Like many men at some point, I dream about opening a bar. I plan to call it Work Out. It will cater to married women in need of a little fun. On Friday nights, they will be able to come here and enjoy themselves.
See, I have a gift for business. I am, as my wife Zsa Zsa likes to note, “A man with a million ideas, none of them very good.” Speaking of Zsa Zsa, she is fed up with this plain little life I’ve made for us——too many kids, too many chores, mind – numbing debt. The other day, she said she thought we needed a new family car. “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?” I said, and saw my dear Zsa Zsa age about 20 years, and become her mother right before my eyes.
Yes, money is our madness. Last year, we thought we had found a little cushion when I published a book about the life here in suburban America. It sold 12 copies——six of them to my mother. Four other copies went to various aunts and uncles, who used them for martini coasters (杯垫), then sold them at yard sales. The two remaining copies went to perfect strangers. (I think I owe you dinner, whoever you are. Call me, OK? We’ll arrange something.)
When the book didn’t take off, I wrote a TV show. Then I penned a short novel based on the earlier TV idea that didn’t sell. Currently, I am at work on a set of encyclopedias(百科全书). In a month, I plan to sell them door – to – door.
Such is the life of a writer, sending off the most personal thoughts possible to his hard drive. I am a writer, but also the breadwinner in my family. I’m at the keyboard at 6 almost every morning, hoping to tap out one idea——just one——that will take us up the hill, to the mountain, to the top.
【小题1】According to the passage, the author is leading a/an         life.

A．enjoyable

B．wealthy

C．hard

D．comfortable

【小题2】By saying “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?”, the author          .

A．promised it to his wife	B．was showing off their fortune
C．thought his wife would like it	D．was just joking

【小题3】What was the result of the book the author mentioned in the 3rd paragraph?

A．It didn’t sell well at all.

B．He sold it door – to – door.

C．He made a lot of money from it.

D．It was really a cushion for his family.

【小题4】What does the underlined word “cushion” mean ?

A．Comfortable seat.

B．Financial help.

C．Unexpected success.

D．Best-selling book.

【小题5】From the account above, which of the following statements is true?

A．He has a real gift for business.

B．He isn’t serious enough about life.

C．He is a hard – working writer.

D．His wife is satisfied with their plain life.

These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板电脑) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.

And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.

And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."

I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.

Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend.

1.When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.

A. you are travelling through time            B. you are thought to be out of date

C. you will find everything wrong            D. you have got to buy a new one

2.Throwing away so much electronic rubbish makes the writer feel quite _____.

A. lost and upset    B. unbelievably fast

C. broken or lost     D. regularly wasteful

3.The example of the businessman implies that____.

A. the businessman mastered the latest technology   

B. mobile phones used to be quite big just years ago

C. the businessman was a very ridiculous person     

D. the writer failed to follow modern technology

4.The passage is organized in the pattern of ____.

A. time and events    B. comparison and contrast   

C. cause and effect      D. examples and analysis

5.Which of the following is conveyed in the passage?

A. The fast pace of change brings us no good.     

B. We have to keep up with new technology.

C. Household items should be upgraded quickly.   

D. We should hold on for new technology to last.

 

第四部分：写作（共两节，满分40分）

第一节基础写作（共1小题，满分15分）

假设有一些外宾要来你的家乡参观，村子要求你在欢迎仪式上介绍家乡发生的巨大变化。请你按以下要求写一篇发言稿。

[写作内容]

我的家乡发生了巨大的变化：

修建了“村村通”乡村公路，运输农产品到全国各地很方便；

取消了“农业税”，人均年收入达3000多元；

基本上每家都装上了电话，还有安装因特网的；

适龄儿童免费接受九年义务教育。

[写作要求]

只能使用5个句子介绍所给的全部内容；

开头和结尾已经给出，但不计入必写的5个句子内。

参考词汇：取消: cancel   农业税: agricultural tax   

义务教育:compulsory education

[评分标准]           句子结构准确，信息内容完整，篇章结构连贯。

The Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to our village!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Such is the introduction of our village.

Thank you!

      

根据短文内容，从短文后的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 following is a father’s advice to his son\daughter, who has just graduated from high school:
First of all, congratulations on your graduation! Graduation from high school means that a new stage of life is ahead of you.  【小题1】 
Clean your own room and do your own laundry.  【小题2】   Cleanliness is indeed close to godliness（神圣的）.
Don’t mistake knowledge for wisdom. No matter how much information or knowledge you have accumulated（积累）, you’ll never make sound judgments if you don’t have wisdom.  【小题3】  
If you can imagine the possible future outcomes of your present decisions and actions, you can avoid mistakes. And if you can reflect（思考）on the mistakes you have made, you can avoid making the same mistakes again and again. Such is wisdom.
Don’t complain. When you take up a job, do your best to carry it out.  【小题4】 
Finally, be an early bird.   【小题5】   And the sight of the rising sun will warm your heart and give you energy for the day ahead. Besides, being an early bird, you have plenty of time to take exercise or do a lot of work.

A．After you have messed up something, you should learn to clean it up yourself.

B．If you get up earlier than the sun, you can watch it rise up slowly into the sky.

C．Once you started a job, you should try your best to do it well.

D．Don’t waste time complaining about it, no matter how difficult and boring it is.

E．At the beginning of this new stage, I have some advice for you.
F．Get up early and go for some morning exercises to build up your body.
G．Wisdom comes from imagination and reflection

短文改错（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改仅限一词。

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

My mother is a village woman, already in her fifty. She has little school education, and she knows that knowledge is very important to young people. She often asked me how I am getting along my studies. She does everything she can for me, so that I can spend more time study.

Once my mother was ill and stayed in the bed for several day. When I got home at night, I found the light was still off and she was making new clothes for me! I was deeply moved that tears came to my eyes. Such is her mother, a kind and hard-working woman. And I will respect and love her forever.