For Rachael and Leigh Badman, there is only one wish on their Christmas list this year__ that their sick daughter survives until December 25.
Fifteen –year-old Paige suffers from a rare brain condition. The disease affects as few as 12 people in the world, and can kill her any day without warning. And her condition has deteriorated in recent months. Each time she closes her eyes, she may never wake up. Rachael and Leigh Badman are worried that she couldn’t live through Christmas. They filled their house with Christmas decorations on November1, so she could enjoy her favorite day of the year in advance.
Paige was diagnosed with the condition four years ago. Mrs. Badman described the condition as “being on death row” as she never knows if she will wake up and still have a daughter. She said, “ Paige always loves Christmas and it’s heartbreaking to see her suffering like this.”
In the last months, Paige has been unable to eat and has never walked or spoken. But she loves music, and enjoys watching pop stars’ DVDs. And in May she also went on holiday to Florida with her parents and little brother, Kefton. The family , who have already organized parts of Paige’s funeral, also saw the teenager swimming with dolphins during the trip. Since then, however, her condition has worsened.
Mrs Badman, who is separated from her husband and works as Paige’s full-time carer, said, “Now she can’t eat or drink anymore, and her brain is shrinking.(萎缩) With all her problems, we just thought, ‘Let’s get the Christmas tree up as soon as possible.’ We’re praying she lives to see Christmas Day.”Paige’s parents got the Christmas tree up on November 1 to ____.
| A．let her enjoy the great time with visitors |
| B．let her understand her parents’ love |
| C．let her enjoy Christmas early before her death |
| D．let her receive more good wishes from others |
Mrs Badman described Paige as “ being on death row” because ______.
| A．Paige could die at any time without warning |
| B．she found Paige struggling painfully |
| C．she had organized Paige’s funeral |
| D．Paige lost the abilities to walk and speak |
The underlined word can be replaced by “_____”.
| A．proved satisfying | B．grown stronger | C．got improved | D．become worse |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．Christmas is Paige’s favorite festival. |
| B．12% of children in the world suffer from the disease. |
| C．Paige enjoyed watching pop stars’ DVDs on a trip. |
| D．Paige travelled with her family before suffering the disease. |
ChinaDaily: As China comes down from a travel rush during the seven-day holiday for National Day, people called for a return of the Labor Day Golden Week holiday as a way to ease(缓解) the travel peak.
By Friday, 79 million passengers were expected to have used the railways up about 8 percent over last year. Waterways had shipped around 2 million, a rise of about 17 percent on last year, www. cntv. cn, the website of China Central Television, said on Saturday.
As large numbers of tourists swarmed scenic spots around China, it caused huge crowds and many complaints.
The Forbidden City in Beijing has long been a big draw for travelers. On Tuesday alone, the museum reported, it received more than 180,000 visitors, about six times higher than a regular day.
According to China Central Television, restless visitors demanded their money back from the tourism committee, and police were sent to help deal with the problem.
The Beijing-HongKong-Macao expressway, the Shanghai-Kunming expressway and the route from Beijing to Kunming saw large increases in traffic on Saturday, according to www. cntv. cn.
“As there are only two long holidays in the country and paid leave is not well carried out by employers（雇主）, people have limited chances for travel”, Dai Bin, the director of China Tourism Academy, said in a report by Beijing Times on Saturday.
“The travel rush during the ‘Golden Week’ holidays happens because people do not take long journeys during shorter holidays”, said Liu Simin, a researcher with the China Academy of Social Sciences, in a report by Beijing Times on Saturday.
Liu said that now the most important task is to ease the pressure from the huge numbers of tourists. When the Labor Day Golden Week holiday came to an end in 2007, a chance to travel was reduced.
In 2008, the government shortened the Labor Day Golden Week holiday, usually lasting from May 1 to May 7, to three days and added three other short vacations to the list.The Labor Day Golden Week holiday was shortened to __________________.
| A．one day | B．two days | C．three days | D．four days |
The underlined word “swarmed” in the third paragraph probably means “_______”.
| A．crowded into | B．left | C．escaped from | D．planned to go to |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．People called for a return of the Labor Day Golden Week holiday. |
| B．The museum reported it received more than 180,000 visitors during the holiday. |
| C．Now the most important task is to ease the pressure from the huge numbers of tourists. |
| D．There are only two long holidays in the country. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Seven-day Golden Week Holiday sees huge crowds on popular tourists spots |
| B．The problem during the seven-day Golden Week Holiday. |
| C．Travel complaints. |
| D．The pressure from the huge numbers of tourists. |
The earthquake that shook Japan with historic strength on March 11th, 2011 created a tsunami wave ten meters high. The water washed away boats, cars and houses in coastal areas north of Tokyo. It also led to tsunami warnings across the Pacific.
Scientists recorded the magnitude(震级) of the earthquake at 8.9.The United States Geological Survey says it was the fifth largest earthquake since nineteen hundred. The largest, with a 9.5 magnitude, shook Chile in nineteen sixty.
The quake struck near the east coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. It was centered under the sea about one hundred thirty kilometers east of Sendai.The tsunami washed away whole neighborhoods in Sendai.
So far (April 4th), the tsunami has taken 12, 0009 people's life away.
Now Japanese are all trying to rebuild their hometown, but there are too many difficulties.
The first, Japan is the world's third largest importer(进口商)of oil. The shortage of oil makes it almost impossible to carry the food, medicine and water to the quake area by cars.
The second, the Fukushima nuclear(核) power station was damaged by the March eleventh earthquake and tsunami. The extent of the problems is still not clear. Japan’s nuclear crisis(危机) may mean greater need of imported food.The underlined word in Paragraph 1 means______ in Chinese.
| A．地震 | B．核辐射 | C．海浪 | D．海啸 |
The largest earthquake happened in ______.
| A．Tokyo | B．the United States | C．Chile | D．Japan |
Japanese are facing ______ kinds of problems when trying to rebuild their hometown.
| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
Why did the food, medicine and water can hardly carry to the earthquake area soon?
| A．Because of the shortage of oil. |
| B．Because of the damage of the roads. |
| C．Because of the nuclear crisis. |
| D．Because of the tsunami. |
Most families love home cooking! The food tastes good and warm, and a family meal brings everyone together．In some families, meals are often the only times everyone sees one another the same time．
Another reason people enjoy home cooking is that it is often a way of showing love．A parent who makes some cookies is not just satisfying（满足）a child’s sweet tooth． She or he is sending a message．The message says, “I care about you enough to spend an hour making cooking that you will eat up in 15 minutes if I let you．”
There is also something about the smell of home cooking．The smell of home cooking pleases people of all ages．It makes most of us feel good and loved----- even if we are the ones doing the cooking! Next time you smell a cake making, stop for a moment and pay attention to your mood（心情）．Why do fewer people cook now?
| A．They have no time． |
| B．Many people are too busy． |
| C．Many people don’t like cooking |
| D．They don’t like family meals． |
The writer thinks the smell of home cooking________．
| A．makes us happy |
| B．makes us be interested in cooking |
| C．makes us pay attention to our mood |
| D．makes us love others |
The writer writes this passage to tell us____________.
| A．family meals are important． | B．how to make cookies． |
| C．people are too busy to cook． | D．homemade cookies taste better． |
Dear Cary,
I’m writing because I’ve understood you’ve struggled with alcoholism(酗酒)．I’ve been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that，I’ve been more or less useless professionally –I’m a lawyer–and have had to resign from my job because I was discovered passed-out drunk in front of my computer. I’ve taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat. I can manage about a month without drinking，but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking，I start having nightmares of people jumping. After that，it’s a week of not being able to get out of bed.
I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn’t make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room. I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won’t be expecting me to come back for a week or so. Otherwise, they would notice the bump on my forehead and two black eyes．
I don’t really know what I’m asking you．Cary, I need a way out that doesn’t involve causing pain to my family．I’m taking medicine，but I still have these attacks every few months．If there’s alcohol in the house，I can’t stay away from it．It seems that this will never end. I’m afraid of what will happen if something bad happens，like a family member dying, or getting fired again．
Thanks for reading．
Yours TThe underlined sentence shows us all the following EXCEPT____________．
| A．that the author is a lawyer by profession |
| B．that the author is a lawyer and he seldom gets drunk |
| C．the reason why the author had to resign |
| D．that the author was once discovered drunk as a fish |
The author writes to Cary in order to____________．
| A．offer advice | B．tell a story |
| C．avoid nightmares | D．ask for help |
What is the author worried about?
| A．Losing his job | B．Missing the conference |
| C．Bring pain to his family | D．Giving up drinking |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．T’s family members don’t want to see him because of his alcoholism． |
| B．Getting drunk once prevented T from attending a conference． |
| C．T will have nightmares when he stops drinking． |
| D．T never attempted to give up his alcoholism． |
We know from the passage that Cary____________．
| A．likes to talk about the details of his life． |
| B．is an expert on treating alcoholism |
| C．is probably a recovered alcoholic |
| D．never suffered from alcoholism |
Many television programmes are very realistic. One who watches TV often feels that whatever happened in the film could well happen to him. With only a little imagination, every man in the street becomes a thief, a spy or a murderer. Jane had been watching a spy film at her friend’s house. In it, a young girl had been followed and murdered. She felt a little frightened, walking to the station. She took a train back to the centre of the city. There were a lot of people traveling with her, so she felt much safer.
A man sitting opposite her, reading a newspaper, glanced at her. She thought nothing of it until she saw him staring at her. Remember the film and feeling very uncomfortable, she got off the train and went to the bus stop. When he got on the same bus as she did, she found that he was following her. As long as she had been with other people she wasn’t frightened. But when she got off the bus, the streets were almost empty. She walked as quickly as she could. She could hear footsteps following her but she didn’t dare to look around. After what seemed to have been hours, she was unable to find them, because she was so frightened. The footsteps stopped behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Instead of feeling hands round her neck, however, she heard a pleasant voice. “I apologize if I frightened you. I’m your new neighbour. I thought I recognized you in the train, but I wasn’t sure.”Jane felt frightened, walking to the station, because ________.
| A．she had seen a murder on television |
| B．she was being followed |
| C．she had been at her friend’s house |
| D．she was a girl of rich imagination |
Jane’s friend lived ______ her.
| A．very near | B．a short distance away from |
| C．a long way from | D．next to |
Jane was really frightened because _______.
| A．the man who followed her was her new neighbour |
| B．the man apologized |
| C．the street was empty |
| D．she thought she met a murderer |
The man put his hand on her shoulder. He meant to _______ Jane.
| A．kill | B．be friendly to | C．frighten | D．play a joke on |
A girl will be frightened if ______.
| A．she often watches TV |
| B．she is followed by a stranger for a long time. |
| C．she meets her neighbour suddenly |
| D．she feels a hand on her shoulder |