8、She became the first woman to enter the school but withdrew after a few days       stress.

A．because of           B．in spite of           C．instead of            D．in honor of

7、—Some English idioms are difficult to understand.

—Exactly,          you know the meaning of each word.

A．if only          B．even if          C．a(chǎn)s if         D．now that

6、A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was  1  . She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery ball. She could hear nothing but the waves and the  2  flying up in the sky.

The   3  relaxed her. After all she had been through, this is what she needed.

She wondered how her parents would  4  , when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking,  5  herself to bungalow 163, where she spent every summer holiday. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been  6  in her house.

It was really getting dark now, the sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting  7  too. She imagined having her favorite  8  on; it kept her really warm. This thought  9  when she finally saw her front door.  10  had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was  11  ; her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now… It all seemed  12  . She couldn’t understand what was  13  on.

She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a（n）  14  written by her father. Reading “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready, I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents  15  . She went in. Then she

saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, sleeping. Her face looked so tired,   16  she hadn’t slept for days. Jenny would have wanted to wake her up, but she didn’t  17  her tired mother. So Jenny just fell asleep  18  her. When Jennifer woke up something was different…she wasn’t in her mother’s room. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas.

    It   19  so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, “Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very  20  .”

1．A．rising                    B．setting                 C．shining                D．landing

2．A．seagulls                 B．a(chǎn)ngels                 C．parrots                D．rainbows

3．A．condition               B．style                    C．a(chǎn)tmosphere          D．weather

4．A．resist                    B．reflect                 C．reject                  D．react

5．A．directing               B．a(chǎn)ssisting              C．a(chǎn)llowing              D．commanding

6．A．tired                     B．thrilled                 C．safe                    D．a(chǎn)nxious

7．A．hot                       B．warm                  C．cloudy                D．cold

8．A．cap                       B．sweater               C．slippers               D．jewelry

9．A．a(chǎn)roused                 B．ripened                C．disappeared         D．formed

10．A．Nobody               B．Somebody           C．Everybody           D．Anybody

11．A．  terrified              B．shocked              C．excited                D．disturbed

12．A．declined              B．destroyed            C．designed              D．deserted

13．A．going                  B．marching             C．coming               D．taking

14．A．e-mail                 B．composition         C．letter                   D．note

15．A．study                  B．bed                     C．room                  D．balcony

16．A．in that                 B．a(chǎn)s if                    C．now that             D．even if

17．A．force                  B．comfort               C．interrupt              D．blame

18．A．a(chǎn)round                B．beneath               C．beside                 D．over

19．A．sounded              B．looked                 C．seemed               D．felt

20．A．a(chǎn)nnoyed              B．scared                 C．confused             D．embarrassed

5、On an airplane, a spacecraft or a man-made satellite, there is usually an installed device called the “black box”. Made of a special kind of material, it would remain unbroken, even if the entire craft were blown to pieces. The box records some important data, which provide clues as to what changes had occurred before the real thing came along and help to discover the causes of the disaster.

The black box, therefore, becomes the last piece of evidence left. More often, it reveals a shocking fact that many aircrafts met their disasters only because of a simple but fatal mistake. Some hadn’t been supplied with sufficient fuel; others crashed due to a bird flying in their paths. In many cases,  the pilot had been tired. In 1986, the famous US space shuttle Challenger exploded soon after launch, because a screw on it was a bit loose!

An idea thus occurs to me: if a human being was equipped with a similar device, tracking all the subtle inner changes that had taken place over time, the results could astonish the world. Newspapers carry no few such stories from day to day-cases of graft or bribe-taking（行賄或受賄）,how an innocent man was robbed and killed, and so on. A fatal error, committed by a criminal at a particular point in his life, may have arisen from a small quarrel or out of envy. The number of those who were born evil and deliberately sent themselves to the “gallows（絞架）”is in fact extremely small. The disappointment towards the last moment of their life is on different from a struggle against an aircraft crash!

Behave properly in small matters and take best care of the soul-this, I insist, is the message from that mysterious box planted deep inside human souls.

1．The first two paragraphs are mainly about      .

      A．the mysterious box inside human souls.

       B．the causes of the disasters.

       C．the fatal mistake of space shuttles.

       D．the function of the black box.

2．The underlined phrase “a similar device” in Paragraph 3 refers to      .

       A．a(chǎn) useful device                                    B．a(chǎn) black box

       C．a(chǎn)n installed device                                D．a(chǎn)n important instrument

3．According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?

       A．Most of us were born kind, but those evil by nature are not in small numbers.

       B．Many crashes should have been avoided if pilots had been careful.

       C．Some small errors can even cause a long-lasting regret.

       D．Even if the plane blows up, the black box can still function.

4．The best title for the text is      .

      A．The Black Box                                     B．The Black Box and Disasters

       C．The Black Box of the Soul                    D．The Black Box and Humans

5．The purpose of the author is to      .

       A．warn us of our safety                           B．tell us to treat others kindly

       C．show us his concerns                          D．remind us of taking good care of our soul

4、In 2007, five young people in the American state of Massachusetts developed an idea. The team knew that the world is filled with mobile phones. About eighty percent of all people are said to live within reach of a wireless telephone signal.

The idea was to use mobile phones and the Internet to connect job seekers with employers. The young people wrote a business plan and formed a company called Assured Labor.

Assured Labor won a development competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT）. Three of the founders were graduate students there.

Assured Labor is an electronic marketplace. It has two parts. One is for the United States. That operation was launched in January in Boston. It links people with employers offering temporary jobs.

The other arm of the business is for developing markets. That operation is meant to help people get more permanent jobs. A representative is currently building partnerships with universities and international companies in Central America.

Assured Labor’s president, David Reich, says the companies now place job advertisements on radio or in newspapers. Some even drive around in cars with loudspeakers announcing that jobs are available. He says the companies are interested in having more modern hiring practices.

Through Assured Labor, companies will list open positions on the Internet. People who think they could do the job could reply by text message or on their cell phones.

This is how the system works in Boston:

The jobs available include house cleaning, dog walking and home repair. People who want their house cleaned, for example, can look online at a list of twenty housekeepers. The list tells what services they offer and how much they want to be paid. People need two letters praising their work to get on the list of service providers.

The employer chooses workers they would like to hire. The company then sends the workers a text or e-mail message so they can respond quickly to an offer.

After a job is completed, the employer and employee rate each other. The rating is kept for future use. Assured Labor is not charging anyone right now, but the plan is to have employers pay for the service.

1．Assured Labour is founded by            .

       A．David Reich                                        B．five young people in Massachusetts

       C．a(chǎn)n unknown expert                              D．three graduate students from MIT

2．What kinds of jobs does Assured Labor offer?

       A．Temporary jobs.                                  B．Permanent jobs.

       C．Free jobs.                                           D．Both A and B.

3．Which is NOT one of the means for Assured Labor to advertise jobs available?

      A．Radio                                                 B．Newspapers

C．TV programmers                           D．Cars with loudspeakers

4．Which of the following is the proper procedure to seek a job through Assured Labor?

       a. People can look online at a list of jobs.

       b. Companies will list open positions on the Internet.

       c. The company sends the workers a text or e-mail message.

       d. The workers can respond to an offer.

       e. The employer chooses workers they would like to hire.

       A．a(chǎn)cdbe                  B．baecd                  C．bcdae                  D．a(chǎn)bdea 

5．What can be inferred from the passage?

       A．The present hiring practices need to be improved.

       B．Employers don’t need to pay Assured Labour.

       C．Universities also join Assured Labor for financial help.

       D．Assured Labor only offers household jobs.

6．Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

       A．An Electronic Marketplace

       B．Mobile Phones and Markets

       C．Getting Into Job Market by Mobile Phone

       D．Job Seekers and Markets

3、Science and technology students in China and the US have a long way to go before they can develop a deep understanding of scientific reasoning, researchers have found.

As part of a research of Physics of the Oho State University, gave 5,760 freshmen in three US and four Chinese universities two tests to evaluate content knowledge and another to assess scientific reasoning.

Though Chinese students did better than their US counterparts in the first two tests that emphasized on learning facts, both groups “scored relatively poorly” on the third test, designed to assess their ability to systematically explore a problem, the results showed.

Lei Bao said that the finding challenges conventional wisdom, which holds that teaching science facts will improve students’ reasoning ability. “Our study shows that, contrary to what many people would expect, even when students are thoroughly taught the facts, they don’t necessarily develop the reasoning skills they need to succeed,” Bao said. “Because students need both knowledge and reasoning, we need to explore teaching methods that target both. ”

The current education systems and assessment of China and the US do not emphasize on deep understanding of scientific reasoning in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics（STEM）, the study concluded.

Bao explained that reasoning is a good skill for everyone to possess-not just scientists and engineers. The general public also need good reasoning skills in order to correctly interpret scientific findings and think rationally. STEM students need to excel at scientific reasoning in order to handle open-ended real-world tasks in their future careers in science and engineering.

How to boost scientific reasoning? The study suggests that educators must go beyond teaching science facts if they hope to boost students’ reasoning ability. Bao points to inquiry-based learning, where students work in groups, question teachers and design their own investigations. This teaching technique is growing in popularity worldwide.

1．According to the research, we know that           .

       A．Chinese students and their US counterparts did poorly in the first two tests

       B．Chinese students did better than their US counterparts in all the three tests

       C．Chinese students did better than their US counterparts in the first two tests

       D．US students did better than their Chinese counterparts in the third test

2．The conventional wisdom holds that        .

       A．the more facts students are taught, the more reasoning skills they will acquire

       B．the general public also need reasoning skills to interpret scientific findings

       C．to boost students’ reasoning ability, educators must explore teaching methods

       D．the current education systems are harmful to improve students’ reasoning ability

3．Based on the study, what will be done to improve students’ reasoning ability?

       A．To improve teaching techniques.

       B．To better students’ learning conditions,

       C．To teach students more science facts.

       D．To offer students more tests.

4．The underlined phrase “excel at ”in Paragraph 6 probably means        .

       A．be worse at         B．be better at          C．be enthusiastic about         D．be inferior to

5．Which of the following is correct according to the passage?

       A．Little needs to be done to develop students’ reasoning ability in the US.

       B．Only scientists and engineers need reasoning abilities.

       C．Two tests were carried out to evaluate students’ scientific reasoning.

       D．Inquiry-based learning is a good way to boost students’ reasoning ability.

2、Marriages improve after children grow up and move out, according to an academic study, which suggests an “empty nest” is not always a bad thing.

Popular wisdom has it that parents’ relationships may suffer once their young fly the coop, because they feel they have lost their purpose in life. However, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has found that many couples actually feel happier when their children leave home because they are able to enjoy spending time together.

In total, 123 American mothers born in the 1930s were tracked for 18 years and asked to rate their satisfaction levels shortly after marrying, when they were bringing up babies, once their children reached their teenage years and finally at age 61, when almost all had “empty nests”.

Although not all said they were happier in general, most claimed their marriages had improved since their children had left home, Researchers believe this is not just because the spouses were spending more time together, but because they were able to enjoy each other’s company more.

One of the participants in the study, which is published in the journal Psychological Science ,said:“ Once the kids grow up…there’s some of that stress removed…that responsibility removed,  so things are a little more relaxed.”

Psychologist Sara Gorchoff, who carried out the investigation, said: “The take-home message for couples with young children is ‘hang in there’.” Her co-author Oliver John added: “ Don’t wait until your kids leave home to schedule quality time with your partner.”

However, Dr Dorothy Rowe, from the British Psychological Society, said the effects of living in an “empty nest” will depend on the parents’ relationship with their children. “If you’re just waiting for them to leave home so you can get on with your life, then of course you’ll be pleased to see them go, ” she said, “But if you’ve built your life around your children you’ll be terribly lonely. For some parents, their world falls apart when their children leave. ”

1．It is commonly believed that        .

       A．marriages improve after children leave home

       B．a(chǎn)n “empty nest” is always a happy thing.

       C．parents’ relationships may suffer once their young grow up and move out

       D．parents will be pleased after their children leave home

2．When did many couples feel happier according to the study?

       A．At age 61, when almost all had “empty nests”.

       B．Shortly after marrying.

       C．Once their children reached their teenage years.

       D．When they were bringing up babies.

3．Marriages improve after children fly the coop not because       .

       A．many couples are able to spend time together

       B．many couples are able to enjoy each other’s company

       C．things are a little more relaxed

       D．many couples needn’t work at all

4．The author of the passage tends to agree that        .

       A．parents should build their life around their kids

       B．parents should schedule quality time with each other before kids leave home

       C．parents’ relationship with their kids has no effect on marriages at all

       D．parents should be pleased to see their kids leave home