A small boy sat on the street with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “ I am blind, please help”. There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.
The boy recognized his footsteps and asked :“Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said: “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”
What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.
The first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.
The first is: Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can.
The second is：Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way!
1. What was the boy doing on the street?
A. He was selling his old hat.
B. He was busy counting coins.
C. He was begging for money.
D. He was showing his handwriting.
2. How did the man help the blind boy?
A. He took the boy's sign away.
B. He only gave the boy some money.
C. He changed the words on the sign.
D. He asked others to help the blind boy.
3. The blind boy recognized the kind man by his ______ .
A. words B. smell C. voice D. Footsteps
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
It’s hard to find Alice Munro in the media. Even after she won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Canadian writer just appeared for a quick interview and then dropped out of sight. On Dec 29, she still didn't seek the spotlight（聚光灯）when she was named one of the five Women of the Year by the Financial Times.
In Munro's eyes, ordinary lives always hide larger dramas. So she records what we casually think of as the everyday actions of normal people. She often focuses on life in her hometown, a small village in Ontario which she is most familiar with. She writes about the ordinary things in the village－fox forming, trees filled in the Ontario wilderness, poor country alcohol and long last illnesses. Above all, she talks about girls and women who have seemingly ordinary lives but struggle against daily misfortune.
She has a special talent for uncovering the extraordinary in the ordinary. These are ordinary people, ordinary stories, but she has the magic. Her precise language, depth of detail and the logic of her storytelling have made her stories inviting.
Runaway, one of Munro’s representative works, is a good example of her writing style. One of the stories centers on the life of an ordinary woman Carla, who lives in a small Canadian town with her husband Clark. The story slowly forms a picture of Carla, trapped in a bad marriage, her unhappiness building into desperation until she decided to flee. The story of Carla is a story of the power and betrayals of love. It is about lost children and lots of chances that we can all find in life, There is pain beneath the surface, like a needle in the heart.
Since she published her first collection of short stories in 1968, Munro has won many awards, with the Nobel Prize being her biggest honor. On Oct 10, 2013, the Nobel Prize committee named Munro the “master of the contemporary short story”.
1.We learn from Paragraph 1 that Alice Munro_____
A．didn't get on well with the media
B．remained modest though very successful
C．didn’t value the title of Women of the Year
D. was surprised at winning the Nobel Prize
2.What makes Alice Munro’s stories fascinating according to the text?
A．Her writing techniques
B．The complicated plots
C．The humorous language
D．Her rich imagination
3.In her representative work Runaway, Carla_____
A．leads a happy life with Clark
B．is a faithful wife to her husband
C．loses all hopes for a better life
D．tries to run away from her husband
4.What is the text mainly about?
A．Alice Munro and her hometown
B．The awards Alice Munro won
C．Alice Munro and her writing style
D．Alice Munro’s literary life
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The rise of the Internet has been one of the most transformative developments in human history, comparable in impact to the invention of the printing press and the telegraph. Over two billion people worldwide now have access to vastly more information than ever before, and can communicate with each other instantly, often using Web-connected mobile devices they carry everywhere. But the Internet’s tremendous impact has only just begun.
“Mass adoption of the Internet is driving one of the most exciting social, cultural, and political transformations in history, and unlike earlier periods of change, this time the effects are fully global,” Schmidt and Cohen write in their new book The New Digital Age.
Perhaps the most profound changes will come when the five billion people worldwide who currently lack Internet access get online. The authors do an excellent job of examining the implications of the Internet revolution for individuals, governments, and institutions like the news media. But if the book has one major shortcoming, it’s that authors don’t spend enough time applying a critical eye to the role of Internet businesses in these sweeping changes.
In their book, the authors provide the most authoritative volume to date that describes — and more importantly predicts — how the Internet will shape our lives in the coming decades. They paint a picture of a world in which individuals, companies, institutions, and governments must deal with two realities, one physical, and one virtual.
At the core of the book is the idea that “technology is neutral, but people aren’t.” By using this concept as a starting point, the authors aim to move beyond the now familiar optimist vs. pessimist dichotomy (对立观点) that has characterized many recent debates about whether the rise of the Internet will ultimately be good or bad for society. In an interview with TIME earlier this week, Cohen said although he and his co-author are optimistic about many aspects of the Internet, they’re also realistic about the risks and dangers that lie ahead when the next five billion people come online, particularly with respect to personal privacy and state surveillance(监视).
【题文1】 In what way is the rise of the Internet similar to the invention of the printing press and the telegraph?
A. It transforms human history.
B. It revolutionizes people's thinking.
C. It is adopted by all human beings.
D. It makes daily communication easy.
【题文2】 In what respect is the book The New Digital Age considered inadequate?
A. It lacks an objective evaluation of the role of Internet businesses
B. It fails to look into the social implications of the Internet.
C. It fails to recognize the impact of the Internet technology.
D. It does not address the technical aspects of Internet communication.
1.What will the future be like when everybody gets online?
A. People don’t have to travel to see the world.
B. People will have equal access to information.
C. People will be living in two different realities.
D. People don’t have to communicate face to face.
2.What does the passage say about the authors of The New Digital Age?
A. They leave many questions unanswered concerning the Internet.
B. They don’t take sides in analyzing the effects of the Internet.
C. They have explored the unknown territories of the virtual world.
D. They are optimistic about the future of the Internet revolution.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social-progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: "I may have lost, but it doesn't matter because I really didn't try." What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistake belief that-one's self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
1.What does this text mainly talk about?
A. Competition helps to set up self-respect.
B. Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
C. People hold different opinions about competition.
D. Failures are necessary experience in competition.
2.Some people favor competition because they think it __.
A. builds up a sense of pride
B. pushes society forward
C. improves social abilities
D. develops people's relationship
3. The underlined phrase "the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 refers to those who
A. are strongly against competition
B. highly value competition
C. try their best to win
D. mostly rely on others for success
4. Which viewpoint does the author agree to?
A. Self-worth relies on winning.
B. Competition leads to unfriendly relationship.
C. Fear of failure should be removed in competition.
D. Winning should be a life-and-death matter.
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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。选项中有两项为多余选项。
__1._You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so, however. Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to. Here’s how:
Plan your time carefully. When planning your work, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list, you should make a schedule of your time. First your time for eating , sleeping, dressing, etc. Then decide a good, regular time for studying. _2.__ A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you realize what is happening to your time.
Find a good place to study. Look around the house for a good study area. Keep this space, which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of everything but study materials. No games, radios, or television. When you sit down to study, concentrate on the subject.
Make good use of your time in class. _3._Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.
Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes, review the important points that your teacher is going to discuss the next day, read that material. ___4.__If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you’ll remember it longer.
Develop a good attitude towards tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. They help you remember your new knowledge. The world won’t end if you don’t pass a test, so don’t be over worried.___ 5._ You will probably discover many others after you have tried these.
A. There are other methods that might help you with your studying.
B. Don’t forget to set aside enough time for entertainment.
C. Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teacher says.
D. No one can become a top student unless he or she works hard.
E. Maybe you are an average student.
F. Make full use of class time to take notes of what the teacher says in class.
G. This will help you understand the next class.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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。
Valentine's Day is known worldwide as a time to celebrate love and romance. But the holiday is also notorious（臭名昭著的） for reminding many singles that they are _____of a significant other.
Instead of feeling sad and ____, many Chinese singles decided to join each other in a crusade against the love birds — proof that the singles are not _____in the festival after all.
Here is some advice posted online by some love-starved online activists on ____ to ruin Valentine's Day for those enjoying romantic _____:
Buy up the odd-numbered _____ for movies so the lovers can't sit together.
Book up all _____ rooms in hotels so the lovers will have no place to spend the night.
____ chocolate and puncture(打孔) condoms in supermarkets.
Walk up to a couple on the street, _____ either of them in the face and crying out "How could you _____ on me?!" (Better if this happens between the same sex).
Take a part-time job to deliver flowers and throw half the bouquets _____.
Some of the strategies have been put into practice. Sina Weibo user @Yanta _____ one photo showing him (or her) slipping Dear John letters into boxes of chocolate in a supermarket. The other photo shows one of the letters _____ "let's break _____. The chocolate will be my last _____ for you."
A café in Luzhou, Sichuan province announced proudly in its Weibo _____ that couples are not welcome on Valentine's Day, singles will be _____ a 10 percent discount in the shop.
_____, the strategies above are not supported by all. "Just think about it. How would you feel when you find the chocolate you bought for a girl is _____ or your wife has to have an abortion(堕胎) due to condoms with holes? Won't it be dangerous to slap（打耳光）a stranger on street?" a netizen _____ calling on people to avoid a possible violent way.
1.A. short B. necessary C. proud D. ashamed
2.A. left behind B. left off C. left on D. left out
3.A. alone B. away C. happy D. inspired
4.A. where B. how C. what D. when
5.A. dates B. days C. times D. weeks
6.A. areas B. locations C. exits D. seats
7.A. multiple B. single C. double D. three-bed
8.A. Protect B. Break C. Buy D. Choose
9.A. slapping B. pointing C. biting D. hitting
10.A. lie B. trap C. cheat D. disturb
11.A. in B. out C. behind D. away
12.A. carried B. downloaded C. hung D. posted
13.A. writing B. saying C. leaving D. telling
14.A. up B. away C. in D. down
15.A. property B. donation C. gift D. blessing
16.A. story B. account C. statement D. expression
17.A. received B. provided C. sent D. offered
18.A. Even so B. Therefore C. Besides D. Even though
19.A. stored B. stolen C. poisoned D. damaged
20.A. reminded B. cautioned C. described D. Defended
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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。
In 1908 Lord Henry _1._ (offer) a prize of ￡ 1,000 to the first man who would fly _2._ the English Channel. Over a year passed 3._ the first attempt was made. On July _4._ (nine), in the early morning, Hubert took off from the French coast _5._ his plane Antonio IV . Had traveled only seven miles across the Channel when his engine failed _6. he was forced to land on the sea. The Antonio floated on the water _7._ Hubert _8._ (pick up )by a ship. _9. he was rescued, he failed to receive the prize, _10. reduced him to great embarrassment .
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Sleep is 1._ people have to have. However, it is 2. (occasion) interrupted halfway for some reason. One disturbing night, I woke up, _3. (wonder) what had caused the break of my sleep. Failing to find the reason, I forced _4. to go back to sleep. Turning over and over, I became desperate. I couldn’t help but _5. (get) up, and _6._ (feel) for the students’ writings taken _7._ school. In the deadly silence, the light witnessed my working on 8._ writings, 9._ lasted almost one hour. 10._ the work over, sleep returned to greet me. Was I funny or amazing?
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)
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：在缺词处加一个漏词符号(＾)，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
I still remember an interesting story that happen when I was ten. One day, a classmate of my named Craig brought his pet mice along. Later, our maths teacher, Miss Jones, who came into the classroom to give her lesson. She saw the mice and said angry, “Get those mice out of here right now!” Craig’s feeling were hurt, so he let them out of cage. The teacher was very terrified that she jumped up onto her desk and screamed. We all fell back laughed. Four teachers ran into our classroom to see what was go on. They told us that we should put it back in the cage.
Five minutes later, Miss Jones was still screaming.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
随着社会的发展和我国加入WTO, 英语成了中外交流的桥梁.而互联网的广泛使用,使掌握英语成为一种趋势.当今世界上以英语为母语的人和学习,使用英语的人越来越多. 我们中学生学好英语一方面是为了今后的升学, 就业, 同时也是为社会的发展出一份力.
请你根据以上材料, 用英语写一篇100 字左右的作文.
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析