My family moved from Taiwan to a small town in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my classmates, Santa Claus would come down one’s chimney（烟囱） and put toys in one’s stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up “stocking” in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew what I had to do.
On that fateful night, after everyone went to bed, I took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel(壁炉). Obviously, the previous owners of this house were no strangers to this Santa character.
I woke up before everyone else on Christmas Day and ran to the fireplace. To make a sob story short, I was hit with the reality of an empty sock and the biggest lie ever told. I burst into tears, quickly took down the sock, and stuffed it in the back of a drawer. Santa was dead.
Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry.
How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, an older man with a white beard and a red cap knocked on my front door. He said, “I’ve been looking for you for twenty-five years.” He handed me a bulging red stocking, winked, and left. On top of the stocking was a card. It read: “For Becky—I may have missed you in the second grade, but you’ve always lived in my heart. Santa.”
Through tear-blurred eyes, I recognized the handwriting of Jill, a friend I had met just two months before. I later discovered that the older man was her father. Jill had seen the hurt little girl underneath the thirty-something woman and decided to do something about it.
So now I believe that Santa is real. I don’t mean the twinkle-eyed character of children’s mythology(神话) or the creation of American holiday marketers. Those Santas annoy and sadden me. I believe in the Santa Claus that live inside good and thoughtful people. This Santa does not return to the North Pole after a crazy delivery but lives each day purposefully, really listens to friends, and then plans deliberate acts of kindness. What does the underlined part “what I had to do” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．Waiting for Santa Claus. |
| B．Putting a stocking on the mantel. |
| C．Asking for gifts from her parents. |
| D．Looking up “stocking” in the dictionary |
It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s parents ____.
| A．didn’t love their child at all |
| B．didn’t know the previous owners of the house |
| C．didn’t know much about Christmas tradition |
| D．didn’t have enough money to buy the author Christmas presents |
When the author told her friends about the story, she felt ______in her heart.
| A．proud | B．amusing | C．hate | D．regret |
By writing the passage, the author speaks highly of ________
| A．friendship | B．parenting |
| C．religion | D．culture |
The author of the passage is probably ________.
| A．a teenager |
| B．a primary school student |
| C．a middle-aged woman |
| D．a native American |
Maybe it is true that we do not know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we do not know what we have been missing until it arrives. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Do not expect love in return; but if it does not, be content it grows in yours.
It takes an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. Do not rely on one's appearance, it can deceive. Do not rely on wealth, even that fades away. Rely on someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.
There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them.
Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.
Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.
The happiest of people do not necessarily gave the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness waits for those who cry, those who have been hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tired, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You cannot go on well in life until you let your past failures and heartaches go off.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.The writer thinks the trouble with some people is that they __________.
| A．always take a long view about problems |
| B．look at problems all-sidedly |
| C．can be good at doing with problems |
| D．deal with problems one-sidedly |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．We often don't know what we have lost until it happens. |
| B．If it takes you an hour to love someone, you will easily forget her. |
| C．If you give someone your love, you are sure that she will give her love to you in return. |
| D．If someone accepts your love and he doesn’t give you his love in return, you should be angry with him. |
If you put yourself in another's position, ___________.
| A． you should depend on wealth |
| B．you shouldn't do those things that will hurt you and other people |
| C．you will do what you want to do however dangerous it is to people |
| D．you should depend on other people |
In the last paragraph of the passage, the writer is actually telling us that a man in the world should be one who __________.
| A．can accept the suggestions made by others |
| B．can live happily and forget the past |
| C．does good for the people and is respected by them |
| D．has made a lot of money for himself when he dies |
I was very sympathetic with world leaders burdened with resolving conflicts between nations. When my three children were young, in most days it was hard to keep my house from becoming a war zone. It got worse as they grew older. Three years ago, Zack, then 16, couldn’t make it through a day without playing tricks on his sisters, Alex and Taryn, then 11 and 9.
My husband and I tried to understand his adolescent moodiness. We begged, reasoned, punished, and left heartfelt notes on his bed about how his behavior was hurting our family. His response was a shrug and “I say it because it’s true”.
I even tried telling the girls to fight back. But it was a bad idea. Now I had three kids at war. At wit’s end, I poured my heart out to my sister in an e-mail. She wrote back, “Don’t e-mail me. E-mail him.”
Our son was online every day, mailing and instantly messaging his friends. So what if I was within shouting distance? Maybe he would actually hear me this way. There’d be no yelling or door slamming（猛然关闭）. Zack wouldn’t feel under attack. And with a few simple keystrokes, he could respond. Or not. Zack didn’t reply for days. When he finally did, his entire message was four words. I expected the worst, but then smiled when I read them, ”You are right. I’m sorry.” The kids still fought, of course, but Zack scaled back the abuse (恶习). Best of all, I now have an effective way to communicate with not one but three easily annoyed teens. They don’t tune me out as much. They don’t like to listen to me nag (唠叨) .Or as Alex says, “You’re so much nicer online.”
All I know is that the house is quiet, and we’re talking. In fact, Taryn just instantly messaged me from upstairs. It’s time to take her to softball practice.The purpose of this passage is to tell us _________ .
| A．how to solve family problems |
| B．how a mother shows her love to her children |
| C．how to treat kids in a more sensible way |
| D．the value of understanding between parents and children |
By the first sentence of the passage, the author really means to be_______.
| A．humourous | B．sympathetic | C．serious | D．inspiring |
How did Zack react when the author first tried to stop his bad behavior？
| A．He was annoyed and got worse. |
| B．He talked back to the author. |
| C．He felt sorry and changed. |
| D．He was persuaded and acted politely. |
Zack stopped fighting with his sisters because _________ .
| A．his mother learned how to mail him |
| B．his mother stopped yelling and nagging |
| C．his sisters learned to instantly message him |
| D．his mother had more friendly communications with him online |
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health, wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend (冒犯) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was sounded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have realized its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly all act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others: nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These people should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels. People who are unhappy ．
| A．always consider things differently from others |
| B．usually are affected by the results of certain things |
| C．usually misunderstand what others think or say |
| D．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things |
The phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most probably means“ .”
| A．have a good taste with social life | B．make others unhappy |
| C．tend to scold others openly | D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
We can conclude from the passage that__________.
| A．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| C．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| D．unhappy people can not understand happy persons |
If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should_______.
| A．prevent any communication with them |
| B．show respect and politeness to them |
| C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects |
| D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes |
In this passage, the writer mainly __________.
| A．describes two types of people |
| B．laughs at the unhappy people |
| C．suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness |
| D．tells people how to be unhappy in life |
Do you ever wonder why the English have one word for some animals and a different one for their meat? Why do they use pig and pork, cow and beef, and sheep and mutton? To find it out, we have to go back to 1066, when the Norman French invaded England and put a French king on the English throne (王位), which not only changed the government but also changed the language. French became the language of the upper classes of society. And it remained that way for 300 years. Only these high society people could afford to eat meat. As a result, French words like porc (pork) and beouf (beef) came into the English language. However, poor English farmers raised the animals. So the English language retained the words pig and cow from the Native Anglo-Saxon.
The Norman French added about 10,000 French words to the English language. Seventy-five percent of them are still in use today.
In French grammar, nouns have either a male or female gender (性别), so adjectives (形容词) take different forms for each. English has only one adjective that does this, and it came from French. The word “blond” describes someone with light-colored hair. “Blond” is used for men, and “blonde” describes women. And they are also nouns.
Some French words that entered the English language have taken on completely different meanings. The French phrase “a la mode” means “in style”. In English, the phrase means “with the ice cream”. Someone must have decided something eaten with ice cream was in style!
Now, as you learn English, you’re on your way to learning French!French was once popular among the upper classes of the UK because_____.
| A．too many French moved to Britain |
| B．French brought animals with them |
| C．the king and his officials spoke French |
| D．the king allowed French to be spoken |
Which word can replace the word “retained” in Paragraph 1?
| A．Chose | B．Kept | C．Introduced | D．Give up |
Why does an English speaker find French easy to learn?
| A．Because English and French share similar pronunciations. |
| B．Because English grammar and French grammar are similar. |
| C．Because a large number of English words have French origins. |
| D．Because English has great influences on the French language. |
French grammar is very different from English grammar because ______.
| A．no words have the same pronunciation |
| B．all words have the same pronunciation |
| C．English nouns have a male or female gender |
| D．French nouns have different adjective forms |
What conclusion can we draw from the text?
| A．Language is closely related to history and culture. |
| B．French and English words have nothing in common. |
| C．Language is controlled by the upper classes of society. |
| D．English combines French and the Native Anglo-Saxon. |
There are quite a few advantages of wearing school uniforms. The idea may seem disagreeable at first, but considering all the positive effects coming from wearing uniforms you would be more likely to enjoy them.
Teachers love school uniforms because it helps provide an orderly learning environment. Having students dressed in uniforms may teach them how to present themselves in a neat and professional manner. It gives students the opportunity to learn how to dress like young ladies and gentleman. And they can focus their attention on academics rather than style.
Purchasing (购买) school uniforms is easy and needs less hesitation and consideration. No matter what the school’s policy is, there are only specific essential (基本的) pieces to the wardrobe (服装) that are necessary, so it won’t break the bank. A few wardrobe items can last a long time. Parents could also enjoy an easy morning, as it will take less time to choose a set of clothes for the school day.
Students wearing uniforms will feel less pressure about what to wear or not to wear when their classmates are dressed similarly. Getting dressed before school becomes less of a chore(琐事) when students are limited in their choices, so there shouldn’t be any trouble about choosing an outfit for the day and getting ready quickly. Some students may not like the lack of individuality(个性) with a uniform, but some school dress code policies may offer them the opportunities to show their unique styles.
Uniforms today are also becoming trendier and can be seen in many areas of pop culture. Celebrities(名人)and fashion designers are using uniforms as inspiration for new looks which also appeal to students.What would be the best title for the text?
| A．How to dress properly. |
| B．The history of school uniforms. |
| C．The advantages of school uniforms. |
| D．How to deal with pressure in school. |
Teachers think that wearing school uniforms ________________.
| A．is just a tradition that students should follow |
| B．makes students feel less pressure in study |
| C．helps students put more effort into their studies |
| D．makes students lose their independence and identity |
The underlined part “it won’t break the bank” in Paragraph 3 probably means “__________”.
| A．a school uniform doesn’t cost a lot of money |
| B．a school uniform should be worn every day |
| C．parents will have to go to the bank many times |
| D．parents who work in a bank can afford the uniform |
We can infer from the text that school uniforms _________.
| A．are not popular with fashion designers |
| B．were not accepted by parents in the past |
| C．will be designed by students themselves |
| D．will be more fashionable in the future |
The author’s attitude towards students’ wearing school uniforms is ___________.
| A．negative | B．supportive | C．doubtful | D．unclear |
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