B
Johnny went to see his grandparents on their farm, and they gave him a slingshot (弹弓) to play with out in the woods. He was excited and practiced for some time. But he could never hit the target he had set.
Getting a little upset, he headed back for dinner. As he was going back, he saw his grandma’s duck. Without thinking, he let the slingshot fly, hitting the duck in the head and killing it.
In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the woodpile(柴堆), only to see his sister watching! But Sally said nothing. After lunch the next day, Grandma said, “Sally, help me with the dishes.”
But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.” Then she whispered(耳语) to Johnny, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes.
Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to ride horses, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help me make supper.”
Sally just smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help you.” She whispered again, “Remember the duck?”
So Sally went to ride horses and Johnny stayed behind to help make supper. After several days of doing both his chores and Sally’s, Johnny finally couldn’t stand it any more.
He went to his grandma and said that he had killed the duck.
Grandma smiled. “Sweetheart, I know,” said Grandma. “You see, I saw the whole thing at the window that day, but because I love you, I forgave you. I just waited to find out when you would tell me what you did.”
50. How did Johnny feel when he couldn’t hit the target? A. Upset. B. Bored. C. Happy. D. Excited. 51. Why did Johnny keep helping Sally do chores?
A. Because he had told her he would do them. B. Because Sally didn’t know how to do them. C. Because he wanted Sally to keep the secret. D. Because Grandma asked him to do the chores.
52. What has Johnny learned from his experience? A. One should be brave. B. One should be honest. C. One should be helpful. D. One should be patient.
C
Have you ever felt sleepy and unable to think clearly in a crowded classroom? The problem is caused by what we breathe out ourselves-carbon dioxide, or CO2.
There are rules about how much fresh air we need in buildings to keep us healthy. When there isn’t enough new air coming in to push the old air out, pollutants(污染物)
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build up. One of these pollutants is CO2, which increases every time we breathe out.
The truth is that CO2 has always been considered harmless. After all, how poisonous(有毒的)could it be since it comes out of our own body? But this view changed when an American scientist named William Fisk happened to watch an experiment by Hungarian scientists six years ago. Their findings showed that people have difficulty doing paperwork when CO2 levels are high.
Fisk and his team repeated the experiment at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California, US. They asked students to participate over three different periods. During each period, there were different carbon dioxide levels. Students had to take part in role-playing games on a computer: They were told they were managers and the organization they were running was having some problems. Each student was then graded on how well they dealt with these problems.
Like the experiment from six years before, the results showed that students were more likely to make careful, smart decisions with less CO2 in the air. Their ability was reduced when the CO2 in the room rose, Science News reported.
An interesting thing that Fisk noticed was that even though the students knew that the amount of CO2 was changing throughout the day, none of them felt the difference between each period. This means that CO2 can do harm without us even realizing it.
This problem is especially serious for schools because there are lots of people in classrooms for long hours every day. So it is important that rooms are ventilated(通风). US scientists recently surveyed 100 California classrooms. “We found a clear relationship between higher CO2 level and increased absences(缺课) among the kids for illness,” said Mark Mendell, a member of the research team. 53. What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?
A. All the CO2 in the room comes from ourselves.
B. People didn’t think CO2 could harm the body before.
C. CO2 is considered the most poisonous pollutant in a room. D. Fisk was the first to discover that CO2 could be bad for us. 54. What was the conclusion of Fisk and his team’s experiment?
A. Students had the same reaction with different levels of CO2. B. Low levels of CO2 could make students do things carelessly. C. Students felt uncomfortable when the level of CO2 increased.
D. High levels of CO2 reduced the students’ ability to make decisions.
55. According to the last paragraph, we’d better_______.
A. keep the windows open all the time B. put more plants inside to reduce CO2
C. let fresh air into the rooms now and then D. avoid going into rooms with too many people
D
Almost everyone is afraid of something – snakes, heights, public speaking and so on.
It is normal and can even be helpful to experience fear sometimes. In dangerous situations, fear can keep our bodies
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alert (警醒的) so that we can act quickly to protect ourselves.
But for some people, fear develops into a “phobia”, which is a strong and unreasonable fear of something. For example, most of us feel a little scared when looking down from a tall building. But people with height phobia may have trouble breathing, feel dizzy or turn down a great job just because the company is on the 20th floor.
Phobias can prevent you from living a normal life. “People with spider phobia would stay out of their home or dorm room for days if they thought a spider was present,” Katherina Hauner, a researcher at Northwestern University, US, told ABC News. This is why scientists have been trying to find a cure for this disease.
Since fear comes from experience-from what we are told, what we see others experience and what happens to us-some scientists think if they can “rewrite” these unpleasant memories, they might be able to help people overcome their phobias.
In a study by Katherina Hauner and other scientists, participants with spider phobia were asked to first touch a spider with a paintbrush. Seeing that it was not actually dangerous, they then tried touching it while wearing a glove. Finally, they could hold it with their hands.
Certain medicine has also been found to be helpful. Back in 2010, researchers at the University of Hiroshima, Japan, injected a special medicine into a fish-who was afraid of light-to turn off the fear center in its brain. From then on, the fish no longer feared light.
While the search for solutions to phobias is making great progress, it’s an open question whether getting rid of (去除) fear is good. Some people want to use these methods to make soldiers fight harder in wars by taking away their sense of fear. Dave Smithson of the charity Anxiety UK has his own idea. “It’s fear that prevents us from doing crazy things,” he says. “There’s a name for people who don’t have fear of consequences: psychopaths(精神变态者)“
56．The expression “overcome” probably means “______”.
A.control B. beat C. weaken D. repeat
57．What can we learn from the passage?
A．People with spider phobia could be cured by touching a spider.
B．People with height phobia would lose his great job in a high building. C．People would feel scared when seeing others frightened by something. D．People have found certain medicine to help soldiers fight harder in wars. 58．Which of the following would Dave Smithson probably agree with?
A．Without fear, people would be braver. B．We shouldn’t let fear affect our decision. C．Fear stops us from doing some creative things. D．Fear can help avoid taking unnecessary chances. 59．What is probably the best title for this passage?
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A．Why is fear helpful? B．Is fear good or not? C．How do we treat fear?
D．When should fear be treated?
七、阅读短文，根据短文内容，从短文后的五个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项
中有一项为多余选项。（共8分，每小题2分）
Who’s Got Talent?
Everyone is good at something, but some people are truly talented. It’s always interesting to watch other people show their talents. Talent shows are getting more and more popular. 60 .Now, there are similar shows around the world, such as China’s Got Talent. All these shows have one thing in common: They try to look for the best singers, the most talented
dancers, the most exciting magicians, the most popular actors and so on. 61 .But who can play the piano the best or sing the most beautifully? That’s up to you to decide. When people watch the show, they usually play a role in deciding the winner. 62 .
However, not everybody enjoys watching these shows. 63 .For example, some people say they are poor farmers, but in fact they are just actors. However, if you don’t take these shows too seriously, they are fun to watch. And one great thing about them is that they give people a way to make their dreams come true.
八、阅A. Many people watch these shows. 读短文，根B. All kinds of people join these shows. 据短文内容回C. And the winner always gets a very good prize. 答问题。（共D. Some think that the lives of the performers are made up. 10分，每小题E. First, there were shows like American Idol and America’s Got 2分）
Talent. If your
home is like most others, you’ve probably got a recycling bin in your kitchen. Good for you. That’s the first step to recycling. But there are other things that both parents and kids, can do to make recycling work better.
First, what kinds of rubbish bins are in the other rooms of your house? What about in your bedroom? You’ve probably just got one rubbish bin where everything goes. But it’s a good idea to place a special bin for recycling paper. Then, when it goes full, you can empty it into a larger recycling bin in the kitchen. You can also put a small recycling bin in the bathroom for any useless paper there.
Before you throw an item into the recycling bin, stop and think if you can use that item again. Take plastic items that contain yoghurt, for example. After eating what’s in them, you can clean them and store them in a cupboard, and later you can use them for storing another food item. You can do the same with the glass jars, too. You can also share your recycling advice with your neighbors.
If you decide to put an item in the recycling bin, it’s very important to follow
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this method. If it had food or drink in it, you must clean it before you put it in the recycling bin. It can’t be recycled with food still in it. You should place the item under the running water for a few seconds to clean it. This saves time for the workers in the recycling center. Then they can use their time doing more important work.
The last thing to remember is-don’t give up! You mustn’t just do recycling for a month and then return to your old habits. You can also continue to find other ways to recycle. So make recycling your new habit, and get others involved as well!
64. Is it good for you to have a recycling bin in your kitchen?
65. What can you do in the bathroom for any useless paper there?
66. What should you do before you throw an item into the recycling bin?
67. Why must you clean the item before you put it in the recycling bin?
68. What is the passage mainly about?
书面表达（25分）
九、完成句子（共10分，每小题2分）
根据中文意思完成句子。 69. 天很好。去放风筝怎么样？
It’s a good day. ____________ going to fly kites? 70. 我们下午一起去踢球吧。
_________ go to play football together this afternoon. 71.这周末你愿意和我一起去参加晚会吗？
______ go to the party with me this weekend?
72. 你每天花多长时间听英语？ __________________ English every day？
73. Bill非常风趣，许多学生喜欢和他交朋友。 Bill is __________________ him.
十、文段表达（15分）
根据中文大意和英文提示词语，写出意思连贯、符合逻辑、不少于50词的 回信。信的开头和结尾已给出， 其字数不计入所要完成的回信内。 所给英 文提示词语仅供选用。请不要写出你的校名和姓名。
74.假如你叫李明，你的美国笔友Mike通过邮件，想知道三年来你在学校记忆
最深刻的一件事，如：在运动会上，出游活动中，你与老师或同学日常生活中或其它活动
中发生的事。请根据他邮件中提出的问题回复邮件。
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