A student was one day taking a walk with his teacher. As they went along, they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path. They were a poor farmer’s, who was working in the nearby field.

       The student turned to the teacher, saying: “we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those trees, and wait to see what he will do.”

       “My young friend,” answered the teacher, “we should never make fun of the poor. Why not put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch?” The student did so and they both hid themselves behind the trees. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.

       After putting on his coat, he put his foot into one of his shoes, and felt something hard. Then he bent (弯腰) down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Surprised, he looked at the coin, turned it around and looked at it again. He then looked around, but no person was seen. He put the money into his pocket, and continued to put on the other shoe. His surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.

       He couldn’t control his feelings and fell to his knees, looked up to the sky and expressed his thanks. Then he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread. He said the help would save them from dying.

       The student stood there deeply moved, and his eyes filled with tears. “Now,” said the teacher, “are you not much happier than if you had hidden the shoes?”

21. When the student saw the shoes, he wanted to _____.

A. steal them                    B. find their owner

C. play a joke on the owner       D. give the owner some money

22. According to the passage, the teacher is _____.

A. quiet and honest        B. kind and friendly   C. patient and clever    D. strict and careful

23. When the farmer saw the second coin, he _____.

A. was very excited and grateful

B. was worried and looked up at the sky

C. was surprised and decided to find the owner

D. spoke of his difficulties and asked for more help

24. At the end of the story, the student _____.

A. was very proud of himself           B. was very pleased with his life

C. felt very sorry about his first idea      D. felt sad for not taking his teacher’s advice

25. What can we learn from the passage?

A. It is never too late to learn.           B. All good things come to an end.

C. Where there is a will, there is a way.    D. True happiness comes from helping others.

       Not long ago, a rock band called the Backstreet Boys made a big splash on the music scene. Young people everywhere loved their songs. One of the band’s biggest fans was a young boy named Aaron Carter. Aaron had a special reason for taking such an interest in the band. Nick Carter, one of the Backstreet Boys, was Aaron’s big brother.

       Even before Nick joined the band in 1996, Aaron loved music. From the age of two, Aaron spent most of his time listening to the radio. He sang along with his favorite songs. He made up dances to go with them. So Aaron’s family was not surprised when Aaron decided to follow Nick into the music world.

       Aaron got off to a fast start. At the age of seven, he joined a band in his hometown of Tampa, Florida. But after two years, Aaron didn’t want to be part of a band anymore. He wanted to sing alone. Soon, Brother Nick gave Aaron a helping hand. During a Backstreet Boys show in Germany, Aaron sang a song. He did an amazing job! After the show, someone from a record company asked Aaron to make an album (专辑). Of course, Aaron said yes!

       Since that day, Aaron has made lots of songs that sell well. His songs include “Crush on You” and “I’m Gonna Miss You Forever”.

       Aaron has worked hard to become a success. But he never forgets how his brother gave him his start. As Aaron has said, “If Nick wasn’t a singer, then I wouldn’t be there.”

26. What does the underlined part “made a big splash” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A. Drew wide attention.            B. Led to a heated discussion.

C. Collected a lot of money.         D. Got into great trouble.

27. According to the passage, Aaron _____.

A. fell in love with music after Nick became famous

B. joined the Backstreet Boys at the age of seven

C. was not allowed to sing by his family

D. was thankful for his brother Nick’s support

28. How did Nick Carter help his brother get started?

A. He made up some dances for Aaron.

B. He wrote some songs for Aaron’s first album.

C. He let Aaron sing a song during a show in Germany.

D. He told Aaron to listen to the radio and sing along.

29. “Crush on you” is the name of a _____.

A. play   B. song  C. band               D. movie

30. What is discussed in the passage?

A. The rise and fall of a band.        B. The road to success of a singer.

C. The secret of success of a band.    D. The way to be a singer.

       Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels (元音) being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact (接触) with many people from around the world. This meant that lots of new vocabulary entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary came out.

       Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words. Late Modern English has many more words, mainly because of the following two reasons: First, the Industrial Revolution (工业革命) led to the need for new words. Second, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries.

       From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化) of North America led to American English. Some English pronunciations and words “froze” when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that are called “American English” are in fact from British expressions. They were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain. Spanish also had an influence (影响) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante are from Spanish. They entered English by the people of Spain who settled in the American West. French words and West African words also influenced American English.

       Today, American English has a greater influence, because of the USA’s movies, television, popular music, trade and technology.

31. The main difference between Early and Late Modern English lies in _____.

A. vocabulary                  B. pronunciation         C. spelling      D. grammar

32. What helped to increase the vocabulary of Late Modern English?

a. the invention of printing

b. the Industrial Revolution

c. the colonization

d. the contact with other countries

A. a, b, c           B. a, c, d          C. a, b, d           D. b, c, d

33. From the passage, we can learn the word “canyon” is from _____.

A. American dialect       B. African dialect     C. Spanish        D. French

34. The third paragraph mainly talks about _____.

A. English colonies in North America

B. the development of American English

C. other languages’ influence on American English

D. the difference between American English and British English

35. The underlined word “froze” can best be replaced by _____.

A. remained unchanged      B. disappeared     C. improved    D. kept active

Kindness is not always a straight line. I was traveling in a city of Central America with a friend, and we were  36  a post office. We were standing on a street corner and did not know what the Spanish word for “post office” was. Some 37  guy could see we were  38  and came up to us. We tried to  39  what we were looking for, and he said, “Oh, yes, yes,” and  40  us, with our backpacks on in the middle of the heat of the day, down all these little crooked (弯曲的) streets. It seemed like we walked for miles.  41 , he pointed us toward a  42  without any name on it. But when we  43 , it turned out not to be the post office.

When we came out and were 44  standing around looking  45 , someone else soon came up. She asked if we  46  help. Again, we tried to explain  47  we were going. The woman said she  48  where the post office was. We headed off as she  49  us to another building which also had no  50  and which also turned out not to be the post office.

At this point we decided that  51  we didn’t know where we were, we were not going to listen to anybody else. But then another person came up and said, “I can  52  you.” We said “No, thank you,”  53  he was very insistent (坚持的). He actually grabbed me by the hand and dragged (拉着) me through the streets. Circling around, we came back to the first  54  we had been standing on when we began. The  55  pointed across the street, and there was the post office.

36. A. fixing up               B. looking for       C. cleaning up           D. working for

37. A. kind                      B. brave               C. poor                  D. proud

38. A. excited                 B. surprised           C. pleased              D. confused

39. A. doubt                     B. explain            C. consider            D. guess

40. A. warned                   B. begged            C. persuaded           D. led

41. A. Luckily                  B. Gradually          C. Finally            D. Secretly

42. A. line                         B. word               C. building                  D. city

43. A. took part                B. turned around    C. gave up                 D. went in

44. A. again                      B. only              C. also                       D. even

45. A. late                        B. hurt               C. lost                       D. busy

46. A. offered                    B. needed              C. accepted                  D. refused

47. A. when                     B. why                C. how                          D. where

48. A. forgot                      B. knew             C. wondered                  D. dreamed

49. A. followed                 B. called           C. guided                       D. welcomed

50. A. door                         B. owner           C. sign                           D. step

51. A. even though             B. as long as          C. as soon as              D. as if

52. A. promise              B. help           C. remember                D. understand

53. A. or                             B. so                 C. and                           D. but

54. A. office                       B. corner           C. floor                         D. circle

55. A. friend                      B. postman        C. stranger                    D. boss

 Dr. Jones, a famous scientist, is being interviewed by Janet when visiting a high school.

Janet: Welcome to our school, Dr. Jones. My name is Janet and I intend 56. ________ (ask) you a few questions if you don’t mind.

Dr. Jones: Of course not. What would you like to know?

Janet: Well, first of all, I would like to know 57. ________ you decided to study physics.

Dr. Jones: Well, I’ve been very interested in the universe since my 58. ________ (child) and I have come up 59. ________ a theory that explains why there is frozen water on Mars.

Janet: That’s 60. ________ (real) interesting. I also read about your new invention. Could you please tell me more about it?

Dr. Jones: Yes. I’ve invented a wonderful machine 61. ________ (call) a “water hunter” that I use to look for water on other planets.

Janet: How does it work?

Dr. Jones: Well, 62. ________ is not easy to explain, but the machine can take pictures of planets and search for water. By looking at the pictures, I can tell 63. ________ there’s water there or not.

Janet: I see. Do you think that there is life on other planets? I don’t think so.

Dr. Jones: Hmm ... That’s a good question. Either you or I 64. ________ (be) right. However, it seems like people have found ice on Mars, and if there’s ice, there could also be life. Maybe not now, but at some time in the future or past. I think that it would be strange 65. ________ the earth was the only planet with life on it.

Janet: Thank you very much. I hope you will enjoy your visit here at our school.

Dr. Jones:  You’re welcome.