A school for stars
In this school, most students come from rich families and some of them have famous parents. People from Hollywood sometimes go to Beverly Hills High School to look for future actors.
School life
There are lots of good things about going to this school: There are two theatres, a television studio(演播室) and a radio station. The students make TV programmes and films in their drama(戏剧) classes. The biggest activity of the school year is the school dance.
Travelling to school
In California, children can learn to drive three months before their sixteenth birthday. Lots of students in Beverly Hills High School have their own cars, but they have to pay a lot of money to park(停) their cars in the school parking area.
What the children think
Most children enjoy going to Beverly Hills High School because it is fun and there is much to do. But some children do not like the school if their parents don’t have enough money to buy them a fast car or expensive clothes.
【小题1】From the first paragraph, we can know that_________.

I will never forget the very moment that caused me to leave my gift behind because I wanted the gift that my older sister Maria had.

My family was spending a week at the beach. One morning, Maria went to the beach early, but I stayed behind to finish a drawing of a seashell. After finishing the drawing, I walked to join Maria. She was a top gymnast (体操运动员). Her show was perfect as she wheeled along the beach. The beauty of that sight froze me, and I decided immediately that I too would become a gymnast like her.

I knew that I had never been very good at sports. However, when I told my parents I wanted to take a gymnastics class, they agreed with me in surprise. The next week, I went to a beginners’ class.

   If only my parents had talked me out of this misguided plan! Five minutes into the first class, it was clear that I didn’t have the gift of a gymnast. But I kept at it.

   During this time, drawing and painting—which had been my two favorites—all but left my mind. It must have been hurting for my family as they watched my hopeless efforts. I blindly decided to be like Maria. I just would not give up.

   At the same time, on the advice of Ms. White, my art teacher, I hurriedly handed in my seashell drawing for an art contest in our town. One night as I was having a hard time practicing, the phone rang. It was Ms. White. “Alice, you won the contest!” she said loudly.

 “Really?” was all I could reply.

“Yes,” Ms. White said. “They’re going to give you a prize. And that’s not all. The winner is also accepted into Wildale’s Summer Fine Arts Institute.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Only a handful of young artists were accepted each summer.

That night I didn’t go back into the living room to continue practicing. Gymnastics was Maria’s gift, not mine. It had taken me a while, but I realized that I had a gift of my own.

1.Alice wanted to be a gymnast because ________.

A. she had been good at sports                  B. her sister’s show was perfect

C. she hated drawing and painting               D. her parents wanted her to do so

2. How did Alice feel about learning gymnastics at last?

A. Satisfied.           B. Worried.             C. Hopeful          D. Regretful.  

3. From the story, we can infer that ________.

A. Alice’s parents disagreed with her choice of gymnastics

B. Alice did not realize her gift in drawing and painting at first

C. Alice spent a hard time preparing for the art contest in the town

D. Alice couldn’t believe the news that she got the prize for painting

4. What does the writer want to tell us according to the passage?

A. We should value our own gifts.           B. It takes time to find one’s gifts.

C. We could develop different gifts.        D. It’s never too late to show our gifts.

完形填空(10分)
Water is the "life blood" of our earth.Like air and sunshine, it is very important  1  living things.Without water, there can be   2 life on the earth.All animals and plants need water.Man also needs water.We need water to drink, to cook and to clean   3  .It even   4   the greater part of our bodies.Water is almost everywhere.Even in the  5   places of the world, there is water in the air.However, we can drink not seawater but fresh water.To make things even   6 , people often   7  to keep the water clean.They throw rubbish into rivers, lakes or seas.So not all the fresh water is   8 for us to drink.We're short   9 water.Something must be   10 to stop this.

Arctic fox(北极狐) is a kind of small fox that lives in the Arctic. It grows about 50 centimeters long, not including its tail, 30 centimeters tall and weighs from 3 to 7 kilos.
The Arctic foxes are white or blue in color. The white ones are white in winter, but grey-brown in summer. The blue ones are blue-grey all year round. The Arctic foxes have long, thick hair that is called fur. And the long fur covers their whole bodies, including both their cat eyes and rabbit feet, to keep them warm in the low temperature in the Arctic.
The Arctic foxes feed mainly on birds, birds’ eggs and other small animals. Teamwork is the way they look for food, and they don’t like to do that alone.
Baby Arctic foxes are very lovely. They don’t open their eyes until a week after their birth. For the first half of the year, their parents offer them food. They begin to look for food on their own when they are about six months old. The next year they can live alone.
Today, the number of the Arctic foxes is becoming smaller and smaller, because people kill them for their fur to make beautiful coats for money. Something must be done to protect the Arctic foxes.
【小题1】Not all the Arctic foxes change their colors in different seasons.
【小题2】 The Arctic foxes have rabbit eyes and cat feet.
【小题3】 Baby Arctic foxes are born with their eyes open.
【小题4】 Birds, birds’ eggs and other small animals are the main food for the Arctic foxes.
【小题5】 According to the passage, there are more Arctic foxes now.