Dear Guys,
I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.
One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉强地) agreed.
Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.
However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, threw it as hard as I could.
It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me.
Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, Oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.
The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.
This is the point where I start to take issue with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.
Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.
Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.
“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.
“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.
And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”
I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.
Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.
It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.
I surprised myself-and I’m sure you as well-by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.
Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”
Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period was just enough blow for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”
And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.
Sincerely, Jen CorderyThe writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.
| A．she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries |
| B．she wanted to refresh her childhood memories |
| C．she could not refuse the polite request from the young man |
| D．she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight |
Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?
| A．To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back. |
| B．To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills. |
| C．To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were. |
| D．To express her dislike towards softball. |
What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer _______.
| A．inspired | B．encouraged | C．embarrassed | D．depressed |
What happened to the ball at last?
| A．The writer managed to throw the ball back. |
| B．The boy got the ball back by himself. |
| C．The writer threw the ball away out of anger. |
| D．The boys got angry and left without the ball. |
It was my first day at school in London and I was half-excited and half-frightened. On my way to school I wondered what sort of questions the other boys would ask me and rehearsed (practiced) all the answers: “I am nine years old. I was born here but I haven’t lived here since I was two. I was living in Farley. It’s about thirty miles away. I came back to London two months ago.” I also wondered if it was the custom for boys to fight strangers like me, but I was tall for my age. I hoped they would decide not to risk it.
No one took any notice of me before school. I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say “hello”, but no one spoke to me. When a teacher called my name and told me where my classroom was, one or two boys looked at me but that was all the curiosity my arrival aroused.
My teacher was called Mr Jones. There were 42 boys in the class, so I didn’t stand out there, either, until the first lesson of the afternoon. Mr Jones was very fond of Charles Dickens and he had decided to read aloud to us from David Copperfield, but first he asked several boys if they knew Dickens’ birthplace, but no one guessed right. A boy called Brian, the biggest in the class, said: “Timbuktu”, and Mr Jones went red in the face. Then he asked me. I said: “Portsmouth”, and everyone stared at me because Mr Jones said I was right. This didn’t make me very popular, of course.
“He thinks he’s clever,” I heard Brian say.
After that, we went out to the playground to play football. I was in Brian’s team, and he obviously had Dickens in mind because he told me to go in goal. No one ever wanted to be the goalkeeper.
“He’s big enough and useless enough,” Brian said when someone asked him why he had chosen me.
I suppose Mr Jones remembered Dickens, too, because when the game was nearly over, Brian pushed one of the players on the other team, and he gave them a penalty. As the boy kicked the ball hard along the ground to my right, I threw myself down instinctively and saved it. All my team crowded round me. My bare knees were grazed and bleeding. Brian took out a handkerchief and offered it to me.
“Do you want to join my gang (team)?” he said.
At the end of the day, I was no longer a stranger.
51．The writer prepared to answer all of the following questions EXCEPT “________”.
A. How old are you? B. where are you from?
C. Do you want to join my gang? D. When did you come back to London?
52．We can learn from the passage that ________.
A. boys were usually unfriendly to new students
B. the writer was not greeted as he expected
C. Brian praised the writer for his cleverness
D. the writer was glad to be a goalkeeper
53．The underlined part “I didn’t stand out” in paragraph 3 means that the writer was not ________.
A. noticeable B. welcome C. important D. outstanding
54．The writer was offered a handkerchief because ________.
A. he threw himself down and saved the goal B. he pushed a player on the other team
C. he was beginning to be accepted D. he was no longer a new comer
February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day, it is a custom for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals! This is what you see on Valentine’s Day, a day named after Valentine who was a priest in the third century Rome. When the emperor (皇帝) decided that single men could become better soldiers than those with wives, he didn’t allow marriage.
But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, the emperor sentenced him to death. While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Valentine died for what he believed in and so he was made a Saint (圣徒), as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic characters.
Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is also popular among Chinese young people. Some students are planning to make Valentine’s cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others want to hold parties at which they will exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine.
72. Why did the emperor in Rome not allow marriage in his country?
A. Because there were few women in his country at that time.
B. Because he thought men without wives could be better soldiers.
C. Because there wasn’t enough food for so many people.
D. Because he wanted to control the birth rate.
73. Valentine was put into prison because _______.
A. he killed one of the soldiers B. he stole a lot of food
C. he didn’t obey the emperor’s order D. he didn’t want to be a soldier
74. The last paragraph mainly tells us _______.
A. students in China send cards to their teachers
B. it is a good idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China
C. it is interesting to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China
D. Valentine’s Day is also popular in China now
75. The best title for this passage should be _______.
A. Valentine’s Day B. A Brave Priest
C. Valentine’s Day in China D. A Romantic Man
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days：Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(墓地).On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.
68. Which of the following is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?
A. Parents bring up children.
B. Parents give love and care to children.
C. Parents educate children to be good persons.
D. Parents pass away before children grow up.
69. Which do you think is right about “carnation”?
A. It has only two kinds of colors.
B. It refers to the special clothes people wear on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
C. It’s a kind of flower showing love and best wishes.
D. People can wear carnations only on the second Sunday in May.
70. What do you know from the passage?
A. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are both in May.
B. Fewer women worked outside the home in the past.
C. Not all the children respect their parents
D. Fathers are not as important as mothers at home.
71. On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, _______.
A. people usually have family parties
B. everyone goes to visit the cemetery
C. children always go to parents’ home
D. hand-made cards are the most valuable gifts
Two thieves came to a house to steal something. They dug a hole in the wall of the house.
There lived many mice in the house. The woman in the moonlight saw a mouse crawl(爬行) into the house. “Look! In comes one,” she said to the man in the house. He was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled out of the house and said to the one waiting outside, “She found me when I was just in.” But the thief outside didn’t believe him, so he said; “Let us two try to crawl into the house together.” At that time two mice happened to crawl into the house, too. The woman saw the mice and shouted, “In come two, catch them!” The two thieves were terribly frightened. The man in the house said, “You saw them come in but where are they? I will catch them tonight.” The two thieves started running away at once.
The two thieves wanted to make it clear whether they had been found or not the night before. The next day they acted as men selling sweet potatoes and came before the house. The man and the woman were ploughing in their fields. The rein(缰绳)broke and the woman came home for a rope. She saw two men selling sweet potatoes and wanted to buy some. She picked out two which looked like mice. At the time the man couldn’t wait for her any longer in the fields and he ran back from the fields to hurry her up. The woman showed the sweet potatoes to the man and said, “How they look like the two of last night.” The man said, “I asked you to fetch a rope, why don’t you hurry for it?” The two thieves ran away very quickly without their sweet potatoes.
65. The two thieves failed to steal anything from the house because_______.
A. they were found out
B. they were frightened by what they had heard in the house
C. they didn’t work together well with each other
D. mice stopped them from doing so
66. From the last paragraph, we know that_______.
A. the two thieves were famous selling sweet potatoes
B. the woman recognized the two thieves
C. the woman pretended to know nothing about the two thieves and made fun of them
D. the two thieves didn’t know that they were not found at all
67. The woman said, “How they look like the two of last night.” Here “the two” refers to_______.
A. the two thieves B. nothing C. the mice D. the ropes
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Production assistant wanted ——Fluent English speaker ——easy going，open-minded ——Background in the industry ——Excellent computer skills Please drop us your CV to the address below if you feel that you would suit one of the positions．Please click on the link below to see our offices： http：／／www．brightshadowfilms,com／QTVR．html hr@brightshadowfilms．com Tele：88822357 |
| Teacher Wanted We want to find a teacher with following qualities： 1．Native English speaker who comes from USA， UK， CAN and AUS； 2． Rich Experience in teaching English； 3．Good computer skills If you are interested in the position，pleas, contact Sabrina immediately：13661641372 |
Babel International Communication Club Now we are looking for a program coordinator． Location：Shanghai(People Square) Requirements： 1．Be good at communication，fun-loving and most importantly organizing． 2．Native English Speaker or English fluently If you meet the above requirements，please send your resume to babelchina@126．com Tel：86(021)63222995 |
61．If you are a native English speaker from New Zealand and want a teaching job，
you may contact_______．
A．hyhysh@hotmail．com B．babelchina@126．com
C：hr@brightshadowfilms．com D．americanenglishacademy@gmail．com
62．Which of the following jobs pays most attention to organizing?
A．An English teacher． B．A program coordinator．
C．A production assistant． D．A branch director．
63．If you are a non-native English speaker with great skills in computer，which of the following telephones may interest you?
A．86(021)63222995． B．13661641372． C．88822357． D．88867356．
64. If you know nothing about computer, you can telephone which number?
A. 88867356 B. 88822357 C. 13661641372 D. All above.