Once upon a time, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything on the land —— animals and plants.
One day while walking through the woods, the old man found a cocoon of a butterfly. He took it home. A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and cut the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then came out easily.
But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, or they would be smaller. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled （枯萎）wings. It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and hurry did not understand was that the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any difficulties, it would cripple (无能) us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.
1.The old man cut the cocoon in order to ____.
A. kill the butterfly
B. play with the butterfly
C. make the butterfly come out easily
D. have the butterfly
2.The reason why the butterfly could not fly is that _____.
A. the old man broke its wings
B. it was too small
C. newly born butterflies can’t fly
D. it came out of its cocoon without enough struggle
3.What can we know from the passage?
A. That old man was fond of everything except the butterfly.
B. It was the old man that stopped the butterfly flying.
C. The old man realized his mistake.
D. It’s not hard for the butterfly to come out of the cocoon.
4.What does the author want to tell us by writing the passage?
A .We should help others.
B. Without others' help we can still succeed.
C. Struggles in our life can make us stronger.
D. Butterflies can fly without people’s help.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Long March exhibit
The Shanghai History Museum is putting on an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the Long March. On show are more than 220 photos and 40 items that explain with pictures how the communist Red Army drew back from its besieged (被围困的) bases in Jiangxi Province and fought its way to northern Shanxi province in the mid-1930s. Explanations are all in Chinese. The show will end on November 20.
Time: 10:00 am—4:00 pm.
Address: 1286 Hongqiao Road
Admission: 8 yuan for Chinese/ 15 yuan for foreigners
Thai elephants
Eight elephants from Thailand are entertaining visitors at Changfeng Park by riding bikes, playing basketball, balancing on a beam, dancing and blowing a mouth-organ. People are encouraged to have a tug-of-war (拔河比赛) with the animals or lie on the ground and have the elephants walk over them. The elephants give three shows a day at 9:30 am, 3:30 pm and 8:00 pm and there is an additional show at 1:30 pm at weekends. The show will end on November 15.
Address: 189 Daduhe Road
Admission: 30-40 yuan
Dancing dolphins
Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, swaying their bodies to music, kissing people and solving math by tapping their tails have made the dolphinarium in Peace Park an attraction for children. Seals and sea lions also perform.
Hours: 10:30 am, 4:00 pm, and 7:30 pm
Admission: 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children.
1.If you go to visit the Long March exhibit with an Australian, how much will you pay altogether for the admission?
A. 16 yuan B. 23 yuan C. 30 yuan D. 20 yuan
2.At the exhibition, you will see ________.
A. many articles written by famous writers
B. many things left by the Red Army
C. books on the Long March
D. many photos and pictures about the Long Match.
3.Which of the following is NOT done by the Thai elephants?
A. Riding bicycles.
B. Blowing a mouth-organ
C. Doing math
D. Having a tug-of-war with people.
4.The dolphinarium in Peace Park is a hall where you can see________.
A. not only dolphins but also seals and sea lions perform
B. only seals and sea lions perform
C. only dolphins perform
D. only seals perform
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life. But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect. Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car.
The implication (含义) of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall effort, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most. And this carries over to the classroom.
Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, tested the effects of over praise on 400 fifth graders while she was at Columbia University. She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”.
“Praising attributes (品质) or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues effort, so children are afraid to take on challenges,” says Dweck, now at Stanford University. “They figure they’d better quit while they’re ahead.”
1.The underlined words “Praise-aholic kids” refer to kids who are ______.
A. tired of being praised
B. extremely fond of being praised
C. very proud of being praised
D. worthy of being praised
2.The author quoted Dr. Dweck’s words in the last paragraph in order to make the article ________.
A. more persuasive B. better-organized
C. better-known D. more interesting
3.We can infer from the passage that _____.
A. praise for results works better than praise for efforts
B. praise for efforts should be more encouraged
C. praising a child’s achievements benefits his or her success in life
D. praising a child’s abilities encourages him or her to take on challenges
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
World travel has moved on to a new level as new websites spring up to enable travelers to plan their trips online. Virtual tourism is the latest name of the game and although relatively new, has seen some tourism websites grow to host over one-million users.
Typically, this development features a website that contains the answers to almost any tourism question.Tips and information are not provided by a single source, such as the website host, but rather from travelers themselves-often in the thousands. This has proven to be exceptionally beneficial for would-be travelers who are seeking infomtation on questions such as where to find the best museum or beach; whether it is better to tour Brussels with a bicycle or on foot; and which exchange rate bureaus are available in Italy. Questions about food and restaurants; tourist spots; safety; accommodation; and others are all answered. In addition, posted tips promote better preparation, such as what to pack when heading for Sicily(西西里岛).
Apart from the useful tips, visual images and virtual tours have also been made available.If you'd like to visit the Eiffel Tower, it's a good idea to view the surrounding areas; to pick a safer train route; or to know that it's very close to the Seine River and that a walk along it would enhance the experience.
Virtual tours have sprung up globally.In South Africa, John Gore established the Virtual Tour Guide in November last year. On his blog, Gore was quoted a saying, "The world is panoramic(全景的). "'We are able to tum our heads and look in all directions and get a feel for where we are, but the typical photograph cannot show or describe that experience completely. " However, there is an answer--technology makes it possible to share the world around us in a 360 degree panoramic way, which really makes the viewer feel as though he or she is really there.
1.Why is virtual tourism more and more popular?
A. Online games are more and more attractive.
B. Many new websites appear and develop fast.
C. More and more people want to travel abroad.
D. It helps travelers save as much money as possible.
2.From the second paragraph we know
A. we can solve any problem on websites
B. websites offer all the tips and information
C. we can get all our questions answered online
D. we can get many tips about tourism on websites
3.What does the underlined word "sprung up" most probably mean?
A. Appeared. B. Moved. C. Competed. D. Reduced.
4.What makes us see the world in a panoramic way?
A. Information. B. Photograph.
C. Technology. D. Virtual images.
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。
The pine tree is a special kind of tree. 1. This is because many people put pine trees in their homes at Christmas time. They decorate the tree with colored lights, and put Christmas presents under the tree.
Pine trees are different from other trees because most other trees lose their leaves in winter. 2. So pine trees are also called evergreens.
3. They have hard, thin leaves called needles. Pine trees also have pine cones. Pine cones look like hard berries. If you walk in a forest, you will see many pine cones on the ground. 4. When the seeds fall to the ground, a new tree starts to grow.
5. The wood is used to make furniture and boats. Many kinds of birds build their nests in pine trees. The seeds of pine trees are food for small animals such as squirrels and mice and for bigger animals such as rabbits and black bears. The needles are good food for large animals such as deer and moose when they cannot find anything to eat in the winter.
If you walk in a forest of pine trees, the air has a wonderful smell. In winter, the white snow on the dark green trees looks very beautiful.
A. Pine trees stay green all year long, even in winter.
B. Pine trees do not have soft leaves like the maple tree.
C. Some people call the pine tree a Christmas tree.
D. Pine trees are very beautiful all year round.
E. Pine trees are valuable for many reasons.
F. Inside the pine cones are seeds.
G. The seeds inside the pine cones are the favorite food for some animals.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（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。
When I came to my new school three years ago, I was surprised at how lonely I felt. Then one of my classmates invited me to her house for a dinner ________ . I was a little anxious, but finally I gladly________.
Not really knowing how ________ the bus ride should be, I ________ when I saw the landmarks ________on my friend’s hand-drawn map. But when I got close enough to the________ , I found none of the streets were shown on the map. I was ________ on a busy road with cars driving past without a person in sight. I had no________ when the next bus would come, ________when a bus did come by, I ________ got on. I told the bus driver where I wanted to go and he said that I had caught the________ bus, but he let me stay on. After he had finished his scheduled bus route, he ________ to help me out. I gratefully showed him my little hand-drawn map but ________ did not help much.
He finally ________ me off at a main road to catch a different bus and was ________that he could not help me more. After a few minutes of walking, I noticed a bus pull up beside me. It was the ________bus driver. He explained that he didn’t want to leave me there ________ . He sent out a call and someone radioed back, saying that the bus I needed to catch was about ten minutes away. At last I made it to the dinner party ________ I was over an hour late.
I am forever thankful for the________that this bus driver had for me. His act of kindness left a________ on my heart.
1.A. meal B. party C. meeting D. time
2.A. accepted B. refused C. got D. received
3.A. far B. difficult C. long D. bad
4.A. drove on B. walked away C. hurried by D. got off
5.A. show B. showing C. shown D. to show
6.A. street signs B. tall buildings C. traffic lights D. back yards
7.A. queuing B. sitting C. standing D. waiting
8.A. meaning B. idea C. problem D. way
9.A. so B. yet C. but D. still
10.A. suddenly B. luckily C. finally D. quickly
11.A. right B. wrong C. best D. fastest
12.A. supplied B. refused C. offered D. wanted
13.A. it B. he C. she D. they
14.A. kept B. dropped C. drove D. turned
15.A. eager B. worried C. sorry D. disappointed
16.A. same B. next C. kind D. silly
17.A. helpless B. lonely C. unaccompanied D. alone
18.A. after B. although C. until D. when
19.A. respect B. concern C. help D. love
20.A. mark B. sign C. symbol D. Line
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Last Sunday while waiting for the bus with my father, I heard some people arguing loudly. 1. (look) around, I saw two women and a big man shouting at each other. Later we learned that the women were tourists from a neighboring city. One of them said three young men stole her friend’s purse while they 2. (shop) in a store. 3. other two had run away, but they followed the big man 4. (close) and caught him. I was angry and wanted to go up and help the two women, 5. my father stopped me and pulled me aside. I felt very 6. (depress), thinking my father was afraid of the big man and unwilling to help the two women. However, what happened next changed my opinion. My father 7. (hurry) to a nearby ice cream store, using their phone to call police. He reported the case _ 8. police and provided some helpful details. When we were about 9. (leave)，I saw three policemen running to the spot. I was happy and had a better 10. (understand) of my father from this incident. Although he looked ordinary, he was brave and calm before danger.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，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(Λ)，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。
In order to live happy, we should keep in good health. Personally, to stay healthy, we should do as follows. Firstly, taking exercise regularly. We can do sports such as swimming, running and playing the basketball. Such sports keep us energetic and also makes us happy. Secondly, they should develop a good lifestyle. Going to bed early and get up early can be helpful. Finally, we need to have a healthy and balancing diet. It is bad for us to eat a lot chocolate or meat, that contains much sugar and fat. It is necessary that one should eat various kind of healthy food such as fish, eggs, vegetables and fruits.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
在中学生中，互赠生日礼物成为一种时尚，有的甚至还去饭店搞生日聚会。对此同学们有不同的看法。假设你是李华，请你根据下表提示，给某英语报社编辑写一封信，并谈谈自己的观点。
| 赞成 | 为同学们提供交际机会；利于增进同学之间的友谊；学习之余可以放松心情。 |
| 反对 | 容易造成对时间和金钱的浪费；导致攀比；对青少年学习和成长造成不利影响。 |
| 你的观点 | ...... |
注意：1. 词数：100左右（信的开头和结尾已经给出，但不计入总词数。）
2. 短文须包括表中的全部内容，可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 参考词汇：攀比：keep up with the Joneses
Dear Editor,
I'm a middle school student named Li Hua. Recently, we often have to buy presents for our
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Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析