Shylock, how can you hope for mercy yourself when you show _____．

    A．it             B．nothing        C．none           D．no one

 In view of lacking preparations for the competition and not wanting to lose face, Johnson eventually decided to _____．

    A．drop in        B．drop off      C．drop back                    D．drop out

 While reading, you can make a mark _____ you have a question．

    A．the place where                  B．what           C．that           D．where

 ---I’d like to invite you to dinner this Sunday, Mr．Smith．

    ---_____．

    A．Oh, no．Let’s not               B．I’m very sorry, but I have other plans

    C．I’d rather stay at home         D．Oh, no．That’ll be too much trouble

    阅读下面短文，从短文后各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出适合填入对应空白处的最佳选项。并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

    I arrived in the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with 75 students who would be my English Literature class．Having taught in  1for 17 years, I had no  2about my ability to hold their attention and to  3on them my admiration for the literature of my mother tongue．

    I was shocked when the monitor shouted, “  4!”

    The entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat  5about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness was over, I quickly  6my calmness and began what I thought was a fact-packed lecture, sure to gain their respect --- perhaps  7their admiration．I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a sense of achievement．

    My students  8diaries．However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually  9by a strong sense of sadness．The first diary said, “Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today． 10her next lecture will be better．” Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a  11theme．“Didn’t I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework of Western thought and laid the historical  12for all the works we will study in class,” I complained．“How  13they say I didn’t teach them anything?”

    It was a long term, and it  14became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as  15of my students．I thought a teacher’s job was to raise     16questions and provide enough background so that students could  17their own conclusions．My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide  18information as directly and clearly as possible．What a difference!

19, I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a  20American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture．

1.A．the UK           B．the US        C．China          D．Australia

2.A．worry            B．idea          C．doubt          D．experience

3.A．impress          B．put           C．leave         D．fix

4.A．Attention        B．Look out      C．At ease        D．Stand up

5.A．puzzled          B．sure           C．depressed      D．worried

6.A．found            B．returned      C．regained       D．followed

7.A．more             B．even           C．yet            D．still

8.A．passed           B．borrowed       C．kept           D．read

9.A．replaced         B．taken         C．caught         D．moved

10.A．Naturally       B．Perhaps       C．Fortunately    D．Reasonably

11.A．different       B．strong        C．similar        D．usual

12.A．happenings      B．characters    C．development    D．background

13.A．should          B．need           C．will           D．must

14.A．immediately     B．certainly     C．simply         D．gradually

15.A．that            B．what          C．those          D．ones

16.A．difficult       B．interesting   C．ordinary       D．unusual

17.A．draw            B．get            C．decide         D．give

18.A．strange         B．standard      C．exact          D．serious

19.A．Therefore       B．However        C．But            D．Though

20.A．normal          B．happy          C．good           D．better

    Fun-loving Paul Johnson earned the title of the Scarborough Evening News Teacher of the Year 2008．Mr Johnson, of Hinderwell School, was presented with the award after four of his pupils nominated（recommended） him for the prestigious title．

    Evening News editor Ed Asquith presented Mr Johnson with his certificate — and a cheque for £100．His class is also set to enjoy a free trip to the Sea Life Centre which includes being picked up by a complimentary Shoreline Suncruisers open-top bus．

    The 30-year-old, who lives in Hunmanby, said: “I am just so shocked．I have been nominated for this award for a few years and I never thought I would win it．It is fantastic．It is completely out of the blue．”

    Mr Johnson has worked as a Year 5 teacher at the school for seven years．He also works as an advanced teacher, which involves visiting other schools in the county once a week to offer cross-curricular teaching．

    He was chosen as the winner because of his dynamic but educationally engaging approach to teaching, and based on the real way he has demonstrated that every child matters．Each term he picks a theme for his class and the curriculum is based around it．This term they are studying medieval times — and his classroom has a castle in one corner．He also treated his class to a three-day trip to London earlier this year．

    His nominators were Lucy and Emily Desborough, Rachel Laverick and Rebecca Miller．Classmate Callum Macdonald, 10, said: “He is the best teacher in the world and he deserves this．He is brilliant with us and he is just so funny．He tells lots of jokes which always make us laugh．” Beth Lawty, nine, added: “Our classroom is the best ever．We have really enjoyed being in his class and I will miss him next year．”

1.Paul Johnson visits other schools in the county to ______．

    A．show his teaching experience                       B．learn from other teachers

    C．improve his teaching skills                        D．offer a different course

2.Why is there a castle in one corner of Paul Johnson’s classroom?

    A．It is used to train the students’ imagination．

    B．It is a prize from the Scarborough Evening News

    C．The students can play in it after class．

    D．It is probably a symbol of medieval times．

3.The underlined part “out of the blue” probably means ______．

    A．of surprise                      B．frustrating  

    C．of great fame                                      D．within easy reach

    The world is not coming to an end on December 21, 2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie．

    The latest big screen offering from Sony Picture, 2012, arrives in theaters on Friday, with a 200-million-dollar production about the end of the world supposedly based on myths backed by the Mayan calendar．It is claimed that the end of time will come as a Planet X---or Nibiru---heads toward or collides with the Earth．

    Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet’s existence, but the US space agency condemned such stories as an “Internet hoax”．“There is no factual basis for these claims,” NASA said in a question-and-anwser posting on this website．“If such a collision were real, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye．Obviously, it does not exist．Credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012,” it insisted．“After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years,” added NASA．

    There is another planet, Eris, floating in space．But the small planet similar to Pluto will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the Earth, according to NASA．

    Earlier theories set the disaster for May 2003, but when nothing happened the date was moved forward to the winter in 2012 to coincide with the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar．

    NASA insisted the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21, 2012, as another period begins immediately afterward．

    And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast, the effect on our planet would be “negligible（unimportant）”, NASA said．

    “And while comets and asteroids （小行星） have always hit the Earth, big hits are very rare,” NASA noted．The last major impact was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting in the end of dinosaurs．

    “We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs,” the space agency said．

1.______ played a key role in the spread of the rumors．

    A．A new book                       B．The Internet and a new Hollywood movie

    C．NASA                             D．An Indian calendar

2.We can infer that ______．

    A．people didn’t take the rumor seriously

    B．Planet X --- or Nibiru does exist

    C．astronomers have been tracking Planet X for over ten years

    D．the rumor caused a panic among some people

3.NASA thinks that Eris ______．

    A．might have a threat to the Earth B．doesn’t have any threat to the Earth

    C．is too far away to be visible    D．is similar to our planet, where life might exist

4.Which of the following is the best title?

    A．New Hollywood movie 2012

    B．December 21, 2012, Not the end of the world

    C．End of the ancient Mayan calendar

    D．How rumors came into being

    In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and started austerity （紧缩） programs to reduce their imports．The result was a sharp drop in farm prices．This period was more disastrous for farmers than earlier times had been, because farmers were no longer self-sufficient．They were paying for machinery, seed, and fertilizer, and they were also buying consumer goods．The prices of the items farmers bought remained constant, while prices they received for their products fell．These developments were made worse by the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and extended throughout the 1939s．

    In 1929, under President Herbert Hoover, the Federal Farm Board was organized．It established the principle of direct interference （干预） with supply and demand, and it represented the first national commitment to provide greater economic stability for farmers．

    President Hoover's successor attached even more importance to this problem．One of the first measures proposed by President FranklinD．Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was later passed by Congress．This law gave the Secretary of Agriculture the power to reduce production through voluntary agreements with farmers who were paid to take their land out of use．A deliberate shortage of farm products was planned in an effort to raise prices．This law was declared unconstitutional （违背宪法的） by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people．However, new laws were passed immediately that achieved the same result of resting soil and providing flood-control measures, but which were based on the principle of soil conservation．The Roosevelt Administration believed that rebuilding the nation’s soil was in the national interest and was not simply a plan to help farmers at the expense of other citizens．Later the government guaranteed loans to farmers so that they could buy farm machinery, hybrid （杂交） grain, and fertilizers．

1.What caused the problem in the demand for American farm products?

    A．The effect of the Great Depression．

    B．The shrinking of overseas markets．

    C．The destruction caused by the First World War．

    D．The increased exports of European countries．

2.The word “successor” refers to ______．

    A．President Hoover                 B．US Secretary of State

    C．President Franklin               D．US Secretary of Agriculture

3.The Agricultural Adjustment Act encouraged American farmers to ______．

    A．reduce their scale of production

    B．make full use of their land

    C．adjust the prices of their farm products

    D．be self-sufficient in agricultural production

4.The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjustment Act because it believed that the Act ______．

    A．might cause greater shortage of farm products

    B．didn't give the Secretary of Agriculture enough power

    C．would benefit neither the government nor the farmers

    D．benefited one group of citizens at the expense of others

HOLIDAY HOMES IN MALLORCA

    Holiday houses in Mallorca sailing and fishing port - quiet even in summer season．Beautifully situated houses with sights of sea and mountains, yet near to shops and restaurants．Cars and bicycles for hire．Sailing and sports clubs nearby．

ITALY IN COMFORT

    Luxury coach trips of Italy, out of normal holiday season．21 days to visit five Italian cities starting from London 1st May, 1st September．The trips are guided by Professor Martin Davis, Head of Italian Studies, London University．See the arts and culture of historic Italy．

KIBBUTZ HOLIDAYS IN ISRAEL

    Working holidays on a kibbutz （co-operative farm） in Israel．All nationalities welcome for one to three months, if prepared to work morning with kibbutz members．Accommodation, food and trips to historic sights all provided free - you pay only for the special low-cost return flight．

TWO WEEKS ON A CARIBBEAN ISLAND

    Two-week holidays in the Hotel Splendid, on a lovely beach with golden sands and deep-blue sea．Tennis, golf, sailing and all water sports, trips around the island arranged．Near to town of Castries with lively evening entertainment - dancing．

    1st November - 31st March =￡720 per person

    1st April - 30th October =￡850 per person

    Jack and his wife Mary, who have recently retired, want to see places of cultural and historic interest abroad, but Mary hates flying．

    Peter and Maria, university students, want to travel as far as possible on little money, and would like to get to know a country by working there for three months with other young people．

    Michael, a young computer programmer, has been working hard and needs a holiday to relax in winter．He would like to go somewhere warmer and sunny, where he can swim in the sea, and he enjoys sports and dancing．

    Henry and Kate, both teachers, and their two sons, have to take their holiday during the school summer holidays．There must be plenty for the boys to do, although Harry and Kate just want to have beautiful scenery, good food and wine- and peace．

1.Michael would most probably go to _______ for his holiday．

    A．Italy　　　    B．Israel         C．Mallorca　　   D．a Caribbean island

2.The best holiday for Jack and Mary would be _______．

    A．the 21 - day coach trip of Italy

    B．the 2 -week stay in the Hotel Splendid

    C．the 14 -day trip around a Caribbean island

    D．the working holidays for 1 -3 months on a kibbutz in Israel

3.Henry and Kate and their sons would like _______．

    A．a holiday working on a kibbutz in Israel

    B．a holiday visiting cities by coach in Italy

    C．a holiday house in the fishing port in Mallorca

    D．a holiday hotel on a lovely beach on a Carribean Island

4.You can find this passage most probably in _______．

    A．a school library　               B．a tourist agency             C．the post office      D．the museum

    根据短文内容，从下框的A---F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。 选项中有一项为多余选项。

    Five Happiness Secrets For Tough Times

    Sonja Lyubomirsky, an author, has researched the science of happiness for years．

    Here are her tips to help you cope with a bad economy, and increase your bursts of happiness throughout the day．

1.________

    “You could spend a lot of time thinking deeply,” says Lyubomirsky．“But that just makes you feel even more pessimistic, more out of control, and affects your self esteem．Your relationships will suffer and your job performance will suffer．”

    Get rid of pessimism．One of the most effective ways to cope when things are difficult is to adopt a positive thinking strategy．“What can I learn from this? Times are tough, I’ve been furloughed at work, but I can spend more time with the kids, adopt a new hobby, or learn a new set of skills．”

2.________

    Now more than ever we need each other to survive．Lyubomirsky found that doing good things for friends, family, or strangers can make you happier．Think of practical, everyday gestures that can make someone’s life a little bit easier．For example, Lyubomirsky says, “Maybe now many of us can’t afford to take a cab to the airport, so offer to give a friend a ride．”

3.________

    You don’t need an expert to tell you that relationships are critical to happiness．

    Not being the bread-winner anymore or not being able to fulfill your kid’s needs can weigh down hard on your family life．But the trick is to stop feeling guilty and focus on caring for your loved ones．

    “I was at a psychology conference where an expert was talking about the effects of this economy on families and how parents can’t afford to buy their kids luxuries like toys anymore,” says Lyubomirsky．“But what they don’t realize is that kids don’t care about toys — what they care about is parents being grumpy and taking it out on them．”

4.________

    “If you find a happy person you will find a project,” says Lyubomirsky．“Happy people all have goals they care about．”

    Commit yourself to a project – whether it is a business you want to start or a dance you want to learn．But it’s also important to remember to be flexible in these times．

    Don’t get frustrated if circumstances are stopping you from meeting your goals．Adopt and change!

    “If your spouse has lost their job you might have to change your goal,” says Lyubomirsky．“Or you might have to learn a whole new skill for a new job．”

5.________

    When times are tough, it’s easy to get skip your regular workouts in favor of moping in front of the TV and eating a bag of chips．Your thinking is “I have more important things to worry about right now than looking good．”

    But carve out a small part of your day to give your body some TLC．It will go a long way in boosting your happiness．“Even if you can’t afford to go to the gym,”

    Lyubomirsky says, “take time out to exercise at home．”