Curiosity is an important characteristic of a genius. I don’t think you can find an intellectual giant who is not a curious person. Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, they are all curious characters. Richard Feynman was especially known for his adventures which came from his curiosity. 1. Here are four reasons:

It makes your mind active and strong.

2. Their minds are always active. Since the mind is like a muscle which becomes stronger through continual exercise, the mental exercise caused by curiosity makes your mind stronger and stronger.

It makes your mind observant of new ideas.

When you are curious about something, your mind expects new ideas related to it. When the ideas come they will soon be recognized. 3. This is because your mind is not prepared to recognize them. Just think, how many great ideas may have lost due to lack of curiosity?

4.

By being curious you will be able to see something new that is normally not visible. They are hidden behind the surface of normal life, and it takes a curious mind to look beneath the surface and discover the unknown.

It brings excitement into your life.

The life of curious people is far from boring. It’s neither dull nor routine. There are always new things that attract their attention and there are always new “toys” to play with.5.

A. So is curiosity that important?

B. But why is curiosity so important?

C. It leads you to a new and exciting life.

D. It opens up new worlds and possibilities.

E. Curious people always ask questions and search for answers.

F. Rather than get bored, curious people have an adventurous life.

G. Without curiosity, the ideas may pass right in front of you and yet you miss them.

I was on a plane returning home to Dallas, Texas after completing my duty in Vietnam. There were no hometown parades for us veterans （退役老兵） from that _________ war and I had been warned about the unfriendliness from our countrymen at that time. _________, I was just trying to get home without incident.

I sat, in uniform, in a window seat, _________ eye contact with my fellow passengers. No one was sitting in the seat next to me, which _________ my loneliness. A little girl, not more than 10 years old, suddenly _________ in the passage. She smiled and, without a word,_________ handed me a magazine. I accepted her _________ together with her quiet “welcome home”. I turned to the window and wept. Her small _________ of caring was the first I had _________ in a long time.

I believe in the __________ between strangers when we reach out to one another.

Today, that young girl __________ has no memory of what happened years ago. I like to think of her as having grown up, continuing to __________ others and teaching her children to do the same. I know she might have been told to give me the “__________” by her parents. It doesn’t matter why she gave me the magazine. The __________ thing is she did.

From then on, I have followed her __________ and tried, in different ways for __________people, to do the same for them. I know that my __________ since then are all due to that little girl. Her offer of a magazine to a tired, scared and __________ soldier has echoed throughout my __________. I have to believe that my small gestures have the same __________ on others.

1.A. fair B. great C. unpopular D. unexpected

2.A. However B. Therefore C. Besides D. Meanwhile

3.A. making B. keeping C. reducing D. avoiding

4.A. resulted from B. accounted for C. contributed to D. added to

5.A. screamed B. appeared C. jumped D. waved

6.A. anxiously B. casually C. shyly D. unconsciously

7.A. admiring B. offering C. apology D. invitation

8.A. gesture B. discussion C. idea D. exchange

9.A. predicted B. imagined C. experienced D. evaluated

10.A. coincidence B. connection C. conflict D. conversation

11.A. ridiculously B. surprisingly C. undoubtedly D. unfortunately

12.A. panic B. tease C. touch D. judge

13.A. gift B. lesson C. reminder D. reward

14.A. important B. unusual C. appropriate D. concrete

15.A. advice B. dream C. example D. requirement

16.A. old B. wounded C. homeless D. different

17.A. worries B. attempts C. puzzles D. emotions

18.A. unfit B. tough C. lonely D. desperate

19.A. life B. duty C. career D. journey

20.A. stress B. effect C. threat D. consequence

Itzhak Perlman, a famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert. He was stricken with polio（小儿麻痹症）as a child, so getting on stage is no small 1. (achieve).

The audience sat quietly while he made his way across the stage 2. his chair and began his play. But this time, 3. went wrong. Just as he finished the first part, one of the strings on his violin 4.(break). We thought that he would have to stop the concert. But he didn’t. 5., he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

6. (power) and pure, his performance attracted all the attention.

Of course, anyone believes 7. impossible to play a harmonious work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused 8. (know) that.

When he finished, people rose and cheered.

9. (smile), he wiped the sweat and said, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with 10. you have left.”

假定你是李华，一位热衷中国文化的美国朋友James来信想了解你最近参加的一次校园“诗词大会”(Poetry Conference)活动。请用英文给他写一封回信，内容包括：

活动目的 （走进中国诗词，感受传统文化……）

活动内容 （诗歌诵读、古诗词欣赏……）

活动体验 （……）

注意：

词数80左右；

可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

With limited space for parks and gardens, architects and city planners often find it challenging to include greenery in neighborhoods in cities. One creative solution is to grow plants on unused areas like walls and rooftops. It’s a popular idea, and now rooftop gardens and green walls have been sprouting up（大量冒出） in cities around the world.

There are many benefits of having green spaces to the urban landscape. Adding gardens to rooftops or walls can create a pleasant environment — what was once a gray cement（水泥） wall can become a colorful, blooming garden. The CaxiaForum art gallery in Madrid, Spain, is a famous example — one of its walls is covered with 15,000 plants from over 250 different species. In other cities, green walls are being used more functionally, to cover up construction sites and empty buildings and to decorate the lobbies of office buildings.

Using plants to cover walls and rooftops can also keep cities cooler in the summer. Buildings and roads absorb the sun’s heat and hold it, causing a building or neighborhood to stay warmer longer. Plants, on the other hand, provide an enormous amount of shade. There is evidence that growing a roof or wall garden can lower a building’s energy costs.

In New York City, public schools plant rooftop gardens that can reduce heating and cooling costs. In addition to saving the school money, teachers and parents love the gardens because of their educational value — it’s a fun and healthy way for their kids to investigate the world around them. “For the children, it’s exciting when you grow something edible（可食用的）,” said Lauren Fontana, principal of a New York public school.

Rooftop gardens and green walls may require a bit more effort to grow and maintain. However, hard work always brings rewards, and with green spaces, the rewards are plentiful.

Today there are policemen everywhere, but in 1700, London had no policemen at all. A few old men used to protect the city streets at night and they were not paid.

About 300 years ago, London was starting to get bigger and more and more people began to live there. The city was very dirty and many people were poor. There were so many thieves who stole money in the streets that people stayed in their homes as much as possible.

In 1750,Henry Fielding started to pay a group of people to stop thieves. They were like policemen and were called “Bow Street Runners” because they worked near Bow Street.

Fifty years later, there were 120 “Bow Street Runners”, but London had become very big and needed more policemen. So in 1829 , the first Metropolitan(or London)Police Force was started with 3,000 officers. Most of the men worked on foot, but a few rode horses. Until 1920 all the police in London were men.

Today, London police are quite well paid and for the few police officers who still ride horses, the pay is even better than for the others.

1.In 1700, the men who protected the streets were paid __________ .

A. a few B. nothing

C. a little D. a lot

2.About 300 years ago, many people __________.

A. wanted to leave London B. had big houses in London

C. became policemen D. came to live in London

3.People didn’t leave their houses because __________ .

A. they had no money B. they were afraid of losing money

C. the city was not clean D. they liked homes

When we want to tell other people what we think, we can do it with the help of words. We can also do it in many other ways, too. Sometimes we move our heads up and down when we want to say “yes”, and we shake our heads when we want to say “no ”. Some people can’t hear or speak. They talk with the help of gestures（手势）.People from other countries often have to do it if they don’t know your language.

Here is a story. An American was once having his holiday in Italy, but he could not speak Italian. One day he went to a restaurant and sat down at a table. When the waiter came, the American opened his mouth, put his fingers in it and took them out again. In this way he wanted to say “Bring me something to eat”. The waiter soon brought him a cup of tea. The American shook his head and the waiter understood that he didn’t want tea. So he took it away and brought him a glass of milk. The American shook his head again. He was very hungry now and looked sad. He was just going to leave the restaurant when another man came in. When this man saw the waiter, he put his hands on his stomach(胃). In a few minutes there was a large plate of bread and meat on the table in front of him.

1.Sometimes people move their heads __________ when they want to say “yes”.

A. right and left B. fast and slow

C. hard and easy D. up and down

2.If people want to say __________ ,they may shake their heads.

A. “no” B. “yes”

C. “words” D. “OK”

3.If you can,t __________ ,you may talk with the help of gestures.

A. write and read B. say or sing

C. hear and speak D. go or come

It was a quiet village in which there was a military camp(军营).It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains around. Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers. But it was difficult for the young men to go outside. Mr White, an officer of forty, was strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp.

Once Mr White was ill in bed. He couldn’t work and a young officer, Mr Hunt began to train the new soldiers instead of him. He knew the young men well and let nine soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday. But night fell and none came back to the camp. He was worried about it and stood at the gate. It was five to twelve when Mr Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening to the young men. He started the car quickly and set off. At that moment the nine soldiers came back. It seemed they drank wine. Of course they found the officer was angry.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the first soldier. “I left the town on time. But something was wrong with my bus on my way here. I had to buy a horse and made it run fast. Bad luck! It died and I had to run back.”

And the other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons. It was the last soldier’s turn. He said, “I’m sorry, sir. I got on a bus on time, but…”

Having heard this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once. He called out, “If you say something was wrong with your bus, I’ll punish you at once!”

“No, no, sir,” said the young man. “My bus was all right, but the horse died!”

1.The military camp was built in the village to __________ .

A. stop the soldiers from going to towns

B. stop the soldiers from meeting their friends

C. train the new soldiers

D. make the young men live quietly

2.Mr Hunt let the nine soldiers have a holiday because __________ .

A. he was kind to them B. they felt lonely

C. they had something important to do D. they were the best of all

3.The young officer was worried because __________.

A. a traffic accident had happened

B. he was afraid something happened to the nine soldiers

C. the nine soldiers would come back

D. the nine soldiers drank too much in the town

4.The nine soldiers returned to the camp late because __________ .

A. something was wrong with their buses

B. their horses died on the return way

C. it took them much time to run back

D. they all drank much in the town

5.Which answer do you think is true?

A. You’ll believe only the last soldier.

B. The officer believed the nine soldiers.

C. You’ll believe none of the nine soldiers.

D. The officer won’t punish his soldiers.

The snow lasted until last Friday. I opened the window this morning and saw the sun but I felt much colder.

“You’d better go to work on foot , dear,”said my husband,“It is dangerous for you to drive.”

I thought him right and agreed. It would take me about forty minutes to go my hospital. There was about an hour left, so I started, with a bag of sandwich for breakfast. In the streets there was thick snow and ice and the traffic was less than before and people walked carefully. Suddenly I saw a car going fast. The driver tried to pass the crossing before the lights turned red. Maybe he didn’t see two boys in the middle of the street. His car knocked down(撞倒)one boy and stopped just in front of the police box.

People crowded around the boy at once. I rushed out of the gathering crowd (聚集的人群)and was going to look him over. But a man pushed me aside and said,“Step back(向后退),please. I,ve had a course in first aid(急救).”

I had to stand and watch his ministrations(救助) for a few minutes. Then I said to him,“When you need a doctor, sir, I,m already here.”

1.It is __________today.

A. snowy B. cloudy

C. sunny D. windy

2.I left home__________this morning.

A. after breakfast B. before breakfast

C. as usual D. too late

3.People walked carefully because __________ .

A. it was very cold

B. there was much traffic

C. they wore warm clothes

D. there was much snow and ice in the streets

4.The driver knocked down the boy because__________.

A. he had something important to do

B. he was afraid to be late for work

C. there was no policeman there

D. he drove too fast past the crossing

What’s your favorite weather? Do you like sunny or rainy days? Many people like sunshine (阳光) a lot. 1.. They think rain makes them feel sad. For a long vacation, they like going to the beach to enjoy sunshine. 2.. I like sunshine very much, but I also enjoy rain.

3.. It can make me feel quiet. On rainy days, I like listening to music and doing some reading, or just looking at the rain and daydreaming (做白日梦). 4.. I think it’s a good way to relax when it rains.

5.. I hope you can feel happy no matter (无论) it rains or it’s sunny.

A. When you daydream, you don’t have to think about other things.

B. Sunshine can make them feel good and happy.

C. When it rains, the ground is wet and muddy.

D. They don’t like rain.

AB. Sunshine can make one run around and rain can make one keep quiet.

AC. I enjoy the sound (声音) of rain.

AD. They also like rain.