My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. In this case he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged（乞求）him. Nothing worked.

One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and begged for help. "Please God, I can't do anything more for my son. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm giving the whole thing up to you."

I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. "I want to talk to you about Karl's absences." Before he could say another word, I choked（哽咽） up and all my disappointment（失望） and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. "I love my son but I just don't know what to do. I've tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It's out of my hands." For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, "Thank you for your time." and hung up.

Karl's next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were surprised at the way he had turned himself around.

After the meeting, Karl said, "Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?" I nodded.

"That was me. I thought I'd play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That's when I knew I had to make you proud."

1. By saying "Karl became withdrawn", the writer means the boy changed completely and _______.

A. preferred to stay alone at home

B. lost interest in his studies

C. refused to talk to others

D. began to dislike his mother

2.There was silence on the other end of the line because the speaker _______.

A. was too moved to say anything to the mother

B. waited for the mother to finish speaking

C. didn't want the mother to know who he was

D. didn't want to say to his mother

3.The phrase "at the end of my rope" means _______ in Chinese.

A.心如刀割 B.心意冷 C.失魂落魄 D. 山穷水尽

4.What does this passage mainly tell us?

A. Being understood by parents is very important to teenagers.

B. Mother's love plays an important part in teenagers' life.

C. School education doesn't work without full support from parents.

D. Children in single-parent families often have problems with their mind.

5.The best title for the passage is _______.

A. A lonely boy

B. How to get on with a teenager

C. A student who turned himself around

D. A joking phone call

词汇检测（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

根据下列句子及所给汉语注释或通过上下文，在答题卡标有题号的横线上，写出空缺处各单词的正确形式。每空只写一词。

1.She cut out her puppet with the (剪刀).

2. How will you celebrate your (四十) birthday?

3.The president is paying a (私人的) visit to Europe.

4.His paintings attract a great （很多）of attention.

5.He will come to my help （每当） I'm in trouble.

6.My flight was （取消） because of the heavy snow.

7.The children are （分开） the good apples from the bad ones.

8.- How do you like Audrey Hepbum?

- She was a as an actress.

9.- Is Grandma at home now?

- ? I can't hear you well on the phone.

10.- I'm sorry, Mr. White. I made a silly mistake.

- Take it easy. No one is .

句子翻译（共5小题：每小题3分，满分15分）

将下列句子译成英语，并将所译句子写在答题卡标有题号的横线上。

1.昨天我向他买了两件艺术品。

2.你认为谁是当主演的最佳人选？

3.百分之八十的钱款正被寄往贫困地区。

4.科技使得人们的生活更丰富多彩。

5.这是他第一次成功报道音乐节。

书面表达（共1小题；满分20分）

越来越多的中国中学生出国学习，对此人们有不同的看法。请根据以下表格提示，以Studying Abroad为题，用英文给《二十一世纪英文报·中学生版》写一篇短文。

注意：1．词数90左右。短文的开头已为你写好，不计入总词数；

2．短文须包括所有要点，不要逐词翻译，可适当发挥，使短文连贯、通顺；

3．短文中不得出现真实的人名、校名等相关信息。

Studying Abroad

In recent years, studying abroad has been popular with Chinese high school students. As for this, people have different opinions.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

We can have ________ bluer sky if we create _________less polluted world.

A. a; a B. a; the C. the; a D. the; the

---Can you describe what Mr. Green's daughter is like?

--- Oh, she has the very_______ of Mr. Green. I'm sure you can know her at the first sight.

A. photo B. voice C. look D. taste

— Must I turn off the gas after cooking?

— Of course. You can never be________ careful with that.

A. enough B. too C. so D. very

—What can you see _________ the bridge, Millie?

—Oh, an elephant is standing over there. Let’s go and see it.

A. across B. through C. above D. Over

—I’m sorry, sir. I’ve made lots of mistakes in the monthly exam.

— Never mind. ___________, the exam is a bit difficult.

A. In all B. Above all

C. After all D. First of all

The plan they are talking about _________ improving greatly.

A. need B. needs C. needing D. Needed