Talking behind someone’s back is considered to be rude and mean. Such a conversation can cover all kinds of criticism, from their looks to their work and personality.

The other day at lunch I was with a group of colleagues, and we were talking about our boss. She is the new headmaster of our middle school.

We talked about how kind she is to us. She handwrites notes to wish us happy holidays or to thank us for jobs well done. She checks on us when she knows we’re facing difficulties outside school with our health or with our families. We talked about the good role model that she is for the young women in our school and the fair but firm way she treats students and parents.

I thought about this after lunch. Sometimes we have the good fortune to be part of another kind of “talking behind someone’s back”. And too often when we say something good about someone behind their backs, they never know about it! That night, I sent her an email to report the conversation. She replied by saying how much she appreciated hearing about this, and how it made a bright spot in a tough week of testing.

Watch for your next opportunity to be the reporter! Make sure you tell them about the nice things said behind their backs! Because how will they know unless we tell them?

1.What do you conclude from the text the writer might be?

A．A student         B．A teacher         C．A parent          D．A boss

2.What is the text mainly about?

A．Conversations about others               B．Rude and mean talking

C．Kinds of conversations                   D．Talking behind someone’s back

3.The author strongly agrees on _________.

A．Don’t talk behind others’ back

B．Talking behind others’ back is rude

C．Do tell the person about the nice things said behind his back

D．There is no one who never talks behind someone’s back

Dear Aunty,

I work at a supermarket, and another girl and I share tasks we must finish before leaving. But she takes half an hour to do something I can do in ten minutes. She always has a story to tell me and stops working when she does. My boss is angry at both of us, but It’s not my fault. I don’t want to rat on her, but what else can I do?

Flustered

Dear Flustered,

Let me propose a better way. Make a log of all the tasks you share, then suggest to your boss that for efficiency your duties could be divided into two separate checklists. If he’s reluctant, go to plan B: the next time this girl starts telling you a story, stop working to listen and call your boss over to hear what a great storyteller she is. I’m sure he’ll take it from here.

Aunty

Dear Aunty,

I’m a college student in the Philippines who wants to be wise with money. I’m not an economics or business major student and I don’t know anything about stocks. But I really want to buy assets and invest. I receive about 15,000 pesos（比索）every school term from my education plan. I don’t have any idea how I should spend it. I don’t want to just buy new clothes, or hang out with my friends because it would not be wise. I want my money to grow. Please enlighten me.

Fastbreakplay

Dear Fastbreakplay,

Being wise with money is the No. 1 thing to learn. Start with a disciplined and systematic savings plan. When your savings reach a sizeable amount, then you may start investing. In the meantime, invest in yourself by reading up on stock markets and capital markets. Follow the news. Before I started investing during my senior high school years, I had already studied stock market data of the past century as I believe markets tend to repeat themselves. If you master this skill, you will master your reading of the markets.

Aunty

1.When Flustered’s boss isn’t willing to separate their work, Flustered can _____.

A．follow the second advice                 B．invite the boss to listen to the girl

C．stop working or do other things             D．report to the boss on time

2.Fastbreakplay writes a letter to Aunty in order to _____.

A．buy some pesos                        B．become an expert on stocks

C．get ways to grow money                  D．study economics as his major

3.In Aunty’s opinion, one should _____ at the beginning to be wise with money.

A．start investing                          B．have a saving plan

C．study stock markets                      D．master market reading

4.From letters above, we know Aunty should be ________.

A．an elder kind woman                    B．a lady in the community

C．a famous singer                         D．a name of a columnist

As the new term starts, freshmen around the world are asking the same question: how can I make the best of four years at college? The New York Times received suggestions recently from PhD students and seniors at some of the top universities . Here is their advice.

“Many young people today are raised in a protective cocoon(茧)”, wrote Tim Novikoff, a PhD student at Comell. “College is a time to explore the world beyond and a chance to learn new things about yourself. Take classes in different subjects. Try lots of different clubs and activities.”

Remember also to take some time away from campus, suggested Willie Lin, a student at Washington University. “If you spend all of your time in school, then it becomes too easy to let criticism from an unkind professor or a conflict with a roommate take up large proportions.”

Try to find work assisting a researcher or a professor---this is the advice from Aman Singh Gill, a PhD student at Stony Brook University. And he also said, “With a window into the world of research, you will find yourself thinking more critically, accepting fewer states at face value and perhaps developing a brave sense of what you can accomplish.”

Many young people can’t imagine even a single day without devices such as computers and cell phones. But try to keep yourself off them, cautioned Christine Smallwood, a PhD student at Columbia University.

Start by scheduling a few Internet-free hours each day, with your phone turned off. It’s the only way you’ll be able to read anything serious. “This will also have the benefit of making you harder to reach, and thus more mysterious and fascinating to new friends and acquaintances(熟人),” she suggested.

1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 means we should _________.

A．spend more time at school                B．take some time out of school

C．listen to criticism more                   D．not argue with roommates

2.Who thinks it is important to consider something critically?

A．Aman Singh Gill                         B．Christine Smallwood

C．Tim Novikoff                           D．Willlie Lin

3.As for modern information devices, the last two paragraphs mean to tell us ________.

A．to keep ourselves off them forever not to use them

B．to turn them off

C．to make a schedule to use them

D．not to use them

4.This passage is mainly about _________.

A．tips from some students for college life

B．ways to read something serious regularly

C．days without cell-phones and computers

D．chances to go to university you really like

There is a wide and deep choice of a career. Whether he’s a hand in construction or sitting behind the desk working on a computer, everyone has some ideas of what is an attractive career. However, making a career choice is not simply a matter of following a dream; for most people it means a lot of research and soul searching. Choosing the right career becomes one of the most important decisions of an individual’s life.

It used to be that one followed in the footsteps of their father or grandfather or took over the family’s business when it came to making a career choice. These days, a career path can start anywhere and then veer off into something totally different.

Career choices must be realistic and well thought out. It is not uncommon for persons to start a career path and realize they have made a terrible mistake, feeling as if it may be too late to turn around. Not only does a career choice concern your strongest skills and interest, it is also something that you will be doing continuously to bring in income. This is why a career choice can be such a personal decision. Formerly it used to be unusual for someone to change occupations or careers more than once or twice in a lifetime; it is now even more unusual to keep the same career during someone’s working life.

There are a great many measures in helping one choose the right profession. A number of websites offering tools such as career tests and information, educational resources, resume services and the kind can be found. It is important for one to research one’s career in this changing economy situation, and choose the best from several related career choices.

1.According to the author choosing the right career _________.

A．is not difficult at all                      B．needs a lot of dreams

C．is an interesting thing                    D．needs a lot of thoughts

2.The underlined phrase “veer off” in the second paragraph probably means _________.

A．set out to do the same job                 B．change the former course

C．compare two different things              D．dream of getting an easy job

3.Nowadays it is common for one to _________.

A．change his job often                     B．do the same job all his life

C．find a few good jobs at a time              D．live without a job for many years

4.All of the following are the tools on profession offered by websites EXCEPT _________.

A．tests and information                    B．training courses

C．employer’s phone numbers              D．instructions on resume

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。选项中有两项为多余选项。

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ---Lao Tzu

If you are in a city where everyone rushes, realize that you don’t have to be like everyone else. You can be different. You can walk instead of driving in rush hour traffic. You can be on your iPhone or Blackberry less, and disconnected sometimes. Your environment doesn’t control your life---you do. I’m not going to tell you how to give you a step-by-step guide to moving slower.    1   

1. Do less.

Cut back on your projects, on your task list, on how much you try to do each day. Focus not on quantity but on quality.    2    Save smaller, routine tasks for later in the day, but give yourself time to focus.

2. Have fewer meetings.

3    And they eat into your day, forcing you to squeeze the things you really need to do into small windows, and making you rush.

3.    4   

When you do the important things with focus, without rush, there will be things that get pushed back, and that don’t get done. And you need to ask yourself: how necessary are these things? What would happen if I stopped doing them?

4. Practice mindfulness.

Simply learn to live in the present, rather than things so much about future or the past. When you eat, fully appreciate your food. When you are with someone, be with them fully. When you are walking, appreciate your surroundings, no matter where you are.

Try these things out. Life is better when unrushed.

     5    

A．Start to put off or cancel the unnecessary.

B．Meetings are usually a “big waste of time”.

C．The world likely won’t end if you don’t pass one of the examinations.

D．But here are some things to consider and perhaps adopt, if they work for your life.

E. Remember the quote: if nature can get everything done without rushing, so can you.

F. Pick 2—3 important things---or even just one important thing---and work on those first.

G. Give yourself more time to get ready and get there.

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：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（Ù），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：在错的词下面划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：

1. 每处错误及修改均限一词；

2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从11处起）不计分。       

When I first learned to write in English, I run into many difficulty. The main problem was in that I always thought in Chinese and tried to translate everything into Chinese. My teacher advised me to keep diaries. I followed her advices. Happily it worked. Soon I began to enjoy talk to myself on paper as I was learning to express me in simple English. One day I wrote a short story showed it to my teacher. She liked it very much that she read it to the class. Everyone said the story was the good one. I was great encouraged by their words.

假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Jenny最近身体不舒服，来信向你询问如何保持健康。

请你给她回信并提出建议。内容如下：

1．      注意合理饮食：多吃鱼，豆类等有营养的食品及新鲜蔬菜和水果，不要吃太多的肉和甜食；

2．      多参加体育锻炼；

3．      保证充足睡眠，不要熬夜，每天至少睡8个小时。

注意：1。词数：120左右

2．信的开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。

3．参考词汇：有营养的：nutritious

Dear Jenny

____________________________________________________________________________

Yours

Li Hua

It was a lazy morning during the Christmas week. We were enjoying breakfast when the doorbell rang. It was a little girl, standing at the doorway with a piece of paper and a face that carried an expression of want, rather a common     1   during Christmas.

She murmured that the paper was her booklist and that she was going around     2   money to buy her schoolbooks. My children went inside and brought some     3    for her. This kind of incident happens very often in my hometown,     4    during Christmas.

From where I was seated, I could see her clearly. She looked about ten years old and she wore a dress too big for her. She spoke in a     5    voice and looked at me straight in the eye. Something made me get up and     6    her.

In answer to my questions, she said that her mother made hoppers and she     7    them before going to school. But the hopper money was not adequate to     8    the list; therefore, she was going from house to house asking for help.

Her voice told me the story; her eyes told me that it was     9    . I said I'd buy her what was on the list.

We drove to a nearby bookstore. She sat    10   , with a strange look on her face. When the clerk was taking all the things on the list, the little girl kept staring as if confused. Perhaps she had never    11   so many new things before. They were merely exercise books, pencils, pens and such things. She whispered her    12   to us. Strange, I hadn't been aware that giving such   13        things to one in need, could bring me such a lot of happiness.

As we drove back, I could see the little girl in the mirror. All the gifts I had given in my life never   14   up a face so much. She was grasping the parcel, smiling to herself. The total event made us all very    15   . Our Christmas became more meaningful.

1.                A．problem        B．sight           C．moment  D．experience

2.                A．borrowing      B．receiving        C．begging   D．lending

3.                A．clothes         B．books          C．food     D．coins

4.                A．absolutely       B．casually         C．especially D．hardly

5.                A．strange         B．polite          C．serious   D．loud

6.                A．care for        B．speak to        C．smile at   D．hold to

7.                A．sold           B．needed         C．collected D．used

8.                A．buy            B．make           C．cover    D．control

9.                A．painful         B．true            C．moving   D．interesting

10.               A．happily         B．eagerly         C．anxiously  D．silently

11.               A．possessed      B．bought         C．seen D．accepted

12.               A．surpr ise        B．satisfaction      C．thanks D．pleasure

13.               A．simple         B．wonderful      C．expensive D．useful

14.               A．lit             B．made          C．put   D．shut

15.               A．confused       B．delighted       C．amazed   D．relieved

阅读下面短文,按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求,在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。

“At last, no more exams.” It’s a common feeling among high school graduates who have just completed the college entrance examination. What a relief! However, rather than fill the next three months with sleep, eating, and   1.   (watch) TV, some students have started working on finding a good choice of foreign college.

Different from those who begin their   2.   (apply) for foreign colleges in Senior 2, Li made a late decision on a US education. She began to think about it in Senior 3, but decided not   3.   ( give ) up the college entrance exam.    

Li’s classmate Mao Bingxin   4.   (consider) studying in Canada after the top exam. She began a TOEFL course on June 11.

He Wei,   5.   18-year-old girl who studies at Shenzhen Bao’an High School, isn’t allowing   6.  much freedom this summer vacation either, devoting her time to looking for a language school   7.   she can study French and some overseas study consulting agencies.

He Wei considers   8.   worthwhile spending the summer preparing for college rather than hanging out with friends. “   9.   we don’t really know what the future holds for us, we are sure that the better preparations we make   10.   it, the more choices we will be given.” she said.

Like many men at some point, I dream about opening a bar. I plan to call it Work Out. It will cater to married women in need of a little fun. On Friday nights, they will be able to come here and enjoy themselves.

See, I have a gift for business. I am, as my wife Zsa Zsa likes to note, “A man with a million ideas, none of them very good.” Speaking of Zsa Zsa, she is fed up with this plain little life I’ve made for us——too many kids, too many chores, mind – numbing debt. The other day, she said she thought we needed a new family car. “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?” I said, and saw my dear Zsa Zsa age about 20 years, and become her mother right before my eyes.

Yes, money is our madness. Last year, we thought we had found a little cushion when I published a book about the life here in suburban America. It sold 12 copies——six of them to my mother. Four other copies went to various aunts and uncles, who used them for martini coasters (杯垫), then sold them at yard sales. The two remaining copies went to perfect strangers. (I think I owe you dinner, whoever you are. Call me, OK? We’ll arrange something.)

When the book didn’t take off, I wrote a TV show. Then I penned a short novel based on the earlier TV idea that didn’t sell. Currently, I am at work on a set of encyclopedias(百科全书). In a month, I plan to sell them door – to – door.

Such is the life of a writer, sending off the most personal thoughts possible to his hard drive. I am a writer, but also the breadwinner in my family. I’m at the keyboard at 6 almost every morning, hoping to tap out one idea——just one——that will take us up the hill, to the mountain, to the top.

1.According to the passage, the author is leading a/an         life.

A．enjoyable         B．wealthy           C．hard             D．comfortable

2.By saying “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?”, the author          .

A．promised it to his wife                    B．was showing off their fortune

C．thought his wife would like it               D．was just joking

3.What was the result of the book the author mentioned in the 3rd paragraph?

A．It didn’t sell well at all.

B．He sold it door – to – door.

C．He made a lot of money from it.

D．It was really a cushion for his family.

4.What does the underlined word “cushion” mean ?

A．Comfortable seat.

B．Financial help.

C．Unexpected success.

D．Best-selling book.

5.From the account above, which of the following statements is true?

A．He has a real gift for business.

B．He isn’t serious enough about life.

C．He is a hard – working writer.

D．His wife is satisfied with their plain life.