最近，你校有人建议高薪聘请外教担任英语教师，作为经济条件一般的中学，此事在你校引起了争议。现在，请根据下表提示写篇英语短文，介绍讨论情况并发表你的观点。

注意：

1．词数：100左右，短文的开头已为你写出（不计入总词数）

2．不能逐字翻译，但可适当增加细节，使行文连贯；

3．参考词汇：

促进 promote v.  和……攀比 vie with v.

Recently, we’ve had a heated argument about the suggestion that our school should employ a foreign teacher to teach English. Some of us think                                         

Great efforts to increase grain production       if food shortages are to be avoided.

       A．could be made         B．must be made

       C．might be made        D．would be made

—Hello! May I speak to Tom, please?

—Yes, speaking.

—Oh, I          your voice at first.

       A. don’t recognize              B. didn’t recognize

       C. hadn’t recognized         D. haven’t recognized

After the new technique was introduced, the farmers produced ________ grain in 2006 as five years before.

  A. as twice much    B. as much twice   C. twice much as   D. twice as much

Dear Betty,

     My roommate’s family wants me to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with them in their home. I accepted the invitation, and I’m excited about going, but I’m a little nervous about it, too. The social customs in my country are different from those here, so I’m a little worried about making mistakes.

      Should I bring a gift, such as candy or flowers? Should I arrive on time or a little late?  At the dinner table, how can I know which fork or knife to use? How can I let the family know that I’m thankful for their kindness?

                                                               Yours,

                                                               Knowing Nothing

Dear Knowing Nothing,

     It’s a good idea to bring a gift when you go to a dinner party. Flowers are always welcome, or you can bring a bottle of wine if you know the family drink it.

     You should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late. Don’t get there early. If you are going to be more than fifteen minutes late, you should call and tell them.

     Try to relax at the dinner table. If you don’t know how to use the right fork, knife or spoon, just watch the other guests, and follow them. If you still have no idea of what to do, don’t be shy about asking the person next to you; it’s better to ask them than to be silently uncomfortable and nervous.

     If you like the food, say so. Of course, you’ll thank the host and hostess for the meal and for their kindness. It’s also a good idea to send a card to thank them the day after.

                                                                                       Yours,

                                                                                       Betty

Knowing Nothing wrote a letter to Betty to _____.

     A. tell Betty some good news               B. ask for some advice

     C. answer some questions                    D. invite her to dinner

According to Betty, Knowing Nothing ______ when going to a dinner party.

     A. can only bring some flowers                 B. can’t bring wine

     C. should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late  D. should arrive twenty minutes late

Betty does NOT advise Knowing Nothing to _____.

     A. relax at the dinner table                B. watch the other guests

     C. ask the person beside him              D. keep silent at table

Botany, the study of plants, occupies a special position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest (含糊的) of insight. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, eyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognized accurately hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of knowledge at all.

    Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer productions the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture; cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the built up knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relationship with plants in the wild would begin fade away.

Which of the following statements about early humans is expressed in the passage?

A. They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.

B. They thought there was no need to cultivate crops.

C. They did not enjoy the study of botany.

D. They placed great importance on the ownership of property.

What does the comment “This is logical.” In the first paragraph mean?

A. There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor’s knowledge of plants.

B. It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.

C. It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in pre-industrial societies.

D. Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.

According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany begun to fade?

A. People no longer value plants as a useful resource.

B. Botany is not recognized as a special branch of science.

C. Research is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of plants.

D. Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.

In the second paragraph, what is the author’s purpose in mentioning “ a rose, an apple, or an orchid”?

 A. To make the passage more poetic.

 B. To give an example of plant that are attractive.

 C. To give botanical examples that all readers will recognize.

 D. To explain the variety of botanical life.

According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the practice of agriculture?

A. The invention of agricultural tools and machinery.       

B. The development of a system of names for plants.

C. The discovery of grasses that could be harvested and replanted.

D. The changing diets of early humans. 

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。

       The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for  21  a roll of gold wrapping paper．Money was  22  and he became very angry when the child tried to decorate a   23  to put under the Christmas tree．

24  , the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy．”He felt  25  by his earlier over reaction, but his  26  flared again when he found the box was  27  ．He  28  at her, “don’t you know that when you give someone a  29  , there’s supposed to be  30  inside it ?” The little girl looked  31  at him with tears in her eyes and said, “Oh, Daddy, it is not empty．I blew kisses into the box．All for you, Daddy．”The father’s face became  32  ．He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her  33  ．

It is told that the man  34  that gold box by his bed for years and  35  he was discouraged, he would take out a(an)  36  kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there．

In a very real  37  ,each of us as humans have been given a gold container  38  with unconditional love and kisses from our children, friends, family and God．There is no  39  precious possession anyone could  40  ．

A．buying   B．lending     C．wasting     D．damaging

A．tight      B．enough     C．short D．cheap

A．box       B．doll   C．book D．vase

A．Instead   B．However   C．Therefore  D．Meanwhile

A．disappointedB．excited       C．uncomfortable  D．glad

A．joke       B．anger C．joy    D．wonder

A．empty    B．full   C．decorated  D．broken

A．looked   B．shouted     C．called       D．pulled

A．hand      B．flower      C．lesson       D．present

A．somethingB．everything    C．anything   D．nothing

A．down   B．up     C．away D．round

A．blue     B．yellow      C．green D．red

A．understandingB．forgiveness    C．encouragement D．agreement

A．kept     B．put   C．locked      D．had

A．whatever     B．however   C．wherever  D．whenever

A．practical      B．imaginary C．valuable    D．important

A．world   B．society      C．sense D．family

A．given   B．filled C．covered    D．made

A．more    B．less   C．any   D．much

A．win     B．hold  C．buy   D．share

根据短文内容，从下框的A – F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。