Another person’s enthusiasm (热忱) was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.
I was nine years old when she entered our home in the countryside of Virginia. My father introduced me to her with these words, “I would like you to meet the fellow who is well known for being the worst boy in this town and will probably start throwing rocks at you no later than tomorrow morning.” My stepmother walked over to me, raised my head slightly upward, and looked at me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and replied, “You are wrong. This is not the worst boy at all, but the smartest one who hasn’t yet found a way to give out his enthusiasm. ”
That statement began a friendship between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my mind as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that. She changed many things. She persuaded my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the county seat (别墅), where my father’s career could be more successful and my brother and I could be better educated.
When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand typewriter and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her belief and began to write for local newspapers and finally reached the goal she set for me. I wasn’t the only beneficiary (受益人). My father became the wealthiest man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.
1.What can be learnt about the author from Paragraph 2?
A.He was the worst boy in the town.
B.He liked throwing rocks at people.
C.His father had a low opinion of him.
D.His stepmother praised him for his kindness.
2.What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A.Stepmother’s influence on the family.
B.Friendship between mother and son.
C.Changes in the family relationship.
D.Reasons for receiving education.
3.Why did the stepmother buy the author a typewriter?
A.To congratulate on his success.
B.To encourage him to write.
C.To help him find a good job.
D.To teach him to read and write.
4.What may be the best title of the text?
A.Enthusiasm changes life
B.Success lies in education
C.A stepmother’s amazing life
D.The secret of a good writer
March, April and May are months full of festivals and events all over the world. Here are four wonderful festivals around the world that happen in spring.
SongKran--Thailand
Dates: 13th-15th, April
In Thailand, it’s time to celebrate the coming monsoon season, which will bring the rain many people have been looking forward to. They celebrate it with a festival called Songkran, when people head out to the streets with water guns to spray (喷洒) everyone who walks past.
Naghol--Vanuatu
Dates: Every Saturday from April to May
Every year, villagers come together to celebrate the harvest of yams, a kind of root vegetable popular in Vanuatu. The festival is most famous for its “land diving ceremony”. During the ceremony men and boys dive to the ground from high wooden towers with only two thin vines (葡萄藤) attached to their ankles.
Cherry Blossom Viewing ---Japan
Dates: The cherry blossom season is different from year to year depending on the weather forecast.
The cherry blossom season has huge importance to the people of Japan, who celebrate the days when the flowers finally blossom. In Japan, almost everyone has picnics in the parks to view the flowers.
Sinhalese New Year--Sri Lanka
Dates: 13th or 14th, April
Just like in many other countries in South or South East Asia, this is the time when the Sinhalese celebrate the traditional New Year, an ancient celebration which marks the end of the harvest season and is one of two times of the year when the sun is straight above Sri Lanka. There are a lot of delicious foods during the celebration.
1.What does the underlined phrase “monsoon season” probably refer to?
A.Windy season. B.Rainy season.
C.Dry season. D.Foggy season.
2.Who may be most interested in Naghol?
A.A gardener. B.A sports lover.
C.A woodcutter. D.A music fan.
3.What can people enjoy during Sinhalese New Year?
A.Summertime sunshine.
B.Ancient Architecture.
C.Traditional dances.
D.Excellent foods.
Directions：Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese. 外国学生来我校访学，要求了解汉语成语典故。请你从“刻舟求剑”和“坐井观天”两个成语典故中选取一个，用英语向他们介绍。
具体要求：
1. 引出你要介绍的成语；
2. 说出它的字面意义和寓意；
3. 用一个具体的实例，对它加以应用。
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Directions：Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.
1.她能否如期完成被期待要做的事情还得拭目以待。（expect…of…）
2.他的观点是我们不能孤注一掷。（hold; eggs）
3.直到期末考试临近，迈克才意识到他的复习时间不够了。（Not until…）
4.作为一名教育工作者，你应该牢记在日常教学中要注重学生的身心发展。（suppose; mind; value）
Directions：Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
There are various means consumers can do if they find that an item they bought is faulty or in some other way does not live up to the manufacturer’s claims. A simple and common method used by many consumers is to complain directly to the store manager. In general, the“higher up”his or her complaint, the faster he or she can expect it to be settled. In such a case, it is usually settled in the consumer’s favor, assuming he or she has a just claim.
Consumers should complain in person whenever possible, but if they cannot get to the place of purchase, it is acceptable to phone or write the complaint in a letter．
Complaining is usually most effective when it is done politely but firmly, and especially when the consumer can demonstrate what is wrong with the item in question. If this cannot be done, the consumer will succeed best by presenting specific information as to what is wrong, rather than by making general statements. For example,“The left speaker does not work at all and the sound coming out of the right one is unclear”is better than“This stereo does not work.”The store manager may advice the consumer to write to the manufacturer. If so, the consumer should do this, stating the complaint as politely and firmly as possible. If a polite complaint does not achieve the desired result, the consumer can go to a step further. She or he can threaten to take the seller to court or report the seller to a private or public organization responsible for protecting consumer’s rights.
Directions：Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. 1. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.
“It’s extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components,” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. 2. “The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.
They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of inter-dependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems.
While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, 3. “Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.
Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. 4. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,”
A. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications.
B. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components.
C. There used to be few ways like this to study how insects fly.
D. There are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives humans on a day-to-day basis.
E. Thus, it might some day perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield.
F. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly.
