It was the afternoon of December 24, the day before Christmas; and as the newest doctor in our office, I had to work. The only thing that brightened my day was the beautifully decorated Christmas tree in our waiting room and a gift sent to me by a fellow I was dating — a dozen long-stemmed red roses.

    As I was cleaning my office, I was told a lady urgently needed to speak with me. As I stepped out, I noticed a young, tired-looking woman with a baby in her arms. Nervously, she explained that her husband — a prisoner in a nearby prison — was my next patient. She told me she wasn’t allowed to visit her husband in prison and that he had never seen his son. Her request was for me to let the boy’s father sit in the waiting room with her as long as possible before I called him for his appointment. Since my schedule wasn’t full, I agreed. After all, it was Christmas Eve.

    A short time later, her husband arrived — with chains on his feet and hands, and two armed guards as bodyguards. The woman’s tired face lit up like our little Christmas tree when her husband took a seat beside her. I kept glancing out to watch them laugh, cry and share their child. After almost an hour, I called the prisoner back to my office. The patient seemed like a gentle and modest man. I wondered what he possibly could have done to be held under such conditions. I tried to make him as comfortable as possible.

    At the end of the appointment, I wished him a Merry Christmas----a difficult thing to say to a man headed back to prison. He smiled and thanked me. He also said he felt saddened by the fact he hadn’t been able to get his wife anything for Christmas. On hearing this, I was inspired with a wonderful idea.

    I’ll never forget the look on both their faces as the prisoner gave his wife the beautiful, long-stemmed roses. I’m not sure who experienced the most joy — the husband in giving, the wife in receiving, or myself in having the opportunity to share in this special moment.

1.What can be inferred from the first paragraph?

A. The writer was a newcomer to her office.

B. A fellow sent her a dozen red roses as Christmas present.

C. She was in low spirits because she had to work before Christmas.

D. She was at work with a light heart.

2.The young woman came to the writer’s office for the purpose of __________.

A. having her baby examined   

B. giving her husband a chance to make his escape

C. having her husband examined

D. getting a chance for her family to get together

3.The underlined part in paragraph 3 most probably means “__________”.

A. to be sent to hospital                       B. to be separated from his family

C. to be comfortable                             D. to become a prisoner

4.What does the writer learn from the story?

A. The wife experienced the most joy in receiving.

B. An act of kindness can mean a lot.

C. The prisoner was treated with mercy.

D. Whoever breaks the law should be punished.

Our grand China tour will show you a different China!

But you are required to present a US passport when entering China. For some important information on how to apply for a passport, see the following forms.

YOU MUST SUBMIT FORM DS-11 IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ARE TRUE:

★You have never been issued（签发）a US passport or

★You are under aged 16 or

★You were under 16 when your previous passport was issued or

★Your most recent US passport was issued more than 15 years ago or

★Your most recent US passport was lost or stolen or

★Your name has changed since your previous US passport was issued.

NOTE: If the above statements do not apply to you, you can apply for a US passport by mail!         

STEPS TO SUBMITING FORM DS-11:

Read and understand Steps 1 and 2 before leaving this page.

    STEP 1: Complete and Print Form DS-11

    ★If completing Form DS-11 online, print the completed form using black ink on one-sided pages

    ★If completing Form DS-11 by hand, make sure that all the information is complete and correct. The form should be filled in black ink. Do so legibly(字迹清楚地) or the application processing time may be delayed.

NOTE: Form DS-11 can be obtained from your local Passport Agency.

    STEP 2: Submit Completed Form in Person

    You must submit Form DS-11 and other required documents in person at a Passport Agency, Form DS-11 may not be submitted by mail.

NEED A US PASSPORT IMMEDIATELY?

You should make an appointment to be seen at a Passport Agency only if:

    ★The US passport is needed in less than 2 weeks for international travel

    ★The US passport is needed within 4 weeks to obtain a foreign visa

    Call the National Passport Information Center to make an appointment or visit a Passport Agency.

If you are overseas and need to apply for or renew your US passport, please follow the instructions in Tips for Americans Traveling Abroad.

1. What is most probably talked about before this passage?

A. Matters needed to be dealt with before going to China.

B. The great changes happening in China.

C. An introduction to a journey to China.

D. International travel information.

2.You can apply for a US passport by mail if you _________.

A. have never had a US passport before

B. were 17 when you received your previous passport

C. got your most recent US passport 17 years ago

D. changed your name after getting your passport last time

3. Before submitting Form DS-11, you should __________.

A. fill the form in either black or blue ink

B. fill in all information on the form 

C. connect the local agency by telephone first

D. print the form on both sides of the paper

4.If you want to get the passport within half a month, you should _________.

A. call the National Passport Information Center or visit a Passport Agency

B. be an adult of more than 18 years old

C. offer to present your foreign visa to a Passport Agency

D. not pay a visit to Passport Agency

Global warming is causing more than 300,000 deaths and about $125 billion in economic losses each year, according to a report by the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization led by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.

The report, to be released Friday, analyzed data and existing studies of health, disaster, population and economic trends. It found that human-influenced climate change was raising the global death rates from illnesses including malnutrition and heat-related health problems.

But even before its release, the report drew criticism from some experts on climate and risk, who questioned its methods and conclusions. Along with the deaths, the report said that the lives of 325 million people, primarily in poor countries,were being seriously affected by climate change. It projected that the number would double by 2030.

Roger Pielke Jr., a politicalscientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies disaster trends, said the Forum’s report was “a methodological embarrassment” because there was no way to distinguish deaths or economic losses related to human-driven global warming amid（在...中间） the much larger losses resulting from the growth in populations and economic development in vulnerable(易受伤害的) regions. Dr. Pielke said that “climate change is an important problem requiring our utmost attention.” But the report, he said, “will harm the cause for action on both climate change and disasters because it is so deeply flawed(有瑕疵的).”

However, Soren Andreasen, a social scientist at Dalberg Global Development Partners who supervised the writing of the report, defended it, saying that it was clear that the numbers were rough estimates. He said the report was aimed at world leaders, who will meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a new international climate treaty.

In a press release describing the report, Mr. Annan stressed the need for the negotiations to focus on increasing the flow of money from rich to poor regions to help reduce their vulnerability to climate hazards while still controling the emissions of the heat-trapping gases. More than 90% of the human and economic losses from climate change are occurring in poor countries, according to the report.

1.What is the finding of the Global Humanitarian Forum?

A. Rates of death from illnesses have risen due to global warming.

B. Global temperatures affect the rate of economic development.

C. Malnutrition has caused serious health problems in poor countries.

D. Economic trends have to do withpopulation and natural disasters.

2. What do we learn about the Forum’s report from the passage?

A. It caused a big stir in developing countries.

B. It was warmly received by environmentalists.

C. It caused a lot of interest in the scientific circles.

D. It was challenged by some climate and risk experts.

3. What is Soren Andreasen’s view of the report?

A. Its conclusions are based on carefully collected data.

B. It is vulnerable to criticism if the statistics are closely examined.

C. It will give rise to heated discussions at the Copenhagen conference.

D. Its rough estimates are meant to draw the attention of world leaders.

4.What does Kofi Annan say should be the focus of the Copenhagen conference?

A. How human and economic losses from climate change can be reduced.

B. How rich countries can better help poor regions reduce climate hazards.

C. How emissions of heat-trapping gases can be reduced on a global scale.

D. How rich and poor regionscan share responsibility in curbing global warming.

When I was seven, my parents gave me a doll, a doll’s house and a book. The Arabian Nights, came wrapped in red paper. I was just ready to read when my mother walked into my room．

“Isn’t your doll just beautiful?” my mother asked. I looked at the doll, with fair hair in a pink dress----I’ll have to call her “she” because I never gave her a name. I folded my lips and raised my eyebrows, not really knowing how to let my mother down easily.

“This doll is different.” My mother explained, trying to talk me into playing with it.

Thinking the doll needed love, I hugged her tightly for a long time. Useless, I said to myself. Finally, I decided to play with the doll’s house. But since rearranging the tiny furniture seemed to be the only active possible, I lost interest. I caught sight again of the third of my gifts The Arabian Nights, and I began to read it. From that moment, the book was my constant companion.

Every day I climbed our garden tree, nestled among its branches, I read the stories in The Arabian Nights to my heart’s content. My mother became concerned as she noticed I wasn’t playing with either the doll or the little house. She insisted that I take the doll up the tree with me.

Trying to read on a branch 15 feet off the ground while holding on to the silly doll was not easy. After nearly falling off twice, I tied one end of a long vine around the doll’s neck and the opposite one around the branch, letting the doll hang in mid air while I read. I always looked out for my mother, though. I sensed that my playing with the doll was of great importance to her. So every time I heard her coming, I lifted the doll up and hugged her. The smile in my mother’s eyes told me my plan worked.

The inevitable(不可避免的) happened one afternoon. Totally absorbed in the reading, I didn’t hear my mother calling me. When I looked down, I saw my mother staring at the hanging doll. Fearing the worst of scolding, I climbed down in a flash, reaching the ground just as my mother was untying the doll. To my surprise, she didn’t scold. She kept on staring at the doll．

The next day, my father came home early and suggested he and I play with the doll’s house. Soon I was bored, but my father seemed to be having so much fun, I didn’t have the heart to tell him. Quietly I slipped out, picking up my book on my way to the yard. So absorbed was he in arranging and rearranging the tiny furniture that he didn’t notice my quick exit.

Almost 20 years passed before I found out why the hanging-doll incident had been so significant for my parents. By then I was a parent myself. After recalling the incident, my mother said all those years she had been afraid whether I would turn out to be a most loving and understanding mother to my son．

My mother often thanks God aloud for making me a good parent, pointing out that with education I might have been a rich dentist instead of a poor poet. I look back on that same childhood incident, recalling my third gift, the book in red-paper, and I take advantage of the experiences that have made me who and what I am. Sometimes I pause to wonder at life’s wonderful ironies （讽刺）.

1.Why didn’t the author give the doll a name?

A. Because the gift was given by her parents.

B. Because the girl didn’t care much for the doll.

C. Because her parents would give the doll a name.

D. Because the doll had little in common with her.

2.The author’s account of a childhood incident shows that, as a young girl, she viewed her parents as people who         .

A. hoped to shape their children’s future  

B. were unconcerned about their behavior

C. ruined their children’s dreams completely

D. might withdraw their love at any moment

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A. The mother is now satisfied with her daughter’s career.

B. The daughter now regrets what she did when she was a girl.

C. The mother thinks the daughter’s achievements are unsatisfactory.

D. The daughter wishes that she had been allowed more freedom as a child.

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填1个单词。

I used to be the messiest person alive. Over the years, through watching others and by trial and error, I have finally found ways to come up with plans, organize them and follow through with them.

Make an outline of everything you need to have and do to make your plan happen. Make a list of all of the steps that need to be accomplished and think about what needs to be done.

Detail everything thoroughly and read over it so you can start coming up with some mental solutions of how to carry out your plans.

You should make sure that if for some reason Way One doesn’t work, you have Way Two and Way Three to lean back on. Therefore, different ways are needed at hand. It’s just a matter of being organized. Chances are that there is always more than one way of doing things, and chances are that if one of those ways doesn’t work, one of the other ones will.

Committing yourself to finishing at least part if not all of your plan at once is also necessary. It will show that you not only have initiative to get things rolling, but that you are interested in the results obtained with making the move to get everything done.

If you make a commitment to finish before a specific time, make sure that you carry that out, and be sure to do everything in the way you said you would, within the time-frame you set for yourself.

Don’t try to tackle more things all at a time. All that does is delay your progress, distract you and make you lose your interest, motivation and energy.

Carrying out an effective plan requires being as organized as possible. You will only achieve this by sticking to the order of the plan and not deviating or trying to do more at a time.

Last but not least, you should never abandon things mid-project. It will only annoy everyone around you including yourself. Unfinished plans are a waste of time, energy and, in some cases, even money.

So, don’t be afraid of organization. The older we get, the more necessary it becomes to have the skills to follow through with confidence and to be able to carry through plans in an organized and manageable way. It pays to be organized, after all.

Title: Tips on how to be    1.     in your life

The "Chinese Dream" is ____ dream to improve people’s well-being and ____ dream of harmony, peace and development.

A. the; a                B. a; a                 C. a; the                                   D. the; the

— So nice to see you, Lucy! I never thought you visit us today.

   — Sorry, I forgot to tell you I was coming. I hope you don’t mind me _____.

A. calling in        B. pulling in        C. breaking in           D. dropping in

The real secret to successful learning lies in students＿＿＿＿an interest in what they are doing.

A. to take                  B. taking                     C. taken                                      D. having taken

We _______ the difficulty together, but why didn’t you tell me?

A. should face            B. might face              C. could have faced                   D. may have faced

After＿＿＿seemed a hopeless wait, four coal-miners trapped in the mine for 125 hours were finally rescued in Heilongjiang Province．

A. when 　                B. that　               C. it　                               D. what