第四部分  写作(共两节，满分35分

第一节  任务型读写(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分

认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：每个空格只填1个单词，请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。

President Barack Obama shouldn’t be surprised if his approval rating among students has plummeted( 陡然变差 ). In a recent speech about US education, he called for extending the school day and year. "The challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom. Why more time? Because US students are falling behind students in other countries," he said.

More school

US schools need to lengthen school days and the school year. If we intend to stay competitive with the rest of the world on test scores and in the job market, we need to add classroom hours and get rid of summer break almost entirely. As President Obama said. South Korean students spend mere than a month longer in school — and achieve better results than us.

The current two-term school year and the school days that form it were developed based on an old system of agriculture. The long summer break allowed children to be home to help tend the fields. It is not necessary anymore. It may not be popular to cut summer break or extend school days, but that’s the only way to improve US education and get back the American jobs lost to foreign countries.

Home Time

Adding school hours won’t solve the problems with our school system. The USA is different from other countries. US families have full schedules, with participation in sports, community groups, and other interests. In places such as South Korea, where only several hours of a day aren't spent on school work, children don t have time to participate in many of those activities.

Giving kids time outside of school allows them to grow in other areas. That’s just as important as learning fractions (分数). Fingers shouldn't be pointed at the school year for being too short, but at teachers and schools that don't challenge their students and just pass kids along to the next grade. We do need to hold ourselves accountable for an education system falling behind other countries, but we also need a solution that actually works.

____ has been heated discussion over which country bakes the world’ s best pizza: Italy, where pizza began or the US, where it was globalized.

A. It             B. There           C. That            D. This

阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意, 然后从16 ~ 30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

It was Christmas Eve, but I had to work in the clinic. The only thing that   16   my day was the beautiful Christmas tree in our waiting room and a   17   sent to me by my boyfriend — a dozen red roses.

As I was cleaning my desk, I was told that a   18   in the office urgently needed to speak with me. Stepping out, I   19   a tired-looking woman with a baby in her arms. 20  , she explained that her husband was my next   21  . The guards were to bring him to the office that afternoon. She wasn’t allowed to visit her husband in   22  , so he had never seen his son. She   23   me to let the boy’s father sit in the waiting room with her as   24   as possible before I called him for his appointment. I agreed.

A short time later, her husband arrived. The woman’s tired face   25   when her husband sat beside her. They laughed, cried and shared their child.

After almost an hour, I called the prisoner in. He seemed like a   26   and humble man. I   27   what he possibly could have done to be held under such conditions. I tried to make him comfortable.

Finally, I wished him a Merry Christmas—a(n)  28   thing to say to a man headed back to prison. He smiled and thanked me. He also said sadly that he couldn’t get his wife anything for Christmas. Hearing this, I was   29   with a wonderful idea.

I’ll never forget the   30   on both their faces as the prisoner gave his wife the beautiful roses.

A. darkened               B. brightened                C. frightened             D. strengthened

A. flower                B. souvenir                C. gift                         D. plant

A. lady                B. couple                   C. guard                       D. patient

A. judged                   B. followed                  C. recognized          D. noticed

A. Nervously              B. Bravely                   C. Curiously                 D. Seriously

A. customer         B. neighbour         C. patient            D. visitor

A. school                   B. university                 C. town                  D. prison

A. forced           B. begged            C. reminded          D. encouraged

A. early                   B. often                  C. long              D. soon

A. lit up                   B. cheered up                C. looked up                 D. went up

A. rude                 B. cruel                        C. gentle                      D. selfish

A. wondered             B. realized                    C. praised                  D. doubted

A. sad                   B. easy                         C. annoying                  D. difficult

A. filled                B. inspired                    C. delighted                  D. satisfied

A. impression        B. expression            C. puzzlement            D. sadness

第三部分 阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

       阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和0）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

It’s always awkward when you meet someone from a different country．You never know whether to shake hands, bow or even whether to kiss on the cheek．But what if you were a dog?

If you are a dog owner, you must be familiar with how your dog says hello to you．Seconds after you arrive home, your dog jumps up on you．You come face to face with a tail-wagging, wildly excited ball of fur that can’t get enough of you．If you’re not happy with that, it will shower you with wet “kisses” perhaps ruining your best shirt．

Like humans, dogs have five senses: smell, touch, sight, hearing and taste．

Unlike humans, dogs use smell rather than sight to identify others around them．A dog’s sense of smell is thousands of times better than that of humans．Your dog can’t just tell what a human being smells like, but it can also tell the difference between different members of its human family by their smell．

They also greet each other this way, not eye to eye, but nose to nose．

To be precise, when they first meet each other, they start with a quick sniff of each other’s noses．Then they will go side to side, working their way towards the back end．

Dogs smell everything they can during a walk．They sniff grass, bushes, trees and signposts．By doing this, dogs know not only what they are looking at, but which other neighborhood dogs have been around lately．

So next time you see your dog sniffing the wrong end of another dog, don’t regard it as a bad habit．They are greeting each other．

56．What is the main idea of the passage?

       A．It tells readers how to take good care of dogs．

       B．It tells readers what to do to make dogs happy．

       C．It tells readers how dogs greet others．

       D．It tells readers what dogs do to amuse owners．

57．The phrase “shower you with” in the 2nd paragraph most probably means ______．

       A．help you take a bath with

       B．frighten you with

       C．show you his anger by using

       D．cover you with

58．The 2nd paragraph is written mainly to tell readers ____．

       A．how dogs greet their owner

       B．that dogs like jumping up on people

       C．that dogs enjoy ruining their owners' shirt

       D．how dogs show their love

59．How does a dog say hello to another one?

       A．By sight．              B．By both sight and smell．

       C．By smell．             D．By sight and touch．

60．Which of the following statements is wrong?

       A．By sniffing, dogs can tell any other dog that has been around lately．

       B．It’s a good habit for a dog to sniff the wrong end of another one．

       C．Two strange dogs will begin with a quick sniff of the each other’s noses．

       D．A dog’s sense of sight is thousands of times better than that of humans．

If you are a recent social science graduate who has had to listen to jokes about unemployment from your computer major classmates, you may have the last laugh．There are many advantages for the social science major because this high-tech "Information Age" demands people who are flexible（灵活的）and who have good knowledge of social science．

There are many social science majors in large companies who take up important positions．For example, a number of research studies found that social science majors had achieved greater managerial success than those who had technical training or pre-professional courses．Studies show that social science majors are most suited to change, which is the leading feature（特点） of the kind of high speed, high-pressure, high-tech world we now live in．

Social science majors are not only experiencing success in their long-term company jobs, but they are also finding jobs more easily．A study showed that many companies had filled a large percentage of their entry-level positions with social science graduates．The study also showed that the most sought-after quality in a person who was looking for a job was communication skills, noted as "very important" by 92 percent of the companies．Social science majors have these skills, often without knowing how important they are．It is probably due to these skills that have been offered a wide variety of positions．

Finally, although some social science majors may still find it more difficult than their technically trained classmates to land the first job．recent graduates report that they don't regret their choice of study．

50．What's the main idea of the passage?

       A．Social science graduates are more likely to be employed．

       B．Computer major graduates are more likely to be employed．

       C．A lot of people take up the social science majors．

       D．Why is the unemployment problem so serious nowadays．

51．What is our present society's clearest feature?

       A．It is full of pressure．          B．It is full of chances．

       C．It is full of changes．             D．It is full of failures

52．Why are the social science graduates offered many jobs?

       A．Because they are more experienced than the other kinds of graduates．

       B．Because they are more flexible than the other kinds of graduates．

       C．Because they can deal with problems better than the other kinds of graduates．

       D．Because they have better communication skills than the other kinds of graduates．

53．What's the attitude of social science graduates towards their major?

       A．Disappointed．       B．Satisfied．       C．Interested．    D．Bored．

In 1720,Bach's wife suddenly died, ______him with four children．

       A．leaving    B．to leave    C．left    D．had left

--- Would you please explain to me about the difference between the two words?

    --- I’m sorry, but that’s        I’m puzzled about.

       A．why  B．what  C．which       D．where

For areas that receive regular and plentiful rainfall, such detailed crop monitoring（监测）might not be useful or     ;

       A．economy      B．economic      C．economical          D．economics

—Madam， your clothes are ready now.

—Thanks. And how much shall I　　　　for them？

A. cost          B. take               C. spend             D. pay

Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.

In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to “spend” a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.

Longer hours do of course increase the GDP (国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.

It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in interest. It is too early to explain the different trends（趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance (平衡)?

From the text we know that the author_______.

A. believes that longer working hours is better

B. prefers shorter working hours to longer ones

C. says nothing certain about which pattern is better

D. thinks neither of the patterns is good

Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?

A. Spain.              B. France.             C. Germany.         D. America.

What message can we get from the text?

A. The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America.

B. Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.

C. People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.

D. Americans are happier than Europeans.