第二卷（共23分）
第一节 单词拼写（共10小题；每小题0.5分，满分5分）
1.In American English, an e___________ is what carries people up and down inside buildings.
2.In summer, when a thunderstorm comes up, there is always l____________ and thunder.
3.If you c____________ someone to do something, you order them to do it.
4.More and more American people have moved from old rooms into new _____________(公寓).
5.He sent a s___________ of stamps as my birthday gift.
6.She walked four ______________(街区) down High Street.
7. ---My daughter has passed the exam.
--- C_________________! She is really intelligent.
8. She is so ____________(痴狂) about English that she cannot live without it.
9. A dead body was found under the bridge, but it was hard to determine the ___________(身份).
10.She ________________(更喜欢) the red dress to the green one because it fits me better.

A 33-year-old financial analyst in California recently quit his job to devote himself to an unpaid job teaching math on the Internet, and his lessons are reaching almost 100,000 people a month. Salman Khan’s voice is heard every day on the net --- by tens of thousands of students around the world who are hungry for help learning math. He has posted 1,200 lessons on YouTube ... lessons that appear on an electronic blackboard, which range from basic addition to advanced mathematics for science and finance. And they are free.
Khan lives in Silicon Valley, with his wife, a doctor, and their new baby. He got the idea for his “Khan Academy” four years ago, when he taught a young cousin how to convert kilograms to grams. With Khan’s help, the cousin got good at math, and Khan began a new career.
Now, Khan records his lessons himself, but he never goes on camera. “It feels like my voice in their head. You’re looking at it and it feels like someone’s over your shoulder talking in your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard, which is distant from you,” he said.
When Springfield High School in Palo Alto, California invited Khan to speak in person --- he immediately connected to the students there.
The idea of short lessons that can be played over and over again attracted high school senior Bridget Meaney. She says she had trouble with math in the seventh grade. “I think the teachers are good, but they can’t teach at a speed that’s perfect for everyone,” she said. “I like the idea of learning something in class but then going back and pressing pause or rewind and actually getting a deeper understanding of it.”
Originally, Khan kept his lessons short because of YouTube restrictions. Now, he thinks short is better. “Education researchers now tell me that 10 minutes is how long someone can have a high level of concentration. And anything beyond that and your brain switches off,” he said.
For Khan, teaching math, science, and finance is just the beginning. He says he’s ready to expand his YouTube site to include other subjects as well.
【小题1】What gave Khan the idea of teaching math online?

John Fisher, a builder, and his wife Elizabeth wanted more living space, so they left their small flat for an old 40-meter-high castle tower. They have spent five years turning it into a beautiful home with six floors, winning three architectural prizes.

“I love the space, and being private,” Elizabeth says. “You feel separated from the world. If I am in the kitchen, which is 25 meters above the ground floor, and the doorbell rings, I don’t have to answer it because visitors can’t see I am in!”

There are 142 steps to the top so if I go up and down five or six times a day, it’s very good exercise! But having to carry heavy things to the top is terrible, so I never buy more than two bags of shopping from the supermarket at a time. Except for that, it’s a brilliant place to live.

“When we first saw the place, I asked my father’s advice about buying it, because we couldn’t decide. After paying for it, we were a bit worried because it looked awful. But we really loved it, and knew how we wanted it to look.”

“Living here can be difficult—yesterday I climbed a four-meter ladder to clean the windows. But when you stand on the roof you can see all the way out to the sea on a clear day, and that’s a wonderful experience. I am really glad we moved. ”

1.What is the writer trying to do in the text?

    A. describe how to turn an old tower into a house

    B. recommend(推荐) a particular builder

    C. describe what it is like to live in a tower

    D. explain how to win prizes for building work

2.Which of the following best describes Elizabeth’s feelings about the tower?

    A. She wanted it as soon as she saw it.

    B. She likes most things about it.

    C. She has been worried since they paid for it.

    D. She finds it unsuitable to live in.

3.What problem does Elizabeth have with living in such a tall building?

    A. Her visitors find it hard to see if she is at home.

    B. She feels separated from others.

    C. She cannot bring home lots of shopping at once.

    D. It is impossible to clean any of the windows.

4.How will John and Elizabeth advertise their tower if they sell it?

A.

B.

C.  

D.

E
It is the last day of the school year and I stand empty – handed with no gift to give you.
It isn't that I haven't tried to think of something meaningful and special … quite to the contrary. For months I have combed shops and department stores, and even searched the Internet only to realize that nothing could measure up to the feelings of a mother’s grateful heart and a teacher’s loving devotion.
How I wish a colorful bundle of fresh wildflowers could reflect the beauty of your way with children! Jewelry would surely be nice, but what can I afford that would not grow quickly out of style? You deserve respect for your determination and creativity, your devotion and talent.　　
At the moment the first school bell rang last August, I placed in you my trust, believing you would teach my child and reserve respect for me as a parent. I added to that my constant and devoted wish that you would be reasonable and fair to set limitations and rules while offering my child a chance to learn self-control. I sincerely hope that your classroom would be a safe shelter for my child to grow and learn, which is a perfect mixture of self-discipline and controlled instruction. I prayed for your health and your happiness, and your ability to be supplied with the tools necessary to complete your task as a teacher and educator. I offered you my time as often as I could, and my support for your cause. Occasionally, I even offered you a challenge when I spoke my mind, sometimes standing firm, sometimes giving up with a renewed assurance or a “ wait and see” attitude!
　　I wish with all my heart I could put a delicate ribbon on a wrapped package and give you a “ something” to express my appreciation and affection, but I have nothing to give you that would be better than the precious gift I have ever had to offer and which you already so pleasantly accepted months ago－the one you have held close to your heart, laughed with and probably cried with, cheered and scolded – my child!
And today, as my child returns to my side for the summer, the gift I humbly give to you is found deep within my heart...
57．On the last day of the school year, the author has no gift to give the teacher, because        .
A．she has no time to think  of something meaningful and special
B．she cannot find something that can properly express her feelings
C．there is nowhere to buy a colorful bundle of fresh wildflowers
D．she thinks it unnecessary to express her feelings to the teacher
58．According to the author, the best gift for the teacher is_________
A．her child       B．her respect        C．her present         D．her support
59．The underlined sentence in the passage implies that the author hopes that         .
A．the teacher can teach her child patiently
B．the teacher will not be too strict with her child
C．the teacher will teach her child enough self - control
D．the teacher can stand firm in the teaching
60．This passage is most probably adapted from__________.
A．a novel     B．a letter      C．a paper     D．a report

Memory is the ability to keep track of things that have happened in the past. Memory really is learning. One needs memory to ride a bicycle. A dog needs to remember if it is to come when called.
Memory is said to be stored in the brain as a “memory trace（记忆痕）.” What makes up this trace is not known. Some scientists believe that certain chemical substances may carry certain memories. For example, one substance, when given to rats, causes them to fear the dark.
Other research into memory has to do with how the brain works. Psychologists use three means to find out how a person remembers. For example, give a person a grocery list. Let the person memorize the list, then put it away. The most natural way to find out how much a person remembers of the grocery list is to ask what he or she remembers. This is called the method of recall. Another method is called recognition. Give the person another grocery list. Ask him or her to choose items on the first list from the items that are on only the second list. Often a person will be able to recognize things that he or she cannot recall. A third method of finding how much a person remembers is called relearning. Here the person is asked to read over the first list. The person will probably learn the list the second time faster than he did the first time. The difference in the time it takes to relearn the list is thought of as a measure of how much a person has remembered.
One way of remembering something is to repeat it many times. Interest is very important. Boring lists of facts are much more difficult to remember than something that we understand and are interested in. Motivation, or wanting to do something, is also important. Motivation is linked with reward. For example, a hungry animal quickly learns how to do something if that action gets the animal food. In humans, wanting to learn is often motivation. The praise of a teacher or the knowledge that an answer is correct is rewarding.
【小题1】We can learn from the 2nd paragraph that ___________       .