At least six people have been killed and another 40 wounded when a bomb exploded during a festival in the mainly Christian town of Makilala in the southern Philippines.

Federico Dulay, police chief of North Cotabato province, said the explosion was caused by a homemade bomb, fashioned from a mortar（迫擊炮）round. “We are not ruling out anything, including a terrorist attack,” he told reporters. Other officials said the attack — like many previous bombings — was probably carried out by Philippino Muslims. The bomb exploded at around 8 p.m. during a festival in Makilala to celebrate the 51st anniversary of the town’s founding.

Earlier on Tuesday, another powerful explosion destroyed a public market in Tacurong city, around 50 km west of Makilala, wounding four people.

Local army commanders said both attacks were probably carried out by Muslims linked to Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a group which wants to create an Islamic（伊斯蘭教的）country. Colonel Ruperto Pabustan, army commander in North Cotabato province, said the bombing in Makilala was “a signature JI attack”. Police said both bombs were made from mortar rounds and were detonated using a mobile phone. A previous explosion in Tacurong in 2002 was also caused to explode by a phone.

Abu Sayyaf, the smallest and most violent of four armed Muslim groups in the Philippines, has been sheltering members of JI in the south. Around 6,000 soldiers with the US advisers have been trying since August 1 to find and arrest them. Last month, security officials warned Abu Sayyaf could launch bomb attacks in key urban centers in the south.

A spokesman for the country’s largest armed Muslim group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is holding peace talks with Manila, denied any involvement in the attack on Makilala. “Honestly, we have no role in these bombings,” said Eid Kabalu.

1．Who is a member of the Muslim groups?

A．Federico Dulay    B．Eid Kabalu           C．Abu Sayyaf         D．JI

2．The underlined word in Paragraph 4 can probably be replaced by _________．

A．exploded             B．burnt                   C．fired                   D．invented

3．From the article we can learn the following EXCEPT__________.

A．The explosion on Tuesday wounded four people

B．This explosion in Makilala was probably caused by JI

C．The town was founded 51 years ago

D．Most of the Makilala residents are Muslims

4．The author wrote this article to __________．

A．report the explosion                                                                                                   B．a(chǎn)sk us to help the victims

C．encourage us to fight against terrorist attacks                                                

D．warn us to avoid crowed places

Feb 28, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

It is no secret that we are in the midst of one of the worst economic times in recent state history. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed $14 billion in cuts, which means cuts to parks, prisons, and yes, education. For our school district that figure translates to $12 million. We must have planned cuts in place before June 30.

We have been meeting with representatives of all the unions and management staff and a community-based budget committee to talk about ways of making budget cuts. We created a special link on the district website to provide information on budget cuts across the county. I’ve produced two videos, also placed on the special “Budget Update” link on the website. These videos have outlined what we’re doing to look at all programs across the district in our efforts to save money. We’re beginning a campaign where we’re going to encourage all of our employees and parents to write, call, and email their legislators (立法委員) to spare education from big cuts.

Despite the efforts we made to keep the cuts as far away from classroom as possible, we know we will have some serious decisions to make. With 87% of our budget going to employee salaries and benefits, we know these cuts may affect people. We’re hoping that those thinking of retiring will tell us soon so that we can also place people in those positions, if possible. We’re hoping that we can place people into open positions.

These conversations are not easy. I promise you, however, that we will be honest and open with you — that we will share with you all the information that was considered in making decisions.

Thank you for all you do for the students of our school district．

Sincerely,

Jesus M Gandara, Ed．D．

Superintendent

1．The letter is probably written by a(n) ___________．

A．teacher    B．a(chǎn)dministrator             C．parent               D．governor

2．What does the writer mean by “keep cuts as far away from classroom as possible”?

    A．Avoid talking about the problem in the classrooms.

    B．Spend the same amount of money building classrooms.

    C．Protect teachers and students from being affected.

    D．Keep the same number of students in the district.

3．The efforts made by the district include the following EXCEPT __________．

    A．meeting different people concerned

    B．providing information on the district website

    C．calling on teachers and parents to get involved

    D．forcing people to retire early

4．This letter is mainly to __________．

    A．keep the employees informed about the budget cuts

    B．encourage people to join in the campaign

    C．warn people that they may lose their jobs

D．thank the teachers for what they have done for the students

Gossip (閑話) moves so quickly that few people have time to cover their ears, even if they want to.

      “I hate it when others gossip about me,” said Mandy Miraglia, 16, a high school student from California, “but to be honest, gossiping with my friends makes me feel I am trusted and belong to the group.” Maraglia is not the only person who feels like that.

      Gossip has long been looked down on as little more than nonsense and bad manners. But recent research shows that gossip has many positive effects on your social life.

      “There has been a trend among people to dislike gossip,” said David Sloan Wilson, professor from the State University of New York in Binghamton, US. “But gossip appears to be a very important form of behavior in a group of friends, defining their group membership.”

      For 18 months, Kevin Kniffin, from the University of Wilsconsin, US, researched the behavior of 50 people. He found that gossip levels went up when a sports team included a slacker, someone who regularly missed practices or showed up late. Other members of the team would soon start to joke about the slacker’s shortcomings behind his back, because they think they are bad for the whole team.

      Gossip about the mistakes of senior members helps newcomers rebuild their confidence after a failure.

      It also helps relieve social and professional anxiety. Long-term studies show that people around the world devote from a fifth to two-thirds or more of their daily conversation to gossip, and men appear to be just as eager for gossip as women.

      It is hard to judge gossip, but it is more powerful than you think.

1．The author would probably agree that ________.

A．gossip is bad manners

B．gossip has many good effects

C．gossip is somewhat like nonsense

D．gossip is more powerful than advice

2．What does the underlined word “slacker” mean according to the context?

A．Someone who values the team’s benefit much

B．Someone who does not do what they are expected

C．Someone who is active in sports

D．Someone who shows no interest in sports

3．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Gossip is a useful way of building group membership.

B．Gossip can possibly make people confident.

C．Generally, women are more fond of gossip than men.

D．Actually everyone gossips to some degree in their daily conversation.

4．The second paragraph is used to ________.

A．show some people hate gossip

B．list the bad effects of gossip

C．point out gossip also has its benefits

D．a(chǎn)nalyze the two sides of gossip

The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks (火星) fly from his hammer.

The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked.

“Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks (釘), even if it is only to pass the time?” said the blacksmith. “Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you.”

The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.

Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to live in another country. It so happened that in this village there were numerous shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers’ shoes.

Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in the workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.

“How funny it seems,” he used to say, “even making tacks can make money. My trade is more useful to me than all my former riches.”

1．The young man learnt to make shoe tacks because __________.

A．his father told him to                           B．he wanted to learn a skill

C．Jones encouraged him to                      D．he just wanted to pass his time

2．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Old Mr．Smith enjoyed making the shoe tacks.

B．The blacksmith had predicted the young man would be in need of the skill．

C．The higher prices they paid, the more tacks the shoemakers would get.

D．The young man earned his living by his skills learnt when he was young.

3．What led Young Smith to live in another country?

A．His father died and he lost his goods in the war.

B．He heard that there was great need for tack makers there．

C．He didn’t learn to make the tacks well.

D．He just wanted to live there.

4．What can we learn from the story?

A．Practice makes perfect.                                                                                       B．Every man has his gift.

C．A good beginning makes a good ending.                                                        

D．Skill makes life easy.

根據(jù)下列句子及所給單詞的漢語注釋，在句子中的橫線上寫出各單詞的正確形式。（每空一詞）

1．Teaching disabled children requires ______________ (耐心) and understanding.

2．The thief ______________ (承認(rèn)) his crime when he was questioned by the police.

3．The company promoted the new product by ______________ (作廣告) on TV..

4．The old man’s ______________ (孫女) usually plays in the yard.

5．It is ______________ (違法) to carry guns without permission.

6．One of the new government’s _______________ (政策) is to control unemployment.

7．As a postman, he _______________ (遞送) letters every day.

8．The table cast a _______________ (影子) on the wall.

9．There are many _______________ (亞洲) students studying in the USA.

10．_______________ (不幸), he lost all his money on the bus.

此題要求改正所給短文中的錯(cuò)誤。對(duì)標(biāo)有題號(hào)的每一行作出判斷：如無錯(cuò)誤，在該行右邊橫線上畫一個(gè)勾（√）；如有錯(cuò)誤（每行只有一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤），則按下列情況改正：

       該行多一個(gè)詞：把多余的詞用斜線（\）劃掉，在該行右邊橫線上寫出該詞，并也用斜線劃掉。

       該行缺一個(gè)詞：在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏字符號(hào)（∧），在該行右邊橫線上寫出該加的詞。

       該行錯(cuò)一個(gè)詞：在錯(cuò)的詞下劃一橫線，在該行右邊橫線上寫出改正后的詞。

“Saving the Earth” Conference held in Dalian came to end          1__________

last Saturday. The five-days conference was attended by experts          2__________

and scientists from more than fifty countries. The subject                                   3__________

discussed at the meeting included: pollution, population and            4__________

wildlife protection. The experts and scientists shared with each        5_________

other’s ideas. And three main speakers speak on different subjects.     6__________

The conference suggested all countries took their responsibilities       7__________

for preventing pollution, controlling population growth and plant           8__________

more trees. It asked people of the world take good care of the              9__________

earth, making it a home which man can enjoy a better life.          10_________

假設(shè)你是李華，你在加拿大的筆友Tim得知作為高三的學(xué)生，你每天在學(xué)校要學(xué)習(xí)到八點(diǎn)半，他感到驚訝和不解。請(qǐng)你給Tim寫封110字左右的回信，介紹情況并談?wù)勀銓?duì)此的看法�；匦艖�(yīng)包括以下要點(diǎn)：

1．同學(xué)們看法不一。

2．贊成者認(rèn)為，學(xué)校的學(xué)習(xí)氛圍很好，遇到問題還可以馬上與同學(xué)和老師交流。

3．反對(duì)者認(rèn)為，學(xué)校的學(xué)習(xí)條件不如家里舒適，學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)容易受到別人的干擾。

4．說明你的觀點(diǎn)和理由。

       注意：開頭和結(jié)尾已經(jīng)給出，不計(jì)入字?jǐn)?shù)。

Dear Tim,

I hope everything is fine with you．

Your letter came to me this morning．_________________________________

Take good care of yourself and write often.

Yours,

                                                                                                             Li Hua

__________ we can’t get seems better than ____________we have.

A．What, what        B．What, that        C．That, that        D．That, what

---Have you heard that Tom, along with his parents, __________ to Japan?

--- Really? No wonder I haven’t seen him these days.

A．has been          B．have been         C．has gone      D．have gone

___________, where we can stay for a week.

A．Next is another hotel to it                         B．Next to it another hotel is

C．Next to it is another hotel                   D．It is next to another hotel