My mother got divorced when I was 5 and was left to raise me and my two younger brothers. She didn’t have a formal education, so she had to work two full-time jobs to make ends meet.

One day several years later, I was determined to help. I told the manager of the Don Carlos Motel in Nana Point that I was 15, so I could get a work permit to work as a maid.

Since then, I’ve started to work alongside some of America’s top leaders, written books, and achieved financial independence. It took a lot of hard work and sacrifices.

But what if I was 15 years old today? Would I be able to accomplish the same things in this new, highly competitive world with so many global challenges? It seems hard work and sacrifices aren’t enough anymore.

Today, you need to be extremely adaptable. To progress in your career, it’s not enough to know one thing well. As my friend Sean Harvey, product manager at Google put it when we were speaking to students, “Today, companies aren’t hiring people for a specific position but rather people who are smart and flexible. The way you prove that is by showing you can do multiple things well.”

People need to take more risks to succeed now than ever. The combination of unemployment and slow wage growth means that we are not only at greater financial risk, but we have to take more risks to succeed.

Luckily, the new Internet world of all-the-time connectedness means that anyone with a hot idea, product or service can create a business out of almost nothing. And success can be quick and big. But that success demands more “out of the box” thinking.

And what about our kids? It makes me think a lot about the future that my 3-years-old daughter faces. But no matter what the future brings, I think the best message I’ll give her is to believe in herself. Life won’t get any easier, but the opportunities will come — as they always have — to those who work hard, adapt as they need to, and trust their abilities.

1.We can infer that the author had _________.

A. a difficult childhood B. a lonely childhood

C. a normal childhood D. a happy childhood

2.The author achieved financial independence when she was 15 largely due to ______.

A. her strong leadership

B. her boss’s help

C. her hard work

D. her competitive spirit

3. Compared to the past, people who want to succeed now need __________.

A. more time B. more money

C. to work harder D. to be more creative

4. The author writes the text mainly to __________.

A. describe her childhood

B. give some suggestions about success

C. tell a story about her mother

D. share some useful parenting skills

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

I’m the kind of girl who always has questions. I’m always wondering everything about the world. I love journalism, 1. is all about investigating, reporting, and publishing information for other people to read.

My writing career 2. (start) when I was really little. I made 3. stories about small horses and princesses. I still loved creative writing. But these days, I’m mostly into 4. (gather) information and reporting on 5. I’ve found out. I’ve learned a lot about the world.

My dad is in the entertainment business. Once I was talking with one of his friends, 6. famous singer, and she said I asked a lot of good questions. She also said I should keep it up, so that’s what I did. Now I love interviewing 7. (act) and famous musicians and getting all the facts. Sometimes I’m nervous before an interview, 8. that pushes me to work harder. Later, when I’m organizing and paragraphs, it’s 9. (real) fun. I have a blog 10. I post videos of my interviews and write about the interviews. I hope to interview celebrities（名人）on the red carpet someday.

短文改错

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。

修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

One day I was in the back yard teaching my little nephew how to play football. He said that play football was something easier. His words immediately bring back memories of my childhood. As a little boy, I told my uncle I wanted to become football star like him. However, he taught me how to kick the ball. After some practice, I told him it was hardly for me to kick the ball the way he kicked them. He talked to me about not giving up on how I really wanted to do. Thank to his guidance and encouragement, and I’ve become a football star in my school.

Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush. Through her own efforts, her letter was reproduced on over 250 donated billboards across the country.

The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment (Kids F.A.C.E.) in 1989. There are now 300,000 members of Kids FACE worldwide and is the world's largest youth environmental organization.

Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a "Children's Forest" project in every national park. In 1992, she was invited as one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the Future Program. In 1993, she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute.

Since the organization started, Kids F.A.C.E. members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees! Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kid's Yards – the creation of backyard wildlife habitats (栖息地) and now Kids F.A.C.E. is involved in the exciting Earth Odyssey, which is a great way to start helping.

"Starting the club turned out to be a way to help people get involved with the environment. Club members started doing things like recycling, picking up litter and planting trees as well as inviting other kids to join their club."

"We try to tell kids that it's not OK to be lazy," she explains. "You need to start being a responsible, environmentally friendly person now, right away, before you become a resource-sucking adult."

1.Kids F.A.C.E is _____.

A. a program to help students with writing

B. a project of litter recycling

C. a campaign launched by President Bush

D. a club of environmental protection

2.What can we learn about Poe?

A. She was awarded a prize in Brazil.

B. She donated billboard across the country.

C. She got positive responses for her efforts

D. She joined the National Park Service.

3. Kid’s Yards is _____.

A. established in a national park.

B. started to protect wildlife

C. a wildlife- raising project

D. an entertainment park for kids.

4.Which of the following can be inferred from the text?

A. Adults are resource-sucking people

B. Poe sought help from a youth organization

C. Kids F.A.C.E members are from the U.S.

D. Kids are urged to save natural resources.

根据短文内容。从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。

Five Tips to Drop Bad Habits

When unfortunate events happen in your life，you'll wonder how they all came about without realizing what had happened all resulting from bad habits.__ 1.__and you may be a lucky dog again.

(1)The “later” mind.It's the small steps that need to be done to settle serious problems.This principle applies to all areas of your life.For example，instead of holding off the task you've been putting off for weeks or months，work on it step by step now.

(2)__ 2._．Learning to say “no” is important for everyone.It's one thing to do a favor for a friend or co-worker，but overextending yourself is another.There's always a nice way of saying “no，” so don't worry about hurting people's feelings.

(3)Unhealthy addictions. 3._．Addictions can be costly to your health，so you'd better assess your addictions and figure out the easiest one to drop at the beginning.

(4)Self doubt.Insecurities(不安全感) can hold you back and set negative thought patterns that will make you feel blue or give up easily.__ 4. _．For example，you may be overly sensitive to what others say，and this may impact the way you interact with them.To remove self doubt and go on a self－improvement journey now.

(5)Living in the now.People usually quote(引用) the popular phrase “you only live once” and use it as an excuse for short－term pleasure._ 5. __，but it's usually the long－term approach that achieves the biggest accomplishments and goals.

A．Nodding to everything

B．Abandon the bad habits

C．It's true that life is short

D．Saying “no” to something

E．Carry out the following behaviors firmly

F．It can also worsen your relationships with people

G．Self－control is a key to a healthy and balanced lifestyle

完形填空

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

Reading and learning new words is about finding their meaning and use within a passage. The meaning of unknown words which you ________ in your reading sometimes can be known by their ________ , that is, their contexts. The context of the sentence can tell us the part of speech(词性) of the ________ word. Using the context of the paragraph to define unknown words can also be ________ .

Readers often have trouble because they understand the sentence word by word but ________ meaning of a word, when they should identify the way it has been used in the passage.

One consideration in using the context is to determine the unknown word's part, of speech. The words around the unknown word can give you ________ . Once you know if the word is a noun or an adjective, it is often enough for you to ________ reading without having to stop to look up the meaning of the word. After coming across the word a few more times, you will know its meaning more ________ than if you had just looked it up.

Comparison clues indicate that two or more things are ________ .A comparison is possible because the known and unknown words have ________ .Words likewise show you that comparisons can be made.

________clues tell you that an example of an unknown word follows. Example clues are usually ________ by the following words and phrases: such as, such, other, for example, and like.

To find meanings from text -based clues, you should look for clues in the sentence. A second kind of clue does not ________ on specific words to indicate meaning. This kind of context clue is called frame-work -based clue. Your knowledge of the meanings of surrounding words ________ you discover the meaning of a word or sentence. Common ________ and your knowledge of the parts of speech also help in defining unknown words. For example: The angry driver shouted vehemently during his fight with the other driver. What does vehemently_________? You know what ________ means, and you know how people ________when they argue. From this, you can ________ out that vehemently has something to do with strong ________ or intense feeling.

1.A. take down B. look up. C. come across D. pick out

2.A. sentences B. words C. topics D. surroundings

3.A.unknown B. abnormal C. familiar D. negative

4.A. unique B. natural C. helpful D. common

5.A. incorrect B. inconvenient C. different D. satisfactory

6.A. cases B. reasons C. effects D. clues

7.A. translate B. interview C．continue D. examine

8.A. strangely B. uncertainly C． potentially D. firmly

9.A. alike B. meaningful C． proper D. great

10.A. properties B. similarities C． possibilities D. personalities

11.A. Popularity B. Consideration C．Example D. Comparison

12.A. affected B. adjusted C. changed D. introduced

13.A．focus B. spend C. carry D. rely

14.A. prevents B. helps C. tells D. displays

15.A. point B. taste C. awareness D. sense

16.A. mean B. use C. contain D. complete

17.A. angry B. grateful C. happy D. anxious

18.A. act B. say C. take D. think

19.A. come B. figure C. feel D. set

20.A. demand B. ambition C. attitude D. emotion

书面表达

假定你是李华，你校与美国一所友好学校决定通过网络开展跨文化交流活动（Cross -cultural Communication Project）。请你用邮件与美方联系，谈谈自己对交流活动内容的设想，征求对方意见。

你建议交流活动应包括以下四个方面内容：

1. 自我介绍；

2. 饮食文化差异；

3. 中学教育；

4. 语言学习体会。

注意：1. 词数100左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Hi Mark,

Hope all is well.

Yours,

Li Hua

Weekends are normally a time for shopping and last Saturday was no exception. My son Henry and I were shopping in a neighborhood market. Henry was busy weighing each new bag of vegetables I selected. I gave him a bag of potatoes and he walked over to the scale and waited in line. Suddenly, a man rushed over from behind, and stepped before him, hitting him out of the way. Henry looked shocked and scared. Seeing this I left my shopping cart and walked over to Henry, saying loudly, “Are you OK, honey? I saw what that man did to you. That was very, very wrong.”

When the man finished weighing his bag, his sudden turning around made all his onions fall to the ground. The three of us stood there, frozen for a moment. And then I bent down on my hands and knees and started collecting onions. After I handed the onions to the man, he accepted them and put them into his bag. After Henry and I picked up all the onions, the man walked away without saying anything. We didn’t discuss the event until we got back in the car.

On the way back home, Henry said through tears, “Mommy, I’ve a frustrating day. That man cut right in front of me. And we had to help him pick up his onions! Why did we do that? That didn’t make any sense!”

I took a deep breath and said, “Henry, that man seemed to have a very bad mood today. We should forgive him. I was also angry with the man for treating you rudely. I really wanted to kick him. But doing that doesn’t make any sense. If we hadn’t helped him, we might have felt good for a moment, but then I bet we would have felt really sorry for a long time. You and I have a lot of love to share. Maybe that man doesn’t have much. People who behave badly still need love.”

A cheerful smile appeared on Henry’s face. It was a smile of promise kept. It was the best smile I had ever seen. It was a good moment. It may have been my best mommy moment ever.

1.What did the man do?

A. He cut in the line.

B. He hit Henry on the head.

C. He hurried away without paying.

D. He ran into Henry suddenly.

2. What can we infer from the passage?

A. The author was not angry at all with what the man had done.

B. The man was very sorry for what he had done to Henry.

C. At last, Henry learned a very valuable life lesson from the event.

D. Henry didn’t help the author pick up the onions for the man.

3. Which of the following word can best describe the author?

A. Narrow-minded. B. Broad-minded.

C. Strong-willed. D. Bad-tempered.

Think about the different ways that people use the wind. You can use it to fly a kite or to sail a boat. Wind is one of our cleanest and richest power sources, as well as one of the oldest. Evidence shows that windmills began to be used in the ancient Iran back in the seventh century BC. They were first introduced to Europe during the 1100s, when armies returned from the Middle East with knowledge of using wind power.

For many centuries, people used windmills to grind(磨碎)wheat into flour or pump water from deep underground. When electricity was discovered in the late 1800s, people living in remote areas began to use them to produce electricity. This allowed them to have electric lights and radios. However, by the 1940s when electricity was available to people in almost all areas of the United States, windmills were rarely used.

During the 1970s, people started becoming concerned about the pollution that is created when coal and gas are burned to produce electricity. People realized that the supply of coal and gas would not last forever. Then, wind was rediscovered, though it means higher costs. Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind.

1.From the text we know that windmills _______.

A. were invented by European armies

B. have a history of more than 2,800 years

C. have rarely been used since electricity was discovered

D. used to supply power to radio in remote area

2.The underlined word in Paragraph 2 probably means________.

A. making something cleaner

B. making something flow freely

C. making something flow in a particular direction

D. making something into small parts

3.One of the reasons wind was discovered in the 1970s is that_______.

A. it is one of the oldest power sources

B. wind power is cleaner

C. it was cheaper to create energy from wind

D. coal and gas failed to meet the needs

4.What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A. The global trend towards producing power from wind.

B. The design of wind power plants.

C. The worldwide movement to save energy.

D. The advantages of wind power.

Little Tom was so enthusiastic about learning Chinese and after six months, he could speak it ______ fluently.

A. professionally B. correctly C. pretty D. locally