When my sister Diane began playing the violin, she was seven. How did she sound? Terrible. But she didn’t ____. At twelve, she asked our parents if she could ____ a fulltime music school.They said no. Actually, everyone agreed that my sister ____ talent.
I was better at my ____. My teacher had told my parents that I had great ____. So my parents found the best piano teacher in the area to ____ me. But the only time he was ____ was Saturday afternoons at 3 p.m.. Back then, I was ____ about the British TV show The Avengers, which was ____ every Saturday at 3 p.m.. I let nothing take up my The Avengers hour. So I ____ this amazing opportunity.Today, I don’t even have a ____ in my house.
My sister became an engineer, but she ____ stopped making music. When she was in her 40s, she switched her ____. She went back to college, got a(n) ____ in music education, and became a music teacher. She started kids off on their first instrument and gave them all the encouragement and support she never ____.
Recently, she and a pianist pal (朋友) put on a recital. A big crowd of friends and family ____ for her. As she played, I looked around at the ____. Everyone was ____ enjoying the music. It occurred to me that I was the only person that remembered that a 7 year-old kid making those perfectly ____sounds and knew how far she had come, despite ____.
Talent is important. But enthusiasm is even more important.
1.A. advance B. quit C. reflect D. listen
2.A. inspect B. open C. attend D. visit
3.A. lacked B. spotted C. possessed D. admired
4.A. major B. project C. composition D. instrument
5.A. patience B. enthusiasm C. potential D. ambition
6.A. train B. examine C. correct D. challenge
7.A. punctual B. skillful C. occupied D. available
8.A. sensitive B. crazy C. serious D. particular
9.A. filmed B. designed C. aired D. commented
10.A. jumped at B. turned down C. waited for D. opened up
11.A. tutor B. violin C. musician D. piano
12.A. never B. once C. already D. even
13.A. attitude B. career C. plan D. position
14.A. scholarship B. sponsor C. degree D. assistant
15.A. provided B. imagined C. received D. expected
16.A. voted B. feared C. stayed up D. turned up
17.A. students B. audience C. spotlights D. platform
18.A. obviously B. desperately C. appropriately D. anxiously
19.A. booming B. pleasing C. awful D. powerful
20.A. everything B. something C. everybody D. somebody
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Scientists often see the first ten years of a child's life as the "window of opportunity,"1.And studies show that the following activities can benefit their brain greatly.
2.
Free playtime has always been an important part of "being a kid",but it is also important to a child's development."Free play" not only helps kids develop different skills,it also helps them develop into happy healthy adults in the future.
Read with kids.
Reading has long been known to improve children's intelligence.3.For parents who don't have much time, just surrounding your kids with books goes a long way too.
Put kids to bed early.
4.Preschool children should get at least eleven hours of sleep and kids up to age 12 should try to get at least ten hours of sleep.
Learn a second language.
Early studies in this field have shown that bilingual（双语的）kids can perform better under pressure.Young children can learn new languages with nearly perfect fluency（流利）and pronunciation.
Praise good effort not intelligence.
Your kids may be smart but you should mainly praise the effort they put into tasks.Kids,who are praised on intelligence,often feel it is a fixed quality,and mistakes or failures badly hurt their self-confidence.Kids who are praised on effort often focus more on learning.5.
A.Play some helpful games.
B.Give them enough playtime.
C.And they are not afraid to fail and try again.
D.Kids still need time away from the TV to do homework.
E.Kids who read often develop earlier writing and number skills as well.
F.Everything at this time is very important to the development of a person's brain.
G.Studies show that kids with regular bedtimes are better at languages,math and reading.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Disney World, Not To Be Missed!
Are you still looking for an amusement park to enjoy yourself? Then, Disney World is your best choice! Disney World has four theme parks. A single-day admission ticket to any of these four theme parks is $67 for adults and $56 for young children above three years. The very best time to come here includes middle of April to late May, and Labor Day to middle of November or early December. You’ll surely have a fantastic and memorable experience!
Magic Kingdom
This is the original Disney park from which the entire Disney World has expanded. Once you get here, you can pose for pictures with the Disney characters at the entrance. But if you want to save time, go straight to the Main Street. The children would almost certainly desire to see the Dumbo and Winnie. Just remember the parking lot is usually packed. You will need to walk to the entrance gate.
Epcot
Epcot is divided into two sections: World Showcase and Future World. Future World is all about futuristic rides and high-tech attractions like Test Track and Turtle Talk with Crush. World Showcase, which lies along a lake, shows international styles from different parts of the globe, including Germany, Canada, Mexico, China and a lot more.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
If you’re an animal lover, you’ll really like the Animal Kingdom. The newest addition to this part of Disney World is the Expedition Everest ride plus the Finding Nemo stage show. It’s very best to come here in the morning when animals are more active. The safari(游猎) is open but the opening hours depend on the animals, and how active they are during the day.
1.You think Epcot is worth visiting probably because you can __________.
A.see the most popular movies nowadays
B.go hunting wherever you like
C.take pictures with the Disney characters
D.enjoy the foreign styles along the lake
2.If your parents bring your 2-year-old little brother to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the cost is ____.
A.$190 B.$255
C.$134 D.$179
3.Which theme park can you go if you want to take photos with Mickey Mouse and Winnie?
A.Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
B.Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
C.Magic Kingdom
D.Epcot.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A.To compare the advantages and disadvantages of the four theme parks.
B.To explain the reasons of traveling to Disney World.
C.To attract more people to pay a visit to Disney World.
D.To express his opinions about the popularity of Disney World.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. For example, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities).Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt to "read" people from another culture as we would "read" someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions.
Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.
It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of "reading" the other person incorrectly.
1.What does the smile usually mean in America?
A.Love. B.Politeness.
C.Joy. D.Thankfulness.
2.The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can ___ .
A.show friendliness to strangers
B.be used to hide true feelings
C.be used in the wrong places
D.show personal habits
3.What should we do before attempting(尝试) to "read" people?
A.Learn about their relations with others.
B.Understand their cultural backgrounds.
C.Find out about their past experience.
D.Figure out what they will do next.
4.What would be the best title for the test?
A.Cultural Differences
B.Smiles and Relationship
C.Facial Expressiveness
D.Habits and Emotions
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Which boy hasn’t dreamed of being a cool secret agent (特工)? The wonderful fighting abilities and the world-saving adventures are much more colourful than most people’s everyday lives. Well, Cody Banks is just like any other boy，except that he is not just dreaming. He has a big secret his friends never know about. He was trained to be a spy (间谍）by a special CIA programme，which was made to look like a summer camp. He learned high-speed driving，hand-to-hand fighting and the use of high-tech tools.
After proving he could become a young hero by saving a baby from a runaway car，Banks gets his first real task. He must make friends with a popular girl at school，Natalie Connors. Then，he must spy on her father，a scientist who has developed a dangerous technology .Banks must stop a group of bad people from forcing Natalie’s father into using the technology to endanger the world.
The CIA may have taught him first-class self-defence moves，but they didn’t show him how to talk to girls. Banks has zero ability when it comes to dealing with girls. How can he get around his problem and get an invitation to the girl’s upcoming birthday party? Will he finally become Natalie’s boyfriend and find out whatever he can about her father’s work?
Agent Cody Banks has everything that young people are interested in: big explosions, breath-taking performances and funny girl-dating experiences. It was listed No.2 in the American box office last week.
“This story is interesting and fun for the whole family to enjoy，and especially cool for young boys，” said Paul Perkins, a film reviewer in the US.
1.What does the phrase “spy on” in paragraph 2 mean?
A.test B.save
C.study D.watch
2.Banks wanted to go to Natalie’s birthday party to______ .
A.meet her father B.know more people
C.make friends with her D.steal some information
3.What is considered as a great danger in the text?
A.The technology developed by Natalie’s father.
B.An explosion set off by some bad people.
C.The CIA’s training of boys for its tasks.
D.Secret agents’ spying on scientists.
4.What is the purpose of the text?
A.Making known the work of the CIA. B.Telling the story about a cool boy.
C.Showing the dark side of science. D.Introducing a new film.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer (征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally,in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two "Irelands". Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a lack of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly, Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were "the greatest talkers since the Greeks". Since independence, Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.
1.We learn from the text that in Ireland _____.
A.food shortages in the 1840s led to a decrease in population
B.people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside
C.it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker
D.different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments
2.The last paragraph is mainly about _____
A.the Irish character B.Irish culture
C.Irish musical instruments D.a famous Irish writer
3.What can be the best title for the text?
A.life in Ireland B.A very difficult history
C.Ireland, past and present D.the independence of Ireland
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
语法填空
Just as I began a new job in New York, I had to learn another important job: father. I was a businessman. At the office I had three new 1. (project), and at home I had a young son who was growing fast and needed me. I was 2. (puzzle) and didn't know how to deal with the relationship between job and family until one day, during my business trip in Chicago, I came 3. an old family friend Dan, 4. was once a patient of my father's. He told me something about my father. 5. was my father that helped him go through the cancer. When Dan knew he got cancer, he was very upset and wanted 6. (give) up, but my father, his doctor, encouraged him to go on 7. (fight) against the cancer. My father said to him, “You have 8. wonderful life and three fine children. Take some time with them. It's family we live for—not just ourselves. Think of that 9. you will know life's worth the fight.” His words touched me, and I 10. (sudden) realized that family are the most important in the world. I should spend more time staying with them.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误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。
Last Friday our class invited an old man to teach us why to make dough figurines（面人）. When he comes into our classroom ,we gave him warm welcome and two boys helped him with the tool box. First, he showed us basic steps and skills of made dough figurines. We stood around him and watched careful. Then we started to have a try itself. The old man walked around and helped with us patiently. Finally, we put the figurines we made on the table and took several picture with the old man. Look at the figurines, we were all very exciting.We believe we could have more activities of this kind in the future.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
一家英语报社向中学生征文，主题是“十年后的我”，请根据下列要点和你的畅想完成短文。
1.家庭：
2．工作：
3.业余生活。
注意：1.词数100左右：
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯：
3.开头语已为你写好。
I often imagine what my life will be like in the future._______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
难度: 中等查看答案及解析