Have you ever received a gift that was so dearly, not your taste that you wondered if perhaps it had been handed to you by mistake? Worse, have you ever given a present and watched your friend look as though she had opened the wrong box? Maybe she responded with a polite "Why, thank you," but you knew you had missed the mark. Why do presents sometimes go wrong? And what do your choices (good and bad) reflect about your personal qualities?

Choosing the right gift is an art, I believe. It calls for empathy -- the ability to put yourself into someone else's head and heart. We're all able to do this; in fact, we're born with a kind of natural empathy. After the earliest period of childhood, however, it needs to be reinforced (加强)--by our parents, teachers, friends. When it isn't, we're not able to understand other people's feelings as sharply. This can show in the gifts we select, and so can many other emotional (情感的) qualities.

   Think back to the presents you’ve given over the past year, the time and effort you put into your selection, how much you spent, your thoughts while you were shopping, and your feelings when the receiver opened the package. Keep in mind that what you choose displays your inner world. (Of course, you may express yourself differently with different friends, relatives, and other people you know.

   We live in a society where exchanging presents is an important part of communication. Ignoring the tradition won't make it go away. If you really dislike such a tradition, tell your friends ahead of time.

1． The underlined expression "you had missed the mark" means "you had failed to _____.

A. make her feel better     

B. keep your friendship

C. get the expected effect       

D. receive a present in return

2． Which of the following is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A. Natural empathy needs to be reinforced.

B. Emotional changes influence one's choice of gifts.

C. Selecting the right gift is an ability people are born with.

D. Choosing gifts requires one to understand the receivers.

3． In the third paragraph, the author tells us that________.

A. the choice of gifts reflects one's emotional qualities

B. one learns from what he did in the past

C. attention should be paid to the receivers' responses

D. one should spend more time choosing gifts

4．The best possible title for this passage is “_______”.

A. Ways of Choosing Gifts      B. An Important Tradition

C. Exchanging Presents         D. Message in a Gift

Kids may need to apologize if they do something they know was wrong－like telling a lie or breaking a rule on purpose. When they do something their parents tell them not to do，or they don't do something they are supposed to do，they apologize，too.

Grown-ups can apologize，too，to other grown-ups or even to kids. After all，even grown-ups make mistakes sometimes. By apologizing when they're wrong，grown-ups can set a good example and show kids how to do the right thing and apologize when they need to.

Saying I'm sorry when you need to is the right thing to do. It does a lot of good. But by itself，it might not be enough to make everything all better again. Sometimes along with an apology，a person needs to fix the mistake or promise to do better. Sometimes doing a nice thing for the person after you apologize helps show that you really are sorry and want to be friendly again.

Sometimes a heartfelt " I'm" sorry fixes everything right away. Other times，it might take a while for someone to feel friendly after you apologize. You might need to give the other person some time. Even after you say you're sorry，you might still feel bad about what you said or did－but you can feel good about apologizing and about making up your mind to do better.

When someone apologizes to you，you might not feel like being friendly again

right away. Once in a while，if a person doesn't change，you might not want to be friends

anymore. You might feel glad that the other person apologized and admitted being wrong. But if someone keeps behaving in mean ways or does something that keeps hurting，you might not feel the same way anymore. Just because someone apologizes to you doesn't mean you have to be friendly again. That part is up to you.

5．The writer suggests that grown-ups should set a good example of ________.

A．working hard

B．making an apology

C．doing good deeds

D．making mistakes

6．The underlined pronoun "it" (in Paragraph 3) probably refers to ________.

A．promising to do better  

B．a lot of good

C．fixing mistakes

D．saying I'm sorry

7．What would you like your friend to say to you if he/she hurts you?

A．I am really wrong.

B．Excuse me.

C．I beg your pardon？

D．What's wrong with you？

8．The passage mainly deals with a topic about ________.

A．politics

B．history

C．communication 

D．science

My friend’s grandfather came to America from a farm in Thailand. After arriving in New York, he went into a cafeteria(自助餐厅) in Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for someone to take his order. Of course nobody did. Finally, a woman with a big plate full of food came up to him. She sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked.

“Start out at that end,” she said, “Just go along the line and choose what you want. At the other end they’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”

“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend later, “Life’s a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want as long as you want to pay the price. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself.”

9．My friend’s grandfather came from       .

A. Thailand   B. Manhattan  C. New York         D. China

10．The grandfather went into a cafeteria to     .

A. wait for someone       B. get something to eat 

C. meet my friend         D. buy something

11．The woman in the cafeteria might be    .

A. a waitress   B. a friend of grandpa’s 

C. a customer   D. an assistant

12．What should we do to get food in a cafeteria?

A. Wait for the waiter. 

B. Ask someone for help.

C. Get it ourselves. 

D. sit down at an empty table

13．What can we learn from the grandfather’s words about the life in the US?

A. Get up early and you can succeed.

B. Act and get what you want on your own.

C. Nobody brings you anything unless you pay the price.

D. Waiting is very important.

 “Father, I don’t like to go to school,” said Harry Williams one morning. “I wish you    let me stay at home. Charles Parker’s father doesn’t make him go to school.”

Mr. Williams took his little boy      the hand, and said kindly to him, “Come, my son. I want to     you something in the garden.”

    Harry walked into the garden with his father, who led him along     they came to a bed in which peas were growing. Not a weed was to be     about their roots.

“See how beautifully these peas are     , my son,” said Mr. Williams. “How clean and healthy the vines(藤) look. We shall have a good     . Now let me show you the vines in Mr. Parker’s garden.”

   Mr. Williams then     Harry to look at Mr. Parker’s pea vines.

   After a few moments, Mr. Williams asked, “Well, my son, what do you      Mr. Parker’s pea vines?”

“Oh, Father!” replied the little boy. “I never saw such      looking peas in my life! The weeds are nearly as      as the peas themselves. There won’t be half a crop!” “      are they so much worse than ours, Harry?”

“Because they have been left to grow as they     .  I suppose Mr. Parker just planted them, and never took any care of them      ”

“Yes. A garden will soon be overrun with weeds     it is not taken good care of,” Mr. Williams     , “and so it is with the human garden. Children’s minds are like garden beds. They must be      cared for. I send you to school in order that the garden of your     may have good seeds and     plentifully. Now which would you    , to stay at home or go to school?”

“I would rather go to school,” said Harry.

14．A. would B. should C. might D. could

15． A. in B. by C. with D. of

16． A. offer B. give  C. show D. remind

17．A. until  B. where C. before  D. when

18． A. made  B. changed  C. seen  D. planted

19．A. dancing B. moving  C. shaking D. growing

20． A. result B. harvest  C. match  D. present

21．A. led  B. ordered  C. followed  D. forced

22． A. hear of   B. look at  C. think of   D. deal with

23． A. ugly  B. fine C. dirty  D. poor

24．A. deep  B. long  C. high  D. wide

25．A. When  B. How  C. Where  D. Why

26．A. pleased  B. stayed  C. left  D. belonged

27．A. ahead  B. afterward  C. forward  D. outside

28． A. as  B. or  C. if  D. so

29．A. required  B. answered  C. explained  D. announced

30．A. carefully B. correctly  C. gently  D. slightly

31．A. school  B. mind  C. family  D. dream

32．A. produce  B. develop  C. decrease  D. drop

33．A. find  B. support  C. know D. prefer

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共

有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

    增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(Λ)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

    删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

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注意：

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    2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

I can’t swim so I have a strong fear of water. Look back at my childhood, I think that three reasons might explain fear. Firstly, I am not allowed to go near the water when I was a child, as my mother had an unreasonable fear of it. Therefore, I was taught to see to the water as something danger. Secondly, my eyes became bad when I was five. If I took off my glass in the water, I couldn’t see something, and this increased my fear. What’s worse, for a child I once saw a neighbor drowned. Since then I have been more frightening.