My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.
If you come to visit, you'll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN (个人身份号码) to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it's dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest to you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console(控制台), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I've put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I've put in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, "How will I live without them?"
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How to develop a new system.
B. The function of the PIN.
C. A home for the future.
D. Easy life in the future.
2.What can’t be done in the writer’s new house according to the passage?
A. Turning on the lights. B. Going swimming.
C. Getting a telephone call. D. Playing music.
3. The writer's new house is different from ordinary ones mainly because _______.
A. it has your favorite music following you
B. you can make a telephone call anywhere
C. the writer is able to change his new idea into practice
D. it has been controlled by computers
4.What is the writer most likely to be according to the passage?
A. An IT expert B. A famous doctor
C. An idealist D. An experienced teacher
That woman carried a new blanket over her arm. Wordlessly, she gave it to me.
“Is it finished?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. It is ready,” she replied. I handed her the money and took the blanket.
“It is beautiful, so skillfully woven(编织）,” I said to my mother. “But what did she mean when she said it was not finished? How can it be ready if it is not finished?”
“I will tell you later,” my mother said, “but first I will take you to the Navajo village.”
We went down to the village. A group of young men were making sand pictures. We walked through the whole village, watching the different things the people were doing.
It was not until that evening that my mother finally explained the Navajo woman’s words.
“Did you notice anything about the things the people were making?” my mother asked.
“What should I have noticed?” I looked at her and asked.
“Each thing the Navajo make has one small part that is not complete. The designs in their sand pictures are often not perfectly done, for example---the line of a circle may not quite close. If you look carefully at your blanket, you will probably find a stitch(一针）missing.”
I took the blanket off, but it looked as perfect as any design could be. Then suddenly, I noticed that sure enough a stitch was missing!
“But why do the Navajo intentionally leave some tiny part unfinished?” I asked.
“They believe that when anything is completed or finished, it means the end has come--it will not be perfect until then. Then too, with a circle, they believe that they must leave a pathway for the bad spirits to run away and the good spirits to come in. So, often, they do not make the line close.”
1. The blanket the author received_____ .
A. was poorly woven.
B. made her think a lot.
C. cost her a lot of money.
D. was finished, but not ready.
2. Why was the author shown around the village?
A. To buy more things made by the Navajo.
B. To make friends with some of the Navajo.
C. To have a deeper understanding of the Navajo.
D. To look for the woman who sold her the blanket.
3.Which of the following may the Navajo believe?
A. A stitch in time is very important.
B. Life only becomes perfect when you die.
C. He who makes no mistake is a perfect man.
D. You must always try to make your life complete.
4.What’s the main idea of the text?
A. The Navajo are good at making things.
B. The Navajo are brave and hard-working.
C. A blanket tells a lot about the Navajo culture.
D. Skills are needed to do business with the Navajo.
书面表达
假如你是李华，你校学生会将为来访的美国学生们举办一个晚会，要在学校广播中宣布此事，并欢迎大家参加。为使美国学生听懂，请你用英语写一篇广播通知。
要点如下:
目的: 欢迎来访的美国学生
组织者:学生会
时间:2月18日(星期六)晚7:30
地点: 一楼报告厅
活动内容:音乐,跳舞.唱歌,游戏,交换小礼品
注意：1. 词数： 不少于100词 ；
2. 可根据内容要点适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
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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作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号 (∧) ，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：在错的词下画一横线，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。
I was from Detroit in the United States. During his senior year in high school I win a scholarship to study singing in London. I went there in summer, and I stayed with someone’s home. People there were very sweetly, and it was a really fun summer. I got the inside view of that it’s like to live there. I loved it but one thing that surprising me was that people had to go to such many different stores to do their shopping. There was also a lot of differences in language. They said things like “ring you up” instead of “give you a call.” It took me a little while figure out these differences. So it was fun.
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。
John Snow was a famous doctor in London — so expert, indeed, that he attended Queen Victoria as her personal 1. (physics). But he became inspired when he thought about 2. (help) ordinary people exposed to cholera. This was the 3. (die) disease of its day. 4. its cause nor its cure was understood. So thousands of 5. (terrify) people died every time there was 6. outbreak. John Snow wanted to face the challenge and solve this problem. He knew that cholera would never be controlled until its cause 7. (find).
He was interested in two 8. (theory) that possibly explained how cholera killed people. The first suggested that cholera multiplied in the air. A cloud of dangerous gas floated around until it found its victims. The second suggested that people absorbed this disease 9. their bodies with their meals. From the stomach the disease 10. (quick) attacked the body and soon the affected person died.
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项 (A、B、C和D) 中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Accept life as it is. I learned how to do it from my father. ________ , he did not teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was ________ and ill.
My father was ________ a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness ________ all that away. Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is ________ . One night, I went to visit him with my sisters. We started ________ about life, and I told them about one of my ________ . I said that we must very often give things up ________ we grow — our youth, our beauty, our friends — but it always ________ that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place. Then suddenly my father ________ up. He said, “But, Peter, I gave up ________ ! What did I gain?” I thought and thought, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. ________ , he answered his own question: “I ________ the love of my family,” I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness.
I was also ________ by his words. After that, when I began to feel irritated (愤怒的) at someone, I ________ remember his words and become ________ . If he could replace his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be ________ to give up my small irritations. In this ________, I learned the power of acceptance from my father.
Sometimes I ________ what other things I could have learned from him if I had listened more carefully when I was a boy. For now, though, I am ________ for this one word.
1.A. However B. Therefore C. Meanwhile D. Afterward
2.A. poor B. slow C. weak D. tired
3.A. already B. once C. still D. only
4.A. sent B. threw C. put D. took
5.A. difficult B. stressful C. hopeless D. impossible
6.A. asking B. talking C. worrying D. caring
7.A. experiences B. decisions C. beliefs D. ambitions
8.A. till B. as C. before D. since
9.A. promises B. suggests C. requires D. seems
10.A. spoke B. opened C. summed D. turned
11.A. anything B. something C. everything D. nothing
12.A. Immediately B. Surprisingly C. Naturally D. Certainly
13.A. accepted B. had C. enjoyed D. gained
14.A. attracted B. warned C. touched D. astonished
15.A. would B. should C. could D. might
16.A. quiet B. relaxed C. calm D. happy
17.A. likely B. free C. ready D. able
18.A. way B. place C. case D. form
19.A. wonder B. doubt C. guess D. know
20.A. useful B. grateful C. shameful D. ashamed
