How hard we have all prayed(祈祷) to grow up quickly, and looked forward to the happy days of being a grown-up and enjoying the many interests that a youth should have.?

At last, you have grown up. At least you are no longer a child. They call you “young lady”. You then enjoy the pleasure of being a young lady. You are proud of being a grown-up teenager. People welcome you-this young lady-heartily. You are glad that your prayer has been answered.?

But there is always something that troubles you a lot. You say; “Papa and Mama, give me some money please. My pocket money is all gone already.”?

“No”, they say, “your age is a dangerous age. If you have too much money to spend, it won’t do you any good.” Then you have to stay at home because you dare not go out with an empty pocket.?

Another time you tell your grandma, “Grandma, see, I am a grown-up now.”?

“Good, now, you can sit here and knit (编织) this for me while I go and have a rest.” To show that you are no more a child, you have to sit there the whole afternoon doing the work, which only a grown-up can do. After an hour, you find it hard to do, and give the knitting basket back to your grandma. Your grandma criticizes your work. You hear what she says, “Such a big girl can’t do such easy work.” You wish then you were a child again.?

But the fact is, you are growing up, and you can’t help it. That’s the way it goes!

56.The passage is told about _______ problems.

   A. a growing-up boy’s    B. a teenage girl’s   C. an old woman’s       D. a grown-up’s

57.It is clear that the writer, as a teenager, ________.

   A. is pleased with the present life   B. is unhappy about growing up

   C. doesn’t think her present life happy enough   D. knows happy life will come to her soon

58.How does she know her prayer has been answered?

   A. People treat her as a young lady.    B. She is no longer a kid.

   C. People begin to call her teenager.   D. She can join women in all kinds of activities.

59.From what her parents say, we know _________.

   A. they don’t believe she is already a teenager   B. it’s dangerous for a girl to spend money

   C. they love her more than before   D. they still regard her as a child

   When I entered senior high school, I began to show a great interest in poems. 61.I happily devoted nearly all my free time to reading and writing poems. One day, I presented one of my poems to my teacher because I wanted his honest opinion. I waited while he read through the lines. 62.让我高兴的是，他说我的诗很棒, and encouraged me to send it to a newspaper. I was happy to hear his opinion, 63. but I still felt uncertain about whether or not my poem was really that good. Anyhow, wanting to try my luck, I posted it to a newspaper the following day. After waiting more than a month, I assumed that my poem was not wanted. Then a letter came informing me that 6４.他们准备要出版我的诗歌并为我付足够的稿费。Hooray! I had done it.

“Up until about five years ago, students at this school could have worn anything they wanted on Halloween,” said Rosemarie Nielson, a sixth-grade teacher at St. Theresa School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx where there is a prohibition on toy weapons.

“When you consider all the horrific things that have happened in recent years, including 9/11, I can’t blame any school for wanting to stay away from anything that might promote violence,” Ms. Nielson said.

Mary Ellen Manniello, whose daughter, Courtney, 9, is a fourth grader at St. Gabriel School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, said she understood why officials had banned weapons with costumes. “They’re learning more about guns from issues in the street than educational issues.”

This year, the school has gone one step further and is prohibiting all costumes at its Halloween festivities. Ms. Manniello said it had become “a chaotic scene,” with parents helping their children change into their costumes at school.

Some parents said the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes went too far and denied children a chance to express themselves.

“Halloween has always been the one day when it was acceptable for our children to be dressed like somebody they are not, like a cowboy or a pirate or a person from outer space, and now we’re taking that away from them,” said Laura Santoro, a nurse from New Milford, Conn., whose 7-year-old son, Johnny, is a second grader at Northville Elementary School there.

Ms. Santoro said that her son would dress as Capt. Jack Sparrow, the character played by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, at the school’s Halloween party, but that he would not be allowed to take a sword — part of a policy that caught her by surprise last Halloween.

“I sent my son to school last year dressed as a special force Power Ranger, and he was told that he couldn’t take along his red laser blaster, which really surprised me, because the laser is red and made of plastic and lights up, and it could never, ever be mistaken for a real gun,” Ms. Santoro said. “I mean, come on, the whole thing is getting really sad.”

What do you think is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?

   A. To introduce to the public the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.

   B. To state parents’ attitudes towards the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.

   C. To tell the public that children should bring any weapons for Halloween costumes.

   D. To analyse the fact that the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes goes too far.

According to the passage, some parents understand the no-weapon policy for Halloween costumes because ____________.

   A. schools should take a cautious approach to Halloween to prevent violence.

   B. children are buying real guns in the street and there is always violence now.

   C. those parents like to help their children change into their costumes at school.

   D. children are learning more about guns from educational issues.

Which of the following is probably right according to the passage?

   A. Children could bring any weapons into school five or six years ago.

   B. The parents surveyed are those whose children are in elementary schools.

   C. Guns are necessary on Halloween for children to express themselves.

   D. Jack Sparrow is an actor who at one time acted as a pirate in a movie.

What do the underlined words “laser blaster” in the last paragraph refer to?

   A. A kind of costume.                           B. A real gun.

C. A toy weapon.                               D. A kind of plastic.

Knowing the meaning of a word is one thing; yet using it both grammatically and communicatively properly is quite ______.

       A. much                B. another             C. little                 D. many

Meryl Streep won the best actress_______, which was a _____ for her hard work.

    A. reward; reward                                                                B. award; award            

C. award; reward                                                                       D. reward; award

The scientist was rewarded by the government for          such a great，contribution to the country．

    A．make    B．making           C．being made       D．having made

The host poured the tea into the cup and placed it on the small table in front of his guests, who were a father and daughter, and put the cover on the cup. Apparently thinking of something, he hurried into the inner room, leaving the thermos (热水瓶) on the table. His two guests heard a cupboard opening.

They remained sitting in the sitting room, the ten-year-old daughter looking at the flowers outside the window, the father just about to take his cup, when the crash came, right there in the sitting room. Something was hopelessly broken.

It was the thermos, which had fallen to the floor. The girl looked over her shoulder, shocked, staring. It was mysterious. Neither of them had touched it, not even a bit. True, it hadn't stood steadily when their host placed it on the table, but it hadn't fallen then.

The explosion caused the host to rush back. Gawking at the steaming floor, the host said "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter!"

The father started to say something. Then he said softly, "Sorry, I touched it and it fell."

"It doesn't matter," the host said.

When they left the house, the daughter said, "Daddy, did you touch it?"

"No. But it stood so close to me. "

"But you didn't touch it. I saw your reflection in the window glass. "

The father laughed. "What then would you give as the cause of its fall?"

"The thermos fell by itself. The floor is not smooth. Daddy, why did you say that you …"

"That won't do, girl. It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down. There are things which people accept less the more you defend them. The truer the story you tell, the less true it sounds. "

The daughter was lost in silence for a while. Then she said, "Can you explain it only in this way?"

"Only in this way," her father said.

56. Which statement is a possible theme of this story?

A. People rarely tell the truth.

B. You can't always make people believe the truth.

C. If you defend yourself, people will believe you.

D. People should take the blame for what they didn't do.

57. It can be inferred from the story that the father _______.

A. didn't know the host well                     B. felt satisfied that he didn't tell the truth

C. was sorry that he told the truth                         D. didn't think the host would believe the truth

58. From the story we know that the daughter ________.

A. thought her father should tell the truth          B. didn't know why the thermos fell

C. knocked over the thermos                   D. strongly objected to her father's explanation

59. The underlined "gawking at" probably means _______.

A. staring at with anger                  B. looking at curiously

C. glancing at hopelessly                  D. looking at in a dull way

第二节（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）

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选项。

A. Environment protection

B. Driving experience

C. Self – driving

D. Safety

E. Computing and communications

F. Wireless communications