Failure can make a positive contribution to your life _______  you learn to use it.

A. since   B. unless C. until          D. once

If you find yourself _____________ no one will help you, please call me．

       A．where        B．when                C．which             D．what

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contest, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

A revelation(啟示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously(自發(fā)地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting(借用) my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough a way to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.

41．What do we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

B．Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.

C．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

D．A lot of distractions compete for children’s time nowadays.

42．What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

B．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

C．She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

D．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

43．Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A．She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

B．She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

C．She wanted to share her stories with readers.

D．She had won a prize in the previous contest.

44．The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because        .

A．she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance

B．she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much

C．she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dreams of becoming a writer

D．she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing

45．What’s the author’s advice for parents?

A．A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

B．Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

C．Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

D．Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

______ is no doubt that the Rockets will defeat the Washington Wizards in the next

game.

     A. It       B. As      C. That       D. There

 All the candidates were ______ the street to be named after a great man               ______ his great contributions to the city.

     A. in favor of; in need of                B. in praise of; in favor of

     C. in praise of; in need of                        D. in favor of; in honor of

—Can you help me with the English homework, mom?

—You can’t always    other’s help for your homework. Do it by yourself this time.

A．wait on              B．rely on          C．insist on       D．turn on

Obama says he is angry about policies that always favor the wealthy and powerful over

    __________ Americans and Insists that opportunities be opened up to all．

    A.average           B.intelligent    C.competitive     D.original

 They also ask the students to present their independent ideas instead of _____________ memorizing numbers and facts.

   A. totally                      B. clearly                    C. merely                         D. thoroughly

 Snow is rare in this area. You can hardly see any snow, ________ it is winter.

A. ever since                  B. now that

C. even though               D. even so

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, 并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。

The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other forever. He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him.

The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”

“No, sir,” the men answered.

The director was angry. “Why not?”  he asked.

“Well, sir,” one of the men answered, “we’re on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”

“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”

But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards? Then it’ll look like a sunset.”

“That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”

The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, sir,” they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased.

They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset’ behind them.”

The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop.

The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach.

56. One evening, the director sent his camera crew out _________.

  A. to film a scene on the sea        B. to find an actor and an actress

  C. to watch a beautiful sunset       D. to meet the audience

57. Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast?

  A. Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset.

  B. Because he was angry with his crew.

  C. Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset.

  D. Because it was his secretary’s suggestion.

58. The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because ______.

  A. it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine

  B. when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening

  C. it was more moving than a sunrise

  D. the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset

59. After the “sunset” began, the director suddenly put his face in his hands ______.

  A. because he was moved to tears

  B. as he saw everything in the film moving backwards

  C. as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined

  D. because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine

60. Which of the following is NOT true?

  A. The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice.

  B. If you want to see a sunrise, the east coat is the place to go.

  C. The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day.

  D. The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “sunset”.