The Guidance Department （教导处）at Berryville High School has a staff of eleven teachers. Most of their work is done with the students. But the staff sees a lot of parents, too.
“Parents meetings make clear monthly diagram（图表）.”says Mildred Freman, head of the Guidance. “This diagram stays much the same from year to year. The busy months are October, March and May. ”
September, the beginning of a new school year, starts rather slowly. Few parents come in. Most of these want to talk about the schedules. October brings many problems caused by some students. Some parents are called in. Others come by themselves. Things quiet down in November. December is a quiet month. “It’s the holiday. ”Ms Foreman says, “People want to come in, I know, but they decide to wait until after New Year’s Day.”
Report cards go home just before Christmas holidays. Bad marks bring parents in as school opens again. This happens again in March, another report card month. May is always the year’s busiest month. That’s when parents begin to think that their children may be asked to stay in the same grade again. They come in to see if anything can be done before things are decided in June.The teachers in the Guidance Department usually ______.
| A．do most of their work for the students |
| B．answer all the questions from parents |
| C．help other teachers get along with students and parents |
| D．only bring report cards to students and parents |
In December parents usually ______.
| A．stay at home with their children for their holidays |
| B．wait for the teachers to bring report cards to their children |
| C．wouldn’t like to visit the teachers in the Guidance Department |
| D．let teachers have a good rest during their holidays |
Why do some parents come to school in March? Because ______.
| A．they want to see their children’s teachers after Christmas holidays |
| B．they are called by the teachers of Guidance Department |
| C．bad marks have them do it |
| D．it’s the beginning of a new school year |
Which of the following is Right?
| A．In June the school decides who will stay in the same grade again. |
| B．Almost all the parents come to meet Mildred Foreman every month. |
| C．April is also the second busiest month for the staff. |
| D．The parents help to do most of the work for the staff. |
If you look at the sky one night and see something moving and shining that you have never seen before, it might be a comet (彗星).
A comet sometimes looks like a star. Like a planet, a comet has no light of its own. It shines from the sunlight it reflects (反射). Like the earth, a comet goes round the sun, but on a much longer path (轨道) than the earth travels.
If a comet isn’t a star, what is it then?
Some scientists think that a large part of a comet is water frozen into pieces of ice and mixed with iron and rock dust and perhaps a few big pieces of rock. When sunshine melts (融化) the ice in the comet, great clouds of gas go trailing after it. These clouds, together with the dust, form a long tail.Many people perhaps have seen a comet. However no one knows how many comets there are. There may be millions of comets, but only a few come close enough for us to see.
An Englishman named Edmund Halley, who lived from 1656 to 1742, found out a lot about the paths that comets take through the sky. Some comets move out of our sight and never come back. Others keep coming back at regular times. A big comet that keeps coming back was named after Halley because he was the one who worked out when it would come back again. Maybe you have ever seen Halley’s Comets because the last time it came close to the sun and the earth was in the year 1986. Then people all over the world were outside at night to look at it. You will probably be able to see Halley’s Comets when it comes near the earth again.A comet is like ________.
| A．sun | B．moon | C．sunlight | D．the earth |
A large part of a comet is ______.
| A．water and rock |
| B．water frozen into pieces of ice and mixed with iron |
| C．ice, iron and rock dust |
| D．only a few big pieces of rock |
Maybe many people _______.
| A．haven’t seen any comets | B．have seen all comets |
| C．have seen a comet at daytime | D．have seen a comet |
Some comets keep coming back ________.
| A．at any time | B．at noon | C．at regular times | D．at daytime |
Halley’s Comets came back _____.
| A．in 1990 | B．in 1980 | C．in 1986 | D．in 1989 |
One day, early in the morning on my way to work, I saw a little girl carrying a small Cambridge schoolbag. I could imagine that she must be proud of her schoolbag. The bag is designed for students, which can hold a lot of things, such as textbooks, pens and pencils, snacks and water! Students just carry it on their shoulders, and it is easy for them. I was really amazed by the wisdom of businessmen.
I remembered I had a green cloth bag, which was very rough, but strong. At that time I was short, so my mom made the bag rope shorter. After eating all the meals prepared by my mother, I said to her, “I will go to school now. Bye!” I ran to school with my classmates. At that time, this schoolbag was so light. When I jumped, it jumped. All things in this bag had a collision (碰撞.. They gave out cheerful sounds all the way along. At the time I was so happy. 
As I grew older, the schoolbag became heavier and heavier. My green schoolbag could not be used any longer. The bag was worn down, the mouth was opened, and finally it came to an end. My mother bought me another bag, and it was very big. I liked the Mickey Mouse pattern. The bag had a few pockets and both sides of the bag could carry a bottle. It was convenient! I was happy to go out every day with the new bag. Five or six miles of the trip to school seemed as if it were a few steps away. That year I was 12 years old. Though my first schoolbag wasn’t made in the UK, and it was made by my mother herself, it was still a real Cambridge schoolbag in my mind.________ caught the writer’s attention on his way to work.
| A．A beautiful girl | B．A businessman | C．A Cambridge schoolbag | D．A student |
The writer’s first schoolbag ________.
| A．was a real Cambridge schoolbag | B．had many pockets |
| C．gave out cheerful sounds | D．was made by his mother |
“They” in the 2nd paragraph here refers to “________”.
| A．the writer’s classmates |
| B．all the things in the schoolbag |
| C．the meals prepared by Mom |
| D．the ropes of the schoolbag |
The writer changed his green schoolbag because ________.
| A．it was broken |
| B．the family got rich |
| C．he wanted a new pattern |
| D．it wasn’t made in the UK. |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．wise businessmen make best schoolbags in the world |
| B．schoolbags brought the writer happiness when he was little |
| C．Cambridge schoolbags are very popular among the children |
| D．the writer’s mother was fond of making schoolbags |
The best title of the passage is ________.
| A．A clever mother |
| B．The history of schoolbags |
| C．My sweet childhood memory |
| D．Schoolbag and me |
Answer the questions. 
My daughter, Tina, began to look for a job several months before she graduated from university. “Because of the financial crisis（金融危机）, it is more difficult to get into a company than to take the college entrance exam.” I told her, “You shouldn’t have too much hope or you would feel really disappointed.” Tina applied for a position in a company in the city center. The competition was fierce. The company was to employ only one among the twenty people. Tina said to me, “I am not afraid of disappointment. As long as I try, there will always be hope! ”
Everything seemed to go quite well and Tina passed the first round and entered the final in a week’s time.
On the day of the final interview, Tina and two other candidates （候选人）arrived on time, waiting for the test. To their great surprise, the interview was quite simple, and the intereviewer only chatted with them for a moment. The interviewer said to them, “All of you are super. Please go home and wait for our anwer. We will tell you the result in three days. Good luck to all of you!” On the third day, Tina received the message from the company telling her that she was not employed. She felf upset. In order to comfort her, I pretended to be relaxed and said, “It does not matter! I believe you will have more opportunities in the future!”
Late in the afternoon, Tina suddenly told me excitedly on the phone, “Dad, good news. I’ve mde it! ” I could not wait to ask her, “What’s the whole matter?” Tina told me that she received a second message saying that she was employed. She was so confused that she made a call to the company. In fact, the message Tina got in the morning was alse part of the test of the interview. The three candidates received the same message this morning and only Tina’s reply was satisfying to the company. “How did all of you reply?” I asked. “One did not reply. The other said ‘Goodbye’ and I said ‘Thank you’ .”Has Tina graduated form universtiy? （此题1分）
In the writer’s opinion, which was more difficult, to get into a company or to take the college entrance exam?
How many people entered the final round of the competition?
Why did the writer pretend to be relaxed when he learned Tina was not employed?
What does the underlined sentence mean “I’ve made it!” mean in English?
It means “_______________________________”. What can we learn from Tina? (Give at least two points.) （此题3分）
Choose the words or expressions and complete the passage. (12分)
People of all ages, especially young children, follow comic strips in newspapers, magazines and the movies. Who is your favourite superhero --- Spideman? Wonder Woman? These heroes have been around for a long time. Comics came out even earlier. In ancient times, people made funny drawings of animals _____ paper.
Comic strips first came out during the 1800s and remain much the same style today. These comics are drawn in connected boxes. The boxes usually show a dramatic _________. Some comic strips are printed in newspapers, which often continue from day to day. Some people even read the comics before they read the front page.
The comic books first _____ during the 1930s. It seemed that everyone wanted to read comic books. They loved reading about the adventures of The Man of Steel and Batman. During the 1940s, the nation was at war and some comic book characters, such as Captain America, reflected （反映）the times. Others, such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, made people laugh during this _______ time in history.
After the war, people became __________ interested in old comic book characters, so new superheroes had to be made. The new superheroes, such as Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Spideman, talked and acted more like real people. As time went on, comic books had to _________ TV because TV has offered a lot of fun to people.
Comic strips are usually good for a laugh or at least a smile. But they have held a place in history. They take people away from their daily lives into another world. In this world, the hero always wins, and failure only comes to the bad guys.
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Reading comprehensionA. Choose the best answer. (12分)
Letter A
| To the Editor: Why do our children have 11 weeks of summer vacation? Many years ago, 85 percent of Americans worked on farms. Children needed summer vacation because they helped with the farm work. Today only 3 percent of Americans work on farms. But our children still have long summer vacations. American students lose one or two months of learning during their summer vacations. Away from school for so many weeks students forget what they learned. Experts say that students lose maths skills and reading skills. At the beginning of school in September, teachers have to review last year’s studies for the first four to six weeks of school. Summer vacations are not great opportunities for learning. Most parents work outside of the home. They can’t be with their kids during the long summer months. Some families can pay for summer camps, but many can’t. Most children stay home and watch TV. They are bored. Most children do not learn new skills during the summer. James, Teacher |
Letter B
| To the Editor: I am against a longer school year. I believe people learn everywhere, not just in school. I believe children gain experience in the world. Summer vacation is a great opportunity. Kids can discover the world outside of school. They can learn to do things they can’t learn in a classroom. They can learn to swim and ride bikes. They can travel or go to summer camps. They can take time to do things like cooking and art. Some can get summer jobs. They can get work experience or help people in the community. They can spend time with people of other ages. Basically, they can get more experience in the world. Long summer vacations give families time together. During the school year, everyone is busy. During summer vacations, we take time to do things together. Vacations are good for families. Linda, Parent |
According to the chart, which two countries have the same number of school days?
| A．England and Australia . | B．Singapore and Thailand. |
| C．Japan and the United States. | D．South Korea and China. |
James says that, many years ago, most children used their vacation time to _______________.
| A．study in school | B．go to summer camps |
| C．have new experiences | D．help on the farm |
James says most parents _______________ during the summer months.
| A．travel abroad | B．are with their children |
| C．are busy with their work | D．go to summer camps |
Linda says children can get _______________ during the summer months.
| A．no time to watch TV | B．more work experience |
| C．more classroom time | D．better reading skills |
According to Linda, children do a lot of activities except that _______________.
| A．they learn to swim and ride bikes | B．they go to summer camps |
| C．they do cooking | D．they improve maths skills |
What is best title of the Letter B?
| A．Yes to a Longer School Year | B．Vacations Are a Way of Experiencing |
| C．Adults Need More Vacation Time | D．Vacations Are Boring to Families |