Today is my first day at Merchiston Castle School,and I was really nervous about it, because I have never visited the school before and didn’t take any summer course. Despite my anxiety,I soon relaxed once I arrived; the staff were so nice that I felt my spoken English was better than it actually was! As soon as I walked into the dayroom of my boarding house,I was absolutely(完全地) amazed by the friendly atmosphere; everyone was so friendly that a boy as shy as I had no difficulty in setting in,and I made many new friends on my very first day,although I was struggling to remember all the names.
Also I realized there were other international students in the house from all over the world,such as South Korea,Japan and Russia.Although their English was not so fluent,it didn’t take long for us to understand each other at all.In some ways,it was even better to practice Enlgish by speaking to the international students,because we were both learning.
As a boarder,the quality of food is something I consider very important,and Merchiston has not let me down.The school kitchens are run by a professional catering company,and the quality of food is excellent,also they take the issue of a healthy diet really seriously.I remember once I was asked to take more salad for my meal by a member of the kitchen staff for I did not have enough vegetables.This brings to another point of being a boarder:you need to learn how to look after yourself and be responsible for yourself.One of the huge advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school,which means we don’t have to pull ourselves out of the bed as early as the daypupils!Why was the writer nervous when he was at Merchiston Castle School on the first day?
| A．Because he had no friends and relatives there. |
| B．Because he didn’t know the school well. |
| C．Because he was not good at English. |
| D．Because he was shy. |
On the first day, .
| A．though the writer was anxious,he soon relaxed |
| B．he found the dayroom of his boarding house terrible |
| C．he made many new friends,but he didn’t remember any of their names |
| D．he thought he spoke English better than the staff in the school |
Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?
| A．In the boarding house,there are only students from South Korea,Japan and Russia. |
| B．The international students in the boarding house don’t speak Englsih very fluently. |
| C．The food in Merchiston doesn’t make the writer disappiointed. |
| D．The professional catering company thinks the issue of a healthy diet is very important. |
The underlined word“boarder”in the first paragraph means“ ”.
| A．a student who is from abroad | B．a student who lives at school |
| C．a student who is good at English | D．a student who used to be shy |
Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute miles? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human Being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proved it wrong in 1954.
What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when someone, who doesn't know how to swim, falls in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learnt swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal doesn't.
Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. Most people never question it. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam（堵塞） if the operator typed too fast.
These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers command to your nervous system.
I used a snake in my workshops for children to show them how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes are slippery and slimy and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.
Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change?In the author’s opinion, if a person in deep water doesn’t know how to swim, he will drown because______.
| A．he is afraid of water. |
| B．he believes he will drown. |
| C．he hasn’t learnt to swim before. |
| D．he don’t want to live in the world. |
The author thinks that the letters organized in a particular order on your keyboard in order to ______
A. save more space
B. satisfy the operator
C.reduce one’s typing speed
D increase one’s typing speedThe author’s experiment shows that____
| A．snakes are dry and clean |
| B．snakes can be caught easily |
| C．snakes are slimy and poisonous |
| D．snakes in India aren’t poisonous |
According to the passage, we know that_____
| A．students from India have unrealistic beliefs on how to live a better life |
| B．an animal who hasn’t learnt how to swim will drown if you put it in pond. |
| C．most people don’t like the order the letters are arranged on your keyboard |
| D．Roger Banister was the first person who ran a mile in less than four minutes. |
The main idea of this passage should be that______.
| A．Beliefs are very powerful. |
| B．Beliefs make us seem stupid. |
| C．Changing your beliefs now is necessary. |
| D．People should always believe in themselves. |
John Fisher, a builder, and his wife Elizabeth wanted more living space, so they left their small flat for an old 40-meter-high castle tower. They have spent five years turning it into a beautiful home with six floors, winning three architectural prizes.
“I love the space, and being private,” Elizabeth says. “You feel separated from the world. If I am in the kitchen, which is 25 meters above the ground floor, and the doorbell rings, I don’t have to answer it because visitors can’t see I am in!”
There are 142 steps to the top so if I go up and down five or six times a day, it’s very good exercise! But having to carry heavy things to the top is terrible, so I never buy more than two bags of shopping from the supermarket at a time. Except for that, it’s a brilliant place to live.
“When we first saw the place, I asked my father’s advice about buying it, because we couldn’t decide. After paying for it, we were a bit worried because it looked awful. But we really loved it, and knew how we wanted it to look.”
“Living here can be difficult—yesterday I climbed a four-meter ladder to clean the windows. But when you stand on the roof you can see all the way out to the sea on a clear day, and that’s a wonderful experience. I am really glad we moved. ”What is the writer trying to do in the text?
| A．describe how to turn an old tower into a house |
| B．recommend(推荐) a particular builder |
| C．describe what it is like to live in a tower |
| D．explain how to win prizes for building work |
Which of the following best describes Elizabeth’s feelings about the tower?
| A．She wanted it as soon as she saw it. |
| B．She likes most things about it. |
| C．She has been worried since they paid for it. |
| D．She finds it unsuitable to live in. |
What problem does Elizabeth have with living in such a tall building?
| A．Her visitors find it hard to see if she is at home. |
| B．She feels separated from others. |
| C．She cannot bring home lots of shopping at once. |
| D．It is impossible to clean any of the windows. |
How will John and Elizabeth advertise their tower if they sell it?
A． |
B． |
C． |
D． |
Parents whose children show a special interest in a particular sport feel it very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers. Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men and women? For many children it means starting school work very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place. It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing.
Another problem is of course money. In many countries money for training is available from government for the very best young sportsmen and women. If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development—and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc. can all be very expensive.
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age. Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed. Professional trainers, however, believe that it is only by training young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person. It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training.This article is most probably taken from________.
| A．a letter |
| B．an advertisement |
| C．a personal diary |
| D．a newspaper article |
According to the passage, parents whose children show a special interest in a sport_______.
| A．feel uncertain if they should let their children train to be sports men or women |
| B．try to get financial（财务的）support from the government for their children’s training |
| C．have to get medical advice from doctors about training methods |
| D．prefer their children to be trained as young as possible |
The underlined phrase“to take a second place”means_________.
| A．to repeat the activities at some other place |
| B．to become less important |
| C．all things considered, they are of poor quality |
| D．to happen again |
Strange things happen when you travel, because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones. The time difference between two zones is one hour. You can have days with more than twenty-four hours and days with fewer than twenty- four hours. You can have weeks with more than seven days and weeks with fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-trip across the Atlantic Ocean , your ship come into a different time zone every day. As you come into each zone, the time changes one hour. If you travel west, you set your watch back. If you travel east, you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you make a trip by ship across the Pacific Ocean , you cross the International Date Line. This is the point where a new day begins when you cross the line, you change one full day. If you travel east, today becomes yesterday, if you travel west it is tomorrow.Something interesting will happen to the time if you travel because .
| A．a day has always fewer than twenty-four hours |
| B．a day has always more than twenty- four hours |
| C．a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours, |
| D．some time zones are large and some time zones are small |
The time difference between two time zones is .
| A．twenty-four hours | B．one hour |
| C．two hours | D．twenty-three hours |
If we cross the Atlantic Ocean, we .
| A．change one full day | B．set our watch back |
| C．set our watch ahead | D．set our watch back or ahead |
If we travel east across the International Date Line on July 5th, the date becomes July.
| A．3rd | B．4th | C．5th | D．6th |
Which of the following sentences is true?
| A． If we travel around the world, we will get into trouble in telling the time. |
| B．If we travel west across the Atlantic Ocean, we will have twenty-three hours. |
| C． If we travel by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, we will cross the International Date Line. |
| D． If we travel across the Pacific Ocean, today becomes tomorrow. |
A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely dipping below 16℃.Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate. Without the forest cover, these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere，warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns, potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.
In the past hundred years, humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources (资源): land for crops, wood for paper and other products, land for raising farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example，a lot of carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, when people cut down trees, generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly, cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now, but in the long run it actually reduces the world’ s wood supply.
Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However, fewer than 1% of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.Why did humans destroy rainforests in the past hundred years?
| A．They tried to get crops and paper |
| B．They needed other products |
| C．They wanted to raise farm animals |
| D．They aimed to get three major resources. |
Rainforests can help to adjust the climate because they________.
| A．reflect more heat into the atmosphere |
| B．bring about high rainfall throughout the world |
| C．rarely cause the temperature to drop lower than 16℃ |
| D．reduce the effect of heat from the sun on the earth |
What does the word “this” underlined in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．We will lose much more than we can gain. |
| B．Humans have begun destroying rainforests. |
| C．People have a strong desire for resources. |
| D．Much carbon dioxide comes from burning rainforests. |
It can be inferred from the text that________.
| A．we can get enough resources without rainforests |
| B．there is great medicine potential in rainforests |
| C．we will grow fewer kinds of crops in the gained land |
| D．the level of annual rainfall affects wind patterns |
What might be the best title for the text?
| A．How to Save Rainforests |
| B．How to Protect Nature |
| C．Rainforests and the Environment |
| D．Rainforests and Medical Development |