Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia(怀旧). It’s fun to come home. It looks the same. It smells the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you. Home is where we can remember pain, love and some other experiences: We parted here; My parents met here; I won three championships here.
If I close my eyes, I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home. I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glass-top wooden table. To the right of the living room is my first bedroom. It’s empty, but it’s where my earliest memories are.
There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays and where I cried on Halloween---when I didn’t want to wear the skirt my mother made for me. I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong. If I sit at this table, I can see my favorite room in the house, my parents’ room. It is simple: a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side. Their bed is my safe zone(区域). I can jump on it anytime---waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.
I’m lucky because I know my first home still exists. It exists in my mind and heart, on a physical property(住宅)on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles. It is proof I lived, I grew, and I learned.
Sometimes when I feel lost, I lie down and shut my eyes, and I go home. I know it’s where I’ll find my family, my dogs, and my belongings. I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I’ll be blamed by Mom. But I don’t mind, because I want to hear her say my name, which reminds me I’m home.Why does the author call her parents’ bed her “safe zone”(Paragraph 3)?
A.It is her favorite place to play. |
B.Her needs can be satisfied there. |
C.Her grandparents’ photos are lined on each side. |
D.Her parents always play together with her there. |
What can be learned from the passage?
A.The old furniture is still in the authors first bedroom. |
B.The author can still visit her first physical home in Los Angeles. |
C.The authors favorite room in her first home is the dining room. |
D.Many people of the authors age can still find their first physical homes. |
Sometimes when she feels lost, the author will_________.
A.open the window at night |
B.lie down in bed to have a dream |
C.try to bring back a sense of home |
D.go to Los Angeles to visit her mom |
What is the authors purpose of writing this passage?
A.To express how much she is attached to her home. |
B.To declare how much she loves her first house. |
C.To describe the state of her family. |
D.To look back on her childhood. |
An epidemic (流行病) of the use of street-culture language broke out in some English exams, according to examiners.
A report said there were “a surprising number of small mistakes” in standard (标准) English. It asked teachers that they should prevent pupils from using "street language and text style", adding, “Most answers require formal expression of language.”
“Many concerns were expressed by examiners about basic errors, often appearing in the work of clearly able students,” the report continued.
It added that the use of street and text language “appeared with surprisingly regularity in the work of students who clearly desired a higher grade”.
“Most answers require formal expression but even when an informal style is appropriate--students should know the examination context and, in particular, should not use street language and text style.” it said.
There is rising concern about pupils’ writing skills, especially among boys. National test results for 11-year-old boys’ writing standards had fallen this year. Only 55 percent reached the level expected of an 1l-year-old by the time they left primary school, the results showed.
Many educationalists are now arguing that teachers should also think of ways of improving writing standards.
The report said spelling was “in general inconsistent(不一致)” and “variety of vocabulary and of sentence structure is often limited”. It went on, “Punctuation (标点符号) errors continue to be widespread.”
However, it added, “Some examiners felt that this year they had met an improvement in the whole structure of students' writing.”
64. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Street language is appearing in the standard English exams.
B. What the street-culture language is in England.
C. The English say no to the street-culture language in daily life.
D. The street-culture language is being examined in English exams.
65. The underlined word “appropriate” (in Paragraph 5) means “ _______”
A. available B. possible C. valuable D. acceptable
66. What problems concerned examiners ?
A. Small mistakes in spelling and punctuation,
B. Poor sentence structure, and errors in spelling and standard English.
C. Teachers teaching writing skills.
D. Limited vocabulary of boy pupils.
67. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. In English exams, most answers require informal expression of language.
B. When an informal style is correct, the students are allowed to use it.
C. Boys' writing skills are worse than those of girls in England.
D. There is no improvement in the whole structure of students' writing.
On the wall in my mother’s bedroom there was a photo, which showed a soldier with a gun.
Below the photo there was the word ”Speaking”.
“Who’s that soldier called Speaking?” I asked one day.
“He was Harold.” She said, ‘He was my only brother. When the Second War began, Harold was eighteen. I was twelve then, and my sisters were ten and nine.”
“Harold liked to play with us, and we often quarreled. When we quarreled, we said, ‘We’re not speaking to you.’ But before long we were all happy again, and then we said, ‘I’m speaking now. Are you speaking to me?’”
“When the war broke out, Harold joined the army. A month later, he came to see us. He brought the gun to show us. Then he went miles away to the war. We didn’t see him for three years, three long, empty years. We didn’t often hear from him. But one day in May there was a loud bang on the front door.”
“I ran to open it, it was Harold! He was an old Harold, a thinner Harold, too. He looked at me with his two green eyes and smiled. That smile was just the same as before, then he said one word “Speaking’”.
‘I didn’t. I couldn’t answer. I just fell into his arms and he dropped his gun. He stayed with us for a month. We played all our old games again. Then he went back to the war, and never came back again. So I wrote the word on the photo.”
60. When I first saw the word “Speaking” below the photo, I thought ____.
A .the soldier was calling “Speaking”
B. it was taken when the soldier was speaking
C .“Speaking” was the soldier’s name
D. Mum wished the soldier could speak to her
61. How old was the author’s mother when Harold came back for the last time?
A.Twelve B.Thirteen C. Fifteen D. Twenty-one
62. When Harold came back home, ____.
A.he changed a lot except for his eyes and smile
B.he made a shoot in front of the door
C.his sister could hardly recognize him
D.his sister had another quarrel with him
63. Harold never came back again because ____.
A.he didn’t want to speak to his sister any more
B.he died in a battle
C.his sister had not answered him when he came back
D.he went far away to the war
第三部分:阅读理解(共16小题;每小题1.5分,满分24分)
阅读下列短文,然后从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。
You’ve no doubt heard people say how much they “need” a holiday, when what they really mean is that they want one. Certainly, people working under pressure feel a very strong desire to escape from work and become less tight during holidays, and experience a changed environment.
However, work for many people today is office work and mental, rather than physical tasks. These people may seek much more energy-taking activities while on holiday, rather than simply lying on a beach.
Once people become used to going on holiday, taking holidays becomes a habit. For many people the holiday is one of the last things to be given up, and indeed many workers have chosen to spend some of their last pay when being on holiday. It may give them a “lift” in facing some difficulties in life.
Most of us also enjoy showing off the lovely tans --- dark skins we get from a holiday. So many tourists are now able to afford holidays in the sun that tans have become quite common; although we join a tan together with health, it has been fully shown that too much sunshine will result in high danger of skin problems, as well as drying out one’s skin and leading to more lines on your face later in life.
56.According to the passage above, more and more people choose to have holidays because they __________.
A. love working outdoors all the time
B. want to get away from work
C. love enjoying the beauties of nature
D. become rich and want a better life
57. When office people have holidays, they often _________ .
A. lie on the beach and enjoy sunshine
B. spend more than they can afford
C. think about their work on the beach
D. choose to do more physical exercise
58 The word “lift” in the last sentence of the third paragraph may _______
A. cheer someone up
B. help someone find a job
C. be the last thing not to be given up
D. bring good luck to someone
59 At the end of the passage the writer tries to tell the reader _________.
A. the importance of getting sunshine
B. the bad effect of being on holiday
C. the result of getting sun tanned
D. the healthy look of being tanned
SINGAPORE—It seems the financial crisis isn’t all hopeless: one in four people are glad the world’s economy turned down like it did, because it helped them realize more in life, according to a global survey.
Market research firm Synovate surveyed around 11400 people across the world and found more than half had permanently changed their attitudes toward money over the last 12 months. Another 47 percent, however, said they were looking forward to being able to spend freely again.
“The psychology of global depression has changed the way many people do things,” Jenny Chang, managing director in Taiwan (China), said in a statement. “They are making life-changing decisions based on the current global depression, such as postponing marriage, having children, moving house, changing jobs or pursuing higher education. Even in a relatively effect-free economy like Taiwan’s.”
A quarter of all respondents led by Malaysians said they were glad the world had an economic crisis as it has helped them realize what’s really important in their lives.
Nearly 60 percent said they would try their best to control their spending so that it doesn’t go back to what it used to be before the downturn, and over two-thirds are more interested in increasing their savings than reducing their debt.
The majority of respondents—over 80 percent—believed their generation had a responsibility to leave their country better off for the younger generation, even if it involved dramatically changing their lifestyles.
With the relatively high unemployment in the US, Synovate’s US-based Claire Peerson Braverman said, Americans who had lost one or more incomes in the family, had to make some of the most difficult decisions concerning money each day.
62. What information did Market research firm Synovate want to get by making the survey?
A. The effects of global depression on people’s money and life attitudes.
B. The loss people suffered in the global depression.
C. The number of people who like global depression.
D. The influence of economical crisis on the US.
63. What can be inferred from the article?
A. The global depression had no effects on economy in Taiwan of China at all.
B. Global depression led some people to give up their higher education.
C. More people will spend their money more carefully after the global depression.
D. Some people felt glad about the global depression for the benefits it brought them.
64. What does the underlined world “it” in the fifth paragraph refer to?
A. Habit of spending money. B. Global depression.
C. Responsibility for the country. D. Attitude towards life.
65. What is the theme of this article?
A. The economic crisis made more people try to save more money.
B. The situation of unemployment in the US became more serious.
C. Lots of people put off some important events in their life for the economic crisis.
D. Economic crisis helped people change their ideas about money and life.
Even as Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda wrapped up a tired appearance before Congress,the head of the world’s largest automaker wasn’t leaving his problems behind.
Toyota faces a criminal investigation by federal lawyers in New York.The company is now being investigated.Its US dealerships in difficulty now are facing repairs to potentially millions of customer cars that have been recalled.The company is offering customers money back for rental cars and other expenses.
Its lawyers are busy preparing to cope with lawsuits.A new hearing will be conducted. And the cost to Toyota’s reputation is only now starting.
Despite back-to-back hearings this week,left to be said were a better explanation for slow actions to deal with the faults and believable promises that the problems that led to sudden,unintended accelerations will be fixed.
Toyoda said those changes were being made nearly around the clock,but during three hours of often tense questions and answers he repeated that there was no link to the vehicle’s electronic systems.
Many drivers making complaints against Toyota and the government say their acceleration problems had nothing to do with floor mat interference(油门踏板故障)or sticky gas pedals(刹车).Outside experts have suggested electronic problems.
House lawmakers expressed serious criticism on Toyoda,the grandson of the company’s founder.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA)is seeking records on Toyota’s recalls and is conducting its own review on whether electronics were behind the car faults.NHTSA also continues to look into steering complaints from drivers of the popular Corolla model.
Toyota has recalled 8.5 million cars,more than 6 million of them in the United States.
It may be a while before car buyers believe that Toyota really makes safe cars.
Toyota’s January sales already fell 16 percent even as most other automakers jumped back from last year’s bad results.Analyst Koji Endo of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo said he expects February sales,due out next week,to be down 30 percent to 40.Toyota’s sales problem could continue beyond that.
It will take some time to feel the full effect of this,he said.
58.The best title for this passage is___________.
A.Toyota is in trouble B.Toyota is under hearing
C.Toyota is finished D.Toyota is still running
59.What is the purpose of the hearing?
A.America hopes that Toyota apologizes to the US customers.
B.America wants to get Toyota out of the US market.
C.America wants to help Toyota out of difficulty.
D.America hopes that Toyota admits their cars have electronic system problem.
60.Why does Toyota recall cars and offer customers money back for rental cars and other expenses?
A.It tries to avoid the maximum damages to the company.
B.It is big company and has means to fix every problem.
C.It’s part of post service.
D.It’s a way to compete in auto market.
61.The last sentence of this passage indicates______________.
A.Analyst Koji Endo is fully confident about Toyota
B.Toyota could meet a worse situation
C.Toyota would get out of trouble sooner or later
D.Toyota would build up a better reputation among its customers