When the telephone rings late at night, most women guess it must be one of only four or five people calling. A sister? Maybe. An emergency? Possibly.A mother? Probably not at that time of night. Much more probably it is a close female friend calling to tell you that she has split up with her boyfriend again or perhaps simply that a good movie has just started on TV.
At a time when families are spread far and wide and marriages often end in divorce, friendships are becoming more and more important. Erika, a 32-year-old lawyer, is strengthened by her ten-year friendship with her married friend Jane. “I was very sick one night, so I called Jane at about 3:00 a.m. to talk about it,” she says. “She was very supportive and even came over to take me to the doctor’s the next morning.”
As American TV shows like Friends, which follows the lives of a very close group of young friends, have become more popular, many of us are beginning to see the value of such friendships. TV shows like this tell us that our romantic relationships may not last, but we need to keep in touch with our close friends if we want to survive.
A TV show called Real Women is about the lives and relationships of five former school friends. In this show, family, husbands, and work are all less important than friendships. One of its actresses says the show reflects her own experience. “Friendship is about commitment. I don’t see some of my friends for ages but when we get together, it is as if time hasn”t passed.”
This is true of Erika and Jane’s friendship. With Erika’s family 200 miles away, it is Jane who keeps a spare set of keys to Erika’s apartment and waters her plants whenever she is away. “Having Jane around gives me a certain amount of freedom. It is not the kind of thing that you could ask anyone to do, but she knows I would do the same for her.” Erika feels that because she no longer sees her family every day, she now enjoys a closer relationship with her best friend. Jane, who may move to a different city soon, is worried about leaving such a support system of friends. “My friends have more to do with my life than my parents and, therefore, I don’t have to spend a lot of time explaining things to them. Friends are more up to date with what is happening.”
1.According to the passage, a late-night phone call for most women is probably from ______.
A. a friend B. a relative
C. a stranger D. a doctor
2.TV shows like Friends tell us that ______.
A. marriages with friends often end up in failure
B. families and work are as important as friends
C. close friends help us face problems in life
D. friendship fades(消退) as time goes by
3.Which of the statements will the author probably agree with?
A. A near friend is more helpful than a faraway relative.
B. Both marriage and friendship demand commitment.
C. However far away we’re, parents worry about us.
D. Long distance makes the hearts closer.
There was a time in the 1960’s and 1970’s when some people believed that coffee would replace tea as Britain’s favourite drink, but that did not happen, and today, tea remains Britain’s favourite drink.
To say that the British are fond of tea is something of an understatement. From the Royal(皇室的) Family down to the homeless and the out-of-work, tea is more than just a pleasure. It is an important part of life!
The popularity of tea in the United Kingdom has a long history. It was in 1657 that Thomas Garway, the owner of a coffee house, sold the first tea in London. The drink soon became popular as another choice besides coffee.
In those days, however, tea was not something for anyone. For a century and a half, it remained an expensive drink. Many bosses served a cup of it to their workers in the middle of the morning, thus inventing a lasting British tradition, the “tea break”. But as a social drink outside the workplace, tea was served for the nobility(贵族) and for the growing middle classes. Among those who had the money for tea, it became very popular as a drink to be enjoyed in cafés and “tea gardens”.
It was the 7th Duchess of Bedford who, in around 1800, started the popular “afternoon tea”, which took place at about four o’clock. At about the same time, the Earl of Sandwich popularized a new way of eating bread with something (e. g. jam) between them, and before long, a small meal at the end of the afternoon with tea and sandwiches had become part of a way of life.
As tea became much cheaper during the nineteenth century, its popularity spread right through British society. In working-class households, it was served with the main meal of the day, eaten when workers returned home after a day’s labour. This meal has become known as “high tea”.
Today, tea can be drunk at any time of day. Most people in Britain drink tea for breakfast. The mid-morning “tea break”is an institution in British offices and factories. Later in the day, “afternoon tea” is still a way of life in the south of England and among the middle classes, while “high tea”has remained a tradition in the north of Britain.
1.Who played an important part in the beginning of tea time in England?
A. Thomas Garway. B. The Royal Family.
C. The Earl of Sandwich. D. The Duchess of Bedford.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A. The “tea break” kept the workers from being sleepy after lunch.
B. Workers could enjoy a cup of tea in “tea gardens”at their workplace.
C. “High tea”was usually served with the main meal for the middle classes.
D. The “afternoon tea” together with sandwiches became popular in around 1800.
3.What is the best title of the passage?
A. The Popularity of Tea B. Tea and the British
C. Tea and the Middle Class D. The History of Tea
John，a very thin boy, loved football with all his heart when he was very young．Practice after practice，he eagerly gave everything he had．But being half the size of the other boys，he could only sit on the bench and hardly ever played in games．Even though the son was always on the bench，his father was always standing with cheers and encouraging him．
When John went to college，he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on”．Everyone was sure he could never make the cut，but he did．The coach thought he could provide the other members with the spirit they needed．
The news that he had survived the cut excited him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father．His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games．
It was the end of this last football season．One day John received a telegram and asked one week off．Nobody knew what happened except the coach．The coach said，“Don't plan to come back to the game on Saturday．”
Saturday arrived，and the game was not going well：When the team was ten points behind，John came back．“Coach，please let me play．I’ve just got to play today,”said John．The coach pretended not to hear him．But John persisted，and finally feeling sorry for the kid，the coach gave in．
Before long everyone could not believe their eyes. John was doing everything to fight. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed and blocked like a star. And at last his team won the game．
After the game，John looked at the coach，with tears in his eyes，and said，“Well,you knew my dad died,but did you know that my dad was blind?''John swallowed hard and forced a smile, “Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him that I could do it.”
1.Why did John hardly have any chance to play in games?
A. Because he had no time to practice．
B. Because he was too young to play games．
C. Because everyone looked down upon him．
D. Because his body condition was not good．
2.The underlined phrase “make the cut” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “ “
A. make progress B. be allowed to join the team
C. cut himself D. be refused by the coach
3.From the text we can know that ．
A. John felt very depressed as a “walk-on”
B. John's father always taught him how to play
C. John's father went to most of his college games
D. the coach was sure John would be the best player one day
4.This story tells us that .
A. a burden of one’s choice is not felt B. better to do well than to say well
C. all roads lead to Rome D. where there is a will，there is a way
假定你是李华，你的美国笔友 Richard 准备来惠州市参加龙舟赛（the dragon boat race ）。他写信给你，希望你帮他预订好旅馆，并带他游览市内著名景点。请你给他写封回信，内容包括：
1.回复他的要求；
2.询问具体信息（到达时间、呆多久等）。
注意：1.词数 100 左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾己给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Richard,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
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 处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅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( ^ )，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改 10 处，多者（从第 11 处起）不计分。
From the story of Anne Frank,I think that a best friend is someone to who we can tell everything,even our most person feelings and thoughts.Anne treated her diary as her the best friend.The German Nazis were in search of Anne and her family and they have to hide away from the chase.They didn’t dare go out even in the evenings.They had to stay indoors day or night.Anne missed the beauty of nature too much that she stayed up until eleven thirty one evening just to see the moonlight.She said,“This is the first time I had seen the moonlight since I was here.”Unfortunately,the family was discovered at last and take away.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。
Wang Kun and Wang Wei are brother and sister. They have dreamed of 1.(take) a great bike trip.It 2.(be) Wang Wei who first had the idea to cycle along the Mekong River. They rode bicycles to travel along the Mekong River,3.source is in Qinghai Province.When it4.(enter) Southeast Asia,it travels 5.(slow) through hills and low valleys and the plains6.rice grows.Despite the difficulties,Wang Kun and Wang Wei 7.(determine) to begin their journey at 8.altitude of more than 5,000 meters in Qinghai Province.During their journey, they enjoyed the continuous change of the weather.Finally, they reached Dali in Yunnan Province,9.which Dao Wei and Yu Hang joined them.The four of them went on with 10.(they) great bike trip.
