My grandfather came from Hungary and was the only one in his family who settled down in the United States. The rest of his family remained in Europe. When World War I broke out, he seemed to have become another man, downhearted. Such obvious change was not born out of concern for his welfare, but out of fear: if his only son, my uncle, had to go to war, it would be cousin fighting against cousin.

One day in 1918, my Uncle Milton received his draft notice. My grandparents were very upset. But my mother, at the age of 10, felt on top of the world about her soldier brother going off to war. Realizing how he was regarded by his little sister and all of her friends, my uncle bought them all service pins, which meant that they had a loved one in the service. All the little girls were delighted.

The moment came when my uncle and the other soldiers, without any training but all in uniforms, boarded the train. The band played and the crowd cheered. Although no one noticed. I’m sure my grandmother had a tear in her eye for the only son. The train slowly pulled out, but not about a thousand yards when it suddenly paused. Everyone stared in wonder as the train slowly returned to the station. There was a dead silence before the doors opened and the men started to step out. Someone shouted, “The war is over!” For a moment, nobody moved, but then the people heard someone bark orders at the soldiers. The men lined up in two lines, walked down the steps, and with the band playing, marched down the street, as returning heroes, to be welcomed home. My mother said it was a great day, but she was just a little disappointed that it didn’t last a tiny bit longer.

What the grandfather was most worried about was ______.

 A. the spread of the world war                      B. the safety of his two cousins

 C. a drop in his living standards                    D. his relatives killing each other

The underlined phrase “draft notice” means “______”.

 A. order for army service                             B. train ticket for Europe

 C. letter of rejection                                     D. note of warning

What did the “service pins” （in Para. 2） stand for in the eyes of the little girls?

 A. Strength.             B. Courage.               C. Victory.                        D. Honor.

Which of the following words can best describe the ending of the story?

 A. Disappointing.    B. Unexpected.          C. Uncertain.             D. Inspiring.

Answer the following questions by using the information taken from a dictionary page．（You may read the questions first．）
jaguar: n．a type of large, yellow-colored cat with black markings found in the southwestern region of the U．S．and in Central and South America．
jargon: 1．n．an unknown language that seems strange or impossible to understand．2．n．a language made up of two or more other languages: His jargon was a mixture of French and English- 3．n． the special vocabulary of a field or profession: Her report on computers was filled with jargon．4．n．speech that doesn't make sense．
jaunt: 1．n．a trip taken for fun．2．v．to go on a brief pleasant trip: We jaunted to the country last
Saturday．javelin: 1．n．a spear most commonly used as weapon or in hunting．2．n．the contest in which a javelin is thrown．3．n．a lightweight metal or wooden spear that is thrown in track-and-field contests．4, v．to strike, as with ajavelin．
jazz: 1．n．a type of music that originated in New Orleans and is characterized by rhythmic eats．2．n．popular dance music influenced by jazz．．3．n．slang empty talk．4．ad．of or like jazz: a jazz band, jazz records．
Jennet; n．a small Spanish horse．
【小题1】Which meaning of the word javelin is used in the sentence below?
At the competition, Jack drew his arm back and threw the javelin 50 yards．

Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.

A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak（浸人）slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.

Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.

What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the locals climatem, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.

Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.

1.Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?

    A．They can keep the rain and storm water.

    B．They can help reduce the pollution problem.

    C．They can be healthy for the people around.

    D．They can make the environment more beautiful.

2.One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that            .

    A．they cost less and are much easier to get

    B．they may attract local wildlife to come

    C．they require little care from the local gardeners

    D．they are more used to the local growing conditions

3.What do we know about rain gardens?

    A．They need little water after all the plants are planted.

    B．They usually need at least an inch of rainwater a week.

    C．They may attract local birds and change the locals climate.

    D．They may reduce the water pollution problem by 70%.

4.Who are the intended readers of the passage?

    A．Homeowners.  B．Governors.   C．Engineers,   D．Educators.

At about 4 am, after hours of being unable to sleep, of shivering in the cold mountain air and trying to silence my crying kids who kept waking up, of attempting to find a comfortable sleeping position, of listening to whether there might have been a bear outside our tent, I finally couldn’t stand it any more. I complained, “Everything has gone wrong.”

My wife and I were in one tent with our two young kids. A hundred yards east away was Summit Lake, where the glorious early morning mist was shimmering（闪烁）off the water. A couple miles to the southwest was the base of the Lassen Peak Trail. The base was 8,000 feet above sea level, and huge snow dotted the scenery even in mid August. Further west still was Bumpass Hell, with steam rising up.

As the sun crept up over the edge of the Lassen peak, we fired up the camp stove and had breakfast. Half an hour later, my six-year-old daughter and I were in the parking lot of the Lassen peak trail, getting ready to go up the mountainside. We wouldn’t make it all the way, but it didn’t matter. We would see nature at its extremes: the volcanic ash that layered on the earth turning the melting snow a mysterious pink as the sun struck it; the blues of the sky shading into the blues of distant lakes, which in turn shaded into the whites and grays of the snow.

My daughter grabbed my camera. She wanted to take a photo of “the composite（混合物）”of colors. Looking out over that scenery, and seeing my daughter fascinated by nature, I felt stupid about my morning complaints.

Yes, camping is uncomfortable. And yes, there’s a lot to be said for getting out a credit card,reserving a room in a nice hotel, and going out for a fancy meal. But there’s also something wonderful about being so close to raw nature. And , as important, there’s something vital about getting young children out of their increasingly modern comfort zones and forcing them to meet the world around them.

1..According to the passage, what contributed to the author’s sleeplessness ?

  ①the cold weather        ②his crying children           ③fear of bears            

④sounds of bears     ⑤the aches of his lower back       ⑥his own complaints

A. ①④⑥         B. ①②③           C. ②④⑤       D. ②③⑤

2..Which of the following maps correctly shows the places ?

3..The underlined word “colors” in Paragraph 4 refers to ______ .

  A.blue, white, gray and pink          B.white, yellow, gray and pink

C.white, green ,gray and pink         D.blue, green,white and gray

4..How did the author’s feeling change from the beginning to the end ?

  A.Calm→Satisfied.        B.Excited→Frustrated.

C.Sad→Calm.          D.Regretful→Satisfied.

5..Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage ?

  A.Nature is the glass reflecting truth.

B.Nature is the best scenery designer.

C.The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

D.A bad beginning makes a bad ending.