【题目】【改编】What is funny? The short answer is: Who knows? The joke that causes a burst of laughter from one listener might be met with a puzzled look from another.

In general, you should avoid jokes at any business or social gathering where there are more than two people in your conversational group. If there are only two people — and they consist of you and your best friend — go ahead and tell it.

Admittedly, a few people possess a perfect sense of timing, appropriateness, and joke delivery. You are probably not one of them. You might be quite funny and have many great jokes. But there’s a place for jokes — over dinner with family, hiking with friends, but business or social affairs with colleagues and acquaintances (熟人) are not it. It takes a whole other level of joke-telling ability to put a joke into the more formal conversations.

The best jokes come into the conversation so that by the time listeners realize a joke is in progress, the punchline that produces humour is being delivered — to their surprise and delight.

Jokes don’t translate well when you’re in a group with mixed backgrounds: those whose first language is not English, those who might not understand a special term or an “in” expression, young people who wouldn’t catch a reference to some bit of culture familiar to older people — and vice versa (反之亦然).

Never joke about another person in the group — about their name, habits, hometown, profession, appearance, or past. It’s not a question of whether the joke is cheery or appropriate. No one enjoys being singled out this way. When you are the subject of the joke, the laughter doesn’t feel good no matter how hard you try to tell yourself they’re not laughing at you. Because that’s what it feels like.

What do you say if you realize your joke upset someone? Apologize as briefly and as sincerely as you can, and hope that someone changes the subject. Try saying: “I’m sorry. I should have known better” or “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

What do you do if people don’t get your joke or don’t appear to find it as funny as you do? First, do not retell it, only louder this time, hoping the point of the joke will be seen. Second, don’t try to push people to get it. People do not like people whose jokes they don’t understand. They feel stupid and need to blame someone. If you want to leave with the goodwill of your listeners, say something to make them feel less foolish. You could say: “I don’t know why I tell jokes when I’m so poor at it.”

The world needs laughter, and good humour is a success wherever it goes, so this caveat (告诫) about joke-telling is not meant to dampen high spirits or to advocate dull conversation. If you’re a gifted story-teller and you know people love your jokes, go for it. We need your kind. The rest of us will save our jokes for family and close friends.

【1】From the first paragraph we can know______.

A. Not all jokes are funny.

B. Not all people like jokes.

C. No one knows what jokes are.

D. People may have different reactions to the same joke.

【2】Which occasion is appropriate for you to tell jokes?

A. At a business meeting.

B. At a social gathering.

C. Over dinner with your boss and colleagues.

D. At home with family..

【3】Which of the following statement is true?

A. Jokes are welcome in whatever situation.

B. People should repeat the joke when it isn’t understood well.

C. Not all jokes work well as expected.

D. Jokes have no borders.

【4】When you are the subject of a joke, you may feel _____.

A. uncomfortable B. worried

C. happy D. satisfied

【5】In the passage, the writer suggests that _____.

A. jokes are useful in any situation.

B. joke-telling is a very complex thing.

C. joke-telling can help people get along well.

D. jokes are forbidden in some areas.

【题目】【改编】Is language, like food, a basic human need without which a child at a critical period of life can be starved and damaged? Judging from the experiment of Frederick in the thirteenth century, it may be. Hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue, he told the nurses to keep silent.

All the infants died before the first year. But clearly there was more than lack of language here. What was missing was mothering. Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the capacity to survive is seriously affected.

Today no such severe lack exists as that ordered by Frederick. Nevertheless, some children are still backward in speaking. Most often the reason for this is that the mother is insensitive to the signals of the infant, whose brain is programmed to learn language rapidly. If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again. A bird learns to sing and to fly at the right time, but the process is slow and hard once the critical stage has passed.

Experts suggest that speech stages are reached in a fixed order and at a constant age, but there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ. At twelve weeks a baby smiles and makes vowel-like sounds; at twelve months they can speak simple words and understand simple commands; at eighteen months he has a vocabulary of three to five words. At three he knows about 1,000 words, which he can put into sentences, and at four his language differs from that of his parents in style rather than grammar.

Recent evidence suggests that an infant is born with the capacity to speak. What is special about man’s brain, compared with that of the monkey, is the complex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a toy-bear with the sound pattern “toy bear”. And even more incredible is the young brain’s ability to pick out an order in language from the mixture of sound around him, to analyze, to combine and recombine the parts of a language in new ways.

But speech has to be induced（激发，引起）, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the signals in the children’s babbling（咿呀声）,grasping and smiling, and responds to them. Insensitivity of the mother to these signals dulls the interaction because the child gets discouraged and sends out only the obvious signals. Sensitivity to the child’s nonverbal signals is essential to the growth and development of language.

【1】The experiment of Frederick proved ____.

A. lack of mothering didn’t affect the development of a baby

B. only lack of language could kill a baby

C. very cruel to the babies in the experiment

D. babies could be starved to death

【2】Why are some children backward in speaking?

A. Because they are born disabled.

B. Because they lack language input when in sensitive periods.

C. Because they are exposed to too much language at once.

D. Because their mothers are not smart enough

【3】Which of the following is true ?

A. If a child starts to speak later than others, he will be backward in future.

B. If the ideal time for acquiring skills passes, there will be a second time.

C. A child can only imitate others’ language.

D. An infant is born with the ability to speak.

【4】What is the purpose of the example of birds in the third paragraph?

A. To prove the importance of the sensitive periods.

B. To prove birds has the same ability to speak as human.

C. To explain why some birds can’t sing.

D. To inform the results of Frederick’s experiment.

【5】where can you read this passage?

A. In a science report.

B. In an Entertainment magazine.

C. In a health report.

D. In a science fiction story.

【题目】How can you help kids cope with stress? Proper rest and good nutrition can improve coping skills, so can good parenting. Make time for your kids each day. Whether they need to talk with you or just be in the same room with you, make yourself available.

Even as kids get older, quality time is important. It’s really hard for some people to come home after a tiring day of work, get down on the floor, and play with their kids or just talk to them about their day -- especially if they’ve had a stressful day themselves. But expressing interest in your kids shows that they’ re important to you.

Help your child deal with stress by talking about what may be causing it. Together, you can come up with a few solutions. For example, he should cut back on after-school activities, spending more time talking with his parents or teachers, developing an exercise plan or keeping a journal.

You can also help by predicting potentially stressful situations and preparing kids for them. For example, let a child know ahead of time, but not too far ahead of time, that a doctor’s appointment is coming up and talk about what will happen there. Keep in mind, though, that younger kids probably won’t need too much advance preparation. Too much information can cause more stress.

Remember that some level of stress is normal. Let kids know that it’s OK to feel angry, scared, lonely, or anxious and that other people share those feelings, too.

When kids can’t or won’t discuss these problems, try talking about your own concerns. This shows that you’re willing to handle tough topics and are available to talk with when they’re ready. If a child shows symptoms that concern you and is unwilling to talk, consult a counselor or other mental health experts.

Most parents have the skills to cope with their children’s stress. The time to seek professional attention is when any change in behavior continues to exist, when stress is causing serious anxiety, or when the behavior is causing significant problems in functioning at school or at home.

【1】What is the purpose of the text?

A. To share the author’s ideas on proper parenting.

B. To persuade parents to spend more time with their kids.

C. To advise parents how to help their kids deal with stress.

D. To seek different ways to help solve kids’ problems.

【2】 Why do some parents feel it difficult to spare quality time for their kids?

A. Their kids are growing so fast.

B. They have too much housework.

C. Their kids are losing interest in them.

D. They are tired out after work.

【3】What can we learn from the text?

A. Normal people share the same feelings.

B. It is normal for kids to have some stress.

C. Kids should get rid of the negative feelings.

D. Everybody feels angry, scared, lonely or anxious.

【题目】【原创】Noah McQueen is part of "My Brother's Keeper," a White House program aimed at young men of color.

His teen years have been rough, and include several arrests and a short period of being in prison. But last week, he was at the White House talking with President Obama.

"Growing up, I didn't have a stable household. I attended eight schools in three years," McQueen says.

McQueen adds his dad lives down the street from him, but he doesn't really have a relationship with him.

"That's one of the things we have in common," Obama says. "As I get older, I start reflecting on how that affected me. How do you think that affected you?"

"I think I learn right and wrong on my own terms." McQueen says.

"Obviously you've straightened yourself out and become successful as a black man. " Obama says. " But did you feel pressure to look back on the way you once acted?"

"Definitely, there's always pressure." McQueen says, " People will say, 'You are the success story,' but it's hard to always make the right decision and always be the leader."

"You shouldn't feel like you can't make mistakes.” Obama says. “You've discovered this strength inside yourself. If you stay true to that voice that clearly knows what's right and what's wrong, sometimes you're going to mess up, but you can steer back and keep going."

About his future plan, McQueen says" I want to do education because I want to work with kids," "You know, to see the beginnings, and to see where I was, to see the exact same kid doing the exact same thing. And it's like, we owe it to everyone and ourselves to come back and change that. That's like our duty.

"Yeah, and Noah, I just want to say how proud I am of you, man," Obama says. "It's not an easy thing to do what you've done. And I think you give others a lot of confidence and a sense of what's possible for them. And that makes me real proud. I know you're going to do great things."

【1】What doe the underlined words “steer back” possibly mean?

A. Turn to the right direction.

B. Hesitate to go ahead.

C. Stop to have a rest.

D. Adapt to the environment.

【2】From the passage we can know Obama ____.

A. got along well with his father when young

B. cares about the growth of the American youth

C. hates the youth to make mistakes

D. asks McQueen to work with kids

【3】Why does McQueen want to do education?

A. Because he wants to make a living.

B. Because he wants to help children grow healthily.

C. Because he is encouraged by Obama.

D. Because there is a great need for teachers.

【4】Which is wrong about Noah McQueen ?

A. He is a black boy.

B. He did something wrong

C. He is praised by the president.

D. He founded “My Brother's Keeper”.

【5】What can be the best title?

A. You Have This Strength Inside Yourself.

B. Don’t be Afraid to Make Mistakes.

C. My Brother's Keeper—A Nice Program.

D. Black People should be Treated Equally.

【题目】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：把缺词处加一个漏符号（∧），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（从第11处起）不计分。

Dear Wang Ping,

I’m very glad to have received a letter you sent me two weeks before. I’ve been thinking about the question you ask me. In my opinion, you should come back after finish your studies abroad. For one reason, that you are studying is bad needed nowadays in China. It will be quite easy for you to find a good job. In fact, I know that a few big company in our city are hoping to hire people like you. For other reason, I think it will be much more convenient for you to look after your parents as we are getting old. Therefore, I think it’s a good idea for you to return back. So what are you waiting for?

Best wishes.

Yours，

Li Hua

【题目】Human beings are the most intelligent of all animals because we are gifted with the ability to think and reason logically. Scientists and even common people with special intelligence have made a lot of inventions and contributions to modern lifestyle in the past. "Houses" have been the most popular area for discoveries and inventions in the past and even now.

Many household items have been the result of inventions of people who desired better functioning of the existent products. Every individual has intelligence and if it is used properly for the right purpose it leads to invention of a new tool or device. Many new household inventions are made almost every day and there are specific companies, which particularly keep a record of all these inventions.

A lot of inventions have been made recently in the household field. These products are patentedand have trade mark licenses. The patented sliding cinch is a very simple but effective method to prevent shoulder stress and injury for those who work before computers all day long. Vanity PC is a type of computer furniture that specifically hides all the computer wires and keeps a clean and good look. All the outdoor dust, mud and snow can be kept out of the house by installing（安装）the dirt drain（排水管）at the entrance of the door. Another important invention is the automatic toilet night-light, in which a small light starts when the lid of the toilet seat is opened and closes as soon as the lid is closed.

These are some of the new household inventions invented mostly by common people. Thus, a variety of new household items are invented every day, which helps in a better functioning of household chores（家务）and in a more useful manner.

【1】The first paragraph is intended to _____________.

A. stress the importance of inventions

B. introduce the topic of the article

C. show the advantages of modern lifestyle

D. tell the differences between human beings and animals

【2】 According to the passage, people make house inventions to _____________.

A. earn more money and gain awards

B. accumulate their wealth

C. improve the present living conditions

D. meet the new demands of new science

【3】 It can be inferred that the sliding cinch is used to ___________.

A. prevent your shoulder from being over-pressured

B. keep your shoulder safe and sound when you are in an accident or an operation

C. help you practice your shoulder more often and reduce shoulder pains

D. cover your shoulder and make it stronger to resist the outside strike

【4】Common people can also make good inventions because ___________.

A. wisdom and inspiration sometimes come from everyday life

B. some inventions are easy to be made and can be mastered by them

C. common people have a strong desire to do something for science research

D. success is often connected with hardship and bitter experience of common people

【5】The passage mainly talks about _______________.

A. the correct use of household facilities

B. different ideas about household inventions

C. the history of household inventions

D. household inventions and their influence

【题目】根据句子意思选择恰当的短语填空，并根据句子环境使用正确形式，形式不对不给分，且将答案填写到答题卷的相应位置。

【1】Conditions are getting worse and supplies ______________________________.

【2】Wearing helmets gave cyclists a false sense of security and encouraged them __________________.

【3】I have corresponded with her for some years, but I have never met her__________.

【4】Most students will have a good time after ______________________college life.

【5】The United Nations _________________ the people of the developed countries for aiding those of the backward countries.

【6】Jackson _______________________ making every visitor feel at home.

【题目】阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。

I am a 19-year-old girl named Gina. When I was 17, I gave blood for the first time. It was a little scary because I don’t like needles and I am afraid of looking at my own blood.

The blood drive was in the high school gym. I determined to help because I had read the poster about how much one pint(品脱：计量单位) of blood could do for someone else.

After signing a form, I lay in the chair. When I waited for the nurse to get to me, one girl I didn’t know well noticed my nervousness and sat next to me, telling me what a good thing we were doing for someone else. It took a long time to get a pint. But somehow, I suddenly felt like an adult when my first blood donation was finished. I had overcome my fear in order to do something selfless that would benefit others.

Now ,I still donate blood. The Red Cross calls and invites me to blood drives, and I always try to go. It’s not scary any more. It’s something you do for others, without getting anything in return.

[写作内容]

国外的很多青少年都把献血视为步入成年的标志。请你在看完所写的短文后，就“献血的意义”这个主题写一篇短文，说说你对献血的看法，内容要点包括：

1.以约30个词概括短文的要点；

2.现在社会上人们对献血有哪些不同的看法；

3.你自己对于献血持什么样的态度， 为什么；

4.你认为献血对于青少年思想成长的意义。

【写作要求】

1. 字数120-150

2.可以利用实例或其他论述方法支持你的论点，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不得直接引用阅读材料中的句子。

【题目】阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息，请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

A．Flipside Festival Singapore

As part of the Singapore Arts Festival Outreach Programme, Flipside aims to reach a much wider audience with three weeks of lively, fun street performances. Flipside promises to bring out the adventurous side of you with a combination of physical theatre and mind games as well as free outdoor performances such as music performances from local singers.

B．Nuits Sonores Lyon, France

Held each May, this relatively new festival brings together some of the biggest club DJs from around the world. The focus is on electronic dance music, but it also embraces all musical forms ranging from hip hop to jazz. For those who want to see daylight hours after a hard night clubbing, there is a wide variety of cultural events during the day ranging from special festival food programmes to films.

C．Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts West Yorkshire, the United Kingdom

Young people are invited to compete in this art festival with classes covering speech, guitar, dance, poetry and short story writing, and so on. The previous year's winners are invited back to perform again at a special concert. With a long and well-known history behind it, this well-attended competition is a kind of forerunner of popular television talent contests such as Pop Idol.

D．Hay Festival Hay on Wye, the United Kingdom

The little market town, Hay, has a population of 1500 and no fewer than 39 bookshops. It bills itself as the world's first and most distinguished book town, and is, therefore, a perfect place for a literary festival. The festival is a celebration of great writing. There are events including film screenings and musical concerts and the bookshops remain open throughout.

E．Bergen International Festival Bergen, Norway

Founded in 1953, the Bergen International Festival presents an impressive cast of outstanding international artists in the fields of music, ballet, opera and other performing arts. More than 120 events take place in late May to early June, which is a time of beautiful spring weather. The main festival venue is the Grieg Hall while the smallest and most unusual is an old trolley bus with seating for just 33 people.

F．Sydney Writers' Festival Sydney, Australia

Held at Sydney's Wharf 4/5, the annual Sydney Writers' Festival is the biggest literary event of its kind in Australia and one of the biggest book fairs in the world. Attracting a mix of authors, poets, editors, publishers and book lovers, this is a great event at which people can look through thousands of titles while enjoying workshops, book reading and seminars.

下面是几个人物的简要介绍，请匹配他们感兴趣的节日。

【1】Martin, a famous writer, likes to find as many chances as possible to attend literary events around the world. Martin hopes to make friends with editors and book lovers.

【2】Kelly is crazy about music, especially electronic dance music. She would like to go to a festival where she can enjoy different musical forms. She also has a strong interest in films.

【3】As an outgoing girl, Victoria is very fond of performing arts. She hopes to take part in some performing art festivals to challenge and improve herself, and as a way to prepare for future television talent contests.

【4】Simon is in search of a festival in North Europe with a long history where he can appreciate great international performing arts, especially ballet and opera.