9．Every year，I tell my sons what I'd like for Mother's Day：a letter．Something written from the heart and offered freely rather than bought from a store and wrapped neatly．I don't always get my wish，nor do I always take the time to write to my own mother．
     This year，my boys will be in two different states on Mother's Day．My mom and dad will be away together，and l'11 be driving home from a writer's workshop in Massachusetts．Thinking of the fact that many friends have already lost their mothers and that a few have lost children，I am deeply grateful that what separates us，for now at least，is merely distance．It won't always be so，and there is no way to prepare for that fact other than to appreciate the moment that is．My sons know that they can please me on Sunday with a phone call or an e-mail，and that is enough as I love their words．The very best gift they can possibly give me is their own happiness，the very fact of their busy．full and well-lived lives．
     Still，knowing that my years of staying with my sons are over，I do Feel doleful．The truth is，I miss being the center of the universe to two little boys．And this holiday can be a bit painful．
     I wonder if my own mother ever felt nostalgic （'VTIH WJ） for the passing of my childhood．I wonder if she realizes that she is still at the center of my universe and always has been．I don't often pause to think about it．but of course she is the one who has been right there，at my side from the moment I drew my very first breath．How to ever fully appreciate the woman whose presence and love and example have shaped me into the adult I am？How to describe even a small part of the sharing．sacrificing．and support she has given me over the years？
51．The author mainly wants to tell us through the first paragraph thatD．
    A．she hopes to get her son's letters very much
    B．her sons don't often write to her on Mother's Day
    C．Mother's Day is the very date that she longs for most
    D．she is very sorry not to write to her mother often
52．The author is deeply grateful for the present life becauseB．
    A．her sons don't live far away from her home
    B．her parents and children are still alive
    C．her parents are coming to her house to spend Mother's Day
    D．her sons can please her on Sunday with a phone call
53．According to the authorC
    A．young people nowadays tend to ignore their parents
    B．parents should not give their children too much freedom
    C．children's happiness and success are the biggest comfort to parents
    D．parents are not the center of their children's universe when children grow up
54．What does the underlined word"doleful"in paragraph 3 mean？A
     A．sad              B．excited               C．guilty                D．proud
55．What will the author probably tell about after the last paragraph？B
    A．She'll tell the reader about her mother's present situation．
    B．She'll recall how her mother educated and cared for her．
    C．She'll describe the reunion of her family on Mother's Day．
    D．She'll tell the reader about her mother's achievements in her career．

8．近十几年，某市有越来越多的人选择出境旅游．你的文章请包括以下内容：

•描述图表，进行对照
•分析其中变化的原因
•谈谈可能产生的影响．

7．One picture in the Wonder Book of knowledge I had as a little boy showed a man reading a book while floating in the Dead Sea．What a miracle!How would it feel to lie back in water so thick with salt that it was impossible to sink？
Fed by the Jordan River and smaller streams，the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth's surface，and its water is ten times saltier than the Mediterranean．With evaporation its only outlet，salt and other minerals become super-concentrated．
Earlier this year，I drove down the long，steep hill to realize my dream．The shoreline was a broad area of bare salt-mud，but the water edge was far out of sight．Had somebody pulled the Dead Sea's plug？I wondered．Eli Dior，an Israeli official，explained the problem："The Dead Sea is drying up．Every year，the surface drops about one meter，and as the water level falls，shadow areas are left high and dry．"
Over the last half-century，the five neighboring countries have collectively diverted nearly all the water flowing into the Dead Sea to meet human and agriculture needs．Result：the Dead Sea is being emptied．
With population in the region set to double at least in the next 50years，there is little hope of restoring the water being diverted for human consumption．No country has a drop to spare for the Dead Sea，where they know it will just evaporate．To dream of opening the dams and restoring natural balance is plainly unrealistic．
Yet one ambitious high-tech dream may turn out to be not only the salvation of the Dead Sea but also a ticket to peace around its shores．The"Red-Dead"is a proposed $5billion project to bring sea water some 240kilometers by pipeline and canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea．The Red-Dead may be the only solution，but even if the project is carried out successfully，the Dead Sea will be 10to 20meters lower than now and two thirds of its current size．
Whatever the future holds，the Dead Sea's magical mix of sun，mud，sea and salt will surely survive．Many might complain that the Dead Sea is half empty-but for me the Dead sea will always be half full．

74．What's the passage mainly about？C
A．Dead Sea-miracle of the world．
B．Save the environment of the Dead Sea．
C．Slow shrinking of the Dead Sea．
D．Why is the Dead Sea so salty．
75．The shrinking of the Dead Sea is mainly caused byA according to the passage．
A．a severe reduction of the water flowing into the sea．
B．rapid evaporation of the water in the Dead Sea area．
C．the increasing quantity of water drawn from the sea．
D．very low annual rainfall in the Dead Sea Area．
76．Which of the following is right according to the passage？A
A．With no outlet to any ocean，the Dead Sea has become by evaporation the saltiest on earth．
B．Though burdened with the growing population，the neighboring countries haven't cut off the sources of the Dead Sea．
C．All the countries in the area will consider diverting less water from the Jordan River．
D．The Red-Dead Project has not only brought water to the Dead Sea，but peace to the area as well．
77．Which of the following statements will the author approve of？D
A．If the Dead Sea dried up，great natural disasters would happen in the region．
B．The Dead Sea will not survive no matter what people do to save it．
C．The five neighboring countries should stop diverting water from the Jordan River．
D．Though the Dead Sea is shrinking gradually，it will not die．

6．-I wonder why you didn't take part in the speech contest yesterday afternoon．
-I'm terribly sorry，I________ myself．

A．

had conducted

B．

conducted

C．

was conducting

D．

would conduct

5．By today's standards，my mobile phone is pretty rubbish．It's a Nokia 1616．If that doesn't mean much to you  （ it's not the kind of phone you see advertised on television），all you need to know is that it's a small，not very heavy device with which you can send and receive telephone calls and text messages．It also has a very handy torch on the top for when you can't find your keys，or when you drop something on the floor in the cinema．Other than that，my phone doesn't do much．Well，it has an alarm，and it probably has a calculator and things like that，but it's nothing compared to a smartphone．Why would I want one of those？
I have often been told that the big advantage of having a smartphone is that"you can do everything with them!"But when was the last time you saw someone doing"everything"with a smartphone？Okay，so they may have an endless list of functions，but generally they are used for checking social networking sites，playing games，and receiving and replying to emails．I'm happy just doing all of those things at home on my laptop．
As far as I can tell，the best thing about having a smartphone is that you can be connected to the inLernet all the time．Don't get me wrong，I love the internet，but I just don't see the point of constantly being online．I can't remember the last time I received a Facebook update which was so very urgent that I had to read it as soon as it appeared，and I can't imagine ever having a job which
was so important that I would need to read work-related emails immediately．I would think that if someone needed me urgently，they would just ring me rather than send an email．And my trusty Nokia can manage that．
One of the most peculiar effects of the smartphone is，in my opinion，the newly-found addiction  to maps and navigation （导航） systems．Is there anything more boring than knowing exactly where  you are all of the time？!How do you get to know an area if you don't get lost there a few times？And  if you are dependant on online maps，what happens to those great places you find just by chance？You can't exactly find out from google maps the journey from"here"to"that hidden cafe with the  tasty-looking cakes"，or to"that pond next to the church which looks really pretty in the evening  sun．"It is，of course，true that we all occasionally need to be pointed in the right dircction，but I  find that there are often real life  humans you can ask．
There are many benefits of having a very basic mobile phone，like the face that it cost me about twenty pounds，and that I don't have to worry too much about it being stolen．But the main benefit．has to be the fact that it provides me with the word'greatest excuse for my bad habits，Whether it's turning up late to events，or getting lose on a trip，or missing buses or trains，or forgetting about an  appointment at work，I'm pretty sure I'm covered with the following explanation"I'm really，sorry I don't have a smartphone．"

41．The writer uses his Nokia 1616mainly toD．
A．play online games                   B．do calculating work
C．check social network sites          D．make calls and text messages
42．It can be inferred from the above passage thatB．
A．work-related emails should be answered immediately
B．a laptop and a smartphone share many functions
C．smartphones should always be connected to the net
D．a Facebook update is usually very import
43．According to the passage，if you use navigation systems，you mayA
A．miss some really wonderful places            B．find a boring trip actually exciting
C．be persuaded to eat in a certain cafe        D．be misled to a totally wrong place
44．To the writer，one benefit of having a basic mobile phone is thatC
A．it can remind him of important appointments
B．it can often be found back after it is stolen
C．it can be used as an excuse for his bad habits
D．it can save him the trouble of catching trains
45．The writer's purpose for writing this article is toA．
A．explain why he doesn't want a smartphone
B．warn readers of the risks of using smartphones
C．complain about the troubles caused by smartphones
D．inform readers of the latest development of mobile phones．

4．December is thetwelfth（第十二） month of a year．

3．I will spare time to visit you onWednesday （星期三），because there is only one class on that day．

2．If conditionspermit （允许），we can go to Beijing for our winter holidays．

1．Judging from their appearance，they must beEuropeans （欧洲人）．

20．I made my way through thenarrow（狭窄的）space between cars．