Thanksgiving time came and all the relatives were gathered around the long table, or seated behind TV trays．The television was on and some folks were watching it while visiting with one another．Something on television got their attention and one of the adults said, "Listen at it!" Someone else replied．"Well, if that don't beat all．"
Simple phrases were spoken by folks whose language was simple and brief．They had several idioms that were just as colorful; Phrases and words that brightened the room and warmed the conversation．In school we were taught to speak differently．The way our relatives spoke was discouraged．Sometimes our parents would say things we weren't taught in school．They'd often correct themselves, as if getting rid of a mistake．Of course we learned some of their phrases and used them．They were comfortable words to pronounce, familiar．
Our father's side of the family was from Arkansas and Oklahoma and they spoke with the accents native to their birth states．Their voices musical and often high , it was easy to pick up that effect in our own speech and at school my brother and I were often teased for the way we spoke．Our mother's side of the family came from Illinois and they had a tendency to talk fast．They had an accent, too, and my brother and I added that to our own speech, confusing the kids at school all the more．Our father's side of the family loved to laugh and have a good time．Our mother's side of the family was more serious about how they took life in; their joys more silently experienced and enjoyed．It was a rich picture of culture and it gave my brother and me a colorful view in life．
Thanksgiving holiday was always an easy comfortable going day．It was the first real holiday of the season when everyone came together in one place, and a good time was spent happily together by all．
64．From the text we can know that ___________．
A．parents were worried that their relatives might affect their kids’ language
B．parents didn’t allow their children to speak dialects
C．parents tried to avoid affecting their kids with their dialects
D．parents thought the language taught in school was the best
65．It can be inferred from the text that ________．
A．English taught in school is different from that used in daily life
B．his mother’s side of the family spoke in a high voice
C．the language used by his father’s side of the family was fast
D．the writer and brother were laughed at school because of their poor English
66．Why did the writer and his brother puzzle other kids at school by their speeches?
A．They had relatives from different parts of Europe
B．They added some dialects in their speeches
C．There were many mistakes in their language
D．their speeches were lively and colorful
67．What’s the writer’s attitude towards dialects?
A．They were not accepted by others．      B．They should be used everywhere．
C．They should be taught in school．     D．He liked them very much．

书面表达（10分）
假设你是育才中学学生会主席李华，你校将举办一次英语演讲比赛(speech contest)，希望附近某大学的外籍教师Smith 女士来做评委，请参照以下比赛通知给她写一封信。

注意：词数100左右。
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

What is Math Anxiety?
Math anxiety or fear of math is actually quite common. Math anxiety is quite   36 to stage-fright. Why does someone suffer   37 ? Fear of something going wrong in front of a crowd? Fear of   38 the lines? Fear of being judged   39 ? Fear of going completely blank? Math anxiety conjures(使现出) up fear of some type. The fear that one won’t be able to do the   40 or the fear that it’s too hard or the fear of failure which often stems(起因于) from having a lack of  41 . For the most part, math anxiety is the   42 about doing the math right, our minds draw a   43 and we think we’ll fail and of course the more frustrated and anxious our minds become, the  44 the chance for drawing blanks. Added pressure of having time limits on math tests and exams also cause the levels of anxiety to grow for many students.
Where Does Math Anxiety Come From?
Usually math anxiety stems(起源于) from   45 experiences in mathematics. Typically math phobias(恐慌症) have had math presented in such a fashion that it led to limited understanding. Unfortunately, math anxiety is often   46  poor teaching and poor experiences in math which typically leads to math  47 . Many of the students I’ve encountered with math anxiety have demonstrated an over reliance on procedures in math as opposed to actually understanding the math. When one tries to memorize procedures, rules and routines without much   48 , the math is quickly forgotten and   49 soon sets in. Think about your experiences with one concept — the division of fractions(分数). You probably learned about reciprocals(倒数) and inverses. In other words, ‘It’s not yours to reason why, just invert(反转) and multiply(乘)’. Well, you memorized the rule and it   50  . Why does it work? Do you really understand why it works? Did anyone ever use pizzas or math manipulative(巧妙处理的) to show you why it works? If   51  , you simply memorized the procedure and that was that. Think of math as memorizing all the procedures —   52 if you forget a few? Therefore, with this type of strategy, a good  53 will help, but, what if you don’t have a good memory. Understanding the math is critical. Once students   54 they can do the math, the whole notion of math anxiety can be overcome. Teachers and parents have an important   55 to ensure students understand the math being presented to them.

It is sometimes said that the English are polite people. This can make life difficult for foreigners. Suppose a foreign boy asks an English girl to go out with him and she says, “If I finish my work, I’ll meet you in the cafe at 7 o’clock.” Is she saying “yes” or “no” to his invitation?
In grammatical terms, she is using the conditional structure (表示条件的句式). By using the conditional, speakers of English can avoid giving a “yes” or “no” answer to a question. It enables people to be diplomatic (婉转的). If the girl doesn’t want to go out with the boy, she won’t turn up at the cafe. She will let him understand she is still working. If she wants to go out with him, but doesn’t want to appear too easy to catch, she has achieved that with her reply. But in this case, as she uses the first conditional which shows probability, she is quite likely to turn up at the cafe. Being polite can make life very difficult!
The conditional is often used by people in the news -- politicians, for example -- who wish to avoid speaking out their ideas. This is very important if they are on their way to discuss an agreement. No one wants to give away his or her points before he or she starts. A government spokesman might say to a group of workers, “If we could pay you more, we would.” The use of the conditional here makes room for argument although the speaker is using the second conditional form, which shows improbability. So it is unlikely the workers will get their rise.
“If ” is a small word, which appears often in the English language. It can show politeness, reported speech and conditionals such as the First -- probability -- if I can come to your party, I will; the Second -- improbability -- if I saw you tomorrow, I’d give you the book; and the Third -- impossibility (meaning it is too late to change something that has happened ) -- if you have told me, I would have helped you.
60. The using of the conditional can make a speech _________.
A. clearer        B. quicker             C. more polite        D.more exciting
61. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Language used in the news should make room to argue.
B. Usually English girls are not easy to catch.
C. English people never speak out their ideas in public.
D. The word “ if ” can show different meanings.
62. In the passage, “If we could pay you more, we would.” probably means __________.
A. the workers will make more money
B. the spokesman doesn’t give any promise
C. the spokesman keeps his word
D. the workers’ problems aren’t difficult
63. This passage is mainly talking about _________.
A. the conditional in communication
B. how to invite a girl in Britain
C. British people and their life           
D. some language points in daily English

Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge (报复) of the Nerds. They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book. They are not good at social communication and look clumsy while doing sports.
How, then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres? Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School. She also sings in the choral group, serves on the student council and is a member of the mathematics society. For two years she has maintained A’s in every subject. Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque. He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair, and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station. Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony, he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes, plus bonus points for A’s in two college-level courses.
How do super-achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer. “Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students,” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super-achieving students. “Knowing how to make full use of your innate (天生的) abilities counts for more. Much more.”
In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ. For them, learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down. Hard work isn’t the whole story, either. “It’s not how long you sit there with the books open,” said one of the many-A students we interviewed. “It’s what you do while you’re sitting.” Indeed, some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates.
The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn.
【小题1】The underlined word “nerds” in paragraph 1 can probably be ________.