The first English week at our school started on May 4th, 2009. The whole school was filled with an English
learning atmosphere. A series of activities was held. There were handwriting activities, story writing, English
songs, role playing in English, and so on, all the teachers and students were very happy. They spoke English,
sang English songs and enjoyed all the activities.
     Handwriting was for the students in lower grades. Although most of them couldn't write so well, they were
all very careful about it. In the show window, there were a lot of colorful handwritten papers. They copied
some articles from books or newspapers. And then they decorated them with pictures in different colors, and
some even put their own photos on them. How cute and lovely they looked!
     Story writing was for students in Grade 7 and Grade 8. These students are always fond of cartoons, so
they got interested in this activity. Reading the stories they made up, all the visitors couldn't help speaking highly of them.
     The most important event was the English show on the last day. The students and teachers presented(上演) a lot of English songs and English operas. Each program won storms of applause.
     One week is not very long, but all the students and teachers learned a lot. Just as the headmaster said,"It is
a helpful week. It will certainly lead us to enjoy and learn more from our English studies."

1. In this passage, the English week is described as ______.

A. surprising
B. boring
C. enjoyable
D. serious

2. Which of the following is Not true?

A. All the students took part in the handwriting contest.
B. The story writing contest was for students in Grade 7 and Grade 8.
C. The English show was the most important event.
D. Teachers also took part in the English week.

3. What does the underlined word "applause" probably mean?

A. Noise
B. Cheer
C. Sound
D. Music

4. What does the writer probably want to tell us at the end of the passage?

A. The activities are a good way to learn English.
B. Students usually don't like English.
C. The activities last longer.
D. Learning English in the classroom is invaluable.

     I come from a city on the United States'east coast. It's a ten-hour flight for me to get home from Shanghai. When I got off the plane, I took photos of the blue sky and white clouds along the way. After two weeks, I
returned to Shanghai. Much to my surprise, the blue sky in Shanghai that I liked before was not as blue as that
in the US. I couldn't help wondering what had happened.
      A few days later, I went to tour Waitan (a famous tourist attraction in Shanghai) by the Huangpu River with some of my friends. There we saw five Ferrari sports cars by the side of the road. The red and yellow cars looked so nice that everyone was looking at them. However, when I turned my head, I noticed the sky over Waitan, I was shocked to find that the buildings in the Lujiazui area on the other side of Huangpu River could hardly be
seen. It was then that I realized that Ferrari cars could be bought with money, but a blue sky couldn't.
     Shanghai is an important economic (经济的) and trade center in China. It has made great contributions (贡献) to the whole nation's economic development. However, we need to protect the environment during
economic growth. Pollution is poisoning our air and our rivers. Without clean air and rivers, how will people be
able to survive?

1. The author mentioned the Ferrari sports cars in order to _____.

A. tell us that Shanghai is a developed city
B. ask us to stop driving sports cars
C. tell us how much people like cars
D. focus our attention on air pollution

2. What can we learn about the author?

A. He comes from Shanghai.
B. He likes to visit different places.
C. He wants to buy a Ferrari sports car.
D. He is socially responsible (责任).

3. Who might be interested in this passage?

A. Those who love Ferrari sports cars.
B. Those who care about the environment.
C. Those who want to travel in Shanghai.
D. Those who like to take photos.

4. What is the best title for this passage?

A. Money Can Buy Ferraris, But Not a Blue Sky
B. Where People Should Live
C. Different Opinions on Cars
D. Different Places Have Different Skies

     Joe and Helen Mills had two small children. One was six and the other four. They always resisted going to
bed, and Helen was always complaining (抱怨) about this and asking Joe for help. But as he did not come home until after they had gone to bed during the week, he was unable to help except at weekends.
     Joe considered himself a good singer, but really his voice was not at all musical. However, he decided that,
if he sang to the children when they went to bed, it would help them to relax, and they would soon go to sleep.
     He did this every Saturday and Sunday night until he heard his small son whispered to his younger sister,
"If you pretend that you're asleep, he stops."

1. The children always resisted going to bed, which ______.

A. made Helen puzzled
B. satisfied their mother
C. Helen was not satisfied with
D. gave Helen much trouble

2.The husband couldn't help the wife to look after the children ______. 

A. because he returned from work too late
B. since his voice sounded like a singer's
C. except on Saturday and Sunday
D. for he did not come home until after the children had gone to bed at weekends

3. Joe worked _______.

A. all the week including Saturday and Sunday
B. every day but Saturday and Sunday
C. during the week including the weekends
D. every day except on Sunday

4.Which of the following conclusions can we draw from the above story?

A. Joe's song did help the children to relax.
B. With Joe's help, the children went to sleep.
C. The wife must be thankful to her husband for the great help.
D. The children were so tired of their father's voice that they pretended to be asleep.

     An expensive car speeding down the main street of a small town was soon caught up with by a young
motorcycle policeman. As he started to make out the ticket, the woman behind the wheel said proudly,"Before
you go any further, young man, I think you should know that the mayor of this city is a good friend of mine."
The officer did not say a word, but kept writing."I am also a friend of chief of police Barens," continued the
woman, getting more angry each moment, Still he kept on writing. "Young man," she persisted, "I know Judge
Lawson and State Senator (参议员) Patton." Handing the ticket to the woman, the officer asked pleasantly,
"Tell me, do you know Bill Bronson."
      "Why, no," she answered.
     "Well, that is the man you should have known," he said, heading back to his motorcycle,"I am Bill Bronson."

1. The policeman stopped the car because_____.

A. it was an expensive car
B. the driver was a proud lady
C. the driver was driving beyond the speed limit
D. the driver was going to make trouble for the police

2. The woman was getting more angry each moment because _____.

A. the policeman didn't know her friends
B. the policeman didn't accept her kindness
C. the policeman was going to punish her
D. she didn't know the policeman's name

3. The policeman was _______.

A. an honorable fellow
B. a stupid fellow
C. an impolite man
D. a shy man

     Once there was a young woman who didn't like her job. Every day when she came home from work, she
told her husband how terrible her day had been, how tiring the work and how unreasonable her boss. "Leave
that job," her husband told her.
     "Oh, I will," she said."But not yet. I have too many friends there for me to leave." And so she remained
unhappy at work until the years became decades and her children had children."Leave that job", her grandchildren told her."Oh, I will," she said."But not yet. There are only seven more years until I reach thirty years of service and can retire. So I can't just yet."
     I know this woman. And her story reminds me of an old dog half asleep on the porch of a general store,
moaning and groaning in the sun."Why is your dog acting that way?" a customer asked the store owner." Oh",
answered the man,"He's lying on a nail." "Well, why doesn't he move?""Because it's not hurting him bad
enough."
     That's true for people, too. We convince ourselves the pain is not bad enough to leave the workplace we
know. But we are wrong. Prolonged work pain is continuing. Some work pain damages our self-esteem, kills
our passion or destroys our dreams.
     Wilbur Wright once commented,"We could hardly wait to get up in the morning. I know that exhilarating
feeling of being so passionate about something I was working on that I couldn't wait to get back to work. And
people who are winning at working know that kind of passion, too." They get excited about work.
     They offer their unique gifts and talents eagerly. And when things don't change as they sometimes will, they
refuse to let environment hijack their self-esteem, passion or dreams.

1. The woman complained to her husband every day because_______.

A. she didn't have enough money to support her family
B. her boss criticized her for what she had done
C. she was not satisfied with her job at all
D. her work was difficult and her boss was cruel

2. The author mentioned the old dog in order to tell us that _______.

A. it was deeply hurt by its owner
B. the woman is like the dog on the nail
C. it is tied firmly to a nail by its owner
D. it should be injured badly enough

3. The underlined word" Prolonged"( in Paragraph 4) means________.

A. lasting
B. slight
C. serious
D. hard

4. People who are getting along well with their work ________.

A. have to get up early every day
B. are not willing to go to work
C. need more unique gifts and talents
D. are likely to change with the situation

     Parts of Africa are covered by a dark cloud. But this is no rain cloud. It is a living cloud made of billions of
locusts (蝗虫) that are traveling across the continent eating everything in their path. And now in the battle to
stop this disaster, a radio station in Senegal, West Africa, is offering listeners 50 kilograms of rice if they can
catch and kill 50 kilograms of locusts. "We think this idea will get more people to take part in the war on the
locusts," said Abdoulaye Ba, from Sud-Fm, a radio station in one of Senegal's worst affected area .
    This is West Africa's biggest locust disaster in 15 years, and it is moving east, causing huge damage to
crops. As they move they produce young and increase their number and will soon threaten (威胁) Sudan in the
northeast of Africa. Some say it could reach Asia. Experts say the harmful effect on crops in areas already
suf-fering from food shortage and war could cause many people to go hungry. Governments in the areas are
not well equipped to fight the pest.
     Although leaders of 12 countries have agreed on a plan, it is not expected to be enough.
     "We are now treating 6,000 hectares (公顷) per day with pesticide (杀虫剂 ), but we need to treat 20,000
hectares per day in order to have any hope of controlling this disaster," said Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Babah,
director of locust control in Mauritania.
     Requests are being made for international aid, which is the only way to limit the disaster, the UN's Food
and Agricul-ture Organization warned.

1. By using " dark cloud" to describe locusts in the first para-graph, the author of the article ________.

A. showed the size and speed of the mass of locusts
B. suggested the great damage that locusts can cause
C. warned that locusts would sweep the continent like rain clouds
D. both A and B

2. The story is mainly about ______.

A. West Africa's united effort in fighting a disaster
B. the difficulty in controlling locusts
C. how locusts caused great damage to West Africa
D. a struggle to fight against a disaster brought by locusts in West Africa

3. The locust disaster ______.

A. would be even more serious in Asia
B. is (was)out of control
C. affected only the warning areas
D. can not be stopped unless twice as much pesticide is provided for the affected areas

4. Which of the following is WRONG ?

A. Sud-Fm offered a reward for fighting locusts so that more people would join in the effort.
B. Senegal is to the southwest of Sudan.
C. The locusts can cause such damage mainly because it has no natural enemy in West Africa.
D. 12 countries affected by locusts have united but still lack pesticide.