Windows 8, apart from Windows 95, is the biggest surprise and the only version of Microsoft’ s operating system that has been changed from the core（核心）when compared to its former one. However, a recent study has shown that under 20% of business owners would be willing to upgrade to the new version of Windows. The reason for this remains to be discussed and debated, and we will try to throw light on this research by providing you with some of the most common advantages and disadvantages of Windows 8.
Generally speaking, there are a great number of plus sides related to upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Speed — This is the biggest advantage to mention. Boot time has been reported to be up to nine times shorter than that with Windows 7.
New passwords — Instead of typing your passwords, Windows 8 will let you use gestures on your favorite photos to enter your password. This is not only practical but also extremely cool!
Windows 8 experience — Apart from computers, Windows 8 will be used on all devices, including smart phones, tablet PC’s and so on. Also, owing to the fact that it has been specifically designed with touch screen users in mind, Windows 8, besides using keyboard and mouse, will offer a whole new user experience.
However, there are still some disadvantages.
The first one that has to be mentioned is that there is no Start Menu from Windows. Yes, there is no Start button in the lower left corner, and this might be a real puzzle of many Windows users. Also, many users have had a problem to get used to the new interface（界面）introduced by Windows 8. The biggest problem that is worth noticing is that Windows 8 was originally designed for touch screen users, and this may have a bad effect on desktop users who have gotten used to doing everything with the help of their keyboard and mouse.
1.What does “plus sides” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?
A. Math symbols. B. Strengths.
C. New rules. D. Messages.
2.The most attractive aspect of Windows 8 is its .
A. fast rate B. complex passwords
C. unique experience D. new interface
3.From the text we can learn that Windows 8 .
A. no longer requires a password
B. was upgraded from windows 95
C. will be popular with desktop users
D. can be used on more than computers
4.Many Windows 8 users will face the problem that .
A. they don’t get accustomed to the new interface
B. they have to use fingerprints instead of buttons
C. keyboard and mouse can’t be used any longer
D. Start Menu is hidden in the lower left corner
Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an expensive French restaurant in Denver. The ice cream he was serving fell onto the white dress of a rich and important woman.
Thirty years have passed, but Odland can not get the memory out of his mind, nor the woman’s kind reaction. She was shocked, regained calmness and, in a kind voice, told the young Odland. “It is OK. It wasn’t your fault.” When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.
Odland isn’t the only CEO to have made this discovery. Instead, it seems to be one of those few laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up. It’s hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but most agree with the Waiter Rule. They say how others treat the CEO says nothing. But how others treat the waiter is like a window into the soul.
Watch out for anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like, “I could buy this place and fire you,” or “I know the owner and I could have you fired.” Those who say such things have shown more about their character than about their wealth and power.
The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson. He wrote a best-selling book called Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management. “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person,” Swanson says. “I will never offer a job to the person who is sweet to the boss but turns rude to someone cleaning the tables.”
1.What happened after Odland dropped the ice cream onto the woman’s dress?
A. He was fired.
B. He was blamed.
C. The woman comforted him.
D. The woman left the restaurant at once.
2.Odland learned one of his life lessons from .
A. his experience as a waiter
B. the advice given by the CEOs
C. an article in Fortune
D. an interesting best-selling book
3.According to the text, most CEOs have the same opinion about ________.
A. Fortune 500 companies B. the Management Rules
C. Swanson’s book D. the Waiter Rule
4.From the text we can learn that ________.
A. one should be nicer to important people
B. CEOs often show their power before others
C. one should respect others no matter who they are
D. CEOs often have meals in expensive restaurants
书面表达
请根据以下提示，并结合事例，用英语写一篇短文。
People are always looking for someone to look up to and imitate (模仿). However, you can set the example by changing yourself to become the person that people want to be like.
注意：①除诗歌外，文体不限； ②内容必须结合你生活中的一个事例；③文中不得透露个人姓名和学校名称；④词数不少于120，不得抄写提示语原句。
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
短文改错
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处语言错误，要求你在错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写上该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（﹨）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。
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（从十一处起）不计分。
Dear Smith,
I have a good news for you. All senior three students will take part in a mountain- climbing activity in May 18th, which is intending to help reduce our pressure from study. So I’m writing to invite you to go along.
We plan to gather at the school gate at 8:20, weather permitting. Then they will set off at 8:30, heading for the mountains nearby on feet. After having a good time, we are supposed to go back school for lunch at about 12.
The suggestions are as following. You’d better wear strong and comfortably shoes so that you can enjoy the trip. A bottle of water and some snacks were also necessary in climbing. In addition, you can take with you a camera to get some photos taken.
Look forward to your reply.
Yours,
Li Yan
任务型阅读,根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
A strong vocabulary helps develop understanding, communication, and reading ability. ___1.____Consider the following tips on helping your child develop an impressive vocabulary
Let Your Child Tell the Story
Perhaps you read nightly to your child or take turns doing so. Of course, this is an excellent way to expand reading and vocabulary skills. __2.____ Then, let your child charge the end of the rope of his imagination wherever his imagination leads.
___3.____
In short, you need to take an active role. If you want your children's language skills to improve, take their vocabulary questions seriously. When they express curiosity about a word, be sure to teach the correct definition and pronunciation.
Correct Mistakes with Care
____4.__ However, it's essential not to scold them when they make such mistakes. Rather, point out what they got right, and then review the proper way to use and or speak the word. The more fun and positive an experience, the more interested and able your children will be in expanding their vocabulary
Do Be Patient
You may need to repeat words and meanings many times before your child fully grasps the concept.This is completely normal ___5.____ Children develop at their own paces .The most important thing is to honor and balance their needs so that learning doesn't become struggle. While you want them to get ahead, you don't want them to develop pressure with trying to do so
A. Try Your Best to Correct Them
B. Pay More Attention to Your Kid’s Vocabulary
C. It’s natural for children to mispronounce or misuse new words.
D. It’s important for children to mispronounce new words while learning.
E. That’s why parents should do what they can to help kids learn new words.
F. Further, if your neighbor’s child has twice the vocabulary yours does, it’s not worth stressing over.
G. However, on occasion, feel free to put the book down and ask your child to create a story to tell you.
Dear Guys,
I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.
One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉强地) agreed.
Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.
However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, and threw it as hard as I could.
It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me.
Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, and then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.
The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.
This is the point where I start to take issue with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.
Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.
Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.
“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.
“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.
And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”
I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.
Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.
It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.
I surprised myself—and I’m sure you as well—by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.
Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”
Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period were just enough blows for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”
And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.
Sincerely,
Jen Cordery
1.The writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.
A．she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries
B．she wanted to refresh her childhood memories
C．she could not refuse the polite request from the young man
D．she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight
2.Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined word “game”?
A．anxious B．brave C．afraid D．curious
3.Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?
A．To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back.
B．To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills.
C．To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were.
D．To express her dislike towards softball.
4.What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer ________.
A．inspired B．encouraged C．awkward D．depressed
5.What happened to the ball at last?
A．The writer managed to throw the ball back.
B．The boy got the ball back by himself.
C．The writer threw the ball away out of anger.
D．The boys got angry and left without the ball.
6.What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this open letter?
A．To express her regret over what she did the day before.
B．To announce that she would never play all games again.
C．To joke on her inability to throw the ball over the fence.
D．To criticize the young men for their cruelty to her dignity.
