Dear Sir

I’m interested in the furnished （备有家具的）house near Dedham which you made known in yesterday’s paper, for my husband and I are coming to England in June and need accommodation（住所）for three months. Would you please tell me exactly where it is and give me details （细目）of bus and train services in the area ？We need a house on a busy street. And I would also like to know about the local（当地的）shops. Do the local shops still supply? I know they did ten years ago. 

I would be thankful also if you would tell me whether you supply sheets etc, and whether a laundry（洗衣房）calls at the house. The rent （房租）you ask sounds reasonable for the size of the house. How do you like it paid? Weekly, monthly or in advance （提前）？

I would be thankful for an early reply.

Yours

Pamda Smith

1．Pamda Smith got the news about the house from      . 

A．local shops         B．a newspaper      C．her friends          D．a telephone

2．Most probably, Mr and Mrs Smith      . 

A．are coming to England from America        B．want to live in a beautiful place

C．are very rich                D．once lived in Dedham ten years ago

3．How do they need a house on a busy street?

A．The rent is the cheapest   B．There is a laundry

C．They like the busy area very much    D．They don’t want to drive

4．Which of the following is not true? Mr. and Mrs. Smith     . 

A．are not clear about the rent      B．Want to be in England for three months

C．will be on holiday in England    D．do not want to wash their clothes

5．In the passage, the word “accommodation” means      . 

A．cool weather     B．good service      C．furnished rooms         D．beautiful scenes

On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.

       “It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”

       The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?

“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”

In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.

“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”

But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.

“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”

What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?

A. It’s expensive but worthwhile because it works the best.

B. It confuses students because the knowledge taught in it is out of date.

C. It isn’t effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

D. It is effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

What do the underlined words “magic bullet” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. Something that cannot help to solve problems at all.

B. Something that solves a difficult problem in an easy way.

C. Something that seems useful but has no use at all.

D. Something that encourages interest in study.

According to Elaine Tyrrell, private tutoring is _______.

A. effective in language learning but not for exams

B. effective for foreign students but not for local students

C. unnecessary in most cases and may harm the further study of students

D. unnecessary in secondary school but helpful to further study

What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A. Fleet Tutors and the Rowans School are competitors.

B. Entrance exams to schools are too difficult for most students.

C. Further study isn’t as difficult as was first thought.

D. Private tuition is worth the financial investment.

What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?

       A. Critical           B. Objective         C. Supportive          D. Uninterested

第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

    阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36－55各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

The House Fairy

   As young parents, my husband and I felt that at age 6 and 8, our children were old enough to be cleaning their rooms and making their beds. But they thought   36  . My complaints, repeating myself, even self-justified shouting were landing on   37    ears. I felt frustrated (沮丧的) , and very often a whole afternoon’s scolding would end with their   38   into tears, I realized I needed to   39   my methods of “mothering”.

   One day while they were at school, I had great fun   40   their rooms. On their desks, in plain   41  , I left the cards: “Dear Bill (the other card was   42   to Sarah), your room was messy this morning and I’m sure you like it clean. Love, the House Fairy.”   43   arriving back, the children were   44   excited to receive the little note from the House Fairy. The next day, their rooms were fairly tidy. Sure enough, there was another note from the House Fairy         45   for them, thanking them for their nice “gift” of a clean room and   46   asking them to play a certain violin   47  . Each day, thank--you notes would be worded differently to keep the ideas   48  .

   Sometimes the House Fairy would propose a little   49  : “If you can finish your homework today and   50   it before dinner, I’ d like to watch a particular television program with you tonight.” Sometimes some colored markers or other little items would be left in   51

of jobs especially well done the day   52  .

      53   I can’t remember how long “the House Fairy” continued leaving her love notes. When they were no longer age appropriate (合适的), we used various versions of Post-Its. The bathroom mirror became the   54   centre of our home. Appointments, notices about visiting relatives, lesson schedules, and changes in plans could be posted.

   We all benefited from and   55   the idea of sharing reminders and daily details of life through notes. I believe the true legacy of the House Fairy notes survives in our frequent and enjoyable communication.

  36.  A. different      B. no             C. otherwise        D. doubtful

  37.  A. side          B. deaf           C. neither           D. either

  38.  A. crying        B. breaking        C. bursting          D. bumping

  39.  A. adjust        B. adopt          C. access            D. addict

  40.  A. to tidy        B. tidying         C. tidied            D. tidy

41.  A. distance       B. words         C. speech           D. sight

  42.  A. sent          B. read           C. delivered         D. addressed

  43.  A. As           B. At             C. Of             D. Upon

  44.  A. more than     B. rather than       C. no more than     D. other than

  45.  A. asking        B. waiting         C. praying         D. expecting

  46.  A. politely       B. friendly         C. gently          D. toughly

  47.  A. music        B. song             C. piece           D. tone

  48.  A. respectable    B. uninteresting     C. incredible        D. fresh

  49.  A. challenge     B. question         C. suggestion       D. advice

  50.  A. go with       B. go through       C. look up         D. look into

  51.  A. response      B. answer          C. praise          D. honor

  52.  A. ahead         B. before          C. over           D. ago

  53.  A. Actually       B. Even so         C. Even if         D. Though

  54.  A. reminder      B. main            C. memory        D. life

  55.  A. learned          B. appreciated      C. shared          D. thanked

I first met Annie Mae, a maid (女仆), at my parents-in-laws’ in 1959. She prepared and    36    meals in her quiet, gentle way and then returned to the kitchen to read her Bible (《圣经》) while we     37   . She was a devoted Christian. I found this increasingly true     38    I came to know her more by observation than by conversation.
My husband and I     39    visited his parents. Each time I saw her eating    40   , reading her Bible, I wanted to sit down with her and just talk.    41   , whites didn’t do that with blacks then, and I had to    42    the practice.
In 1965, I decided to     43    the furniture and return to my home state with my two     44    when my husband wanted a divorce (离婚).
Annie Mae asked if she could buy the boys’    45   . When I answered     46   , she asked the price. Then, she asked if she could     47    a little money each month. She was    48   , and I knew her well.
Then each month, an envelope     49    us from Annie Mae with 2 or 3 dollars. A year passed. Annie Mae’s    50    payment arrived along with the following note:
Dear Mrs. Holladay,
I am sending you my last payment of three dollars for the beds     51   . I told my two sons they could now put the beds     52    and sleep in them, for they are now paid for and rightfully    53    us.Thank you for your     54   .
Annie Mae
I read the note two or three times, my eyes filled with tears. Had I only known earlier, I would have said, “Use them now. Don’t     55    until you pay for them.”

My husband and I insisted that our children were old enough to clean their rooms and make their beds. But they thought   11  . My complaints, even self-justified（自有道理）  12  , were always landing on   13   ears. Very often a whole hour’s scolding would end up with their   14   into tears. I felt very frustrated. I realized I needed to   15   my method of “mothering”.

One day when they were at school, I spent some time tidying their rooms. On their desks, in plain  16  , I left the cards: “Dear Bill(the other card was   17   to Sarah), your room was messy this morning and I’m sure you like it clean. Love, the Room Fairy.”  18   arriving back, the children were   19   excited to receive the little note from the Room Fairy. The next day, their rooms were fairly tidy. Sure enough, there was another note from the Room Fairy   20   

for them, thanking them for their nice “gift” of a clean room and   21   asking them to play a certain violin  22  . Each day, thank-you notes would be written differently to keep the ideas   23  ．

         Sometimes the Room Fairy would propose a little   24  : “If you can finish your homework and go over your lessons before dinner, I’d like to watch a particular television program with you tonight.” Sometimes some colored markers or other little items would be left in   25   of well-done jobs the day   26  .

  27   I can’t remember how long “the Room Fairy” continued leaving her love notes. When they were age appropriate, we used various versions of Post-Its （贴条）. The bathroom mirror became the   28   centre of our home. Appointments, notices about visiting relatives, lesson schedules, and changes in plans could be   29  .

We all benefited from and  30   the idea of sharing reminders and daily details of life through notes. I believe the true advantage of the Room Fairy notes survives in our frequent and enjoyable communication．

1.A.differently          B.positive          C.negative      D. same

2.A.shouting      B. crying   C. persuading    D. beating

3.A. side           B. neither        C.deaf   D. either

4.A.crying         B.bringing             C.droping D. bursting

5.A.addict B. adopt    C.access   D. adjust

6.A.sentence    B. words          C. speech D. sight

7.A.sent         B. addressed     C.delivered      D. read

8.A.As     B.On C. In          D. At

9.A.more than  B. rather than C.less than            D. other than

10.A.asking        B. praying C. waiting  D. expecting

11.A.gently       B. friendly          C.politely  D. toughly

12.A.music        B. piece            C.song            D. tone

13.A.respectable   B. uninteresting        C.incredible             D. fresh

14.A.suggestion         B. question       C.challenge      D. advice

15.A.response          B. answer         C.praise   D. honor

16.A.ahead        B. before  C. over     D. ago

17.A.though      B. Even so C.Even if D. Actually

18.A.memory           B. main     C. life             D. reminder

19.A.sent          B. posted  C.struck   D. hanged

20.A.appreciated      B. learned          C. shared               D. thanked