第二卷（共35分）第四部分：写作（共两节，满分35分）第一节-优题课

Domestic (驯养的) horses now pull ploughs, race in the Kentucky Derby, and carry police. But early horses weren’t tame (驯服的) enough to perform these kinds of tasks. Scientists think the first interactions humans had with horses were far different from those today.
Thousands of years ago, people killed the wild horses that lived around them for food. Over time, people began to catch the animals and raise them. This was the first step in domestication.
As people began to tame and ride horses, they chose to keep those animals that had more desirable characteristics. For example, people may have chosen to keep horses that had a gentle personality so they could be ridden more easily. People who used horses to pull heavy loads would have chosen to keep stronger animals. Characteristics like strength are partly controlled by the animals’ genes. So as the domesticated horses reproduced, they passed the characteristics on to their young. Each new generation of horses would show more of these chosen characteristics.
Modern-day horse breeds（种类） come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This variety didn’t exist in the horse population before domestication. The Shetland horse is one of the smallest breeds— typically reaching only one meter tall. With short, strong legs, the animals were bred to pull coal out of mine shafts (矿井) with low ceilings. Huge horses like the Clydesdale came on the scene around 1700. People bred these heavy, tall horses to pull large vehicles used for carrying heavy loads.
The domestication of horses has had great effects on societies. For example, horses were important tools in the advancement of modern agriculture. Using them to pull ploughs and carry heavy loads allowed people to farm more efficiently. Before they were able to ride horses, humans had to cross land on foot. Riding horses allowed people to travel far greater distance in much less time. That encouraged populations living in different areas to interact with one another. The new form of rapid transportation helped cultures spread around the world.
Before domestication horses were ______.

A．caught for sports	B．hunted for food
C．made to pull ploughs	D．used to carry people

The author uses the Shetland horse as an example to show ______.

A．it is smaller than the Clydesdale horse

B．horses used to have gentle personalities

C．some horses have better shapes than others

D．horses were of less variety before domestication

Horses contributed to the spread of culture by ______.

A．carrying heavy loads	B．changing farming methods
C．serving as a means of transport	D．advancing agriculture in different areas

The passage is mainly about _______.

A．why humans domesticated horses

B．how humans and horses needed each other

C．why horses came in different shapes and sizes

D．how human societies and horses influenced each other

Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. “I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts（工作班次）are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school.”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just ￡90, before tax and insurance. “It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra.”
The hours she’s chosen to work mean that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn’t think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn’t physically very hard, but it’s not exactly pleasant, either. “I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they’d be a bit more careful.”
The fact that she’s working all night doesn’t worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. “Since I’ve got to be here, I try to enjoy myself—— and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags.”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living. “They think you’re a cleaner because you don’t know how to read and write,” said Margaret, “I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I’d been doing, but I don’t think that way any more. I don’t dislike the work though I can’t say I’m mad about it.”
Margaret quit her job as a nurse because _______.

A．she wanted to earn more money to support her family

B．she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

C．she needed the right time to look after her children

D．she felt tired of taking care of patients

Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because _______.

A．they never clean their offices

B．they look down upon cleaners

C．they never do their work carefully

D．they always make a mess in their offices

When at work, Margaret feels _______.

A．light-hearted because of her fellow workers

B．happy because the building is fully lit

C．tired because of the heavy workload

D．bored because time passes slowly

The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret’s parents would _______.

A．help care for her children

B．regret what they had said

C．show sympathy for her

D．feel disappointed in her

阅读下面短文,根据以下提示:1)汉语提示,2)首字母提示,3)语境提示,在每个空格内填入一个适当的单词,并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上. 所填单词要求意义准确,拼写正确.
An American best-seller has been popular among the students in our
School_______(最近)．It is so inspiring that I would like 76._____
to recommend it to you．This book，Chicken Soup for the Soul,
wby Jack Canfield77.______first appeared______1993 and soon became a best-seller．78.______
It will surely inspire readers of all______(年龄)．79.______
It has been put into many languages，spreading love to
all over the world. B，an English version80._____
is of g ___ help to us English learners as it will help 81.____
improve our English．It costs 64 yuan, ______you can get 82.____
it for 54.4 yuan through online shopping，which will__ (节省) 83.____
you 9.6 yuan．You can order it at www.dangdang.com，and g ___ 84.____
the book within one week after your payment．
For more ______please visit the website．85.______

语法填空（共10小题，每小题1.5分，满分15分）
Exercise is good for you, but most people really know very little about __31___ to exercise properly. So when you try, you __32___ run into trouble.
Many people believe that when specific muscles are exercised, the fat in the neighbouring area is “burned up”. Yet the truth is __33___ exercise burns fat from all over the body.
Studies show muscles which are not exercised lose their strength very quickly. To regain it __34___ (need) 48-72 hours and exercise every other day will keep a normal level of physical strength.
To lose weight you should always “work up a good sweat” when __35___ (exercise). Sweating only reduces body temperature to prevent heating. This is nothing __36___ water loss.
Walking is the best and easy-to-do exercise. ___37__ helps the circulation of blood throughout the body, and has a direct effect ___38__ your overall feeling of health. Experience says that 20 minutes’ exercise __39___ day is minimum amount. But if your breathing doesn’t return to normal state within minutes __40___ you finish exercising, you’ve done too much.

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为31～40的相应位置上。
Chinese proverbs are rich and they are still widely used in Chinese people’s daily life. 31these proverbs, there are often interesting stories. For example, the proverb, “plucking up a crop 32(help) it grow”, is based on the following story.
It is said that a short-tempered man in the Song Dynasty (960 — 1279) was very anxious to help 33rice crop grow up quickly. He was thinking about 34 day and night. But the crop was growing much slower than he expected.
One day, he came up with an idea 35he would pluck up all of his crop a few inches. He did so the next day.
He was very tired 36doing this for a whole day, 37he felt very happy since the crop did “grow” 38(high).
His son heard about this and went to see the crop. Unfortunately the leaves of the crop began to wither.
This proverb is saying we have to let things go in their 39(nature) course. Being too anxious to help an event develop often 40(result) in the contrary to our intention.