Beatrix Potter was a great English writer and artist, best known for her children's books featuring animal characters such as in the children's classic -- The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Beatrix was born into a rich London-based family where she was tutored by very strict private teachers and so spent her youth isolated from other youngsters.
During her youth she had a lot of pets and spent vacations in Scotland and also the Lake District. It was at the Lake District that she developed a love of wildlife. She studied the area's natural wonders carefully and painted them continuously. But her old-fashioned, Manchester-born parents discouraged her intellectual improvement, thinking it inappropriate for a young lady. However, her study and watercolour paintings of wild mushrooms made her widely respected within the field of biology.
In her 30's, Beatrix Potter wrote the remarkably successful kid's book, The Tale of Pew Rabbit. Close to that time she became secretly engaged to her publisher Norman Warne. This caused a great disagreement with her parents, who did not approve of Beatrix getting married to somebody of lower social status. Sadly, Warne died before the marriage ceremony.
Ultimately Beatrix Potter began writing and also illustrating (绘图) kid's books full-time. Using profits from her books, Beatrix grew to become economically independent of her parents and was eventually in a position to buy Hill Top Farm in the Lake District. She extended the property with additional purchases of neighbouring land over time. In her 40's, Bestrix married William Heelis, a local lawyer. She ended up becoming a sheep breeder and farmer while continuing to publish as well as illustrate books for children. In all she authored 23 publications.
Beatrix died on December 22, 1943, and left the majority of her property to the National Trust. Her books carry on selling well globally, in many different languages. Her stories have been retold in numerous formats including a ballet, movies, and cartoons.
Such is her reputation, and that of the characters from her publications, that many Beatrix Potter statues have been created. These tiny Beatrix Potter statues which include pretty much all the actual characters in her publications have become highly valued by art collects and fans of her literature throughout the world.
1. What can we learn about Beatrix Potter's early life?
A. She learned drawing skills from her tutors.
B. She was very sociable and outgoing.
C. She was greatly inspired by the beauty of nature.
D. She was encouraged to think creatively and independently.
2.Why did Beatrix Potter's parents oppose the idea of her marriage to Norman Warne?
A. They did not believe she was mature enough to get married.
B. They thought Warne was only interested in Beatrix Potter's wealth.
C. They believed that the couple's characters were mismatched.
D. They considered Warne to be too common for their daughter.
3.According to the passage, which part of the UK did Beatrix Potter love most?
A. Manchester. B. Scotland. C. The Lake District. D. London.
4.In which of the following areas did Beatrix Potter show an interest during her life?
A. Writing, biology, farming.
B. Drawing, nature, ballet.
C. Movies, farming, drawing.
D. Writing, mushrooms, travel.
5.What is the function of the last two paragraphs of the passage?
A. To describe the consequences of Beatrix Potter's death.
B. To present the lasting cultural influence of Beatrix Potter and her works..
C. To show the changes in attitude towards Beatrix Potter's works over the past years.
D. To criticize the commercialization of Beatrix Potter's characters since her death.
语法填空（共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分）
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为1~10的相应位置上。
A farmer once organized a competition between his dog and his rabbit. He dug a hole in one of his biggest fields, and hid a carrot and a bone in it. He wanted to see ___1___ animal would find them first.
The ___2__ (cheer) and optimistic rabbit threw himself into looking for the carrot, __3___ (dig) here and there, totally convinced that he would find it. But the dog, after sniffing around for a bit, ___4___ (lie) down and began to complain about how difficult it, was to find one bone in such a big field.
The rabbit dug ___5__ hours, and with every new hole the dog complained even more about how difficult this was, even for the rabbit. ___6___ the rabbit thought that each hole dug was one hole less that needed digging. When there was no place in the whole field ___7__ (leave) to dig, the rabbit dug a tunnel right to __8___ the dog had been lying all the time. There he found the carrot and the bone.
This is how the dog lost the game. He had come to ___9__ right place at the very beginning but failed to find the bone ___10___ he only complained and didn't try at all.
The more accessible a company's services are, the more business it will do. Why are the same ___1___ not applied when it comes to Internet websites then? A Hong Kong study has found that the local sites of two leading ___2___, McDonald's and Motorola, are the most user-unfriendly of the 30 websites tested. The lack of ___3___ means they are not only losing customers, but ___4___ to meet their social responsibilities.
In an ever-more Internet-connected world, ___5___ are as important as physical shops or offices. They are ___6___ used as a way of banking, shopping and getting news. This is especially so for the disabled, who find it ___7___ to shop on-line than go to a store in person. A website that does not let them do this is the same as having a(n) "___8___" sign on a door.
In Hong Kong, it is ___9___ not to provide the disabled with access to schools and buildings, but at present there are no specific laws on Internet accessibility. However, companies are morally responsible for ensuring that their websites can be ___10___ by people who are visually disabled or have difficulty walking around. Ideals for design have long been put forward by the World Wide Web Consortium, a global community working on open standards to ___11___ accessibility and development.
Computer technology is ___12___ fast and it is now much easier to create websites that are ___13___ for all people, sighted or disabled. Companies should ensure that the designers of their websites ___14___ guidelines for accessibility. We should try to make our city as ___15___ as possible, on-line and off.
1.A. data B. principles C. experiences D. technologies
2.A. companies B. products C. stores D. factories
3.A. power B. study C. attraction D. access
4.A. deciding B. attempting C. failing D. stopping
5.A. computers B. hotlines C. signals D. websites
6.A. increasingly B. possibly C. extremely D. randomly
7.A. cheaper B. safer C. easier D. quicker
8.A. waiting B. sale C. open D. closed
9.A. unreasonable B. illegal C. unimportant D. impolite
10.A. found B. read C. known D. created
11.A. permit. B. discover C. start D. ensure
12.A. weakening B. dropping C. changing D. flying
13.A. wonderful B. usable C. harmless D. profitable
14.A. follow B. write C. break D. ignore
15.A. beautiful B. wealthy C. accessible D. respectable
读写任务Many people believe that in the future computers will be used in lots of everyday activities. It is thought that we won’t go shopping because many goods are available on the Internet.There will be no more books because all books will be available from electronic libraries.The Internet will be used to book holidays, rent films and order food. Most telephone calls will be made over the Internet as well. Some people are excited about these new developments.Others, however, do not think that computers will replace our present ways of shopping and communicating.
Is Internet shopping as much fun as traditional shopping ? Many people say it is not. It is fun to go into shops and look at the goods in person. It is also unlikely that many people will want to read large texts on their computers because paper books will possibly be more user- friendly. Maybe, computers won’t change these habits.
【写作内容】
1．以约30个词概括材料中心内容。
2．以约120个词表达如下要点：
（1）描述你周围的同学对网上购物的不同看法。
（2）你喜欢传统的购物方式还是网上购物？
（3）结合自己的生活体验说明你喜欢的理由。
【写作要求】
1．作文中可使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容但不得直接引用原文中的句子。
2. 作文中不能出现自己的真实姓名和学校名称。
【评分标准】
概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。
“无车日”(Car-free Day)是一项节能环保的活动，下面请你介绍活动有关情况，并号召更多的城市和居民参与到该活动中来。
活动背景：随着经济的发展，更多家庭拥有私家车，造成严重的交通问题和环境污染。
活动时间：每年9月22日 参与者：全国108个城市
活动目的：提高人们节约能源与保护环境的意识
活动内容：倡议人们选用公共汽车、自行车或步行方式
活动效果：得到全国人民的支持, 取得巨大成功
【写作要求】
只能用5个句子表达要表达的内容。
【评分标准】
句子结构准确；信息内容完整；篇章结构连贯。
信息匹配A. Happiness lies in persistent pursuit.
B. Happiness is in your own hand.
C. Self-knowledge is positively related to happiness.
D. Happiness is based on comparison.
E. There does not exist a guide to happiness.
F. Happiness is all about doing what you want to.
以下是5个人对幸福的看法，请把个人的看法与上面对幸福的表述匹配起来。
1. Heather Mccoy
Entering a bookstore, one cannot help but notice entire shelves devoted to books boating knowledge of the true path to happiness.
Whether this wave of commercials and books can actually make people happier is the question. Happiness cannot be found by sticking to a narrow set of steps or rules. Finding happiness is not as simple as following a how-to-do handbook. It’s something that every person must find in his or her own way.
2. Gary Russell
Does happiness grow proportionally with wealth? Hardly.
Experiences teaches us material satisfaction comes only when one finds himself wealthier than those around him; and, in a similar manner, one feels of being lowered when facing a billionaire, while a worker with a monthly salary of several hundred dollars becomes the envy of the villagers in remote mountainous regions.
3. David Niven
True happiness is not a result from human action. Results are temporary while happiness is everywhere and can neither be created nor destroyed. With true happiness there is no place for disappointments! True happiness may mean pain and restraint in the beginning but will lead to everlasting joy and freedom. To achieve true happiness, we should separate and remove the negatives. True happiness is realized by understanding one’s own self.
4. Joshua Party
Happiness is a state of mind. you can be happy in almost any situation. Likewise, you can be unhappy in an equal number of situations.In the end, it’s your decision.
If one can control one’s unhappiness, then one must be able to control one’s happiness. As far as I know, the human genome project has not been able to identify a single part of any human chromosome(染色体) which is responsible for happiness.
5. Laura Johnson
So what makes me a happy person? Studying to be a journalist because I loved to write, not because it pays a lot of money. Skiing in the winter snow and swimming in the summer sun. Spending time with my close friends from home. Being in a stable family. Reading romance novels and watching movies. Having a boyfriend who knows more about rock and roll history than I do.
