English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world's books and three quarters of international mails are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary - perhaps as many as two million words.
However, let's face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger . Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes (矛盾) , we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them. And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don't fing , grocers don't groce , and hammers don't ham? If the plural (复数形式) of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of booth be beeth ? One goose, two geese - so one moose , two meese? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of human beings. That's why, when stars are out, they are visible; but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.
1.According to the passage________.
A. there should be eggs in an eggplant
B. sweet-meats and sweetbreads are different
C. pineapples are the apples on the pine tree
D. boxing rings should be round
2.What does the author use most to prove his idea?
A. Plurals. B. Paradoxes.
C. Comparisons. D. Synonyms.
3.The underlined words "a wise guy" in paragraph 3 probably mean "______ ".
A. somebody wise B. a valuable chance
C. an opposite word D. a stupid person
4.The last paragraph is written to show .
A. English is important
B. a word may have several definitions
C. human beings are creative
D. why people invented English
My father had returned from his business visit to London when I came in, rather late, to supper. I could tell at once that he and my mother had been discussing something. In that half- playful, half-serious way I knew so well, he said, "How would you like to go to Eton?"
" You bet, "I cried quickly catching the joke. Everyone knew it was the most expensive, the most famous of schools. You had to be entered at birth, if not before. Besides, even at 12 or 13, I. understood my father. He disliked any form of showing off. He always knew his proper station in life, which was in the middle of the middle class; our house was medium-sized; he had avoided joining Royal Liverpool Golf Club and went to a smaller one instead; though once he had got a second-hand Rolls-Royce at a remarkably low price, he felt embarrassed driving it, and quickly changed it for an Austin 1100.
This could only be his delightful way of telling me that the whole boarding school idea was to be dropped. Alas ! I should also have remembered that he had a liking for being different from everyone else, if it did not conflict with his fear of drawing attention to himself.
It seemed that he had happened to be talking to Graham Brown of the London office, a very nice fellow, and Graham had a friend who had just entered his boy at the school, and while he was in that part of the world he thought he might just as well phone them. I remember my eyes stinging(剌痛) and my hands shaking with the puzzlement of my feelings. There was excitement, at the heart of great sadness.
"Oh, he doesn't want to go away , " said my mother, " You shouldn't go on like this. " "It's up to him, " said my father. "He can make up his own mind . "
1.How did the author react to the idea of going to Eton?
A. He didn't believe it. B. He was very unhappy.
C. He was delighted. D. He had mixed feelings.
2. From the text, we can know that Eden is ________.
A. a famous school
B. an expensive car
C. one of the author's friends
D. one of the father's colleagues
3.Paragraph 2 mainly tells us________ .
A. about their living conditions
B. about the author's grades
C. what the author's father is like
D. how hard the author's father works
4.From the text we can know that the author's father enjoyed being different as long as ______
A. it drew attention to him
B. there was no danger of showing off
C. he was not involved in any arguments
D. it was understood as a joke
最近，由于很多不遵纪守礼的行为，而导致了一些恶劣事故，如：成都女司机由于不文明驾驶而遭致暴力殴打。假设你是李华，请以“遵纪守礼”为主题，写一篇英语短文，向你校校报投稿。内容包括：
（1）中国自古以来就是文明礼仪之邦。
（2）人人都该重礼仪、遵纪守礼。
（3）谈谈你认为中学生应该如何做到遵纪守礼。
注意： （1）词数：100左右。
（2）为使行文连贯，可适当增加细节。
（3）开头已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：discipline (U) 纪律 civilized文明的
Recently, there has been a heated discussion online about a female driver in Chengdu, who was violently beaten because of her rude driving.
短文改错(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)
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处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误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(Λ)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)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。
What would you do if you failed? Many people may choose to give up. Therefore， the key to success is to keep your direction and stick to your goal. On your way to succeed， you must keep your direction. It is just looks like a lamp， guide you in darkness and helping you overcome obstacles on your way. Otherwise， you will easily got lost or hesitate to go ahead.
Direction means objectives. You can get nowhere without a objective in life. You can try to write your objective on paper and make some plan to achieve it. By this way， you will know how to arrange your time and to spend your time proper. And you should also have a belief you are sure to succeed as long as you keep your direction all the time.
One year ago, I was 1. great trouble. I worked hard at English and devoted all my spare time to 2. （practise）it. But I failed to pass the mid-term examination, 3. made me greatly disappointed. So I asked my grandpa for advice when I got home. 4. (hear) what I told him, he said, “To some extent, examination 5. (result) are sometimes unexpected by your study level. You can’t judge your progress by one examination.” He encouraged me 6. ( work) hard for a long time to check my results. I 7. (take) my grandpa’s advice. Now I realize 8. the process of learning is much more important and my English is much better9. before. From my experience, I feel that we10. listen to opinions from old people.
Last night I entered a poetry competition. It was very rushed. It was the very last minute and I was . Yet I really wanted to do it. So without the of my family, I got up in front of a group of people and got ready to my poem. But I didn’t expect to .
Judges were chosen from the audience by a bouncy (有弹性的) ball thrown out into their midst (中间) to see would catch it. As it is with most , performers had 2 minutes to impress the who would then give a score from 0.0 to 10. There were five judges.
I was the person in the competition. I’m only 16 and everybody else was about 20-70. My poem really well. People liked it and I think many were impressed by my courage to on stage and perform my own work. In the end I third, but I was not disappointed. , it was only 0.3 points that separated me second place.
it was all over, I was waiting in the car park for my dad to pick me up. One of the judges came up to me and told me I had done a fantastic job. Even though many people had congratulated me, this was . The lady judge was very sincere. She said, “Here, have the , so you remember tonight”. I a smile card out for the woman thanking her for her words and the ball. She was impressed by the card but no words passed between us. It was a understanding. Words would ruin the moment.
My father beeped (鸣喇叭) from the car park so I my goodbye and got in the car, holding in my hand the bouncy ball that changed me.
1.A. unlucky B. uncomfortable C. unhappy D. unprepared
2.A. support B. suggestion C. idea D. advice
3.A. give B. begin C. write D. present
4.A. fail B. win C. cry D. lose
5.A. making B. dropping C. having D. leaving
6.A. whom B. who C. that D. whoever
7.A. competitions B. games C. meetings D. events
8.A. readers B. listeners C. audiences D. judges
9.A. youngest B. oldest C. tallest D. strongest
10.A. became B. went C. read D. sounded
11.A. get up B. go up C. keep up D. look up
12.A. chose B. wanted C. came D. had
13.A. Above allB. After all C. In all D. First of all
14.A. of B. from C. over D. with
15.A. While B. When C. Before D. Until
16.A. different B. wonderful C. surprised D. reasonable
17.A. prize B. poem C. experience D. ball
18.A. pushed B. carried C. looked D. pulled
19.A. good B. silent C. happy D. simple
20.A. nodded B. showed C. said D. expressed
