I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens,   and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the more wonderful thing in the world.

Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister  and brother. “But the desk,” she’d said again, “it’s for Elizabeth. ”

I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and    daughter.

They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface(表面)”.

As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅) me.

I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came.

My hope turned to disappointment(失望), then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

Now the present of her desk told, as she’d never been able to, that she was    pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found    some papers inside —a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times.

Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

1.The writer began to love her mother’s desk ______.

A．after Mother died

B．before she became a writer

C．when she was a child

D．when Mother gave it to her

2.The passage shows that ______.

A．mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter

B．mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done

C．mother cared much about her daughter in words

D．mother wrote to her daughter in careful words

3.The word “gulf” in the passage means ______.

A．deep understanding between the old and the young

B．different ideas between the mother and the daughter

C．free talks between mother and daughter

D．part of the sea going far in land

4.What did mother do with her daughter’s letter asking forgiveness?

A．She had never received the letter.

B．For years, she often talked about the letter.

C．She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in all her life.

D．She read the letter again and again till she died.

5.What’s the best title of the passage?

A．My letter to Mother

B．Mother and Children

C．My mother’s Desk

D．Talks between Mother and Me

6.选A。由But she lived “on the surface ”. 和全文内容可知，作者的母亲表面上很冷漠，但心里充满了对作者的爱，正确

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

(选E涂AB; 选F涂CD)

以下是一些旅游项目的简介：

A. Sea kayaking in Turkey

Enjoy beautiful scenery on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast. The water is clear and calm with temperatures of 25º–28º in July and August. You don’t need any previous kayaking experience to enjoy this trip. However, you do need to be quite fit, as you will be on the water for 4–6 hours a day.

B. Diving holidays in Kenya

Experience diving and sailing in the Indian Ocean in March and April. Enjoy warm, clear water and white, sandy beaches. Spend all of your stay on one of our yachts (游艇) with first-class service and excellent food. Explore remote and unspoilt reefs, and see a wonderful range of underwater sea life.

C. Swimming with dolphins in The Azores Islands, Portugal

Would you like to discover the underwater world of the dolphin? Join us in July or August in the clear waters around the Azores. You will receive training from expert guides to gain confidence in the water with the animals. We often see eight different species of dolphin during our trips.

D. Gulfoss Waterfall in Iceland

Come to Iceland in summer to see the biggest waterfall in Europe. Gulfoss, the ‘Golden Waterfall’ is a truly spectacular sight. The water from the River Hvítá and water from glaciers come together and fall 32m in two stages. You can follow a path quite close to the falls, which provides wonderful opportunities for photos and videos. Warm clothing is essential.

E. Plitvice Lakes, Croatia (克罗地亚)

Set in a National Park, the lakes are Croatia’s most popular tourist attraction. The beauty of the region comes from the 16 lakes, waterfalls, and areas of woodland, where deer, wolves and bears can be found. The park is open all year. There are several walks for all levels of fitness. You can also see the park by boat or bus.

F. Lake Balaton, Hungary

If you enjoy nature, you will love Lake Balaton. Much of the area around the lake is part of a protected National Park. We have expert guides with knowledge of local plants and animals. That will take you on long walks around the park. The marsh area of the lake is home to a wide number of bird species.

以下是五个人的旅游爱好，请匹配每个人拟选择的旅游项目：

1.Jonny is crazy about plants and animals in different parts of the world. He travels a lot and each summer he goes to a different place to learn about the local plants and wildlife.

2.Leo and his family have already done different water sports in Europe and so want to travel further abroad. They would like to try a new sport and they don’t mind working hard. They are not free to travel until the summer.

3.Ellen enjoys being near water but she doesn’t want to do any water sports and she doesn’t like the cold. Walking long distances is rather difficult for her, but she likes being outside and seeing wildlife. She has already been to Hungary. She can travel at any time between November and January.

4.Amy and Eric are retired but they are still very active. They enjoy walking and looking at scenery. They would like to go somewhere cool this summer where Amy can take a lot of photos.

5.Will is a student of marine biology. He is also a very good swimmer and an experienced diver. He’s looking for a summer holiday where he can learn about animals and help people. He wants to stay in Europe.

 

（2011·安徽卷）B

Think about the different ways that people use the wind. You can use it to fly a kite or to sail a boat. Wind is one of our cleanest and richest power sources（来源）, as well as one of the oldest. Evidence shows that windmills（风车）began to be used in ancient Iran back in the seventh century BC. They were first introduced to Europe during the 1100s, when armies returned from the Middle East with knowledge of using wind power.

For many centuries, people used windmills to grind（磨碎）wheat into flour or pump water from deep underground. When electricity was discovered in the late 1800s, people living in remote areas began to use them to produce electricity. This allowed them to have electric lights and radio. However, by the 1940s, when electricity was available to people in almost all areas of the United States, windmills were rarely used.

During the 1970s, people started becoming concerned about the pollution that is created when coal and gas are burned to produce electricity. People also realized that the supply of coal and gas would not last forever. Then, wind was rediscovered, though it means higher costs. Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind.

60. From the text we know that windmills              .

A. were invented by European armies

B. have a history of more than 2800 years

C. used to supply power to radio in remote areas

D. have rarely been used since electricity was discovered

61. What was a new use for wind power in the late l9th century?

A. Sailing a boat. 

B. Producing electricity.

C. Grinding wheat into flour.

D. Pumping water from underground.

62. One of the reasons wind was rediscovered in the 1970s is that             .

A. wind power is cleaner

B. it is one of the oldest power sources

C. it was cheaper to create energy from wind

D. the supply of coal and gas failed to meet needs

63. What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A. The advantage of wind power.

B. The design of wind power plants.

C. The worldwide movement to save energy.

D. The global trend towards producing power from wind.

【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据末段句子Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind可知，接下来作者应该谈论利用风能发电的情况，因此选择D项。

七选五（共5小题；每小题2分，共10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

The band that wasn’t

Have you ever wanted to be part of a band as a famous singer or musician? Have you ever dreamed of playing in front of thousands of people at a concert, at which everyone is clapping and appreciating your music? Do you sing karaoke and pretend you are a famous singer like Song Zuying or Liu Huan? To be honest, a lot of people attach great importance to becoming rich and famous.      1    

Many musicians meet and form a band because they like to write and play their own music. They may start as a group of high-school students, for whom practising their music in someone's house is the first step to fame. Sometimes they may play to passers-by in the street or subway so that they can earn some extra money for themselves or to pay for their instruments.      2      Of course they hope to make records in a studio and sell millions of copies to become millionaires!

     3      It was called the Monkees and began as a TV show. The musicians were to play jokes on each other as well as play music, most of which was based loosely on the Beatles. The TV organizers had planned to find four musicians who could act as well as sing. They put an advertisement in a newspaper looking for rock musicians, but they could only find one who was good enough. They had to use actors for the other three members of the band.

     4      So during the broadcasts they just pretended to sing. Anyhow their performances were humorous enough to be copied by other groups. They were so popular that their fans formed clubs in order to get more familiar with them. Each week on TV, the Monkees would play and sing songs written by other musicians. However, after a year or so in which they became more serious about their work, the Monkees started to play and sing their own songs like a real band. Then they produced their own records and started touring and playing their own music.     5     . The band broke up about 1970, but happily they reunited in the mid-1980s. They produced a new record in 1996, with which they celebrated their formal time as a real band.

A. In the USA they became even more popular than the Beatles and sold even more records.

B. The Monkees’ television show stayed on the air for years after the group broke up. .

C. However, there was one band that started in a different way.

D. But just how do people form a band?

E. Later they may give performances in pubs or clubs, for which they are paid in cash.

F. Most of us probably have our favorite performers, stars or bands, but many of us also want to discover new sounds and rhythms.

G. As some of these actors could not sing well enough, they had to rely on other musicians to help them.

根据短文内容，从下框的A-F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。（注意:选E涂AB,选F涂AC）

A．Think while you are reading B．Select a proper material C．Five suggestions for achieving better results D．Read loudly E．Read on F．Use a dictionary at a right time

Effective reading should adopt a correct way, and then you can get more by paying less. Here are some hints for reading effectively.

1.(         )

Don’t choose a rather difficult book or a too easy one for yourself to read. A book full of new words will make you feel discouraged quickly. To understand those new words, you have to turn to the dictionary quite often. .A too easy one will only waste your time and cannot do any help. The two extremes may at last make you give up reading. So it’s better for you to find a proper book with no more than five new words on each page.

2.(         )

If you come across a new word, do not look it up in a dictionary at once.Leave it alone and guess the meaning of it based on the content of the text. This ability is quite necessary in reading. If you know your guess is right later, you will be highly excited at your “success”, and your interest in reading is well encouraged. If a word really prevents you from understanding the whole passage, turn to the dictionary by then. I am sure you can remember this word very well, as it has left you such a deep impression for its “troublesome image”.

3.(        )

To comprehend what you are reading, you should think while you are reading, then form your own ideas. Your writing does not need to be quite formal but expressive. This practice can make you communicate with the original English authors. Day by day, your way of thinking in English will turn into a native way, which is quite important for English writing.

4.(         )

Language has its own beauty, no matter Chinese or English. Don’t merely take English as a “test”. Take it as an “entertainment” instead and you will enjoy it through learning. Maybe you should find some beautiful literary works such as a prose or a poem to read, if you like. Try to read them as loudly as you can. During this process, not only you can enjoy yourself by the great emotions of the writers, but also your pronunciation and your manner of speaking English will be improved.

5.(         )

The last but not the least, keep on reading. If you cannot keep it as a habit, you will suffer from paying without gaining.