Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis, Cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless." he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England's rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man's cold-water exploits（成就）. Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.
Journeys to the Pole aren't the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy." John Ridgway was one of the few who didn't say, 'You are completely crazy,'" Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter（遭遇）with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he's skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.The turning point in Saunders' life came when _________.
| A．he started to play ball games |
| B．he got a mountain bike at age 15 |
| C．he ran his first marathon at age 18 |
| D．he started to receive Ridgway's training |
We can learn from the text that Ridgway __________.
| A．dismissed Saunders' dream as fantasy |
| B．built up his body together with Saunders |
| C．hired Saunders for his cold-water experience |
| D．won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic |
What do we know about Saunders_________?
| A．He once worked at a school in Scotland. |
| B．He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole. |
| C．He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole. |
| D．He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid. |
The underlined word "Intrigued" in the third paragraph probably means_________.
| A．Excited | B．Convinced |
| C．Delighted | D．Fascinated |
It can be inferred tat Saunders' journey to the North Pole __________.
| A．was accompanied by his old playmates |
| B．set a record in the North Pole expedition |
| C．was supported by other Arctic explorers |
| D．made him well-known in the 1960s |
Dear Hamilton,
We are fortunate that in such a large, high-pressure office we all get along so well. You are one of the people who keep the social temperature at such a comfortable setting. I don’t know anyone in the office who is better liked than you.
You can perhaps help with this. The collection of contributions towards gifts for employees’ personal-life events is becoming a little troubling. Certainly, the group sending of a gift is reasonable now and then. In the past month, however, there have been collections for two baby shower gifts, one wedding shower gift, two wedding gifts, one funeral（葬礼）remembrance, four birthday gifts, and three graduation gifts.
It’s not only the collected-from who are growing uncomfortable (and poor), but the collected-for feel uneasy receiving gifts from people who don’t know them outside the office, who wouldn’t even recognize their graduating children, their marrying daughters and sons, or their dead relatives.
This is basically a kind gesture (and one that people think well of you for), but the practice seems to have become too wide-ranging and feels improper in today’s office setting.
Thank you for understanding.
63. The underlined word “contributions” probably means ________.
A. moneyB. suggestionsC. reportsD. understanding
64. Hamilton is expected to _______.
A. show more kindness. B. discontinue the present practice
C. quit being the organizer for gift giving D. know more about co-workers’ families
65. This is basically a letter of ________.
A. apology B. sympathy C. appreciation D. Dissatisfaction
When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate（照亮）me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.
When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say:“Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.
When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend, He was in despair(失望)and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.
For almost four years I have had remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think:“Yes, I must tell….”We have never met.
It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist（心理学家），who will only fill up the healing（愈合的）silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.
1.In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to ______.
A. become serious about her study B. go to her friend’s house regularly
C. learn from her classmates at school D. share poems and stories with her friend
2.In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means ______.
A. our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us
B. we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London
C. our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared
D. we parted with each other in London
3.According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend _______.
A. call each other regularly B. have similar personalities
C. enjoy writing to each other D. dream of meeting each other
4.In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to ______.
A. seek professional helpB. be left alone
C. stay with her best friendD. break the silence
5.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Unforgettable Experiences B. Remarkable Imagination
C. Lifelong Friendship D. Noble Companions
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships .One strength of the human condition is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful conditions .Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties .Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to cope with major life changes and daily hassles(困难). People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people fend off(挡开) illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways .First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us .Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support .They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力)us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support—money aid ,material resources, and needed services—that reduces stress by helping us resolve and cope with our problems.Interpersonal relationships are important because _______.
| A．they are indispensable to people’s social well-being |
| B．they awaken people’s desire to exchange resources |
| C．they help people to cope with life in the information era |
| D．they can cure a range of illnesses such as heart disease, etc |
Research shows that people's physical and mental health _______.
| A．relies on the social medical care systems which support them |
| B．has much to do with the amount of support they get from others |
| C．depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles |
| D．is closely related to their strength for coping with major changes in their lives |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “cushions”?
(Line 1, Para 2)
| A．adds up to | B．does away with |
| C．lessens the effect of | D．lays the foundation for |
Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work is an example of _______.
| A．instrumental support | B．informational support |
| C．social companionship | D．the strengthening of self-respect |
Social companionship is beneficial in that__________.
| A．it helps strengthen our ties with relatives |
| B．it enables us to eliminate our faults and mistakes |
| C．it makes our leisure-time activities more enjoyable |
| D．it draws our attention away from our worries and troubles |
Directions: Read the following passage. Complete the diagram by using the information from the passage.
Write ONE WORD for each answer.
A technical secondary school in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province, planned to order Korean-style school uniforms for students, but parents opposed the move, believing that the new uniforms looked too good and would encourage early romances among the students, the Jinling Evening Paper reported Monday.
Parents
“My daughter was so excited about the Korean-style uniform, saying it’s her dream to wear mini-skirt to school every day,” a mom surnamed Cheng complained. “My daughter also called her classmates to talk about how handsome the boys looked in the uniform!”
Cheng looked on the Internet and found that most Korean schoolboy uniforms are similar to western suits. “They are so handsome! My daughter is a fan of Korean fashion, that’s why she is crazy about the uniform!” Cheng said. “If the students wear such beautiful uniforms, how can they study well? I prefer the sports wear which makes me think of health and positive thinking.”
School
“The plan to change the current school uniform from sports wear has been cancelled,” an employee of the school told the Jinling Evening Paper.
“The students dislike the current uniform, so the school took advice from the students last November, knowing that most of students prefer Korean-or Japanese-style school uniforms. We know cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou have changed their sports wear school uniforms to more fashionable uniforms,” an employee surnamed Lin said.
“However, we had to stop the plan because many parents are strongly against it. Some parents think it’s just a way for the school to make money, and others think the new uniforms will take students’ attention away from their studies,” Lin said.
When asked about the possibility of problems with early romance between students because of the more fashionable uniforms, Lin said he hadn’t considered it. He, however, agreed that the Korean-style uniform makes the students more charming.
Students
The students are very disappointed about the school’s final decision. They think the sports wear uniforms make them look androgynous (难分性别).
They said the Korean-style uniform has many advantages such as raising interest in class; lifting confidence; improving solidarity and creating good temperaments.
As for concerns about romance, the students believe that love is love and bears no relationship to the uniform.
Education department
“We don’t have a unified (统一的) standard for school uniforms. The schools can choose their own styles. Either sports wear or uniforms are ok,” an official from the Nanjing Bureau of Education said.
Title Do pretty school uniforms lead to early romance?
Event A technical secondary school planned to order Korean-style school uniforms for students.
Different (76)_____ to it Parents are strongly (77)______ the move.◆With such beautiful designs, the new uniforms might
(78)__________ early romances between boys and girls.
◆In the new uniforms, students will fail to focus their
(79)_________ on their studies.
◆It is just a way for the school to make money.
Students are
in (80)______ of the move.◆The sports wear uniforms make them look androgynous.
◆Korean-style uniform can make them more (81)_________and more interested in class as well as improving solidarity and creating good temperaments.
Two responses From the school◆The students dislike the current uniform.
◆More (82)__________ school uniforms are allowed in
some big cities in China.
◆The school spokesman Lin said they hadn’t taken the
possibility of early romance into (83)_________, though
he agreed the Korean-style uniform would make the
students more charming.
From the education department There is no unified standard for school uniforms, so the schools can choose their own styles.
Result
The school had to (84)________ the plan and the students felt (85)_________.
Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers，good cooks，do not suddenly appear full-blown. Quite the contrary, just as the cook has to undergo an intensive and hard-working training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose－schoolwork, matters of business,or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort，the more effective the writing and the more rewarding.
There are still some remote places in the world where you might find a public scribe(抄写员) to do his / her business or social writing for a fee. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letter writing with no more than a quick note . But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.
We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to paper. It would be difficult to count the number of such words，messages，letters，and reports put into the mails or delivered by hand，but the daily figure must be enormous. What is more，everyone who writes expects，or at least hopes, that his writing will be read. We want to arouse and hold the interest of the readers. We want whatever we write to be read， from first word to last, not just thrown into some "letters－to－be－read" file （档案）or into a wastepaper basket. This is the reason we make our efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.
71. What is good writing compared to in this passage and why? ( No more than 10 words.)
_________________________________________________________.
72. Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word “painstaking”.
_________________________________________________________.
73. According to the passage, why don’t some managers have to do any letter writing? ( No more than 15 words.)
__________________________________________________________.
74. According to the author, if your letter is thrown into some “ letter-to-be-read” file, what will be likely to happen? (No more than 6 words.)
__________________________________________________________.
75. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage? (No more than 15 words.)
_________________________________________________________.