You have probably been told by your high school instructor that writing is an important and practical skill. However, you may not be convinced that the ability to write will be important in your own future. If so, you will be surprised at the results of a recent survey by the National Institute of Education. More than four thousand working men and women who had graduated fifteen years earlier were asked to name the courses they would have taken in college if they had known better. The designer of the survey expected people to name courses in computer science, mathematics, or business. But the course most often mentioned was writing.

If you already have a job, you are probably not surprised at their answers. Many jobs require the ability to write. Despite the increasing use of the telephone and the computer, much information must be communicated in writing.Some ten million people—managers, engineers, sales representatives, and many others— write regularly as part of their jobs. Summaries, reports, reports, letters and speeches are required in today’s work world. The ability to write, therefore, is an important skill. The successful individual is almost always the one who can communicate successfully in writing.

Writing communicates your thoughts and feelings to others; it also tells you something about yourself. Maybe this is what Eldridge Cleaver had in mind in his autobiography, “I started to write... to save myself...I had to seek out the truth... I had to find out who I am and what I want to be ,what type of man I should be ,and what I could do to become the best of which I was capable.”

1.Why does the author say writing is very important?

A.Because it is a required course at high school and college.

B.Because it is a way to communicate your thoughts.

C.Because it is an important skill for many jobs.

D.Because it shows your good quality.

2.The survey conducted by the National Institute of Education shows that .

A.more than 4,000 working people value the course of writing

B.many people regard computer science as a useful course

C.some people would study business if they had a chance

D.most people consider writing to be an important course

3.The author suggests that need to communicate a lot in writing.

A.mangers

B.engineers

C.sales representatives

D.all of the above

4.Why is Eldridge Cleaver’s autobiography mentioned in the passage?

A.To clarify what writing means to people.

B.To show what good writing is.

C.To encourage people to write.

D.To provide evidence for the survey.

Advice for High School Students

As a person who is graduating from high school very soon, I have some suggestions for students in high school or students who are soon going to be high school students. _1.__ I am sure others can benefit from reading them and will not make similar mistakes like me.

__2.__ Do not value first impression highly. Don’t dismiss a person or an idea too early just because you immediately get a bad impression. You will miss many opportunities because of that. Although something seems bad at the first impression, it does not mean it is bad all the time. Try to give everything a fair chance.

Don’t try to please everybody. There is no way you can please everybody or get everybody to agree with you. __3._ It is a huge waste of time.

Have respect for authority. No matter how much you may dislike them, just remember that teachers and parents care about you and they are only doing their jobs. __4.__ Don’t argue with them and just obey them.

Realize a high school is not the real world. The real world isn’t a closed environment. __5._ What is rewarded in high school such as popularity and agreement is different from what is rewarded in the real world. If high school isn’t working out for you, you may find yourself better at handling the real world.

A. Do not be too quick to judge.

B. So just learn to say the word “No” a lot.

C. Listen to their advice and consider it carefully.

D. Many of these are based on regrets that I have.

E. Bad habits are hard to break and remain with you for a long time.

F. Don’t spend any effort trying to please others who will never like you.

G. It is a free society where people accept responsibility for their actions.

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,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Years ago, I was on a long flight, during which a voice from the speaker said, “ We won’t drinks or the meal because we are facing a storm ahead. Please make your safe belts fastened.” Many passengers became , talking about it with each other. At once it became in the plane.

Soon, lighting the darkening skies, and within moments the was like a boat on waves in the storm. One moment it was up by the storm; the next, it was thrown as if it were to onto the ground. All the passengers were . Some cried. Some prayed (祈祷). The seemed hopeless. I wondered if we could it through the storm.

Then I noticed the little girl next to me. Surprisingly, the storm seemed to mean to her. She was , looking through a picture book. Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would again, but she never showed a (n) of worry or fear. The little girl wasn’t afraid at all all the adults were scared to death. Finding me watching her, the girl smiled at me and said, “ Don’t worry. My father is the pilot. He is taking me home. Take it easy. He will take us home safely.”

When the plane was out of , I smiled at the girl and she gave me a big smile in . “I said my father would take us home safely.”

Many kinds of storms may us: diseases, difficulties… They can easily darken our skies and our planes into hard times. Let us : Love is the pilot. It will help us out of trouble. So take it easy.

1.A. serveB. take C. getD. sell

2.A.excitedB. comfortableC. happyD. nervous

3.A. noisyB. quietC. warmD. cold

4.A. broke outB. came aboutC. lit upD. gave off

5.A. shipB. planeC. train D. seat

6.A. liftedB. cutC. turnedD. shut

7.A. jumpB. flyC. landD. drop

8.A. surprisedB. scaredC. gladD. interested

9.A. weatherB. questionC. futureD. action

10.A. makeB. reachC. winD. finish

11.A. somethingB. anythingC. everything D. nothing

12.A. funnyB. frustratedC. sadD. calm

13.A. talkB. readC. playD. sleep

14.A. bookB. storyC. expressionD. impression

15.A. and B. whenC. soD. since

16.A. orderB. dateC. fashionD. danger

17.A. turnB. timeC. returnD. front

18.A. troubleB. helpC. encourageD. stop

19.A. introduceB. inviteC. throwD. change

20.A. askB. rememberC. explainD. wonder

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。

It is the Thanksgiving Day . I have the strong desire to write about something to express my thanks to the people around me.

I ___1.__ ( bring up ) by my grandparents ___2._are as kind and hardworking as thousands of Chinese peasants in a distant village. They worked in the field all day long and took good care of me as well .

__3.___ ( Honest) speaking, my parents are ordinary people. But I must say that they are great educators, ____4.___ they educated me to be an ____5.___ ( dependent ) and useful man to society.

My teachers, selfless，generous, devote themselves to _ _6.__ ( help) each individual student achieve his/her ambition.

Meanwhile , I can share my happiness and ____7.___ (sad) with my peer students .I am happy to be with them because we have much __8.___ common.

I am ___9.___ luckiest and happiest person with all these loved __10._ (one) around.

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。每处错误仅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：在错的词下划一横线，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11处起）不计分。

Dear John,

Yesterday I had read a notice on the Internet. You wanted to look for a Chinese friend online who can actual help you learn the Chinese language, cultures or customs.

I’m looking forward to be your friend on the Internet but I wonder whether or not you would like to accept me. If I become our friend on the Internet, I’ll try my best to help you for Chinese in my spare time. At same time, I’ll introduce some cultures and custom of China to you step by step.

So if you are interesting in this, please let me know your QQ number and I really expect what we can make good friends soon.

Love,

Li Hua

假如你是李华，刚刚升入高中，开学已经两个多月了，你认识了很多老师还交了一些新朋友，其中，同桌刘佳音是你最好的朋友。请你写信给你的老同学王琳，介绍一下你现在的情况，并希望大家在高中将来的三年里都努力学习。

注意： 1. 词数80左右。

2. 开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Wang Lin,

How time flies!

Long Live our friendship!

Yours,

Li Hua

Do you want to have a nice place to spend your weekend？Here are some places for you ,which are probably a mere walk away from your college.

King's Art Centre

A day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend sees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.

You could attend a class teaching you how to ‘learn from the masters’ or get more creative with paint—free of charge.

The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.

The Botanic Garden

The Garden has over 8,000 plant species；it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.

The multi­branched Torch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above blue­green leaves，and is not one to miss.

Get to the display house to see Dionaea muscipula，a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.

The Garden is also a place for wildlife ­enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called ‘Hissing Sid’ is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.

Byron's Pool

Many stories surround Lord Byron's time as a student of Cambridge University. Arriving in 1805，he wrote a letter complaining that it was a place of “mess and drunkenness”．However，it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I'm not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his rooms.He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.

It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake，which is now known as Byron's Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside，the pool is surrounded by beautiful circular paths around the fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don't trust me，then perhaps you'll take it from Virginia Woolf—over a century after Byron，she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool.

1.“Torch Aloe” and “Venus Flytrap” are ______.

A．common insects

B．impressive plants

C．rarely ­seen snakes

D．Wildlife­enthusiasts

2.We can infer from the passage that Byron seemed ______.

A．to fear pet bears

B．to like walking

C．to be a heavy drinker

D．to finish university in 1805

3.In the passage Byron's Pool is described as a lake ______.

A．surrounded by fields

B．owned by Lord Byron

C．located in Grantchester

D．discovered by Virginia Woolf

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A．Some places for weekend break.

B．A way to become creative in art.

C．The colorful life in the countryside.

D．Unknown stories of Cambridge University.

Nowadays people are putting our water supply in danger, because they use too much water or throw rubbish into the river. You may wonder how paving(铺砌) a road can lead to less usable fresh water. A major part of thewaterweuse every day is groundwater. Groundwater does not come from lakes or rivers. It comes from underground. The more roads and parking lots we pave，the less water can flow into the ground to become groundwater.

Human activity is not responsible for all water shortages(短缺). Drier climates are of course more likely to have droughts(干旱) than areas with morerainfall，but in any case, good management can help to make sure there is enough water to meet our basic needs.

Thinking about the way we use water every day can make a big difference，too. In the United States，a family of four can use 1.5 tons of water a day! This shows how much we depend on water to live，but there's a lot we can do to lower the number.

You can take steps to save water in your home. To start with，use the same glass for your drinking water all day. Wash it only once a day. Run your dishwasher (洗碗机)only when it is full. Help your parents fix any leaks in your home. You can even help to keep our water supply clean by recycling batteries instead of throwing them away.

1.Which of the following is most likely to lead to less groundwater?

A．Using river water.

B．Throwing batteries away.

C．Paving parking lots.

D．Throwing rubbish into lakes.

2.What can be inferred from the text?

A．All water shortages are due to human behavior.

B．It takes a lot of effort to meet our water needs.

C．There is much we can do to reduce family size.

D．The average family in America makes proper use of water.

3.The last paragraph is intended to________．

A．show us how to fix leaks at home

B．tell us how to run a dishwasher

C．prove what drinking glass is best for us

D．suggest what we do to save water at home

4.The text is mainly about________．

A．why paving roads reduces our water

B．how much we depend on water to live

C．why droughts occur more in dry climates

D．how human activity affects our water supply

Christmas was coming, I was considering what present I should prepare for my father.My dad never wants anything, for he is a hard person to buy for . I pulled out my phone to read text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father.My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming，and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower，a lone dandelion standing against the bright blue sky，inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.

I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream ­colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind .The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe；my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming，and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples，twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer，the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood. I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.

Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame，I knew I had given the perfect gift.

1.The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was ______.

A．doing shopping

B．having a debate

C．reading a message

D．leaving for Wyoming

2.The author's inspiration （灵感）for the gift came from ______.

A．a photo of a flower

B．a story about a kid

C．a call from the mother

D．a text about Christmas

3.The author made the gift by ______.

A．searching for the poems online

B．drawing the background by hand

C．painting the letters in three colors

D．matching the words with pictures

“People are ruder today because they are rushed and more ‘time poor’ than ever before，” says Patsy Rowe, “Manners_have_fallen_off_the_radar(雷达)．” Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder more people don't wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with a complaint(抱怨)about the noise. Here are some examples of rudeness.

Some people prefer to do almost everything over the Internet. To them, dealing with an actual human needs more patience. It feels very slow because humans don't work at 4G speeds. When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone. We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life－changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with. What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous(匿名的) rude messages by email.

However, rudeness is never acceptable. Don't assume it is OK to be rude if the person you're in touch with won't recognize you. If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it. Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and disgusting.（令人厌恶的）

We shouldn't blame technology for our shortcomings. Technology is here to help us，but we should not allow it to take over our lives. An important step is acknowledging our shortcomings. People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more helpful if we'd publicly acknowledge good manners when we see them.

1.What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?

A．People can tell good from bad behavior.

B．Radar is able to observe human behavior.

C．People care little about their behavior.

D．Radar can be used to predict human behavior.

2.Some people are less willing to deal with humans because ________．

A．they are becoming less patient

B．they are growing too independent

C．they have to handle many important messages

D．they have to follow an evolutionary step backward

3.The author thinks sending unsigned awful messages is ________．

A．ridiculous

B．disgusting

C．acceptable

D．reasonable

4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．We should applaud （为喝彩） good behavior.

B．Technology can never be blamed.

C．We should keep pointing out mistakes.

D．Technology will take over our lives one day.