It’s hard to find Alice Munro in the media. Even after she won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Canadian writer just appeared for a quick interview and then dropped out of sight. On Dec 29, she still didn't seek the spotlight（聚光灯）when she was named one of the five Women of the Year by the Financial Times.
In Munro's eyes, ordinary lives always hide larger dramas. So she records what we casually think of as the everyday actions of normal people. She often focuses on life in her hometown, a small village in Ontario which she is most familiar with. She writes about the ordinary things in the village－fox forming, trees filled in the Ontario wilderness, poor country alcohol and long last illnesses. Above all, she talks about girls and women who have seemingly ordinary lives but struggle against daily misfortune.
She has a special talent for uncovering the extraordinary in the ordinary. These are ordinary people, ordinary stories, but she has the magic. Her precise language, depth of detail and the logic of her storytelling have made her stories inviting.
Runaway, one of Munro’s representative works, is a good example of her writing style. One of the stories centers on the life of an ordinary woman Carla, who lives in a small Canadian town with her husband Clark. The story slowly forms a picture of Carla, trapped in a bad marriage, her unhappiness building into desperation until she decided to flee. The story of Carla is a story of the power and betrayals of love. It is about lost children and lots of chances that we can all find in life, There is pain beneath the surface, like a needle in the heart.
Since she published her first collection of short stories in 1968, Munro has won many awards, with the Nobel Prize being her biggest honor. On Oct 10, 2013, the Nobel Prize committee named Munro the “master of the contemporary short story”.
1.We learn from Paragraph 1 that Alice Munro_____
A．didn't get on well with the media
B．remained modest though very successful
C．didn’t value the title of Women of the Year
D. was surprised at winning the Nobel Prize
2.What makes Alice Munro’s stories fascinating according to the text?
A．Her writing techniques
B．The complicated plots
C．The humorous language
D．Her rich imagination
3.In her representative work Runaway, Carla_____
A．leads a happy life with Clark
B．is a faithful wife to her husband
C．loses all hopes for a better life
D．tries to run away from her husband
4.What is the text mainly about?
A．Alice Munro and her hometown
B．The awards Alice Munro won
C．Alice Munro and her writing style
D．Alice Munro’s literary life
A small boy sat on the street with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “ I am blind, please help”. There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.
The boy recognized his footsteps and asked :“Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said: “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”
What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.
The first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.
The first is: Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can.
The second is：Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way!
1. What was the boy doing on the street?
A. He was selling his old hat.
B. He was busy counting coins.
C. He was begging for money.
D. He was showing his handwriting.
2. How did the man help the blind boy?
A. He took the boy's sign away.
B. He only gave the boy some money.
C. He changed the words on the sign.
D. He asked others to help the blind boy.
3. The blind boy recognized the kind man by his ______ .
A. words B. smell C. voice D. Footsteps
假如你是李华，国际学校的教师Paul邀请你星期六参加该校举行的“中国文化日”活动。但你爷爷突然生病住院，你要和父母一起去医院探视，不得不谢绝他的邀请。请根据下列要点用英语给Paul写一封电子邮件。
要点：1.谢绝邀请；
2．说明理由；
3．预祝活动成功。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3．邮件开头和结尾已为你写好。
Dear Paul，
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Yours，
Li Hua
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，错误仅涉及一个单词的增加，删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（^），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。
May I have your attention, please?
As you know it, our class will have a talk show on environment protection with Class One on May 4th. Before it take place, we will invite Dr. Lil from Qinghua University give us a talk on the environment problem and he will also tell you about the improvement in environment protection in recent years in Beijing.
The report will begin at 2:00 pm in Wednesday, April 30th in the auditorium on the third floor in the classroom building. I’m sure we can get enough informations from his talk to make well preparations for a coming talk show. Everyone should be there on time, then listen to the report or take full notes on the same time.
That’s all. Thank you.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式
God has blessed me with a lovely brother. He is 4 years younger than me. I still remember that day when he was born. He is 1. premature baby. When he was a little baby, he always used to cry for no reason and hardly slept. He never allowed me and my parents 2. (sleep) well.
As time went by, he3. (become) a little older. I used to get angry with 4. since he started snatching(抢) all my toys away from me. 5. , my parents taught me that he is my younger brother and I 6. make him learn to share things.
Now, 7. we still fight over things, we both love each other deeply. We share the same school and have the same 8. , like doing sports, singing and reading.
We do a lot of secret things without informing our parents and if 9. (catch), we will join hands to deal with the situation. Life is fun when we are together. As we are growing old day by day, we are becoming 10. (responsible) for our duties than before. And we know that no matter where we go in life, we both are always there for each other to face the hardships of life.
Face adversity（逆境）with a smile
I told my friend Graham that I often cycle the two miles from my house to the town centre but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, "You mean ________ .”He explained that I should be glad of the ________exercise that the hill provided.
My ________ to the hill has now changed .I used to ________ as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to________ and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. ________ ,I have a smile of________as I reach the top of the hill.
Problems are there to be faced and ________ .We cannot achieve anything with a/an ________life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to________an University degree. She wrote, ‘Character cannot be ________in ease and quiet. Only through________of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved."
One of the main________of success in life is our attitude towards adversity. At times we all face hardships, problems, accidents and difficulties. ________ we cannot choose the adversity, we can choose our attitude towards it．
Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs amputated（截肢）following a flying accident. He was________ to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aces（擅长的人）．He was a/an________to others during the war. He said ,“Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't do this or that. That's nonsense. ________ your mind, and you'll never ________ crutches(拐杖)or a stick, then have a go at everything. Go to school, join in all the games you can. Go________you want to. But never, never let them ________ you that things are too difficult or impossible."
1.A. slowly B. fortunately C.carefully D.quickly
2.A. abundant B. proper C.extra D. necessary
3.A. attitude B. access C. entrance D. affection
4.A. climb B. confuse C. comment D.complain
5.A. put on weigh B. gain weight C. lose weight D.take my weight
6.A. Gradually B.Finally C. Rarely D. Approximately
7.A. satisfaction B. devotion C. decoration D. caution
8.A. understood B. clarified C. defeated D. overcome
9.A. tough B. difficult C. easy D. reasonable
10.A. gain B. accept C. accomplish D. admire
11.A. founded B.produced C. constructed D. developed
12.A. happiness B.experiences C. difficulties D.pressures
13.A. emphasis B. conflicts C. factors D. powers
14.A. While B. As C.Because D.If
15.A. devoted B.determined C. commanded D.forced
16.A. appreciation B.qualification C.inspiration D. destination
17.A.Open up B. Make up C. Come to D. Come into
18.A.reject B. deliver C.abandon D. use
19.A. anywhere B. everywhere C.nowhere D. somewhere
20.A. advise B. attempt C. request D. Persuade
