Making an apology is not the same as making amends. Sometimes we apologize just because it’s the easiest thing to do. What’s actually important is to identify where we go wrong, take full responsibility for our mistakes and , if possible, try to make up for them.
A recent case involving Hewlett-Packed, the US computer giant, shows the importance of presenting a sincere apology. The Chinese consumers who had bought notebook computers of certain models, which have been put on Chinese market since 2007, suffered a massive flash screen failures and overheating problems. Through investigation, Chinese AQSIQ(国家质检总局) identified these HP computers had quality problems and HP admitted this. HP made a proposal that they would extend the warranty period of such computers, but this could not satisfied the consumers. What they needed was a thorough description of the truth. HP has “sincerely” apologized. But the consumers remain angry, and say that only a product recall—as HP has done in the past—will prove that the apology is sincere.
Another apology that fell flat on its face was that of Thierry Henry, the famous French footballer. His deliberate handball in November 2009 created the goal which knocked Ireland out of the 2010 World Cup. The incident caused great anger in the football world, and eventually Henry issued and apology. Two days later, he wrote, “I’m not the referee…but if I hurt someone I’m sorry.” Better late than never, perhaps, but even then he passed the blame onto the referee!
Such high-profile cases, which attract a lot of publicity often under the spotlight, but similar incidents occur in our everyday lives. Stress caused by schoolwork and tiredness can sometimes result in outbursts of anger against friends and family. Have you ever lost your temper for minor reasons? After calming down, most people are quick to realize their mistake and apologize. But it’s just as important to identify what caused the error in the first place and take action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
No one should hold a negative attitude to making a sincere apology. Empty words are easy to say, but they are as useless as they sound. A real show of remorse demands hard work and commitment to put error right.
46. What does the author intend to tell us in the case of HP?
A. A true apology needs sincere actions.
B. HP should recall all the faulty computers.
C. Good quality makes a good company.
D. A company should apologize and pay for their mistakes.
47. According to the author, when we do anything wrong we firstly __________ .
A. make an apology face to face honestly
B. admit we were wrong and try to make the wrong right
C. take the responsibility for apologizing to others
D. choose the easiest thing to do
48. We can infer from the case of Thierry Henry that ______________ .
A. It’s never too late to say “I’m sorry.”
B. Writing an apology is not a good idea.
C. Henry didn’t identify his fault.
D. The football fans were mad with Henry.
49. Which of the following can best explain the word “commitment” in the last paragraph?
A. decision B. promise C. agreement D. responsibility
50. What’s the best title of this passage?
A. What really puts things right
B. Don’t apologize easily
C. Making an apology—no one is out of exception
D. How to judge an apology—sincere enough?
Ⅲ 阅读（共两节。满分40分）
第一节 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The idea about the phoenix goes back to Ancient Egypt, where we find the phoenix described as a handsome, eagle-like bird, with part-golden, part-red plumage, that spent most of its life in the Arabian deserts. It was rarely seen and according to one version of the story, only appeared in Egypt once every five hundred years, when it flew to Heliopolis, “city of the sun”, and deliberately burnt itself to ashes by settling on the altar(祭坛) flame there! However, it seems it did not really die because from those same ashes a young, fully formed phoenix was born and flew away, apparently back to Arabia.
It is pretty obvious that no one has ever seen or will see a living phoenix. The interesting thing is that we can find certain clues which may explain one aspect of the Egyptians’ idea. It may sound unbelievable, but some birds are apparently quite charmed by flames and small fires, especially members of the crow family. One zoologist actually proved this by setting fire to some straw near to a tame（驯养的） rook. Far from becoming nervous and backing away, the bird deliberately stood over the flames, with raised and vibrating wings. It didn’t get burnt, but the image it presented by its strange behavior was almost exactly like that shown in illustrations of the mythical phoenix!
Why birds should occasionally behave in this strange way is not clear. One idea is that they carefully use the heat of the flames to relieve the annoyance caused by their feather mites(虱) which all birds have. Whatever the reason, it is quite possible that the Ancient Egyptians saw birds behaving in this way, from time to time, and used it as the basis of their phoenix myth, adding fanciful details which closely linked it to their worship of the sun and their belief in resurrection.
Nowadays, the phoenix is much less important to us than it was to the Egyptians. But the logo of modern fire insurance companies, which employ the phoenix as one of their symbols, refers that in one sense the idea of it remains.
41. According to the passage, the phoenix ______________ .
A. is a handsome and eagle-like bird living in Arab
B. used to be seen when the Egyptians held religious activities
C. has never really existed in the world
D. is the king of all kinds of birds
42. The reason why birds stand above flames is probably that _____________ .
A. the phoenix used to do so
B. they may get rid of the mites
C. they want to burn their feather
D. they can heat themselves
43. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
A. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the phoenix.
B. The scientists have discovered why birds are attracted by fire.
C. The modern people still favor the idea of the phoenix.
D. The mythical tales about the phoenix were based on facts.
44. Which of the following is closest to “resurrection” in the 3rd paragraph?
A. living forever B. offering warmth C. coming back to life D. staying healthy
45. What does the phoenix probably mean in the logo of a fire insurance company?
A. Our company can protect you from being harmed by fire.
B. If your property is destroyed by fire, we will help you build it up again.
C. Our company will always be energetic and wealthy.
D. If needed, we will save you at the risk of losing lives.
第二节 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，在空格处填人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31～40的相应位置上。
There are fifty-two cards in an ordinary deck. A deck of cards can be arranged in just about 80, 660×100³²ways. And if each deck, 31 (arrange) in different ways, weighed only as much as a single hydrogen atom( the lightest atom), all the decks together 32 (weigh) a billion times as much as the sun.
The design of the king found on all standard playing-card decks has, with slight changes, remained the same for three centuries. 33 is believed to be based on a painting of the English ruler Charles I (1600-1649). The picture of the queen is 34 more doubtful origin, 35 some think it was taken from 36 early painting of Queen Elizabeth I.
Over the centuries, cards have been put to strange uses, some of 37 sound incredible nowadays. Playing-cards, for example, became the first paper money of Canada 38 the French governor, in 1685, employed cards to pay off some war debts. In 1765, the year of the Stamp Act, the University of Pennsylvania used cards for class admission. The students without cards were kept outside. The French Revolution was well-known for the fact 39 the quantity of food was 40 (extreme) in short supply. During that period, Napoleon ordered that people could get limited food according to how many cards a family had.
第一节 完形填空（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21~30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
My father believed that there was mysterious forces at work in the world. One day, when he was lecturing me on these tales, a neighbour woman suddenly entered, with two geese in hands. She smiled 21 and looked frightened.
“Yusef, I have a very 22 problem. These dead geese, they keep shrieking in such a sad voice…”.
My father turned pale. “But dead geese don’t shriek,” my mother cut in.
“You’ll hear for yourself,” replied the woman. And so it happened. It is impossible to 23 what I heard. My hands grew 24 and I wanted to run from the room.
Father was no less 25 than I was. He jumped away from the table. Just then, for the second and the third time, the shriek came again. “Well, I didn’t 26 it, did I?”
Suddenly my mother laughed. “Did you 27 the windpipes?” my mother asked.
“The windpipes? No…”.
Mother took hold of one of the geese, and pulled out the windpipe. She did the same with the other one. I was surprised by my mother’s 28 . “Now, try it again.” I was 29 to hear the geese shriek, but they were dead silent.
“There is always a(an) 30 . Dead geese don’t shriek,” said my mother. “Now go home and cook them for the meal. They won’t make a sound in your pot.”
21. A. nervously B. cheerfully C. jokingly D. surprisingly
22. A. simple B. sudden C. unusual D. interesting
23. A. remember B. understand C. describe D. bear
24. A. hot B. cold C. still D. hard
25. A. curious B. excited C. frightened D. interested
26. A. mean B. notice C. design D. imagine
27. A. remove B. change C. break D. block
28. A. action B. courage C. strength D. speed
29. A. trying B. pretending C. expecting D. preparing
30. A. fact B. truth C. method D. explanation
单词拼写（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）
A.根据首字母写出正确的单词形式。
1. As the rocket rose into the air, we were pushed back into our seats because we were trying to e________ the pull of the earth’ gravity.
2. It is better for patients to live in an a________ of peace and calm in the
countryside.
3. Cigarette smoking m________ the risk of cancer.
4. She didn’t mean to hurt you. On the c_____, she was very kind.
B.根据中文和首字母提示写出正确的单词形式.
5. His illness a________ (解释) for his absence. That’s why he hasn’t turned up now.
6. The latest information c________ (使…坚信) him in the belief that we will surely win.
7. A knowledge of economics is f________（基本的）to any understanding of this problem.
C.用括号内的单词的正确形式填空:
8. He has made ________ (persist) efforts to realize his dream.
9. It is said that they have got the first place in the competition but they will be ________ (official) informed next Monday.
10. His work is ________ (impress) and we all admire him very much.
默写。（共30个空格，每空格0.5分，满分15分）
I am going to tell you an ________ story. This afternoon a ________ ________ gentleman came into my restaurant. Nobody knew who he was and where he came from. ... When he was asked to pay the bill, the gentleman asked whether we would mind waiting just a few minutes... ________, we could not change the bank note as it was too large. So I gave this strange but very rich man a free dinner, ________ _________ ________ that he might come to my restaurant again.
What it was to become was ________ until between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago when the dust ________ ________ ________ ________ ________. The earth became so ________ that it was not clear whether the shape would last or not. It ________ loudly with fire and rock.
“Skiing in the Rocky Mountains and _________ _________ _________ __________ make Vancouver one of the most popular cities to live in. Its population is __________ _________. …. It is so wet there that the trees are ________ tall, some ________ over 90 metres.”
The tunnel would be ________ if tall chimneys were built above sea level… If, at that time, the British ________ not ________ ________, it would ________ ________ ________.
