Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth—so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said. “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said.” Yes, I saw that. It’s nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I'll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean?” “You've just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I've changed my mind. I am sorry. I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You're right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me?’” “I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I'll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.
1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer_________.
A. was rather impolite
B. was warmly received
C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair
D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair
2.The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ____.
A. changed his mind
B. accepted the offer
C. saw the writer's purpose
D. decided to help the writer
3.From the text, we can learn that the writer was _________.
A. honest B. careful C. smart D. funny
Football is, I believe, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to the important matches to see this. Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting for one side or the other. To a stranger, one of the most surprising things about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams. He will tell you who he expects will win such a match, and his opinion is usually as good as that of men three or four times his age.
Most schools in England take football seriously-much more seriously than nearly all European schools, where lessons are all very important and games are left for the children themselves. In England it is believed that education is not only a matter filling a boy’s mind with facts in the classroom: education also means the training of character; and one of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games; where a boy or girl has to learn to work with others for his or her team, instead of working for oneself alone. The school therefore plans games and matches for its students. Football is a good team game. It is good both for the body and the mind. That’s why it is every school’s game in England.
1. In passage 1, by “this” the author means ________.
A. people often go to football games.
B. people, rich and poor, young and old, play football
C. football is the most popular game in England
D. people usually shout at each other in a football match
2.In England school boys seem _________ about football games.
A. not to know much B. to know a great deal
C. know little D. know nothing
3. In England, a boy’s opinion of a match is often ________.
A. three or four times better than that of adults
B. worse than that of adults
C. as good as that of adults
D. worth considering three or four times than adults
4. In England, education means_______.
A. filling a boy’s mind with stories
B. more than the teaching of knowledge
C. the teaching of knowledge only
D. training character by means of football games
Have you ever been sad because of failure? Please remember, for often, achieving what you set out to do is not the most important thing.
A boy decided to dig a deep hole behind his house. As he was working, a couple of older boys stopped by to watch. “What are doing? ” asked one of the visitors. “I want to dig a hole all the way through the earth!” the boy answered excitedly. The older boys began to laugh, telling him that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible. After a while, the boy picked up a jar. He showed it to the visitors. It was full of all kinds of stones and insects. Then he said calmly and confidently, “Maybe I can’t finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I’ve found during this period!”
The boy’s goal was far too difficult, but it did cause him to go on. And that is what a goal is for－to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen, in other words, to cause us to keep working!
Not every goal will be fully achieved. Not every job will end up with a success. Not every dream will come true. But when you fall short of your aim, maybe you can say, “Yes, but look at what I’ve found along the way! There are so many wonderful things having come into my life because I tried to do something!” It is in the digging that life is lived. It is the unexpected joy on the journey that really makes sense.
1.The older boys laughed at the boy because he was thought to be .
A. brave B. impolite
C. foolish D. warm-hearted
2. Why did the boy show the jar to the older boys?
A. To drive them away.
B. To show what he had found in digging.
C. To show how beautiful the jar was.
D. To attract them to join him in the work.
3. What can be learnt from the fourth paragraph of the text?
A. Not dream can come true.
B. All work will end successfully.
C. Goals shouldn’t be set too high.
D. Goals will make us work harder.
4.The best title for the text should be .
A. Joy in the Journey
B. A Boy Dug a Hole
C. No Pains, No Gains
D. Failure Is the Mother of Success
书面表达
目前，教育厅严禁各个学校假期补课，对此不同的人有不同的看法。阅读下表内容，写一篇介绍性短文，并谈谈自己的看法。
注意：词数120左右。短文的开头已经给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：补课remedial work
Nowadays, many middle schools are forbidden to do remedial work during the vacation, about which different students have different opinions．
短文改错（共1小题）
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。（请不要在此处作答，否则不给分）
Have you ever had a headache during a test? Have you ever been too worried about something that you have a headache or even can’t sleep at night? If so, then you know that stress is．
Not all stress is bad for you．Some kinds of stress can help you get things do better, like when you are running towards the finishing line or when you are being asked to give a speech to your class．Stress sometimes can help push you to make full preparation for a test．However, too much stress can result in anger, depression and other related problems, which we need to take serious．
There are many things in our life what might cause stress ------ having too much homework, taking a difficult test, and having economic problems．
It’s impossible to live in a life completely free of stress, so you should learn to deal with stress．The best way reduce stress is to have a balance life．If you get enough sleep, eat properly, take more exercise and have enough fun time, you’ll probably feel less stressed．
阅读填空（共1小题）
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
American popular music is played all over the world．People of all ages in all countries enjoy 1. (listen) to it．The reasons for 2. popularity are its fast pace and rhythmic beat．The music has many origins in the United States．Country music, 3. (come) from the rural areas in the southern United States, is one source．Many people appreciate this music because of the emotions 4. (express) by country music songs．
A second origin of American popular music si the blues．It described mostly sad feelings 5. (reflect) the difficult lives of American blacks．It is usually played and sung by black musicians, but it is popular with all Americans．
Rock music is a newer form of music．This music style was known6. rock and roll in the 1950’s．Since then there 7. (be) many forms of rock music, hard rock, soft rock, punk rock, disco music and others．Many 8. (perform) of popular rock music are young musicians．
People hear these songs 9. (sing) in their original English or sometimes translated to other languages．The words may differ10. the enjoyment of the music is universal．
