A teenager has gained a six-figure sum for a vampire (吸血鬼) novel she wrote after being inspired by the Twilight. Abigail Gibbs, 18, who started writing the book aged 14, released chapters of her novel online, where the book eventually received 17 million hits. Harper Collins in Britain has now signed this talented author following her extraordinary Internet success.
Miss Gibbs, from Brixham, Devon, who is about to start studying English at Oxford University, is the first author to be discovered on Wattpad. Wattpad is an online library which allows subscribers (用户) to upload or read other people’s stories. Miss Gibbs also said Stephenie Meyer’s famous Twilight books had influenced her novel, The Dark Heroine. “I read the Twilight and did really enjoy it. At first, my parents were a bit opposed to my writing because I was staying up till 3 a.m. on school nights and they were worried that I might fall behind.”
Miss Gibbs finished her book at the age of 16. She posted each chapter after she had written it on the Internet site, until she got to five chapters before the end when she stopped. “I had signed with an agent and he basically said, ‘Don’t post anymore so as to keep the readers’ anxiety”. That was tough because I disappeared in the site for a year and there were a lot of fans asking where I was. I have had so many requests from fans to upload the last five chapters; some people even said they were going to write their own endings.” Her fans can buy the e-book for ￡2.99, or wait for the paperback book priced at ￡6.99 in shops next month.
1.Her parents didn’t support Gibbs’ writing because _____.
A. they didn’t like vampire novels
B. writing might influence her studies
C. Gibbs spent too much time online
D. a possible failure might let Gibbs down
2.We can infer from the text that Gibbs _________.
A. got support from Meyer
B. dropped out of school to concentrate on her career
C. spent two years in writing The Dark Heroine
D. wrote several books before The Dark Heroine
3.Why did Gibbs stop posting the last five chapters of the story online?
A. She would rewrite it later.
B. She had to finish her university education first.
C. She wanted readers to write their own ending.
D. She hoped to attract readers’ more interest.
4.If a reader wants to read the whole story, he or she___________.
A. may pay for an e-edition
B. must wait for about a month
C. can buy a paperback in a bookstore now
D. can ask for a copy of the manuscript (原稿)
假如你是交换生李明，正在美国一所高中学习。近日你在学校网站上看到学校篮球体育俱乐部要招收一名成员的消息。要求如下：
1. 爱好并擅长篮球；
2. 英语流利；
3. 有一定的比赛经历。
请根据以上要点给俱乐部负责人Mr. Brown写封信，表达你想加入该俱乐部的愿望。
注意：
1. 词数：100词左右
2. 行文连贯，不可逐字翻译。
Dear Mr. Brown,
I am learning English painting in our school as an exchange student from China. Recently I read it from notice on our school website that
Yours,
Li Ming
短文改错
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。
Dear Jack,
I am terrible sorry that I won’t be able to go to your birthday party this Saturday afternoon. So yesterday my mother didn’t feel better and I took her to the hospital. The doctor suggest that she should have an operation immediately. I have to look after her in the hospital for a few day. I sincerely hope something will go well and that you can have happy birthday party. By the way, I have sent to you the latest CD of Jay Chou as a birthday gift. I know you are a fan of Jan Chou and I hope he will enjoy it. I am looking forward to see you soon.
Once upon a time, there was a mother who lived alone with her son. They worked very hard all year round 1. they still couldn’t live a comfortable life. They really looked forward to making their life better, but didn’t know how.
One year, a merchant came to the village. He needed 2. (spend ) some weeks there. The merchant was so kind-hearted that he made a 3. (decide) to help the poor mother and her son. He gave 4. some money from time to time. Because they 5. (help) by the merchant, they lived a 6. (good) life than before.
But one day, the woman talked to her son, “The merchant will leave sooner or later. After he leaves, we’ll live 7. (poor) again. Since he lives alone and isn’t always at home, we can go and get all his money.” But the son 8. (immediate) refused to do so, saying, “Oh, no, Mom! We should never do that. He helps us a lot! We should be grateful to him instead of 9. (rob) him.” Having heard her son’s words, the woman gave up her terrible idea. When the merchant left, he took the son with him and taught him how to do business. And the son returned as10. successful merchant.
A“blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet website called a “blog”. The word “blog” is a way of saying“web log”, or “personal website”. Anyone can start a , and they can write about anything they like.
There are millions of blogs on the internet today. They news, information and ideas for people who read them. They contain to other websites, and they provide a place for people to write their and react to the ideas of others.
A research company called Perseus has more than 3,000 web logs. It says that blogs are most with teenage girls. They use them to their friends know what is happening in their lives. The study says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year.
, some people develop blogs to present political and other ideas. , the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs. And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their .
At the same time, some long-standing blogs have . Last week, blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service “weblogs. com”. He said the site became too expensive to . He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had on it. They were that the site had been closed.
One blog that is still going is called Rebecca’s Pocket. Rebecca Blood created the website in 1999. She wrote about the history of blogs on the site. That led to a book called The Weblog Handbook. It has been into four languages so far.
1. A. shortB. longC. regularD. central
2. A. companyB. expressionC. experimentD. blog
3. A. debateB. exploreC. provideD. seek
4. A. issues B. linksC. recoveryD. guidance
5. A. reasonsB. ideasC. faultsD. choices
6. A. servedB. reportedC. studiedD. attached
7. A. popularB. pleasedC. boredD. careful
8.A. askB. orderC. demandD. let
9. A. insteadB. yetC. still D. also
10. A. BesidesB. HoweverC. In factD. Therefore
11.A. fierceB. relaxingC. seriousD. humorous
12. A. For exampleB. In totalC. In the endD. On the contrary
13. A. productsB. employeesC. systemsD. predictions
14. A. recognizedB. endedC. survivedD. happened
15. A. advertiseB. startC. continueD. close
16. A. writtenB. appearedC. workedD. taken
17. A. happyB. upsetC. excitedD. confident
18. A. devotedB. gentleC. weakD. strong
19. A. characterB. historyC. articleD. usage
20. A. dippedB. fooledC. mixedD. translated
根据短文内容，从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。
Summer is the season of family travel. 1. Here are our top 5 things to teach your children before entering big crowds:
How Far They Can Go — 2. For young children, you should set a rule of always holding a parent’s hand. For older kids, you may be comfortable with a “I can always see you and you can always see me” rule.
To Call Your Real Name — Teach your children that you will find them, so it’s best if they stay in one place. What’s more, teach them to call out your full name instead of “Mommy” or “Daddy” to help you more easily find them.
How to Identify a “Safe Person” — Make sure your children know the best people to approach if they get separated from you. Employees working at the place you‘re visiting are generally always good, “safe people”. But what about places that may not have employees, like the beach? 3. Experts say that moms are often the most willing and best-equipped people to help kids.
What to say — 4. Remember that if your children do get separated from you, they will likely be panicked (恐慌), so don’t assume that they will know how to tell strangers that they are lost. Role-play getting lost and using simple sentences like, “I am lost” with your kids to help them know what to do if it actually happens.
Their Personal Information — Make sure your children know as much basic personal information as possible, including their full names, parents’ full names and telephone numbers and the address. 5.
A. Teach your children to look for a mom with kids.
B. Sometimes it’s not hard to find a safe person in such places.
C. But do your kids know what to do if they get separated from you?
D. If your kids are too young to remember them, write them down!
E. It can be hard for people to help a lost child.
F. Tell your children to behave normally when they get lost.
G. It’s important to talk with your children about how close you expect them to stay to you.
