Imagine that 7 out of 10 working Americans got fired tomorrow. What would they all do? It’s hard to believe it would happen. But that is what the industrial revolution did to the labor force of the early 19th century.

Two hundred years ago, 70 percent of American workers lived on the farm. Today automation(自動化) has eliminated all but one percent of their jobs, replacing them with machines. But these workers did not sit, doing nothing. Instead, automation created hundreds of millions of jobs in completely new fields. Those who once farmed were then working in factories that produced farm equipment, cars, and other industrial products.

It may be hard to believe, but before the end of this century, 70 percent of today’s jobs will likely be replaced by automation. Yes, dear reader, even you will have your job taken away by machines. In other words, robot replacement is just a matter of time, First, speedy robots being able to lift 150 pounds all day long will carry boxes, sort them, and load them onto trucks. Fruit and vegetable picking will continue to be robotized until no humans pick outside of specialty farms. Next, The work of cleaning in offices and schools will be taken over by late-night robots. The trucks will be driven by robots.

We need to let robots take over. They will do jobs we have been doing, and do them much better than we can. They will do jobs we can’t do at all. They will do jobs we never imagined even needed to be done, and they will help us discover new jobs for ourselves and new tasks that expand who we are. They will let us focus on becoming more human than we were.

1.What happened in the early 19th century?

A. Some working Americans in factories got fired.

B. Jobless workers had no choice but to sit there doing nothing at all.

C. Many American workers had to leave factories to work on the farm.

D. The industrial revolution caused many Americans to lose their jobs.

2.How does the author support the underlined statement in Paragraph 3?

A. By giving advice.

B. By giving examples.

C. By following the order of time.

D. By explaining cause and effect.

3.How does the author feel about robots taking over our jobs?

A. Afraid. B. Happy. C. Puzzled. D. Angry.

4.What does the author want to tell us in the text ?

A. Why robots should take over our jobs.

B. 70% of working Americans will be jobless.

C. The industrial revolution led to the automation.

D. Robots will do more things for us to live better.

In business, there's a speed difference: It's the difference between how important a firm's leaders say speed is to their competitive(競爭的) strategy(策略) and how fast the company actually moves. The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.

In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that chose to go, go, go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track. What's more, the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-­year period.

How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than Competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean. Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value)．Simply increasing the speed of production, for example, may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference. But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower­-quality products and services.

In our study, higher ­performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion. They encouraged new ways of thinking. And they allowed time to look back and learn. By contrast (相比而言), performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improving efficiency, stuck to tested methods, didn't develop team spirit among their employees, and had little time thinking about changes.

Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership. Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals. That kind of strategy must come from the top.

1.What does the underlined part “gain an edge” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A. Increase the speed. B. Get an advantage.

C. Reach the limit. D. Set a goal.

2.The underlined part “the laws of business physics” in Paragraph 3 means ________.

A. spending more time and performing worse

B. spending more time and performing better

C. spending less time and performing worse

D. spending less time and performing better

3.What can we learn from the text?

A. How fast a firm moves depends on how big it is.

B. How competitive a firm is depends on what it produces.

C. Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes.

D. Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit.

4.Which could be the best title for the text?

A. Improve quality? Serve better.

B. Deliver value? Plough ahead.

C. Reduce time? Move faster.

D. Need speed? Slow down.

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項，選項中有兩項為多余選項。所選答案涂在答題卡1-5的位置上。

Some animals can be trained to help humans. For example, specially trained dogs help blind people walk around the town safely．Some kinds of monkeys can be taught things too． 1. The monkeys pick up the phone when it rings, carry shopping bags and do housework．

In the wild，animals and humans are not usually friends． 2. In Africa，the honey guide bird works with humans to find food. The bird likes to eat grubs（幼蟲）－ a type of insect that lives inside a beehive(蜂巢). It knows how to find beehives but it can’t open them and get the grubs．People like to eat honey，but they aren’t very good at finding beehives． 3. The bird flies to a beehive and people follow it. When the people open the beehive and take the honey, they give the grubs to the bird.

In Laguna in the south of Brazil，fishermen and dolphins work as a team．The ocean isn’t very clean，so the fishermen can’t see the fish． 4. When the dolphins find a large group of fish，they make a noise to tell the fishermen．Then the dolphins push the fish to the beach．The fishermen wait in the water near the beach and catch a lot of fish in their nets．The fishermen’s nets make it easier for the dolphins to catch fish too．In Laguna，fishermen and dolphins have been working together for many years． 5. Meanwhile，the dolphins must be happy to help because they teach their babies how to work with the humans!

A. So the bird and the people help each other．

B. They attack each other for food or something else．

C. However, dolphins can find them easily by using sounds．

D. In fact, they usually help to get enough food for their babies．

E. The fishermen teach their children how to work with the dolphins．

F. They can learn how to help people who can’t use their arms or legs．

G. However，there are a few interesting examples where they can work together．

完形填空

閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該選項涂黑。

When l was in the 8th grade in Ohio, a girl named Helen in my class had a terrible accident．As she was ________to the bus in order not to miss it，she slipped on some ice and fell under the rear wheels of the bus．She ________ the accident，but was paralyzed from the waist________ ．1 went to see her，in my 13-year-old mind thinking she wouldn’t live ________ from then on．

Over the years，I moved and didn’t think ________ about Helen after that．Three years ago，in Florida，my oldest son was ________by a car while riding his bike, ________ a terrible brain injury. ________ I was looking after him，a lady who said she was the hospital’s social worker called．It was a(n) ________ trying(難受的)day．I burst into tears for no________ and hung up．

A short time later，a beautiful woman，in a wheelchair， ________ into my son’s room with a box of tissues．After 16 years, I still recognized Helen. She smiled, handed me the tissues and hugged me. I told her ________ I was, and after we both went through the shock of that, she began to tell me about her ________ since we last saw each other. She had married, had children and gotten her degree so that she could ________ the path for those less________ than her. She told me that if there was anything she could give me, it would be ________ .

Looking at this wonderful, giving person, I felt ________ . But I also felt the first hope I had felt since learning that my son was hurt. From this person that I thought would have no________of life, I learned where there is life, there is hope. My son miraculously ________ and we moved back north, but I owe Helen a ________ that I can never repay.

1.A. walking B. riding C. running D. driving

2.A. escaped B. resisted C. sacrificed D. survived

3.A. down B. up C. in D. out

4.A. normally B. comfortably C. seriously D. optimistically

5.A. many B. much C. less D. little

6.A. collapsed B. driven C. drawn D. hit

7.A. making B. causing C. resulting D. leading

8.A. Before B. While C. After D. Since

9.A. unnormally B. eventually C. particularly D. necessarily

10.A. reason B. excuse C. matter D. account

11.A. ran B. walked C. rolled D. moved

12.A. how B. where C. what D. who

13.A. son B. life C. mother D. work

14.A. build B. smooth C. take D. follow

15.A. fortunate B. healthy C. powerful D. wealthy

16.A. hope B. dream C. fancy D. ideal

17.A. confident B. selfish C. small D. depressed

18.A. ability B. way C. quality D. standard

19.A. worsened B. recovered C. disappeared D. overcame

20.A. life B. bill C. success D. debt

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個單詞）或括號內(nèi)單詞的正確形式。

Over years，I've been teaching children about a simple 1. powerful concept--the ant philosophy．They have an amazing four—part philosophy．First, ants never quit．They’ll climb over；they’ll climb under，and they’ll climb around．They keep looking for another way．What a neat(了不起的)philosophy it is to never quit2. (look) for a way to get 3. you are supposed to go ! Second, ants think about winter and summer．That’s 4._ important attitude．You can’t be 5. naive(幼稚的) as to think summer will last forever．People who have a little experience are clear about this．So ants are gathering their winter food in the middle of summer．It’s important to be realistic．You have got to think about rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun．Think ahead．The third part is that ants think about summer all winter．During the winter，they remind 6. ,“This won’t last long；we’11 soon be out of here．”And 7. the first warm day，the ants are out．If it 8. (turn)cold again, they will dive back down. But they come out again if it is warm．They can’t wait 9. (get)out．Last，how much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All that it 10. (possible)can．What a great philosophy to have－the ant philosophy: never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can．

短文改錯

假如英語課上老師要求同桌之間交換修改作文，請你修改你同桌的以下作文，文中共有10處語言錯誤，每句中最多有兩處。每處錯誤僅涉及一個單詞的增加，刪除或修改。

增加：在缺詞處加一個漏字符號（∧），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）不計分。

Nowadays, there exist an increasingly special phenomenon which bicycles take up the road again. There are a couple of reason that produce this phenomenon. Firstly, riding bicycles is the most environmentally-friendly. It doesn’t have to burn any fuels, so does it give off any polluted air. Secondly, it was quite convenient. The bicycle can always find its way ahead, even though there is traffic jam. Thirdly, the bicycle costs the least among all means in transport. It costs so little that almost every one family can afford to buying one. Finally, by riding bicycles, people can take regularly exercise.

書面表達(dá)

假設(shè)你應(yīng)邀參加學(xué)校組織的“英語學(xué)習(xí)師生座談會”，請你根據(jù)下表所提示的信息，用英語寫一篇發(fā)言稿，簡單介紹自己英語學(xué)習(xí)的情況，并對學(xué)校今后的英語教學(xué)提出建議。

注意：1、對所給要點逐一陳述，適當(dāng)發(fā)揮，不要簡單翻譯。

2、詞數(shù)100左右。開頭和結(jié)尾已經(jīng)寫好，不計入總詞數(shù)。

3、文中不得提及學(xué)生所在學(xué)校和本人姓名。

Dear teachers and schoolmates, it’s a great pleasure for me to be here today and share my experience of learning English with you.

Thank you for listening.

— Tony will become an excellent basketball player when he grows up.

— ______. He seems to have a great talent for sports.

A. It’s up to you B. That sounds great

C. I’m afraid not D. I’m with you on that

Chinese scientists did a lot in improving people’s health and it gained nationwide recognition and their work ______ praising.

A. dominates B. apologizes

C. deserves D. distributes

I am considering ______ a nurse after I leave school, which is considered ______ “ an angel in white”.

A. becoming; being B. becoming; to be

C. to become; to be D. to become; being