British singer Sarah Brightman began training for a 2015 flight to the International Space Station where she hopes to become the first professional musician to sing from space, the company arranging the trip said on Tuesday.

Brightman, a famed soprano (女高音) who starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber' s "Phantom of the Opera" , will pay about $ 52 million for a 10-day stay aboard the orbital outpost, Tom Shelley, president of privately owned Space Adventures, said.

Brightman, who will become the eighth privately funded space tourist, is scheduled to fly in September 2015. Her training to fly on a Russian Soyuz capsule began last fall.

Brightman has planned to be the first professional musician to sing from space. But she faces competition from Lady Gaga, who, according to media reports late last year, intends to be the first when she performs one song in space in early 2015 on a Virgin Galactic flight. Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, plans to offer suborbital(亞軌道的) space flights.

Brightman said in 2012 that she would travel to the space station, but her plans haven't been confirmed until now. So far. Space Adventures has arranged for nine private missions to the space station, a $ 100 billion research laboratory that flies about 260 miles above the earth. Microsoft co-founder Charles Simonyi made two trips.

Brightman will be the first private citizen to visit the station since Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibarte paid about $ 35 million for an 11-day stay in September 2009.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has an option to fly on the next available Soyuz seat after Brightman, which most likely will be in 2017, Shelley told Reuters.

1. What is the purpose of the passage?

A. To praise Brightman.

B. To persuade the readers that Brightman is more famous than Lady Gaga.

C. To instruct the readers how to begin a space flight.

D. To give some information about Brightman.

2. When did Brightman start training for her space travel?

A. Last winter. B. Last autumn.

C. Next spring. D. Next summer.

3. The underlined word "she" in Paragraph 4 refers to ____.

A. Brightman B. Lady Gaga

C. Andrew Lloyd Webber D. Tom Shelley

4. The fifth paragraph is mainly carried out ____.

A. in time order B. in space order

C. by giving examples D. by comparison

Some kinds of mental skills naturally decrease as people get older. Yet research seems to show that some training can improve such skills. A recently published study also appears to attest that the good effects of training can last for many years after that training has ended.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland wanted to learn how long memory and thinking skills would last in older people who were trained to keep them. The people were part of the ten-year research project. They were taught methods meant to improve their memory, thinking and ability to perform everyday tasks.

More than 2,800 volunteered for the study called ACTIVE — short for Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly. Most were studied when they were more than 70 years old.

The volunteers took one of several short training classes meant to help them keep their mental abilities. One class trained participants in skills including how to remember word lists. Another group trained in reasoning. A third group received help with speed-of-processing — speed of receiving and understanding information. A fourth group — the control group did not get any training.

Earlier results had established that the training helped the participants for up to five years. Now, leading study writer George Rebok says, the research showed most of the training remained effective a full ten years later.

Professor Rebok and his team found that the people trained in reasoning and speed-of- processing did better on tests than the control group.

“We are wondering whether those effects which endured over time would still be there ten years following the training, and in fact, that's exactly what we found.,,

The effect on memory, however, seemed not to last as long. Still, the old people in any of the three classes generally reported less difficulty in performing daily activities than the control group.The total training time for the older people was between 10 and 15 hours.

1. Which statement is false according to the text?

A. This kind of training can only have effects on people for a few years.

B. The people were trained during a period of ten years.

C. Most of the people who were studied were more than 70 years old.

D. The first group were trained how to remember word lists.

2. How would the old in the second group perform after receiving the trauung?

A. Remember more words.

B. Understand information more quickly.

C. Act as poorly as before.

D. Perform daily activities better.

3. What does the underlined word "attest" in the first paragraph mean7

A-Affect. B. Deny.

C. Prove. D. Improve.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. Some Kinds of Mental Skills Naturally Decrease.

B. Mental Training Helped Elderly Stay Sharp for Years.

C. Four Groups of Old People Were Trained Mentally.

D. A Ten-year Research Affects Elderly.

Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. They'll say, "This is my fate. I cannot change it.”

1. . You don’t have to suffer needlessly. Your fate depends on you, not on any other outside factors

We want to be happy and live our life to the fullest, but we have to do our share of making the effort to live the life of our dreams.

2. You just don' t sit around and wait for a million dollars to fall from the sky. You have to get off the couch, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone ( unless it contributes to your success), and get your mind and body to work I

If your life is not meant the way you want it to be, don't just say: "Our time will come. " or 3. " Don' t expect your luck to change, unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, don' t just regard it as a temporary setback; but use it as feedback. Learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem. It' s not enough to think positive; you also have to act positive.

If someone' s life is in trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! 4.

So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to DO your best. In other words, don't just stand (or sit) there. 5.

A. I think so.

B. Of course not.

C. You'd better let it be.

D. Things will get better someday.

E. Do something to improve your life.

F. Remember that you harvest what you sow.

G. You've got to do anything you can to save the person.

A new mother was anxious to see her newly-born baby. But she was when the baby was in her arms. The baby had been born without ears.

With time going on, it that the baby' s hearing was perfect. It was only his that was damaged. When he rushed home from school one day and himself into his mother' s arms, she sighed, that his life was to be misfortunate.

He grew up and became a with his classmates. He might have been class president, that. The boy’s s father the family physician in secret if he could do to help his son. "I believed I could on a pair of outer ears, if they could be got," the doctor answered. So the began for a person who would ears.

Two years went by. Then the father said, "You are going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will give the ears you need. it a s a secret," said the father. The operation was very , and a new person appeared. " But I must know!" he urged his father. " Who gave me _? I could never do enough for him. " "I do not believe you could. " said the father.

The secret was for years till he stood with his father over his mother' s coffin. Slowly and , his father raised his mother' s thick brown hair to that his mother had no outer ears. "Mother said she was she never let her hair be cut," he whispered gently . "and nobody ever thought she was less did they?"

1.A.angiy B. confused C. astonished D. curious

2.A. turned out B. turned over C. took out D. took over

3.A. figure B. face C. ear D. appearance

4.A. threw B. got C. sent D. took

5.A. persuading B. knowing C. doubting D. wondering

6.A. enemy B. favorite C. stranger D. friend

7.A. ever since B. even if C. but for D. as for

8.A. asked B. advised C. ordered D. convinced

9.A. something B. everything C. anything D. nothing

10.A. transplant B. operate C. set D. fix

11.A. operation B. interview C. search D. examination

12.A. donate B. operate C. treat D. recover

13.A. So B. And C. But D. Or

14.A. normal B. useful C. difficult D. successful

15.A. so much B. so many C. too much D. too many

16.A. discussed B. hidden C. spread D. kept

17.A. desperately B. tenderly C. sadly D. excitedly

18.A. know B. find C. show D. notice

19.A. guilty B. glad C. worried D. regretful

20.A. beautiful B. ugly C. careful D. Fashionable

Dad: OK, kid, what' s so important 1. we have to meet in secret?

Daughter :Well, it' s about the 22nd of next month. I- d like to have 2. surprise party for Mum but I need your help. I thought that maybe you could take her to a movie, you know, just the two of you. Then while you' re away I can decorate the family room 3. invite lots of friends.

Dad.That 4. (sound) great but how do I manage to get her back without 5. (go) out to dinner after the movie?

Daughter: Oh, that' s easy. You just say that you want to pick me up in order to make it a family 6. ( celebrate). After the movie is 7. , you send Mum in to get me and when she comes in the front door everyone shouts "Happy birthday" to surprise her.

Dad: What about food? You don't have time to cook it 8. (you) , do you?

Daughter: I’ll order everything to be 9. (send) from the restaurant nearby while you are enjoying the movie.

Dad: I'm so happy you have handled this so 10. (beauty).

第一節(jié)短文改錯（共10小題；每小題1分，滿分10分）

假定英語課上老師要求同桌之間交換修改作文，請你修改你同桌寫的以下作文。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：把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。

Recently, smog weather has became more and more serious in parts of China. People forced to wear masks to avoid breathe poisonous air. To settle this problem, the series of measures should be taken. First, we should enact(頒布) more strict law on environmental protection to regulate the industrial punish those factories what ignore the protection. Second, we should develop environmentally-friendly products to improve air quality. Besides, people should build up protection awareness to form a habit by using green products or saving energy. In my opinion, if we all act together, their environment will become more better.

假如你是高三．1班的班長李華，得知美國學生Forest作為交換生下個月將到你班學習。

請你根據以下要點，給他寫封郵件：

1．表示歡迎；

2．簡要介紹所在班級以及課程設置情況；

3．希望Forest能介紹一些西方文化及校園生活。

注意：1．詞數(shù)100左右；

2．可以適當增加細節(jié)，以使行文連貫；

3．開頭、結尾已給出，不計入總字數(shù)。

參考詞匯：交換生：an exchange student

Dear Forest,

I'm Li Hua, monitor of Class One, Senior Three.

Yours,

Li Hua

Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. These two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their respective houses.

One evening, Brownie’s family noticed that Brownie hadn’t returned home. They went looking for him with no success and by the next week he was still missing.

Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie’s house alone. Barking, whining (哀叫) and generally pestering (糾纏) Brownie’s human family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.

Continuously,Ted, Brownie’s owner, was disturbed by the angry, determined little dog. Spotty followed Ted about, barking insistently, then rushing toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, “Follow me! It’s urgent!”

Eventually, Ted followed Spotty to a deserted spot half a mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leghold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he’d taken Spotty’s earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable.

Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie’s human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table scraps which were later identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that week!

Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in the hope of keeping his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from hunger and other dangers, and keep his spirits up.

Brownie’s leg was treated by a veterinarian (獸醫(yī)) and he recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families watched the faithful friends chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses.

1.Why did Ted pay little attention to Spotty at the very beginning?

A．Because Ted was tired of listening to Spotty barking.

B．Because Ted only cared about Brownie’s safety.

C．Because Ted was not free at that moment.

D．Because Ted knew where Brownie was.

2.When Ted was led by Spotty to Brownie, he .

A．was curious to find out what had happened

B．highly appreciated Spotty’s help

C．was worried about Brownie’s health

D．regretted not following Spotty earlier

3.Not only did Spotty help Ted find Brownie but also .

A．he went to see his friend and played with him secretly

B．he sent messages to some other persons in his community to save his friend

C．he managed to lead a veterinarian to treat his friend

D．he sent food to his friend, accompanied him and inspired him to cheer up

4.What can we learn from the story?

A．Barking dogs seldom bite.

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C．Love me, love my dog.

D．Every dog has its day.

Your kids learn a lot from their friends—things you can’t teach them, no matter how much you

want to.

Probably the most important thing kids learn is how to have peer relationships. As a parent, you can’t do this, because you and your child aren’t equals.

For example, when you’re sitting on your family room floor and your very young child asks you to pass him the blocks, you probably hand them right over. If your child is sitting with a peer and asks the same thing, though, he might not get what he wants.

To succeed, your child will need to learn strategies for getting what he wants. For example, he might simply yank (猛拉) the toy out of his friend’s hand. If he does that, he may learn that it’s not the best way of getting what he wants because it leads to fighting and time-outs. The successful child will learn that he needs to negotiate a trade, to wait patiently, or to find something else equally fun to play with.

Friends also provide emotional support, something that is part of the foundation of healthy adulthood. You can’t be with your child on the elementary school playground or at the high school dance. Your child’s friends will be the ones to stick up for her, to include her in games, and later, to tell her she looks great even if her lousy prom (糟糕的舞會) date wanders off instead of dancing with her.

Friends also help your children learn. Friends solve problems together, imitate each other, and

pass on knowledge .

Some experts believe that the single biggest predictor of your child’s success later in life is her ability to make friends. In fact, they claim it’s even more important than IQ and grades.

This doesn’t mean that the kids who are most popular in school do the best later on in life. What matters is not the number of friends a child has but rather the quality of the relationships.

This is good news for those of us who hate to think that popularity really is the Holy Grail of childhood and adolescence. While it’s true that popularity has many advantages, and that many popular kids really are nice people—and not just the best dressed or best looking—it’s better to have a few good friends than to have the admiration of the masses.

1.By giving the example in Paragraph 3, the author wants to show that .

A．kids can learn how to deal with the relationships when they stay with their peers

B．parents should spend more spare time playing with their kids

C．kids should learn how to be polite when they ask their parents for help

D．parents can teach their kids how to be good members in the modern society in their daily life

2.What does the underlined phrase“stick up for” in the fifth paragraph mean?

A．envy B．oppose

C．support D．ignore

3.In the author’s opinion, is more important than being popular for kids.

A．getting high grades

B．having some real friends

C．developing a good habit

D．knowing how to dress themselves up

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．How to Bridge the Generation Gap

B．What It Takes to Be a Good Friend

C．Why Friends Are Important

D．How to Be Popular in School

Three-dimensional printers are fast becoming everyday devices in the United States. Three-D printers are used to make everything from automobile parts to bone replacements for human patients. American research scientists are now working on creating replacements for living tissue.

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have been working on creating and manufacturing living tissue since 2003．This process is called biofabrication (生物制造) . It requires special printing equipment and a special kind of ink.

Traditional printers require ink to produce an image or design on a piece of paper. For their three-D printer, the South Carolina researchers prepare complex nutritious solutions they call bio-inks. Bio-inks are made of proteins and glucose (葡萄糖) , which normally provides energy for most cells of the body. The researchers also add living cells taken from the animal that will receive the new, printed tissue. The bio-inks are then added to a device that researchers call the Palmetto bio-printer.

Sarah Grace Dennis is one of the researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. She says new technology, like the Palmetto bio-printer, is a great help to the biofabrication process.

The bio-inks are placed in three dispensers (分配器) , containers, inside the printer. Lasers control both the position of the printing surface and the places where the bio-ink is released.

Michael Yost is a leader of the research team. He says the printing process is fully automated— machine-operated. He says that the Palmetto bio-printer makes it possible to create complex tissue types.

The researchers say bio-printing is still experimental. But they hope in a few years they may be able to print tissue to replace damaged human organs.

But there are still some problems which need to be solved. Some scientists worry about how to get blood to the replacement tissue. The flow of blood is important to keep the printed tissue alive.

Michael Yost hopes that more people will believe in the benefits of biofabrication.

“Tissue biofabrication is a reality, and it is a reality now, and if you come here and you get to see it. You will get to see it. You can’t touch it, but you will see it and think this is real. And this is really human.”

1.What can we know about the bio-inks?

A．They are the necessities of bio-printing.

B．They only contain proteins and glucose.

C．They can be placed in the traditional printers.

D．They are available in our local drugstores.

2.Which of the following is one of the concerns with biofabrication?

A．Researchers can’t find enough living cells of animals to make the bio-inks.

B．The price of the bio-printer is too high and most people can’t afford it.

C．Scientists have some difficulty in getting the blood to the replacement tissue.

D．People are worried about the safety of the biofabrication process.

3.According to Michael Yost, we can infer that .

A．the Palmetto bio-printer can work without power

B．the Palmetto bio-printer has been used to treat the patients

C．the Palmetto bio-printer can only be found in the United States

D．the Palmetto bio-printer will have a bright future in medical use

4.The passage mainly tells us about .

A．the three-D printer and its working principles

B．the bio-inks and their use in bio-printing

C．the spread use of the bio-printer in the USA

D．the growing demand for biofabrication