DearEditor,I’maSeniorIstudenti-优题课

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her free time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.
As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip (退稿条) from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and ruined hopes can surface.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?”
“No”, she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
67. What do we learn form the first paragraph?
A. Now too many entertainments take up too much time.
B. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
C. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her free time.
D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.
68. What did the author say about her own writing experience?
A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.
C. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
D. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
69. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
A. She had won a prize in the previous contest.
B. She wanted to share her stories with readers.
C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.
D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
70. What’s the author’s advice for parents?
A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.
B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.
In history books, objective (客观的) information about the political life of a country is presented; that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective: it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May, 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its abuse of power over people.
In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art had been almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that described people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand the Bible stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast (对比), one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues are not holy.
63. Which of the following statements has the closest meaning to the underlined sentence?
A. General history only focuses on politics.
B. Art history shows us nothing but the political values.
C. General history concerns only religious beliefs, emotions and psychology.
D. Art history gives us an insight (洞察力) into the essential qualities of a time and a place.
64. Art is subjective in that __________.
A. it can easily arouse people’s anger about their government
B. it only reflects people’s anger or sadness about social problems.
C. a personal and emotional view of history is presented through it.
D. artists were or are religious, who reflect only the religious aspect of the society.
65. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Francisco Goya expressed his religious belief in his painting.
B. In history books political views of people are entirely presented.
C. For centuries in Europe, painters had only painted on walls of churches.
D. In the Middle East, you can hardly find animal or human figures on church walls.
66. What’s the main topic of the passage?
A. The development of art history.
B. What we can learn from art.
C. The influence of artists on art history.
D. The difference between general history and art history.

Amateur Performance Night
Every third Thursday of the month, aspiring（有抱负的）artists present, read or perform original or existing material, at the Amateur Performance Night -- and anyone can come and watch. So come to the Amateur Performance Night to enjoy presentations and performances on a wide variety of subjects, and practice your languages (Chinese and English) while you do!
7-9 pm, March 15
20 yuan (entrance fee includes one drink and a snack)
Room 109, 2 Dongping Road
amateur.performance.night@gmail.com
Good-Heart Sale
ENO holds a seasonal sale at discounted prices, some more than 50 percent off. When you mention SCAA (Second Chance Animal Aid), 10 percent of the sales income will be donated to the animal rescue group.
Cash only
March 10-24
In Factory, 6F, building A, 1147
Xikang Road, near Wuning Road
Free Coffee for All!
This Friday, March 16, wil be an exciting day for most coffee buyers, especially those who love Starbucks. Between 10 am and 12 noon, Starbucks will hold its second “Coffee Break” and everyone who drops by a local Starbucks outlet can get a free Tall (12-ounce) cup of coffee. The event was first held in America last year and attracted more than 500,000 people. This year the Coffee Break will spread to all Starbucks stores in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and, best of all, China.
Shanghai BookCrossing
Bring books you want to exchange, take away your next fab read. Books are mostly of English language, and include novels, thrillers, chicklit, biography, non-fiction, travel books, classics magazines, etc. Open to all, no registration necessary. Joining in is fun and FREE.
2 pm, March 17, April 21
Figaro Coffee, 160 Xingye Road
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shanghaibxers/
60. In which section will the text appear in the newspaper?
A. News reports. B. Business world.
C. Different voices. D. Life events.
61. By attending which of the events will it be likely for you to practise your English?
A. Amateur Performance Night and Shanghai Book Crossing.
B. Amateur Performance Night and Good heart sale.
C. Good Heart Sale and Shanghai Book Crossing.
D. Good Heart Sale and Free Coffee for All.
62. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Tickets to all the events are free.
B. Free coffee for all will attract more Chinese than foreigners.
C. If you want to get any information about the events, you can only surf the Internet.
D. Both the organizers and participants of Good heart sale show concern about animals.

四、阅读理解。（共20小题：每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
GUANGZHOU: The successful Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival has become a perfect stage to showcase the popularity of Guangdong and Pan Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region as a tourism destination, said Tang Bingquan, vice-governor of Guangdong Province.
According to the provincial tourism administration of Guangdong, more than 40,000 people attended the opening ceremony of the festival. More than 1, 000 high-ranking officials from the central government and Guangdong provincial government, World Tourism Organization, consulates (领事馆) of various countries in Guangzhou, and other provinces of China, also showed up in the ceremony. The activities in the past few days attracted a large number of visitors from home and abroad.
In the past 30 years, Guangdong Province has been one of the leaders in the nation in terms of economic development. Its average annual economic growth maintained a rate of 13.8 percent, according to Tang.
Last year, Guangdong’s gross domestic product (GDP) hit 330 billion, accounting for one-eighth of the total of the country. The province’s import and export volume hit 527.2 billion, accounting for one-third of the country’s total foreign trade volume.
Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua earlier predicted that the province’s GDP will surpass that of Taiwan by the end of this year.
“Guangdong is also leading the development of the whole country’s tourism industry,” Tang said.
Last year, Guangdong’s tourism revenue (年收入) hit 212.5 billion, occupying one-fourth of the country’s total tourism income. The net profit of the province’s tourism industry was 7.5 billion, which was one fifth of the nation’s total.
Tang noted that the tourism festival will give a further boost (促进) to the tourism development of Guangdong and the entire PPRD region.
The closing ceremony of the festival will take place tonight in Foshan, a city in Guangdong Province.（China Daily Nov. 30, 2007）
56. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Event to boost Guangdong’s tourism industry.
B. Guangdong -- China’s leading city in economy.
C. The increase in Guangdong’s tourism revenue.
D. The development of Guangdong’s tourism industry.
57. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The past 30 years have seen Guangdong’s fast development in economy.
B. Guangdong is one of the leading provinces in national tourism industry.
C. Guangdong’s GDP makes up almost 13% of the total country last year.
D. Guangzhou will be the host city for the closing ceremony of the festival.
58. Which of the following word is the closest to the underlined word in the text?
A. replace B. survive C. overtake D. succeed
59. What is the writer’s attitude towards the event?
A. indifferent B. neutral C. opposed D. supportive

Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have only been few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way---was it through training and practice, or are great players “born, not made”? First, these players came from places that have had famous stars in the past---players that a young boy can look up to and try to imitate(模仿). In the history of soccer, only seven countries have ever won the World Cup---three from South America and four from western Europe. There has never been a great national team---or a really great player---from North America or from Asia. Second, these players have all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players begin playing the game at the age of three or four.
Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighbourhood---a poor, crowded area where a boy’s dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athlete or entertainer(艺人). For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beatles, had one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practiced in the street with a “ball” made of rags(破布). And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall(对着墙壁踢球) in the slums(贫民窟) of Belfast.
All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn’t explain why they are great. Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The greatest players are born with some unique quality that sets them apart from all the others.
46. According to the writer, which of the following statements is true?
A. Soccer is popular all over the world, but truly great players are few.
B. Millions of people all over the world are playing soccer, but only seven countries have ever had famous stars.
C. Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but only seven countries from South America and western Europe have ever had great national teams.
D. Soccer is one of the most popular games all over the world, but it seems the least popular in North America and Asia.
47. The world “tricks” at the end of Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.
A. experienceB. cheating C. skillsD. training
48. The Brazilian streets are mentioned to illustrate that ______.
A. famous soccer players live in slum areas
B. people in poor areas are born with some unique quality
C. children in poor areas start playing football at the age of three or four
D. a great soccer player may be born in a slum area
49. In the last paragraph the statement “…but only one became Pele” indicates that ______.
A. Pele is the greatest soccer player
B. the greatest players are born with some unique quality
C. Pele’s birthplace sets him apart from all the others
D. the success of a soccer player has everything to do with the family background
50. The writer mentions all the factors that may affect a soccer player’s success except ______.
A. his family background B. his neighbourhood
C. his practice D. his character