Last month when I was taking part in a US college interview ， I was asked ， “ what makes you special ? ” In fact I had answered questions likes this many times since I decided to go to college in the US. The US colleges paid special attention to different achievements. For example, a person who is very good at math can go to a famous college but also can be a good football player.
This experience made me think again that I must try to find where my own interests might lead me . To be honest, it was not easy. However, I never felt sorry to choose this way because it helped me understand myself . If I took the College Entrance Examination, as we call it gaokao in China, it could never possibly do .
When I entered high school, I took gaokao seriously because it seemed to me a great way to show how good at my lessons. However ,as I grew older , I realized gaokao did make me work hard at my lessons , but the pressure also pushed many other activities out of my life , like guitar―playing . Although I had no time for it , I will still get to it in the future .
No doubt, gaokao provides a way of choosing those who are successful in their studies . But it is really important for all of us to rethink what “ talent ” really is today . This is because we now live in a world in which all of our other human qualities are needed for success, not just the high grade .
Ken Robinson once said, “ the society depends on different kinds of talents . ” However, gaokao pays too attention to a person' s grades but little to his other qualities. And it is these qualities that makes life colorful and fun.
As high school students, we can not change the present situation of eduction , but we are always free to think outside of the box . Although good school grade is still useful, I hope one day we will see our education also welcomes the amazing possibilities in different people .
The US colleges pay special attention to ________.
| A．students ' family background . |
| B．the different achievements |
| C．students ' ideas about way of life . |
| D．the school a student is from . |
When at high school, the writer ________.
| A．had a lot of activities . |
| B．did not work hard at her lessons . |
| C．did well in gaokao |
| D．had no time to play the guitar . |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．My school life abroad. |
| B．Different exams in the US. |
| C．My view on gaokao |
| D．The importance of school grades |
The Smiths are going to visit Hong Kong next summer. They will fly there. They will spend about two weeks there.
First, they are going to visit all the places of interest(名胜古迹) in the city and also do some shopping. They can enjoy shopping until ten o’clock at night.
Second, they are going to eat delicious food there. There are many Chinese and western restaurants there. They can enjoy many kinds of food, for example, fish, meat and vegetables.
Last, they are going to visit Disneyland. There are lots of interesting things to do. They will take lots of photos there.
They are looking forward to their summer holidays.The Smiths are going to Hong Kong by ____________.
| A．bus | B．air | C．train | D．taxi |
The shopping mall in Hong Kong may open _____________.
| A．until 10:00 p.m. | B．after 10:00 p.m. |
| C．the whole night | D．until 9:00 p.m. |
The Smiths can ____________ in Hong Kong.
| A．only enjoy western food |
| B．only enjoy Chinese food |
| C．enjoy western and Chinese food |
| D．only enjoy vegetables |
Which of the sentence is true?
| A．It will take the Smiths two weeks to go to Hong Kong. |
| B．There are lots of interesting places in Hong Kong. |
| C．Visitors cannot take photos in Disneyland. |
| D．They aren’t going to take photos there. |
We can see that the Smiths will have a ____________ summer holiday.
| A．sorry | B．hard | C．happy | D．sad |
Everyone knows that exercise is important. We all need to exercise. Doctors say it is good for us. It makes you strong and smart. If you exercise every day, you can get good grades in the exam and do homework well. There are many ways to exercise. You can walk, run, swim, skate, or play ball games. But remember: Exercise enough, but not too much. It's best to exercise thirty minutes each time. Many people go to special places to exercise. People call them 'fitness centres'. They have a lot of equipment there. The equipment will help exercise your arms, legs and other parts of your body. Exercise can be fun. Friends can exercise together at a fitness centre. Or, they can play sports together.Which of the following isn't the result（结果）of exercise?
| A．It can make us strong and smart. |
| B．It can make us do work well |
| C．It can make us get good grades. |
| D．It can make us heavy. |
If you want to be healthy, you can't _______.
| A．walk or skate | B．run or swim |
| C．swim or play football | D．watch TV all day |
It's best to exercise_______ each time.
| A．twenty minutes | B．thirty minutes |
| C．forty minutes | D．fifty minutes |
The underlined(画线的) word 'equipment' means_______ in Chinese.
| A．器材 | B．机器 | C．武器 | D．武装 |
Which of the sentence(句子) is not true?
| A．Friends can exercise together. |
| B．We should exercise too much. |
| C．We all need to exercise. |
| D．Exercise can bring us fun. |
任务型阅读
Do you live in a city? Do you know how cities began? Long long ago， there were only a few thousand people in the world. These people moved from place to place. They moved over the land， hunting（打猎）animals for food.
A long time passed. These people began growing crops. No one knows how or when those people learned about growing food. But when they did， their lives changed， they did not have to move houses any more.
They could stay in one place and grow it. People began to live near each other. And so the first villages grew. Many people came to work in the villages. These villages grew bigger and bigger. Then people had machines， and lives in the villages changed again. They built factories. So the villages grew into cities. Some of them grew very big.
Today， some people are moving back to small towns.How many people were there in the world long long ago?
____________________________________________________________________________When didn’t people have to move houses any more ?
____________________________________________________________________________What did the villages grow into after people built factories?
____________________________________________________________________________Why did people move from place to place long long ago?
____________________________________________________________________________Who knows when people learned about growing food?
____________________________________________________________________________
Last summer， my family and I went on a trip to the China Dinosaur Park in Changzhou by bus. The one-hour trip seemed very long. We arrived at the park at about 9 a.m.
There were many fun places for us to choose from. We first went to the Crazy Firedrake（喷火龙）Drill. When I looked at the giant yellow machine， I wasn't afraid at all， But when I was really on it， I felt a little nervous. First， the machine took us to the highest point. We all screamed（尖叫） "Ah". 1 dared（敢）not look down. Then it turned around fast and moved very quickly at the same time. The wind was so strong that I couldn't open my eyes. I felt as if I would fall down. 1 couldn't stop screaming through the whole ride. It only moved for a few minutes， but it seemed to be many hours. When the game ended， I was too frightened to walk.
Later we took part in the game called “Crossing Jurassic（侏罗纪）”. After waiting for half an hour， we got into a boat. The boat went into a tall building. It was dark around us. There were many model dinosaurs on both sides. They looked like the real ones. From time to time. the model dinosaurs made some frightening shouts， which sounded terrible. The game ended with a sudden rush from a very high place into a big pool. What an exciting experience!When did the writer get on the bus?
| A．9 a.m. | B．About 8 a.m. |
| C．About 9 a.m. | D．About 10 a.m. |
When the writer looked at the giant yellow machine， he .
| A．wasn't afraid | B．was too frightened |
| C．was excited | D．was nervous |
What did the writer do when the machine took him to the highest point?
| A．The writer cried. | B．The writer screamed. |
| C．The writer looked down. | D．The writer did nothing. |
From the text， we can know that the game called "Crossing Jurassic" is a trip.
| A．bus | B．train | C．coach | D．boat |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The yellow machine turned around fast and moved quickly at the same time. |
| B．The first game moved for a long time. |
| C．There were many real dinosaurs in the park. |
| D．The second game began with a sudden rush from a very high place into a big lake. |
Computers are useful machines. They can help people a lot in their everyday life. For example， they can help people save much time， and they can help people work out many problems they can’t do easily. Our country asks everyone to learn to use computers except the old people.
Today more and more families own computers. Parents buy computers for their children.
They hope computers can help them improve（提高）their studies in school. Yet many of the children use computers to play games， to watch video or to sing Karaoke， instead of studying. So many teachers and parents complain （抱怨） that computers can not help children to study but make them fall behind. So computers are locked by parents in the boxes.
In some other countries， even some scientists hate computers. They say computers let millions of people lost their jobs or bring them a lot of trouble.
Will computers really bring trouble to people or can they bring people happiness? It will be decided by people themselves. Why do we say the computer is a useful machine? Because _______________.
| A．our country asks us to learn it |
| B．it can help us a lot |
| C．we can use it to play games |
| D．it can help us to find jobs |
What do many teachers and parents complain about? _______________.
| A．Their students and children use computers to play games. |
| B．Computers let them lost their jobs. |
| C．Computers make the students and children fall behind. |
| D．Computers bring people a lot of trouble. |
In this passage we know computers _______________.
| A．also bring us trouble |
| B．bring us happiness only |
| C．are hated by people |
| D．are bad for people’s health |
Can computers really help children to study? _______________.
| A．Yes， they can. | B．It’s hard to say |
| C．No， they can’t. | D．Of course not. |
How do you understand the last sentence of this passage? I think it means _______.
| A．computers are used by people |
| B．people can live well without computers |
| C．one must decide how to use computers |
| D．computers are strange machines |