Silence is unnatural to man．He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness．In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he fears silence more than anything else．Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence．If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox （喋喋不休的人）．He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure （蜡塑人像）．
The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound．There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito （蚊子）．But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person．Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind．He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing -with his neighbors．
Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish 1:0 talk．Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new．Some of them are content ．if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new, plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel．At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists．According to the author, people make conversation to .
| A．exchange ideas | B．prove their value |
| C．achieve success m life | D．overcome their fear of silence |
By "the buzzing of a fly" （Para．1）, the author means"_____".
| A．the noise of an insect | B．a low whispering sound |
| C．meaningless talks | D．the voice of a chatterbox |
According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors___ ．
| A．about whatever they have prepared |
| B．about whatever they want to |
| C．in the hope of learning something new |
| D．in the hope of getting on well |
What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To discuss why people like talking about weather． |
| B．To encourage people to join in conversations． |
| C．To persuade people to stop making noises． |
| D．To explain why people keep talking． |
In 1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business ．But he was not a good artist ．So he invented a very simple camera ．He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden ．That was the first photo．
The next important date in the history of photography (摄影术) was in 1837．That year, Daguere, another Frenchman ,took a picture of his reading room ．He used a new kind of camera in a different way．In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing．This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype．
Soon, other people began to use Daguerre’sway．Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world ．people took pictures of famous buildings, cities and mountains．
In about 1840, photography was developed ．Then photographers could take picture of people and moving things ．That was not simple ．The photographers had to carry a lot of films and other machines．But this did not stop them ,for example, some in the United States worked so hard．
Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer．He took many pictures of great people ．The picture were unusual because they were very lifelike(栩栩如生的)
Photographers also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century ．Some photos were not just copies of the real world ．They showed feelings, like other kinds of art．The first photo taken by Niepce was a picture of ____________
| A．his business |
| B．his house |
| C．his garden |
| D．his window |
The Daguerrotype was____________．
| A．a Frenchman |
| B．a photographer |
| C．a kind of camera |
| D．a kind of picture |
If a photographer wanted to take pictures of moving things in the year of 1840, he had to_________．
| A．watch lots of films |
| B．buy an expensive camera |
| C．stop in most cities |
| D．take many films and something else with him |
You can call Zhang Ying if you want to _________________．
| A．sell a bike |
| B．buy a bike |
| C．have your bike repaired |
| D．borrow a bike |
If you want to find a job, and you can speak English, you can call ____________
| A．843-429065 |
| B．228-940605 |
| C．843-316065 |
| D．422-389506 |
One of the reasons why Li Ming wants someone to share his room is that __________．
| A．he wants to live near the campus |
| B．he wants to improve his English |
| C．he wants his washer, dryer and kitchen to be used |
| D．he wants someone to use his kitchen |
Robert Waller wishes to rent a room__________________．
| A．near the school |
| B．far away from the school |
| C．inside the school |
| D．outside the city |
The child of today owes much of its pleasant school life to the work of Maria Montessori and others who felt as she did．
Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in northern Italy．Both her parents were well educated．
While Maria was a student, she took great interest in the study of the particular nature of the child's mind． It came to her that small children should have freedom to learn．
Maria became a doctor and a professor at Rome University．In 1907, after working with backward students, she was given a chance to try out her ideas on children．There were sixty children, aged three to six, in the Children's House．The rooms were bright and colorful．Maria let the children make their own choice of what they wanted to do and work with their own speed． They became busy, peaceful and happy．
Maria Montessori was one of the world's great teachers．She traveled in Europe, America and Far East．She thought that true education, providing(提供) for the real needs of the child, would produce wise and happy grown-ups and therefore a peaceful world． Her original way of education has changed our whole idea of what childhood is．
Maria Montessori died in Holland at the age of eighty-two．The short passage is mainly about_________．
| A．the education of backward students |
| B．a new idea of education |
| C．the importance of proper education |
| D．the life of Maria Montessori |
Maria traveled a lot in the world to ________．．
| A．teach the backward students |
| B．enjoy her life in real nature |
| C．spread her ideas of teaching |
| D．study the situation of education |
In what way did Maria teach the children in the Children's House?
| A．She taught them the best way of learning well． |
| B．She let them learn in a very pleasant way． |
| C．She taught them by showing them how to do things． |
| D．She just let them choose the most interesting subjects． |
We learn from the passage that ________．
| A．Maria left her homeland in order to study abroad |
| B．Maria didn't get married |
| C．Maria's own parents were her teachers |
| D．Maria fully understood the child's mind |
Habits, whether good or bad, are gradually formed． When a person does a certain thing again, he is driven by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly, then a habit is formed． Once a habit is formed, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get rid of．It is therefore very important that we should pay great attention to the formation of habits．Children often form bad habits, some of which remain with them as long as they live．Older persons also form bad habits lasting as long as they live, and sometimes become ruined by them．
There are other habits which, when formed in early life, are of great help．Many successful men say that much of their success has something to do with certain habits in early life, such as early rising, honesty and so on．
Among the habits which children should not form are laziness, lying, stealing and so on．These are all easily formed habits．Unfortunately older persons often form habits which could have been avoided ．
We should keep away from all these bad habits, and try to form such habits as will be good for ourselves and others．________ are formed little by little．
| A．Good habits |
| B．Bad habits |
| C．Both good habits and bad habits |
| D．Either good habits or bad habits |
The underlined word "them" in the first paragraph refers to ________．
| A．bad habits |
| B．good habits |
| C．children |
| D．other persons． |
Why should we pay much attention to the formation of habits?
| A．Because habits are of great help to every one of us． |
| B．Because a man can never get rid of a habit． |
| C．Because it's hard and sometimes even impossible to throw away bad habits． |
| D．Because we are forced to do them again and again． |
According to the passage, early rising ________．
| A．has something to do with success |
| B．is an easily formed habit |
| C．is such a habit as should have been avoided |
| D．is such a habit as will be kept |
Directions：Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
LT123 Workshops
‘I’m pleased to say that 2015 is our third year sponsoring the IATEFL information desk．This year, we are running three workshops covering some of the key areas of our wide-ranging special skills: testing, editing and vocabulary．We how to see you.’
—— Russell Whitehead Director
Vocabulary testing: why, what and how? By Felicity O’ Dell & Russell Whitehead
Saturday 11thApril 3:50-4:35 pm Charter 4
Should vocabulary be one of the language features that we test and, if so, why? What vocabulary - and what aspects of vocabulary - should we focus on in our tests? What methods can we use to test vocabulary?
We will discuss answers to these questions, considering the strengths and weaknesses of different types of vocabulary test for different teaching contexts.
There’s something missing from your project - the editor! By David Baker & Fiona MacKenzie
Sunday 12 April 10:25-11:10 am Charter 8
Big publishing companies no longer offer the single route to publication．Whether you are self-publishing, a teaching institution developing its own materials, or a digital start-up, in a highly competitive environment it isn’t enough to write something and just put it out there.
Quality still matters - you can’t afford to forget one of the key roles in successful publishing.
Vocabulary levels: which words are at which level? By Stephen Bullon
Monday 13thApril 1:35-2:20 pm Charter 8
While students develop their competence in the four skills and in their ability to master grammatical structures, they are together building their vocabulary.
We will try to establish the standards involved in selecting appropriate vocabulary at the various levels students pass through: frequency, teaching requirements, and register are all factors that need to be weighed in the balance.
LT123 is the new name for Language Testing 123, and we are proud sponsors of the 49thAnnual
International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition.
Manchester, April 2015.
To help improve vocabulary teaching and testing, the workshops will focus on ________．
| A．how to employ more scientific methods in vocabulary testing |
| B．how to test vocabulary as the most important language feature |
| C．what advanced standards to set for the students of different levels |
| D．what to be concentrated on rather than four basic language skills |
From this handout we can know that ________．
| A．the audience are editors in the field of language teaching |
| B．the director of LT123 will be talking in one of the workshops |
| C．some publishing companies will sponsor similar workshops soon |
| D．each workshop lasts 45 minutes in the same meeting room |
What is the purpose of this handout?
| A．To sell newly published books on language testing． |
| B．To get the audience informed of the events |
| C．To show the breakthrough in vocabulary teaching． |
| D．To attract the attention of the host of 2015 IATEFL. |