On August 5 at 10:31 p.m. PST, a rover（探測器）named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was lucky enough to have a front-row seat.
My name is Clara, and when I was in Grade 6, I won the essay contest NASA held to name its next Mars rover. The essay I wrote was not even 250 words long, but somehow it was enough to change my life.
I still remember that cold December day, sitting in a science class. I’d finished a worksheet early and decided to get a Time for Kids magazine off Mrs. Estevez’s bookshelf. It was the 2008 Invention Issue, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught my eye. In the magazine, there was an article about a girl who named the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The article also talked about the essay contest NASA was holding to name its next Mars rover. Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind: Curiosity.
I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home from the bus stop, sat down at the computer and typed until my fingers ached. It turned out that I was just in time. A few days later, and the contest would have closed.
Five months later, shortly after I had turned 12, I was watching a National Geographic special on mammoths when the phone rang. My mom answered, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face. When she told me that I had won, I was happier than I could ever remember being, I screamed and ran up and down the stairs and all around the house. I completely forgot about the mammoths and did not even remember to turn off the TV until it was really late.
Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandfather and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. He’d tell me stories and point out the stars.
My grandfather lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas. I loved the stars because they kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them. That’s what I love so much about space. No matter how much we learn, it will always possess some mystery.
In the past, space exploration may have been a competition to see who got somewhere first or the fastest. But now, it is one of the few things that bring people together. Science is a language that needs no translation. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you look like – you just have to have a thirst for knowledge and a passion for learning in order to succeed.
People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. Why do we explore? My answer to that is simple: because we can; because we’re curious; because we as human beings do not just stay holed up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.
The curiosity rover is more than just a robot. It is more than just a titanium body and aluminum wheels. Curiosity represents the hard work, passion, love and commitment of thousands of people from all over the world who were brought together by science. Science is so awesome. It is breathtaking and mind-blowing; and sometimes, it’s just a little bit crazy. The discoveries we make about our world are incredibly humbling. They move us forward and have the potential to benefit all of mankind.
This December it will be four years of my life that have been tied to Curiosity in some way. I’ve met so many amazing people through this experience, from scientists to engineers to administrators to volunteers. Their devotion and enthusiasm inspire me greatly. My journey with Curiosity and the MSL mission team has shaped the person that I am today, as well as the person I would one day like to become.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to have this amazing adventure.
And to you, I hope your curiosity takes you far.
【小題1】 The method the writer uses to begin the passage is _____.

完形填空（共20小題；每小題1分，滿分20分）
It’s 10:30 p.m., and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise (1)____ him up. Naturally, Brandon (2) ____ his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: “R U awake?”
The (3) ____ text does not annoy Brandon since he gets frequent (4) ____ and calls, even after bedtime. And he can’t imagine life without them. “If I didn’t have a cell phone, I wouldn’t be able to talk to my friends or family as often,” he told the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Brandon’s use of (5) ____ doesn’t stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles（控制臺）in his room. With so many (6) ____, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every (7) ____ minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly (8) ____. According to a recent study by TFK, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using (9) ____ devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day (10) ____, the study found. That’s about an hour more than just five years ago.
The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. “These devices have opened up many more (11) ____ for young people to use media, whether it’s on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line before the cashier,” says Rideout.
Often, kids (12) ____, or use more than one device at a time. “If you’ve got a chance to do something on your (13) ____ and take a phone call and have the TV on at the same time, why not?” Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to (34) ____ kids. But some worry the kids could be (15) ____ other (16) ____ like playing outside or (17) ____ with friends. “It’s a matter of balance,” says Olson.
Multitasking while (18) ____ is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. “It’s important to make sure that you should (19) ____ one thing deeply,” says Rideout.
With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use (20) ____ is more important than ever. “Kids should try,” adds Rideout. “But parents might have to step in sometimes.”

非選擇題部分(共40分)
第三部分：寫作(共兩節(jié)，滿分40分)
第一節(jié)：短文改錯(共10小題；每小題l分，滿分l0分)
下面短文中有10處語言錯誤。請在有錯誤的地方增加、刪除或修改某個單詞。
增加：在缺詞處加一個漏字符號(^)，并在其下面寫上該加的詞。刪除：把多余的詞用斜線(＼)劃掉。
修改：在錯的詞下劃一橫線，并在該詞下面寫上修改后的詞。注意：1．每處錯誤及其修改均僅限一詞；
2．只允許修改l0處，多者(從第ll處起)不計分。

完形填空(共20小題,每小題1.5分, 滿分30分)
I’ll never forget May 12, 2008, we were having classes at Beichuan Middle School , Sichuan Province, when a huge  36  hit the area.
At about 2:28 p.m, our  37  , Mr.Wang, was teaching us singing on the fourth floor on the teaching building.  38   we felt the building shaking violently. It was an earthquake! Our building starting to  39  . It was too late to rush out to the  40  . We were told to hide under the desks.  41  later, the whole building fell down. We were  42  in ruins. We couldn’t move at all. No one could really imagine at that split second, how much pain we had  43 or how desperate(絕望的) we felt as we waited to be  44 . I heard Mr. Wang calling our names again and again… .
Hours later, some people came to rescue and  45 of us were saved.
Later, I  46 this huge earthquake scaled 8.0 magnitude. It hit several provinces, including Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi. So far it has  47 more than 80,000 and injured 360,000. My hometown ----Beichuan was  48  the worst-hit areas. Our school , which was  49  filled with vigor(活力) and laughter, was a dead valley.
Words after such a  50 could appear nothing but empty and pointless. So many people’s lives were taken away, so much  51  was done and the whole city was  52  . Beichuan has become a history.
Now , some of my classmates and I were  53  to study in a middle school in Jiangsu Province. I still  54  dreaming and still strive for a better future: to make our homes beautiful yet  55  .
May victims rest in peace. May survivors live to be stronger.

根據(jù)下列各句句意和空白之后的漢語提示詞，在答題卡指定區(qū)域的橫線上寫出對應(yīng)單詞的正確形式，每空只寫一詞。

1.You need to be more f__________ (靈活的) and imaginative in your approach.

2.In only 20 years the country has been t____________ (轉(zhuǎn)化) into an advanced industrial power.

3.Rich people wanted to p____________ (擁有)their own paintings, so their could decorate their superb palaces and great houses.

4.At_________ (典型的) picture at this time was full of religious symbols.

5.People began to concentrate less on religious themes and a____________(采用) a more humanistic attitude to life.

6.Who can p_________ (預(yù)言) what painting styles there will be in the future?

7.He would not have found a s____________ (贊助人) to help him study abroad.

8.Farmers have a_____________ (求助，呼吁)to the government for help.

9.With so many different form of poetry to choose from, students may e______________ (最終)want to write poems of their own..

10.Art is influenced by the customs and f__________ (信仰)of a people.