Stamp collection was once considered a harmless and educational pastime for small boys. It still is — but with a difference. Grandpa and grandma have joined the small boys, along with shoe clerks, waitresses, truck drivers, college professors , businessmen, presidents and kings. Stamp collecting has today grown into big business.
All the really rare old stamps are already owned by collectors who refuse to part with them. But even if these owners were willing to sell, few people could afford to buy.
A stamp becomes valuable because it is “ rare”. Modern collectors with little money to spend have to create their own “ rarities”. One rarity that stamp collectors look for is an error in the stamp. The error may be so small that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. If it is there, however, it makes the stamp more valuable.
Stamp collectors have another way of making their collections rare or unusual. They bring together as many examples as they they can of a certain kind of stamp. What makes such a collection unusual is the time and the idea that went inot making it. One may collect only stamps of some color. Another may collect only stamps from a certain foreign country, or stamps connected with some person, place or event. Still other collectors are interested in the tiny holes along the edge of a stamp. They may be long or short, round or oval. Some stamps may not have them at all. Another thing that makes a stamp “ rare” is its postmark or its cancellation. Collectors go through a lot of trouble to have letters mailed to them from unusual places.
1.Grandpa and grandma have joined the small boys in collecting stamps because ________.
A.even kings and presidents are also collecting stamps.
B.they want to be with their garandsons
C.it is no longer a pastime for little boys
D.people can make a lot of money by buying and selling stamps.
2.All the really rare old stamps are sometimes owned by collectors who ________..
A.have a lot of rare stamps B.do not understand their real value
C.want to keep them D.are anxious to sell them for a good price.
3.Errors in the stamps _______.
A.may be too small for eyes to see
B.are usually wiped out by the stamp collectors
C.will keep the value of the stamps low
D.can not be seen at all
4.One of the ways that stamps collectors make their stamps unusual is to __________.
A.collect a large number of stamps according to a certain pattern
B.sell out stamps and buy new ones
C.keep the valuable stamps only
D.spend time studying them
In the past, American families tended to be quite large. Parents __________ five or more children were common. Over the years, the__________ of the family has decreased. One reason for this is an increase in the __________ of living. On the average, children attend schools for more years than they used to, making them ____________ dependent on their families longer. Moreover, children nowadays are better __________ and have more money to spend on _________ . The parents usually take the responsibility for all the expenses. Meanwhile, families are less close than they used to be. More and more American mothers _________ away from home. The break up of the family occurs when the parents ________ . A lot of children in the U. S. live part of their young lives with only one parent. Broken families usually result in problems for children and parents alike. Children blame themselves when their parents separate. They grow up feeling _________ as they are moved back and forth between parents. Usually one parent is responsible for raising the children. These single parents must care for the children’s emotional and psychological __________ while also supporting them financially. This is very demanding and __________ very little time for the parent’s own personal_________ . Single parents often marry other single parents. In this type of family, unrelated children are _________ to develop brother or sister relationship. The situations of many American families today are not good. However, recent signs ___________ that things are getting better. The divorce rate is__________ . The rate of childbirth is rising. Perhaps Americans have learned how important families are.
1.A.breeding B.raising C.feeding D.bringing
2.A.amount B.number C.size D.scale
3.A.level B.standard C.wage D.cost
4.A.finally B.financially C.fashionably D.faintly
5.A.worn B.wearing C.dressing D.dressed
6.A.luxury B.activity C.playing D.entertainnment
7.A.are B.run C.work D.separate
8.A.devoice B.apart C.divide D.scatter
9.A.uncomfortable B.uneasy C.noisy D.unsettled
10.A.needs B.notions C.motions D.blows
11.A.gives B.pays C.shows D.leaves
12.A.interest B.interests C.property D.possession
13.A.oppressed B.asked C.forced D.shown
14.A.oppressed B.refer C.explain D.indicate
15.A.declining B.lower C.weaker D.smaller
Directions : After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word, for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
One of the first questions young children ask is “Why?” It is human nature to want 1.(find) out why things are the way they are. You can find out “Why” by turning the question into a hypothesis (假设) for 2. experiment.
3. example, suppose you have been trying to grow tomato plants, but insects keep destroying 4.. Someone tells you that 5. (put) large strips of colored cloth around the plants will keep insects away. Your question might be “Do certain colours of cloth keep insects away?” Then you’d begin your experiment. The first step would be to place different-colored strips of cloth around all of the plants except one. Then, as regular intervals, you would observe and record and note6.the plant had any insect damage or not.
This experiment may prove that the answer to your question is “No, it is not different-colored strips of cloth 7. keep away insects.” Or you may find that answer is “Yes, certain insects are kept away by blue cloth, but not yellow cloth.” ...... 8. you have found, you are well on your way to understanding how you can use scientific thinking to solve a problem in you own life.
假定你是李华，请你给在美国孔子学院任教的英语老师刘老师写封邮件，内容包括：
1.询问他在美国的生活和工作情况；
2.告诉他你的学校情况；
3.希望他来信介绍美国学生的生活。
注意：1.词数100左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3.开头和结尾己给出，不计入总词数。参考词汇：孔子学院 the Confucius Institute
Dear Liu ,
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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(1)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。
Dear friends,
How time flies! We had a wonderful times together. You’ve joined various activities, such as paper cut, folk dance, music and kungfu. And you also had had a better understanding of Chinese cultures. Of course, with your help, we’ve also improved your oral English and become more confident in express ourselves.
On behalf of my school, I would like to thank you for teaching us English. Now you are going back to England, so I wish you joy and happiness in the new stage of life.
I sincere hope your stay in China will be a unforgettable experience in life. Wish you a pleased and safe journey to home! Hope to seeing you again! Thank you！
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
A small town in England is teaching the world that it is important 1.(grow) your own food. Any open space 2.(use) to grow fruit and vegetables. There are apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, cabbages and carrots, here and there. Everyone can pick them 3. free. Eight years ago, a woman named Pam in Todmorden dug up her rose garden. She planted vegetables, knocked down the garden wall and put up a sign 4.(say), “Help yourself?” Today, Pam has 5.(complete) changed the town. A new town has been born, 6. is called “Incredible Edible Todmorden”. Pam explained why she thought the idea was popular. “It’s possible and positive. Many people know we have to change, 7. how we do that is a question. So one day, she gathered all the 8.(villager) together. They decided to do something different at once. They didn’t write reports. They didn’t ask for permission. They just did it. Only a short time 9.(late), Todmorden became a big garden of fruit vegetables. In Todmorden, there is a motto: If you eat, you are in. But that’s not all. There are 10.(many) than 700 edible towns popping up around the world, from Canada to Mali. People there think about food and protect environment at the same time.
