Dear Parents,
It is almost a week since school began. I hope that you and your child are settled and comfortable in the arrangement of the new school year. I would like to take this opportunity to give you news about the art project that the eighth grade students and I will be working on during this unit. 
My name is Molly Atkinson and I am a new middle school teacher here at MSAE in Kauai. I feel that it is important for you to know that my approach to classroom management is inspired by Maharishi’s Principle of Ideal Teaching. I believe that it is the most positive method for guiding our students’ education. I also believe that by keeping the lessons interesting, the classroom will be a creative environment for the students to explore the artistic process. My experience with the class this week makes me believe that the students and I will have a fruitful and caring experience in our time together.
The students’ first project is a three-part work that begins with the creation of a collage (拼贴画). A pencil drawing of the collage will follow. The third part of the project will be a geometrical three-dimensional (几何三维的) drawing of the collage. The students have jumped right into the project with enthusiasm (热情) and focus. I can tell that we are going to have a very productive unit.
On October 30th, the students will have a showing of their work for you. I look forward to meeting all of you that day. If you would like to get hold of me before that time I will be here after school until 4:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays and can be available on other afternoons by appointment (预约). I may also be reached at my e-mail address: matkinson@kdsi.net. I am very happy to be here and look forward to working with the eighth grade students.
Sincerely,
Molly Atkinson
【小题1】It can be learned that the letter was written _____.

The Danish (丹麦) architect of the iconic Sydney Opera House, Jorn Utzon, has died at the age of 90, after suffering a heart attack.
Mr. Utzon, an award-winning architect, put "Denmark on the world map with his great talent," said Danish Culture Minister Carina Christensen. Having won a competition in 1957 to design the building, he left the project before it opened in 1973. Mr. Utzon never visited the completed landmark, after disputes about costs. He had quarreled with the Australian client and the costs overran by 1,000%. Even decades later, he declined invitations to return to Australia, but did design, with his son, a new wing which opened in 2006. In 1998 he said, "It's part of education–I can't be bitter about anything in life."

Most of the interior（内部）of the opera house was not completed according to his plans after government-appointed architects took over the job.
The Sydney Opera House planned to dim the lights on the sail-shaped roof on Sunday to mark Mr. Utzon's death.
The chairman of Sydney Opera House Trust, Kim Williams, said, "Jorn Utzon was an architectural and creative genius who gave Australia and the world a great gift. Sydney Opera House is core to our national cultural identity and a source of great pride to all Australians. It has become the most globally recognized symbol of our country."
Mr. Utzon also designed the National Assembly of Kuwait and several prominent buildings in Denmark.
Danish Minister of Culture Carina Christensen paid tribute to him, saying, "Jorn Utzon will be remembered as one of the Danes who in the 20th century put Denmark on the world map with his great talent."
Mr. Utzon won several international awards, including the Alvar Aalto Medal for architecture and France's Legion of Honour.
In 2003 he won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize for his design of the opera house.
【小题1】 Which of the following is true about Mr. Jorn Utzon?

The letter was a great disappointment to me. It was from Holy Cross, the only school I really wanted to  41  . I scanned the page, “…. We had a great applicant pool this year. …We can’t offer spaces to   42   … and place you on our waiting list.”

“What does it say, honey?” my dad asked, his voice full of   43   for me.

“I didn’t get in, but I’m on the waiting list.”

“Well, at least it isn’t   44  ,” he said brightly.

“Yeah, but   45  , I don’t want to be on the waiting list; I want to be   46  . No one gets in off the waiting list. It’s a way of saying ‘Thanks for   47  ’.”

“Then let’s go out there and tell them so.”

“That sounds   48  , dad.” I said sadly, “It doesn’t work.”

Upset and annoyed, I   49   myself in my room. However，my father’s advice kept   50   in my head. I thought about it for a few days, finally coming to the   51   that he was right. And the next day I seated myself across from Mr. Luis Soto, my admissions officer.

“What can I do for you, Nacie?” he asked pleasantly.

“Well, sir, I am here to tell you that I love this school and would love a   52   to be here. I just wanted to tell you how much going here would   53   to me—it is my only dream college— and that I would use my time here to the best   54  . I wanted to let you know that if you gave me a chance and reconsidered my application, you wouldn’t   55   it.” The words had poured out  56  I could stop them or check their desperate tone.

Mr. Soto looked me over for a minute before he smiled broadly.

“OK, that is the kind of thing we love to hear. Congratulations, you’re in.”

It was so   57   and I asked, “I’m sorry?”

“We want people in the class who want to be here, who will   58   the best of this education. I’m glad you came to talk   59   to me. I’m happy to offer you a position in the Class of 2009.”

The whole experience taught me a lesson: if you truly want something, never, ever   60  .

1.A. attend                   B. study                       C. admit                      D. visit

2.A. everyone          B. anyone                  C. someone        D. no one

3.A. trust             B. pity                    C. anxiety          D. curiosity

4.A. admission          B. imagination             C. restriction        D. rejection  

5.A. ever              B. again                 C. also              D. still

6.A. recognized          B. received                 C. accepted          D. permitted

7.A. writing            B. trying                   C. replying           D. waiting

8.A. lame             B. reasonable               C. painful         D. practical 

9.A. enjoyed            B. comforted            C. stayed             D. buried 

10.A. saying         B. ringing               C. showing          D. reminding

11.A. point            B. conclusion              C. agreement         D. arrangement

12.A. chance                B. motivation         C. degree         D. change  

13.A. refer            B. turn                    C. mean            D. stick

14. A. contribution      B. condition                       C. advantage        D. result 

15.A. suspect                   B. disappoint               C. refuse              D. regret

16.A. as             B. when                 C. until           D. before    

17.A. unbelievable       B. unforgettable           C. unbearable     D. favorable

18.A. take                    B. get                          C. make                D. receive

19.A. patiently                 B. openly                     C. carefully           D. calmly

20.A. get through          B. give up                 C. keep on            D. try out

课文完型填空 (每题1分,共10题, 满分10分)
My name is Elias. I am a poor black worker in South Africa. The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was ___91___very difficult period of my life. I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to poor black people on their ____92___ problems. He was generous with his time, ___93___which I was grateful.
I needed his help because I had very ___94___education. I began school at six. The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away. I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read ___95___ write well. After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine. ____96____, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg. ____97____, I did not have one because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work..
The day when Nelson Mandela helped me was one of my happiest. He told me how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg. I became more hopeful about my future. I never forgot how kind Mandela was. When he organized the ANC Youth League, I _____98_____ it as soon as I could. He said:
“The last thirty years have ____99___the greatest number of laws stopping our rights and progress, until today we have reached a stage ____100_____ we have almost no right at all.”

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。注意：每空格1个单词。

Health researchers have noticed that some groups of people are more consistently healthy than others, and wondered… Is it race? Income? Where you live? In the United States, these disagreements in health outcomes have been the focus of intense research for the past several decades.

Harvard University health policy researcher Ellen Meara says scholars have found some clues as to why some groups of people have more or less disease than others. She says one important factor in people’s health is the amount of education they have.

In her most recent paper, Meara looked at data from the United States census. Meara and her colleagues examined data from several decades.

“We looked at life expectancy（预测寿命）at age 25,” Meara says.

“How many additional years can you expect to live if you arrive at age 25 and your education has stopped at high school, or sooner? Versus how many years, can you expect to live if you’ve reached aged 25 and you’ve gone on to at least some college…”

Meara says they found that in 1990, a 25-year-old who only had some secondary school could expect to live for a total of 75 years. In 2000, a 25 year old with some secondary education could also expect to live to the age of 75.

In contrast, for a better educated 25-year-old, they could expect to live to the age of 80 in 1990. Someone with a similar education level in the year 2000, could expect to live to be more than 81 years, 81.6 years to be exact .

Meara says, not only do better-educated people live longer to begin with, but in the past ten years, more educated people has made gains in the length of their lives. Meanwhile, the life expectancy hasn’t changed for less educated people.

Some of these gains can be explained. Meara says researchers know that people who are more educated are more likely to quit smoking cigarettes, or not start at all, compared to people with less education.

“I think it’s a reminder not to be satisfactory,” Meara says. “Just because a population overall appears to be getting healthier, it doesn’t always mean that those advantages and successes that many people have enjoyed really extend into all parts of the population. And I think that's something to really pay attention to regardless of whether you live in the US or elsewhere.”

Meara points out that education can often determine income - people with more education frequently make more money. This makes them aware of health care, and purchase other resources and services that can keep them healthier. But the data on income do NOT show that people who make more money are automatically healthier.