It was blazing hot, just like most July days. I stepped into a tiny ice-cream shop to cool off with a chocolate ice-cream. It was an old woman bent over a table near the door. Her back was so badly twisted that her face nearly touched the tabletop. I sat down facing her a couple of tables away.
“Poor woman,” I thought, “What does she get out of life? Why God let people live so long past their prime?”
As I thought, another aged lady entered the shop and sat down with her. Soon the two of them were talking about childhood days. They talked of how little the shop had changed in 70 years. In minutes, the two of them were trembling with laughter.
I looked again at the first woman, then in the mirror on a nearby wall, catching a picture of myself. I was wearing a dirty shirt. She was well dressed in white, her hands sparking with gold rings. I was sad. She was laughing, smiling. I was putting the pieces of my life together. She had millions of wonderful memories to recall. I sat alone. She was sharing the day with a good friend. I was secretly worried about getting old. She was old, but it wasn’t hurting her.
As I left the shop, I thought of my foolish question about God letting people live past their prime. Why, that woman was more alive, more sensitive to life than I was. Age has not bent her spirit.
1.From the passage we know that the ice-shop _________.
A.started its business 70 years ago.
B.had only a couple of tables
C.changed a lot in the past
D.had only women shoppers.
2.What is the meaning of the underlined word “prime” in this passage?
A.miserable life B.time of great strength, beauty, vigor(活力)
C.long career D.wonderful experience
3.The writer implies all of the following except that _________.
A.the old lady was very lonely and sad
B.the writer had more problems than the old lady
C.the old lady had lived a full and satisfying life
D.the old lady had learned to enjoy the simple things in life
4.Which of the following is the conclusion the writer made about the old lady?
A.She was to be pitied for her old age.
B.She considered the young man pitiable.
C.She was more alive and sensitive to life than the writer.
D.People should not be allowed to live when they are too old.
5.Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?
A.To tell us the life of old people
B.To show that old age does not mean being short of spirit.
C.To show the difference between the old and the young.
D.To make the reader have a pity on the old people.
One night recently, I was driving down a two-lane highway at about 60 miles an hour. A car approached from the opposite direction at about the same speed. As we passed each other, I caught the other driver’s eye for only a second. I wondered whether he might be thinking, as I was, how dependent we were on each other at that moment. I was relying on him not to fall asleep, not to be put off by a phone conversation, not to cross over into my lane and bring my life to a sudden end. Though we had never spoken a word to each other, he relied on me in just the same way.
Multiplied a million times over, I believe that is the way the world works. At some level, we all depend upon one another. Sometimes that dependence requires us simply not to do something like crossing over the double yellow line. And sometimes it requires us to act cooperatively, with friends or even with strangers.
As technology shrinks our world, the need increases for cooperative action among nations. In 2003, doctors in five nations were quickly organized to identify the SARS virus, which saved thousands of lives. The threat of international terrorism has shown itself to be a similar problem, one requiring coordinated action by police and intelligence forces across the world. We must recognize that our fates (命运) are not ours alone to control .
In my own life, I’ve put great stock in personal responsibility. But, as the years have passed, I’ve also come to believe that there are moments when one must rely upon the good faith and judgment of others. So, while each of us faces the case of driving alone down a dark road , what we must learn is that the approaching light may not be a threat , but a shared moment of trust.
1.The author considers ________ very important.
A.driving alone on a dark road B.shared trust and cooperation
C.cooperation to identify SARS virus D.independence of people
2.The author said that they depended on each other in the same way because ________.
A.the approaching car was very dangerous
B.they both drove their car at a terrific speed
C.it was dark and the road was not wide enough
D.he might be killed out of the other’s careless driving
3.From the second paragraph, we know the author drew the important lesson from ________.
A.only one experience B.many friends and strangers
C.a driver on a dark road D.many similar experiences
4.The need for cooperation increases because _________.
A.terrorism can happen everywhere
B.the SARS virus spread quickly
C.peoples’ fates can’t be controlled by themselves
D.the world has become smaller
5.We can infer from the last paragraph that the author has ________.
A.had a change on his viewpoint of life
B.counted upon himself alone in everything
C.had no trust in others’ good faith and judgment
D.believed in one’s own personal responsibility
我市正在开展全国文明城市创建活动，假定你是我市某外语学校的学生会主席，请你以学生会的名义用英文写一封倡议书，向全校同学发出做文明市民的倡议，内容包括:
1. 倡议目的；
2. 倡议内容（如注意个人文明、马路文明、环境卫生等）。
注意：1. 词数不少于100；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇： 全国文明城市： National Civilized City
Dear fellow students:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Students Union
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。
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。
My family went on a trip to Mount Huang in Anhui, famous for its amazing sceneries, during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. It takes us about five hours to get here by train. Once we reached the foot of the mountain, we got down to climb it. My parents and I were great impressed by the beautiful views along the way. About three hours late, we finally got to the top. We had lunch there and the food was tasted really delicious. We both enjoyed ourselves on that day but the trip was a truly unforgettable experience. To tell you truth, it is fantastic to be with my family.
As I entered womanhood, mom told me that no matter what happened and no matter what I did, I could always come home. Because of what those words meant to me, I said the same thing to my ____
My childhood was filled with ____— a lot of kisses，lots of hugs, and lots of spoken “I love you”. Because of what those meant to me, I ____ my sons the same things.
My mom came from a ____family and had a difficult childhood，yet she never____about how unlucky she was____ my mom, I saw love’s ability to forgive.
I saw my sweet mom love my Grandpa,____ he had abandoned her and my Grandma and failed to____ for their needs; I never saw mom treat Grandpa any way but lovingly, even though he was far from ____ I learned how love behaves and forgives.
I watched my mom ____my 100-year-old grandma who，in her blindness，deafness and feebleness(虚弱)，needed almost ____ care. When I was in her home, I heard what I’ve heard all my life, “I love you, mom.” They would ____ this to each other at least five times a ____— when mom got Grandma up，made her comfortable in bed，or prepared her _____ And I would hear love’s ____ when Grandma said, “And I love you too.”
Love forgives and ____, not focusing on what has happened. ____, love’s focus is on what needs to be done and on doing it the ____ we can.
My mom taught me to love；she told me to ____ it on to my children, and she____forgiveness herself.
1.A.friends B.children C.settlers D.neighbors
2.A.happiness B.entertainment C.confusion D.attraction
3.A.paid B.ordered C.gave D.bought
4.A.famous B.broken C.fortunate D.peaceful
5.A.regretted B.argued C.complained D.wondered
6.A.In B.Like C.With D.Before
7.A.if B.because C.so D.although
8.A.offer B.provide C.support D.react
9.A.modest B.ordinary C.kind D.smart
10.A.pick up B.bring out C.look after D.turn to
11.A.little B.total C.early D.major
12.A.whisper B.amuse C.greet D.encourage
13.A.day B.month C.year D.second
14.A.gesture B.dormitory C.mess D.meal
15.A.question B.response C.solution D.measure
16.A.walks on B.falls behind C.moves on D.runs away
17.A.However B.Instead C.Also D.Therefore
18.A.quickest B.least C.longest D.best
19.A.pass B.look C.put D.write
20.A.defended B.expected C.showed D.supported
Mountains of smoke and fire
Deep under the Earth’s surface, it’s so hot that even rock melts. Sometimes this molten rock, called “magma”, is pushed up to the surface.1.And the opening or vent that lets the lava out is a volcano.
A volcano may explode violently, throwing out rocks for miles around.2.Some volcanoes release clouds of poisonous gas or huge clouds of ash. Volcanoes can even do all these things underwater.
Most volcanoes have been around for a very long time. Many haven’t erupted for years and have cooled off. Volcanoes that are not going to erupt again are called “dead volcanoes”. Some volcanoes still give off smoke. These “sleeping volcanoes” may “wake up” one day and erupt again. 3. But one day in AD 79 it suddenly woke up. Its eruption threw out hot ash and rocky fragments (碎片) that buried the city of Pompeii. A hot mud-flow buried nearby Herculaneum. Because the remains are so well preserved, the area has been named a World Heritage site.
But not all volcanoes are destructive. When a volcano throws out vast amounts of lava and debris (岩屑), it piles up into a mountain.4.
Other volcanoes help provide heat and energy. Many Icelandic homes get their hot water from springs heated by volcanic steam.5. Plants grow very well in the rich soil left by volcanoes. And valuable gems, such as diamonds, can sometimes be found in the rocks that are thrown out by volcanoes.
A.At this point it is referred to as “lava”.
B.The molten rock is formed inside the Earth.
C.This steam can also be used to produce electricity.
D.Mount Vesuvius in Italy slept for a thousand years.
E.Or it may push lava out so that it flows away, cools and hardens.
F.Japan has many active volcanoes within its narrow national territory.
G.The Hawaiian Islands and the island of Iceland were created in this way.
