It must be very ______ to watch a close game between the two top basketball teams.

A. excited                  B. exciting           C. bored                 D. boring—

The prisoner then wrote the stories in a book called The Description of the World, ________ became one of the best-selling books in Europe.

       A. which                      B. that                   C. it                      D. who

The train       at 8 a.m. in the morning.

A. will leave             B. is leaving      C. leaves         D. left             

随着电脑的普及，越来越多的人使用电脑打字，而不再靠手写，目前中学生书写水平急剧下降，请根据下面的提示用英语写一篇短文，谈一下现在中学生进行书法比赛是否有必要。词数100左右。

参考词汇：type打字    handwriting contest书写比赛

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中空格里填入最恰当的单词。（每空一词,注意单词形式变化）

There are mainly two kinds of schools in America, public school and private school. The public schools are supported by the state funds and the private schools are privately supported. While in China, almost schools are supported by the country.

The American educational system is considered one of the worst in the world with very badly paid teachers. The man collecting garbage in the streets earns more money than American teachers. There are very overcrowded classrooms and some schools do not have enough money to look after their students properly. While most schools of China seem to be very rich and the teachers are highly respected and well paid.

One of famous American teaching belief is “No Child Left Behind”. The American think that the students should be taught by their own abilities, and in doing so, no student must be left behind. There is no doubt that American education is a pure mass education. However, to some degree, Chinese education is still an Elite （精英）education.

“Creativity First” is a philosophy that American schools excitated激发) students. American education emphasizes the importance of creative thinking, while Chinese education emphasizes the comprehension of knowledge.

In American classroom the student is the most important person not the teacher, while in Chinese classroom the teacher is the key figure. The American students like to express their own ideas in the class, while the Chinese students like to think in the class. Because of the large population, the competition in Chinese school is fiercer(激烈的). The American students look like lazier than the Chinese students because they do not have to compete to enter universities.

In my opinion, although there are many differences between American education and Chinese education, it is very difficult to tell which educational system is more effective than the other.

   Recently, a professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book called Money and the Meaning of Life. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our day-to-day life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.

   Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.

Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich, because you are a self-made man?

Answer: The most surprising thing is how people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I do not know much. All I am is rich.

  People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? How much do I need for any given purposes in my life? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.

51. According to the first paragraph, people have not realized ____.

A. how important money is in their day-to-day life

B. how one spends money shows what is important to him

C. that money is more important than their philosophy of life

D. that their understanding of life is more important than money

52. The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money ____.

A. is a good way to test your friendship

B. will do harm to your friendship

C. will strengthen your friendship

D. is a good way to break off your friendship

53. What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview?

A. He does not feel that he is well educated.

B. He does not think that he is a very important person.

C. He doesn’t think that being rich is worth so much attention.

D. He doesn’t consider himself to be very successful.

54. What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?

A. Money is an end.          B. Money is a means. 

C. Money is everything.       D. Money is unimportant.

55. Which of the following might the author disagree?

A. Money is important in modern society.

B. The meaning of life does not completely lie in money.

C. Wealth will surely bring the owner happiness.

D. Happiness is not necessarily the result of wealth.

　 Huckleberry Finn，the great character from the Mark Twain book，did not like school．He preferred floating down the Mississippi River on a raft and looking for adventure．That’s why generations of schoolboys have loved reading Huckleberry Finn：they feel the same way about the school as he did．

　 For many boys，being forced to sit all day in a school room is like being punished for a crime they did not commit．There are endless hours of boredom spent learning things they have no interest in．That’s why many boys do poorly in school and many give up on education altogether．

　 Ironically(具有讽刺意味的是)，the whole idea for schools was invented for boys．If a boy wanted to grow up to be a useful man，he had to be educated．By and by，people realized that educating girls was a good idea，too．And，ironically again，it was discovered that the schoolsystem suits girls just fine；so fine that girls now do much better than boys in school．

　 No one really knows why that is．Some say that girls mature(发育成熟)quicker than boys and adapt better to school life．Some also say that the school system and the curriculum(课程) have changed to encourage girls but the needs of boys have been overlooked．

　 Educators are now trying to find ways to get boys to be more successful in school．There are suggestions to separate the sexes and teach boys separately．There are also suggestions to change the curriculum to make it more interesting for boys．

　 Whatever the changes are，boys still will be boys，and dreams of floating down the Mississippi River will always be an attractive choice to just sitting in a classroom．

47. Huckleberry Finn is________.

A. a boy of Mark Twain’s　　 B. a character in a book

C．an American writer　　　 D．a river’s name　

48．Many boys do poorly in school because________．

A. they give up on education

B．they’re punished for a crime they did not commit

C．they have no interest in the things they’re learning

D．they prefer floating down the Mississippi River on a raft

49．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 means that________．

A. more boys are needed　 B. boys need to be cared about a lot

C．the needs of boys have been very important

D. People have paid little attention to the needs of boys.

50．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Girls now do much better than boys in school.

B．The school system has changed to encourage girls．

C．Girls mature quicker than boys and adapt better to school life．

D. The curriculum has changed to be more interesting for boys.

  Summer holidays are coming．Here are two posters for members of English Club in the

schoolyard：

43. The exhibition of the Silk Road________.

  A．downstairs    B．on the ground floor  C．on the first floor  D．on the second floor

44. If you want to visit the Museum on weekend, which of the following is the best time?

  A．10：00 am，Saturday．    B．2：30 pm，Saturday．

  C．2：00 pm, Sunday．       D．8：30 am，Sunday．

45．While climbing，you’d better________．

  A．talk on a mobile phone    B．stay alone all the time

  C．1isten to personal music players D．wear the correct climbing shoes

46．It is considered good practice to________．

  A．keep your things in a locker      B．wear jewellery

  C．eat something when you feel weak D．wear a soft hat at all times

On April 18，the 100-day countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games in London began. For this year’s Games’ slogan，the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games has chosen the phrase “Inspire a Generation” (激励一代人)．It is expected to inspire athletes to do their best，and common people to do better in their daily lives．

The Games are also inspiring lots of tourists to come to London．But if you go there，you’d better try your best to follow British manners and customs．Otherwise，you’ll end up in a right mess! Expert William Hanson has given the Associate Press a few tips for tourists on how to act while in the UK．Let’s have a look：

Don’t talk about money．According to Hanson，British people hate talking about money and it is considered rude to do so．In particular，never ask anyone about their salary．

Afternoon tea．The traditional view of the British sitting down for an afternoon tea is not exact．Few people keep the tradition nowadays．

Give tips—but not in an obvious way．The British favor a quiet “thank you” gift for good service rather than the rigid 16-20％tip Americans always give．In fact，many British waiters will not feel anxious and nervous if you decide not to tip at all.

Greeting with a kiss．The British are not like their passionate neighbors in France. Many prefer a handshake or a pat on the back to say “hello”．

Conversation tip．If you want to be friendly，end a sentence with the word “mate”·

39．The underlined word “It” in the first paragraph refers to_______．

　 A．London　　　　　　　　 B．“Inspire a Generation’’

　 C．The 100—day countdown D．The London Organizing Committee

40．British people think it rude to_______.

　 A．have tea in the early morning

　 B．ask others about their salary

　 C．give a 10％tip to a waiter

　 D．shake hands with friends

41．The underlined word “passionate’’ in the passage means “_______” in Chinese．

　 A．冷酷的　 B．羞涩的　 C．有激情的　 D．聪明的

42．When will the London Olympics be held?

　 A．On August 18．　 B．At the end of July．

C．At the beginning of August．D．In the middle of July．

　 Apple’s logo is one of the most familiar icons(图标)around the world．

But what’s the story about the Apple logo? The image of the apple is obvious，because that’s the name of the company．What about the bite? The famous story is that the logo shows respect and honour for Alan Turing．He was the father of computer science．He researched artificial intelligence(人工智能)and unlocked German wartime codes(密码)．However，after the war，he was put into prison，because of his beliefs．He could not stand the looking down and chose to bite a poisoned apple to end his life in the prison．

　 However，Rob Janoff，who designed the famous Apple logo，said，“It’s not the truth, but only a legend．The real reason why I designed it with a bite is very simple．I wanted people to get that it was an apple not a cherry．When I go to markets to buy apples，I always mistake apples for cherries．It really has nothing to do with the scientist．”

　 Are you kidding? An apple is much bigger than a cherry. It’s very easy to tell. But if you use an apple to design a logo, some people may mistake it for a cherry.

36. Both the apple and the cherry are almost the same actually in________．

　 A·shape　 B．size　 C．colour　 D．weight

37. According to the passage，Alan Turing________.

A．died in the prison

B．used an apple to design a logo

C．was put into prison during the war

D．was the father of a computer company

38. What’s the purpose of writing the passage about the apple logo?

A．To introduce its designer．

B．To tell us a legend about it．

C．To try to find the truth of it．

D．TO explain its market research．