People who put a smiley face at the end of a message, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air.
I had some bad news this week. My manager informed me of this news via email. It was like hearing about the death of a loved one via pigeon. Bad news should only ever be delivered face to face or voice to voice.
We seem to celebrate our numerous methods of communication, but really there is no communication at all. I talk to my plants more than I talk to my neighbors, I get text messages that take me three hours to read because they’re written like this: “Hi, I ope you av a gr8 day. Call me La8tr.” I had an email from someone this week that read, “Da ut ov 2day are really annoying me!” Ut? I had to say this 20 times before I understood it. Youth has now become ut. Haven’t we taken enough from them—now we have to take their letters?
I had an email recently from a girl who used to live over the road from me as a child. She wrote, “Hi Shazia, howz u? Im sure u used 2 live across the road from me. We sumtimes played tennis 2 gever at the park and you was in your eliment. I am married now wif 3 daughters.” Then, to my horror, she ended the email with: “Im now teachin in Leeds. Luv Clare.”
Teaching? With English like this. It’s like saying you’re a train driver when you’ve never seen a train. It was like reading modern Morse code.
Getting bad news via email makes it seem so much worse than it actually is. Just a few lines, no emotion, no comfort, not really an explanation. Just a few cold hard words. It’s an excuse. Just write a few words and the problem of delivering it is no longer yours. A close friend recently told me she was very happy to announce she was getting married—and made the announcement by email. I don’t know how she didn’t fall off her chair with excitement while writing it. If you are really happy or really sad to announce something important, wouldn’t you like a human reaction? Some euphoria, elation, tears, a punch in the face?
I receive long text messages every day with information and explanations that I don’t bother reading. They’re boring, and annoy me. In the time it took someone to write me three laborious texts, they could have called, spoken to me, made some tea. People who put a smiley face at the end of a sentence, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air, because that’s the one I’d send back.
The telegram has been responsible for reporting world-shattering events when there were very few other options(选择权). Now we have options, and people opt for the least humane one. My mum, in an attempt to get down with the ut of today, asked me to teach her to text. Now she constantly texts me in block capitals, so it looks as if she is still angry and annoyed with me after all these years.
People don’t even write by hand any more. My doctor prints out prescriptions from his computer; even my mechanic prints out a receipt. I get typed Christmas cards and my friends send me emails. I get very excited when hand-written letters come through my door, only because they rarely do.
When I was at school, the girls used to write letters to each other, even though we sat side by side and spoke to one another all day. I think it was a way of expressing private things we were afraid to say when we were 14 and too shy. We used to write things like, “You are my best friend, can’t wait to sit next to you in math.”
I miss the personal method of communication. Once the pen was mightier than the sword, now it seems the keyboard is mightier than the pen.

1. 1.

   We can learn from paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 that the writer wants to say ________.

   1. A.
      the spelling mistakes in the messages make her very annoyed
   2. B.
      only writing letters will bring friends and neighbors much closer
   3. C.
      she talks to plants more because no one shares her joys and sorrows
   4. D.
      gestures and the pen can express a lot more than the cold keyboard
2. 2.

   According to the writer, which of the following can support her opinion?

   1. A.
      She has been separated from all his classmates many years.
   2. B.
      No doctors write prescriptions by hand because of computers.
   3. C.
      In communication, we should write more letters than send messages.
   4. D.
      Less shy than school girls, boys rarely write letters to their friends.
3. 3.

   According to the passage, we can conclude that ________.

   1. A.
      the writer is a person full of emotions and treasures friendship and affections
   2. B.
      the writer becomes excited when she gets priceless gifts from other people
   3. C.
      her classmates would write to each other because they couldn’t send messages
   4. D.
      people put a smiley face at the end of a message just to show they are happy
4. 4.

   What message is conveyed in the passage?

   1. A.
      The writer wastes much time in reading many rubbish text messages every day.
   2. B.
      Few people can write letters well in modern society owing to texting messages.
   3. C.
      Now people are too busy to communicate with each other face to face often.
   4. D.
      The writer prefers personal communication rather than electronic equipment.
5. 5.

   Why does the writer mention the telegram?

   1. A.
      Because she thinks the annoyance of reading text messages is originated from it.
   2. B.
      Because we have more options to keep in touch with each other than ever before.
   3. C.
      Because advanced technology partly takes the blame for lacking the human touch.
   4. D.
      Because she thinks humans today become colder with the development of society.
6. 6.

   Which of the following best describe the tone of this passage?

   1. A.
      Optimistic.
   2. B.
      Critic.
   3. C.
      Sympathetic.
   4. D.
      Pessimistic.

People who put a smiley face at the end of a message, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air.
I had some bad news this week. My manager informed me of this news via email. It was like hearing about the death of a loved one via pigeon. Bad news should only ever be delivered face to face or voice to voice.
We seem to celebrate our numerous methods of communication, but really there is no communication at all. I talk to my plants more than I talk to my neighbors, I get text messages that take me three hours to read because they’re written like this: “Hi, I ope you av a gr8 day. Call me La8tr.” I had an email from someone this week that read, “Da ut ov 2day are really annoying me!” Ut? I had to say this 20 times before I understood it. Youth has now become ut. Haven’t we taken enough from them—now we have to take their letters?
I had an email recently from a girl who used to live over the road from me as a child. She wrote, “Hi Shazia, howz u? Im sure u used 2 live across the road from me. We sumtimes played tennis 2 gever at the park and you was in your eliment. I am married now wif 3 daughters.” Then, to my horror, she ended the email with: “Im now teachin in Leeds. Luv Clare.”
Teaching? With English like this. It’s like saying you’re a train driver when you’ve never seen a train. It was like reading modern Morse code.
Getting bad news via email makes it seem so much worse than it actually is. Just a few lines, no emotion, no comfort, not really an explanation. Just a few cold hard words. It’s an excuse. Just write a few words and the problem of delivering it is no longer yours. A close friend recently told me she was very happy to announce she was getting married—and made the announcement by email. I don’t know how she didn’t fall off her chair with excitement while writing it. If you are really happy or really sad to announce something important, wouldn’t you like a human reaction? Some euphoria, elation, tears, a punch in the face?
I receive long text messages every day with information and explanations that I don’t bother reading. They’re boring, and annoy me. In the time it took someone to write me three laborious texts, they could have called, spoken to me, made some tea. People who put a smiley face at the end of a sentence, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air, because that’s the one I’d send back.
The telegram has been responsible for reporting world-shattering events when there were very few other options(选择权). Now we have options, and people opt for the least humane one. My mum, in an attempt to get down with the ut of today, asked me to teach her to text. Now she constantly texts me in block capitals, so it looks as if she is still angry and annoyed with me after all these years.
People don’t even write by hand any more. My doctor prints out prescriptions from his computer; even my mechanic prints out a receipt. I get typed Christmas cards and my friends send me emails. I get very excited when hand-written letters come through my door, only because they rarely do.
When I was at school, the girls used to write letters to each other, even though we sat side by side and spoke to one another all day. I think it was a way of expressing private things we were afraid to say when we were 14 and too shy. We used to write things like, “You are my best friend, can’t wait to sit next to you in math.”
I miss the personal method of communication. Once the pen was mightier than the sword, now it seems the keyboard is mightier than the pen.
【小题1】We can learn from paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 that the writer wants to say ________.

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。
We spend two weeks in London last year. We went there in the autumn .We think it is the best season to visit England. The weather is usually good but there aren’t too many tourists in October.
We stayed in a small hotel in the West End .It was convenient as we did most of our traveling by foot. We went to look at the places where all tourists see. We saw Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery.
We went to shopping in Oxford Street and spent too many money .What we liked most, though, was going to theatre. We don’t have the chance to see so wonderful plays at home .A lot of people say English food is very badly. We didn’t think so. It’s true that most of the restaurants are French or Italian or Chinese, but we had some very good meal.

B
My House
My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?
I suppose if you looked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass—I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的, 粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small tree house, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before Father’s death.
This house is special—maybe only to me—but special nevertheless. It’s the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight snack runs; the smell of my father’s pipe that still exists; the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window.
This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up.
59. Why did the author’s mother decide to move?
A. Because she hated the countryside.
B. Because Grandpa was on constant move.
C. Because Dad’s death made her lose her mind.
D. Because she thought a city flat more fit for them.
60. What impressed the author when she first moved into the house?
A. The tree house.                               B. The big trees.
C. The cold floors.                              D. The green grass.
61. How did the author let us feel that the house was special to her?
A. By arguing whether the house was standard.
B. By explaining why the house suited their needs.
C. By describing the small things related to her house.
D. By comparing the differences between country and city life.
62. The author describes the house with ______.
A. affection          B. responsibility              C. commitment    D. enthusiasm

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
B
Most parents love the Internet and want their kids to use it. But a new survey in America finds almost as many also fear the online world—especially social networking sites such as My Space—and worry their kids will get in trouble with people they meet.
“The parents see the web’s incredible potential(可能性), and they know their kids have to be there.” says James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, which released results from a survey that looked into parental attitudes toward the Internet. “It is also what they are scared of most.”
The study was conducted online May 5-10 by Insight Research Group. It says 80% of parents are concerned about kids meeting bad people online. That’s because young people who largely have grown up with the Net think of it as a social outlet(出口), say the researchers. To young people, the benefits of giving out some personal information to reach out to friends outweigh the risks. And the study shows they are so comfortable with the medium that 78% have a personal website or blog.
Parents also recognize the importance of the Internet. The survey shows 91% think the Net helps their children explore their passions, and 77% think the Internet is one of the most valuable education tools teens have. But 88% think it’s important to know what their kids are doing online.
Findings suggest both parents and teens need more education about using online media, Steyer says.
Internet safety has become an increasing concern for parents in America. Organizations like the Non-profit Common Sense have been trying to reach and help parents pay attention to the problem.
【小题1】 In the second paragraph, the underlined word “It” refers to_____.