The Great Barn Adventure

One morning when I was 11, I explored the town’s abandoned round grain barn（谷仓）. I found a chained sliding door that was wide enough for me to pass through.

Inside, there was a heavy smell of dead mice in the dark. After my eyes adjusted, I noticed a shaft (升降机井) that rose all the way to the top of the barn. On one side was a one-man elevator with a long rope and roller.

I stepped onto the platform and gave the rope a drag and the elevator began sliding up the shaft, but stopped halfway. After a brief panic attack, I noticed holes in the wall at regular intervals, forming a ladder. For reasons known only to an 11-year-old, I decided it would be better to go up than down. So, with shaking hands, I began climbing the wall.

After what seemed like forever, I reached the top of the shaft. I stood up, dusted myself off and found absolutely nothing of interest. It was just an empty room with a ladder leading up to the roof. I climbed all the way up here for this? Then I noticed a fire extinguisher（灭火器）,which I’d always wanted to shoot off. So this was the chance of a lifetime. I tried it, and, much to my surprise, the thing worked! It shot out a thick cloud of powder that instantly filled the room. I couldn’t breathe. I was going to choke to death, and they’d probably never even find my body.

Luckily, I remembered the ladder to the roof. I climbed up, popped the straw roof and saw a bright blue sky.

I suddenly realized the dust and powder pouring out of the top could draw attention. So when the dust had settled, I climbed down and slipped out of the chained door. I’m not sure if I was more excited about being alive or about not being caught, but I ran all the way back home.

1.When the author got inside the barn, he _______.

A. noticed a man on the elevator

B. opened the chained sliding door

C. saw many dead mice in the dark

D. found a shaft leading to the top

2.Which of the following is the right order of the author’s adventure?

a. The elevator stopped halfway.

b. He entered the round grain barn.

c. He climbed to the top of the shaft.

d. He found a fire extinguisher and shot it off.

A. b-a-c-d???????? B. a-c-b-d???????? C. c-a-d-b????? ????????????? ????????????? D. b-c-a-d

3.After getting out of the chained door, the author might feel _______.

A. inspired???????? B. relieved??????? C. surprised??????? ????????????? D. disappointed

4.From the passage, we can learn that the author was probably a boy full of _______.

A. passions????????????? ????????????? ? B. dreams????????????? ?????? C. curiosity????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. imagination

After a very busy afternoon, as I walked into my house, I heard the phone ringing. It was my friend Lydia, upset over an argument with her husband. My usual approach is to offer advice, but this time, extremely tired from chores, I simply pulled off my coat, sat down in a chair and listened to my friend's frustration and sadness. Without the disturbance of judgment or the desire to comfort her, I stayed totally quiet while she talked. Eventually Lydia's depression eased and we said our goodbyes. The next day she phoned to thank me. "I'm so grateful for the way you helped me through this," she said.
At first I was surprised. After all, I had done nothing except be there for her. But after I had my own venting(发泄的) experience with another friend later that evening, I realized that my focused silence had some value. In fact, most relationship experts agree that talk is cheap; it's listening that's rare and valuable. It allows you not only to hear what the other person is saying, but also to have a clear understanding of her thoughts and feelings. And for the speaker, that level of understanding translates into concern and respect.
Unfortunately, listening isn't as easy as it sounds. Thanks to schedules filled with family and work, multitasking has become the barrier(障碍) to listening. My tiredness may have been the only thing stopping me from folding laundry or checking my e-mail while Lydia talked that afternoon.
Another barrier to listening is our listening system: Most of us take in only about half of what's being said during a conversation, according to the International Listening Association. Research shows that we speak at 125 to 150 words per minute, yet think at 500 words a minute. Therefore, because we think much more quickly than we speak, it is easy for us to lose our concentration when listening to speakers.
While it can be hard to focus at times, it's a skill worth developing. With a little practice — employing some techniques— you can become a better listener.
【小题1】 In Paragraph 2, the author mainly talks about ____.

A．we think much more quickly than we speak

B．we can only understand about half of what we hear

C．there is not much thinking time available while we are listening

D．we lose our concentration easily while we are listening

Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.

Given that I teach students who are training to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.

“Surgery(外科手术)”, one replied. I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job. One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows, you can get at least 5cm taller!”

At that point, I was shocked. I am short, I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of agony(痛苦) just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall! It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.

No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost. In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.

1.We can know from the passage that the author works as ______.

A. a doctor              B. a model              C. a teacher             D. a reporter

2.Many graduates today turn to cosmetic surgery to______.

A. marry a better man\woman

B. become a model

C. get an advantage over others in job-hunt

D. attract more admirers

3.According to the passage, the author believes that ______.

A. everyone should purchase perfection, whatever the cost

B. it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs

C. media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery

D. it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career

4. What does the author think of his height?

A. He hates to be called a short man.

B. He tries to increase his height through surgery.

C. He always wears shoes with thick soles to hide the fact.

D. He just accepts it as it is

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
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限一词。
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
My father is an engineer work in a big company. He is such busy that he sometimes has to stay up late. Apart from this, he hardly has any times to take exercise. He has been on poor health for some time. My mother and I are worried that he may fall ill if he works too hard. These days I’m thinking why to develop my father’s interest in playing sports. Considered that today is Father’s Day, I decided buy a pair of jogging shoes for him. I secret put them on the desk in his study. When my father entered into his study this evening, he looked surprised, but he immediately realized my intention. He promises that he would go jogging every evening.

Eleven-year-old Angela had something wrong with her nervous system（神经系统）.She was

unable to      36     .In fact, she could hardly make any     37     .Although she believed that she had a        38      chance of recovering, the doctors said that      39     ,if any, could come back to normal after getting this disease. Having heard this, the little girl was not         40        .There, lying in her hospital bed, she           41           that no matter what the doctors said, her going back to school was

     42    .

She was moved to a specialized health center, and whatever method could be tried was used. Still she would not       43      . It seemed that she was      44     .The doctors were all fond of her and

taught her about      45     that she could make it . Every day Angela would lie there,      46     doing

her mental exercise.

One day,     47    she was imagining  her legs moving again, it seemed as though a miracle（奇迹）happened: The bed began to    48    ! “Look what I’m doing! Look! I can do it! I moved!

I moved! ”she         49         .

Of course, at this very moment everyone else in the hospital was      50        .More importantly, they were running     51       safely.

People were crying, and equipment was       52         .You see, it was an earthquake. But don’t

53    that to Angela. She has     54       that she did it, just as she had never doubted that she would recover. And now only a few years later, She’s back in school. You see, to such a person who can       55          the earth, such a disease is a small  problem, isn’t it?

 36．A．see                    B．hear                    C．talk                     D．walk

37．A．progress              B．difference            C．movement           D．achievement

38．A．poor                   B．good                   C．little                    D．special

39．A．few                    B．all                       C．some                  D．most

40．A．satisfied              B．delighted              C．surprised             D．discouraged

41．A．insisted               B．sighed                 C．feared                 D．promised

42．A．true                    B．doubtful              C．certain                D．impossible

43．A．get up                 B．give up                C．turn up                D．stand up

44．A．disappointed        B．proud                  C．troubled              D．undefeatable

45．A．thinking               B．expecting             C．pretending           D．imagining

46．A．sadly                   B．madly                  C．carefully              D．faithfully

47．A．as                       B．since                   C．after                   D．before

48．A．fly                      B．move                  C．roll                     D．speak

49．A．jumped                B．wondered            C．screamed            D．recovered

50．A．frightened            B．pleased                C．touched               D．encouraged

51．A．in                       B．by                       C．for                      D．with

52．A．rising                  B．falling                  C．missing               D．gathering

53．A．tell                      B．do                       C．give                    D．show

54．A．noticed                B．supposed             C．believed               D．discovered

55．A．push                   B．shock                  C．shake                  D．save