It was a hot summer day． My dad and I were getting ready to go out for a ride on the boat with my friend Katie and the dog when the phone call came, the call that made that bright, beautiful day a cold, dark, gloomy one．

I had just put on my suit, shorts, and tank top, and packed my bag with sunscreen and everything else I would need for the day． I ran into my parents' room to find Dad． When I saw him on the phone, he was crying． I'd never seen my dad cry before． My heart sank． What possibly could have happened?

"Max, I'm so sorry," I heard him say． That's when it hit me． I knew that Suzie had died． Max has been my dad's best friend for years． Suzie, his daughter, had a rare disease that mainly affected her body． Her brain was OK． She knew what was going on; she knew that she had problems and was different from other kids． Once she told her dad that she wished she could die and be born in a different body． Yet although she couldn't live a normal life ，she was still happy．

When Suzie and I were little, we spent quite a bit of time together． As we grew up, we grew apart． She lived in New York, and I lived in the Midwest． When Suzie was ten she had to live in a hospital in Virginia． About eight months before she died, Max gave us her number at the hospital and we talked at least twice a week until the end． Suzie was always so excited to talk to us and wanted to know every detail about my life． She wanted to know everything I did and every thing I ate． In a way, she lived through me．

    After we found out about her death, we made our plans to go to New York for the funeral． When she was alive, I sent her a Beanie Baby and she sent one back to me． I had bought her another one but never had the chance to send it to her, so I took it to put in her casket（棺材）．

Her funeral was very different from any funeral I'd ever been to． After they lowered her casket, each one of us put a shovelful of dirt over her． I remember crying so hard, I felt weak． My cheeks burned from the tears． My whole body was shaking as I picked up the shovel, but I'm glad I did it．

When Suzie and I first started calling one another, I thought it would be more of a burden on me, but I was completely wrong． I learned so much from her． She gave me more than I could ever give to her． I will never forget her or the talks we had． I now know that I must never take anything for granted especially my health and the gift of life．

1.What does the underlined part “In a way, she lived through me．” mean?

A．Suzie got to know what life outside hospital was like by sharing my experience．

B．Suzie was financially dependent of me．

C．Suzie managed to pull through her illness with the help of my family．

D．Suzie was too weak to live her own life．

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A．Suzie was the only person helping the author with difficulties．

B．The author feared that she might also get the same disease as Suzie．

C．The author benefited a lot from talking on the phone with Suzie．

D．The author didn't understand Suzie was her true friend until Suzie's death．

3.What is the most important lesson the author learned from Suzie's death?

A．Never let go of a friend even if you are apart．

B．Be thankful for what we have in our life．

C．Talking with a friend can cure your illness．

D．We can learn more from our friends than they do from us．

 

Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers advised,  “Barbara, be enthusiastic（热情的）! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience.” How right they were!

“Nothing great was ever done without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste（浆糊） that helps you hang in there when the things get tough. It is the inner voice that tells you, “I can do it!” when others shout, “No, you can’t!” It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn’t stop working on her experiments.

We are all born with wide-eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is the childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such youthful air, whatever their age. At 90, cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing the cello（大提琴）. As the music flowed through his fingers, his shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As writer and poet Samuel Ullman once worte, “Years wrinkle(起皱纹) the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Enthusiastic people also love what they do, not considering money or title or power. Patricia Mellratl, a retired director of the Missouri Rpertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, “My father, long ago, told me, ‘I never made any money until I stopped working for it.’”

We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-been”. We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after “what-can-be”. We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses finding pleasure in the sweet of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow.

What is the passage mainly talking about?

A. Enthusiasm is more important than experience.

B. Enthusiasm can give people more success and fame

C. Enthusiastic people will never get old

D. Enthusiasm can make you succeed and enjoy life.

We can infer that enthusiasm is more important for a person especially when __________.

A. he is in trouble          B. he is getting old

C. he can do what he love   D. he has succeeded

The author mentions Pablo Casals in the third paragraph to show that ______.

   A. enthusiasm can make people feel young

   B. music can arouse people’s enthusiasm

   C. enthusiasm can give people inspiration needed to succeed

   D. enthusiasm can keep people healthy

How many examples are referred in the passage to show the importance of enthusiasm?

   A. Three      B. Four      C. Five      D. Six

Which proverb(谚语) may the writer agree with according to the last paragraph?

   A. A good beginning makes a good ending

   B. Don’t cry over the spoiled milk

   C. Love me, love my dog

   D. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.

I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself (懒散地躺) on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don't know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”

He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She confessed (坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.

Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.

“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.

1.This text is most probably written by ______.

A. a specialist（专家） in teenager studies   B. a headmaster of a middle school

C. a parent with teenage children   D. a doctor for mental health problems

2. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.

    A. the change from good to bad that’s seen in a child

    B. the way that parents often blame themselves

    C. the opinion that a child has of his parents

    D. the advice that parents want their children to follow

3.From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters __.

    A. pay no attention to them        B. are too busy to look after them

    C. have come to hate them           D. feel helpless to do much about them

4.What is the author’s opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?

A. Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.

B. Parents should pay still some attention to the change.

C. Parents should work more closely with school teachers.

D. Parents are at fault for the change in their children.

 

阅读下面的短文, 并根据短文后的要求答题。

Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers told me, “Barbara, be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience.”

How right they were! Enthusiastic people can turn a boring drive into an adventure, extra work into opportunity and strangers into friends.

“Nothing was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson.①.     It is the inner voice that whispers, “I can do it!” When others shout, “No, you can’t!”

It took years and years for the early work of Barbara Mclintock, a geneticist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn’t stop working on her experiments.    ②    

We are all born with wide-eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is this childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such a youthful air, whatever their age.

At 90, cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing Bach. As the music flowed through his fingers, his stooped shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes.    ③  As author and poet Samuel Ullman once wrote, “Years wrinkle(起皱纹) the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

How do you rediscover the enthusiasm of your childhood? The answer, I believe, lies in the word itself. “Enthusiasm” comes from the Greek and means “God within”. And what is God within is but a sense of love---proper love of self(self-acceptance) and, from that, love of others.

④      If we can’t do what we love as a full-time career, we can as a hobby. Elizabeth Layton of Wellsville, Kan, was 68 before she began to draw. This activity ended periods of depression that had troubled her for at least 30years, and the quality of her work led one critic to say, “ I am tempted to call Layton as a genius.”

We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-been”. We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after “what-can-be”.

We need to live each moment wholeheartedly, with all our senses---finding pleasure in the backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, the charming beauty of a rainbow.

第一节：根据短文内容, 从A、B、C、D、E中选出最合适放入短文空缺处的选项，并将序号及相应答案写在答题纸上。选项中有一项是多余选项。

A. A. Work was such a deep pleasure for her that she never thought of stopping.

B. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.

C. It can certainly help you hang in there when the going gets tough.

D. Music, for Casals, was a hobby that made life a never ending adventure.

E. Enthusiastic people also love what they do, regardless of money or title or power.

根据短文所给的信息， 用一个完整的句子回答下列问题，并将序号及答案写在答题纸上。

⑤What does the author mean by the underlined sentence in paragraph 6?

 

 

 

第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分， 满分20分）

阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从21–40各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

         Kate Chin, like many renters, is tired of renting．One reason is that her __21__ rent goes up like clockwork．Every year her landlord raises the rent by five percent．Another reason is her __22__．“New neighbors always seem to be more __23__ than the ones who moved out,” she said．“My first neighbor would __24__ his door very heavily．I __25__ knew when he came home or left home．__26__ he moved out, a saxophonist moved in．A saxophonist! He practiced two hours a day．On Saturday his friends would come __27__ and I had to __28__ to a whole band．I called the police, but they said saxophone playing is permitted in __29__ for up to four hours a day, because saxophone playing is job-related．They told me I was __30__ that the guy was only playing two hours a day!”

         There are many unhappy renters, __31__ there are also happy renters．“I’ve been lucky my whole life,” said Karl Leen, a middle-aged man．“My neighbors couldn’t have been any __32__ if I had picked them myself．One neighbor was a cook．He’d bring me the best __33__ in the world．Another neighbor was a pianist．She played the most __34__ music．Another neighbor was a __35__ who did my tune-ups and changed the oil in my car．My __36__ neighbor is a birder; and we go __37__ every weekend with our telescopes．”

         Different persons have different attitudes．Kate saw the saxophone player as __38__, yet Karl saw the __39__ player as delightful．Millions of people would be happy just to have a roof over their head．Yet there are millions who would __40__ that their roof is the wrong color．

21．A．weekly       B．monthly              C．daily         D．annual

22．A．children      B．colleagues            C．neighbors       D．servants

23．A．inconsiderate  B．considerate         C．careful            D．foolish

24．A．knock        B．lock                  C．shut              D．clean

25．A．always          B．occasionally         C．never           D．sometimes

26．A．Before           B．Since                  C．From            D．After

27．A．up               B．over             C．down             D．on

28．A．dance         B．listen              C．turn              D．look

29．A．departments  B．apartments       C．offices            D．bedrooms

30．A．unfortunate             B．unlucky                C．lucky              D．pleased

31．A．and            B．so                    C．but             D．for

32．A．worse        B．sadder             C．better           D．happier

33．A．books        B．clothes                 C．CDs              D．leftovers

34．A．sorrowful        B．heavy                  C．delightful        D．light

35．A．artist            B．cook                 C．barber            D．mechanic

36．A．former          B．latest               C．latter             D．previous

37．A．shopping         B．boating              C．hiking              D．birding

38．A．amusing          B．pleasing              C．hating             D．annoying

39．A．saxophone       B．violin                C．piano            D．guitar

40．A．find            B．remember           C．praise          D．complain