Like every other Olympics, the London 2012 Olympics will depend upon thousands of volunteers to help with the smooth running of the event. To show the importance of the role, London 2012 volunteers are to be called ‘Game Makers’. Lord Coe has said recently: “London 2012 is relying on brilliant Game Makers to help us create a great Olympic and Paralympic Games. ”
London 2012 Olympics volunteers will provide the face of London 2012, working behind the scenes and making sure the games are as well organized, efficient and, most importantly, as enjoyable as possible.
Despite the hard-work and often unsociable hours required of volunteers, applications to be considered as a Game Maker were unprecedented（空前的） with all the 70, 000 available positions applied within days. But, for those still interested in helping out during 2012 and being in the middle of the action, there are still a lot of opportunities available.
If you were one of those who missed out on the chance of becoming London 2012 volunteers, you can now apply to be one of the 8, 000 London Ambassadors（大使）. This important role involves greeting fans from all over the world, welcoming them to the fantastic capital city of London and providing a friendly face as well as help, advice and a good old traditional warm British welcome. The view of London most visitors take away with them after the 2012 Olympics will mostly be down to the volunteers and ambassadors, so these roles play a very important part in the process of making the UK a great place to travel to.
Becoming a London Ambassador is a brilliant way to be involved with the London 2012 volunteers scheme and become a part of what should be an historic summer.
1.Why are London 2012 volunteers called “Game Makers”?
A. They’ll decide whether the London 2012 Olympics are a success.
B. They play an important role in the London 2012 Olympics.
C. The London 2012 Olympics won’t be organized without them.
D. They will work hard and effectively.
2.Which of the following can replace the underlined part “be down to” in Paragraph 4?
A. be the responsibility of
B. be under the control of
C. be in harmony with
D. be in charge of
3.What’s the purpose of the passage?
A. To appeal to more volunteers.
B. To introduce the London 2012 Olympics.
C. To show the importance of volunteers.
D. To guide how to spend the historic summer.
The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place．Now it is an ecological disaster area．Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes．
For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived in the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization．The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798．He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship．He called the island Pleasant Island．
However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first．The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol．These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island．A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900．
Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸盐)on the island．In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which was a very important fertilizer for farming．The company began mining the phosphate．
A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine．When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil．Then it takes away the material it wants．Strip mining totally destroys the land．Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon．
In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world．Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate．
Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars．In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses．Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out．Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing．By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined．Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island．This will probably never happen．
1.What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A．To seek help for Nauru’s problems．
B．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war．
C．To show the importance of money
D．To give a warning to other countries
2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?
A．Rich and powerful B．Peaceful and attractive
C．Modern and open D．Greedy and aggressive
3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______．
A．phosphate overmining B soil pollution
C．farming activity D．whale hunting
4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru’s financial problem?
A．Its phosphate mining cost much money
B．It spent too much repairing the island
C．Its leaders misused the money
D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war．
5.What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?
A．The ecological damage is difficult to repair．
B．The leaders will take the experts’ words seriously．
C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans
D．The phosphate mines were destroyed
Barditch High School decided to hold an All-School Reunion．Over 450 people came to the event．There were tours of the old school building and a picnic at Confederate Park．Several former teachers were on hands to tell stories about the old days．Ms．Mabel Yates, the English teacher for fifty years, was wheeled to the Park．
Some eyes rolled and there were a few low groans(嘟囔声)when Ms．Yates was about to speak．Many started looking at their watches and coming up with excuses to be anywhere instead of preparing to listen to a lecture from an old woman who had few kind words for her students and made them work harder than all the other teachers combined．
Then Ms．Yates started to speak:
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be here．I haven’t seen many of you since your graduation, but I have followed your careers and enjoyed your victories as well as crying for your tragedies．I have a large collection of newspaper photographs of my students．Although I haven’t appeared in person, I have attended your college graduations, weddings and even the birth of your children, in my imagination．”
Ms．Yates paused and started crying a bit．Then she continued:
“It was my belief that if I pushed you as hard as I could, some of you would succeed to please me and others would succeed to annoy me．Regardless of our motives, I can see that you have all been successful in you chosen path．”
“There is no greater comfort for an educator than to see the end result of his or her years of work．You have all been a great source of pleasure and pride for me and I want you to know I love you all from the bottom of my heart．”
There was a silence over the crowd for a few seconds and then someone started clapping．The clapping turned into cheering, then into a deafening roar(呼喊)．Lawyers, truck drivers, bankers and models were rubbing their eyes or crying openly with no shame all because of the words from a long forgotten English teacher from their hometown．
1.What activity was organized for the school reunion?
A．Telling stories about past events．
B．A picnic on the school playground．
C．Sightseeing in the park．
D．Graduates’ reports in the old building．
2.What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?
A．Some graduates were too busy to listen to Ms．Yates’ speech．
B．Some people got tired from the reunion activities．
C．Many graduates disliked Ms．Yates’ ways of teaching．
D．Most people had little interest in the reunion．
3.We can learn from Ms．Yates’ speech that she _____________．
A．attended her students’ college graduations
B．gave her students advice on their careers
C．kept track of her students’ progress
D．went to her students’ wedding ceremonies
4.What was Ms．Yates’ belief in teaching teenagers?
A．Hard-pushed students are more likely to succeed．
B．Pressure on students from teachers should be reduced．
C．Teachers’ knowledge is the key to students’achievements．
D．Students’ respect is the best reward for teachers．
5.Which of the following can best describe Ms．Yates?__________．
A．Reliable and devoted．
B．Strict but caring．
C．Proud but patient．
D．Tough and generous．
One sunny afternoon, a seven-year-old girl went for a walk．She crossed a large area of grassland into the woods before she realized that she was lost．
Sitting on a rock and __41 what to do, she began crying．After a while, she__42__ to walk along a wide path lined with tall trees and thick bushes．When it was getting dark, she saw a small, dark wooden house．She opened the door and __43__ stepped in．Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, and she ran out of the door and back to the __44__．Cold and tired, she fell asleep near a __45_．
The girl’s parents were out and her dog, Laddy, was at home．Laddy __46__ that his mistrees（女主人）was in danger．He jumped through a window, breaking the glass．He looked in the fields．But he couldn’t find his mistress anywhere．However, from the ground came a __47__ scent (气味) as he lowered his head．He __48__ the scent and walked across the grassland．Barking loudly into the air, the dog _49__ through the woods until he found the __50_ ．But the girl was not there, so he headed back to the woods．Much to his __51__ , he saw his mistress’ blue shirt in the distance．He jumped over some bushes and saw the little stream, where the girl was __52__．
When she opened her eyes and 53 her dog standing beside her, the girl said, “you 54 me, Laddy,” and she kissed him several times．Seeing their daughter and dog coming back, the parents burst into tears of 55 ．That night Laddy had a heror’s supper: a huge meal of steak
1.A．forgetting B．wondering C．remembering D．regretting
2.A．preferred B．expected C．failed D．decided
3.A．cautiously B．carelessly C．hopelessly D．unwillingly
4.A．trees B．bushes C．woods D．grasses
5.A．stream B．rock C．tree D．house
6.A．found B．heard C．sensed D．smelt
7.A．terrible B．strange C．pleasant D．familiar
8.A．missed B．discovered C．followed D．ignored
9.A．searched B．wandered C．looked D．travelled
10.A．window B．girl C．house D．hero
11.A．satisfaction B．delight C．disappointment D．embarrassment
12.A．awake B．abandoned C．available D．asleep
13.A．spotted B．watched C．observed D．saw
14.A．rescued B．disturbed C．comforted D．scared
15.A．pain B．shock C． relief D．sorrow
In the toys section, I noticed a small boy of about five years old, 1 (press) against his chest．He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked very sad．I wondered 2 he wanted to give the doll to．So I walked towards him and asked him all about it．
“It is the doll 3 my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas．She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her．”
I told him not to worry．However, he replied sadly, “No, Santa Claus cannot bring it to 4 she is now．I’ll have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give 5 to her when she goes there．”
His eyes were filled with 6 (sad) while saying this．
“Recently, my sister 7 (go) to be with God．Daddy said that Mommy will also join God very soon, so I think she can bring the doll 8 her to give it to my sister．”
My heart almost stopped beating 9 (complete)．The little boy looked up at me and said, “I told Daddy to tell Mommy not to go yet．I asked him to wait 10 I come back from the store．”
What he has achieved still _________ all the people around．
A．astonishes B．astonished C．astonishing D．astonishment
