With world economic crisis worsening, people ___ the government for more unemployment benefits.

   A. apply for       B. go for         C. appeal to     D. approve of

The thief trapped in the house _____ from the window but the fear of falling to his death scared him not to do so.

A. managed to escape        B. tried to run     

C. attempted to escape       D. tried escaping

Do you know why different animals or pests (昆虫) have their special colors? Colors in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves.

　　Some birds like eating locusts (蝗虫), but birds cannot easily catch them. Why? It is because locusts change their colors together with the change of the colors of crops(庄稼). When crops are green, locusts look green. But as the harvest time comes, locusts change to the same brown color as crops have. Some other pests with different colors from plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves for lives and appear only at night.

If you study the animal life, you’ll find the main use of coloring is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through forests. They cannot be easily seen by hunters (猎人). This is because they have the colors much like the trees.

Have you ever noticed an even stranger act? A kind of fish in the sea can send out a kind of very black liquid (液体)when it faces danger. While the liquid spreads over (散开), its enemies (敌人)cannot find it. And it immediately swims away. So it has lived up to now though it is not strong at all.

36. From the passage we learn that locusts________.

A. are small animals                  B. are easily found by birds

C. are dangerous to their enemies    D. change their colors to protect themselves

37. How can pests with different colors from plants keep out of danger?

A. They run away quickly.         

B. They have the colors much like their enemies.

C. They hide themselves by day and appear at night.      

D. They have to move quietly.

38. Bears and lions can keep safe because _________.

A. they have the colors much like the trees     B. they move quietly

C. they like brown and gray colors             D. they live in forests

39. Why can the kind of fish live up to now?

A. Because it is very and strong.     

B. Because the liquid it sends out can help it escape from its enemies.

C. Because the liquid it sends out can kill its enemies.

D. Because it swims faster than any other fish.

40. Which is the best title for this passage?

A. The Change of Colors for Animals and Pests　 　

B. Colors of Different Animals and Pests

C. The Main Use of Colors for Animals and Pests　　

D. Some Animals and Pests

Tom admitted ______ in the examination and he was not admitted _____ the school at last.

A. to cheat; to                 B. cheating; to

C. to cheat; as                 D. cheating; as

________has recently been done to provide more English books for the students, a shortage of reading materials remains a serious problem.

A. What          B. Though what      C. In spite of what       D. That

Imagine one day, the water taps in your house stop running. You have to buy water from shops. And still there isn’t enough for everyone. Your mother has to save the family’s shower water to do other things. Would you be able to stand that kind of life?

Probably not. But that’s what kids in Yemen are experiencing. Experts said Yemen is going to be the first country in the world to run out of water. According to a report, the capital, Sanaa, will run out of drinking water as early as 2025. Because of the shortage, the government often cuts the water supply. Hannan, an 18-year-old from Lahej, told the Times: “In a good week we’ll have a water supply all week. But then the following week there will be water only for a day or two.”

Hannan said only rich people have enough water to use. They can buy water from the shops or from the water truck. Private companies own the trucks. They travel around the city every day to sell water – at very high prices.

“A lot of people can’t afford it,” she said.

The average person in Yemen uses 100 to 200 cubic meters of water per year. That is far below the international water poverty line of 1,000 cubic meters.

The government is thinking of making use of seawater. But it will cost a lot and it may not happen soon enough to help the people of Yemen.

The purpose of the text is to _______.

A. tell us what life is like in Yemen

B. draw our attention to water shortage

C. remind us how important water is

D. show us ways of solving problems

 The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

A. buying water from shops

B. drinking dirty water

C. suffering from water shortage

D. washing clothes with used water

 Hannan described _____.

A. what her life is like

B. how beautiful Lahej is

C. how people use water fully

D. how heavy the traffic in Lahej is

The Yemen Government _____.

A. has found a practical solution

B. only cares about rich people

C. may try to make use of seawater

D. can do nothing about the water supply

 We can infer from the text that _____.

A. Sanaa will run out of water in 10 years

B. Hannan is a teenager from a rich family

C. the capital of Yemen is developing fast

D. private companies make a lot of money

What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today's leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.

   In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.

   It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.

According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.

A. diseases and aging                B. accidents and war

C. accidents and aging               D. heart diseases and war

In the author's opinion, today's most important advance in technology lies in _____.

A. medicine      B. the internet     C. brain cells    D. human organs

Humans may live longer in the future because ______.

A. heart disease will be far away from us

B. human brains can decide the final death

C. the basic materials of cells will last forever

D. human organs can be repaired by new medicine

We can learn from the passage that _____.

A. human life will not last more than 120 years in the future

B. human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now

C. much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life

D. we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells.

A morning rarely began so perfect. I took in the fresh air and felt my heart run into an enthusiastic rhythm. Though cool, the sun warmed my back as it rose over the horse from not far from my house. The slightest wind danced on my skin. Just enough to keep a runner form overheating. My ever-faithful jogging partner, a black dog named Nika pulled my leg with her mouth, mirroring my eagerness to start our run.

We raced forward with determination, ready to leap tall buildings and race against speeding trains. We pushed harder and ran faster, demonstration our skill and impressing passing motorists and neighbors.

We kept on running until we hit the Beast, a name for a very difficult, nearly two-mile long steep climb.

Only a few paces into the Beast, I gasped for air. Far short of superhero status, my enthusiasm and active steps were lost somewhere at the base of the hill. A vision of the newspaper and a cup of coffee waiting in my kitchen appeared, attracting me to turn back toward home.

With a glance I noticed Nika wasn’t doing any better. She continued to faithfully follow me, putting one paw in front of the other, but without her former eagerness. Her tiredness touched me. And in that moment, I felt a sudden spark of renewed determination to press on. I couldn’t allow this mountain to get the better of us. To improve both our spirits, I managed to shout, “Good girl, Nika! Keep going…you can do it!”

“I’m encouraging a dog, for heaven’s sake!’’ I needed to pull myself together. With a few simple words, I changed our course. One moment we were on the edge of quitting. The next, our feet picked up the pace and we continued. Though tired and discouraged myself, with a few kind words I impacted a dog’s ability to go further. I’m sure I could have completed the opposite with ill-chosen comments and an unpleasant tone. Instead, the Beast was defeated and we flew like heroes the rest of the way home.

Life is full of beasts to conquer. For some, it is the seemingly impossible climb of cancer. For others, their beast takes the shape of parenting a child or a teenager. Uphill climbs come in all shapes and sizes, common only in their ability to defeat, discourage and tempt tired travelers to quit. Sometimes all that’s needed is a few spoken, well-timed words of encouragement from a fellow runner – someone who sees the struggle, dares to jogs alongside, and cares enough to say, “Keep going! You can do it! You’re not alone. I believe in you!”

The writer starts the text by describing________.

A. the beautiful scene of the morning  

B. his or her preparations for a jogging

C. a lively dog named Nika

D. the growth of crops at the farm

The writer mentioned the newspaper and coffee to suggest that he or she _______.

A. liked reading newspapers while drinking coffee

B. had an intention to give up running

C. would treat himself or herself to coffee after running

D. might appear on the newspaper for the long running

The writer decided to continue running _______.

A. after he or she found the dog was still energetic

B. because they came near the top of the hill

C. when he or she noticed the tired dog

D. before they arrived at the bottom of the hill

What does the writer expect to show by telling the story?

A. Words are powerful than deeds.

B. Beasts in life aren’t easily to conquer.

C. Dogs are the best friend of humans.

D. Try it one more time before giving up.

书面表达 （ 25分）

假设你是李华，你的美国朋友Jack听说中国的中小学正在减轻学生的学习负担，来信询问有关情况。请你根据下表提供的信息，写一封回信，谈一谈减负给你的学习和生活带来的变化。

注意：1.词数100左右。开头已为你写好。

2.参考词汇：减轻学习负担；reduce learning load

Dear Jack,

   How nice to hear from you again.                                             

                                                            Best wishes

                                                              Li Hua

Attention, please! And keep ________ when I am taking a photograph of you.

A. still              B. calm           C. quiet            D. silent