Like many people,I have no clear idea about heroes. At some point,we all wonder if we need a hero and what a hero really is.

Although there are a lot of differences in cultures,heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristics (特點;) which give us courage and make us want to learn from them.

A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a special story to tell and people think highly of it. But a hero is not just the person with great fame (聲譽) .

A hero has powers (力量) larger than himself. Some people want to live like a hero,and they have to experience life with new and further meaning. A sure test for wouldbe heroes is what or whom they serve. What do they want to live and die for? If the answer suggests they serve only their own fame,they may be famous persons but not heroes.

A hero has a vision from the mountaintop. He has the power to move people. He creates new possibilities. Without Gandhi,Indiamight still be part ofBritain. Without Martin Luther King,Jr. ， Americans might take different buses,eat in different restaurants,go for walks in different parks,and shop in different stores because of the different colors of their skin.

There might be changes in society without a hero,but the speed of change would be rather slow. Thanks to heroes in history,they make the society develop so rapidly.

(   ) 1. According to this passage,a hero is a person who always         .

   A. gives us courage   B. thinks highly of others

   C. shares great fame   D. stands on the mountaintop

(   ) 2. If you want to live like a hero,you should       .

   A. experience a new and meaningful life

   B. listen to something worth talking about

   C. serve your own fame and try to be famous

   D. know where and how you want to live and die

(   ) 3. The underlined word "vision" in the passage means "         ”.

   A. 風(fēng)景   B. 想象

   C. 遠見   D. 形象

(   ) 4. Black people inAmericaused to        before Martin Luther King,Jr.

   A. shop at the white's stores

   B. drive buses with the white

   C. take walks in the white's parks

   D. eat in restaurants without the white

(   ) 5. What can we learn from the passage?

   A. We don't need heroes anymore at some point now.

   B. Heroes are all the same though different in cultures.

   C. People get power from heroes to move to a new place.

   D. Our society has developed faster because of heroes in history.

"Be proud of what you do ," my father always told me , " whether you are a boss or a cleaner. " When I was 15 ,I g 1       a summer job in a hospital. I was told that my duties would include sweeping floors. I smiled and r 2          Dad's words.

Even though my job was the lowest,it made me feel e 3       I saw it as a challenge b 4       it was my first job. I learned to be on time and t 5       to do everything well. In return,I was treated with respect (尊重) by doctors,nurses and patients. Each morning I imagined that the dirty dishes would make p 6 sicker if I were not there to wash them clean. After breakfast was done,I started s 7       the floors of all the patient rooms and cleaning toilets. Though I was t 8       ,I wanted the job to be done well. People would say, "That young boy really does a good job. " That made me filled with pride.

Working in the hospital taught me that being p 9       of one's job is important. It does not matter whether the job is sweeping floors or managing a large business. Through every job I have ever had,my father's words have always s 10       with me. I have swept floors,and I have been a manager. I think Dad would be proud of me.

1. g       2. r          3. e           4. b       5. t         

6. p       7. s         8. t          9. p                     10. s         

Some time ago,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended,as there are a whole lot of antique (古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待) .I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

The second shop,though slightly more polite,was just the same,and the third,and the fourth. So I decided to do things differently.

I went into the fifth shop with a good plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, " Yes,not a bad chair. How much do you want for it,sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. ^uOK," he said. "I'll give you twenty pounds. " "It's got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes,I saw that. It's nothing.”

Everything was going according to the plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. " Oh,it will be easy to sell it once the repair is done. ” "I'll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You've just sold it to me," he said. "Yes,I know,but I've changed my mind. Fm sorry,I'll give you twentyseven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then,suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. " "You're right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,  Would you mend this chair for me'?" "I wouldn't have agreed to do it," he said. "We don't do repairs,not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I'll mend this for you. " He was a very nice man,and was greatly amused (感到有趣) by the whole thing.

(   ) 11. We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer         .

   A. was rather impolite

   B. was warmly received

   C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

   D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

(   ) 12. The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper      

   A. changed his mind

   B. accepted the offer

   C. saw the writer's purpose

   D. decided to help the writer

(   ) 13. How much did the writer pay for repairing his chair?

   A. £5.   B. £7.

   C. £20.   D. £27.

(   ) 14. From the text,we can learn that the writer was       .

   A. honest   B. careful

   C. smart   D. funny

(   ) 15. The best title of the passage is "         ".

   A. Changing Your Way of Thinking

   B. Impolite Shopkeepers

   C. Mending a Chair

   D. Buying a New Chair

(   ) 6. What is the chart (圖表) ？

   A. A price table. B. A hotel's price.

   C. A hotel's rooms. D. The distance to the hotels.

(   ) 7. The most expensive single room is        and the cheapest double room is      

   A. $90； $140   B. $90； $100

   C. $50； $ 140   D. $80； $]30

(   ) 8. Which hotel is the nearest to the main tourist attraction?

   A. Lake Hotel. B. First Hotel.

   C. Sunday Hotel. D. Seventh Hotel.

(   ) 9. Lily and her mother are tourists. They want to live in a double room. The price is between $ 100〜$ 120. They hope they can get to the main tourist attraction in less than 10 minutes. Which hotel is the best for them?

A. Flower Hotel.

 B. Seventh Hotel. .

C. Sunday Hotel.

 D. Lake Hotel.

(   ) 10. Where can we see this chart?

   A. In the hotel. B. In the room.

   C. In the subway. D. In the travel agency.

Many people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day. They don't want anyone to go shopping on that day.

Buy Nothing Day is November 29.        It's 25       days before Christmas. It's after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping. At this time we see ads in newspapers and on TV telling us to "buy,buy,buy" ！

The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver,British Columbia. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day. In California,parents and children get together to read stories,sing songs and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don't need a lot of toys. This year,in Manchester,England,people dressed up in costumes (盛裝打扮) to tell other people that we buy too much.

In New Mexico,high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They held a special dinner for it. They asked restaurants nearby to donate the food. The dinner was a big success,and many students agreed not to buy anything on November

29.        The students at the high school liked the idea of this new tradition (傳統(tǒng)) .Next year,they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day.

(   ) 1. Some people have Buy Nothing Day before Christmas because at this time ―         .

   A. most people usually do a lot of shopping

   B. people want to save more money

   C. people want to have more free time

   D. people aren't allowed (允許) to buy things

(   ) 2. Buy Nothing Day is         .

   A. before Thanksgiving   B. December 29

   C. the first day of Christmas   D. 25 days before Christmas

(   ) 3. What do NOT parents and children in California do on Buy Nothing Day?

   A. Read stories. B. Sing songs.

   C. Paint pictures. D. Buy toys.

(   ) 4. The underlined word "donate" in the fourth paragraph probably means "         ”.

   A. sell out   B. give away

   C. eat up   D. go on

(   ) 5. What do the high school students in New Mexico think of Buy Nothing Day?

A. Good. B. Traditional.

   C. Strange. D. Boring.

Long ago,people sent messages in different ways. An Egyptian (埃及人) p 1       his ear to the ground. He h 2       the horses. They were coming this way. He ran to tell his people. That was one way for Egyptians to send m 3       People in o 4       countries also sent messages. One man made a cloud of smoke. In the next village,people saw the smoke and went on d 5       that,too. The message went from village to village by s 6       .

Much more,some soldiers k 7       many pigeons. These pigeons always flew b 8       . When a soldier was sent far away from his own army,he might take a pigeon along. He could tie a message to the bird's leg,and it would fly back with the s 9       message.

These are only s 10       ways to send messages. Can you think of some more?

1. p       2. h         3. m       4. o         5. d         

6. s       7. k       8. b       9. s      10. s       

Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up,my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together,my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, "You should have goals like climbing the mountain. ” Without the mountainclimbing that we both enjoyed,we couldn't have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountainclimbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience (耐力) .

Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing,I enjoyed the flowers,the trees,and the birds' singing,but as time passed,I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact,I hated it at that moment,but my father said to me , " You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain,but you can't see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top,can you see all of the nice things,just like in life.”

At that time,I was too young to understand his words completely. But I still got new hope and confidence (信心) from him. Now I'm at the top of the mountain,and can really enjoy the sky,which was as clear as crystal (水晶) .

(   ) 11. The passage tells us that mountainclimbing was        for Father and Son.

   A. hard   B. enjoyable

   C. painful   D. comfortable

(   ) 12. The word "quit" in the passage means "         ”.

   A. carry on   B. put off

   C. give up   D. pick up

(   ) 13. Which of the following is similar in meaning to the father's words in the second paragraph?

   A. You will get all you need at the top of the mountain.

   B. The sky is always as clear as crystal.

   C. You can find life is full of nice things.

   D. Never give up halfway.

(   ) 14. We can infer (推斷) from the last paragraph that         .

   A. the writer was very successful in his life

   B. the writer didn't reach the top of the mountain

   C. though the writer was young,he could understand his father

   D. the writer used to stop halfway when he climbed the mountain

(   ) 15. The best title for the passage is "         ”.

   A. Reaching the Top of the Mountain

   B. Enjoy the Beautiful Views

   C. Conversations between Father and Son

   D. Father and I

In December or early January,almost everyone wants to plan for a wonderful new year!We plan vacations,and we hope that we can achieve our goals. We make New Year's resolutions and set big goals!If you carry out (實施) your plan successfully,you can improve your life and break your bad habits. Here are some tips for New Year's resolutions：

Think about the resolution you made last year. Have you succeeded? If not,why? Find out the reason and try this year.

Do not make too many resolutions at a time. You'd better go with one at a time.

Set goals that you need to do for the whole year,instead of a few days. Once you have made up your mind (已經(jīng)下定決心) ，try your best to achieve them.

(   ) 6. When do we usually make New Year's resolutions?

   A. Always on January 1st.

   B. Only in December.

   C. At any time of the year.

   D. At the end or the beginning of a year.

(   ) 7. Why do we make New Year's resolutions?

   A. Because they're exciting.

   B. Because we have to.

   C. Because they can help us achieve our goals easily.

   D. Because they can help us improve our life.

(   ) 8. How should we make New Year's resolutions?

   A. We should make new resolutions every day.

   B. We should make lots of resolutions at the same time.

   C. We should make a resolution for the whole year.

   D. We should plan the resolutions that we can do in a very short time.

(   ) 9. What does the underlined phrase ^uinstead of" mean in Chinese?

   A. 可是   B. 而不是

   C. 只是   D. 但是

(   ) 10. Which is the best title of the passage?

   A. When to Make New Year's Resolutions?

   B. Try Your Best in the Whole Year

    C. Remember to Make a Plan on New Year's Day

   D. How to Make New Year's Resolutions?

The weather is getting hotter. You are thirsty playing basketball or riding home from school. A cold drink may be just the thing. But be careful what you are drinking. Something that looks cool may not be good for your health. There are plenty of "energy drinks" on the market. Most of them have beautiful colors and cool names. The lists on them tell you they are helpful to your health. Sounds great ！

But after a careful check you may find that most energy drinks have lots of caffeine (咖啡因) in them. These drinks are especially aimed at young people,students,busy people and sports players. Makers sometimes say their drinks make you better at sports and can keep you awake. But be careful not to drink too much.

Caffeine makes your heart beat fast. Because of this,the International Olympic Committee has limited (限制) its use. Caffeine in most energy drinks is at least as strong as that in a cup of coffee or tea. Possible health dangers have something to do with energy drinks. Just one box of energy drink can make you nervous,have difficulty sleeping and can even cause heart problems. Scientists say that teenagers should be discouraged from taking drinks with a lot of caffeine in them.

(   ) 1. Many people like drinking energy drinks because of the following EXCEPT that      

   A. they have beautiful colors and cool names

   B. they have lots of caffeine

   C. they can keep them awake and better at sports

   D. they are said to be helpful to health

(   ) 2. The main reason for people not to drink too much energy drinks is that they may cause         .

   A. heart problems   B. nervousness

   C. sleeping difficulty   D. possible health dangers

(   ) 3. The underlined word "discouraged" can be replaced (替換) with "       ”.

   A. encouraged   B. stopped

   C. helped   D. disliked

(   ) 4. From the passage we can know that         .

   A. advertisements are important in getting people to buy energy drinks

   B. energy drinks are helpful to teenagers' study

   C. sports players need to drink a lot of energy drinks

   D. energy drinks are especially aimed at teenagers

（   ) 5. Which of the following can be the best title (標(biāo)題) of the passage?

   A. What's the Use of Energy Drinks?

   B. Who Can Drink Energy Drinks?

   C. What's That in Energy Drinks?

   D. Why Can't We Buy Energy Drinks?

Great changes have taken place in the last few years. I remember when I first c 1       to Beijing,I saw old houses e 2       ,and many other things which can't be seen now. For example,there were several rows of tall trees with a long history in front of the Friendship Hotel,but for m 3       the roads wide,they had been cut off. What a pity ！

I am an English teacher,I likeChinavery much. I c 4 my career (職業(yè)) from business to education only because I didn't want to leave Beijing orChina. If it is possible,my wife and I will stay here all our 1 5       My parents live inGermany,and I go home every other year. But every time after s 6       there some days,I begin to miss my home in Beijing. As to my children,I like them to live with me i 7       of letting them be independent (獨立) after they are at the age of 1 8.        When they grow up,they can go toBritainfor f 8 study there. Step by step they will e 9          Chinese customs. They will come back toChinaas soon as they f 10 their study.

1. c          2. e         3. m         4. c       5. 1       

6. s           7. i       8. f       9. e        10. f