The Touchstone

    When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read little, bought it for very little money.

The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.

The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days continued over a long period if time.

One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away.

    So it is with opportunity. Unless we are cautious, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

1．The man bought the book because______.

      A．he wanted to read it             B．it was very interesting

       C．there was a secret in the book      D．he wanted to find the touchstone

2．We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is______.

       A．pure        B．cold          C．magic          D．big

3．Why did the man throw the pebbles into the sea?

       A．Because he didn’t want to get the same pebbles.

       B．Because he didn’t want others to pick them up.

       C．Because he didn’t like their ordinary looks.

       D．Because he didn’t like the cold feelings.

4．What does the author want to tell us in the passage?

       A．We about orate opportunities in our life.

       B．We should seek for opportunities in the world.

       C．We may seize opportunities when we are watchful

       D．We may discover opportunities when forming habits.

第二卷

注意：將答案寫在答題卡上。寫在本試卷上無效。

第四部分：書面表達（共兩節(jié)，滿分35分）

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，請你修改你同舊式寫的以下作文。文中共有10處語言錯誤，每句中最多有兩處。錯誤涉及一個單詞的增加、刪除或修改。

增加：在缺詞處加一個漏字符號（∧），并在其下面寫出該加的詞。

刪除：把多余的詞作斜線（\）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。

When I was in high school, most of my friend had bicycles. I hoped I could also have it. One day I saw a second-hand bicycle, that was only one hundred yuan. I asked my father the money. But he said he could only give me half of the money. He should find the other half myself. So I went to sell newspapers after the school. My father was pleased if I showed him the money a month after. He gives me the other fifty. You can imagine how much happy I was when I rode to school on my own bicycle.

—What fruit is in season now?

—Grapes and peaches, ______.

A. I know              B. I think                     C. I see                 D. I feel

She is the only one of the girls who _______ in the company.

   A. is well paid    B. are well paid    C. is paying well       D. are paying well

 High-quality customer service is preached(宣揚) by many ,but actually keeping customers happy is easier said than done. Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a store, but instead will alert their friends, relatives, co-workers, strangers-and anyone who will listen. Store managers are often the last to hear complaints, and often find out only when their regular customers decide frequent their competitors, according to a study jointly conducted by Verde group and Wharton school.

“Storytelling hurts the boss and entertains consumers,” said Paula Courtney, President of the Verde group.” the store loses the customer, but the shopper must also find a replacement.” On average, every unhappy customer will complain to at least four other, and will no longer visit the specific store for every dissatisfied customer, a store will lose up to three more due to negative reviews. The resulting “snowball effect” can be bad to bosses.

According to the research, shoppers who bought clothing met the most problems. ranked second and third were grocery and electronics customers. The most common complaints include filled parking lots, cluttered (塞滿了的) shelves, overloaded racks, out-of-stock items, long check-out lines, and rude salespeople. During peak shopping hours, some retailers solved the parking problems by getting moonlighting local police to work as parking attendants. Some hired flag wavers to direct customers to empty parking spaces. This guidance eliminated the need for customers to circle the parking lot endlessly, and avoided fight between those eyeing the same parking space.

Bosses can relieve the headaches by redesigning store layouts, pre-stocking sales items, hiring speedy and experienced cashiers, and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions.

Most importantly, salespeople should be diplomatic and polite with angry customers. “Retailers who’re responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren’t so friendly.” said Professor Stephen Hoch. “Maybe something as simple as a greeter at the store entrance would help.” Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filling complaints to the boss, instead of complaining to the rest of the world. Bosses are hard-pressed to improve when they have no idea what is wrong.

1. Why are store managers often the last to hear complaints?

   A. Most customers won’t bother to complain even if they have had unhappy experiences.

   B. Customers would rather relate their unhappy experiences to people around them.

   C. Few customers believe the service will be improved.

   D. Customers have no easy access to store managers.

2. What does Paula Courtney imply by saying “ … the shopper must also find a replacement” (Line 2, Para. 4)?

 A. New customers are sure to replace old ones.

   B. It is not likely the shopper can find the same products in other stores.

   C. Most stores provide the same

   D. Not complaining to the manager causes the shopper some trouble too.

3. Shop owners often hire moonlighting police as parking attendants so that shoppers_____

   A. can stay longer walking in the store  B. won’t have trouble parking their cars

   C. won’t have any worries about safety  D. can find their cars easily after shopping

4. What contributes most to smoothing over issues with customers?

   A .Manners of the salespeople   B. Hiring of efficient employees

   C. Huge supply of goods for sale   D. Design of the store layout.

5. To achieve better shopping experiences, customers are advised to _________.

  A exert pressure on stores to improve their service

  B. settle their problem with stores in a diplomatic（外交）way

  C. voice their dissatisfaction to store managers directly

  D. shop around and make comparisons between stores

第三部分：閱讀理解(共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分)

    閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中，選出最佳選項。

     Many people often say there is more stress (壓力) in today's society than in years past. In fact, these people are comparing our lives with that of the cave man, who didn't have to worry about the stock market or the atomic bomb. They forget that the cave man worried about being eaten by a bear while he was asleep, or about dying of hunger--things that few people worry much about today.

      Actually stress is a normal state of affairs, and it's important that people understand what they are talking about when they speak about stress. Whenever anyone experiences something unpleasant, for lack of a better word they say they are under stress. Yet there is such a thing as pleasant stress--as in the case of the Olympic winner at the moment of his glory, or a conductor as his orchestra(樂隊) performs particularly well. They are just sending out excitement, and they are giving off all the stress hormones(荷爾蒙)exactly the same as if they were in low spirits or had just heard of a death in the family. We call the pleasant or healthy kind "eustress” and the unpleasant or unhealthy kind "distress".

      Then how can people deal with stress? The secret is not to avoid it but to "do your own thing". It implies doing what you like to do and what you are made to do at your own speed. For most people, it is really a matter of learning how to live and how to behave in various situations, to decide: “Do I really want to take my father's business or be a musician?” If you really want to be a musician, then be one.

1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?

    A. Modern people experiences more stress than the cave man.

    B. The cave man experienced more stress than modern people.

    C. People don't suffer more stress today; it's just that they think they do.

    D. Modern people have the same worries as the cave man did.

2. In which of the following situations will you feel "eustress"?

    A. Your favorite football team has lost an important game.

    B. You have failed an important examination.

    C. You are informed of an accident of your best friend.

    D. You have won the first prize in an English competition.

3. The purpose of writing the passage is to let us know

    A. stress does not necessarily refer to unpleasant experience

    B. distress is what people call the pleasant kind of stress

    C. an Olympic winner feels the same stress as one who loses a family member

    D. people will feel eustress and distress at the same time

4. According to the passage, how can people deal with stress?

    A. Do things that you really want to do.

    B. Do whatever you're expected to do.

    C. Try to do things successfully.

D. Refuse to do whatever you're told to.

Scientists are working to develop crop plants that can reduce the amount of water used for agriculture. Almost sixty percent of the world’s freshwater withdrawals from rivers, lakes and other water resources go toward irrigating fields.

Scientists are using biotechnology as well as traditional breeding methods to develop water-saving crops to feed a growing world.

Thomas “Tommy” Carter is a plant scientist in North Carolina. He works for the Agricultural Research Service in the United States Department of Agriculture. He leads Team Drought, a group of researchers at five universities. They have been using conventional breeding methods to develop and test soybeans that can grow well under dry conditions.

Tommy Carter started working on drought-resistant soybeans in 1981. His research has taken him as far as China, where soybeans have been grown for thousands of years.

Farmers in the United States, however, have grown soybeans for only about a century. Tommy Carter says the soybeans they grow are for the most part genetically similar. More differences could better protect crops against climate changes that can reduce production. Those changes include water shortages which could increase from global warming.

The Agriculture Department has a soybean germplasm(胚質) collection, a collection of genetic material passed from one generation to the next. Members of Team Drought studied more than 2,500 examples from the collection.

They looked at ones from the home of soybeans, Asia. They searched for germplasms that could keep plants from weakening and wilting (凋謝)during hot, dry summers in the United States.

Tommy Carter says they found only five. But these slow-wilting lines, he says, produce four to eight bushels（英斗）more than normal soybeans under drought conditions. The yield depends on location and environment.

Scientists are also working on other plants that either use less water or use it better, or both. For example, companies like Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta have been developing corn with reduced water needs. Monsanto expects to be ready in a few years to market its first corn seeds genetically engineered to resist drought.

1. According to the passage, scientists try to find out how to _______.

A. grow crops with less water

B. increase crop production

C. feed a growing world

D. save the world’s water resource

2. Why did Tommy Carter come to China?

   A. He likes traveling.

   B. China has a long history.

   C. He’s doing research into soybeans.

   D. He works for the Agricultural Research Service.

3. What’s inferred from the passage?

   A. Climate changes lead to global warming.

   B. Water shortages contribute to global warming.

   C. Genetically different soybeans need much water to grow.

   D. Genetically different soybeans help to fight against damaging climate changes.

4. What do we know about slow-wilting plants talked about in the passage?

   A. They yield big profits.

   B. They can grow in almost any climate.

   C. They seem to be drought-resistant.

   D. They need much water for their growth.

It is generally considered unwise to give a child ________ he or she wants.

A. however                   B. whatever                  C. whichever                D. whenever

Since my return to China, I haven’t seen my host mother in America; nor______from her.

       A．I heard     B．I have heard     C．did I hear  D．have I heard

 —I’ll repeat the phone number: 0571-88145412. Can you catch it?

   —________.