ONCE again, I was in new school.  36 was a girl in my class named Paris. That’s where the similarities  37  . I was tall and she was small. I was one of the   38  in the class while she was the youngest. I was awkward and shy. She wasn’t. I couldn’t stand her, considering her my  39  .

  40  she wanted to be friends.

       One day, she invited me   41   and I said yes I was too shocked to say no．42  no one had invited me over to play before．But this girl, who wore the   43   fashions, wanted to see me．She lived on the fourth floor in a two-room place with her mother, her stepfather, her two brothers and her sister- When we got to the room she shared with her sister, she took out a big case of Barbies which was my next   44 ．I would have thought she'd outgrown them．I had   45   played with them．But we sat on the floor of a walk-in cupboard laughing as we   46  crazy stories about the Barbies．That's when we found out that we both wanted to be   47  when we were older．We both had wild   48  ．

       We had a great day that afternoon．Our jaws （下巴） 49  from smiling so much．She showed me her   50  , which had mostly come from a designer clothing store （时装设计店） down the block．The woman who owned it used her as a   51  sometimes for her newspaper ads and gave her clothes in exchange．

       Paris had the whole   52   charmed．The bookstore owners lent her fashion magazines, the 53__ gave her free passes and the pizza place let her have free pieces．Soon I was   54  in her magic world．We slept over at each other's houses, spent every free moment together．My dark hair grew out and I learned to love being tall．

       Paris, my first real friend since childhood, helped me get through the   55   teenage years and taught me an amazing and very surprising thing about making friends: your "worst enemy" can turn out to be your best friend．

A．It           B．So          C．She        D．I

A．ended       B．started       C．came        D．began

A．youngest    B．shortest      C．oldest           D．tallest

A．enemy       B．friend        C．sister          D．rival

A．And        B．But         C．So             D．Or                  

A．off         B．up             C．over          D．in

A．However    B．Actually       C．Therefore      D．Besides

A．modem     B．new           C．late           D．latest

A．surprise      B．joy          C．delight         D．happiness    

A．once         B．ever          C．never         D．yet                

A．made for     B．made up         C．put up          D．made into             

A．writers       B．singers       C．dancers        D．designers

A．laugh      B．imaginations  C．behaviors       D．experience

A．harmed            B．ached               C．injured        D．wounded

A．books        B．paintings     C．food ．         D．outfits                 

A．writer      B．outfits          C．model          D．exchange

A．family     B．neighborhood  C．class           D．school

A．colleges    B．clothing stores  C．restaurant    D．movie theater

A．attracted     B．drawn        C．included     D．attached

A．tough         B．happy          C．colorful        D．rich

While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states-at least in getting people off welfare. It’s estimated that more than 2 million people have left the rolls since 1994.

In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens County have been cut in half. But 15 percents of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour. The resuit: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent-twice the national average.

 For advocates (代言人) for the poor, that’s an indication that much more needs to be done.

“More people are getting jobs, but it’s not making their lives any better,” says Kathy Lairn,a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and policy Priorities in Washington.

A center analysis of US Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female-headed households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down.

But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory.  

“Welfare was a poison. It was a toxin(毒素) that was poisoning the family,” says Robert Rector, a welfare?reform policy analyst. “The reform is changing the moral climate in low?income communities. It’s beginning to rebuild the work ethic(道德观), which is much more important.”

Mr. Rector and others argued that once “the habit of dependency is cracked, ”then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards.

13.From the passage, it can be seen that the auther .      

A.believes the reform has reduced the government’s burden

B.insists that welfare reform is doing little good for the poor

C.is overenthusiastic about the success of welfare reform

D.considers welfare reform to be fundamentally successful

14.Why aren’t people enjoying better lives when they have jobs?

A.Because many families are divorced.        B.Because government aid is now rare.

C.Because their wages are low.               D.Because the cost of living is rising.

15.What is worth noting from the example of Athens County is that .      

A.greater efforts should be made to improve people’s living standards

B.15 percent of the people there have been employed for two years

C.50 percent of the population no longer relies on welfare

D.the living standards of most people are going down

16.From the passage we know that welfare reform aims at_______ .

A.saving welfare funds                       B.rebuilding the work ethics(观念)

C.providing more jobs                        D.cutting government expenses

When the six very best students from different cities in Guangdong Province all together chose universities in Hong Kong; when the very best students of Beijing picked up HK University while giving up the nearby Beijing or Qinghua University; when the highest enrollment(录取) rate of Hong Kong Science and Industry University reached 48:1, it’s the high time to ask where the real education heaven for students in China is.

Years ago, the answer certainly would be “Beijing or Qinghua University”. But now no one could give the exact reaction without hesitation. The only sure thing is that HK universities have gradually showed an unusual attraction to a great many mainland students.

It’s no doubt to call this HK craze (狂热), which is even out of the expectation of those HK universities themselves. www..com

How can HK universities shake the steady foundations of Beijing and Qinghua and attract so many mainland students?

First, Hong Kong universities offer large-amount scholarship, especially for the top students who can receive the sum scholarship as much as 400,000 HK dollars. Since higher education has become a kind of heavy burden of many families, it’s easy to understand why the reaction to the generous offering of HK universities is great.

Second, most HK universities receive professors and students from all over the world and carry out bilingual (双语) education. This kind of excellent language atmosphere is another attraction for mainland students.

Furthermore, university students in Hong Kong have a better chance to study abroad as exchange students.

Can mainland top universities like Beijing or Qinghua University be calm as before when facing the unexpected competition from HK? Will they take relevant measures to win back the top students who once help them set the worldwide reputation? Time will explain it.

The fierce competition brought by HK universities can be a good thing for an entire improvement of education in China. After the awakening and action-taking of mainland universities, they can perform better together with HK universities.

At least, it reminded the mainland universities the tuition fees (学费) are among students’ top concern when they are choosing universities. It’s time to move.

What is the passage mainly talking about?

A. Some thoughts brought by the enrollment of HK universities.

B. Higher education in Hong Kong.

C. The competition between HK University and Beijing University.

D. The fall of mainland universities.

Top students from mainland apply for HK universities because________.

A. many students now would love to study abroad to get a better experience

B. they concern only about the tuition fees when choosing universities

C. HK Universities offer higher scholarship, better environment and more opportunities for their further study

D. Beijing University has lost its worldwide reputation

What is the author’s attitude toward the competition brought by HK universities?

A. The government should take relevant measures to stop this unfair competition.

B. Mainland universities had better lower their tuition fees and win back the top students.

C. Universities both in mainland and in HK would get an entire improvement during the competition.

D. It may probably cause a complete loss to both sides in the end.

From the passage we can see HK universities________.

A. didn’t mean to enroll top students from mainland

B. didn’t expect their enrollment of mainland students would be so popular

C. have strict enrollment rules and only 1out of 48 students can get the chance to study there

D. are proud of their teaching staff and facilities

While attending a conference, I returned to my hotel room late one rainy evening．The overhead light outside my door was   36  and I had difficulty finding the keyhole．When I finally  37   to open the door, I  38    around the wall for a light switch．I found a  39   where a switch was once installed… but no switch．

No discouraged easily, I remembered seeing a   40   by the bed when I put away my luggage   41   in the day．I found the bed in the dark and felt around until I found the lamp, but when I switched it on,   42   happened! Now what?

Though I knew that it was dark outside my window   43   the outdoor light was burned out, I thought that   44    if I opened the curtains I might be able to use the light from the   45   to find another lamp．So I   46    my way slowly across the room to the curtains and… no draw-string!

I finally stumbled（跌跌撞撞） around until I found a desk lamp that actually   47  ! That evening I discovered in a whole new way just how dark the world can be and how necessary   48   is．

But even more necessary than   49   light is the light that shines from people — the light of love, sympathy and   50  ．Because, for many people, the world is a dark and   51   place．

It is the shining that is important, for someone today just may be stumbling in discouragement or fear and in   52  of some light．

So let your light shine．Whatever light you  53  may be a beacon（灯塔）of hope and encouragement in someone’s darkness．And if you feel that your light is   54   a candle in a forest, remember this — there isn’t enough darkness in the world to   55   the light of one small candle．

A．burning      B．broken         C．shining    D．smooth

A．managed      B．attempted        C．succeeded D．meant

A．touched       B．turned          C．felt        D．looked

A．light          B．plate            C．lamp        D．signal

A．lamp          B．switch          C．desk        D．window

A．later          B．earlier          C．sooner      D．first

A．something     B．everything       C．nothing     D．anything

A．when          B．unless           C．since        D．although

A．certainly     B．surely           C．absolutely D．perhaps

A．star           B．street         C．room     D．shop

A．forced         B．struggled       C．made     D．pushed

A．worked        B．failed           C．did        D．closed

A．love          B．thinking         C．dream       D．light

A．spiritual       B．physical         C．mental      D．inner

A．faith          B．soul            C．help        D．attention

A．mixed         B．fancy         C．lonely       D．complicated

A．lack           B．need            C．favor       D．face

A．devote         B．receive          C．offer        D．throw

A．only          B．even            C．ever      D．much

A．give out       B．leave out        C．take out    D．put out

Once upon a time，there was a father and a son.The son was very rude and often hurt others’feelings with bitter words.So he had no friends and got more and more fretful(烦躁的)day by day.The father had been trying to persuade him to change his bad manner but father’s efforts made no difference on the wild son.

One day，the father got an idea.He set up a wooden board and called his son over and gave him a hammer and a box of nails.He told the young man to hammer a nail every time when he had a quarrel.The son did so.After a day，he himself saw the board was filled with nails whose quantity was so huge which looked so ugly that he was shocked and finally made up his mind to be a nice guy.The father suggested he pull out one nail every time when he checked his bad temper and avoided talking impolitely.He did that.When the last nail was drawn out the son was so excited that he couldn’t help showing the board to his father.However，his cheer trailed_away and slowly he grew frustrated(沮丧的)while he was staring at the board which was actually as disagreeable as a water?sapped (被水侵蚀的)stone deep on the seabed.The father pointed to the holes left in the board and told him that sometimes the hurt just like the holes stuck in one’s mind forever.The boy cried and regretted being such an impudent(轻浮的)guy.Since then，he was polite and kind and made a lot of friends，and turned happily.

1．Many people didn’t like the son because he used to ________ them.

A．beat 　　　　　B．hurt　　　　　　 C．fight with 　　 D．laugh at

2．At first the son was ________ to listen to his father.

A．happy 　　　　 B．sorry　　　　　　 C．ready 　　　　　D．unwilling

3．Why did the father tell his son to hammer a nail?

A．Because his son had nothing to do.

B．Because his son liked to have a quarrel.

C．In order to change his son’s bad manner.

D．In order to love his son.

4．What does the underlined phrase“trailed down”mean?

A．减弱 　　　　　B．放过 　　　　　 C．抛开 　　　　 D．出轨

5．What’s the best title of the passage?

A．The Father and the Son　　　　　　　 B．The Son Had Quarrels with Others

C．A Great Father　　　　　　　　　　　 D．How a Father Taught His Son