The most exciting kind of education is also the most personal. Nothing can exceed the joy of discovering for yourself something that is important to you! It may be an idea or a bit of information you come across accidentally or a sudden insight, fitting together pieces of information or working through a problem. Such personal discoveries are the “payoff” in education. A teacher may direct you to learning and even encourage you in it, but no teacher can make the excitement or the joy happen. That’s up to you.

A research paper, assigned in a course by an instructor, leads you beyond classroom, beyond the texts for classes and into a process where the joy of discovery and learning can come to you many times. Preparing the research paper is an active and individual process, and ideal learning process. It provides a structure within which you can make exciting discoveries of knowledge, which are basic to education. But the research paper also gives you a chance to individualize a school assignment, to suit a piece of work to your own interests and abilities, to show others what you can do. Writing a research paper is more than just a classroom exercise. It is an experience in searching out, understanding and composing, which forms the basis of many skills applicable to both academic and nonacademic tasks. It is, in the fullest sense, a discovering, an education. So, to produce a good research paper is both a useful and a thoroughly satisfying experience!

To some, the thought of having to write an assigned number of pages, often more than ever produced before, is upsetting. To others, the very idea of having to work independently is threatening. But there is no need to approach the research paper assignment with anxiety, and nobody should view the research paper as an obstacle to overcome. Instead, consider it a goal to accomplish, a goal within reach if you use the help this book can give you.

1．According to the writer, personal discoveries _____________.

       A．are helpful in finding the right information

       B．are the most valuable part of one’s personal education

       C．will give one encouragement and direction

       D．will help one to successfully complete school assignments

2．It can be inferred from the passage that writing a research paper gives one chance _________.

       A．to use the skills learnt in the classroom

       B．to display how well one can accomplish school assignment

       C．to prove that one is a productive writer

       D．to fully develop one’s personal abilities

3．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

       A．A teacher can bring you excitement and joy.

       B．Writing a research paper is just like a classroom exercise.

       C．One feels most joyful when finding what is important to him.

       D．Only academic tasks require the skills of searching out, understanding and composing.

4．The writer argues in the passage that one should ____________.

       A．consider research paper writing a pleasure, not a burden

       B．explore new areas in research

       C．truest one’s own ability to meet course requirements

       D．use all one’s knowledge and skills when doing research

5．What will probably follow this passage?

       A．How to write a research paper.

       B．The importance of research in education.

       C．How to make new discoveries for oneself.

       D．The skill of putting pieces of information together.

根据所给汉语句子，写出下列英语句子空白处所缺单词的正确形式。（每空一词）

1．香港特别行政区的经济正快速、稳定地发展。

    The economy of Hong Kong Special ____________ is developing fast and steadily.

2．金属遇热膨胀，遇冷收缩。

Metals e_____________ when heated and contract when cooled.

3．许多世界著名建筑师参与了北京奥运场馆的建设。

    Many world famous ________ are involved in the construction of Beijing Olympic venues.

4．日本首相表达了要保持两国友谊与和谐的愿望。

    The Japanese President expressed his hope to maintain the friendship and _________ between the two nations.

5．你哥哥真慷慨，给你买个MP4作生日礼物。

    Your brother is very _________ to buy you a MP4 for your birthday.

6．奴隶制度在美国内战之后基本被废除。

Slavery was basically ___________ after the Civil War in America.

7．我一开口唱他们就笑，弄得我很尴尬。

    When I began to sing, they laughed and made me ___________.

8．他不耐烦地说，“别管我。”

    He said ____________, “Leave me alone.”

9．人们普遍承认教师是一种神圣的职业。

    It is universally acknowledged that teaching is a______________ profession.

10．她早上打电话，婉言谢绝了我的晚会邀请。

She telephoned me this morning, ____________ the invitation to my party.

阅读下面短文，并根据短文后的要求答题。

I was sure that I was to be killed as a war capture(俘虏). I became terribly nervous. I felt in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches. They had taken those. I looked through the bars at my jailer(监狱管理员). He did not make eye contact with me. I called out to him, “Have you got a light?” He looked at me, shrugged and came over to light my cigarette. As he came close and lit the match, his eyes locked with mine. At that moment, I smiled. I don’t know why I did that. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was because, when you get very close, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. In any case, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn’t want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.

I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his looking at me seemed to have a new dimension(分寸). “Do you have kids?” he asked. “Yes, here, here.” I took out my wallet and nervously felt for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the picture of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes ________. I said that I feared that I would never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell(牢房), and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of the town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back, toward the town.

Yes, the smile－the unplanned, natural connection between people. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn’t be enemies. We couldn’t have hate or envy or fear.

1．What’s the main idea of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words.)

2．Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

    All of a sudden, the jailer opened the door and set me free from the jail.

3．Please fill in the blank with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10words.)

4．Why do you think the jailer released the writer? (Please answer within 30 words.)

5．Translate the underlined sentence in the first paragraph into Chinese.

春节期间，无论农村还是城市，不少人以传统的“磕头（kowtow）”方式给长辈们拜年，感谢父母多年来对自己的养育之恩。对此，公众反应不一。请你以“Can kowtow show our gratitude to parents?”为题，结合以下提示，写一篇120词左右的英语短文，表述你的观点。短文应包括：1．“磕头”谢恩的优点和缺点。2．你认为更有意义的谢恩方式。

It’s to books         I owe everything that is good in time.

A．it       B．what  C．that   D．which

Some hotels now have pet sitters, which are things         people often look at if they’re out of town with a pet.

A．which       B．what  C．不填 D．where

Many people are thinking of outings during the Spring Festival, so cross-country cars    well these few days.

A．are selling B．sell    C．are sold    D．have been sold

The women waited on the windy lawn, their skirts         against their legs, keeping their hats on with difficulty.

A．being blowing   B．to blow     C．to be blown      D．blown

—Sally         to come swimming with us.

—What a shame she had to take a test.

A．would love                                                 B．would have loved

C．should love                                                D．should have loved

—It’s settled. We’re going to the East Coast.

—          I can take lots of pictures.

A．Great!      B．Fine with me.   C．Really?     D．Why?