阅读理解
Although I started learning English during my college years, when I entered the States, I only understood two English words “Yes” and “No”. We learned many grammar rules but we could not make the language connections to the real English world. Language frustration worries almost all first generation immigrants. For example, I got a letter from a Chinese-American who has lived in the States for a long time and has a good IT job saying “My 11-year-old girl writes quite well, but as her parents, we could not even read her article.”In addition, my Chinese-American professor friend has difficulty reading a novel. Improving our English skills has become a long journey for all of us. Honestly, if I have a chance, I really want to reach out to everyone in the world who has had a similar experience: learning a second language in adulthood. I wish I could encourage them to speak out about the culture shock, frustration they felt about the differences between West and East.
I have mainly focused on my English writing since 2008 after I found “Literacy Volunteers”, an organization that specially focuses on helping immigrants improve their English. I decided to challenge myself, writing a story like an American. I saw many wonderful Americans there. As soon as I met my teacher Alice, I asked her to be my private language tutor and have taken Tims English class. Every week Alice and I have worked on my English essays sentence by sentence.
To observe the culture differences between West and East, occasionally, I posted a few of my English essays online. I mentioned previously about American culture; when people read the same article or even face the same situation, American and Chinese act very differently. In my viewpoint, these differences make America the strongest country in the world. I know you have the right to express your own opinions, but accusing others without proof is not acceptable.
1.The underlined word “frustration” in the first paragraph means .
A. failure and setbacks B. words and problems
C. understanding and progress D. slang and idioms
2.In the passage, “Literacy Volunteers” is .
A. only intended to help the Chinese-Americans
B. an organization which is set up to make a profit
C. of great use to people like the author
D. a school showing how to enjoy literature
3.From the last paragraph we can learn that .
A. Americans and Chinese are of the same idea about something
B. culture shock only exists between Chinese and Americans
C. accusing others freely can be acceptable in America
D. culture differences have great influence on the people
4.The purpose of the passage is .
A. to show how hard a Chinese-American lives in America
B. to share her experience of improving her English
C. to imply grammar rules are not important
D. to warn Chinese-Americans of English
阅读理解
While working in Southeast Asia in the mid 1990’s, I became a branch manager in a factory. At the beginning, I used human relations principles, such as putting myself into the others place to help gain trust. After a few months, I was told that the factory team members liked and trusted me.
Then the owner, seeing how everyone thought well of me, believed that I could become an instrument of change to carry out his several unpopular programs. The factory members resisted and eventually saw me as a puppet controlled by the owner. The more I insisted that they ‘follow orders’ the more they found ways to weaken the new changes.
Finally, I was replaced by a manager who knew enough to please both masters. Even though the owner did not like the fact that his new changes were not immediately applied, the new manager gained his power by the support received from his team together with an intention to find a way. What I learned was that your team must always see you as supportive of their needs, even to the extent that the owner may not be pleased that you are unable to follow their wishes. At the end of the day, if your people do not follow you then you are no longer in charge and will be replaced.
At first I blamed my boss for putting me in such a position. Then in honest reflection, I began to realize that he had probably hoped that I would have found some middle ground. What I could have done was to first obtain their advice about why they did not wish to follow the new policy changes, and then I should have used my influence with both the owner and team members to find a better way.
Though, in fact it is a painful lesson for me, it has served me well along my career path!
1.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Obeying is the best quality.
B. Giving is always a pleasure.
C. Appreciating others will benefit a lot.
D. Dealing with relationship is important.
2.The underlined word “puppet” has the similar meaning to .
A. instrument B. assistant
C. wretch D. winner
3.Which is the right order according to the passage?
a. He was removed from his position.
b. He got on poorly with the coworkers.
c. He carried out the orders of the owner.
d. He became a branch manager.
f. He was believed in not only by coworkers but leaders.
A. a, b, d, c, f B. f, d, c, b, a
C. d, f, c, b, a D. d, c, f, b, a
4.From the third paragraph we can infer that .
A. the new manager carried out the programs at once
B. the new manager got on badly with workers
C. workers need to be recognized and supported
D. you should make full use of your power
阅读理解
The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound(白蚁堆).
Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air-conditioning and almost no heating. The building—the country’s largest commercial and shopping complex—uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building of its size. The Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning equipment didn’t have to be imported.
The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glass-roofed atrium(天井) open to the air. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents(通风口). As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exists through forty-eight brick chimneys.
During summer’s cool nights, big fans blow air through the building seven times an hour to cool the empty floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building, to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.
This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature changes—days as warm as 31℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn’t do this in New York, with its hot summers and cold winters,” Pearce said.
The engineering firm of Ove Arup & Partners monitors daily temperatures. It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23℃ and 25℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. And the air is fresh—far more so than in air-conditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled.
1.Why was Eastgate cheaper to be built than a conventional building?
A. It was designed in a smaller size.
B. No air conditioners were fixed in.
C. Its heating system was less advanced.
D. It used rather different building materials.
2.What does “it” refer to in Paragraph 3?
A. Hollow space.
B. Baseboard vent.
C. Fresh air from outside.
D. Heat in the building.
3.Why would a building like Eastgate Not work efficiently in New York?
A. New York has less clear skies as Harare.
B. Its dampness affects the circulation of air.
C. New York covers a larger area than Harare.
D. Its temperature changes seasonally rather than daily.
4.The data in the last paragraph suggests Eastgate’s temperature control system_____.
A. works better in hot seasons
B. can recycle up to 30% of the air
C. functions well for most of the year
D. allows a wide range of temperatures
阅读理解
There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill There are, however, vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority it must be given over in general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling?
If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher's interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to "play safe". He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.
I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience: "This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is illegible." It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil's technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child's deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centered on the child's ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation to seek improvement.
1.Teachers differ in their opinions about ________.
A. the difficulties in teaching spelling
B. the necessity of teaching spelling
C. the complexities of the basic writing skills
D. the role of spelling in general language development
2.The expression "play safe" probably means “_______”.
A. to write carefully
B. to avoid using words one is not sure of
C. to do as teachers say
D. to use dictionaries frequently
3.Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that ______.
A. teachers will have less trouble in correcting mistakes
B. students will have more confidence in writing
C. students will be able to express their ideas more freely
D. students will learn to be independent of teachers
4.The major point discussed in the passage is ________.
A. the relationship between spelling and content of a composition
B. the importance of developing writhing skills
C. the correct way of marking compositions
D. the complexities of spelling
阅读理解
Cheaters called “pirates” often use camcorders(便携式摄像机) and cell phones to make illegal copies of blockbusters in the local theater. These pirates then sell those recordings on the street or over the Internet for very low prices. Some share them for free.
“It’s unfair for people to pirate movies,” says 15-year-old Hadaia Azad Ezzulddin. Movie piracy “takes money out of the pockets of thousands of people in the movie industry,” she notes. Victims include famous actors and directors as well as local theater owners and their employees.
Hadaia came up with an idea that could help stop movie piracy. Hadaia’s idea uses infrared(红外线的) light. This range of light is invisible to the human eye. It is visible, however, to many types of cameras. Theater owners could place small infrared lights on their movie screens. The lights would not disturb people watching the movie. It would, however, distort the recordings made by many types of cameras.
To test her idea, Hadaia built a box with a movie screen inside. Then, she projected images on that screen through a hole in the box. She took recordings of those images, using nine different types of cameras. These included the types found in cell phones as well as camcorders. During some tests, she also turned on light emitting diodes(发光二极管), or LEDs. The LEDs were embedded（植入的）in a certain place behind the movie screen. They gave out infrared light.
Sure enough, she showed, a pirated movie included odd stripes or spots if it had been recorded while the LEDs were on. It might be possible to use the LEDs to flash the date and time on the movie screen. The information would then appear in the illegal recordings. Theater owners or police might use the information to track down the pirates.
Cutting down on piracy might get more people into theaters to watch the real movie instead of an illegal copy. Six out of every ten films now produced aren’t profitable. They don’t make enough money to recover how much was spent to make and market them. Such a poor payback can discourage filmmakers from producing anything but the types expected to become blockbuster hits. It might also keep smaller theaters from showing a wider variety of movie types.
1.From what Hadaia says in Paragraph 2, we can infer that _______.
A. most people spend less money on pirates moves
B. the pirates don’t have to pay for the movie tickets
C. theater owners will increase the price of movie tickets
D. she strongly criticizes those who video movies in the theater
2.Infrared lights are put on the movie screens to _______.
A. adjust the brightness of the movie screens
B. make sure the images of movies are dark
C. make illegal copies of movies unpleasant to see
D. protect the eyesight of viewers in the darkness
3.What is the correct order of the steps in Hadaia’s test?
a. She projected pictures on the screen.
b. She used cameras to record the pictures.
c. She turned on the LEDs placed behind the screen.
d. She made a special box with a movie screen inside.
A. d c a b B. d b a c
C. b a c d D. b c a d
4.According to the last paragraph, we can know that _______.
A. forty percent of movies now are profitable
B. small theaters often choose to show low-cost movies
C. more and more people go to theaters to fight movie piracy
D. filmmakers prefer to produce ordinary movies than blockbusters
书面表达
假如你是中学生李华，你收到正在学习汉语的美国笔友Peter的电子邮件，说他在汉语学习中遇到了困难，感到非常着急。请根据以下要点给他回信并提出建议，帮他来解决这方面的困难。
1.不要担忧，要有信心。
2.给自己更多练习汉语的机会。
3.让自己浸泡在汉语的环境当中。
要求：1.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。 2.词数：100词左右。
3.邮件的开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Peter,
I have received your letter.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Yours truly,
Li Hua
