Well, when the huge wave hit the boat, my safety belt broke and I was swept overboard. I don’t really understand how it happened, but it did. I heard someone yell out, but then my boat, Wild One, went off into the darkness and I was alone in a very rough sea. I then spent five and a half hours in the water. The place where it happened was, oh, about 50 kilometers from shore. It was likely that I wouldn’t see another day, but I always thought I’d overcome the difficulties. At first I was watching out for Wild One. The rest of the crew knew I was gone, so they were sure to come back and look for me. After a while, I saw the boat’s lights when it came looking for me. They were within about 300 meters of me, but the spotlight just missed me. The reason why they didn’t see me was because of the huge waves. You know, I started sailing when I was seven, and started ocean racing when I was about eighteen, but I’d never been overboard before. I believed I was going to survive, but it was very cold, and as the hours passed I started to get desperate——and frozen! It was around 5 am when I saw the lights of a tanker coming towards me. I figured it was probably my last chance. At first, I thought they were going to miss me, and then they made a slight turn and I yelled out “Help!” and they heard me. Then another yacht appeared. These guys were terrific. They gave me dry clothes, and then one jumped into the bunk and hung onto me. They covered us with as much dry clothing as they could, and the guy in with me stayed to transfer his body heat to me.The author of the passage was alone in the sea NOT because ______.
| A．the wind was too strong | B．the wave hit the boat |
| C．the safety belt was broken | D．his boat was in the darkness |
He was not saved by his crew because _______.
| A．he didn’t yell out “Help!” | B．300 meters was long distance |
| C．he was not found | D．he didn’t see the spotlight |
It was inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．he was swept overboard at about midnight |
| B．Wild One was the name of a crew member |
| C．he started ocean racing at about seven |
| D．he was too hopeless to take the last chance |
One of the guys who saved him jumped into the bunk in order to ________.
| A．cover him with more dry clothes |
| B．warm him with his body heat |
| C．comfort him |
| D．congratulate him |
When I was quite young, I discovered that somewhere inside the telephone lived an amazingperson - "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know.
One day while my mother was out, I hit my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there was no one home to give me any sympathy. I walked around the house, finally arriving at the telephone! Quickly, I called “Information Please" and told her what happened.She told me to open the icebox and hold a little piece of ice to my finger.
After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. When my pet bird died, I told "Information Please" the sad story. She tried to comfort me, she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better.Another day I was on the telephone, “How do you spell ‘grateful’? ". All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was 9, we moved to Boston.
A few years later, on my way to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes. Without thinking, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information, please."
Surprisingly, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well, "Information." I hadn’t planned on this but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell ‘grateful’?"
There was a long pause. Then came the soft-spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."I laughed. "So it’s really still you," I said, "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time."I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and asked if I could call her again. "Please do," she said, "Just ask for Sally."
Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered me. I was told that Sally passed away five weeks before.
Before I could hang up she told me that Sally left a message for me—“Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He’ll know what I mean.”I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.
Never underestimate the impression you may make on others. Whose life have you touched today? What does “Information, Please” refer to in the passage?
| A．An amazing girl. |
| B．A special kind of telephone. |
| C．A communication system. |
| D．A service that helps telephone users. |
What happened to the little boy one day when he was at home alone?
| A．He was amused by the telephone. |
| B．He hurt his finger with a hammer. |
| C．He found an amazing telephone. |
| D．He got a piece of ice from an icebox. |
What did “Information, Please” give the little boy whenever he was in trouble?
| A．Information and conversation. |
| B．Good memories and happiness. |
| C．Sympathy and information. |
| D．Friendship and cheers. |
When did the author get in touch with “Information, Please” again after he moved to Boston?
| A．When he was in trouble on his way to college. |
| B．When his plane stopped in Seattle for half an hour. |
| C．When he went back to Seattle to visit his sister. |
| D．Three months later after he moved to Boston. |
Welcome to Cöteborg University
Cöteborg University is one of Sweden’s largest and most popular universities.
We are very proud of this and believe that there are several reasons for our popularity. The principal reasons we believe to be the high quality of our education and research and the broad range of courses that we offer. In addition to this, Cöteborg University provides an attractive and exceptionally（格外的）high-standard study environment. Most parts of the university are situated in the city centre and this enriches city life as well as student life.
Cöteborg has a lot to offer its students: it has a rich and varied cultural life with many theatres, concerts and festivals. For those looking for outdoor life, forests and vast recreation（娱乐）areas are not far away from the city centre; the sea and the archipelago（群岛）are also within easy reach. Industry and commerce are expanding, and have a joint interest with the University in meeting the ever-changing and growing demands of society.
Cöteborg University strives（努力）to be an attractive choice for students from all over the world.
We look forward to welcoming you to Cöteborg University.The main reasons for Cöteborg University’s popularity according to the passage is ______ .
| A．the high quality education and research and the wide range of courses |
| B．the convenient traffic |
| C．its excellent location and fast developing economical environment |
| D．famous professors and friendly students |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The university is in the city centre. |
| B．The students can live outdoor. |
| C．The cultural life of the university is very rich. |
| D．The University has no interest in growing demands of society. |
What’s the main purpose of this passage?
| A．To bring fame to Cöteborg University. |
| B．To introduce the wonderful cultural life in Cöteborg University. |
| C．To declare Cöteborg University’s goal and interest. |
| D．To attract students all over the world to apply for Cöteborg University. |
Down on the beach of Dover, 56-year-old Channel swimmer Jackie Cobell bravely set off for Calais. The time was 6:40 am. 28 hours and 44 minutes later the exhausted, successful mother from Kent crawled (爬行) to the shore and walked proudly into the record books. After five years in training, Mrs Cobell became the slowest person to cross the Channel under her own steam. The previous record for the slowest crossing, set by Henry Sullivan at 26 hours and 50 minutes, has stood for 87 years before Mrs Cobell started at Dover Saturday morning.
She had struggled through changing tides that swept her first one way, then the other. It turned the 21-mile crossing into a 65-mile one. She declared, “Time and tide wait for no man—and they certainly didn’t wait for me. I was fully expecting it to get dark before I got to Calais but I never imagined I’d also see the dawn again. But I wasn’t going to give up.”
Her feat(壮举) raised more than $2,000 in charity sponsorship for research into Huntingdon’s disease, a sum that was continuing to grow as news of her achievement spread. That was why she did it. “I don’t really know myself,” she said. “ I just kept thinking of all the people I’d be letting down if I stopped.”
Mrs Cobell took to the water so well at school. But after bringing up two daughters, she started to gain weight. Five years ago she took up swimming again and decided to prepare for the Channel challenge to lose weight. She became much fitter. Then came the big swim. “I practiced on Windermere lake,” she said. “it’s about half the distance of the Channel so I just double
d it, added some extra time, and worked out I could probably get to Calais in about 16 hours.”
Her husband David, trainer, official observer and friend sailed alongside her on a boat. She said, “I sang to keep myself going. When they told me I was a record breaker I thought they were just having a joke—until I realized it was the record for the slowest crossing. But maybe next time I might be a bit quicker.”According to Paragraph 1, Mrs Cobell_____________.
| A．started to learn swimming five years ago |
| B．arrived at Calais on late Sunday morning |
| C．wanted to break the record for the slowest crossing |
| D．was too exhausted to move after crossing the Channel |
Why did Mrs Cobell spend so much time crossing the Channel?
| A．Because the tides changed her direction. |
| B．Because she was not in good condition. |
| C．Because she wasn’t good at swimming. |
| D．Because the winds kept her from swimming fast. |
Mrs Cobell crossed the Channel for the main purpose of____________.
| A．taking a risk |
| B．losing more weight |
| C．raising money for charity |
| D．becoming famous worldwide |
How did Mrs Cobell feel about the record she set?
| A．Dissatisfied | B．Excited | C．Annoyed | D．Proud |
For about three years now, I have been writing poetry. It was not until my junior year in high school that I developed an interest, love and skill for writing poetry.
Back in elementary school, I loved to write stories. I would write stories on post-it notes and anywhere I could. Yet when I had to write a limerick(五行打油诗) for an assignment, I could not wrap my head around poetry. I had a very hard time figuring out how to rhyme words and have the words make sense. I eventually tossed the paper with the attempted limerick in the trash. I did not try my hand at poetry again until several years later.
Many years later in my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave my class a poetry project as an assignment. I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry project. For the project, we had to analyze a poem and write a response to it. I chose to respond to Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice. I also wrote my own poem first. I became really excited when writing the poem.
Two years later, I started writing poetry as a hobby and for fun. To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests. I won second place in the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Sherry Pruitt Award Contest with a poem called The Ocean, and had my two poems published as high merit(优等) poems. I have continued to write poetry, and have even self-published three collections of poetry in both print and e-book formats, which can be found at my store on Lulu.
Now, I love writing poetry, but I don’t hate writing short stories. I just find it more difficult and not my style of writing, even though I still write short stories occasionally.When the author was a pupil, he ___________.
| A．liked writing stories |
| B．was good at writing poetry |
| C．could understand poetry well |
| D．was often praised by his teacher |
When given the poetry project in high school, the author was___________.
| A．excited | B．annoyed | C．confident | D．worried |
The author took up writing poetry as a hobby when he____________.
| A．was in Grade Three in high school |
| B．worked as a storekeeper |
| C．was in Grade One in high school |
D．was at college |
How did the author increase his confidence in writing poetry?
| A．He wrote a lot of poems and asked advice from his teacher. |
| B．He published three collections of poetry by himself. |
| C．He submitted his poems to magazines and contests. |
| D．He gave up writing stories and only wrote poetry. |
With the popularity of Harry Potter novels, the number of children applying to boarding schools has risen, many of them hoping to find their own version of Hogwarts. However, others have interpreted this trend as a reaction to longer working hours and the break up of more marriages. The boarding schools of fiction are presented as one long midnight feast with pillow fights making firm friendships. However, some people say the reality is children having more homesickness and a lack of individual attention. Modern boarding schools have done much to get rid of the image of the mass dormitories with 40 or more beds in one room, some going as far as providing private rooms with bathrooms. Similarly, they make great announcements for their academic advantage, particularly in light of the increase in exams, homework and university entrance requirements facing children wishing to succeed in the modern world.
Alongside these more conventional schools, two types of boarding schools have also become more popular recently. Sports academies and stage schools seek to cater for children with particular interests and talents, while so-called troubled-teens have been able to turn to a range of religious or wilderness schools to solve their problematic behavior.
Boarding schools allow children a safe space in which to accomplish greater control and independence over their daily lives. Teachers and staff can look after and 
support but they are unlikely to be over-protective. This can be a great preparation for university or for working away from home in later life as it provides an intermediate step between childhood and full independence.
However, Parents are a child’s most natural support and best role models to learn from. If they are separated from them for long periods of time, this may damage their relationship and leave the child feeling anxious or alone. Schools are unlikely to be able to copy the detailed knowledge of each individual child that a parent has and therefore cannot be as effective in supporting the child.
To sum up, boarding schools have both their advantages and disadvantages, so it is up to you to decide whether to send your children to boarding schools or not.What do we know from the passage?
| A．More and more children go and visit Hogwarts on their own. |
| B．Pillow fights in boarding schools make firm friendships in reality. |
| C．More children want to go to boarding schools because of Harry Potter novels. |
| D．There aren’t special schools for the particularly talented children. |
What kind of schools may be the most suitable for the so-called troubled-teens?
| A．sports academies | B．Wilderness schools |
| C．Conventional schools | D．Stage schools |
We learn from Paragraph 4 that __________.
| A．teachers of boarding schools are the best examples for children to learn from |
| B．children can be more independent if they are separated from their parents |
| C．parents know their children better than teachers of boarding schools |
| D．schools are much more effective than parents in supporting children |
What is the author’s opinion of boarding schools?
| A．Neutral | B．Negative | C．Positive | D．Critical |