Please excuse me if I'm a little sad today. Mark is leaving, and I'm feeling kind of sad.
You probably don't know Mark, but you might be lucky enough to know someone just like him. He's been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of years combining great professional skills with a sweet nature. He just wants to do his job, and to do it superbly well. And now he's moving on to an exciting new professional opportunity. It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime, and we're genuinely, sincerely pleased for him. But that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye to a dear friend and trusted colleague.
Life has a way of throwing these curve balls at us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation. A terrific neighbor moves away. Someone in the family graduates. A child finds new love and loyalties through marriage. The family's principle bread-winner is laid off.
But how do we do that? A friend of mine who works for the government once told me that the answer to life's problems can be summed up in four words: "Go with the flow."
"It's like surfing," Chris explained. "You can't organize the ocean. Waves just happen. You ride them where they take you, then you paddle back out there and catch the next one. Sure, you're always hoping for the perfect wave where you can get. But mostly you just take them the way they come.
I'm not exactly sure, but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of events—both good and bad. There will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no control. That doesn't mean you don't keep trying to make all your dreams come true. It just means that when things come up that aren't exactly in your plan, you work around them—and then you move on. Of course, some bumps along the road of life are easier to take than others. A rained-out picnic, for example, is easier to cope with than the sudden death of a loved one. But the principle is the same.
We're going to miss Mark, just like you'll miss that graduate, that neighbor or that newlywed. But rather than drown ourselves in the sadness of our parting, we'll focus on our hopes for a brighter future—for him, and for us. And then we'll go out and do everything we can to make that future happen.The passage is mainly about ___________.
| A．how to change yourself successfully |
| B．how to do if your colleague (同事) leaves |
| C．how to deal with unhappy things in life |
| D．how to deal with unexpected things in life |
In Paragraph 1 , the writer tells the story about Mike to _________.
| A．let us know his colleague | B．praise his colleague |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe his life |
The leaving of Mike makes the writer feel _________________.
| A．really unpleasant | B．very angry |
| C．both happy and sad | D．a little disappointed |
Which is not an unexpected thing in life mentioned in the passage?
| A．A rained-out picnic. |
| B．A terrific neighbor’s apology. |
| C．The sudden death of a loved. |
| D．The graduation of a family member. |
In the writer’s opinion, one should ________ when unexpected things come up.
| A．accept them and hope for a better future |
| B．do as planned |
| C．overcome difficulties and let them in control |
| D．never give up until he succeeds |
D
BEIJING March l（ Reuters） - China hailed its best ever Winter Olympics on Mon- day, crediting technology, foreign coaches and even improved language skills for the winning five gold, two silver and four bronze medals in 'Vancouver．
Only eight years after skater Yang Yang （A） won the country's first Winter gold at Salt Lake City, a sweep of the women' s short track speed skating and a first figure skating title helped China to joint seventh place in the medals table．
"Cold Standard" read the banner headline on the front page China Daily, while the People' s Daily led its sports page with "Vancouver historical breakthrough " ．
"We have made an important breakthrough at these Games" Xiao Tian, deputy chef de mission of China' s largest ever Winter Games delegation, told the Xinhua news agency．
" Actually the five - gold finish was within my expectation before we set off for the Games,but I couldn't say that at that time because I would not want to put any pressure on the ath- letes．Now I can speak out．"
Xiao was quick to retun to the earlier subject of conversation to pessirrustic（悲观） type, however, when discussing the future, emphasizing the huge task the Winter Sports adnunistra- tion faced to close the gap on their Summer counterparts, who topped the table at the 2008 Bei- jing Olympics．
"Despite the good results at these Games, we still have a long way to go in the develop-ment of China's winter sports," he said．
"It' s impossible for us to reach the same -level as we have done in Summer sports, but we will try to minimize the gap as much as we can．"
Xiao said that progress would come not through a vast expansion of the Winter sports pro- gramme but by using the best coaches, wherever they came from, and technology．
71．China regarded the Vancouver Winter Olympics as a breakthrough because___________
A．China gained-seventh place in the medals table
B． many people were crazy about the Vancouver．Games
C．'Yang Yang （A） won the country's first Winter gold
D．People's Daily thought it a historical breakthrough
72．Which contribution to China's success is not mentioned in the passage?
A．Technology．B．Foreign coaches．C．Language skills．D．Hardworking．
73．The reason why Xiao Tian didn't speak out the five - gold finish before setting off for the Games is that___________
A．he wanted to give us a big surprise at Vancouver
B．he didn't want to put any stress on the athletes
C．he didn't have an optimistic attitude to the athletes
D． he thought the five - gold finish was a huge task
74．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．The headline of China Daily is "Vancouver historical breakthrough"
B．The results in Winter Olympic8 are as good as those in Summer Olympics:
C．We will try to narrow the gap between the Winter and Summer Sports．
D．It's easy for us to reach the same level as we have done in Summer sports．
75．What' s the main idea of this passage?
A．China hails Winter Games 'breakthrough at Vancouver．
B．A first figure skating title helped China succeed．
C．Cluna swept the women's short track speed skating．
D．Using the best coaches is important for China Winter Games．
C
A new study in West Africa shows how farm irrigationsystems powered by the sun can pro-duce more food and money for villagers． The study-in Benin found that solar - powered pumpsare effective in 8upplying water, especially during the long dry season．
Sub - Saharan Africa is the part of the world with the least food security． The United Na-tions Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more"than one biillion of the world' s peo-ple faced hunger last year．Around 265 million of them live'south of the Sahara Desert: Lack of rainfallis one oftheir main causes offood shortages．．
Jennifer Bumey from Stanford University in Califomia led the study．The research team helped build three solar - powered drip irrigation -（滴灌） ,systems in northem Benin． Between 30 and 35 women used each system to pump water from the ground or a stream．Each woman was responsible for farming her own 120 sqrurre meters of land． They also farmed other land collectively．
The solar - powered irrigation systems produced an average of nearly two tons of vegetables per montb． During the first year, the women．kept a monthly average of almost rune kilograms of vegetables for home use．They sold the surplus produce at local markets． The eamings greatly increased their ability to buy food during the dry season which can last six to nine months． Peo- ple in the'two villages with the systems were able to eat three to five more servingsof yegetables per day．But making the surplus available at markets also had a wider effect．
The study compared the villages with two others where women farmed with traditional methods like carrying water in buckets． The amount of vegetables eaten in those villages also increased, though not as much．The researchers note that only four percent of the croplamd in sub - Saharan Africa is irrigated． Using solar power to pump water has higher costs at first． But the study says it can be more economical in the long term than using fuels like gasoline, diesel or kerosene． And solar power is environmentally friendly．
66．Food security in Sub - Saharan Africa is insufficient mainly because of
A．lack of rainfall B．limitation of farmland
C． a small crop variety D．little sunlight
67．From the third paragraph we know that _______．
A．water is wasted by using the system
B． the farmers imgate the land together
C． all farmers use irrigation systems in northem Benin
D． the solar - powered systems take up more manpower
68．The underlined word "surplus" in the 4th paragraph most probably means_______
A．special B．unnecessary C．extra D．abandoned
69．Usinf．solar power to pump water has advantages EXCEPT that
A．solar energy has higher cost at first
B．solar power helps to protect environment
C．solar power helps farmers increase eanungs
D． solar energy can be more economical in the long run
70．What can be the best title for the text?
A．Manpower affects rainfallin Africa
B．Irrigation by carrying water in buckets
C．Solar - powered pumps aid African farmers
D．Vegetable supply increased in African villages
B
Charter schools operate with public money but without many of the rues that Sovem tradi-tional public schools．In the Uruted States the rules for charter schools difFer from state to state． But in Seneral these schools havegreater freedom to decide what to teach and how to teach it．
The "charter 'is a perfarmance contract．It establishes thegoals of the school and other details like how student performance will be measured． Forty - seven million students attend traditional public schools．But more than a million students attend charter schools:
And now a group of charter schools have formed the Green Charter Schools Network.The idea is to have environmentally friendly school buildings but toalso go further than that．The schools teach students to become involved in community issues that affect them and the environ-ment． For example, youg children grow crops in a school garden and leam about healthy eat-ing．Older students help recycle waste from the cafeteria．And local schoois share what they grow in community gardens with people in need．
Jim McGrath is president．of the Green Charter Schools Network． He says there are about 200 "green" charter schools across the United States． He says the plan is to also include tradi-tional public schools as well as private schools．
Jim McGrath: "The most important thing is that every one of us - every child, every adult - has a reaponsibility that their action, every action we make has an effect on the earth that we live in． And that our natuntl resources are not unlimited． And that if we want a positive earth for future generations, we all need to make comnutments to be agents of change so that we don' t destroy our natural resources．
The Green Clarter Schools Network holds its first national conference this October in Min- nesota．It will include companies and orgaizations like Waste Management and the Uruted States Green Brulding Council． We sincerely hope that their goal is to expand the movement across the country．
61．Charter schools are quitedifent from public ones in that______________
A．they are operated by public money
B．they still use the traditional rules
C．they have more freedom in management
D． they attract more students than others
62．The Green Charter Schools Network is established to______________
A．advise teenagers to attend charter schools
B．paint the school buildings in the color of green
C．measure the students with the same standards
D．get students involved in environment friendly activities
63．Which of the following statements about the Network are true EXCEPT_________
A． It only concernsthe charter schools in the U．S．
B．It holds its first national conference in Minnesota．
C． It will benefit both the schools and the communities．
D．It promotes different schools to share their achievements．
64．According to Jim McGrath,____________
A．people's action plays little part in nature
B．natural resources are abundant for people to use
C． students should be taught to be responsibk for the world
D．everyone should make efforts to change the positive nature
65．What' s the writer' s purpose of this passage?
A．To criticize the traditional education system．
B．To encourage the students to adopt healthy eating．
C．To inspire people to recycle waste from the cafeteria．
D．To arouse the schools to take action to protect the earth．
笫三部分：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）中选出最佳选项。
A
My parents influenced us with the concepts of family, faith and patriotism when l was young．Even though we struggled to make ends meet, they stressed how fortunate we were to - live in a great country with limitless opporturuties．
I got my first real job when l was ten． My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a cardboard - box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist． He rented space in a little mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr． Ben's Coiffure．
The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking． lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3 a．m．To pick up trash, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower． Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litterby hand．It took two to three hours to clean the lot． I'd s1eep in the car on-the way home．I did this for two years, but the lessons I leacmed have lasted a lifetime,I acquired' disci-pline and a strong work morality, and leamed at an early age the impmtance of balancing life's competing interests-----in my case, school, homework and a job．This really'helped during my senior year of high school, when l worked 40 hours a week flipping hamburgers,at a fast – food joint while taking afull load of college - prep courses． The hard work paid off ．I attended the U．S．Milttary Academy and went on to reaceive graduate degree in law and business from Harvard． Later,I joined a big Los Angetes law firm and was elected to the California state assembly． In these jobs and in everything else I’ve done,I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot．The experience taught me that there is dignitty in all work and that if people are workmg to provide for thems elves ahd their families ,that is something we should honor．
56．According to the text, the author thinks
A．he is lucky to have many chances to get a job
B．it is difficult to find a job to make ends meet
C．his parents are full of complaint about their life
D．it is not acceptable to live in such bad conditions
57． In order to get a discount on rent,
A．his father had to work as a hairstylist
B．his father had to work in a cardboard - box factory
C．they had to clean the-parking lot three nights a week
D．his father had to pick up litter by hand three hours a day
58.Which of the following is NOT true of the author?
A．He got the graduate degrees from Harvard．
B．He took a college - prep courses at high school．
C．He took a part - time job during his senior year．
D．He regretted having worked in the parking lot．
59．What does the underlined sentence "The hard work paid off" mean?
A．The author got a high pay by working hard．
B．The author compkuned of the hard work．
C．The effort wluch he made had no effection．
D．The hard work was worthwhile for the author．
60．We can leam from'the text that ________
A．it is urrimaginable for a child to help his family
B． it is honored to work for one's family as a member
C． it is unnecessary to keep work rules-of behaviour
D．the harder the work is, the more interest one shows
C
Bob, a student who does computer studies at Texas University, found his own parents with the help of Internet. The news got around soon and many of his friends came to share his happiness. Some of them even asked him to help them find jobs on the Internet.
Before he turned to Internet for help, Bob had spent one year looking for his parents who left him 26 years ago when he was a baby. Using knowledge on computer and network, Bob found out his birth information and sent a notice to Internet in hope of finding his parents. Only one day later, Bob’s dream came true.
When Bob flew to Los Angles to meet his father, Stephen, they embraced(拥抱) each other lovingly and warmly. They enjoyed the family meeting. Later on Mother’s Day, Bob met his mother Silva.
Three years ago, Stephen himself also tried hard to look for his son but his hard try ended in nothing. Bob’s try on the Internet has turned to be a happy ending.
54. Which of the following is unknown to us ?
A. Bob’s birth information B. Where Bob’s father lives
C. Why Bob’s parents left him D. What Bob does
55. Bob couldn’t find his parents a year ago because______.
A. his parents didn’t want to see him B. he couldn’t get useful information
C. he didn’t want to D. he was just a student
56. Before he found his parents, Bob had to ______.
A. made a lot of friends B. fly to Los Angles
C. sent a notice to Internet every day D. find out his own birth information
57. How long did it take Bob to find his parents after using the Internet?
A. Only one day B. About one year C. 3 years D. 26 years