(10·浙江D篇)

My family and I lived across the street from Southway Park since I was four years old. Then just last year they city put a chain link fence around the park and started bulldozing (用推土机推平) the trees and grass to make way for a new apartment complex. When I saw the fence and bulldozers, I asked myself, “Why don’t they just leave it alone?”

Looking back, I think what sentenced the part to oblivion (别遗忘) was the drought (旱灾) we had about four years ago. Up until then, Southway Park was a nice green park with plenty of trees and a public swimming pool. My friends and I rollerskated on the sidewalks, climbed the tress, and swam in the pool all the years I was growing up. The park was almost like my own yard. Then the summer I was fifteen the drought came and things changed.

There had been almost no rain at all that year. The city stopped watering the park grass. Within a few weeks I found myself living across the street from a huge brown desert. Leaves fell off the park tress, and pretty soon the trees started dying, too. Next, the park swimming pool was closed. The city cut down on the work force that kept the park, and pretty soon it just got too ugly and dirty to enjoy anymore.

As the drought lasted into the fall, the park got worse every month. The rubbish piled up or blew across the brown grass. Soon the only people in the park were beggars and other people down on their luck. People said drugs were being sold or traded there now. The park had gotten scary, and my mother told us kids not to go there anymore.

The drought finally ended and things seemed to get back to normal, that is, everything but the park. It had gotten into such bad shape that the city just let it stay that way. Then about six months ago I heard that the city was going to “redevelop” certain worn-out areas of the city. It turned out that the city had planned to get rid of the park, sell the land and let someone build rows of apartment buildings on it.

The chain-link fencing and the bulldozers did their work. Now we live across the street from six rows of apartment buildings. Each of them is three units high and stretches a block in each direction. The neighborhood has changed without the park. The streets I used to play in are jammed with cars now. Things will never be the same again. Sometimes I wonder, though, what changes another drought would make in the way things are today.

53. How did the writer feel when he saw the fence and bulldozers?

      A. Scared.        B. Confused.      C. Upset.           D. Curious.

54. Why was the writer told not to go to the park by his mother?

      A. It was being rebuilt.                 B. It was dangerous.

      C. It because crowded.                 D. It had turned into a desert.

55. According to the writer, what eventually brought about the disappearance of the park?

      A. The drought.                    B. The crime.

      C. The beggars and the rubbish.       D. The decisions of the city.

56. The last sentence of the passage implies that if another drought came, ______.

      A. the situation would be much worse

      B. people would have to desert their homes

      C. the city would be fully prepared in advance

      D. the city would have to redevelop the neighborhood

—Mom，where is my lunch pack?

—Just where it ________.

A．has been? B．had been

C．was? D．be

Many of us don’t like what we see around us but the last thing we do is to change it. I think that is the beginning of failure and that is why what we hate remains around us. If you don’t want to see things around you, don’t just hope it’ll change.

We have such an amazing power of creativity inside us to change the way things work around us. Only lazy people go about and say that is the way things have been working. I’ve come to discover that things around us depend on our actions and inactions. What I mean is that the circumstances that we like depend only on the things we do and the things we don’t do.

Do you want your country to change? Start by changing the small things around you. Before you think too far about any small thing to change, your habit should be the first thing to change. Change what you think about and talk about. Can you remember how difficult it was for you to break a habit that you desired to break some years back? If so, then you must accept that things aren’t just going to change by a magic thought. If it isn’t so easy to change yourself when you want to, it isn’t going to be so easy to change the people around you.

I think the best way I’ve changed people around me is that I changed myself. When you change, they’ll change. Just change yourself and see how many people will tell you later that you are the one who changes them. That’s one simple way young people can change their nations.

1. According to the text, why do we fail to change what we don’t like? _______

2.The author can change people around him because he has realized that 　　　　.

3.The third paragraph aims at 　　　　.

4.What can we learn from the text? ________

Even if you are naturally shy, these three tricks will help you to quickly build a new social circle in any new city.

1. Take pictures

One of the great things about taking pictures at an event or party is that it gives you an excuse to get in touch with the person later. Everybody loves seeing pictures of themselves, and it’s very easy after taking a picture to say “If you’d like I can email it to you”. This can be the seed that leads to new connections. The next time you hear about a fun event email your new contacts to let them know about it.

2. Eat alone in public

You might feel self-conscious eating by yourself but it has an important benefit: you are much easier to approach when you are alone. People may be afraid of interrupting you or being rude if you are in a conversation with someone else. Bring a book or newspaper to read (this will make you feel less self-conscious). Plus, having an interesting book with you will give others an excuse to start a conversation if they’ve read it.

3. Join a class, sports team, or club

Yoga, salsa dancing, volleyball, Toastmasters (a public speaking club), a class for work, etc. Take up a new hobby or continue an old one!

These are all great places to meet new people, primarily because you will be forced to see the same people over and over again in the class. You will automatically make friends with them if you have a common interest and are forced to see each other again.

Tips:

* In the beginning, never turn down an invitation from someone, even if it’s something you wouldn’t normally do.

* Email your new friends with fun things to do instead of always asking what their plans are. If they have a better plan you can drop yours and join them. This will help establish you as someone who is contributing value instead of just taking it (people want this in a friend).

* Don’t let little things in life upset you or be a negative person. People don’t want to be around someone like that!

1.________ can give you an excuse to start new connections.

A．Taking pictures of others

B．Eating by yourself in public

C．Reading interesting books

D．Joining group activities

2.When having meals, you’d better ________ if you want to make new friends. 

A．approach others to show conscious friendliness

B．start a conversation with those who have friends aside

C．invite others to your apartment to eat together

D．sit on your own in public places

3.According to the text, which of the following is NOT mentioned as an advantage of joining a class?

A．It helps you find out people who share a common interest with you.

B．It helps you find out your interest and take up a new hobby.

C．It offers an opportunity to meet the same people repeatedly.

D．It is a good way to meet new people and make friends in a new city.

4.Which of the following pieces of advice is a tip from the text?

A．Try to be outgoing and talkative instead of being shy.

B．Never turn down an invitation from your friends.

C．Offer suggestions on how to spend time together.

D．Always give a positive response to any request.

5.By writing the text, the author intends to tell us ________.

A．why you should change when you move to a new city

B．how you can make new friends in a new city

C．why you should make new friends in a new city

D．how you can keep in touch with strangers

Norah had a cottage on a cliff（悬崖）above a big bay. In winter it could be very unpleasant because of strong winds and sea waves. In fact, when a gale was blowing, Norah and her husband got used to sleeping in a small room downstairs, because their bedroom upstairs, which faced the gales, had a very big window, and they were afraid that an extra violent wind might break it and blow pieces of broken glass over them.

Also, the salt wave from the sea put an end to many of the colorful plants Norah planted in her garden. She tried putting up a fence to protect them, but the wind just hit it, went up over the top and then down the other side, so in the end she filled the garden with trees and bushes that liked salt.

But most of the summer Norah enjoyed her cottage and garden very much. At weekends she could sit out-of-doors in the sun, looking at the beautiful view, with interesting ships and boats passing by, and she could very easily cycle down to the sea for a swim.

Now, Norah and her husband had plenty of friends and relations. In the summer lots of them used to come to enjoy the beautiful place, and in the end it really became quite annoying for the couple. When they were at home, they found friends and relations arriving, expecting to be given unlimited drinks and meals, and to sit in the sun for hours, talking as if Norah and her husband had nothing else to do but entertain and listen to them.

This went on for several years. Norah didn’t wish to appear rude by refusing to let her friends and relations in, but on the other hand, she was getting tired every summer.

Then one day Norah was complaining about this to her hairdresser while she was doing her hair. “You’re disturbed by too many uninvited guests, are you?” said the hairdresser. “Why don’t you try my way of escaping?”

“What’s that?” asked Norah.

“Well,” the hairdresser answered, “when the bell rings, I put on my coat and take my shopping bag. If it’s someone I don’t want to see, I say innocently, ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go out.’ But…”

1.The underlined word “gale” can be replaced by _____.

A．wind             B．ship              C．sea              D．animal

2.We can infer that _____.

A．lots of friends cam to visit them in winter

B．few friends came to visit them in winter

C．friends came to visit them only for drinks and meals

D．Norah was a good cook

3.How did Norah go to the sea for a swim?

A．She went there by ship.                  B．She walked there.

C．She swam there.                        D．She went there by bicycle.

4.The hairdresser likely to continue to say “_____” in the end?

A．if I’m tired, I say ‘Sorry, can you come next time?’

B．if it’s someone I like to see, I say ‘How lucky! I’ve just come in!’

C．if it is fine that day, I say, ‘I’m tired of this, but I’ll show you around the place.’

D．if it’s someone I like to see, I say, ‘How happy to see you! But I was going shopping now .’

5.Which of the following is the best title?

A．A Good Place of Enjoying the Sea           B．A Visit to Norah

C．A clever Way of Escaping                 D．A Warm-hearted Couple