In the fall of 1985. I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college an the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopt and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 18. Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant talking as few as one class each semester.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, But I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree！
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember；little steps add up to big dreams.
1.When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be ( )
A. a writer B. a teacher C. a judge D. a doctor
2.Why did the author quit school in her second year of college? ( )
A. She wanted to study by herself.
B. She fell in love and got married.
C. She suffered from a serious illness.
D. She decided to look after her grandma.
3.Which of the following can best describe the author ? ( )
A. Caring and determined.
B. Honest and responsible.
C. Ambitious and sensitive.
D. Innocent and single-minded.
A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute” someone might say, “are you talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”
The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two weeks to prepare, a period I spent searching for briefcase (公文包) and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class. I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.
I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.
“All right then,” I said. “Okay, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit at the edge of the desk, overlooking a forests of hands. Every student would yell. “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. One at a time, one at a time!”
A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I inspected the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.
1. The author took the job to teach writing because ______.
A. he wanted to be expected
B. he had written some storied
C. he wanted to please his father
D. he had dreamed of being a teacher
2. What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 2?
A. He would be aggressive in his first class.
B. He was well-prepared for his first class.
C. He got nervous upon the arrival of his first class.
D. He waited long for the arrival of his first class.
3.Before he started his class, the author asked the students to ______.
A. write down their suggestions on the paper cards
B. cut maple leaves out of the construction paper
C. cut some cards out of the construction pape
D. write down their names on the paper cards
4. What did the students do when the author started his class?
A. They began to talk.
B. They stayed silent.
C. They raised their hands.
D. They shouted to be heard.
5. The author chose the composition topic probably because ______.
A. he got disappointed with his first class
B. he had prepared the topic before class
C. he wanted to calm down the students
D. he thought it was an easy topic
Should parents ever hit their children?
Research suggests many of us are likely to respond “no”, and public support for spanking（打屁股） has been falling over the years．But surveys also show that 75 percent to nearly 90 percent of parents admit to spanking their child at least once．
I was raised in a zero-tolerance home for disrespect, and my parents often turned to physical punishment．And, no, I don' t feel I was damaged by it．
Nothing is more annoying than watching ill-mannered behavior from children．
But there is data to suggest that a return to old-school spanking isn't the answer．
Two years ago, Newsweek reported that it had found data suggesting that teens whose parents used physical punishment were more likely to become aggressive．
Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire in America, has studied the topic of children and spanking for decades．He said that children who were physically punished have lower IQs than their peers．It may be that children with lower IQs were more likely to get spanked, but the punishment may have been counterproductive （反作用的） to their mental development, as well．
Some researchers make the argument that occasional open-handed smacks （用巴掌打） on the bottom are not only harmless but can have some benefit．
Last year, Marjorie Gunnoe, a psychologist at Calvin College, studied teens who have never spanked．There are a greater number of children growing up without ever having been physically punished．Gunnoe’s research suggests they don' t turn out any better than those who were sometimes spanked．
There are some parents who simply cannot control their tempers （脾气）．But I still believe that the best parents are the ones who are able to offer fair and firm discipline without ever turning to physical punishment．
1.According to the first three paragraphs, the author was probably hit by her parents when____________.
A．they were dissatisfied with her grade
B．she showed no respect for the elder
C．they cannot control their temper
D．their discipline turns out to be not strict enough
2.According to Murray Straus, children who are physically punished ______．
A．are less aggressive toward others when they get older
B．have slower physical development
C．benefit from occasional spanking
D．may develop lower IQs than their peer
3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?
A．40 percent of children grow up without ever being spanked
B．Children who suffer less physical punishment are better students
C．Occasional open-handed spanking on the bottom are mentally harmful
D．Researchers disagree over whether smacking is mentally harmful to children
Technology is making life easier for some dairy farmers. They use robotic systems to milk their cows. These systems are designed to reduce labor and increase milk production.
Cows are trained to follow a series of paths that lead to the milking stations. Only one cow at a time can enter the station. Once inside，the cow is rewarded with food. As the cow eats，a robotic arm cleans and connects the animal to the milking machine. A few minutes later，the milking is completed. The gate is lifted. The cow leaves and the next cow enters. The robotic systems are designed to operate twenty four hours a day. Cows are milked on average about three times a day. Some are milked four to six times a day. The cows wear collars(颈圈) around their necks that identify them to the system. A computer keeps records on their eating and milking. A cow is released from the station if the computer decides it should not be milked. The system also measures the temperature and color of the freshly produced milk. Milk is thrown away if it does not pass the tests. Cows need two to four weeks to learn to use the robotic milking systems. Once trained，the cows no longer require human assistance，unless something goes wrong.
Professor Plaut heads the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University. She believes the systems will attract especially the next generation of farmers who are more interested in technology and less interested in working all the time on the farm. Still，she says the price of robotic milking systems will continue to limit their use. Doug Suhr has more than one hundred milking cows on his farm. Last year it became the fourth farm in southeast Minnesota to get a robotic milking system. A recent story in a local agricultural newspaper said the first robot cost $175，000 and the second cost $150，000.Doug says the increase in milk production reaches a high of more than 6kg per cow per day.
1.Under robotic milking systems，______ decide(s) whether a cow is suitable to be milked.
A．the robotic arms B．the dairy farmers
C．the cows themselves D．a computer
2.When is human assistance needed during the milking?
A．When the cows enter the milking station every morning.
B．When a robotic arm connects a cow to the milking machine.
C．When the cows are trained to use the robotic milking system in the first two to four weeks.
D．When the temperature and color of the freshly produced milk are measured.
3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the last paragraph?
A．Since Doug got the robotic milking system，milk production on his farm has increased.
B．The price of milking machines decreases $25，000 every year.
C．Doug has the largest farm in southeast Minnesota.
D．There are four farms in southeast Minnesota that have robotic milking systems so far.
4.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A．the price of robotic milking systems will greatly decrease
B．robotic milking systems are still too expensive to be popular
C．most farmers are too old to use robotic milking systems
D．robotic milking systems don't need to work at night
书面表达
假如你是李华，最近收到美国朋友Peter的信，他在信中讲到了高中生活中印象最深的活动，并询问你是否愿意跟他分享给你印象最深的活动。请你写一封回信。内容应包括：
1. 简述给你印象最深的活动；
2. 谈谈活动的启发和影响。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 信的开头和结尾已为你写好。
Dear Peter,
Thank you very much for your letter of March 20. It is kind of you to share the activity that has impressed you most. ________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely
Li Hua
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，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：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(^ )，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用(＼)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。
The other day, as I walked to school, I passed small construction area. It was not far away in my school. I notice a man bringing a bunch of things: shoes, blankets, some canned food, and clothing. Perhaps the items were gathered from his family and some of his friend. He started laying it down for people to take. Certainly, I was curious about what things would be going. But I rushed there after school. I saw that much of the items were taken by others. I have read lots of inspired stories of kindness. This is probably the sweetest act of kindness I’ve been witnessed so far.
