Human beings are the most intelligent of all animals because we are gifted with the ability to think and reason logically. Scientists and even common people with special intelligence have made a lot of inventions and contributions to modern lifestyle in the past. “Houses” have been the most popular area for discoveries and inventions in the past and even now.
Many household items have been the result of inventions of people who desired better functioning of the existent products. Every individual has intelligence and if it is used properly for the right purpose it leads to invention of a new tool or device. Many new household inventions are made almost every day and there are specific companies, which particularly keep a record of all these inventions.
A lot of inventions have been made recently in the household field. These products are patented(專利的)and have trade mark licenses(許可). The patented sliding cinch is a very simple but effective method to prevent shoulder stress and injury for those who work before computers all day long. Vanity PC is a type of computer furniture that specifically hides all the computer wires and keeps a clean and good look. All the outdoor dust, mud and snow can be kept out of the house by installing(安裝)the dirt drain(排水管)at the entrance of the door. Another important invention is the automatic toilet night-light, in which a small light starts when the lid of the toilet seat is opened and closes as soon as the lid is closed.
These are some of the new household inventions invented mostly by common people. Thus, a variety of new household items are invented every day, which helps in a better functioning of household chores and in a more useful manner.
小題1:The first paragraph tells us the importance of _________.

A．the particular changes in houses

B．human beings’ role in making inventions

C．the advantages of modern lifestyle

D．the difference between human beings and animals

小題2:What plays the most important role in causing people to invent new things?

A．To earn more money and gain awards.

B．To be recorded by some special companies.

C．To improve the present living conditions.

D．To meet the new demands of new science.

小題3:It can be inferred that the sliding cinch is used to _________.

A．prevent your shoulder from being over-pressured

B．keep your shoulder safe and sound when you are in an accident or an operation

C．help you practice your shoulder more often and reduce shoulder pains

D．cover your shoulder and make it stronger to resist the outside strike

小題4:Common people can also make good inventions because __________.

A．wisdom and inspiration sometimes come from everyday life

B．some inventions are easy to be made and can be mastered by common people

C．common people have a strong desire to do something for science research

D．success is often connected with hardship and bitter experience of common people

小題5:The passage is mainly talking about _________.

A．the correct use of household facilities

B．different ideas about household inventions

C．the history of household inventions

D．household inventions and their influence

Some people have very good memory（記憶力） and they can easily remember quite long texts. There are other people who can only remember things when they have said them again and again. The famous English writer Charles Dickens said that he could walk down any long street in London and then tell you the name of every shop he had passed. Many great men of the world have a wonderful memory.
A good memory is greatly helpful in learning a language. Everybody learns his own language by remembering what he hears when he is a small child, and some children, like the boys and girls who live abroad(國外) with their parents, seem to learn two languages almost as easily as one. In school it is not so easy to learn a second language because the students have so little time for it, and they are very busy with other subjects too.
A man’s mind is like a camera, but it takes photos not only of what we see but also of what we feel, hear, smell and taste. When we take a real photo with a camera, Some people have very good memory（記憶力） and they can easily remember quite long texts.In the same way, there is much work to be done before we can keep a picture forever(永遠(yuǎn)) in our minds.
Memory is a diary, and we all carry it about us. We keep things we have experienced (經(jīng)歷)in this diary.
小題1:Which of the following is true?

A．Charles Dickens had a good memory because he was a famous writer.

B．People without a good memory cannot be great men of the world.

C．People became great because they have a good memory.

D．Many people may never become great though they have a good memory.

小題2:To learn a language well, one must ________.

A．live abroad	B．write it every day
C．often hear it	D．go to school

小題3:The writer thinks a camera in one’s mind can take photos of ______.

A．what we see

B．what we feel and hear

C．what we smell and taste

D．what we see, feel, hear, smell and taste

小題4:If you have a good memory, ________.

A．you can learn a second language easily

B．you can remember things for ever easily

C．you can learn your own language easily

D．you can remember things better

小題5:Which of the following is true?

A．We all keep a diary in our mind.

B．One has to do a lot of work before he can keep a picture in his mind forever.

C．A person with a good memory can remember things forever.

D．A good memory helps to remember everything forever.

Do you still get free plastic bags（塑料袋） from the supermarket（超市）? Things will change soon.
To protect(保護(hù)) the environment, supermarkets in China will stop providing (提供) free plastic bags after June 1st. If you don't want to pay money to buy them, you'll have to bring your own shopping bag.
What kind of bags will be the best to bring? Students in Kunming Xinying Middle School have some good ideas.
Recently 54 students of the school held an activity in which they made their own environmentally-friendly shopping bags.
Most students used old clothes to make their bags. They painted pictures like the Olympic rings on them.
But Wang Shuncheng, a Junior 2 boy, chose a different material (材料). He made his bag with old newspaper. Is a newspaper bag strong enough to hold shopping? Wang says it is, "No problem. I put six bottles of water in the bag," he said. "It's strong enough!"
Chen Lisi, a girl, had a more traditional way to make her bag – she weaved (編織) a bamboo basket. It was not an easy job. With her grandfather's help, Chen spent a whole afternoon making it. She also weaved wool (毛線) flowers on the basket.
Making bags was not all the students did. They had another job: to persuade their parents and relatives to use environmentally-friendly shopping bags instead of plastic ones. The school will show the bags so that shops and stores can get inspiration (靈感) from the students' work.
小題1:On June 2nd, if you don’t bring a shopping bag, ________ in the market.

A．you can get free plastic bags

B．you’ll have to pay for the plastic bags

C．you can’t buy anything

D．you can’t use plastic bags

小題2:From the passage, we can infer(推測) that ___________.

A．Plastic bags will not come into our life any more.

B．When you go shopping after June 2nd, you have to bring a shopping bag.

C．Plastic bags are bad for the environment.

D．No one will use plastic bags after June 2nd.

小題3:What does “persuade” in the last paragraph mean?

A．勸說

B．阻止

C．保證

D．反對

小題4:Supermarkets in China stop providing plastic bags because _________.

A．they want to save money

B．markets want to make more money

C．plastic bags are very expensive

D．they want to protect the environment

小題5:Which of the following is not right from the passage?

A．People may use other material to make shopping bags.

B．The students’ work may bring inspiration to the supermarkets.

C．You can’t use plastic bags in supermarkets any more after June 1st.

D．The newspaper bag made by Wang Shuncheng seems strong.

FRANCE has destroyed the hopes of those who had planned to take refuge（避難）in one of the few places on Earth which some believe will be spared when the world ends on December 21 ．Local officials banned access to the Pic de Bugarach，a mountain in the southwest where rumor has it that the hilltop will open on the last day and aliens will appear with spaceships to save nearby humans.
Eric Freysselinard，the state’s top representative in the area，said he was blocking access to the mountain for public safety reasons to avoid a rush of New Age fanatics(盲信者），sight-seers and media crews. Believers say the world will end on December 21，2012，the end date of the ancient Mayan calendar，and they see Bugarach as one of a few sacred mountains sheltered from the cataclysm(大災(zāi)難）．
Mr Freysselinard said the 100 police and firefighters will also control approaches to the tiny village of the same name at the foot of the mountain，and if too many people turn up，they will block access there too.“We are expecting a few people who believe in this end of the world，but in extremely limited numbers，” he said in the. nearby city of Carcassonne.“We are expecting greater numbers of people who are just curious，but in numbers we cannot determine. Above all，we are expecting lots of journalists，”he said.
Films，documentaries and websites have promoted the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that doomsday is on December 21．The culture ministry in Guatemala-where half the population are of Mayan descent-is hosting a massive event in the capital just in case the world actually does end，while tour groups are promoting doomsday-themed getaways.
小題1:Many people plan to go to Pic de Bugarach mainly because      ．

A．they want to take refuge on December 21，2012

B．they want to meet aliens with spaceships to save humans

C．they want to visit the scenery of the mountain

D．they want to make profits by attracting tourists

小題2:Eric Freysselinard was blocking access to the mountain for      ．

A．forbidding the rumour spreading	B．improving environmental protection
C．protecting public safety	D．a(chǎn)voiding destroying natural sources

小題3:What kinds of people would come to Pic de Bugarach？
a. Tourists. b. Journalists. c. Local officials. d. Visionaries. e. The Mayans.

A．a(chǎn). b. e.

B．a(chǎn). b. c.

C．a(chǎn). b. d.

D．b. d. e.

小題4:Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．The World Ends on December 21	B．The Ancient Mayan Calendar Ends
C．A Massive Event in The Capital	D．French Say‘No’to The Refugee

I’m Monty Don. Though I’m a host and writer now, I had an unhappy study experience actually. I changed   36  many times.
I first went to school at five. None of my teachers or classmates liked me because I always gave them a lot of trouble. I once put a worm in a girl’s pocket. When I was seven, I was asked to
  37  the school. Then I was sent off to a boarding school. I missed my   38  very much at first; I didn’t want to leave once I returned home. Later I met a very   39  teacher, who cared for me and helped me with my study. He was also the first person to encourage me to act and write. At 13, I moved to Malvern College, but I was kicked out at 15 for   40  school rules. Then I went to another school where I failed my English A level. In fact, I didn’t like studying.
I finally   41  that life shouldn’t be like this. So I retook the exam and got an A grade. And more   42 , I made a decision: to go to college, so I began to   43  for the entrance exam. I finally passed the exam and went to Cambridge to read English. I met my wife there and I was
  44  I made that decision, otherwise I wouldn’t have had a happy family. Looking back on what I’ve   45 , I come to know that if you devote yourself to it, nothing is impossible.

小題1:	A．subjects B．schools C．jobs D．goals

小題2:	A．leave B．join C．visit D．describe

小題3:	A．friend B．class C．teacher D．family

小題4:	A．rude B．terrible C．good D．hard

小題5:	A．breaking B．changing C．keeping D．following

小題6:	A．guessed B．wondered C．remembered D．realized

小題7:	A．painfully B．briefly C．importantly D．frequently

小題8:	A．prepare B．call C．wait D．hope

小題9:	A．foolish B．proud C．glad D．a(chǎn)fraid

小題10:

A．written B．experienced C．dreamed D．concerned

Gary is teaching his students to play a game called “Word House” in the English class. Here is the way to play the game:
1. Get some pieces of paper that are cut into squares. Each Square is for writing one letter only.
2. Write a letter on one square. For example, write “i.”
3. Next, take another two squares. Make a two-letter word which contains the letter you have written, for example, “in” or “hi.” Put the new word (written on the two squares) below the first square.
4. Then make a three-letter word which contains the two letters you have written.Again, put the new word on the next line.
5. Keep making new words in the same way to build a “word house.” The person who builds the highest word house in twenty minutes wins the game.
小題1: What does a “word house” look like?

小題2:Which is true about the game?

A．It is about spelling.

B．It is a computer game.

C．There have to be five people in the game.

D．Students have to write four words in twenty minutes.

小題3:Which of the following is the right order of playing the game?
a. cut the paper into squares           
b. make a three-letter word which contains the two letters you’ve written
c. write a letter on one square
d. keep making new words in the same way
e. make a two-letter word and put it below the first square

A．a(chǎn)-b-c-d-e

B．a(chǎn)-c-e-b-d

C．d -c-e-b-a

D．e-b-c-d-a

Apple has entered the textbook market. The tech giant（科技巨頭） introduced iBooks textbooks a couple of weeks ago when it announced its iBooks 2 platform. They are digital books in many subjects taking in science, maths, history and geography.
Apple developed its iPad-based textbooks in conjunction with（連接）major textbook publishers. The company offers a collection of textbooks for high school students.
Apple says it offers a “new textbook experience” and suggests its iBooks textbooks are “the next chapter in learning”. It sounds like good news for pupils and students. Think of it. No more carrying heavy backpacks full of textbooks. Every textbook you require can be stored on your iPad. No more having to buy expensive textbooks which you will only use for a year or two and then sell or give away.
Of course there’s a catch. You need to own an iPad and as you know, it is not cheap. You also need to buy digital textbooks, mostly priced each at $14.99 (94.74 yuan) or less. Textbook publishing was worth $ 8.7 billion in the US alone last year. And the rest, as they say, is history. Will Apple revolutionize learning? Will digital books take over completely in education? That remains to be seen.
小題1:What is the best title of the text?

A．Apple Enters New Market

B．A Different Way of Learning

C．Experience Digital Texbooks

D．Say Good-bye to Tradition

小題2:iBooks textbooks will do good to pupils and students because ________.

A．they are free to get	B．they are easy to carry
C．they are ipad-based	D．they are favorite gifts

小題3:The underlined words “a catch” in Paragraph 4 are closest in meaning to “________.”

A．a(chǎn)n advantage	B．a(chǎn) surprise
C．a(chǎn) problem	D．a(chǎn)n order

小題4:What can we know from that last paragraph?

A．iPad-based textbooks have changed our learning.

B．Traditional textbooks will be replaced sooner or later.

C．Apple has earned a lot from the textbook market.

D．Digital books have disadvantages and advantages.

Writer and teacher Yin Jianli's stories and thoughts about bringing up her daughter
Yuanyuan have been a constant source of inspiration for parents over the past 16 years.
Her book,  A Good Mother Exceeds Good  Teachers,  published  by  Writers Publishing House, has been a bestseller on Dangdang and Amazon's online platforms
for the past three years.  The book helped Yin make the Chinese Writers' Rich List, with 4. 48 million yuan（＄710，000).
Experts say Yin's book provides practical guidance, which makes it popular among parents.
"When the majority of books are either full of bragging about（自吹自擂）the authors' children or outlining big theories that have no foundation in practice, I write books that are practical and easy to follow," Yin writes.
"For example, there was an occasion when Yuanyuan forgot to do her elementary school homework.  In such a situation many Chinese parents show their anger and scold their kids,”says Yin, who made an agreement with her husband they would not overly criticize or push their daughter.  Instead, Yin encouraged the daughter to make up the homework, which meant staying up until midnight.  As a result,  she learned to arrange her time better and did not have a harmful reaction to doing homework.  Yin's principle of "no parental interference（干涉），and "giving children the opportunity to learn from their mistakes" is described in a number of real-life examples.
Readers say Yin's books improve their children's performance at school,  and encourage them to develop good personalities and habits.  They believe her books are not only about being good parents but also about growing as parents and individuals.
"When I'm reading books，I keep thinking about what a better personality I would have if my parents had adopted the methods Yin suggests when I was a kid，＂one reader comments in a review on Yin's online blog.
小題1:The book“A Good Mother Exceeds Good Teachers" has been so popular because______.

A． it covers many inspiring thoughts about bringing up children

B． it outlines big theories from home and abroad

C． it provides practical guidance for parents

D． it sells at a great discount

小題2:We can learn from the text that Yin Jianli_______．

A． advocates learning from mistakes

B． makes a good living only by writing books

C． holds the view that saving your stick spoils your kid

D． believes successful education calls for joint efforts from school and family

小題3:It can be implied from the text that________.

A． Yin's readers are mostly parents

B． The book is only available online

C． Yin has a great sense of business

D． Yuanyuan achieved success thanks to her mother

That morning, I stepped into the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with seventy-five students who would be my English Literature class. Having taught in  1 for seventeen years, I had no  2  about my ability to hold their attention and to  3  on them my admiration for the literature of my mother tongue.
I was shocked when the monitor shouted, "  4  !" The entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat  5  about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness was over, I quickly  6  my calmness and began what I thought was a fact-packed lecture, sure to gain their respect—perhaps  7  their admiration. I went back to my office with the rosy glow which came from a sense of achievement.
My students  8  diaries. However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually  9  by a strong sense of sadness. The first diary said, "Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today.  10  her next lecture will be better." Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a  11  theme. "Didn’t I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework of Western thought and laid the historical  12  for all the works we’ll study in class," I complained." How _13  they say I didn’t teach them anything?"
It was a long term, and it  14  became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as_15 of my students. I thought a teacher’s job was to raise   16  questions and provide enough background so that students could  17 their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide _18_ information as directly and clearly as possible. What a difference!
_19 , I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a  20  American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.

小題1:	A．the UK B．the US C．China D．Australia

小題2:	A．worry B．idea C．doubt D．experience

小題3:	A．impress B．put C．leave D．fix

小題4:	A．Attention B．Look out C．At ease D．Stand up

小題5:	A．puzzled B．sure C．curious D．worried

小題6:	A．found B．returned C．regained D．followed

小題7:	A．more B．even C．yet D．still

小題8:	A．passed B．borrowed C．read D．kept

小題9:	A．replaced B．taken C．caught D．moved

小題10:

A．Naturally B．Perhaps C．Fortunately D．Reasonably

小題11:

A．different B．strong C．similar D．usual

小題12:

A．happenings B．characters C．development D．background

小題13:

A．should B．need C．will D．must

小題14:

A．immediately B．certainly C．simply D．gradually

小題15:

A．that B．what C．those D．ones

小題16:

A．difficult B．interesting C．ordinary D．unusual

小題17:

A．draw B．look C．search D．offer

小題18:

A．strange B．standard C．exact D．serious

小題19:

A．Therefore B．However C．Besides D．Though

小題20:

A．normal B．happy C．good D．better

One of the world's richest men has taken a close interest in one of man’s most basic functions: visiting the toilet．Bill Gates’s charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is looking for inventors to design the loo of the future, which, they hope, would improve sanitation for millions of people around the world．
So, what's wrong with the traditional flush toilet? Firstly, it wastes a huge amount of potential drinking water．Secondly, they are more likely to cause pollution．This is a real problem in many areas of the developing world, where, according to United Nations estimates, unsafe sanitation causes half of all hospitalizations．Younger people are particularly at risk．Illnesses which cause diarrhea are responsible for the deaths of about 1.5 million children a year．Finally, standard lavatories simply aren’t practical in remote areas．
The challenge set by Bill Gates was to come up with a latrine which works without running water, electricity or aseptic tank(化糞池)．It also needed to operate for less than 5 cents．28 designs were displayed at the recent Reinvent the Toilet Fair in Seattle, USA．Among them was one which turned human waste into electricity using microwaves, another which converted human waste into charcoal, and yet another which used urine for flushing．
But the winner was a solar-powered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity.The team from the California Institute of Technology（CIT）picked up a prize of $ 100,000.
But clearly Bill Gates doesn’t feel he’s flushing money down the toilet．After the Seattle event he said, “We, couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve gotten,” Gates has even pledged $370m more to the future toilet project．They hope to field test more prototypes over the next three years．
小題1:Why is Bill Gates paying people to invent new toilets?

A．Because he wants to test people’s sense of creativity．

B．Because he wants to improve sanitation for many people．

C．Because he thinks the traditional ones are out of fashion．

D．Because he can’t design this kind of things himself．

小題2:Which of the following is NOT a problem with the traditional flush toilet?

A．They waste too much water．

B．They might cause diseases．

C．They are not always practical．

D．They are too complicated to use.

小題3:The underlined word “l(fā)atrine” in the third paragraph might have similar meanings to the word “__ ”n the text．

A．Loo

B．sanitation

C．diarrhea

D．prototype

小題4:The team from CIT won the prize because their design        .

A．can change human waste into electricity

B．can turn human waste into charcoal

C．can produce power with solar energy

D．can use urine for flushing

小題5:If someone “flush money down the toilet”, they are       .

A．showing off their wealth

B．being angry with their work onditions

C．wasting money for nothing

D．expressing their great determination