In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition which she won last year.
As a writer, I know about winning contests – and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection letter from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and destroyed hopes can resurface in our children.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.What do we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．A lot of amusements compete for children’s time nowadays. |
| B．Children have lots of fun doing mindless activities. |
| C．Rebecca is much too busy to enjoy her leisure time. |
| D．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing. |
What did the author say about her own writing experience?
| A．She was constantly under pressure to write more. |
| B．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers. |
| C．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer. |
| D．Her road to success was full of pain and frustrations. |
Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
| A．She believed she possessed real talent for writing. |
| B．She was sure of winning with her mother’s help. |
| C．She wanted to share her stories with readers. |
| D．She had won a prize in the previous contest. |
The author took great pains to improve her daughter’s stories because _______.
| A．she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dreams of becoming a writer |
| B．she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing |
| C．she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much |
| D．she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance |
The underlined sentence probably means that the author was _______.
| A．trying not to let her daughter enjoy her own life |
| B．trying to get her daughter to do the thing as the author wished |
| C．making sure that her daughter would win the contest |
| D．helping her daughter develop real skills for writing |
What’s the author’s advice for parents?
| A．Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions. |
| B．Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in. |
| C．Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience. |
| D．A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue. |
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with people from around the world. This means that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed and the dialect （方言）of London became the standard. In 1604, the first English dictionary was published.
The numbers of words in Early Modern English and Late Modern English differ. Late Modern English has a lot more words because of two main factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries.
From around 1600, the English colonization(殖民地化)of North America resulted in the creation of American English. Some English pronunciation and words froze when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that the British call “ Americanisms” are in fact original （原先的）British expressions that were preserved (保存) in the colonies but were lost in Britain. Spanish also had an influence on American English, with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered English. French words and West African words also influenced American English.
Today, American English is the most influential(有影响力的). But there are many other kinds of English around the world, including Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English , Indian English and Caribbean English. They have differences.What can we know from Paragraph 1?
| A．The dialect of London became the standard in the year 1604. |
| B．Vowels were pronounced longer towards the end of Middle English |
| C．The first English dictionary was published in the early 17th century. |
| D．Many new words entered English because many people moved to Britain. |
From Paragraph 2, we know that the Industrial Revolution __________.
| A．required spelling and grammar to be fixed |
| B．required a greater number of English words |
| C．caused many old English words to be useless |
| D．led to the English colonization of North America. |
The underlined word “froze” in Paragraph 3 shows that some English words in America___________.
| A．became longer |
| B．greatly changed |
| C．a little changed |
| D．stayed as they were |
What will the paragraph following this passage most probably discuss?
| A．The development of Modern English |
| B．How the English vocabulary became larger |
| C．Differences among the different kinds of English |
| D．Differences between Middle English and Modern English |
March, April and May are months full of festivals and events all over the world. Here are some wonderful festivals around the world that happen in spring.
SongKran--Thailand
Dates: 13th-15th, April
In Thailand, it’s time to celebrate the coming monsoon season, which will bring the rain many people have been looking forward to. They celebrate it with a festival called Songkran, when people head out to the streets with water guns to spray(喷，洒）everyone who walks past. If you walk on the streets where the festival is celebrated, prepare to get soaked!
Naghol--Vanuatu
Dates: Every Saturday from April to May
Every year, villagers come together to celebrate the harvest of yams, an important part in the peopls’s diet in Vanuatu. The festival is most famous for its “land diving ceremony”. During the ceremony men and boys dive to the ground from high wooden towers with only two thin vines attached(附于)to their ankles(脚踝）. The divers’ heads have to lightly touch the ground when they jump---something very dangerous if the vines are not measured（测量）properly.
Cherry Blossom Viewing ---Japan
Dates: The cherry blossom season is different from year to year depending on the weather forecast.
The cherry blossom season has huge importance to the people of Japan, who celebrate the days when the flowers finally blossom. Only a few days later, the petals(花瓣） fall to the ground, like pink snowflakes. This is one of the most beautiful things to see. In Japan, almost everyone has picnics in the parks to view the flowers.
Sinhalese New Year--Sri Lanka
Dates: 13th or 14th, April
Just like in many other countries in South an South East Asia, this is the time when the Sinhalese celebrate the traditional New Year, an ancient celebration which marks the end of the harvest season and is one of two times of the year when the sun is straight above Sri Lanka. There are a lot of delicious foods during the celebration.. What does the underlined word “ soaked” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．tired | B．wet | C．crazy | D．interested |
The writer thinks that the “land diving ceremony” can be dangerous for the divers because ___________.
| A．the divers may fall onto the ground if the thin vines break |
| B．the divers may bump into （撞在…上）the wooden tower on the way down |
| C．the divers’ ankles may get injured if the vines are tied too tightly |
| D．the divers may injure（伤害）their heads if the vines aren’t measured properly |
We can learn from the passage that__________________.
| A．the Cherry Blossom Celebration usually lasts a long time in Japan |
| B．the Cherry Blossom Celebration is the most important festival in Japan |
| C．the time for the Cherry Blossom Celebration in Japan can be different yearly |
| D．people usually stay at home for celebration during the cherry blossom season. |
If we were asked exactly what we were doing a year ago，we should probably have to say that we could not remember. But if we had kept a book and had written in it an account of what we did each day，we should be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history. Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them. Sometimes men did keep a record of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war．Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to write．For example，we know a good deal about the people who lived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them．But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa, because they had not learned to write．
Sometimes,of course，even if the people cannot write，they may know something of the past．They have heard about it from older people，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations .For most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past．This we may call ’remembered history’．Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us as written history is，because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing．But where there are no written records，such spoken stories are often very helpful．．We know very little about the central Africa 200 years ago because ___
| A．there was nothing worth being written down at that time |
| B．the people there ignored the importance of keeping a record |
| C．the written records were perhaps destroyed by a fire |
| D．the people there did not know how to write |
．“Remembered history”refers to ___．
| A．history based on a person’s imagination |
| B．stories of important happenings passed down from mouth to mouth |
| C．songs and dances about the most important events |
| D．both B and C |
．“Remembered history”is regarded as valuable only when ____.
| A．it is written down |
| B．no written account is available |
| C．it proves to be time |
| D．people are interested in it |
.The passage suggests that we could have learned much more about our past than we do now if the ancient people had _____
| A．kept a written record of every past event |
| B．not burnt their written records in wars |
| C．told exact stories of the most important happenings |
| D．made more songs and dances |
Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, geography, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Others go to school to learn a skill so that they can make a living. School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything they want to know. The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So, much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to memorize some facts or a formula. It is usually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientists, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo didn’t get anything from school. But they were all so successful. They invented so many things for mankind.
The reason for their success is that they knew how to study. They read books that were not taught at school. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments.
Above all, they knew how to use their brains. Many people go to school for an education. But some others go to school for __________.
| A．enjoying themselves | B．learning subjects |
| C．learning a skill | D．making a living |
. A teacher’s job is mainly to train his students to master the ability of __________.
| A．learning by themselves | B．making a living |
| C．reading and thinking | D．studying all the subjects |
Using a formula in working out a maths problem is ______ memorizing it.
| A．much easier than | B．more difficult than |
| C．as easy as | D．as difficult as |
The scientists were successful because __________.
| A．they read books that were not taught at school |
| B．they worked all their lives |
| C．they wasted not a single moment |
| D．they knew how to use their brains |
Once there was a king who never ate a meal unless there was a dish of fish with it, but one day there was a big storm and the fishermen were not able to go out to catch fish, so the king had no breakfast and no lunch. Then he ordered his servants to tell everybody in his capital that if anyone brought him a fish, he would give him anything that he asked for.
At last, a fisherman caught a big fish late in the afternoon and hurried to the king's palace with it. But the king's Prime Minister would not let him in until he promised to give him half of whatever the king gave him for the fish.
The king was very happy when he saw the fish. He asked the fisherman what he wanted for his fish. To his surprise, the fisherman said, "I want you to beat me two dozen(一打) times with a stick." When the king began to beat him a dozen times, the fisherman jumped away and said, "That is enough for me. I promised the other dozen to your Prime Minister." Then he told the king what had happened between the Prime Minister and himself. The king was very angry. He not only gave the Prime Minister the dozen hits, but also said, "Because you have been dishonest, you will not be my Prime Minister any more. The fisherman will take your place."The king didn't have breakfast and lunch because ____.
| A．there was a big storm |
| B．the Prime Minister did not bring him any food |
| C．there was no fish |
| D．his servants didn't know how to cook well |
. The fisherman took his fish to the king's palace because ____.
| A．the king had promised to give him whatever he wanted |
| B．the king was dying from hunger |
| C．he wanted to teach the Prime Minister a lesson |
| D．he wanted to be the Prime Minister |
. When the fisherman told the king what he wanted, the king ____.
| A．was very happy | B．was very surprised |
| C．was very angry | D．gave him what he wanted at once |
. The king got rid of his Prime Minister because ____.
| A．the fisherman was cleverer than his Prime Minister |
| B．the Prime Minister did not know how to catch fish |
| C．the Prime Minister was not an honest man |
| D．the Prime Minister took half of what the king gave the fisherman |
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