If you haven’t played games with an 80-year-old couple, you’re missing out. Each week, my best friend and I hang out with senior citizens. Volunteering at a retirement village provides us with a great opportunity to meet new people and enrich the lives of the people we meet. We have learned so much from talking with senior citizens, and we are blessed to have this opportunity to reach out to those in our community. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing the faces of the elderly light up when we walk into the room.
Though my school only requires 10 community service hours, I have continued to volunteer throughout high school. While our 10-hour requirement is a good start, schools should require more volunteer hours. Volunteering offers students an irreplaceable way to help their communities and expand their knowledge of the world.
Some believe that forcing students to volunteer is defeating the purpose of volunteering, because it’s not volunteering if you are required to do it. However, sometimes students need an extra push to reach out to their communities. It’s because some students don’t know the benefits of volunteering. After they start volunteering, they’ll realize that volunteering can benefit them a lot and they will want to volunteer more.
Through volunteering, I’ve learned many valuable life skills. Besides teaching valuable life skills, volunteering may lead to a part-time job opportunity as well. If students prove their reliability（可靠性）and hard work ethic while volunteering, employers may take that into consideration and offer them a job. My best friend got her summer job after volunteering several summers at the Boy Scout camp.
There are various other benefits of volunteering. Besides making a difference in people’s lives, students develop communication skills and acceptance of others. What’s more, reaching out to others who are less fortunate teaches us to be grateful for what we have.
All in all, volunteering is an extremely rewarding activity which should be required.
1.From Paragraph I we learn the author _____.
A. volunteers to enrich her own life
B. volunteers mainly in order to meet new people
C. enjoys volunteering at the retirement village a lot
D. does various types of volunteering work
2.Which of the following statements would the author most probably agree with ?
A. Every student should help the old in community service.
B. High schools shouldn’t force students to volunteer.
C. 10 community service hours are enough for most students.
D. High schools should require more community service hours.
3.By mentioning her best friend in Paragraph 4, the author shows that volunteering leads to ______.
A. hard work ethic B. better reliability
C. better employers D. part-time work opportunities
4.What would be the best title for the passage ?
A. Why should high school students volunteer ?
B. Why do high school students like volunteering ?
C. How long should high school students volunteer ?
D. What should high school students volunteer to do ?
Here are two places that you may want to pay a visit to.
Sark, Channel Islands
This is one of the few places in the world where tradition still stands and the traditional ways are fully respected. The roads here remain not cemented（铺水泥）, and are not even paved, and they are completely dark at night as there are no street lights. The residents of Sark are not allowed to drive cars, and if they do, they have to keep them outside Sark. The transportation you can use in Sark includes your legs, bicycles or a horse-drawn carriage. There are no motor vehicles here.
There are many activities you can enjoy here during the day, but when the night comes, the only thing you can do outside is look at the sky, which is really great. Because of the lack of artificial lights, the stars are very clearly visible.
Hyderabad, India
This southeastern city of India was the city where one of the wealthiest people in the world lived, Mir Osman Ali Khan. Now this city is the place where many global IT brands hold their head offices. But it hasn’t lost its historic looks, as it remains surrounded by ancient boulders（大圆石）, and the modern houses recently built are surrounded by traditional gardens and lakes. From the great hotel Taj Falaknuma Palace you can see the Old City where the old Indian tradition is well preserved.
The best time to travel to Hyderabad depends on whether you are going for the city itself, or you wish to go to some of the festivals that take place here. The Hyderabad Literary Festival takes place from the 23rd to the 26th of January, while a festival celebrating various cultures, the Deccan Festival, happens from February 25 to March I.
1.Sark on Channel Islands would most probably attract those who _____.
A. want to go hiking in a mountain
B. are interested in exciting nightlife
C. want to enjoy a very quiet holiday
D. want to visit a city with a long history
2.If you go to Sark on Channel Islands, you can _____.
A. try driving on unpaved roads
B. go everywhere on a motorbike
C. use a horse-drawn carriage for free
D. enjoy the beautiful starry sky at night
3.Why hasn’t Hyderabad lost its historic looks ?
A. Because many old buildings remain there.
B. Because an ancient place still remains there.
C. Because many buildings that are like old ones are built there.
D. Because traditional boulders, gardens and lakes remain there.
书面表达
昨天，你们对800名中学生的未来理想职业进行了一次调查，请根据以下表格，写一篇英语短文：
职业 | 百分比 | 原因 |
老师或医生 | 40% | 能帮助人 |
演员或歌手 | 20% | 能出名，受人崇拜 |
做生意 | 30% | 能挣大钱 |
你想从事什么职业及原因 | ||
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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。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。
I was not good in math in the first year of junior high school. Having been failed so many times in math exams, I was anxious about the subject. Every time I tried hardly to work out a math problem, I was afraid of making mistakes, that really made me feel helpless. Unluckily, I met a math teacher in the second year. She told me that I didn’t need to worry about making mistakes, because I could find out my shortcomings through my mistake. She always encouraged me to try again whenever I make a mistake. Thanks to my teacher’s encouragement, I became interesting in math and made rapid progresses. My experience proves that failure is the mother of success and we can learn a lot from our mistakes.
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。
In the jewelry market, the diamond takes a big part.
Chinese women, 1. (particular) the married ones, helped drive global diamond jewelry sales up 2. 3 percent to a record high of $79 billion in the past year. Demand from China grew 14 percent, the 3. (fast) rate globally.
The demand mainly came from married women, who accounted for two 4. (three) of purchases and sales value. Engaged（订婚的）women accounted for around 20 percent of purchases and 5. (contribute) to just under a quarter of sales value in China, while single women accounted for 14 percent of purchases and made up 11 percent of sales value.
6. is wedding-purchase for many women in China that is driving the demand. Many single women are 7. (buy) diamonds for themselves in China too. 8. China remains the largest contributor to demand in the global diamond jewelry market, its increase rate started to slow. China has been the biggest 9. (grow) engine for the diamonds business for the past five to 10 years. The rate is slowing down now, but it’s still a big increase. This year the demand of China 10. (be) just under 10 percent.
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。
A big storm took us by surprise. We didn’t _________ to be hit hard so we didn’t leave our home. When we realized our yard was _________ and more water was coming, it was too late to move.
We had to climb on top of the _________ to get away from the water after it started entering the house. The _________went off, it was extremely dark and we were _________ . We had to tie ourselves to each other, because the _________was very strong. I had my laptop with me and kept posting cries for _________. We stayed on the roof for eight hours _________ we were rescued.
It was a _________ night. Some people in our neighborhood lost their lives. Many houses were completely_________ . Our neighbor’s roof was blown away. _________ , although our house was also hit, it remained pretty much intact（完整的）.
At present, we keep going back, taking many photos — a(n) _________ by the insurance company. We expect them to come at some point, make an assessment of the damage, and then hopefully, _________ our losses. It’s the beginning of a long process. And I’m particularly _________ that my university projects were lost. That means more work for me and I am due to graduate in December.
We are now _________at a friend’s house in Brooklyn. We won’t be able to return to our house in months. There’s no information about the support for the_________ of this storm. All we hear is to go to the evacuation（疏散）shelter.
But now I’m _________ because my family and I are alive. And it’s important to _________ that there are still people _________ food, shelter, or gas in the cold weather. It’s a truly horrible time for the city now but I believe everything will _________ .
1.A. decide B. expect C. wait D. prepare
2.A. closed B. measured C. flooded D. cleaned
3.A. trees B. roof C. tower D. tables
4.A. fire B. house C. power D. radio
5.A. excited B. puzzled C. frightened D. embarrassed
6.A. light B. building C. rope D. wind
7.A. help B. forgiveness C. safety D. goodness
8.A. before B. unless C. since D. because
9.A. clear B. fantastic C. surprising D. terrible
10.A. burnt B. destroyed C. stolen D. sold
11.A. Conveniently B. Exactly C. Luckily D. Rarely
12.A. instruction B. requirement C. application D. command
13.A. realize B. choose C. find D. cover
14.A. guilty B. shocked C. bored D. upset
15.A. staying B. pointing C. calling D. working
16.A. results B. victims C. records D. experiences
17.A. hopeful B. proud C. grateful D. brave
18.A. forget B. explain C. warn D. remember
19.A. for B. without C. against D. plus
20.A. disappear B. count C. happen D. change
