Arthur sat at the desk in his room, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. “I don’t know what to write about,” he complained to his dog Toby, who was asleep at his feet. Arthur was talkative when speaking to his friends, yet he had trouble finding words when he had to write.

By bedtime Arthur had drawn a picture of Toby smiling. He had drawn a tree with its branches blowing in the strong wind. He had also written a note asking his friend Lee to go to the movies on Saturday. But he had not written a single word of his story.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Solomon, Arthur’s English teacher, asked the class to turn in the first draft of their stories. His heart sinking, Arthur turned in the only work he had—the page with his name, the drawings and the note.

Arthur wasn’t surprised when Mrs. Solomon asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised by what she said to him. “This is an attractive story, Arthur. The dog, the movie, the tree in the wind—I can’t wait to find out how they all fit together.”

“That isn’t my story, Mrs. Solomon,” Arthur admitted. “I haven’t been able to think of one yet.”

“Oh, I think you have the seed(种子of a story there,” Mrs. Solomon replied, “Look at your note and the pictures and see if a story comes to you.”

That night Arthur sat at his desk, and this is what he wrote: “One Saturday Mike went downstairs to meet his friend Julio at the cinema. It looked as if it might rain, so Mike carried his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in, bending the trees. The noise of the wind sounded like the barking of Mike’s dog Toby. Toby really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Mike realized that it wasn’t the sound of the wind. It was Toby. The dog was running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was filled with blame. Mike felt guilty because he had left Toby outside. He turned and headed home with Toby running beside him. Mike let Toby in the door just as the rain started to pour down.”

Arthur had a story in the end. The last thing he did was to write his name proudly at the top of the page.

47.Why did Arthur turn in the page with only his name, the drawings and the note at first?

A.      Because he had no time to fit them together.

B.      Because he had difficulty in writing a story.

C.     Because he wasn’t willing to do his homework.

D.     Because he wanted to show his talent for drawing.

48.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 probably mean?

A.      Toby is an imaginative and lovely dog.

B.      The small tree will grow into a big one.

C.     His friend Lee can give him a lot of support.

D.     He can develop his story based on the first draft.

49.What kind of teacher do you think Mrs. Solomon is ?

A. She is a strict teacher                 B. She is a wise teacher

C. She is an honest teacher               D. She is an energetic teacher

50.What can we infer(推断from the story?

A. Arthur is a shy and quiet student        B. Arthur isn’t very satisfied with his story

C. There will be a storm on Saturday       D. Encouragement is important in teaching

November 17 is an important day for black cats in Italy. An animal rights group has named that day as“Black Cat Day”to stop the killing of thousands of the cats. Why do people hate this animal So much? It is because people believe black cats bring bad luck if you see them walking across your path．

The black cat is just one of the symbols of superstition(迷信)．You may already know that Western people don’t like the number 13．Besides knocking over a salt bottle，they also believe that walking under a ladder, opening an umbrella indoors and breaking a mirror can also bring bad luck．

According to Andrew Macaskill, who works for Teens, British people believe it is unlucky to see one magpie(喜鹊)．But two bring good luck．“In Britain，people like to have a horseshoe over the door. They believe it can bring good luck. "Macaskill said. “But the horseshoe needs to be the right way up．The luck runs out if it is upside down．”

In the US．people usually spit on a new baseball bat before using it for the first time．They think this can bring good luck．Also,it is believed that good spirits live in trees．So by knocking on anything made from wood，people can call upon those spirits for protection against misfortune. People in the US also believe there are devils in brooms(扫帚). So don’t lean a broom against a bed．The evil spirits will cast a spell on the bed．

41．In Italy, people hate black cats because the people think ____________.

A．an animal rights group try to protect them  B．they walk on people’s path

C．“Black Cat Day”is a bad day           D．it is unlucky to see them

42．How many things that mean bad luck are mentioned in the second paragraph?

A．4．    B．5．    C．6．    D．7．

43．What does the underlined word“misfortune”in the last paragraph mean?

A．Bad guy．  B．Bad luck．  C．Bad devil．  D．Bad animal．

44．From this passage，we can infer that ____________.

A．many black cats are killed in Italy each year

B．a11 the people in the world hate the number of thirteen

C．magpies are the symbol of good luck in Britain

D．in the US．the things living in the trees can bring good luck

45．What is the best title of this passage?

A．Black Cat Day            B．Western Superstition Symbols

C．Bad Luck and Good Luck   D．Western People’s Belief

                            

                                 

听力

第一节：听下面5段对话，选择正确答案．

1．Who's got a headache?

[　　]

A．Mr Klarke has.

B．Miss Klarke has.

C．Mrs Klarke has.

2．When did Rik hurt his foot?

[　　]

A．At nine yesterday evening.

B．At nine yesterday morning.

C．At nine this morning.

3．What time did the fire start?

[　　]

A．At two in the afternoon.

B．At two in the night.

C．At twenty past two in the night.

4．What would John probably do that night?

[　　]

A．Go to see a film.

B．Go out with the woman.

C．Watch television.

5．What does the woman mean?

[　　]

A．Her umbrella is broken too.

B．She needs to use her umbrella.

C．She's already lent her umbrella to someone.

第二节：听第6段材料，回答第6～7题．

6．When does the conversation most probably take place?

[　　]

A．At a bookstore.

B．At the teacher's.

C．At the doctor's.

7．How much would that be in all?

[　　]

A．Four yuan.

B．Eight yuan.

C．Ten yuan.