Years ago, a cigarette commercial asked if you were smoking more, but enjoying it less．That describes the way many of us live today．We are doing more, but enjoying it less．And when that doesn’t work, we compound the problem．In our frantic search for satisfaction, we try stuffing still more into our days, never realizing that we are taking the wrong approach．

       The truth is simple; so simple it is hard to believe．Satisfaction lies with less, not with more．Yet, we pursue the myth that this thing, or that activity, will somehow provide the satisfaction we so desperately seek．

       Arthur Lindman, in his devastating book, “The Harried Leisure Class,” described the futility of pursuing more．His research focused on what people did with their leisure time．He found that as income rose, people bought more things to occupy their leisure time．But, ironically, the more things they bought, the less they valued any one of them．Carried to an extreme, he predicted massive boredom in the midst of tremendous variety．That was more than twenty years ago, and his prediction seems more accurate every year．

       Lindman, of course, is not the first to discover this．The writer of Ecclesiastes expressed the same thought thousands of years ago．It is better, he wrote, to have less, but enjoy it more．

       If you would like to enjoy life more, I challenge you to experiment with me．How could you simplify your life? What could you drop? What could you do without? What could you stop pursuing? What few things could you concentrate on?

       The more I learn, the more I realize that fullness of life does not depend on things．The more I give up, the more I seem to gain．But words will never convince you．You must try it for yourself．

1．Arthur Lindman predicted twenty years ago that ______．

       A．more things brought more value         

       B．the more people had, the less they valued them

       C．people didn’t like to pursue more        

       D．massive boredom came from less variety

2．What does the article suggest to make our life happier?

       A．To enjoy more things．                 B．To buy more things．

       C．To sell things we do not need．          D．To get rid of useless things．

3．The passage is probably written to ___________．

       A．introduce Arthur Lindman and his book  B．tell the readers what is satisfaction

       C．introduce how to simplify people’s life   D．persuade people to simplify their life

An 18-year-old student has won a local election to become mayor of his hometown in the US state of Michigan．Michael Sessions won by the slenderest of margins - just two votes put him ahead of his only rival, the incumbent 51-year-old mayor．Mr. Sessions attributed his electoral success to the votes cast by his parents．He will now have to juggle schedules between attending school and fulfilling his civic duties．He will attend his school classes between 8am to 3pm and carry out his new job as the elected mayor of Hillsdale before dinner at 6pm．He aims to deliver on his campaign pledges of increasing the contingent（小分隊）of full-time fire-fighters from three to four, revitalizing（使恢復(fù)元氣）the local economy and enabling townsfolk to air their views and grievances on town life．

       Mr. Sessions was too young to enter the election when it was first announced – he turned 18 only in September, which meant he had just four weeks of campaigning．Although he is the youngest elected official in America, he cannot celebrate his success with champagne because he would be arrested for underage drinking．He ran for office with a budget of $700, which he made from his summer job of selling toffee apples．His position is largely ceremonial and he will not get his own office．Instead, he will receive an annual stipend of $3,600 to cover basic expenses．He starts his four-year position on November 21．Mr. Sessions has become an overnight celebrity since his victory and has already done the circuit of television chat show interviews．

1．When did the election probably take place?

       A．August．           B．September．       C．October．                               D．December．

2．How long will Mr. Sessions be the mayor of Michigan State?

       A．One year．     B．Two years．        C．Four years．                             D．Not mentioned．

3．Which of the following statements is correct?

       A．Mr. Sessions won the election by two votes．

       B．Mr. Sessions had many competitors during the election．

       C．The new mayor will get an office after the election．

       D．The new mayor doesn’t have to attend the school any more．

Earthquakes are the shaking, rolling or sudden shock of the earth’s surface．Earthquakes happen along "fault lines" in the earth’s crust．Earthquakes can be felt over large areas although they usually last less than one minute．Earthquakes cannot be predicted -- although scientists are working on it!

       Most of the time, you will notice an earthquake by the gentle shaking of the ground．You may notice hanging plants swaying or objects wobbling on shelves．Sometimes you may hear a low rumbling noise or feel a sharp jolt．A survivor of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco said the sensation was like riding a bicycle down a long flight of stairs．

       The intensity of an earthquake can be measured．One measurement is called the Richter scale．Earthquakes below 4．0 on the Richter scale usually do not cause damage, and earthquakes below 2．0 usually can’t be felt．Earthquakes over 5.0 on the scale can cause damage．A magnitude 6．0 earthquake is considered strong and a magnitude 7．0 is a major earthquake．The Northridge Earthquake, which hit Southern California in 1994, was magnitude 6.7．

       Earthquakes are sometimes called temblors, quakes, shakers or seismic activity．The most important thing to remember during an earthquake is to DROP, COVER and HOLD ON．So remember to DROP to the floor and get under something for COVER and HOLD ON during the shaking．

1．Which statement about earthquakes is not correct?

       A．Earthquakes are the result of the sudden shock of the earth’s surface．

       B．Earthquakes usually can be felt because they can last for a long time．

       C．There are usually some signs for people to notice an earthquake．

       D．People can feel an earthquake over 6．0 because it is very strong．

2．According to the passage, when the earthquake happened, a survivor of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco_______．

       A．was riding a bicycle                          B．was just climbing the stairs

       C．heard a low rumbling noise                  D．felt like riding a bicycle

3．What can be inferred from the passage?

       A．Most of the time, people can not feel or predict the earthquakes． 

       B．Earthquakes are sometimes called temblors, quakes shakers or seismic activity．

       C．The Northridge Earthquake in Southern California in 1994 caused severe damage．

       D．When an earthquake happens, it is important to drop on the floor immediately．

We show an amazing tolerance for a form of pollution that is a growing problem： noise．Airplane traffic is increasing by five percent a year．Urban noise is doubling every ten years．By air, land and sea, we are facing an onslaught of noise that is threatening our ability to live in this world．We have granted ourselves the right to make noise．But what about our responsibilities? Have we developed a sense of acoustic responsibility?

       The evidence suggests that we have not．Many people seem to believe they have an unlimited right to make noise with cars and motorbikes, and with loud music at home and in the street．In some countries measures have been taken to force people to make less noise．In Britain, for example, a law has been passed preventing people from disturbing their neighbors with music at night．

       It is widely accepted that we should deal with our rubbish in a responsible way Noise is in reality a particularly insidious form of rubbish．It destroys community life, pursues us into our homes, keeps us from sleeping and is the cause of many stress-related illnesses, as well as hearing loss．Our acoustic environment belongs to all of us．Everyone has the right to use it, but no one has the right to abuse it．Let’s start using it responsibly．

1．The underlined word “acoustic” in the first paragraph probably means ________．

       A．environment       B．pollution            C．sound               D．rubbish

2．Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

       A．Nowadays everyone thinks it’s all right to make noise．

       B．British law protects people from their neighbors’ music at night．

       C．The level of noise produced in cities is twice as high now as ten years ago．

       D．Noise can sometimes cause hearing loss．

3．The passage is probably written to _______．

       A．introduce acoustic responsibility            B．call for people to make less noise

       C．compare rubbish and noise                   D．describe people’s attitude to noise

以下五人正在尋找一些網(wǎng)站，閱讀以下六段不同網(wǎng)站的介紹（A、B、C、D、E和F），對應(yīng)選出正確答案。A、B、C、D、E和F選項中有一項是多余選項。

1．Jasper enjoys listening to music．He is expecting to find a website where he could search for various songs with similar tunes that he prefers．

2．Luke is planning to buy a car．But right now he has not made up his mind．He prefers Mazda RX-8．He wants to find more information about this car to make sure that it is a good choice．

3．Connie works in a beauty salon．She always talks about fashion with her customers．She is especially interested in dresses with new designs．

4．This Sunday is Valentine’s Day．Roderick is still deciding what kind of presents he should buy for his girlfriend．He prefers to have something traditional, like chocolate．

5．Fiona is retired．She begins to pay attention to her health．What interests her most now is how to remain healthy and young．She always surfs on the internet for such information．

       A．Naturespath．com is an excellent health-food website．“Life enhancement expert” Allan Hunkin interviews such guests as nutrition expert Dr．David Katz and tri-athlete Melanie McQuaid．They talk up health food and weight management, including debates on the benefits of whole grain and organics．

       B．Autoblog．com tops the category by covering “auto industry news from A to Z．” They discuss hundreds of car models and links to outside articles for more information．While the site provides no reliability reviews, its “royal and growing fan base” comments frequently on the entires．

       C．Mrchocolate．com—The Consumer Reports “best buy” for “unusual” chocolates for the one you love．Jason’s choice is 50 pieces of small dark, milk, and white chocolate with offbeat（標新立異的）centers, including coffee, nut butter, and tropical fruit．

D．Elizabeth-charles．Com highlights new fashion designs from the Southern Hemisphere．This fall, that means “drapery pieces” of New Zealand brand Zambesi and the “tailored, Greek-inspired dresses” of Australian Jayson Brunsdon．

       E．Carpet-rug．org— The Carpet and Rug Institute awards a “Green Label” to vacuums （真空吸塵器） that release fewer than 100 micrograms of dust particles per cubic meter of air．Find a list at this site．

      F．Pandora．com takes one of your favorite tunes, then suggests songs that you might enjoy．Pandora offers 10 hours of free use, then charges $ 36 a year．

本題是一篇短文,文中共有10處語言錯誤,要求你在錯誤的地方增加、刪除或修改某個單詞。

       增加：在缺詞處加上一個漏字符號（∧）,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,并在該詞下面寫上修改后的詞。

       注意： 1．每處錯號及其修改均僅限一句;

       2．只允許修改10處,多者（從11處起）不計分。

       I went to see film after supper．On my way to the cinema, I met an old English woman, she

had lost her way．I gave up the chance to see the film, walking towards her and took her to her

hotel．While go there, I told her great change had taken place in the past few years and she told me

anything about Britain and her family．Though I missed the film, however I felt very happy, for I

not only helped the old lady out from trouble but also practise my spoken English．If I hadn’t

worked hard at English, I would have been able to help her．

最近外出旅行越來越流行，有人選擇自駕游，有人選擇跟團旅行。他們的理由如下：

       請根據(jù)以上信息及個人選擇，以 “Self-driving Tour or Package Tour”為題，寫一篇短文，字數(shù)120左右。

       參考詞匯：self-driving tour 自駕游   package tour  跟團旅行    flexible  靈活的

Self-driving Tour or Package Tour

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

—__________ Mr. White was appointed director of our department.

—Then we have two Whites now including ___________ Mr. White, the doorkeeper.

A．The; a         B．A; the        C．A; 不填          D．不填; a

—What’s that? It smells great!

—It’s just milk tea．Would you like __________?

A．this        B．one        C．it        D．some

A lot of tents, drinking water and food __________ to the homeless earthquake survivors in the

past several weeks.

A．a(chǎn)re sent        B．were sent        C．have been sent        D．had been sent