Anthony Horowitz was miserable as child. He was, as he put it, “not very bright” and couldn’t win the attention of his very wealthy parents, who preferred his “clever” older brother. At age 8, Horowitz was sent away to an abusive boarding school in his native England, even though he screamed and pleaded(恳求) with his parents year after year not to send him. “The thought was, It’ll be good for him,” he recalled.
It was not. Horowitz did badly in his studies, had few friends and was bullied (欺负) for five yea
rs. “My teachers couldn't have had a lower opinion of me,” he said. “I wasn't even smart enough to rebel . The one thing I remember from the very earliest age was this desire to write. When I was 10 years old, I remember asking my parents to get me a typewriter for my birthday because I wanted to be a writer.”
Now, at age of 55, Horowitz is one of the world's most successful children's book authors. His Alex Rider series has sold more than 5 million copies, and the eighth book featuring the young spy, Crocodile Tears, came out this month.
The Alex Rider books tell the adventures of 14-year-old Alex Rider, an agent for the British intelligence agency M16.
Horowitz said he doesn't try to write for kids; it just comes out that way. “I have a feeling it's to do with purity and simplicity. I give as little information as is necessary to describe the room, the character in the room, and get on with the action,” he said.
The style has also made Horowitz a successful writer of television shows for adults in Britain because, he says, writing books for kids is a lot like writing television for grown-ups: In both cases, it's all about entertaining people with a good story.
Now, Horowitz couldn't be happier with his life. He sums up his success: “…you can be anything you want to be if you just believe in yourself. I do believe it completely.” In the boarding school, Horowitz’s teachers .
| A．often criticized him | B．showed great concern for him |
| C．taught him how to write stories | D．thought little about his ability |
Which of the following is true of Anthony Horowitz?
| A．He was the beloved child of his family. |
| B．He benefited a lot from boarding school. |
| C．He emphasizes the plot rather than character in stories. |
| D．Although he is successful, he isn’t very happy. |
What advice does Horowitz have for readers?
| A．Confidence is the key to success. | B．Hardship teaches valuable lessons. |
| C．Interest is the best teacher. | D．Industry is the parent of success. |
In w
hich section can you most probably read the passage?
| A．Campus Trends | B．Culture & Leisure |
| C．Our World |
D．Science Life |
There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.
One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn (荆棘) bush. The young girl carefully released the Butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“For your wonderful kindness,” the good fairy said to the girl, “I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.”
The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.
As the little girl grew up, there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness .She would only smile and answer, “The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”
When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “Tell us, please,” they begged, “Tell us what the good fairy said.” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said, “She told me that everyone, no matter how secure they seemed, no matter how old or young, how rich or poor, had need of me.” ______ the girl felt sad and lonely.
| A．There were many friends but |
| B．There was nobody to love her so |
| C．There was nothing to do |
| D．Seeing the butterfly was caught |
Noticing the butterfly was caught by the thorn, the orphan girl ______.
| A．helped the butterfly escaped from the thorn |
| B．felt sorrow, but she didn’t go up to help it |
| C．fell down on it too |
| D．failed to help it release from the thorn |
The butterfly ______ after was saved by the little girl.
| A．flied away | B．still died |
| C．changed into a fairy | D．was more beautiful than before |
The only thing that the little girl wanted was________.
| A．to be rich | B．to have her own parents |
| C．to have a lot of friends | D．happiness |
The neighbors all gathered around the old happy woman when she was dying, because ______.
| A．they loved this woman deeply and they didn‘t wanted her to die |
| B．the woman had lots of money to be shared as soon as she died |
| C．they wanted to know the secret of her lifetime happiness |
| D．they wanted to pray for her after her death |
When people hear a president speak, they seldom think about others helping to shape the presentation（报告）. Today, however, presidents depend on writers such as J. Terry Edmonds to help them communicate（交流）effectively. Edmonds is the first African American ever to work as a full-time speechwriter for a U. S. president; he is so the first African American to serve as director of speechwriting for White House. His is an all-American story of success.
Edmonds grew up in Baltimore, Maryland; his father drove a truck, and his mother worked as a waitress. A. great reader, Edmonds 
showed a
gift for writing at his high School, Baltimore City College. After graduating in 1967, Edmonds went on to Morgan State University.
Edmonds began his career in business, with jobs in public relations and communications. He joined the world of politics as news secretary for his congressman （国会议员） from Baltimore During Bill Clinton’s presidency. He wrote speeches for Health and Human Services, Secretary Donna Shalala and
Only three local students won Chinese Blog（博客）Competition. And 15 of the 18 awards went to students from China.
170 students’ task: to get a fully-designed blog up and running, complete with many posting based on a theme of choice—all written in Chinese.
Themes ranged from local opinions－such as the usage of Singlish, education and whether Singapore can be a cultural centre－to food blogs.
The entries were judged on Language proficiency（熟练程度）and the quality of writing, as well as the design and level of exchanging ideas with readers.
Academics from the National University of Singapore and the SIM University IT experts, and a journalist from Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore made up the judges.
In the end, only three Singaporean students made it to the award list—the rest of the awards were swept up by students from China.
“No surprise.” said Mr. Chow Yaw Long, 37, teachers in charge from Ianova Junior College, which organized the event. “Although the topics were local subjects, the foreign students were generally better in terms of the content of the posts and their grasp of the Chinese language.”
One of the three local students winning the first prize in the Best Language Award was blogger Christina Gao，19, from the Saint Andrew’s Junior College, who spared no effort in researching for and writing her blog. Each entry took her between five and seven days to produce, complete with pictures and even podcasts（播客）.Her advice for bloggers is: Be responsible. “Some bloggers out there only seek to blame the authorities and other bloggers.” Said Miss Gao. “I think they lack responsibilities and there is no value to their posts.”The competition was organized by _______
| A．the National University of Singapore |
| B．Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao |
| C．Ianova Junior College |
| D．the Saint Andrew’s Junior College |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Chinese students won most of the awards. |
| B．Not all the themes were about local subjects |
| C．The blogs could be written in Chinese or Singlish. |
| D．The judges were from university in Singapore and China. |
What Miss Gao said suggests that _____________
| A．she likes to blame the authorities |
| B．she has a sense of responsibility |
| C．she thinks highly of the others’ blogs |
D．she loves to read v aluable posts |
I hated dinner parties. But I decided to give them another shot because I'm in London. And my friend Mallery invited me. And because dinner parties in London are very different from those back in New York. There, “I’m having a dinner party” means: "I'm booking a table for 12 at a restaurant you can't afford and we'll be sharing the checque evenly, no matter what you eat." Worse, in Manhattan there is always someone who leaves before the bill arrives. They'll throw down cash, half of what they owe, and then people like me, who don’t drink, end up paying even more. But if I try to use the same trick, the hostess will shout: "Where are you going?" And it's not like I can say I have somewhere to go: everyone know I have nowhere to go.
But in London, dinner parties are in people's homes. Not only that, the guests are an interesting mix. The last time I went to one, the guests were from France, India. Denmark and Nigeria; it was like a gathering at the United Nations in New York. The mix is less striking. It's like a gathering at Bloomingdale's, a well-known department store.
For New Yorkers, talking about other parts of the world means Brooklyn and Queens in New York. But at Mallery's, when I said that I had been to Myanmar recently, people knew where it was. In New York people would think it was a usual new club.What does the word "shot" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．Choice. | B．Try | C．Style. | D．Goal |
What does the writer dislike most about dinner parties in New York?
A Th
ere is a strange mix of people. B. The restaurants are expensive.
C. The bill is not fairly shared. D. People have to pay cashWhat does the author think of the parties in London?
| A．A bit unusual | B．Full of tricks. |
| C．Less costly. | D．More interesting. |
What is the author's opinion of some New Yorkers from her experience？
| A．Easy-going. | B．Self-centred. | C． Generous. |
D．Conservative. |
What is eBay? The simple answer is that it is a 
global trading platform where nearly anyone can
trade practically anything. People can sell and buy all kinds of products and goods, including cars, movies and DVDs, sporting goods, travel tickets, musical instruments, clothes and shoes- the list goes on and on.
The idea came from Peter Omidyar, who was born in Paris and moved to Washington when he was still a child. At high school, he became very interested in computer programming and after graduating from Tuft University in 1988, he worked for the next few years as a computer engineer. In his free time he started eBay as a kind of hobby, at first offering the service free by word of mouth. By 1996 there was so much traffic on the website that he had to upgrade(升级) and he began charging a fee to members. Joined by a friend, Peter Skill and in 1998 by his capable CEO, Meg Whitman, he has never looked back. Even in the great.com crashes of the late 1990s, eBay has gone from strength to strength. It is now one of the ten most visited online shopping websites on the Internet.
eBay 
sells connections, not goods, putting buyer and seller into contact with each other. All you have to do is take an e-photo, write a description, fill out a sales form and you are in business: the world is your market place .Of course for each item (商品)sold eBay gets a percentage and that is great deal of money. Every day there are more than sixteen million items listed on eBay and eighty percent of the items are sol
d.We learn from the text that eBay provides people with_______.
| A．a way of buying and selling goods |
| B．a website for them to upgrade |
| C．a place to exhibit their own photos |
| D．a chance to buy things at low prices |
Why did Peter create eBay after graduating from university?
| A．For fun. | B．To make money. |
| C．For gathering the engineers. | D．To fulfill a task of his company. |
From “he has never looked back”in Paragraph 2, we learn that Peter______.
| A．did not feel lonely | B．was always hopeful |
| C．did not think about the past | D．became more and more successful |
How does eBay make money from its website?
| A．By bringing sellers together. | B．By charging for each sale. |
| C．By listing items online. | D．By making e-photos. |
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