Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have only been few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way---was it through training and practice, or are great players “born, not made”? First, these players came from places that have had famous stars in the past---players that a young boy can look up to and try to imitate. In the history of soccer, only seven countries have ever won the World Cup---three from South America and four from Western Europe. There has never been a great national team---or a really great player---from North America or from Asia. Second, these players have all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players begin playing the game at the age of three or four.
Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighborhood---a poor, crowded area where a boy’s dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athlete or entertainer. For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beatles, had one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practiced in the street with a “ball” made of rags. And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall in the slums(贫民窟) of Belfast.
All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn’t explain why they are great. Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The greatest players are born with some unique quality that sets them apart from all the others.
1.According to the writer, which of the following statements is true?
A. Soccer is popular all over the world, but truly great players are few.
B. Millions of people all over the world are playing soccer, but only seven countries have ever had famous stars.
C. Only seven countries from South America and Western Europe have ever had national teams.
D. Soccer seems the least popular in North America and Asia.
2.The world “tricks” at the end of Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.
A. experience B. training
C. skills D.cheating
3.The Brazilian streets are mentioned to show that ______.
A. a great soccer player may be born in a slum area
B. people in poor areas are born with some unique quality
C. children in poor areas start playing football at the age of three or four
D. famous soccer players live in slum areas
4.The writer mentions all the factors that may affect a soccer player’s success except ______.
A. his family background B. his neighborhood
C. his character D. his practice
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, is the best place in Europe for discovering dinosaur bones. Dinosaur Farm Museum was established in 1993. Since then, the museum has introduced the study of old bones to many more people.
What we offer
Visitors can enjoy our displays, or watch us cleaning dinosaur bones and other fossils found on the island’s beaches.
The museum has a variety of different fossils, many of them never displayed to the public before. As more are discovered all the time, you can be sure of seeing something new each time you visit.
We have a free Fossil Identification Service, so you can bring in any fossils you have and find out what they are. In addition, we have a reasonably-priced Museum Shop, where you can buy a souvenir of your visit. You could also bring a picnic and relax in our special picnic area.
Activities
Fossil hunts are organized from the museum and run all year round. Groups of up to 25 are guided on a local beach where they can search for fossils. All these hunts are fully licensed and insured, and guides can help to identify any fossils found and point out things of interest.
Due to the popularity of these hunts, all trips must be booked by a personal visit to Dinosaur Farm Museum.
Did you know…?
The BBC programme “Live from Dinosaur Island” was filmed along the coast here, and Dinosaur Farm Museum was the base for the television crew.
Find out more
Check out our website at www.isleofwight/dinosaurfarm to learn in detail how we dig for dinosaurs. You can also read about the many different kinds of dinosaurs which lived in this area, which was connected to Europe 120 million years ago.
1.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. The Isle of Wight is the best place in the world for discovering dinosaur bones.
B. There is a special picnic area for vistors.
C. The museum has a variety of different fossils which have been displayed to the public before.
D. Vistors can also find many different kinds of dinosaurs that live there.
2.One can book a fossil hunt ______.
A. through a BBC program
B. through the museum’s website
C. by making a call to the museum
D. by visiting the museum personally
3.Which of the following is free of charge at the museum?
A. Food for a picnic.
B. Attending fossil hunts.
C. A souvenir of the museum.
D. Having fossils identified.
4.The passage is most probably taken from ______.
A. a conference interview
B. a travel magazine
C. a history book
D. a science fiction
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
I turned 16 on Friday, but the Driver’s License Office in my small hometown was only open on Tuesday, so I had to wait through that extremely long weekend and an endless Monday before going in for my examination.
I came to the Driver’s License Office half an hour earlier that Tuesday morning, pacing back and forth on the worn porch waiting for the office to open at eight. I reviewed the driver’s manual for the hundredth time. I was ready. I knew the manual backward and forward; I had made an “A” in my driver’s training course, and I was a genius behind the wheel.
Finally, the door opened and a weary-looking man in a brown uniform let me in.
“Let me guess. You want to take the driver’s test.” his voice was not enthusiastic.
“Yes!” I answered in excitement.
“Ok, fill this out, and if you pass we’ll go for a drive.”
I grabbed the test and rushed to the desk where I filled it out in record time. A quick check showed that my paper was perfect.
“Let’s get in the car.” He tossed me a set of keys, and I slid behind the wheel. Everything was going smoothly as we pulled out of the empty parking lot. I signaled a right hand turn, and we were on a deserted street. This was going to be easy.
“Turn left and go up Young Blood Hill,” he ordered. My hometown is in the mountains, and Young Blood Hill was almost vertical (垂直的). As I eased up the steep hill and came to a stop at the top, I heard the car’s engine die. My heart sank. I would have to start it again without rolling back down the hill. I swallowed hard and turned the key; as I moved my foot from the brake, the car began to roll. I suppose I could have rolled all the way back to the bottom except for one thing. There was something behind me which stopped my roll with a rough shake and crash of glass—a police car.
The policeman wrote me a ticket as I looked over the damage, and the man from the Driver’s License Office slid behind the wheel. I waited until we had parked before I asked how long a person had to wait before taking the test again.
1.What time does “that Tuesday morning” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. The morning when he made an “A” in his driver’s training course.
B. The morning when he knew the driver’s manual perfectly well.
C. The Tuesday morning right before his 16th birthday.
D. The first Tuesday morning immediately after his 16th birthday.
2.Why didn’t the car roll back to the bottom?
A. It hit a police car.
B. The engine died.
C. The writer braked it hard.
D. The man from the Driver’s License Office helped make it stop.
3.From the underlined sentence “I grabbed the test and rushed to the desk where I filled it out in record time”, we can know that ______ .
A. the writer didn’t like the man from the Driver’s License Office.
B. the writer was excited and eager to go for the driver’s test.
C. time for the test was tight.
D. the test paper was very easy.
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. The man from the Driver’s License Office got a ticket.
B. The policeman drove the car away after the accident.
C. The writer failed the driving test.
D. The writer didn’t want to take the driving test again.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
When you're surfing the Internet on your laptop from your dorm or home, do you know your personal details are being gathered secretly? And would you be surprised to know the information may be sold cheaply to advertisers and marketers?
According to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, all it takes is a tiny file in a computer－a single code consisting of a long series of numbers and letters－to record the computer user's age, gender, location, favorite movies and hobbies.
The newspaper reports that Lotame Solutions Inc., a New York company, uses an advanced software called “beacon” to capture what people are typing on a website.
Lotame packages that data into profiles (个人资料) about individuals, only without their names, and sells the profiles to companies seeking customers. Batches of such data may be sold for a few dollars.
The Wall Street Journal survey discovered that spying on Internet users is one of the fastestgrowing businesses on the World Wide Web.
The “cookie”－a tiny text file put on your PC by websites or marketing firms which might be used to remember your preferences for one site, or to track you across many sites is already old news. There are new and more complex tools such as “beacon” which scan in real time what people are doing on a webpage. These beacons instantly assess the Internet user's location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions.
Millions of Internet users around the world also face unprecedented (空前的) threats. Private, sensitive, personal and business information is being gathered and sold without their knowledge.
Companies insist the information they gather is anonymous(匿名的) and the data is used harmlessly. But the technology has grown so powerful that even some of the biggest websites in the US don't know that they were installing intrusive files on visitors' computers. These include MSN.com and Yahoo.com.
Next time you visit a webpage and find an ad banner advertising something you've been planning to buy, don't be amazed that your computer can read your mind.
1.The purpose of the passage is to ______.
A. introduce a tiny file in a computer－a single code
B. show how your individual information was let out when you surf the Internet
C. show how to protect your privacy
D. introduce a sophisticated software called “beacon”
2.All of the following statements are not true EXCEPT ______.
A. Lotame sells the profiles about individuals to companies seeking customers with their age, gender, location, hobbies and names
B. spying on Internet users is the fastestgrowing business on the World Wide Web
C. some of the biggest websites in the US know they were installing intrusive files on visitors' computers
D. a tiny file in a computer－a single code consisting of a long series of numbers and letters can record the user's information
3.What’s the writer’s attitude to the issue?
A. neutral B. optimistic C. worried D. indifferent
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。
Wrong Reasons for Going to College
A college education can be priceless. 1. If any of these following factors had a big influence on your decision, you’re probably right to second-guess yourself.
Because all your friends are going.
In only a few weeks’ time, the whole friend group will be scattered to a half dozen different colleges in a half dozen different places. Not to go will set yourself apart. 2.
Because someone else expects it from you.
Perhaps you come from a family where everyone goes to college, or maybe you’re the kid that everyone is proud to believe will be the first to get there. 3. It’s become so much a part of the air you breathe that you’ve never stopped to consider whether you want to go or whether you’re ready to go.
4.
It’s been tough to find even a summer job. You don’t have an alternative plan. Everyone else is doing it (see above). You think you might as well go to school. That is the lamest（无说服力的）of reasons to spend $ 20,000 or more in the next year.
Because you are afraid you’ll regret it if you don’t go.
Your uncle tells you that he regrets that he didn’t go to college. Others tell you they could have gone so much further in their career if only they had a college education. 5. So this is not a persuasive reason for you to go to college.
A. Because you don’t want to work.
B. Friends will wonder what’s wrong with you.
C. Because you don’t know what else to do.
D. Everyone seems more excited than you are.
E. It seems that for years everyone has just thought that of course you’ll go.
F. Whatever the story is, there are always people who regret decisions they’ve made.
G. But maybe in your heart you know that you are going for the wrong reasons.
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。
My father was a self-taught mandolin (曼陀铃) player. He was one of the best string ________ players in our town. He could not ________ music, but if he heard a tune a few times, he could play it.
Dad loved to play the mandolin for his ________ for he knew we enjoyed singing, and hearing him play. He was always there, ________ his time and efforts to making sure that his family had enough in their life. I had grown into a man and had children of my own ________ I realized how much he had sacrificed.
I joined the United States Air________ in January of 1962. Whenever I would come home ________ , I would ask Dad to play the mandolin. He could ________ your soul with the tones that came out of that old mandolin. He seemed to shine when he was playing. You could see his ________ in his ability to play so well for his family.
In 1950, our family moved to Maryland. While working at Todd Steel, he was ________ in an accident. On that particular day, Dad got the third index finger of his left hand ________ by the machine. ________ he didn’t lose enough of the finger where it would stop him picking up anything, it did ________ his ability to play the mandolin. After the accident, every time we asked him to play, he would make ________ for why he couldn’t play. Eventually, we could persuade him and he would say, “Okay. But I can’t hold down on the strings and play as well as before.” For the family it didn’t make any ________ .
In August of 1993, my father was discovered with lung cancer. He chose not to receive treatments so that he could live out the rest of his life ________ dignity. About a week before his death, we asked Dad if he would play the mandolin for us. He made excuses but said “okay”. He knew it would probably be the ________ time he would play for us. He tuned up the old mandolin and played a few ________ . When I looked around, there was not a ________ eye in the family. We saw before us a quiet man with an inner strength. Dad would never play the mandolin for us again. Dad was doing something he had done all his life, ________ . As sick as he was, he was still pleasing others. Dad surely could play that Mandolin!
1.A. equipment B. musical C. instrument D. musician
2.A. copy B. see C. look at D. read
3.A. family B. employer C. friends D. audience
4.A. applying B. paying C. devoting D. attaching
5.A. since B. while C. before D. after
6.A. Force B. Energy C. Power D. Strength
7.A. on duty B.on leave C. on holiday D. on vacation
8.A. touch B. contact C. feel D. keep
9.A. proud B. praise C. please D. pride
10.A. took part B. participated C. joined D. involved
11.A. cut in B. cut off C. cut up D. cut out
12.A. Although B. If C. Whether D. Because
13.A. destroy B. affect C. effect D. injure
14.A. uses B. preparations C. impressions D. excuses
15.A. comment B. sense C. difference D. decision
16.A. at B. on C. with D. off
17.A. first B. latest C. last D. longest
18.A. bills B. notes C. symbols D. signs
19.A. wet B. dry C. cried D. crying
20.A. sponsoring B. giving C. distributing D. taking
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。
My wife is addicted to shopping on the Internet. 1. seems that she can’t control herself well, just clicking constantly with the mouse. Let me tell what happened last night.
It was the fourth time she 2. (shop) online for hours. I had already reminded her 3. (think) twice before buying anything, but my wife ignored what I said and replied
confidently, “With the New Year 4. (approach), preparation is necessary. Besides, I haven’t bought things on the Internet for a WHOLE week.” Hearing her words, I was really 5. (speech). In most cases, the things she bought aren’t good value for money. Maybe she just enjoys 6. process of buying online.
Nowadays, 7. the development of technology, online shopping is becoming more and more convenient. Those 8. stay at home can buy whatever they want. In the meanwhile, it causes a series of 9. (problem). One of them is more spending, because people are 10. (easy) attracted by the discount. So how to keep a good state of mind in front of temptation is an important lesson many people need to learn.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
下文中共有10处语言错误，在错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），在其下面写上该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。
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11处起）不记分。
On a Friday night, a poor young artist was playing with his violin at a street corner with a large piece of paper on the ground. Before long, he was surrounding with people, who were all attracted by the word on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman put an important thing into my hat with mistake. Please come to claim them soon.” Seeing this, people wondered why it could be. Some time later, a man came and take back his lottery which won a prize of ＄500,000. When asked why he didn’t keep it for himself, artist said, “While I don’t have much money, I live happy. However, if I lose honest, I won’t be happy forever.”
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
假如你是李华，Sara是你的英文笔友，她在微博上发帖求助。你就她的帖子中所提出的问题，简要分析其原因，并给出一些建议。
| Hi，recently I’ve been bothered a lot for I always fail to carry on the goals I set. Various obstacles (障碍物) are always getting in my way. Could you give me some suggestions on how to start realizing my goals? |
写作要点： 1. 就这个问题告诉Sara你的观点；
2. 简要分析其原因；
3. 给Sara提出解决问题的具体建议。
注意： 1. 信的开头、结尾已为你写好，但不计入总词数；
2. 词数120左右。
Hi, Sara,
As a student of your age, I understand your situation. __________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析