I always experienced guilt when I passed by without giving a coin or two to a beggar.

My conscience was pricked again on a tour of Venice in 2010. I had taken refuge from the crowds in a quiet canal-side café. Outside the café was an old woman kneeling on the ancient cobbled stones, begging. Steady streams of tourists were walking past her. A lone young back-packer stood away from the crowds drinking something, but I noticed he was also observing the woman.

A tourist group glanced at the woman and walked on. Another group of tourists arrived and, again, walked past her. The backpacker watched. Then, as I prepared to leave, I stopped at the sight of the backpacker stepping forward and placing some money in the woman’s cup. He did this rather ostentatiously（炫耀地）, just before the arrival of another tourist group. I watched as the leader of the group stopped and put some money in the cup. Having been shown the way, other tourists followed suit and added more coins to the woman’s cup.

The young backpacker repeated this process in front of the next tour party going past. Once again, the subtle peer （同伴）pressure worked on the tourists, who all added coins to the cup. His work done, the young man walked over to the old beggar woman, patted her shoulder and said, “I hope that helps a bit.”

I don’t know if the woman understood his English or realized what had just happened, but I did. I placed some money in the woman’s cup and continued my travels, light-hearted after witnessing such an act of caring.

1.The backpacker placed some money in the woman’s cup rather ostentatiously because______.

A. he wanted to stop the tourists by doing this

B. he wanted people to know that he was rich and kind

C. he wanted to help the woman by himself

D. he wanted the tourist group to follow him

2.The author went to a quiet canal-side cafe to_______ .

A. avoid meeting the beggar

B. get away from the crowds

C. take a rest

D. watch the woman beggar

3.We can infer from the passage that ________ .

A. tourists can be cheated by beggars

B. people usually have pity on an old beggar

C. tourists are willing to help beggars

D. people can do kind acts due to peer pressure

4.Before the backpacker dropped some money in the woman’s cup, the tourists ______ .

A. all showed pity for the woman

B. didn’t notice the woman

C. walked by without giving any money

D. gave a little money to the woman

Technology is making life easier for some dairy farmers. They use robotic systems to milk their cows. Cows are trained to follow a series of paths that lead to milking stations. Only one cow at a time can enter a station.

Once inside，the cow is rewarded with food. As the cow eats，a robotic arm cleans and connects the animal to the milking machine. A few minutes later，milking is complete. The gate is opened，the cow is released and the next cow enters.

The robotic systems are designed to operate 24 hours a day. The cows get to decide when they want to be milked. Cows are milked an average of about three times a day. Some are milked four to six times a day.

The cows wear collars around their necks that identify them to the system. A computer keeps records on their eating and milking. A cow is released from the station if the computer decides it should not be milked.

The automated system also measures the temperature and color of freshly produced milk. Milk is thrown away if it does not pass the tests.

Professor Plaut believes the systems will appeal especially to the next generation of farmers. She means young people who are more interested in technology and less interested in working all the time on the farm. Still，she says the price of robotic milking systems will continue to limit their use.

Doug and Tina Suhr have more than 100 cows on their family farm. Last year it became the fourth farm in southeast Minnesota to get a robotic milking system. A recent story in a local agricultural newspaper said the first robot costs 175,000 dollars. The second costs 150,000 dollars.

Doug told AgriNews that wages that would have been paid for one employee in five years will pay for one robot. He says the increase in milk production reaches a high of more than six kilograms per cow per day.

1.According to Doug，what is the wage of an employee per year?

A．$150,000～$175,000. B．$150,000～$30,000.

C．$30,000～$35,000. D．over $75,000.

2.Besides milking cows，the robotic system also can ________.

A．judge the quality of fresh milk

B．keep fresh milk for two weeks

C．a(chǎn)djust the temperature of milking stations

D．improve the appetite of cows

3.Why is the robotic system not popular now?

A．Because it usually causes the waste of milk.

B．Because it is difficult to learn how to use it.

C．Because young people have no interest in it.

D．Because people can't afford to buy it.

4.From the first paragraph，we can infer ________.

A．cows can be raised by robots in the future

B．robots direct cows into milking stations

C．the robotic system is designed to reduce labor

D．cows are kept clean by robots on some farms

On a stormy day last August, Tim heard some shouting. Looking out to the sea carefully, he saw a couple of kids in a rowboat were being pulled out to sea.

Two 12-year-old boys, Christian and Jack, rowed out a boat to search a football. Once they’d rowed beyond the calm waters, a beach umbrella tied to the boat caught the wind and pulled the boat into open water. The pair panicked and tried to row back to shore. But they were no match for it and the boat was out of control.

Tim knew it would soon be swallowed by the waves.

“Everything went quiet in my head,” Tim recalls（回憶）. “I’m trying to figure out how to swim to the boys in a straight line.”

Tim took off his clothes and jumped into the water. Every 500 yards or so, he raised his head to judge his progress. “At one point, I considered turning back,” he says. “I wondered if I was putting my life at risk.” After 30 minutes of struggling, he was close enough to yell to the boys, “Take down the umbrella!”

Christian made much effort to take down the umbrella. Then Tim was able to catch up and climb aboard the boat. He took over rowing, but the waves were almost too strong for him.

“Let’s aim for the pier（碼頭）,” Jack said. Tim turned the boat toward it. Soon afterward, waves crashed over the boat, and it began to sink. “Can you guys swim?” he cried. “A little bit,” the boys said.

Once they were in the water, Tim decided it would be safer and faster for him to pull the boys toward the pier. Christian and Jack were wearing life jackets and floated on their backs. Tim swam toward land as water washed over the boys’ faces.

“Are we almost there?” they asked again and again. “Yes,” Tim told them each time.

After 30 minutes, they reached the pier.

1.Why did the two boys go to the sea?

A. To go boat rowing.

B. To get back their football.

C. To swim in the open water.

D. To test the umbrella as a sail.

2.What does “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. The beach B. The water

C. The boat D. The wind

3.Why did Tim raise his head regularly?

A. To take in enough fresh air.

B. To consider turning back or not.

C. To check his distance from the boys.

D. To ask the boys to take down the umbrella.

4.How can the two boys finally reach the pier?

A. They were dragged to the pier by Tim.

B. They swam to the pier all by themselves.

C. They were washed to the pier by the waves.

D. They were carried to the pier by Tim on his back.

If you are heading for Paris this year, be sure to include at least one of these shopping malls in your schedule.

Au Printemps

Tel: 01133014282

Located near the Paris Opera, this huge store is well-known for household goods as well as its fashion. The store also offers many services to overseas visitors, including shipping, translation and a personal shopping service. Au Printemps, whose name means springtime, hosts several free fashion shows each week. The store’s beauty department has one of the world’s largest selections of perfumes（香水）.

Galeries Lafayette

Tel: 01133014283

The Galeries Lafayette was built in 1906. It is as much fun to look at as it is to shop in this 10-storey shopping palace. In fact, the flagship store is the second most visited attraction in Paris, after the Louvre Museum. This shopping palace specializes in women’s clothing. Make sure to take in the view from the tea shop on the top floor; it’s well worth the visit.

Le Bon Marche

Tel: 01133014439

This stylish Left Bank department store was Paris’ first such store. Designed by Gustave Eiffel, Le Bon Marche is particularly known for its food hall, its wedding shops and its selection of modern clothes.

La Forum des Halles

Tel: 01133014476

This modern, underground shopping center was built in 1979. La Forum des Halles, the three-storey-tall shopping center offers everything from souvenirs to haute couture（高級女子時(shí)裝）to entertainment, such as first-run movies and street performers. The shopping center is attached to the busy La Halle-Chatelet metro station and can be easily reached from all over Paris.

1.Which of the following places attracts the most visitors according to the passage?

A. Au Printemps. B. The Paris Opera.

C. La Forum des Halles. D. The Louvre Museum.

2.Which of the stores pays its special attention to women’s dressing?

A. Le Bon Marche. B. Galeries Lafayette.

C. La Forum des Halles. D. Au Printemps.

3.We can learn from the passage that ___________________.

A. La Forum des Halles is next to the metro station

B. Au Printemps is famous for its food hall

C. the clothes in Le Bon Marche are usually very cheap

D. the tea shop that is worth visiting is on the ninth floor of Galeries Lafayette

Black has long been praised for its ability to better women’s figures and suit every occasion. But the color has a side-effect—it ages the face.

While black does give the appearance of a slimmer figure by making the shadows less visible, wearing it next to the face brings out a negative effect. Black clothing can highlight （突出） dark lines under the chin, shadows around the eyes and wrinkles on the face. The effect can be as serious as making women feel exhausted, self-conscious and upset. Wrinkles and sunken areas appear deeper and more pronounced, meaning the effect is more obvious in older women.

Dark scarves, hats and high-collared coats are apparently particularly likely to emphasize aging features of the face. But fear not. The effect can be tempered by a splash of color around the neck—in the form of a scarf or a piece of jewelry—or a low neckline.

Famous actress Joan Collins is among the few who can get away with the side-effect. But those who should consider changing their dresses include many European stars. The majority of women who have what is known as a “warm” skin tone, based on yellow and gold colors, will not look young and healthy with black against their faces. Warm skins do not match well with black against their faces as it takes away all the golden glow that they have as a basic skin tone. Black looks for dark things on the face and highlights them, particularly as women age.

The good news for those who like black dress is that a simple test can help determine whether they can wear black well: Hold the color up against your face, stand in front of the mirror and look for dark lines under the chin, shadows around the eyes or lines on the face that are highlighted. If there are no dark areas or shadows, you can probably wear black close to your face and look great. Otherwise, change your ways.

1.According to the passage, wearing black clothes probably ________________.

A. makes the wearer less energetic

B. gives away the wearer’s age

C. darkens the wearer’s skin tone

D. makes the wearer feel confident

2.The underlined word “tempered” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by _______________.

A. observed B. ignored C. weakened D. measured

3.We can infer from the passage that _______________.

A. high-collared coats are not suitable for warm-skinned women

B. a woman from eastern Asia may not look young with black against her face

C. men with deep wrinkles would look unhealthy in black

D. Joan Collins has a warm skin tone

4.The black dress will be probably suitable for you on condition that there are no ___________.

A. wrinkles on your face

B. dark circles around your eyes

C. sunken areas that are highlighted

D. dark areas or shadows on the face

It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.

In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the ‘decline of class’ and ‘classless society’ in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.

But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.

One unchanging aspect of a British person's class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded ‘educated’ and ‘soft’. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional（地區(qū)的）city accents. These accents were seen as ‘common’ and ‘ugly’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.

In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song ‘Common People’ puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may ‘want to live like common people' they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.

1.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.

A. it is time to end class distinction

B. most people belong to middle class

C. it is easy to recognize a person’s class

D. people regard themselves socially different

2.The word stratification in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.

A. variety B. division C. authority D. qualification

3.British attitudes towards accent _________.

A. have a long tradition

B. are based on regional status

C. are shared by the Americans

D. have changed in recent years

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The middle class is expanding

B. A person’s accent reflects his class

C. Class is a key part of British society

D. Each class has unique characteristics.

完形填空

閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。

We have been driving in fog all morning, but the fog is lifting now. The little seaside villages are , one by one. “There is my grandmother's house,” I say, across the bay to a shabby old house.

I am in Nova Scotia on a pilgrimage (朝圣) with Lisa, my granddaughter, seeking roots for her, retracing (追溯) memory for me. Lisa was one of the mobile children, from house to house in childhood. She longs for a sense of , and so we have come to Nova Scotia where my husband and I were born and where our ancestors for 200 years.

We soon by the house and I tell her what it was like here, the memories back, swift as the tide (潮水).

Suddenly, I long to walk again in the where I was once so gloriously a child. It still________a member of the family, but has not been lived in for a while. We cannot go into the house, but I can still walk the rooms in memory. Here, my mother________ in her bedroom window and wrote in her diary. I can still see the enthusiastic family ________ into and out of the house. I could never have enough of being ________them. However, that was long after those childhood days. Lisa ________ attentively as I talk and then says, “So this is where I ________ ; where I belong.”

She has ________ her roots. To know where I come from is one of the great longings of the human ________ . To be rooted is “to have an origin”. We need ________ origin. Looking backward, we discover what is unique in us; learn the ________ of “I”. We must all go home again—in reality or memory.

1.A. appearing B. moving C. exposing D. expanding

2.A. referring B. travelling C. pointing D. coming

3.A. shared B. short C. fresh D. treasured

4.A. passed B. raised C. moved D. sent

5.A. home B. duty C. reality D. relief

6.A. built B. lived C. remained D. explored

7.A. catch up B. pull up C. step down D. come down

8.A. falling B. turning C. rushing D. bringing

9.A. yard B. village C. room D. house

10.A. adapts to B. appeals to C. belongs to D. occurs to

11.A. across B. through C. along D. past

12.A. lay B. played C. stood D. sat

13.A. marching B. looking C. breaking D. pouring

14.A. between B. with C. near D. behind

15.A. wonders B. listens C. reacts D. agrees

16.A. began B. grew C. studied D. stayed

17.A. deepened B. recognized C. accepted D. found

18.A. heart B. rights C. interest D. behaviors

19.A. one B. its C. that D. every

20.A. meaning B. expression C. connection D. Background

語法填空

閱讀下面材料，在空白處填入適當(dāng)?shù)膬?nèi)容（不多于3個(gè)單詞）或括號內(nèi)單詞的正確形式。

Rachel Simmons, 22, from Boston, rescued her father by miraculously 1. (lift) an SUV from his leg.

Adam Simmons was repairing his daughter’s brakes when the jacks (千斤頂) keeping the car overhead 2. (fall) down and one of the axles landed on his leg. Mr. Simmons’ daughter Rachel heard her father’s yelps of pain from inside the house and ran to his rescue.

Rachel saw that the car 3. weighs around 2,600 kg was crushing her father’s leg and in order to free 4. , she lifted the vehicle with her bare hands.

Rachel said she didn’t know 5. she managed to lift the large vehicle from her father’s leg, “I ran out 6. the house and I saw him under my car. So I just went and lifted 7. wheel arch to set him free,” she said.

Doctors arrived at the scene and Adam 8. (rush) to hospital where X-rays were taken. He made a lucky escape and came away with just a few cuts and bruises.

Adam says his daughter is his “here” and that it was still 9. (clear) how Rachel managed to muster the strength to lift a Jeep.

She added that she was glad her dad wasn’t 10. (bad) harmed and that she was happy she only had a sore back.

短文改錯(cuò)

文中共有10處語言錯(cuò)誤，每句中最多有兩處，每處錯(cuò)誤僅涉及一個(gè)單詞的增加、刪除或修改。

增加：在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏字符號（∧），并在其下面寫出該加的詞。

刪除：把多余的詞用斜線（\）劃掉。

修改：在錯(cuò)的詞下劃一橫線，并在該詞下面寫出修改后的詞。

注意：1. 每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞。

2. 只允許修改10處，多者（從第11處起）不計(jì)分。

Dear Diary,

Here I am in the middle of a city, 350 miles far away from our farmhouse. Do you want to know why we move last week? Dad lost his job and as Mom explained, “He was lucky to find other one.” His new job meant I had to say goodbye to my classmate, my school, or just everything else I love in the world. To make matters bad, now I have to share a room with my younger sister, Maggie. Tomorrow is first day of school. I am awfully tiring, but I know I will never fall sleep.

Good night and remember, you, dear diary, is my only souvenir from my past life and my only friend.

Yours,

Rosemary

Hello. I’m Jan from Mrs. Lake’s class. My class wants to work together to help the public. We think we have found a great way to do this. Last month we did a class project on the highways near our town. We learned about the Adopt-a-Highway Program. This program brings people together to pick up litter along the roads. We think it would be a great idea for all students in our school to join the program and adopt a highway.

Adopting a highway is not like adopting a pet. When a highway is adopted, only part of the highway is cared for by a group of people. The group agrees to work every week to keep its part of the highway clean. Each group gets its own sign that has the name of the group printed on it. The sign is put up at the side of the road. This sign lets drivers know who is keeping that area of the road clean.

The Adopt-a-Highway Program is a great way for people to help their environment look nicer. Also, the government does not have to send out as many road workers. This saves money. Finally, people may try harder to keep roads clean if they see people, especially teenagers like us, cleaning them up.

We will need helpers to care for our adopted highway. If you want to feel great and keep our roads clean，please come with your parents to the meeting next week. We will meet in Mrs. Lake’ room on Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. At the meeting, we will talk about which roads are the dirtiest as a result of people's unkind acts. Then we' ll try to pick an area to adopt and clean.

I look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Remember to keep our roads clean!

1.What is the purpose of this speech?

A. To introduce the traffic system.

B. To tell a story about adopting a pet.

C. To show drivers how to drive safely.

D. To encourage students to join the program.

2.What is the Adopt-a-Highway Program about?

A. Giving names to the highways.

B. Picking up litter along the roads.

C. Drawing pictures of highways.

D. Putting up signs near the roads.

3.What should the students do first if they want to join the program?

A. Go to a meeting on Wednesday.

B. Pick a spot to care for.

C. Write a letter to their parents.

D. Call Mrs. Lake next week.

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. Adopt-a-Pet B. Ways to Protect the Environment

C. Adopt-a-Highway D. Volunteers on Roads