It was Tom as well as two of his classmates that _______ invited to the party.

A. was B. were C. has D. have

Mike apologized for _______ to inform her of the change in the working plan.

A. his being not able B. him not to be able C. his not being able D. him to be not able

—You've got a cold, not the H7N9! Everything will turn out OK.

—______! I have been worrying about it for days.

A. What a reliefB. That's for sure C. How surprising D. I'm sorry to hear that

My teenage son Karl refused to communicate with others after his father died. As a parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card during his junior year, it said that he had been 95 times from classes and had six grades for the year. At this rate he never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even him. Nothing worked.

One night I felt so that I got down on my knees and prayed for help. “Please God, I can’t do anything for my son. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm giving the whole thing up to you.”

I was at work when I got a phone call. A man himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absences.” he could say another word, I choked up and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came out into the ears of this stranger. “I love my son but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has . It’ s out of my hands.” For a moment there was on the other end of the line. The headmaster said, “Thank you for your time, ” and hung up.

Karl’s next report card showed a marked in his grades. Finally, he even made the honor roll. In his fourth year, I a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I . “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really me how much I was hurting you. That's I knew I had to make you proud.”

1.A. confident B. wise C. single D. busy

2.A. arrived B. finished C. returned D. proved

3.A. naughty B. troublesome C. absent D. present

4.A. failing B. satisfying C. disappointing D. surprising

5.A. must B. need C. would D. should

6.A. convinced B. forced C. persuaded D. begged

7.A. powerless B. useless C. homeless D. meaningless

8.A. better B. worse C. less D. more

9.A. described B. regarded C. introduced D. explained

10.A. Before B. When C. After D. While

11.A. speaking B. pouring C. running D. putting

12.A. continuedB. operated C. affected D. worked

13.A. silence B. anger C. sadness D. surprise

14.A. painfully B. happily C. seriously D. jokingly

15.A. progress B. advance C. improvement D. encouragement

16.A. attended B. joined C. arranged D. organized

17.A. concerned B. disturbed C. embarrassed D. astonished

18.A. shook B. nodded C. smiled D. replied

19.A. beat B. hit C. frightened D. confused

20.A. when B. how C. why D. where

He was the baby with no name. Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the rescue workers that they called him “our baby.” In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave, carved with the words: “To the memory of an unknown child.” He has rested there ever since.

But history has a way of uncovering its secrets. On Nov. 5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave. “This is our baby,” says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker. She grew up hearing stories about a great aunt named Maria Panula, 42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband. According to the information Mrs. Schleifer had gathered, Maria gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children -- including a 13-month-old boy named Eino, from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing. "We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer.

Now, using the teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the DNA from the unknown child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies. The result of the test points only to one possible person: young Eino. Now, the family sees no need for a new grave. "He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer. "They've taken care of him for 100 years."

1.The baby travelled on the Titanic with his_______.

A. mother B. parents C. aunt D. relatives

2.What is probably the boy's last name?

A. Schleiferi B. Eino. C. Magda. D. Panula.

3.Some members of the family went to Halifax and put flowers at the child's grave on Nov. 5 _______.

A. 1912 B. 1954 C. 2012 D. 2004

4.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word recover?

A. uncover B. find C. bury D. gather

5.This text is mainly about how______________.

A. the unknown baby's body was taken from the north Atlantic

B. the unknown baby was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia

C. people found out who the unknown baby was

D. people took care of the unknown baby for 100 years

Want to travel as cheaply as possible while enjoying the great scenery as much as you like?

Backpacking is the way. As the most popular traveling choice among young western people, backpacking allows you to travel at your own free will. Carrying a tent, sleeping bag and clothes, backpackers also need to pack an attitude that will help them deal with many mental and physical challenges.

It is a thrill to put our ability to test and challenge ourselves with sorts of difficulties we might come across. So, backpacking is something young people can hardly deny.

Young people in Europe often travel around by train. Now, with plane tickets dropping in price, more are traveling to distant countries, such as Australia and China. And some just travel within their own countries.

But no matter where a backpacker travels, planning in advance is important if he or she wants to enjoy the trip.

Clothing

In summer, light, waterproof clothes are best. Backpackers must remember to travel lightly and not pack too many clothes.

Medicine

There are many medicines, especially for summer, such as those for sunstroke, snake bites and mosquitoes. Others are useful in every season, such as those for common colds, poisoning and diarrhea.

Cards

Three types of cards are of great value for backpacks: student Identity Card, personal ID and a credit card.

A student ID card can be helpful for saving money. It often gets train tickets and entrance tickets for cheaper prices in many Western countries.

Personal ID card can, not only get you out of trouble with local police, but also prove useful in all sorts of other situations.

Carrying a credit card can be a safe way of carrying money, as cash can easily get lost, stolen or wet.

And of course, don’t forget to enjoy your trip!

1.What does the underlined sentence mean?

A. Backpackers also need to be in high spirits when they want to travel.

B. Backpackers may also face dangerous situations.

C. Backpackers also need to talk with doctors about their traveling.

D. Backpackers need to make preparation for many kinds of difficulty in advance.

2.What does the underlined word “waterproof” mean?

A. Easy to wash.B. Not letting water go through. C. Washed without water.D. Used in water.

3.If you are stopped by a policeman in the street, you should show ______ to the police.

A. your student IDB. your credit card C. your personal IDD. your passport

4.What is of most advantage to backpackers?

A. They can travel very easily.

B. They won’t worry about where to live.

C. They can have the chance to take some adventures.

D. They can take some physical exercise.

5.What is the author’s purpose to write this passage?

A. To give some ideas about traveling.

B. To encourage the young to travel.

C. To tell people how to avoid something unpleasant.

D. To offer some useful advice for traveling.

In the kitchen of my mother's houses there has always been a wooden stand with a small notepad and a hole for a pencil.

I’m looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother. Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did. Surely it can't be the same pencil. The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely the original one.

“I'm just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these years.” I say to her, walking back into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil. “You still use a pencil. Can’t you afford a pen?”

My mother replies a little sharply. “It works perfectly well. I've always kept the stand in the kitchen. I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen these days. ”

Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently. My mother smiles and says, “One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. One of the children must have taken the paper. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on.”

This story—which happened before I was born—reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is also a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work. Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards. Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics. Those symbols have traveled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible exhibits at every meal.

1.Why has the author's mother always kept the notepad and pencil in the kitchen?

A. To leave messages.

B. To list her everyday tasks.

C. To note down maths problems.

D. To write down a flash of inspiration（靈感）.

2.What is the author's original opinion about the wooden stand?

A. It has great value for the family.

B. It needs to be replaced by a better one.

C. It brings her back to her lonely childhood.

D. It should be passed on to the next generation.

3.The author feels embarrassed for ______.

A. blaming her mother wrongly

B. giving her mother a lot of trouble

C. not making good use of time as her mother did

D. not making any breakthrough in her field

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A. The mother is successful in her career.

B. The family members like traveling.

C. The author had little time to play when young.

D. The marks on the breadboard have disappeared.

5.In the author's mind, her mother is ______.

A. strange in behavior

B. enthusiastic about her research

C. fond of collecting old things

D. careless about her appearance

If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.?

The study also found the younger people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.

A team led by Dr Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.

Scans showed that grey matter density(密度)in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.?

“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists.?

It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.?

Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible(靈活的),”he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”

The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and 34. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.

1.The main subject talked about in this passage is ______.

A. science on learning a second language

B. language can help brain power

C. man's ability of learning a second language

D. language learning and maths study

2.In the second paragraph, the writer mentions “exercise” in order to ______.

A. make people believe language learning helps grey matter work well

B. prove that one needs more practice when he (she) is learning a language

C. to show the importance of using the language when you learn the language

D. say language is also a kind of physical labor

3.The underlined word “bilingual” probably means ______.

A. a researcher on language learning

B. an English native speaker

C. an active language learner

D. a person who can speak two languages

4.We may know from the scientific findings that ______.

A. the ability of learning a second language is changing all the time

B. there is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn't know a second language

C. the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people's brain

D. the earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is

5.In the last two paragraphs, the author wants to tell us that ______.

A. early learning of a second language helps you a great deal in studying other subjects

B. learning a second language is the same as studying maths

C. Italian is the best choice for you as a second language

D. you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language

單詞拼寫（共10小題；每小題1分，滿分10分）

1.Xiaoshi High School, f______ in 1912, is home to a number of great figures.

2.Helen Keller lost her sense of sight and h______ before she could learn how to speak.

3.It isn’t c______ to talk with you at the moment; I’m in the middle of a meeting.

4.Luckily two passers-by came to her a______ when they saw her trapped in the car.

5.Mary felt in her bag for the key, but it was n______ to be found.

6.All her spare time is fully o______ with her three children.

7.In the past, wood was one of the most important building m______ for houses.

8.Many people became homeless after the big fire d______ their houses.

9.By asking questions, Socrates made his students a______ of their own errors.

10.In the good care of the nurses, the patient is g______ recovering from the heart operation.

句子翻譯 (共5小題；每小題2分，滿分10分)

1.漢語和西方語言不同，區(qū)別在于它不使用字母，而是用漢字表示思想、物體和行為。

The Chinese language is different from Western languages ______ ______, instead of an alphabet, it uses characters which ______ ______ ideas, objects or deeds.

2.與我們的預(yù)計(jì)恰恰相反，這個系統(tǒng)太過復(fù)雜，并不實(shí)用。

______ ______ what we expected, the system was too difficult to ______ ______ ______ ______.

3.在日本對珍珠港進(jìn)行突襲后，美國總統(tǒng)對日宣戰(zhàn)。

After the Japanese ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ on Pearl Harbor, US President Franklin Roosevelt ______ ______ ______ Japan.

4.毫無疑問，這個地區(qū)要置于政府保護(hù)之下。

______ ______ ______ ______ that this area should be put ______ ______ ______.

5.他們沒能逃出這個城市, 這使得情況變得更糟了。

They ______ ______ ______ the city, which ______ ______ ______ ______ ______.