That woman carried a new blanket over her arm. Wordlessly, she gave it to me.
“Is it finished?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. It is ready,” she replied. I handed her the money and took the blanket.
“It is beautiful, so skillfully woven(编织）,” I said to my mother. “But what did she mean when she said it was not finished? How can it be ready if it is not finished?”
“I will tell you later,” my mother said, “but first I will take you to the Navajo village.”
We went down to the village. A group of young men were making sand pictures. We walked through the whole village, watching the different things the people were doing.
It was not until that evening that my mother finally explained the Navajo woman’s words.
“Did you notice anything about the things the people were making?” my mother asked.
“What should I have noticed?” I looked at her and asked.
“Each thing the Navajo make has one small part that is not complete. The designs in their sand pictures are often not perfectly done, for example---the line of a circle may not quite close. If you look carefully at your blanket, you will probably find a stitch(一针）missing.”
I took the blanket off, but it looked as perfect as any design could be. Then suddenly, I noticed that sure enough a stitch was missing!
“But why do the Navajo intentionally leave some tiny part unfinished?” I asked.
“They believe that when anything is completed or finished, it means the end has come--it will not be perfect until then. Then too, with a circle, they believe that they must leave a pathway for the bad spirits to run away and the good spirits to come in. So, often, they do not make the line close.”
1. The blanket the author received_____ .
A. was poorly woven.
B. made her think a lot.
C. cost her a lot of money.
D. was finished, but not ready.
2. Why was the author shown around the village?
A. To buy more things made by the Navajo.
B. To make friends with some of the Navajo.
C. To have a deeper understanding of the Navajo.
D. To look for the woman who sold her the blanket.
3.Which of the following may the Navajo believe?
A. A stitch in time is very important.
B. Life only becomes perfect when you die.
C. He who makes no mistake is a perfect man.
D. You must always try to make your life complete.
4.What’s the main idea of the text?
A. The Navajo are good at making things.
B. The Navajo are brave and hard-working.
C. A blanket tells a lot about the Navajo culture.
D. Skills are needed to do business with the Navajo.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.
If you come to visit, you'll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN (个人身份号码) to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it's dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest to you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console(控制台), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I've put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I've put in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, "How will I live without them?"
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How to develop a new system.
B. The function of the PIN.
C. A home for the future.
D. Easy life in the future.
2.What can’t be done in the writer’s new house according to the passage?
A. Turning on the lights. B. Going swimming.
C. Getting a telephone call. D. Playing music.
3. The writer's new house is different from ordinary ones mainly because _______.
A. it has your favorite music following you
B. you can make a telephone call anywhere
C. the writer is able to change his new idea into practice
D. it has been controlled by computers
4.What is the writer most likely to be according to the passage?
A. An IT expert B. A famous doctor
C. An idealist D. An experienced teacher
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
In the famous fairy tale, Snow White eats the Queen’s apple and falls victim to a curse; in Shakespeare’s novel, Romeo drinks the poison and dies; some ancient Chinese kings took pills that contained mercury, believing that it would make them immortal, but they died afterwards.
Poison has long been an important part in literature and history, and it seems to always be about evil, danger and death. But how much do you really know about poison?
An exhibition, The Power of Poison, opened last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, intended to give the audience a more vivid understanding of poison. The exhibition will continue until Feb. 2016, reported The New York Times.
The museum tour starts in a rainforest setting, where you can see live examples of some of the most poisonous animals: caterpillars, frogs and spiders. Golden poison frogs, for instance, aren’t much bigger than a coin, but their skin is covered in a poison that can cut off the signaling power of your nerves, and a single frog has enough venom to kill 10 grown humans.
The exhibition also features interactive activities. In an iPad-based game, visitors are presented with three puzzling illnesses and asked to identify the poisons based on symptoms. In one case, for example, a pet dog is found sick in a backyard and visitors have to figure out whether it was the toad (蟾蜍), the leaky batteries in the trash or the dirty pond water that did it.
“Poisons can be bad for some things,” Michael Novacek, senior vice president of the museum, told NBC News. “Yet they can also be good for others.”
This is what visitors learn from the last part of the exhibition, which displays how poisons can be used favorably by humans, including for medical treatment.
The blood toxins of vampire bats, for example, can prevent blood from clotting (凝结), which may protect against strokes. A poisonous chemical found in the yew tree is effective against cancer, which is what led to the invention of a cancer-fighting drug called Taxol. One chemical in the venom of Gila monsters can lower the blood sugar of its victims, so it has been used to treat diabetes.
1.By mentioning Snow White and Romeo at the beginning of the story, the author intends to ______.
A. show that poison has long been involved in literature
B. show that poison is always linked with evil and death
C. draw readers’ attention to the topic of the article
D. get readers to think of more examples of the use of poison in stories
2.The underlined word immortal probably means?
A. Live forever. B. Happy. C. Confused D. Famous
3.What is the main purpose of the exhibition The Power of Poison?
A. To give people more knowledge about poison.
B. To teach people how to handle poisonous animals.
C. To inform people about which animals are the most poisonous.
D. To show how poison has been used for medical treatment.
4.Which of the following statements about the exhibition is TRUE according to the article?
A. The exhibition will lead visitors to a real rainforest.
B. Golden poison frogs are the most poisonous animals on display.
C. Those who visit the exhibition can join in some iPad-based interactive games.
D. Visitors can listen to lectures on recent studies of poisonous animals.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
When we heard that our friend astronaut Gregory Chamitorff was going to be on board the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, we asked him if he would answer some questions from space. He said yes!
Here are our questions and Greg’s answers from space.
What’s the best thing about being in space?
Zero-gravity（失重） is by far the best thing about being in space. It does not really mean that there is no gravity. It means that we are moving around Earth in the same way the space station is moving around Earth. So we are floating inside the space station.
We travel around Earth once every 90 minutes. That’s 16 sunrises and sunsets every day. Really fast!
Inside the station, we can fly around like superman. It’s an amazing feeling, and I hope everyone gets a chance to fly in space someday to experience the wonder of zero-gravity.
What do you do for fun in the space shuttle?
There are so many things you can do in zero-gravity that are fun. Flying around is fun. Eating food that floats is fun.
I like to play like Superman and see how far I can fly without touching any walls. Another fun thing is to play with water. Most of all, the most exciting thing to do is to look out the window at our beautiful planet Earth below. You never get tired of seeing it like that, the way it really is and it can never be seen that way while standing on its surface.
What’s the coolest thing about being on a spacewalk?
Wow! Doing a spacewalk is cool. There is nothing more wonderful than floating in space in your own space suit. It’s amazing, and when you are doing a spacewalk, you are “out there” just floating in empty space, like the earth, like the moon, like the sun, like the space station. It’s not science fiction. It’s real.
1. Why does Greg think doing a spacewalk is the coolest thing?
A. He can wear his own space suit then.
B. He can see the moon when doing that.
C. He can see the earth by doing so.
D. He thinks it’s great flying in empty space.
2.Which of the following best shows how Greg feels?
A. Frightened B. Excited C. Sad D. Surprised
3.What can we know from the text?
A. Greg thinks doing a spacewalk is science fiction.
B. Greg floats inside the space station without gravity.
C. Everyone has the chance to experience the wonder of zero-gravity.
D. In the space shuttle, Greg can see the shape of the whole earth clearly.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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。
Entering a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to a university to study and train for a future job in subjects like law, medicine or education. 1. . An important one started in Egypt over one thousand years ago.
The world’s oldest surviving university, AL-Azhar, is in Cario, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque for religion (宗教寺院) in A.D.972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque. They read and talked about the subject of religion and law. 2. . Leaders in the city of Cario decided to create a school for higher learning and soon after that, and AL-Azhar University was founded.
3. .For these teachers at AL-Azhar, they needed to think about what courses to teach and how to teach them. The earliest courses were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers had interesting discussions, and there was no ‘right’ answer. In the years that followed, the new university interested scholars from around the world. 4. .At AL-Azhar, people studied the past, but it was also a place for sharing new ideas.
Over a thousand years later, AL-Azhar is still an important university in the world. 5. . Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the same traditions as they do at AL-Azhar.
A. A university was a new idea at that time.
B. There are many reasons to study in Egypt.
C. They came here to teach and do research.
D. Around the year 988, a new decision was made.
E. However, the university is not a modern invention.
F. The cost of university education is increasing year by year.
G. Its library contains many of the world’s oldest and most valuable books.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完型填空
阅读下面短文, 从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25. I didn’t think there would be any , sighing about having to work on Christmas. Just then five bodies at my desk, a pale woman and four children.
“Are you all ?” I asked. “Yes,” she said weakly and lowered her head.
But when it came to of their problems, things got a little strange. They all claimed to have headaches, but the headaches weren’t by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still.
Something was wrong. Our hospital policy, , was not to turn away any patient. I explained it might be a little while a doctor saw her. She responded immediately, even a bit “Take your time,” and then added, “It’s warm in here.”
Then, I checked their registration form out of curiosity. No address—they were .The waiting room was warm. I went back to the nurses’ station and mentioned we had a homeless in the waiting room. The nurses, complaining of on Christmas, turned to sympathy for a family just trying to get on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when there’s a emergency. But this was a Christmas emergency.
We were all a free meal on Christmas Day, so we took back that meal and prepared a big dinner for our .We needed presents. We from different departments candies, fruits and other things that could be presents. As seriously as we the physical needs of the patients, our team worked to meet the needs of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas.
, as the family walked to the door to , the mother came running back, gave me a hug and whispered, “Thanks for being our angels today.”
1.A. customers B. patients C. workers D. doctors
2.A. showed up B. took in C. came out D. looked on
3.A. tired B. hungry C. sick D. warm
4.A.descriptions B. comments C. instructions D. results
5.A. accompanied B. adjusted C. acknowledged D. affected
6.A. therefore B. otherwise C. however D. moreover
7.A. after B. since C. before D. when
8.A. shyly B. happily C. calmly D. politely
9.A. lonely B. greedy C. clever D. homeless
10.A. family B. holiday C. woman D. Christmas
11.A. operating B. interrupting C. managing D. working
12.A. present B. warm C. relief D. approval
13.A. beneficial B. friendly C. medical D. different
14.A. rewarded B. offered C. allowed D. ordered
15.A. neighbors B. relations C. brothers D. guests
16.A. borrowed B. received C. collected D. bought
17.A. expensive B. useful C. convenient D. available
18.A. Understood B. satisfied C. rejected D. found
19.A. Soon B. Later C. Next D. Gradually
20.A. leave B. cry C. eat D. greet
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
语法填空
Cindy: Aunt Sophia, do you shop online often?
Sophia: Yes. It’s very convenient and the price is much 1.______(low) than that in the physical stores.
Cindy: Last week, I tried to buy some books online, but I didn’t know how to pay for 2. _______.
Sophia: You should open an account at the online bank first, after 3. ______ you can buy anything online. Let’s check it out online!
Cindy: Oh, what’s this? A second-hand cellphone store?
Sophia: Yeah. It’s like 4._______ open free market. If you want to change your cellphone for a new one, you can sell the old one here.
Cindy: Really? Is it the same as 5._______ we do in the real world?
Sophia: No. It’s6.______(total) different. Take some pictures of the thing you want to sell, upload it with a description about it and leave your telephone number. Then your thing will be sold here.
Cindy: That’s7.______ (amaze). Mom will love it. She loves shopping so much 8._______ she almost visits the physical stores twice a week.
Sophia: No doubt about it. Shopping online will get more and more popular.
Cindy: Are there any 9._________(advantage)?
Sophia: At first it took some time for the things you buy online to arrive. But now this problem 10.______ (solve) already.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（ˆ）, 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
Having a good teacher do mean a lot to us students and I am lucky enough to have the one ----Miss Brown, my English teacher.
Miss Brown is a charming lady always worn a big smile on her face. In the first class she introduced her and then asked us to say something about ourselves with English. When it was my turn, I felt too shy and fearful that I didn’t dare to say a word. She came up to me and said, “Don’t afraid. You can make it. Just have a try.” At last, I did it quite good. She praised me for that I had done.
Never shall I forgot my first English class in senior high school.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
书面表达
假设你是新华中学的学生李华，几天前你收到一封来自你朋友Linda的email。全文如下：
Dear Li Hua，
How are you these days? As you know, I’m already a senior high school student. I want to travel alone this winter vacation. But my parents don’t agree with me. I just can’t understand them. I need your advice.
Linda
请根据所给材料，给Linda 写封回信，要点包括
(1).她父母不同意的可能理由，
(2).表明你对此事的态度，
(3).给Linda提出合理的建议。
字数：100-120左右；可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
信的开头和落款已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Linda,
I’m glad to receive your letter asking for my advice. From your letter, I know that your parents don’t agree with your idea that you want to travel alone this winter vacation.
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Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析