I was determined to create the world’s healthiest, most comfortable, and strongest pillow. My Pillow uses our unique, patented medical fill that stays cool, corresponds to your exact individual needs regardless of sleep position, and stays healthy for your full 10-year guarantee. It is non-allergic, and you can wash and dry it as easily as your favorite jeans.
My Pillow is not available in stores. I have spent the last seven years selling My Pillow face-to-face at fairs, expos and events. Hundreds of experts and medical doctors carry and recommend them for their patients. I have been featured on medical talk shows that air around the world. I have sold hundreds of thousands of pillows and have received great gratitude from satisfied customers regarding how My Pillow has changed their lives and provided a more comfortable, restful sleep.
And, My Pillow comes in different sizes and is fit for your size and sleeping pattern. So you can be assured that you will have the most comfortable pillow for you.
I truly believe it is the best pillow in the world and that if everyone had one and got better sleep, the world would be a much nicer place. 56. What makes My Pillow unique? A. It is easily washed and dried. B. It suits your sleeping position.
C. It contains special cooling medicine. D. It helps you stay healthy for 10 years. 57. Where can people probably buy My Pillow? A. At fairs. B. In stores. C. In markets. D. On the Internet. 58. What is the author’s purpose in writing this article? A. To introduce a comfortable pillow. B. To encourage people to buy My Pillow. C. To give some advice on sleeping problems. D. To tell us how to select a comfortable pillow.
B
For or Against?—That Is the Question
Andy is the most unreasonable and he makes me so angry that I could even scream sometimes! Of course, I sort of have to love him because he is my twin brother. Andy and Amy (that is me) have the same curly hair and dark eyes and are equally stubborn. Yet, on most issues we usually take opposite positions.
Just this week in our school, there was a heated discussion on whether to adopt a school dress code. Every student would be required to wear a uniform. The teachers are divided: Some are in favor of the uniforms while others are opposed. The principal has asked the students to express their opinions by voting on the issue before decisions are made. But she will have the final word on the dress code.
I think a dress code is a good idea. The reason is simple. The less I have to decide first thing in the morning, the better. I can’t tell you how many mornings I look into my closet and just stare, unable to decide what to wear. Andy is shocked at my opinion. Last night, he even dragged out my parents’ high school photo albums to show me how brilliant they looked without uniforms! He also declared, “Bruce Springsteen never wore a school uniform. Bob Dylan wouldn’t have been caught dead in a school
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uniform! Besides, when I am feeling political, I want to be able to wear clothes made of natural, undyed fibers, sewn or assembled in countries that do not pollute the environment or exploit child labor. If I have to wear a uniform, I won’t feel like me!”
To that I replied, “So your personal heroes didn’t wear school uniforms. But they went to high school about a million years ago! I feel sorry for you since I had no idea that your ego(自我) is so fragile that it would be completely destroyed by a uniform.” That really made him angry and he shouted, “You’re just copying what you hear that new music teacher saying because you are crazy about him!”
Fortunately, the bell rang before we could do each other physical harm, and we went to our separate classes. The vote for or against uniforms took place later that day. The results of the vote and the principal’s decision will be announced next week. I wonder what it will be. I know how I voted, and I’m pretty sure I know how Andy voted. How would you vote—for or against? 59. Amy and Andy often get angry with each other because______. A. they’re both stubborn B. they like different teachers
C. they always hold different views D. they don’t like each other very much 60. Amy holds the idea that _______.
A. school clothing should reflect parents’ values
B. teenagers should never follow the latest clothing fashion
C. the way one dresses should be an expression of one’s personality
D. wearing school uniforms means one makes less decision every morning 61. Who will decide whether the students should wear uniforms? A. The principal. B. Their parents. C. Their teachers. D. Students themselves.
62. In Paragraph 5, Amy aims to say that______. A. Andy shouldn’t look up to his heroes so much
B. our clothes should decide people’s attitudes towards us C. Andy’s lack of self-confidence is reflected in his clothing D. our clothes shouldn’t determine how we feel about ourselves
C
Many factories and businesses around the globe have been struggling to deal with the severe economic realities of the recession (衰退), so they are having their employees take compulsory unpaid leave to save money. For some workers, their salaries have been cut by 20 percent, forced to stay home one out of every five working days. For some businesses, though, the economic downturn is actually a goldmine.
Instead of going out to fancy restaurants to dine with the whole family, many choose to stay at home. “People are eating out less and staying home more, which is driving our sales,” reports Domino’s Pizza chief manager Chris Moore. Pizza is very popular, and it is also very affordable for a family that has little extra money to spare. Domino’s business in England rose 15 percent in the first six weeks this year compared with the previous year. Moore believes that the customers
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now will remain loyal when the financial situation rights itself. “By exceeding (超越) their expectations in terms of product quality and speed of delivery... these customers will stay with Domino’s when the economy becomes better.” said Moore.
Delivered pizza is not the only winner in the stay-at-home economy. Almost all online games have been reporting record-high income since the middle of 2008. Online games are designed to enable players to let off steam by interacting with each other socially in the comfort of their own homes. A Shanghai-based online game producer recently joked: “The game businesses are worried about economic recovery.”
Another business that has boomed during the recession is camping equipment. Luxury vacations for families are down, but people still want to get away from their dull lives. This means that sales of tents, sleeping bags, and other outdoor equipment has gone up as families are trying to still have fun even though their bank accounts aren’t as good as they once were. There have been reports that sales of fishing equipment are on the rise because many people believe this can help lower their grocery bills.
63. What is true about Domino’s in economic hard times? A. It is giving its employees a 20 percent cut. B. It has added four or five new cheaper pizzas. C. It has to close 15 percent of its stores. D. Its business is increasing quite rapidly.
64. What does the phrase “let off steam” mean in the third paragraph? A. Save money.
B. Free one’s feelings.
C. Kill another player online.
D. Make money from an online game. 65. How does the author present his point? A. By giving examples. B. By showing a sequence.
C. By explaining causes and effects.
D. By making comparisons and contrasts. 66. Which is the best title for the passage? A. Domino’s Pizza B. In-house Economy C. Booming Businesses D. Economic Recession
D
All around the world, shoppers flock to Wal-Mart to buy everything. In Texas, they come for another reason: to see the wind turbine(涡轮机), which supplies 5% of the store’s electricity. It along with other facilities, such as exterior walls coated with heat-reflective paint, makes this Wal-Mart a green giant.
The laws of economics suggest that Wal-Mart, with 5,200 stores worldwide, influences everything including the price of all kinds of goods. It throws its weight behind environmental responsibility, and the impact could be amazing. “One little change in product packaging could save 1,500 trees,” says Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. “If everybody saves 1,500 trees or 50 barrels of
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oil, at the end of the day you have made a huge difference.”
Scott wants Wal-Mart to do its part too. He has promised to cut the existing greenhouse-gas emissions(排放) over the next few years and promised to construct new stores that are more efficient. He wants Wal-Mart’s fleet (车队) of more than 7,000 trucks to get twice as many miles per gallon by 2015. Factories that show Wal-Mart they’re cutting air pollution will get preferential treatment in the supply chain. Wal-Mart says it’s working with consumer-product manufacturers to reduce their packaging and will reward them if they do so.
Some people may doubt it is a bid to attract attention from Wal-Mart’s controversial labor and health-insurance practices. But it’s not just window dressing, because Wal-Mart sees profits in going green. Scott says, “This is a business philosophy, not a social philosophy. We don’t go where we don’t think there’s a great interest in change.”
Like Bill Gates, who started his charitable foundation, Scott happens to be promoting Wal-Mart’s image at a time when his company’s reputation is declining. He acknowledges that he launched the plan partly to shield (保护，庇护) Wal-Mart from bad press about its contribution to global warming. “By doing what we’re doing today, we avoid the headline risks that are going to come for people who did not do anything,” he says. “At some point businesses will be held responsible for the actions they take.” Meanwhile, should Wal-Mart succeed at shrinking its environmental footprint and lowering prices for green products, both the planet and the company will profit.
67. We can infer from the passage that_______. A. Lee Scott is Wal-Mart’s CEO B. there are 5,200 stores in the world
C. Wal-Mart has a great influence on the world market D. Wal-Mart has more than 7,000 trucks all over the world
68. What does the underlined sentence “This is a business philosophy, not a social philosophy.” mean in the fourth paragraph?
A. Wal-Mart predicts huge profits in its green activity. B. Wal-Mart’s green activity is just window dressing. C. Wal-Mart aims to solve its health-insurance practices. D. Wal-Mart doesn’t have any social responsibility at all. 69. What will Wal-Mart probably do in the future? A. Reduce air pollution in its present stores. B. Give favorable treatment to its consumers. C. Ask the factories to reduce their packaging.
D. Demand the fleet of trucks to use more fuel than before. 70. What is the main idea of the last paragraph? A. Provide the background of the green plan. B. Stress the purpose of Wal-Mart’s green plan.
C. Present the risk that Wal-Mart is facing nowadays. D. Analyze the similarity between Bill Gates and Scott.
第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，共10分）
根据短文内容，从短文后的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。
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The word “diary” comes from the Latin word “diarium”, which means “daily allowance”. 71 And it is used for business notes, planning activities, keeping track of scheduled appointments, or documenting what has already happened. Some doctors suggest that writing in a diary is a good form of self-study.
In America, from the 1940s through the 1980s, a diary was thought of mostly as a way to privately express one’s deepest thoughts while keeping notations about the day. 72 Many times, movies would show a teenage girl beginning to write in her diary while she said aloud, “Dear diary…”.
73 A diary kept by a young German Jewish girl by the name of Anne Frank provides us with invaluable lessons about history, for she documented her experiences while she hid from the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Her diary became one of the world’s most widely read books and is the basis for many films. a.
Samuel Pepys, who lived during the 17th century, is the earliest diary keeper that is famous today. His diary is also an important documentation of history, for it gives personal insight(洞察力) into London’s Great Plague and the Great Fire. His diary is being published on the Internet, and it’s interesting to note that there has been a new entry every day since January of 2003. It will continue over the course of several years to come. 74 Today’s electronic version of the diary, the web log or “blog” has once again stretched the diary to be much more than a personal account of the day’s events. There are blogs to document recipes, traveling, movies, independent news, product announcements, photos, and anything else that needs to be recorded over time. Search engines like Technorati.com have been created to keep track of the more than 112 million blogs that are currently public. 75
A. It refers to a book for writings by date.
B. In its newest form, the diary has become more popular than ever. C. Reading his diary is fascinating, and it makes his life all the more real to us.
D. People love to write diaries, so whenever they are free, they will write a few lines. E. Those private reflections may have historical significance long after the author’s death. F. Nowadays, the blog has taken the place of the diary and becomes more and more popular.
G. In those times, and even continuing on today, writing in a diary was like writing to a special friend.
第四部分：书面表达（共两节，35分） 第一节 情景作文（20分）
假设你是红星中学高三（1）班的学生李华。为增进师生情谊，最近学校组织了一次师生篮球赛。请根据以下四幅图的先后顺序，将此活动的全过程记述下来，向校报英语专栏投稿。
注意： 1. 文章的开头已给出。
2. 词数不少于60。
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