Hobbs was an orphan（孤儿）. He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work made him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.

     One day a lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money.” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other.”

      “Here is the reading of your uncle’s will（遗嘱）,” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it.”

      “Yes, I see. I’ll do that,” said the young man.

1... Hobbs wanted to borrow money to _______.

     A. study abroad            B. work abroad

     C. pay off the debts      D. learn to paint pictures

2.. What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” （in Paragraph 2） probably mean?

     A. Surprised.              B. Frightened.

C. Satisfied.              D. Excited.

3.. With the money he got, at first Hobbs _______.

     A. planned to have a happy life for a few days

     B. decided to give up his work in the factory

     C. was to give a dinner to his friends

     D. had no idea what to do

4... Hobbs was asked to _______.

     A. tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it

     B. read his uncle’s will

     C. tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money

     D. buy some pictures

 

These days, many passers-by always spot a beggar on the Jiaochangkou Street in Yuzhong District of Chongqing in southwest China.
The beggar’s name is Xia Haibo, and he was born in Meihe Village, Tianmen City of Hubei Province. Being 25 years old, he is quite a special beggar in some ways — he doesn’t beg on his knees, as other beggars do when begging. Rather, he often stands in the crowded street, either reading a book or thinking about something carefully. He also started a blog on the Internet which has been clicked more than 500,000 times. He likes reading — he has read many classical Chinese poems. He has kept writing and recently, he has planned to publish his writings.
In 1998, Xia entered Tianmen Middle School as the best student in his town. However, a year before he took the college entrance examination, he came down with a high fever and was later diagnosed (诊断) as having rheumatoid arthritis (类风湿性关节炎). In order to treat his disease, his father borrowed 60,000 yuan from relatives and friends. However, with this money, he didn’t recover from the disease. He did not want to become a burden (负担) to his family any more. So in July, 2006, he left his hometown and went to Wuhan to make a living by begging.
Begging has become a job to Xia now. However, he doesn’t plan to go on living like this. “By July 24, 2008, when I have been begging for two years, I will stop my begging life. I promise,” he said.
It is his plan that by using the money he “earns”, he will rent a small shop in his hometown and keep on writing in his spare time.
Right now, he is trying to finish a book of his own. The book, called Love Is With Me, tells about the people who helped him during his begging life.
【小题1】The underlined word “spot” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to “______”.

A．forgive

B．record

C．beat

D．notice

【小题2】When did Xia Haibo get the serious illness?

A．In 1998.

B．In 2001.

C．In 2000.

D．In 2006.

【小题3】How does Xia beg in the street?

A．He begs on his knees in the street.

B．He writes Chinese poems for those who like poems.

C．He reads or thinks while standing in the street.

D．He teaches people how to surf the Internet.

【小题4】 Which of the following is NOT true about Xia Haibo?

A．His dream is to have his book published.

B．He will not stop begging until he earns enough money for his future life.

C．He is writing a book to express his thanks to those who helped him.

D．He will keep writing while running a small business.

From the beginning of human history, wild animals provided food, clothing and sometimes medicine. We may not depend so much on wild animals now. But we hear about them every day. Americans use the names of animals in many ways. Automobile manufacturers (制造商) and gasoline companies especially like to use big cats to sell their products. They like lions, tigers and wildcats. When Americans say wildcat, they usually mean a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat. All these cats attack quickly and fiercely. So wildcats represent something fast and fierce.

An early American use of the word wildcat was quite different. It was used to describe members of Congress who declared war on Britain in 1812. A magazine of that year said the wildcat congressmen went home. It said they were unable to face the responsibility of having involved their country in an unnecessary war.

Wildcat also has been used as a name for money. At that time, some states permitted banks to make their own money. One bank in the state of Michigan offered paper money with a picture of a wildcat on it. Some banks, however, did not have enough gold to support all the paper money they offered. So the money had little or no value. It was called a wildcat bill or a wildcat bank note.

The banks which offered this money were called wildcat banks. A newspaper of the time said those were the days of wildcat money. It said a man might be rich in the morning and poor by night.

Wildcat then was used for an oil well or gold mine that had almost no oil or gold in it. Dishonest developers would buy such property. Then they would sell it and leave town with the money. The buyers were left with worthless holes in the ground. Today, wildcat oil wells are in areas that are not known to have oil.

1.What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Wildcats and their stories.                 B．Wildcats and their characters.

C．Varieties of animal species.                D．Relationship between animals and humans.

2.From the passage we can know that ______.

A．wildcats represent the state of Michigan.

B．the use of wildcats was not always the same

C．wildcats are the best friend of human beings

D．honest developers never buy wildcat oil wells

3.The underlined words “a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat”in Paragraph 1 may refer to ______.

A．gasoline companies                      B．automobile manufacturers

C．names of wildcats                       D．brands of automobile

4.It can be inferred that during the days of wildcat money ______.

A．people couldn’t buy anything with the money

B．people didn’t know how to save money

C．the rich invested too much on oil wells

D．people complained and suffered a lot

 

第二节：读写任务（共1小题，满分15分）

阅读下面的短文，然后按要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。

A 71-year-old man, surnamed Wang, in Northwest China Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous (adj. 自治的) Region who won a lottery jackpot(彩票奖金) of 5 million yuan has donated all of the money to charity. On November 21 when Wang arrived at the lottery complex in Urumqi to receive his prize, he donated the first batch of 500,000 yuan to a charity project. It aims to finance schooling of students in poverty.

“ I donated the money because I want to help others and I am very happy to do something for our society, ” he said. “Too much money means nothing to me. But this money will be very helpful for those in need.”

The old man was a retired worker with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in Changji. His pension was only 600 yuan per month, but he said the income from his pension was enough for him.

Wang came to Xinjiang in 1956 from North China’s Henan Province. He had been engaged in farming before retirement. His wife has passed away. Wang revealed he did not tell his only daughter, who lived outside Changji, he had won the prize.

“ My daughter lives in a good condition,” he said. “ I will not leave a single penny to her. Those people that urgently need help deserve the prize.”

Although his pension was merely 600 yuan per month, Wang claimed he never said no to others who wanted to borrow money from him if he could afford it. He began to buy welfare lottery tickets in 2003 when he learned that lottery jackpot would help those in need.

【写作内容】

1 请用大约30个字，转述上文中老人所说的话；

2根据上面的短文，谈谈你的感想，内容包括如下内容，该部分大约120字：

1）对老人及其言行的评价；

2）任何人都需要钱，其实老人的生活并不富裕，他完全可以把钱花在自己需要          的地方；

3）假如你是老人的孙子，谈谈你如何看待老人的决定。

【写作要求】      可以使用实例或论述方法支持你的观点，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不能抄袭阅读材料中的句子。题目自拟。

 

Hobbs was an orphan (孤儿）. He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work made him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.

One day a lawyer said to him, “One thousand dollars, and here is the money. ” As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn’t know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, “I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I’d like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it’s too much for one and too little for the other. ”

“Here is the reading of your uncle’s will (遗嘱）, ” said the lawyer, “telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it. ” “Yes, I see. I’ll do that, ” said the young man.

1. Hobbs wanted to borrow money to ________.

A. study abroad 　 B. work abroad

C. pay off the debts　 D. learn to paint pictures

2. What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” (in Paragraph 2） probably mean?

A. Surprised.　　 B. Frightened.

C. Satisfied. 　　 D. Excited.

3. With the money he got, at first Hobbs _______.

A. planned to have a happy life for a few days

B. decided to give up his work in the factory

C. was to give a dinner to his friends

D. had no idea what to do

4. Hobbs was asked to _________.

A. tell the lawyer what he did with the money after spending it

B. read his uncle’s will

C. tell the lawyer what was to be done with the money

D. buy some pictures