Mrs. Bertha Flowers was the aristocrat of Black Stamps. She had the grace of control to appear warm in the coldest weather, and on the Arkansas summer days it seemed she had a private breeze which swirled around, cooling her.

One summer afternoon, she stopped at the store to buy supplies. Another Negro woman of her health and age would have been expected to carry the paper sacks home in one hand, but Momma said, “Sister Flowers, I’ll send Bailey up to your house with these things.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Henderson. I’d prefer Marguerite, though.” My name sounded so beautiful when she said it. “I’ve been meaning to talk to her, anyway.” They gave each other age group looks.

There was a little path beside the rocky road, and Mrs. Flowers walked in front swinging her arms and picking her way over the stones.

Without turning her head, she spoke to me, “I hear you’re working very good school work, Marguerite, but that it’s all written. The teachers report that they have trouble getting you to talk in class.” We passed the triangular farm on our left and the path widened to allow us to walk together.

“Now no one is going to make you talk—possibly no one can. But bear in mind, language is man’s way of communicating with his fellow man and it is language alone which separates him from the lower animals.” That was a totally new idea to me, and I would need time to think about it.

“Your grandmother says you read a lot. Every chance you get. That’s good, but not good enough. Words mean more than what is set down on paper.”

She said she was going to give me some books and that I not only must read them, I must read them aloud. She suggested that I try to make a sentence sound in as many different ways as possible.

“I’ll accept no excuse if you return a book to me that has been badly handled.” My imagination boggled(退缩) at the punishment I would deserve if in fact I did abuse a book of Mrs. Flowers’.

The odors in the house surprised me. The sweet scent of vanilla(香草) had met us as she opened the door.

“Have a seat, Marguerite. You see, I had planned to invite you for cookies and lemonade so we could have this little chat.” She carried a plate covered with a tea towel.

As I ate she began the first of what we later called “My lesson in living.” She said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and even more intelligent than college professors. She encouraged me to listen carefully to what country people called mother wit. That in those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations.

When I finished the cookies she brought a thick, small book from the bookcase. I had read A Tale of Two Cities and found it up to my standards as a romantic novel. She opened the first page and I heard poetry for the first time in my life.

“It was the best of times and worst of times...”

Her voice slid in and curved down through and over the words. She was nearly singing. I wanted to look at the pages. Were they the same that I had read? Or were there notes, music, lined on the pages? Her sounds began cascading(瀑布般落下) gently. I knew that she was nearing the end of her reading.

“How do you like that?”

It occurred to me that she expected a response. The sweet vanilla flavor was still on my tongue and her reading was a magic to my ears. I had to speak.

I said, “Yes, ma’am.” It was the least I could do, but it was the most also.

“There’s one more thing. Take this book of poems and memorize one for me. Next time you pay me a visit, I want to recite.”

I have often tried hard to search for the enchantment(着迷) I so easily found in those gifts. To be allowed, no, invited, into the private lives of strangers, to share their joys and fears, was a chance to exchange the Southern bitter wormwood(苦艾) for a cup of mead(蜂蜜酒) with Beowulf or a hot cup of tea and milk with Oliver Twist. When I said aloud, “It is a far, far better thing than anything I have ever done...” tears of love filled my eyes at my selflessness.

I was liked, and what a difference it made, I was respected not as Mr Henderson’s grandchild or Bailey’s sister but for just being Marguerite Johnson.

1.What does Mrs. Flowers mean by saying “Words mean more than what is set down on paper” (paragraph 7)?

A. Besides reading, Marguerite should talk more.

B. The content of books may have different meanings.

C. How one speaks adds extra meaning to words.

D. It is language that distinguishes humans from animals.

2. Marguerite’s opinion of A Tale of Two Cities before and after Mrs. Flowers’ reading can be described as _______.

A. poetic … musical B. satisfactory … informative

C. romantic … dramatic D. common … extraordinary

3.It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A. Mrs. Flowers was born in a noble family.

B. The meeting between Mrs. Flowers and Marguerite was probably an intentional arrangement.

C. Marguerite hadn’t read poetry before her visit to Mrs. Flowers’ home.

D. Mrs. Flowers would recite new poems on Marguerite’s later visits.

4.Which can be the best title for the passage?

A. The Power of Language

B. A Lesson in Living

C. A Respectable Lady

D. My Initial Access to Charles Dickens

Plan on traveling around the USA this summer. If you need help in arranging the trip, or want ideas about where to go and what to do, there are a number of outstanding websites that can make your American dream come true.

www.byways. org

The National Scenic Byways Program covers l50 memorable roads. Some are natural routes, such as Route l along the California coast. Others focus on history(such as Route 6) or man-made attractions (the Las Vegas Trip). For each, you are provided with a map, told the route’s length and how long is allowed, and given detailed suggestions on sights and stop-offs.

www. oyster. com

This is the best website for reviews of hotels in US cities and resorts. The reviews are impressively thorough--covering locations, rooms, cleanliness, food and so on. Importantly, these are not promotional photos by the hotels, but more honest and revealing ones taken by inspectors. Search facilities are excellent. From the 243 hotels reviewed in the New York, you can narrow down what you are looking for by locations, facilities and styles, or just pick out a selection of the best.

www. 101usaholidays. co. uk

This is the latest offering that features l01 holiday ideas to the USA. It’s an impressively diverse selection, ranging from touring in the footsteps of Martin Luther King to a golfing break in Arizona and a cycling and wine—tasting trip in California’s Napa Valley. Narrow down what you are looking for--whether by price, region, theme and who will be traveling--and then just the photos of the relevant holidays remain on view. It’s a really clever design.

www. mousesavers. com

Walt Disney World in California can make dreams come true, but the price is not affordable for the majority of people.

So turn to long established Mousesavers. com, dedicated to giving big discounts on tickets, hotels and dining at Walt Disney World. The website also offers general money—saving tips, suggestions for cheap and free stuff and brief coverage of other Florida and California theme parks.

1.If you are going to the USA for the man-made attractions, you can drive along________.

A.Route l B.Route 6

C.the Las Vegas Trip D.the California coast

2.Why are the photos of the hotels in US cities and resorts real in www. oyster. com?

A.Because they were taken by customers who once lived there.

B.Because there are comments of customers on each photo.

C.Because there are qualifications of the authority.

D.Because they are taken by inspectors of the website.

3.Travel ideas for a big family with kids and the old are available at .

A.http://byways. org B.www. oyster. com

C.www. 101 us holidays. co. uk D.www. mouse savers. com

4.Where does the text probably come from?

A.A news report.

B.A tourist brochure.

C.A culture journal.

D.A health column

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。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Do you have a spare room in your house? Do you like to share your driveway in front of your garage with others? 1. Many people are benefiting from this new business of renting.

Perhaps the best-known example of a company in this field is Airbnb—an American web business which allows you to rent out your spare room to holidaymakers. It says it operates in 34,000 cities and it has 800,000 listings of rooms and apartments. 2.

A British company is doing something with parking spaces. Just Park’s founder，Anthony Eskinazi, says, “When I had the original idea. I spotted a driveway close to a spots stadium. It would have been so convenient if I could have just parked in that driveway rather than in a commercial car park.” 3. Around 20,000 people have advertised their spaces on the website, and he says around half a million drivers use it.

4. They are people who run things like traditional hotels and commercial car parks. They are afraid of ending up losing money.

5. Regulations for these new businesses are unclear. How will renting out your driveway affect your neighbor? Because this is a new business world, those rules aren’t there yet.

A. They seem to have occupied the majority of the market.

B. Both of these can help you make money.

C. And there is another problem.

D. And his great idea has proved a success.

E. But the new business of renting has its competitors.

F. There are many ways to earn money.

G. A commercial car park is inconvenient.

假定你是李华，是将来北京参加冬令营活动的英国高中生Tom的接待家庭。请根据以下提示给Tom写信电子邮件，告知相关事宜。

内容要点：1.机场接机；2.单独卧室, 可以上网；3.陪同浏览北京。

注意：1. 词数不少于100；

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Tom,

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

I’m looking forward to your early reply.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

When visiting New York City with your kids，there are many things to do with kids that will entertain their spirits and feed their minds.

The Whispering Gallery

Make your way to the Whispering Gallery. The Whispering Room's architecture allows for a phenomenon that usually makes people laugh. Once inside the gallery，place one person facing the corner at one end of the room and then place another person facing the corner at the opposite end. Ask one of the participants to whisper a phrase or a quick sentence or two and the person on the opposite end will be able to hear every word that was said.

E. 42nd St.

212一771一5322

grandcentralterminal. com

The American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History was founded in 1869. In addition to its impressive exhibits，permanent attractions bring the cool factor home to kids. They can enter the Fossil Halls and see the impressive dinosaur skeletons（骨架）．And the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life educates kids about the fragility（脆弱）of the Ocean

Central Park West at 79th St.

212一769一5606

amnh. org

the Scholastic Store

Most parents want their children to read，and moreover，to enjoy reading. Scholastic helps to make that wish a reality by publishing interesting，well-written stories that are popular with children. With such classics as“Clifford the Big Red Dog”，“The Magic School Bus，＂and“Harry Potter，”the Scholastic Store will delight your children.

557 Broadway

212一343一6100

scholastic. com

Ellen's Stardust Diner(小饭店)

The restaurant is a place where each person in your family can find something to eat. Arugula salads，grilled cheese，burgers and meatloaf are all on this varied menu. A hall of beauty queens，a drive-in theatre and wait staff that sing to you can add to this unique dining experience.

1650 Broadway，corner of 51st St.

212一956一5151

ellensstardustdiner. com

1.Which of the following websites helps kids learn about animals？

A. ettensstardustdiner. com.

B. grandcentralterminal. com.

C. amnh. org.

D. scholastic. com.

2.To develop your kids' interest in reading，you can bring them to ．

A. the Whispering Gallery

B. the Scholastic Store

C. Ellen's Stardust Diner

D. the American Museum of Natural History

3.It can be learned from the passage that ________．

A. sound travels well in the Whispering Gallery

B. people can enjoy music in the Scholastic Store

C. Ellen's Stardust Diner mainly provides western food

D. the American Museum of Natural History has a history of 200 years

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(不多于3个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式按序号填写到短文后的相应位置。

Once, in a lovely garden, lived the most beautiful butterfly in the world. She was so pretty, and had won so many beauty competitions 1. she had become very proud. One day, a naughty cockroach (蟑螂) got fed up with her showing off, and decided 2. (teach) her a lesson.

She went to see the butterfly, and in front of everyone she told her that she wasn’t really that beautiful, and that the butterfly only won the competitions 3. the judges had been paid. In 4. (real), the cockroach was the most beautiful.

The butterfly was angry and told the cockroach, “I 5. (beat) you in a beauty competition, with whichever judges you choose.” “OK, I accept. See you on Saturday,” answered the cockroach, and left6. waiting for a reply.

That Saturday everyone went to7. beauty competition. The butterfly arrived completely confident of victory until she saw 8. the judges were: cockroaches, worms, beetles. All of9. preferred the ugliness and bad smell of the cockroach.

The butterfly was left 10. (sob) and disappointed, wanting never to enter another beauty competition in her life. Fortunately, the cockroach forgave the butterfly for her pride and they became friends.

Recently, the TV show “Where are we going, Dad?” produced by Hunan Satellite Television is a big hit /across nation. Many famous stars brought their children to a strange village alone, and they had to spend 72 hours with their children there. The program fully showed us a modern version of the “how to be a good father”. As the Daddy and cute kids triggered（触发）a lot of people’s emotional resonance（共鸣）. Both the kids and their parents will find that their hearts are being drawn closer. But this kind of feeling has just proved that there is a big spiritual barrier between the modern parents and children.

The TV shows like “Children are hard to support!”, “Where are we going, Dad?”, “hot mom” and “cute kids” are becoming more and more popular. All of these show the new parents’ confusion in children’s education and the appeal for the balance between career and family.

In the real life, on the one hand the young parents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their children under the pressures of work and life; on the other hand they continue to do so. The data collected by HNTV shows that nearly two-thirds of their audience are female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34.We can imagine such a scene that one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children, while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is just playing computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the company of father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In a modern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility of raising a child. The participation of mother in the children’s education is also very low.

It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parents will guide their children to go that “Where are we going, Dad?” shows us. If a child wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen with independent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her to follow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the real reason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that children will go where their parents go; and society will go where the children go.

1.To raise a child in modern society, parents should ________.

A. break down the barrier between children and teachers

B. balance well between family and career

C. play computer games with their children

D. keep their children at home to avoid socializing

2.What does the underlined word “participation” probably mean?

A. taking responsibility B. understanding

C. taking part D. keeping company

3.What attitude towards modern family education does the author express in the second paragraph?

A. Optimistic. B. Indifferent.

C. Proud. D. Worried.

4. Which one is the best title of the passage?

A. New problems in Modern Children’s Education

B. Modern Education is Important

C. Confusion Behind “Where are we going, dad?”

D. Nanny Daddy and Cute Kids

星期天，你班同学们在老师的带领下到学校附近的公园开展了一次环保清洁活动。老师要求你写一篇日记，发表你对此次活动的看法。

1. 你们所做的事情（清理废纸、塑料袋；向游客演讲；设立标牌(sign)等）。

2. 你的看法。

注意： 1)可以适当增加细节，使内容连贯。

2)词数:100左右。

3）开头已给出，不计入总词数。

Sunday Fine

Today our class organized an environmental protection activity in the nearby park.

Some colors people see late at night could cause signs of the condition mental health experts call clinical depression(临床抑郁症). That was the finding of a study that builds on earlier study findings. They show that individuals who live or work in low levels of light overnight can develop clinical depression.

Doctors use the word clinical depression to describe severe form of depression. Signs may include loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, low energy levels and thoughts of death or suicide.

In the new study, American investigators designed an experiment that exposed hamsters（仓鼠）to different colors. The researchers chose hamsters because they are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and are active at night. The animals were separated into four groups. One group of hamsters was kept in the dark during their night-time period. Another group was placed in front of a blue light, a third group slept in front of a white light, while a fourth was put in front of a red light. After four weeks, the researchers noted how much sugary water the hamsters drank. They found that the most depressed animals drank the least amount of water.

Randy Nelson, at Ohio State University, says animals that slept in blue and white light appeared to be the most depressed. “What we saw is that these animals didn’t show any sleep interruptions at all but they did mess up biological clock (生物钟) genes and they did show depressive sign but if they were in the dim red light, they did not.” He says there’s a lot of blue in white light. This explains why the blue light and white light hamsters appear to be more depressed than the hamsters seeing red light or darkness.

1. From the text we know that ________ made the hamster feel depressed.

A. the amount of the water

B. the colour of the light

C. the loss of pleasure

D. the level of energy

2. What was the purpose of the experiment on hamsters?

A. To show how well they slept.

B. To see how much sugary water they drank.

C. To explain why they liked dark colours.

D. To find out what caused the depression on them.

3.The author explains the clinical depression by _________.

A. reporting an experiment process

B. presenting research data

C. setting down general rules

D. giving his own experience

4.Where can we probably find the text?

A. In a science magazine.

B. In a physics textbook

C. In a tourist guidebook.

D. In an official announcement.

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个词）或括号内单词的正确形式，并把答案写在答题卡上的相应位置。

Louis invited his friends to lunch one day. He was cooking some delicious food in the kitchen. Suddenly, he 1. (find) that he had run out of salt. So Louis called to his son, “Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much 2. too little.”

His son looked surprised. “I can understand why I shouldn’t pay too much, Father, but if I can pay less, 3. not save a bit of money?”

“That would be a very 4. (reason) thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like ours,” Louis said.

Louis’s guests, 5. had heard their conversation, asked why they should not buy sale more cheaply if they could. Louis replied, “The only reason why a man would sell sale 6. a lower price would be that he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect for the sweat and struggle of the man who worked very hard to produce 7. .”

“But such a small thing couldn’t 8. (possible) destroy a village.”

“In the beginning, there was only 9. very small amount of unfairness in the world, but everyone added a little, always 10. (think) that it was only small and not very important, and look where we have ended up today.”