While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.

The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to compete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.

I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I’m not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold – his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.

I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.

But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.

No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout “Come on, you can do it!” and he did.

A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.

Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.

1．From the passage we can learn that the young man         .

      A．made his turn to start back pitifully

       B．was skillful in freestyle in the game

       C．swam faster than the average swimmer

       D．was not capable enough to win the medal

2．The crowd changed their attitudes because          .

       A．they felt sorry for the young man

       B．they were moved by the young man’s courage

       C．they wanted to show their sympathy

       D．they meant to please the young man

3．What’s the best title for the passage?

       A．Compete for Gold!                             B．Try again! 

       C．Break a Record!             D．Go for it!

In the world of fairy tales, great and powerful men are often helped to victory by the small and weak. But in the US it has happened for real.

Nine – year – old Noah McCullough from Texas, has taken on the role of speaking to the public in support of President George W. Bush’s social security reforms.

On February 25 he signed an agreement with the American Congress to work for the White House as a volunteer. “What I want to tell people about social security is not to be afraid of the new plan,” Noah said. “It may be a change, but it’s a good change.”

Besides this task, he already has a higher goal. He plans to run for the White House in 2032． So far, Noah seems to have a very bright future.

Despite his age, Noah already has his firm opinion on running the US. “I firmly believe that the combination of large business and small governments creates a peaceful and present society because industry can stimulate (刺激) economic growth,” he said.

Noah’s politics do not come from his parents. “He is very patriotic(爱国的) and very republican,” said Noah’s mother, Donna McCullough. “It’s the way he was born.”

Noah’s interest began after a mock(模拟) election in the kindergarten when he was five years old. Now he has read more than 3,000 books on presidential history. He can recite the names of all 43 American presidents. He can also describe the achievements and events that took place during a president’s term of office.

His unusual experiences in the presidential campaign last year made him a famous figure. He was a member of Bush’s presidential campaign team. He gave speeches at the Republican convention (大会) and followed Bush around on his tour of 27 states. President Bush thinks highly of the boy, saying that he is “the miracle kid of the White House”.

1．Noah McCullough worked for the White House ______.

A．to support George W. Bush in the presidential campaign

      B．to be a volunteer in the presidential campaign

      C．to show his gift in the presidential campaigns

      D．to drill for his running for the White House in 2032

2．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

      A．Noah seems to have a very bright future because he supports Bush.

      B．Noah is the youngest of the Americans who support Bush.

      C．Noah has been to more than half of the states in the presidential campaign.

      D．Noah was born with his parents’ dream of his becoming US President.

3．We can infer from the passage that _______.

      A．Noah can surely succeed in the 2032 presidential campaign

      B．Noah’s polities are deeply affected by his parents

      C．Bush had known Noah well before the presidential campaign began

    D．Noah would develop industry and reduce government officials if he were elected President of the USA

4．Which is the best title of the passage?

       A．The Small and Weak Can Help the Big and Strong

       B．Little Boy Helps President Bush

       C．Beginning of Noah’s Political Life

       D．The US Future President

Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.

The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts hardly lose their pumping power with age.

“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20---25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. “Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”

What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.

 “This gender (性别)difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink.

They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.

The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.

The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.

1．The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to _________.

 A．health               B．long life             C．ageing             D．effect

2．The text mainly talks about ________.

 A．men’s heart cells                            B．women’s ageing process

 C．the gender difference                       D．hearts and long life

3．According to the text, the UK scientists have known that _________.

A．women have more cells than men when they are born

       B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat

       C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age

       D．women never lose their pumping power with age

4．We can know from the passage that _______.

       A．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out

       B．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells

       C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss

       D．women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中的两项为多途选项。

Are you truly happy? Do you ever know what it means to be happy and what it takes to achieve happiness?__1___. The following are a few tips that I follow to create happiness in my life.

※ Make a plan for attaining goals that you believe will make you happy. Your moods will very likely increase if you are going after something you value.

※Surround yourself with happy people. It is easy to begin to think negatively when you are surrounded by people who think that way. ___2___.

※When something goes wrong, try to figure out a solution instead of being absorbed in self pity. Truly happy people don’t allow setbacks to affect their mood because they know that with a little thought they can turn the circumstances back to their favor.

※__3_. These few minutes will give you the opportunity to focus on the positive things in your life and will lead you to continuous happiness.

※  4  . Whether you treat yourself to lunch, take a long, relaxing bath or simply spend a few extra minutes on your appearance, you will be subconsciously (下意识地) putting yourself in a better mood.

※Finding the humor in situations can also lead to happiness. Find a way to make light of a situation that would otherwise make you happy.

※Keeping healthy is another way to achieve happiness.   5  .

A．What makes one person happy may be very different from what makes someone else happy.

B．On the contrary, if you are around people who are happy, their emotional state will be infectious.

C．Being overweight or not eating nutritious foods can have a negative effect on your mooD．

D．These are important questions for anyone who is seeking happiness to ask themselves.

E．Spend a few minutes each day thinking about the things that make you happy.

F．There are some tips in life that lead to happiness.

G．It’s also important to take some time each day to do something nice for yourself.

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。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：把缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），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 Robert,

     Thank for your letter of May 12^th . How glad I was when I get it. I’d

be very happy to be your pen friends. Now allow me introduce myself to

you. I’m a boy student aged seventeen, study in Senior Three of Hongqi

High School. I’m a monitor of my class. I am about to take the National

Matriculation Entrance Test after twenty days, that is, between June

7 and 8．You know, I want very much to be a doctor working for poor

peasants that I try to make fully use of every hour and study far into

the night every day.

   Best wishes！ 

                                                   Yours truly,

                                                           Li Hua

--- You’ve sold your car! You don’t need one?

--- _____. The traffic is too heavy nowadays.

A．No problem.                 B．Never mind.       C．Don’t mention it.            D．Not really

You could ________ this a really nice room if you bought a new carpet.

A．make                          B．turn                    C．grow                   D．get

One thing’s for sure, the fire _____by some cigarette butts.

A．might cause                                    B．could have caused 

C．must have been caused                             D．should be caused

Exactly ____they did when at last they reached the sea remains a complete mystery.

A．that                            B．how                   C．which                  D．what

Some English scientists are identifying problems ____ technology in the 21^st century. If solved, the solutions could change the world.

A．facing                         B．faced                  C．being faced          D．having faced