I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke（喚起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.

Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “l(fā)imited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions（認識）of the limited English speaker.

I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “l(fā)imited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is ,because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.

I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal（內(nèi)在的） language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence（本質(zhì)）, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.

By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______.

A. she uses English in foreign trade             B. she is fascinated by languages

C. she is a writer by profession                   D. she works as a translator

The author used to think of her mother’s English as ______.

A. impolite           B. amusing           C. imperfect          D. practical

Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. Americans do not understand broken English.

B. The author’s mother was not respected sometimes.

C. The author’ mother had positive influence on her.

D. Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts.

What is the passage mainly about?

A. The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother.

B. The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English.

C. The author’s misunderstanding of “l(fā)imited” English.

Keep on trying. Never _________. I am sure you will succeed sooner or later.

A. lose hearts      B. lose your heart    C. lose heart      D. lose your hearts

Only when _________________________.

A. did he arrive the meeting began 

B. he arrived the meeting began.

C. did he arrive did the meeting begin.

D. he arrived did the meeting begin.

—Your mother isn’t a doctor, is she?

  ----___________. She teaches English in a middle school.

A. Yes, she is  B. Yes, she isn’t     C. No, she isn’t     D. No, she is

I hate        when people have prejudice against female employees and think women are less capable.

       A．that   B．it      C．one   D．them

What      great fun it is to have a swim in a hot day in summer.

   A .a    B. the   C. /   D. of

I have read the passage several times but it doesn’t make any     to me.

  A. meaning    B. importance    C. sense    D. significance

I’m moving to the countryside because the air there is much fresher than ___________ in the city.

  A. ones         B. one          C. that            D. those

Our little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was preparing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on her apron (圍裙) , she read it, and this is what was said:

For going to the store for you $2.

For cutting the grass in the garden $3.

For cleaning up the yard this week $2.5.

For cleaning up my room this week $2.

For setting the table for meals this week $1.

For baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping $1.5.

For getting a good school report $5.

Total owed: $17.

His mother looked at him, who was standing there with expectation. Memories flashed through her mind. Then she picked up a pen, turned over the paper he had written on, and wrote:

For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me, No Charge(收費) .

For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you and taken care of you, No Charge.

For all the problems and troubles that you’ve caused through the years, there is No Charge.

When you add it all up, the cost of my love is No Charge.

For all the nights that were filled with fear and for the worries I knew were ahead, No Charge. For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping up your nose? There is No Charge. And when you add it all up, the full cost of real love is, No Charge, Son.

Well, friends, when our son finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you..” And then he took the pen and in great letters he wrote, “ PAID IN FULL.”

What might the mother be doing when the boy came into the kitchen?

   A. Getting the dishes ready.          B. Repairing the cooker.

   C. Washing dirty dishes.             D. Laying the table for dinner.

According to the boy’s bill, his mom owed him ______ for his helping with the house work.

   A. $7.50          B. $10.50          C. $12.00          D. $17.00

This story tries to tell us that ________.

   A. real love is priceless    B. housework is endless  C. the mother is wise     D. the boy is selfish

Liu Xiang, a 21-year-old Chinese athlete, got the gold medal of the fascinating men’s 110m hurdles before a crowd of 70,000 at the Olympic Stadium in the 28th Olympics in Athens late Friday local time. He clocked an excellent 12.91 seconds to equal the world record set by Britain’s Collin Jackson in 1993.

It is the first gold Chinese men’s athlete has ever won from the track and field in the Olympics history. China has won over 100 gold medals from the summer Olympic Games since 1984 but its male athletes only got one medal from Olympics’ most popular sport, the track and field.

The Shanghai native, with his father a truck driver and mother an out-of-work housewife, loved sports when he was very little. Liu was selected to the Junior Sports School of Putuo District of Shanghai to practice jumping as a fourth grader in the primary school. But after a bone test showing that he will not be able to become a tall man, Liu was asked to give up sports one year later, although he had won the national champion at that level.

In 1998 when he attracted coach Sun Haiping’s attention as a 15-year-old jumper, Sun was a well-known hurdle coach and he believed a star was born at the first sight of Liu. He visited Liu’s parents several times and finally persuaded them to let Liu transfer to the 110m hurdles.

After only three years, Liu launched his career in style in the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2001 by breaking the world youth and Asian record with a time of 13.12.

But the first warning he sent to the world was his bronze-winning feat（戰(zhàn)績）at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, England, last year.

In 2004, Liu won the silver in the world indoor championships in Budapest in March. Two months later, he proved the winner in a race against American great Allen Johnson in the IAAF Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan, where he clocked a new Asian record and world’s season best time of 13.06 seconds.

He went on to win two Johnson-absent races in Lille, France, on June 26 and Zagreb, Croatia, three days later. He put up an exciting show at the Golden Gala meet in Rome on July 3, when he and Johnson clocked an identical time of 13.11. Race officials had to examine a photo finish to declare Johnson the winner. Liu did a better job of clearing the hurdles than Johnson, but Johnson’s stronger start ended up making the difference. The race boosted（提高） Liu’s optimism(樂觀) for the Olympics, although Johnson bettered his season best time by 0.01 second in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 6.

The world has put the Olympics a Johnson-Liu duel but surprisingly Johnson crashed out of the Games after falling at the ninth hurdle at round 2. Johnson’s early exit paved the way for Liu’s win. He finally took the gold medal and put a Chinese man’s name on the record book.

       (chinadaily.com.cn /Xinhua)  Updated:2004-08-28  02:57

According to Paragraph One, which of the following is TRUE?

       A. Liu Xiang is the fastest of the mentioned athletes.

        B. Liu Xiang has set a new world record in the event of the men’s 110m hurdles.

       C. Both Liu Xiang and Jackson got a gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

       D. In the Olympics history, Liu Xiang is the fastest in this event.

Before the 28th Olympics in Athens,         .

       A. no Chinese athlete got a gold medal from the track and field at the Olympics

       B. there was already a Chinese male medal winner in the track and field at the Olympics

       C. Terrence Trammell got a gold medal from the men’s hurdles at the Sydney Olympics

       D. Zhu Jianhua got a bronze medal from the men’s hurdles in the 1984 Los Angeles Games

In the last paragraph, the underlined word “duel” most probably means “       ”.

       A. competition       B. friendship   C. partner       D. company

From the passage, we can conclude that          .

       A. Liu Xiang had no gift for jumping when he was a little boy

       B. Liu Xiang set a new world youth record when he was 17 years old

       C. Liu Xiang has succeeded because of his coach Sun

       D. Johnson might have won the gold medal if he had not dropped out