Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to 36 my father, who’d moved there to find 37 work when I was three years old. He had a job at a restaurant and only visited us 38 every couple of years.

　　Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But honestly, I didn’t stop to analyze the 39 when I was 40 to leave. Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn English in a few weeks. 

When I 41 in the US and started 8th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was speaking a(n)  42  language I couldn’t understand. I  43  that life had subtitles, like in foreign movies. School was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always  44  my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the worst thing was having to read 45 .

46  after almost seven months of complaining about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things.  47 just made my life worse. If I was going to 48   in this new concrete jungle, I had to 49 . I began to learn English by reading newspapers on my own  50  school. After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers 51  my improvement and moved me into a more  52  English class. I could go to the store and ask for things that I wanted to buy without 53 frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again, 54  I didn’t hear foreign talk. I 55 understand people.

1.                A．find           B．join            C．see  D．help

2.                A．good-looking    B．well-dressed     C．better-paying  D．highly-thought

3.                A．once           B．other          C．each D．only

4.                A．case           B．condition       C．situation  D．state

5.                A．packing         B．trying          C．managing D．arranging

6.                A．reached        B．entered        C．got  D．arrived

7.                A．strange         B．unusual         C．standard  D．foreign

8.                A．hoped         B．wished         C．expected D．demanded

9.                A．staring         B．looking         C．checking  D．watching

10.               A．texts           B．newspapers     C．English    D．poems

11.               A．Although       B．Even if         C．But   D．Since

12.               A．It             B．They           C．I D．Things

13.               A．live            B．study          C．survive    D．continue

14.               A．adapt          B．adopt          C．adore D．admire

15.               A．for            B．in             C．after  D．at

16.               A．made          B．noticed         C．concerned D．remember

17.               A．modern        B．advanced       C．difficult   D．convenient

18.               A．even          B．ever           C．some D．any

19.               A．if             B．though         C．ever  D．because

20.               A．could          B．should         C．would D．might

The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic(赞同的) audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described the inadequacies of his students, all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been established.
My topic is not standards nor its decline(降低). What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.
　　My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies (缺陷). But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.
　　The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults the language of the young always seems inadequate.
Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not perceived(察觉) as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s         young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs. Otherwise, young people would not commit offenses against the language.
【小题1】 The speaker the author mentioned in the passage believed that _____.

When I was a teenager, my dad did everything he could to advise me against becoming a brewer（酿酒人）. He’d　 36　 his life brewing beer for local breweries only to make a living, 37  were his father and grandfather before him. He didn’t want me　 38　 near a vat （酿酒用的桶）of beer.
　　So I did as he asked. I got good　 39　 , went to Harvard and in 1971 was accepted into a graduate program there that　 40　 me to study law and business at the same time.
　　In my second year of grade school, I began to realize that I’d　 41　 done anything but go to school. So, at 24 I decided to drop out.　 42　 , my parents didn’t think this was a great idea. But I felt strongly that you can’t 43 till you’re 65 to do what you want in life.
　　I packed my stuff into a bus and headed to Colorado to become an instructor at Outward Bound. Three years later, I was ready to go back to　 44　 . I finished Harvard and got a highly paid job at the Boston Consulting Group. Still, after working there five years, I　 45　 . Is this what I want to be doing when I’m 50? At that time, Americans paid　 46　 money of beer in low quality. Why not make good beer for　 47　 ? I thought.
　　I decided to give up my job to become　 48　. When I told Dad, he was　 49　 , but in the end he　 50　 me. I called my beer Samuel Adams,　 51　 the brewer and patriot who helped to start the Boston Tea party.　 52　 I sold the beer direct to beer drinkers to get 53　out. Six weeks later, at the Great American Beer Festival, Samuel Adams Boston Lager won the top prize for American beer. In the end I was destined to be a brewer. My 54　to the young is simple: Life is very　 55　 , so don’t rush to make decisions. Life doesn’t let you plan.

Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to 36 my father, who’d moved there to find 37 work when I was three years old. He had a job at a restaurant and only visited us 38 every couple of years.

　　Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But honestly, I didn’t stop to analyze the 39 when I was 40 to leave. Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn English in a few weeks. 

When I 41 in the US and started 8th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was speaking a(n)  42  language I couldn’t understand. I  43  that life had subtitles, like in foreign movies. School was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always  44  my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the worst thing was having to read 45 .

46  after almost seven months of complaining about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things.  47 just made my life worse. If I was going to 48   in this new concrete jungle, I had to 49 . I began to learn English by reading newspapers on my own  50  school. After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers 51  my improvement and moved me into a more  52  English class. I could go to the store and ask for things that I wanted to buy without 53 frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again, 54  I didn’t hear foreign talk. I 55 understand people.

1.                A．find           B．join            C．see  D．help

2.                A．good-looking    B．well-dressed     C．better-paying  D．highly-thought

3.                A．once           B．other          C．each D．only

4.                A．case           B．condition       C．situation  D．state

5.                A．packing         B．trying          C．managing D．arranging

6.                A．reached        B．entered        C．got  D．arrived

7.                A．strange         B．unusual         C．standard  D．foreign

8.                A．hoped         B．wished         C．expected D．demanded

9.                A．staring         B．looking         C．checking  D．watching

10.               A．texts           B．newspapers     C．English    D．poems

11.               A．Although       B．Even if         C．But   D．Since

12.               A．It             B．They           C．I D．Things

13.               A．live            B．study          C．survive    D．continue

14.               A．adapt          B．adopt          C．adore D．admire

15.               A．for            B．in             C．after  D．at

16.               A．made          B．noticed         C．concerned D．remember

17.               A．modern        B．advanced       C．difficult   D．convenient

18.               A．even          B．ever           C．some D．any

19.               A．if             B．though         C．ever  D．because

20.               A．could          B．should         C．would D．might

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息，请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。
在中学生夏令营中，以下同学以其观点组织各自的讨论和交流组。
A． Cao A'min, 18
Xuanhua No 1 High School, Hebei
Keeping pace with teachers is a good way to study．Teachers are experienced and their plans are systematic．But remember to work m a way that suits you．It's also important to team from past mistakes．Keep a notebook to make a record of the mistakes you make - it'll help you avoid making the same ones later．
B．Zhang Zilu, 17
Xinyu No 1 High School, Jiangxi
This time of life may be hard, but you're not alone．You may be busy studying, but you can show your care by calling yow friends or sending a short message．Don't let your friendships die．Some boys and girls in my class were in love, but I'd advise against a relationship at this stage．
C. Zhan Yu, 17
Huanggang High School, Hubei
It’s as important to live well as it is to study well, I think. I went to bed no later than 11:30 pm. It put me in the right mood for the next day. I didn’t follow a special diet (饮食), but I did make sure I ate a nutritious  breakfast each day.
D. Ju Shuntian, 18
Yantai Economic and Technological Development Zone Senior High School, Shandong
The person who plays well, studies well. Having a lot of schoolwork doesn’t mean having to give up on every other activity. I played basketball or took a walk to relax when I felt tired. Time out is not a waste of time but helps you study more efficiently.
E. Zhang Qingzhou, 17
　　Dongtai High School, Jiangsu
Besides taking the big exam, you have other choices for college. I took the independent enrollment (自主招生) exam held by Peking University and some other students even prepared to study abroad. Pay attention to any relevant information you can find, whether it’s from school, the news media or another source.
F. Wu Dandan, 18
Liaocheng No. 1 High School, Shandong
Besides learning from the textbooks, students can also learn a lot from traveling from place to place. In different places you will see different things, meet different people and have different experiences. If you are curious enough, you can explore deeper into the area and obtain more useful information, which serves as your new knowledge.
下面同学各自感兴趣的内容或需要解决的问题，请配对他们最适合参加的讨论组。
【小题1】Zhang Xu is an active and energetic boy who enjoys many sports like swimming, football, badminton, cycling and jogging. He has a lot of friends at school and they often spend a lot of time on rivers, fields and mountains. Is it good to spend so little time in the library? How to allocate time between academic lectures and outing? That's his problem.
【小题2】Xiao Lili has much difficulty m catching up with her classmates m chemistry and physics. But her superiority lies in music and English, so she is dreaming of becoming a professional singer. She hopes that her strong points can help pave her way to future success. "Can I go to a musical college without taking NMET?" she wonders.
【小题3】Guo Jie is a hardworking boy but, unfortunately, he gets low marks in every test. He is always busy with his own study plan. When he didn’t finish his work the earlier day, he will bury his mind in his work to fulfill his plan, ignoring the teacher’s lectures. “How can I raise my marks?” he is puzzled.
【小题4】Song Siwei is a slim and pretty girl, who works hard at all her lessons. But she was so absorbed in her studeies that she is even unwilling to tear herself off at meal times. She is always the last to leave the classroom and the first to arrive. She starts to feel dizzy and have headaches. “What might happen to me?” she wonders.
【小题5】Zhang Lan is a charming girl who is active both in the classroom and on the sports field. She is kind to all her classmates. Some boys in her class tend to talk to her at every possible opportunity and even invite her to meals. That makes her pleased but costs her quite some time. She doesn’t know whether it is right to accept kindness from the boys.