As a result, my first homework was a real disaster （灾难）. My face turned red as I read the teacher’s comments （评语）. She wrote, “Teresa, it seems to me that you need to learn how to structure （构思）your writing. ”

    I knew she was right. I had been writing stories for too long and didn’t have well-structured writing. When I wrote a story, I could start a new paragraph （段）every line. But this was not how history writing worked.

    I rewrote the homework four or five times, and asked my classmates for help before I finally handed it in. With continued rewriting, my homework changed a lot. My second paper received a high grade.

    These are my happiness and sadness. Each one makes me try harder next time.

  1. At first the writer thought it was ________ to learn history.

    A. difficult　　　　　　　　    B. easy

    C. boring　　　　　　　　　　  D. interesting

  2. The writer’s face turned red _______.

    A. after he talked to the teacher

    B. when he had his homework back

    C. after he got an “A” for his work

    D. when he did his history homework

  3. What was the writer’s problem?

    A. He spent too much time writing stories

    B. He wrote stories in his history homework.

    C. He did his homework the way he wrote stories.

    D. He made his homework too long to be read.

  4. What do the last two sentences tell us?

    A. The writer will try to learn better and better.

    B. History learning needs hard working.

    C. When we are sad, we want to work harder.

    D. The happier we are; the better we will work.

Maybe you're wondering how we spend our free time in the year 2059, so I, ll tell you what I did last weekend.

On Saturday morning, I stayed in bed until 11 o’clock, when my mother woke me up. “Wang Mang! Get out of bed, you lazy little pig!” she said. “You can’t lie in bed all day, and you’ve got homework to do, haven’t you?” Were mothers so annoying fifty years ago?

Anyway, I got out of bed and asked the robot to make me a quick brunch—hamburger and French fries. But the robot said, “Sorry, Mang. Your mother says I can only give you hamburgers 3 times a week, and you had 2 hamburgers yesterday. Fast food is not healthy. I suggest you have some of the dumplings I made yesterday. Or perhaps some fruit salad” You see, my mother has programmed the robot to stop it giving me the things 1 really want to eat. I feel like a prisoner (囚犯）！

After finishing my brunch, I got out my homework pad. The pad looks like a piece of paper, but it’s actually a computer. We don’t use paper much any more. Paper books are really expensive, so we usually buy cheap computer books.

I had to do my math homework on Saturday. We never need to use math in our daily lives—computers solve all the math problems for us. But our math teacher says that if people stop studying math, they’ll forget how to think and become like vegetables. Well, I want to be a vegetable. I hate math!

56. The underlined word “brunch” in the third paragraph means           .

A. breakfast and lunch    B. breakfast with milk

C. lunch with coffee      D. lunch and dinner

57. Wang Mang says he feels “like a prisoner” because          .

A. he is completely controlled by the robot           B. he has to get out of bed too early

C. he doesn’t know how to use the robot             D. he isn’t allowed to eat what he likes

58. One difference between the year 2059 and today is that          .

A. computer books are cheaper than paper books

B. children aren’t allowed to eat fast food

C. students have to do homework at the weekend

D. there is no paper in the year 2059

59. Wang Mang thinks that studying math is          .

A. interesting                 B. useless                      C. too hard                 D. too easy

60. Which can be the best title for the article?

A. A Day in the Future                                       B. A Modern Robot at Home

C. Paper Books V.S. Computers                          D. Math or Vegetables

    When she comes back to work, her little sister Betty asks 4 for some paper. Linda has to help her with her drawing. When they have finished, 5 go to the kitchen. Linda eats some cakes there. She says to 6 , “I’ll finish my English exercises tomorrow at school 7 classes start.” Then she starts to review her history lesson, 8 she feels tired.

    She doesn’t know what she is reading. She closes her books and 9.

    Is your way of doing homework like Linda’s? If so, you need to 10 your habits.

    1. A. play football   B. do the homework C. watch TV　　    D. have supper

    2. A. ruler 　　　　    B. table　　　　　　　　  C. box 　　　　　　　　 D. bag

    3. A. at school 　　  B. in bed 　　　　　　  C. in the chair 　　  D. on the desk

    4. A. him 　　　　　　 B. her 　　　　　　　　  C. them 　　　　　　   D. us

    5. A. both 　　　　    B. all 　　　　　　　　   C. some 　　　　　　   D. other

    6. A. myself 　　　　 B. himself 　　 　　   C. yourself 　　　　   D. herself

    7. A. before 　　　　  B. after 　　　　　　    C. when 　　　　　　　　　　 D. if

    8. A. and 　　　　　　  B. or 　　　　　　　　   C. but 　　　　　　　　  D. for

    9. A. gets up 　　    B. goes to school   C. gets on 　　　　    D. goes to bed

    10. A. keep 　　　　  B. have 　　　　　　    C. change 　　　　    D. plan

Apple has entered the textbook market. The tech giant（科技巨头） introduced iBooks textbooks a couple of weeks ago when it announced its iBooks 2 platform.（平台）

They are digital books in a variety of subjects taking in science, maths, history and geography.

Apple developed its iPad-based textbooks in conjunction（连接）with major textbook publishers. The company offers a collection of textbooks for high school students.

Apple claims it offers a “new textbook experience” and suggests its interactive iBooks textbooks are “the next chapter in learning”.

It sounds like good news for pupils and students. Think of it. No more carrying heavy backpacks full of textbooks. Every textbook you require can be stored on your iPad. No more having to buy expensive textbooks which you will only use for a year or two and then sell or give away.

Of course there’s a catch. You need to own an iPad and as you know, it is not cheap. You also need to buy digital textbooks, mostly priced each at $14.99 (94.74 yuan) or less. Textbook publishing was worth $8.7 billion in the US alone last year. Will digital books take over completely in education?

51. What can we find this kind of passage?

A. In a magazine　 B. In a science book　 C. In the newspaper　 D. In a textbook

52. According to the passage above, why iPads are better than our traditional textbooks?

A. Because students don’t need to carry heavy books.

B. Because they can store many subjects.

C. Because we don’t need to do homework.

D. Both A and B.

53. The underlined sentence “there’s a catch” in the sixth paragraph means _________.

A. Every coin has two sides　　 B. There is some good news

C. There is some bad news　　 C. We have to catch it.

54. What’s the writer’s opinion toward this new technology?

A. He completely agreed with it　　　 B. He thinks high school students like it.

C. He likes it so much that he buys one. D. He doesn’t tell us.

55. How will the writer continue this passage?

A. To talk about the disadvantages and advantages about iPads.

B. To introduce the history about the paper making and see if iPads will enter the new market.

C. To tell us how the high school students use iPads.

D. To ask people to use their traditional textbooks instead of iPads.