How should one invest a sum of money in these days of inflation(通货膨胀)? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate．Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market (股市)．Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past．Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique (古董) clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques．

I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life．“ The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound．It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands．Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people’s wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control．This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves.”

Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time．Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of day according to the beating of their own hearts．They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout the time．So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.

However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time．They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun．They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour-glasses, and invented water-clocks．Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.

Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home．After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in an antique clock and perhaps make a future profit ?

1.According to the passage, collecting antique clocks___________.

     A．can hardly keep the value of your savings

     B．will cost much of your savings             

       C．may increase your wealth        

       D．needs your bravery

2.By quoting (引用) the remark (话) of a being from another planet, the author intends to ________________.

     A．suggest human beings are controlled by a clock

     B．describes why clocks can rule the planet Earth

     C．tell readers what clocks look like

     D．compare clocks to human beings

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time ?

     A．Counting the beating of one’s own heart.

     B．Making use of candles, sand and water.

     C．Observing shadows cast by the sun.

     D．Keeping all the slaves busy day and night.

4.The underlined phrase stately homes in paragraph 4 means ____.

       A．state-owned houses                B．houses in very good condition

       C．grand houses open to the public     D．houses where statesmen meet regularly

5.The purpose of the passage is ________________.

       A．to introduce the culture of antique clocks

       B．to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks

       C．to compare different ways to make a future profit

       D．to explain convenient and reliable ways of telling time

Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect ? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized (分类) as “honor” help you create this life of good feelings．

Here’s an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.

Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item．If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk’s mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement．Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune．On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thanks us for our honesty．We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.

Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness ?

In the first case where we don’t tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen．Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief．In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect．We would also demonstrate that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends．We damage our own reputations by telling others.

In contrast bringing the error to the clerk’s attention causes different things to happen．Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable．Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased．Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.

There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions．Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions．Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence．And it’s easy to think and act honorably again when we’re happy．While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it’s started, it’s easy to continue．Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.

1.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our________.

     A．self-respect                  B．financial rewards

     C．advertising ability            D．friendly relationship

2.How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake ?

       A．We’ll be very excited       B．We’ll feel unfortunate

       C．We’ll have a sense of honor  D．We’ll feel sorry for the clerk

3.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage ?

       A．How to Live Truthfully    

       B．Importance of Peacefulness

       C．Ways of Gaining Self-respect

       D．Happiness through Honorable Actions

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。

May the first is an important date in the college admission process in the United States．This is the last day for high school seniors to accept or reject offers of admission in the fall．But according to a recent report, there is a great change．Acceptance rates at the top colleges this year were lower than ever．   1. 

These days, college applicants are applying to more colleges because online and common applications make the process easier．   2.   On the other hand, deciding students for top colleges to accept can be difficult because it takes much time．Students may not like being put on waiting lists．Also, common colleges work more to get the students they accept to accept them．Some colleges hold visiting days that offer a chance to attend classes and stay overnight．Some universities send gifts．    3.    

For many families, the most important thing colleges can do is show them the money, especially this year; the weak economy makes parents nervous．    4.  The recent problems that spread from the housing market to credit markets have even affected student’s loans．So lately, top schools have to spare lots of money to increase their financial aid for students．

    5.     The Education Department expects the number of high school graduates to start to go down．This will happen as the last of the children of the baby boom generation finish high school．The number is not expected to start rising again until 2015．

A．Besides, top colleges are facing changes in the population．

B．What contributes to it?

C．But a mistake can be costly if it happens．

D．But top colleges ignore them．

E．They have international students who know English.

F．It can mean several acceptances to choose from.

G．They cannot afford college as planned．

假定英语课上,老师要求同桌同学相互修改作文。假设以下小作文为你同桌所写，请你对其进行修改。文中共有10处错误，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：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（^），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。

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。

3．必须按答题要求做题，否则不给分。

Time fly like an arrow．I’m already in the second half of Senior Grade 3 before I realized it．It is only a little more than three months before I graduate middle school．At the present, I’m busy review my lessons in order to take the College Entrance Examination．I hope to go to Beijing University, that is one of the best universities not only in China but also in the world．I’ll try my best turn my dream to reality．Most of my classmates are also studying very hard to realize our wishes．I do believe everyone will be able to enter an university or college．

假设你是李华，你的英国朋友Tom来信询问你们的学习情况。请你根据下图提供的信息，写一封100左右的回信，谈谈自从你校实行新课改以来，尝试新的学习方法，你们学习情况的变化。

Dear Tom,

It was great to hear from you again．                                                      

 The photo of my brothers and me __________ my childhood.    

______ wind or rain, we always go to school on time.

You'd better make your living. You can't always ________ having good parents.

With the examination paper ___________, the girl burst out crying.

It is _____ Tom often surfs the Internet playing games ______ makes his parents very angry.