She _______ to the waiter whose language isn’t ______ hers to bring some more coffee.

   A. gestured; similar to   B. postured; familiar to

C. explained; the same as D. told; popular with

It was not a good day today. Everything went wrong. First, I slept late and Mom shouted at me to wake up. When I went to the kitchen for breakfast, there was no cereal. I decided to have some toast instead, but I burned it. I had to eat it anyway because there was no more bread. There was no juice, either. I just had a glass of water.

When I was almost at the bus stop, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet, so I had to go back home and get it. Of course, I missed the bus and had to wait for the next bus.

I was late for school and the teacher told me to stay in the classroom at lunchtime to catch up on（彌補(bǔ)）the schoolwork I had missed.

After lunch, it was the time to give the teacher our homework. I reached into my bag to get it but it wasn’t there. I had left it at home. I was in trouble again.

When I got home, I went straight to my room to catch up on my homework. Mom cooked fish for dinner. She knows I don’t like fish, but she thinks it is good for her son. It was a horrible day. I hope tomorrow will be better.

What happened to the writer on this bad day?

  A. The writer argued with his parents.  B. The writer heard some terrible news.

  C. Many small things went wrong.           D. Part of the writer’s house was on fire.

When did the writer’s bad day begin?

  A. At night                                     B. In the morning. 

  C. At lunchtime.                             D. In the afternoon.

What did the writer do after he went home?

  A. He did some homework.                           B. He made a telephone call.

  C. He made fun with his friend.                     D. He was tired, so he went to bed.

When you “burn” something, you ___________________.

  A. give it away                               B. eat it too fast

  C. cook it too long                                 D. make it very well

According to the passage, we can know _______________.

  A. the writer fell off from his bike          B. the writer went to school

  C. the writer got up early in the morning D. the writer doesn’t like eating fish

     Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap．Some call it the summer learning setback Put simply, it means the longer kids are out of school，the more they forget．The only thing they might gain is weight．

Most American schools follow a tradltional nine-month calendar with winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation．Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes ror about eight weeks at a time，with a few weeks off in between．The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than 3,000 such schools at last count．They were spread among forty-six of the tifty states．

      But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school．Brenda McLaugblin is research director at the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University．She says studies of year-round schooling have not found strong learning gains．Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said，“Year-round schools don’t really solve the problem of the summer learning setback．They simply spread it out across the year．”

      Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summler than other students．Experts say this can be prevented．They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help．

     But calling them“summer school”could be a problem．The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term“summer school”．In American culture，the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood．The parents welcomed other terms like“summer camp�！薄癳xtra time”and“hands-on learning．”

According to the first paragraph，the summer learning gap     

      A．helps children to gain weight                   

B．leads children to work harder

      C．improves children’s memories                    

D．a(chǎn)ffects children’s regular studies

Compared to traditional schools，students in the year-round ones      ．

      A．perform better and have more learning gains

      B．have much less time for relaxation every year

      C．have generally the same number of class days

      D．hold more classes with more free weeks off

Which of the following statements is true?

      A．Students from poor families often fall behind after the vacation．

      B．Year-round schools can solve the problem of the learning gap

      C．There are schools in each state following a year-round calendar

      D．Nothing can help the students who fall behind after the vacation．

Why did almost all parents dislike the term“summer school”?

      A．They are worried about the quailty of the“summer school”

      B．They cherish the children’s rights of freedom very much．

      C．They want their children to be forced to make up the gap．

      D．They can’t afford to the further study during the vacation．

What would be the best title of this passage?

      A．Opening Summer Camps                        

B．Forbidding Summer Schools

      C．Minding the Summer Learning Gap                 

D．Reforming Year-Round Education

I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (觀點(diǎn)) by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.

With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.

Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文學(xué)作品)．As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter—the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.

What can be inferred about the author as a child?

A.  He never watched TV.            B.  He read what he had to.

C.  He found reading unbelievable.    D.  He considered reading part of his life.

The underlined word "voice" in the second paragraph most probably means “       ”.

A. an idea                                            B. a sound quality

C. a way of writing                                          D. a world to write about

What effect does reading have on the author?

A. It helps him to realize his dream.       B. It opens up a wider world for him.

C. It makes his college life more interesting .D. It increases his interest in worldwide travel.

Which of the following can be the best title of this text?

A. Why do I read?                                           B. How do I read?

C. What do I read?                                   D. When do I read?

--- Don’t do that again. Don’t you think it _______?

   --- It maybe _______ to be successful.

A. a waste of time; turns            B. wastes of time; turns in

C. waste of time; turns up           D. a waste of time; turns out

Barcelona December 22,2007.

Spain’s “El Gordo,” the word’s biggest lottery (彩票), gave out 2.2 billion euros (歐元) (1.6 billion pounds) in Christmas prizes on Saturday.

El Gordo, Spanish for "The Fat One", is designed so that as many people as possible across Spain get a festive windfall. The top prize this year was 3 million euros -- going to the series of tickets with the magic number 06381.

Because the tickets are sold in a series of 10, only those who paid 200 euros for the whole strip get the full prize.

The biggest share of winning tickets was bought by people in the town of Nava, in the north-western Asturias region.

The draw lasts three-and-a-half hours and is carried live on national television with children from the San Ildefonso school, a former orphanage in Madrid, in turn chanting the winning numbers and the amount won.

Lotteries have two centuries of history in Spain. The country spent 2.87 billion euros on the lottery -- 5.7 percent more than last year. Seventy percent is paid out in prizes. Most of the rest goes in costs. Eight out of ten Spaniards bought tickets for the lottery, spending on average 64 euros. Spaniards often choose lottery numbers matching significant dates although there was no particular favourite in 2007. In 2006, one of the most sought-after series was 22105, the date on which Fernando Alonso became Formula 1 world champion for the second year running.

The underlined word “windfall” in paragraph two probably means         .

       A．fat gift            B．unexpected fortune

       C．big feast          D．wind and snow

Who is likely to win the full prize in El Gordo?

       A．People who paid 200 euros for the wole group of series.

       B．People who bough tickets with the magic number 06381.

       C．People who lived in a town in the northwestern Asturias.

       D．People who chose lottery numbers matching Alonso’s date.

According to the text, children from the San Ildefonso School in Madrid will         .

       A．host the draw of lottery live on TV

       B．offer a show of three – and – a – half hours

       C．perform with the lottery draw as Christmas celebration

       D．help make some declarations for the draw as invited guests

What can we learn about the history of lotteries in Spain?

       A．Most of the money people spent on lotteries goes in the cost.

       B．The majority of Spaniards have the experience of buying lotteries.

       C．Lottery numbers matching significant dates help people win every year.

       D．As the biggest in the world, Spanish lotteries have a history of two centuries.

--- Don’t forget to take the message to my teacher.

    ---         .

       A．Yes, I will.             B．No, I won’t.

       C．I don’t think so              D．Sorry, I don’t

In my opinion, it’s the best use that could be ______ this machine.

   A. made into         B. made from      C. made of         D. made with

– Can you tell me ___________?

       – An engineer from Jinan Iron and Steel Plants．

       A．what your friend is                        B．who your friend is

       C．what is your friend                        D．who is your friend

After a knock at the door, the children heard his mother’s voice        him．

       A．calling                 B．called                     C．being called         D．to call