B

On the Christmas of 1949 we didn’t have a tree. My dad had as much pride as anybody, so he wouldn’t just say that we couldn’t afford one. When I mentioned it, my mother said that we weren’t going to have one this year. I wanted a tree badly, and I thought that if we had one, everybody would feel better.

About three days before Christmas, it was very late and it was snowing. I went to the apartment building to try to catch a customer who hadn’t paid me for my newspapers for nearly two months — she owed me seven dollars. Much to my surprise, she was at home. She invited me in, and not only did she pay me, but also gave me a dollar tip! It was a windfall for me — I now had eight whole dollars.

What happened next was totally unplanned. On the way home, I walked past a Christmas tree shop. There was a real nice tree. It had been a very expensive tree, and no one had bought it. Now it was so close to Christmas that the man was afraid no one would buy it. He wanted ten dollars for it, but when I told him I only had eight, he said he might sell it for that. I really didn’t want to spend the whole eight dollars on the tree, but it was so pretty that I finally agreed.

I pulled it all the way home — about a mile, and I tried hard not to damage it or break off any branches. The snow helped to cushion (缓冲) it, and it was still in pretty good shape when I got home. You can’t imagine how proud and excited I was then.　　　　　　　　　

5. We can learn from the first paragraph that 　　　.

　　 A. the writer’s dad cared little about his children

　　 B. the writer’s parents got on badly with each other

　　 C. the writer wanted very much to get a Christmas tree

　　 D. the writer’s mom planned to give her kids a nice surprise

6. The underlined part in Para. 2 means the writer 　　　.

　　 A. wondered whether he should accept the dollar tip

　　 B. felt sorry for having got his customer into trouble

　　 C. was very disappointed at the small amount of money

　　 D. was very excited to have received the tip unexpectedly

7. Why could the writer get the tree at a low price?

　　 A. Because it was not beautiful enough.

　　 B. Because its branches had been damaged.

　　 C. Because Christmas was drawing very near.

　　 D. Because no customer had shown any interest in it.

8. The main purpose of the passage is to 　　　.

　　 A. tell a story　 　　　　 B. provide facts

　　 C. give advice　 　　　　 D. compare opinions

A

My younger cousin is very naughty. He is 6 years old. He likes to play around with us. One example took place 2 years ago. My younger cousin was invited to have lunch with us. When he just came in at the door of my bedroom, my little sister started crying. I was wondering what happened to her. Then I saw the naughty boy wearing a mask on his face. It was a blooding head with green eyes. I had to comfort (安慰) my sister and explained to her what the truth was.

Another example happened last year. My cousin’s mother was going shopping, so he was sent to my home again. He just held the TV remote control (遥控器) and told me to leave him alone. A few hours later I got out of my bedroom to see if he was doing well. I just saw a broken alarm clock on the floor and he was sitting on the sofa having a drink. I wanted to cry because it was almost a new one. He jumped off the sofa when he found that I was there. He said he did not do that on purpose. He tried to separate (拆分) the alarm clock and put it back, but he failed. He also told me that his goal was to be an engineer. I replied, “Well, last time you said that you wanted to be a teacher. Then you don’t have to worry about homework anymore.”

Staying with a kid as naughty as my cousin is really hard in life. However, when I think of those examples, I really want to laugh.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

1. What do we know about the writer’s cousin?

　　 A. He has a strong body and likes fighting other kids.

　　 B. He behaves badly and hardly gets on with other kids.

　　 C. He lives near the writer’s home and often comes for a visit.

　　 D. He is interested in science and dreams of being an engineer.

2. The writer’s cousin wanted to be left alone because 　　　.

　　 A. he had the habit of watching TV by himself

　　 B. he wanted to give the writer something special

　　 C. he wanted to do something about the alarm clock

　　 D. he didn’t want to be disturbed while doing homework

3. Seeing the alarm clock on the floor, the writer felt it a great 　　　.

　　 A. surprise　　　　　　　　 B. joy

　　 C. success　　　　　　　　　 D. pity

4. What does the writer think of her cousin?

　　 A. Naughty and lovely.

　　 B. Clever but dishonest.

　　 C. Helpful but careless.

　　 D. Polite and generous.

第二节 书面表达（满分25分）

假如你是李明，你的美国笔友Jack前几天来信讲述了他暑期在一家快餐店打工的经历，并询问你在暑期的工作情况及感悟。请根据以上提示，给他写一封回信，简要介绍一下你在一家超市的打工经历。

注意：词数100左右。

第三部分 写作

第一节　 短文改错 (共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)

请修改下面的短文。短文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

　　　 2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

Good morning, everyone,

The topic of my speech is “Let’s pick up a book and read”. Nowadays, under the growth of the Internet, many teenagers are crazily about online games. They usually spend long hours before computers in his spare time. The long-term use of computers cause many students to suffer loss of memory. Their interest in studying drops greatly as well as.

What can we get teenagers back to a normal life? I think it good idea to help them form a habit of reading. For one thing, reading can broaden teenagers horizons. For another, reading can deepen their understanding of the events which has happened at home and abroad. However, reading can help them get good grades in their exams.

Let’s pick up a book and read!

Thank you!

46. 　　　　　　　47. 　　　　　　　48. 　　　　　　　49. 　　　　　　　50. 　　　　　

41. 　　　　　　　42. 　　　　　　　43. 　　　　　　　44. 　　　　　　　45. 　　　　　

第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Basketball is so popular that almost every country in Asia, Europe and America plays the sport. 　　16　　 　I have seen people playing indoors and outdoors so many times, but it is mostly played outdoors along the streets. I will list some of the top reasons why people love to play basketball.

Basketball is affordable (支付得起的). All you need is a ball and a basketball court. 　　17　　 　You can have different choices when it comes to the prices. On the other hand, finding a basketball court is not a problem either. There are lots of schools and communities who open their gates for individuals who want to play the game.

　　 18　　 　If you are unable to use the courts in both public and private schools, there are many social communities who provide them. Some local governments try to set up public sports areas for everyone to enjoy. If you want to play, all you need to do is to go to the nearest basketball court available in your community or your local basketball club.

Basketball enables you to play with 5 or more friends all at the same time. 　　19　　 　In this case you may get tired and bored when waiting for your turn. In basketball, you can have great chances of playing all the time.

If you want to learn more about the sport and improve your basketball skills, you can attend basketball camps. 　　20　　 　These camps provide excellent tutors who can help you improve your shooting, dribbling (带球), and other basketball abilities.　

A. Basketball can be played anywhere.

B. A basketball does not cost much.

C. It is always fun to meet strong-minded people.

D. They are available and nearly open for everyone.

E. These rules are very simple and easy to understand.

F. Almost every person knows how to play the sport.

G. However, many other sports can be played only by two or four people.

D

Here’s an easy choice: would you rather spend 4 minutes chatting to a good friend or to a complete stranger?

It’s safe to say most of us would choose our friend. With friends we can “be ourselves”, which means expressing our feelings freely. The problem with strangers is that we have to make much effort: psychologists (心理学家) call it “impression management”. We control our behavior more tightly and our impression management starts being very active. But according to recent research, there are hidden benefits to this effort and a lesson for all of us about how we should treat those we know well.

The researchers had participants (参与者) predict how pleasurable it would be to chat with their friends and a complete stranger.

They then had a quick chat and rated how good they felt afterwards. What they found was that people enjoyed talking to their friends less than they predicted. On the other hand, they had more fun talking to a stranger than they had predicted.

So what’s going on here? How can people be having more fun than they imagine talking to complete strangers and less with the person they are in a long-term relationship with?

What the researchers found was that it comes down to whether or not you’re making an effort. Sometimes when we talk to our friends we don’t make much effort to entertain them or to present ourselves in the best light. But we do tend to make much effort with strangers.

In a follow-up study the researchers told participants to make an effort with their friends and then their enjoyment of the social communication improved in line with their predictions. This suggests that we can all have more fun with our friends if we make an effort.

12. When we talk with strangers, we tend to 　　　.

　　 A. hide our feelings　　　　　　　　　　　 B. control our behavior 　　　　　　　　　　 C. express our feelings freely　　　 　　 D. judge their first impression of us

13. What did the researchers find?

　　 A. It was hard to talk with strangers.　 　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　 B. Most people liked to talk with friends.　

　　 C. People had more fun talking with strangers. 　　　　

　　 D. Most people preferred to talk with strangers.

14. What can we conclude from the last paragraph?

　　 A. Our friends are easier to entertain. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　 B. We don’t have much fun talking with friends.

　　 C. We need make much effort talking with strangers.

　　 D. We can have more fun with our friends through our effort.

15. The main purpose of the text is to let us learn about 　　　.

　　 A. how to communicate with strangers 　　　　　　　　　　　

　　 B. the benefits of talking to strangers

　　 C. the way we should treat our friends 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　 D. how to improve our communication skills