them. It is usual to be friends with those people who have the same interests with you. You can play the same games and go on journeys together.
You may find that some new comers in your class miss their old friends and feel strange and lonely. You can invite them to take a walk or to ride bikes with you. You will find many things in common to talk about. It is one good way to make friends just by talking together in a friendly manner.
【小题1】How do you understand the saying “If you want a friend, be one”?
A. If you want to have a friend, try to make one be your friend.
B. You can make friends by doing what a friend do.
C. You may have a friend by doing everything for him.
【小题2】The teacher’s sweet voice and her friendly looking_______.
A. showed that she would like to be a friend of the girls and boys
B. made every girl and boy happy
C. told the girls and boys everything about herself
【小题3】 A new comer will be your friend if _______.
A. he always thinks of his old friend
B. he knows you very well
C. you talk with him in a friendly way
【小题4】If you want to make friends with others, you should_______.
A. know more about them
B. talk with them in an unfriendly way
C. have different interests with them
【小题5】Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. If you want to make friends with others, you should be one of them.
B. Friends often share the same interests with each other.
C. If you can make a good friend, you should smile at him.