It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night．The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently．

My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him．I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same．I'm so glad I did．

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape．After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea．As we got on board, we noticed two big humps （脊背）in the distance．

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby．We couldn’t' t believe it -- there aren't any whales along the coast here．The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive．

The little baby whale — actually as big as our boat — was obviously stuck and could not move．The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools （漩涡） and waves．"She' s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side," my father said．At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently．With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water．Then it swam up right beside its mum．They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction．We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel．Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe -- and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes．Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance．

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half．That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day． Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea．

1．The author says "I'm so glad I did．"（ in Para．2）because ___________．

A．he witnessed the whole process of fishing

B．he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

C．he experienced the rescue of the whales

D．he spent the weekend with his family

2．The harbour survived the storm owing to ___________．

A．the shape of the harbour

B．the arms of the bay

C．the still water in the channel

D．the long coast line

3．The mother whale failed to help her baby because ___________．

A．she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

B．the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

C．she had no other whales around to turn to for help

D．the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

4．What is the theme of the story?

A．Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness．

B．Fishing provides excitement for children．

C．It's necessary to live in harmony with animals．

D．It's vital to protect the environment．

For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner．Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict．In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it．From the parents' point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents' complete unreasonableness． And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely．Both feel trapped．

In this article, I'll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap．The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things．Examples include the color of the teen's hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child's failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends．Second, blaming．The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong．Third, needing to be right．It doesn't matter what the topic is — politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg — the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority — someone who actually knows something — and therefore to command respect．Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they'll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress．

1．Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?

A．Both can continue for generations．

B．Both are about where to draw the line．

C．Neither has any clear winner．

D．Neither can be put to an end．

2．What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict．

B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict．

C．The teens accuse their parents of misleading them．

D．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents．

3．Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ___________.

A．give orders to the other

B．know more than the other

C．gain respect from the other

D．get the other to behave properly

4．What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts．

B．Examples of the parent-teen war．

C．Solutions for the parent-teen problems．

D．Future of the parent-teen relationship．

They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories （配饰）．Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies．A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favouring the same high street looks worn by those half their age．

Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert, said, "Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s．In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter．It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years -- now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to．Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly．"

Professor Twigg analysed family expenditure （支出）data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same -- at 5 or 6 percent of spending -- the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply．

The professor said, "Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East．In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere．Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them．"

Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs her own fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected by celebrity （名流） style than in previous years．

She said, "When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and  fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them．Older women are much more aware of celebrities．There's also the boom in TV programmes showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties．When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women．My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago．"

1．Professor Twigg found that, compared with the 1960s, ___________．

A．the price of clothes has generally fallen by 70%

B．the spending on clothes has increased by 5% or 6%

C．people spend 30% less than they did on clothes

D．the amount of clothes bought has risen by 5% or 6%

2．What can we learn about old women in terms of fashion?

A．They are often ignored by fashion designers．

B．They are now more easily influenced by stars．

C．They are regarded as pioneers in the latest fashion．

D．They are more interested in clothes because of their old age．

3．It can be concluded that old women tend to wear the latest fashions today mainly because  ___________．

A．they get tired of things more quickly

B．TV shows teach them how to change their look

C．they are in much better shape now

D．clothes are much cheaper than before

4．Which is the best possible title of the passage?

A．Age Is No Barrier for Fashion Fans

B．The More Fashionable, the Less Expensive

C．Unexpected Changes in Fashion

D．Boom of the British Fashion Industry

This brief book is aimed at high school students, but speaks to anyone learning at any stage of life．

Its formal, serious style closely matches its content, a school-masterly book on schooling．The author, W．H．Armstrong, starts with the basics: reading and writing．In his opinion, reading doesn't just mean recognizing each word on the page; it means taking in the information, digesting it and incorporating it into oneself just as one digests a sandwich and makes it a part of himself．The goal is to bring the information back to life, not just to treat it as dead facts on paper from dead trees．Reading and writing cannot be completely separated from each other; in fact, the aim of reading is to express the information you have got from the text．I've seen it again and again: someone who can't express an idea after reading a text is just as ineffective as someone who hasn't read it at all．

Only a third of the book remains after that discussion, which Armstrong devotes to specific tips for studying languages, math, science and history．He generally handles these topics thoroughly （透彻地）and equally, except for some weakness in the science and math sections and a bit too much passion （激情） regarding history．Well, he was a history teacher — if conveyed only a tenth of his passion to his students, that was a hundred times more than my history teachers ever got across．To my disappointment, in this part of the book he ignores the arts．As a matter of fact, they demand all the concentration and study that math and science do, though the study differs slightly in kind．Although it's commonly believed that the arts can only be naturally acquired, actually, learning the arts is no more natural than learning French or mathematics．My other comment is that the text aged．The first edition apparently dates to the 1960s -- none of the references（参考文献）seem newer than the late 1950s．As a result, the discussion misses the entire computer age．

These are small points, though, and don't affect the main discussion．I recommend it to any student and any teacher, including the self-taught student．

1．According to Armstrong, the goal of reading is to ___________．

A．gain knowledge and expand one' s view

B．understand the meaning between the lines

C．express ideas based on what one has read

D．get information and keep it alive in memory

2．The author of the passage insists that learning the airs ___________．

A．requires great efforts

B．demands real passion

C．is less natural than learning maths

D．is as natural as learning a language

3．What is a shortcoming of Armstrong' s work according to the author?

A．Some ideas are slightly contradictory．

B．There is too much discussion on studying science．

C．The style is too serious．

D．It lacks new information．

4．This passage can be classified as ___________．

A．an advertisement

B．a book review

C．a feature story

D．a news report

Have you winterized your horse yet? Even though global warming may have made our climate more mild, many animals are still hibernating （冬眠）． It's too bad that humans can't hibernate．In fact, as a species, we almost did．

Apparently, at times in the past, peasants in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation．So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French peasants．As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months on end．

In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio's The Current, tells something referred to as "first sleep", which was not clarified, though．Now scientists are telling us the way we sleep has changed fundamentally since the invention of artificial(人造的) lighting and electric bulb.

When historians began studying tests of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep” ,which wad not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods．The business of eight hours' uninterrupted sleep is a modem invention．

In the past, without the artificial light of the city to bathe in, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves around midnight．The late night period was known as "The Watch"．It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighhours．

According to some sleep researchers, a short period of insomnia （失眠）at midnight is not a disorder．It is normal．Humans can experience another state of consciousness around their sleeping, which occurs in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning．This period can be an extraordinarily creative time for some people．The impressive inventor, Thomas Edison, used this state to hit upon many of his new ideas．

Playing with your sleep rhythms can be adventurous, as anxiety may set in．Medical science doesn't help much in this case．It offers us medicines for a full night's continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren's theory, it is really the opposite of what we need．

1．The example of the French peasants shows the fact that ___________．

A．people might become lazy as a result of too much sleep

B．there were signs of hibernation in human sleeping habits

C．people tended to sleep more peacefully in cold weather

D．winter was a season for people to sleep for months on end

2．The late night was called "The Watch" because it was a time for people ___________．

A．to set traps to catch animals

B．to wake up their family and neighbours

C．to remind others of the time 

D．to guard against possible dangers

3．What does the author advise people to do?

A．Sleep in the way animals do．

B．Consult a doctor if they can' t sleep．

C．Follow their natural sleep rhythm．

D．Keep to the eight-hour sleep pattern．

4．What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To give a prescription for insomnia．

B．To urge people to sleep less．

C．To analyze the sleep pattern of modern people．

D．To throw new light on human sleep．

阅读下列各小题，根据括号内的汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子。

1．Only if people of a11 the countries are united ___________（我们才能解决）the existing problems in the world．（solve）

2．___________（油漆成）red，the building stands out among the rest and looks very    attractive．（paint）

3．___________（不会用）a computer makes it more difficult for him to do his academic     research．（use）

4．The news ___________（房价将要下跌）has caused many people to sell their houses at lower prices．（fall）

5．After she completes the project，she'll have ___________（没什么要担心的）．（worry）

6．Mr. Johnson insisted that the problem worthy of attention ___________（讨论）at the meeting．（discuss）

7．My mother was so proud of all ___________（我所做的）that she rewarded me with a trip to Beijing．（do）

8．Last night's 9 TV news said that by then the death of the missing people ___________（未证实）yet．（prove）

9．It's said that they have swum to the island from the continent，but they ___________（不可能做到）because the ocean in between is too wide．（do）

10．___________（正如我们强调的那样）many times，“serve the people” is our first policy． （stress）

请你根据以下提示，结合生活中的一个事例，用英语写一篇短文，谈谈微笑的作用。

   The best example of universally understood body language may be the smile．A smile can help us get through difficult situations and find friends in a world of strangers．A smile can open doors and tear down walls．

注意：

①无须写标题；

②内容只需涉及一个方面；

③词数为100左右。

Listen! Do you hear someone         for help?

A．calling           B．call            C．to call           D．called

Father       goes to the gym with us although he dislikes going there.

A．hardly           B．seldom             C．sometimes          D．never

You       buy a gift, but you can if you want to.

A．must            B．mustn't             C．have to          D．don't have to