One evening last summer, when I asked my 14 year old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response shocked me．"What’s a colander(漏勺)?" he asked．

I could only blame myself．In the family, nobody else’s hands went in the sauce except my own．But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn’t prepared Ray for．

As parents, while we focus on our sons’ confidence and character, we perhaps don’t always consider that we are also raising someone’s future roommates, boyfriends, husbands, or fathers．I wanted to know that I’d raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, "What’s for dinner?" So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course．I was delighted to find that he didn’t say no．For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine．One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting．Then he rolled out the piecrust (餡餅皮) and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven．

I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother—he tried to beg not to have sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive— but it couldn’t be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping．"I appreciate what you do as a mom," he told me one day．Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there’s nothing masculine (男子氣概的) about being helpless．

Now, not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family．That’s what I call a man．I’m glad that I prepared so great a present for my future daughter in-law．

1.Why was the author shocked at her son’s response?

A．Because he was not well behaved．

B．Because he refused to help with dinner．

C．Because he didn’t know the common kitchen tools．

D．Because he was very curious about kitchen tools．

2.In the author’s opinion, some parents pay little attention to _______．

A．building up children’s confidence

B．telling kids what is right and wrong

C．preparing children for their future life

D．making children live a hard life

3.After learning to do housework, Ray _______．

A．fell in love with sewing

B．did other work in the house

C．began to be more hardworking

D．a(chǎn)cknowledged his mother’s efforts

4.We can infer from the text that Ray _______．

A．made great progress in cooking．

B．a(chǎn)lways thought housework interesting．

C．preferred sewing to cooking．

D．was unwilling to learn cooking at first．

5.What would the author like to convey in the text?

A．Useful education for boys

B．The importance of housework

C．Boys should be involved in housework．

D. Cooking and sewing make boys masculine．

Do you want to help others—but don’t know where to start? Do you feel that the challenges facing us are too big for one person? One advantage of supporting the American Red Cross is that each of our individual contributions is magnified(放大)when we all join together．Another advantage is that it's easy to start helping．You can start this every minute, by using your mobile to send a text message to make a $10 donation to one of our ongoing campaigns．

Donate to Help Victims of Natural Disasters: Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps people affected by disasters such as floods, earthquakes, wildfires and hurricanes．

Please consider making a donation today to help the thousands of people who have been affected by these disasters．

Donate to Help Reduce Deaths from Measles(麻疹): Text PREVENT to 90999 to give $ 10 to the Red Cross and help us vaccinate（注射疫苗）children against measles．

Started in 2001．the Measles & Rubella Initiative—led by the American Red Cross， provides technical and financial support to governments and communities for mass vaccination campaigns around the world．The Initiative has supported the vaccination of more than 1 billion children helping to reduce measles deaths by 78％globally(compared to 2000)．

Please consider making a donation today to help us continue this campaign．To learn more visit www．Measlesrubellainitiative．org．

Important Information for Text Donors: You can make a $ 10 donation to the American Red Cross．Charges will appear on your wireless bill．All purchases must be authorized by account holder．You must be over 18 years old or have parental permission to participate．Text STOP to 90999 to STOP．Text HELP to 90999 for HELP．

1.The text mainly aims to tell us_____________．

A．how to keep our wireless bill safe when making donation

B．how to make a $10 donation by text message

C．when to become an authorized account holder

D．how to make individual contributions magnified

2.We should text_______to 90999 if we want to help victims of natural disasters．

A．STOP B．PREVENT C．HELP D．REDCROSS

3.What does “this campaign” in Paragraph 6 refer to?

A．Offering help to the disaster victims．

B．Supporting the American Red Cross．

C．Mass vaccination around the world．

D．Applying for charges on wireless bills．

4.1f a school boy wants to be a text donor, he should _____________.

A．get the permission of his parents

B．reach the marriage age

C．pay ＄10 to own an account

D．stop his daily purchases

Dear Guys,

I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.

One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉強(qiáng)地) agreed.

Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.

However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, and threw it as hard as I could.

It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me.

Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, and then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.

The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.

This is the point where I start to take issue with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.

Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.

Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.

“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.

“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.

And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”

I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.

Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.

It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.

I surprised myself—and I’m sure you as well—by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.

Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”

Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period were just enough blows for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”

And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.

Sincerely,

Jen Cordery

1.The writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.

A．she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries

B．she wanted to refresh her childhood memories

C．she could not refuse the polite request from the young man

D．she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight

2.Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined word “game”?

A．a(chǎn)nxious B．brave C．a(chǎn)fraid D．curious

3.Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?

A．To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back.

B．To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills.

C．To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were.

D．To express her dislike towards softball.

4.What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer ________.

A．inspired B．encouraged C．a(chǎn)wkward D．depressed

5.What happened to the ball at last?

A．The writer managed to throw the ball back.

B．The boy got the ball back by himself.

C．The writer threw the ball away out of anger.

D．The boys got angry and left without the ball.

6.What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this open letter?

A．To express her regret over what she did the day before.

B．To announce that she would never play all games again.

C．To joke on her inability to throw the ball over the fence.

D．To criticize the young men for their cruelty to her dignity.

任務(wù)型閱讀,根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的七個(gè)選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。

A strong vocabulary helps develop understanding, communication, and reading ability. ___1.____Consider the following tips on helping your child develop an impressive vocabulary

Let Your Child Tell the Story

Perhaps you read nightly to your child or take turns doing so. Of course, this is an excellent way to expand reading and vocabulary skills. __2.____ Then, let your child charge the end of the rope of his imagination wherever his imagination leads.

___3.____

In short, you need to take an active role. If you want your children's language skills to improve, take their vocabulary questions seriously. When they express curiosity about a word, be sure to teach the correct definition and pronunciation.

Correct Mistakes with Care

____4.__ However, it's essential not to scold them when they make such mistakes. Rather, point out what they got right, and then review the proper way to use and or speak the word. The more fun and positive an experience, the more interested and able your children will be in expanding their vocabulary

Do Be Patient

You may need to repeat words and meanings many times before your child fully grasps the concept.This is completely normal ___5.____ Children develop at their own paces .The most important thing is to honor and balance their needs so that learning doesn't become struggle. While you want them to get ahead, you don't want them to develop pressure with trying to do so

A. Try Your Best to Correct Them

B. Pay More Attention to Your Kid’s Vocabulary

C. It’s natural for children to mispronounce or misuse new words.

D. It’s important for children to mispronounce new words while learning.

E. That’s why parents should do what they can to help kids learn new words.

F. Further, if your neighbor’s child has twice the vocabulary yours does, it’s not worth stressing over.

G. However, on occasion, feel free to put the book down and ask your child to create a story to tell you.

短文改錯(cuò)

假定英語課上老師要求同桌之間交換修改作文，請(qǐng)你修改你同桌寫的以下作文。文中共有10處語言錯(cuò)誤，要求你在錯(cuò)誤的地方增加、刪除或修改某個(gè)單詞。

增加：在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏字符號(hào)（∧），并在其下面寫上該加的詞。

刪除：把多余的詞用斜線（﹨）劃掉。

修改：在錯(cuò)的詞下劃一橫線，并在該詞下面寫上修改后的詞。

注意：1. 每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞；

2. 只允許修改10處，多者（從十一處起）不計(jì)分。

Dear Smith,

I have a good news for you. All senior three students will take part in a mountain- climbing activity in May 18th, which is intending to help reduce our pressure from study. So I’m writing to invite you to go along.

We plan to gather at the school gate at 8:20, weather permitting. Then they will set off at 8:30, heading for the mountains nearby on feet. After having a good time, we are supposed to go back school for lunch at about 12.

The suggestions are as following. You’d better wear strong and comfortably shoes so that you can enjoy the trip. A bottle of water and some snacks were also necessary in climbing. In addition, you can take with you a camera to get some photos taken.

Look forward to your reply.

Yours,

Li Yan

書面表達(dá)

請(qǐng)根據(jù)以下提示，并結(jié)合事例，用英語寫一篇短文。

People are always looking for someone to look up to and imitate (模仿). However, you can set the example by changing yourself to become the person that people want to be like.

注意：①除詩歌外，文體不限； ②內(nèi)容必須結(jié)合你生活中的一個(gè)事例；③文中不得透露個(gè)人姓名和學(xué)校名稱；④詞數(shù)不少于120，不得抄寫提示語原句。

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an expensive French restaurant in Denver. The ice cream he was serving fell onto the white dress of a rich and important woman.

Thirty years have passed, but Odland can not get the memory out of his mind, nor the woman’s kind reaction. She was shocked, regained calmness and, in a kind voice, told the young Odland. “It is OK. It wasn’t your fault.” When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.

Odland isn’t the only CEO to have made this discovery. Instead, it seems to be one of those few laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up. It’s hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but most agree with the Waiter Rule. They say how others treat the CEO says nothing. But how others treat the waiter is like a window into the soul.

Watch out for anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like, “I could buy this place and fire you,” or “I know the owner and I could have you fired.” Those who say such things have shown more about their character than about their wealth and power.

The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson. He wrote a best-selling book called Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management. “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person,” Swanson says. “I will never offer a job to the person who is sweet to the boss but turns rude to someone cleaning the tables.”

1.What happened after Odland dropped the ice cream onto the woman’s dress?

A. He was fired.

B. He was blamed.

C. The woman comforted him.

D. The woman left the restaurant at once.

2.Odland learned one of his life lessons from .

A. his experience as a waiter

B. the advice given by the CEOs

C. an article in Fortune

D. an interesting best-selling book

3.According to the text, most CEOs have the same opinion about ________.

A. Fortune 500 companies B. the Management Rules

C. Swanson’s book D. the Waiter Rule

4.From the text we can learn that ________.

A. one should be nicer to important people

B. CEOs often show their power before others

C. one should respect others no matter who they are

D. CEOs often have meals in expensive restaurants

Windows 8, apart from Windows 95, is the biggest surprise and the only version of Microsoft’ s operating system that has been changed from the core（核心）when compared to its former one. However, a recent study has shown that under 20% of business owners would be willing to upgrade to the new version of Windows. The reason for this remains to be discussed and debated, and we will try to throw light on this research by providing you with some of the most common advantages and disadvantages of Windows 8.

Generally speaking, there are a great number of plus sides related to upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.

Speed — This is the biggest advantage to mention. Boot time has been reported to be up to nine times shorter than that with Windows 7.

New passwords — Instead of typing your passwords, Windows 8 will let you use gestures on your favorite photos to enter your password. This is not only practical but also extremely cool!

Windows 8 experience — Apart from computers, Windows 8 will be used on all devices, including smart phones, tablet PC’s and so on. Also, owing to the fact that it has been specifically designed with touch screen users in mind, Windows 8, besides using keyboard and mouse, will offer a whole new user experience.

However, there are still some disadvantages.

The first one that has to be mentioned is that there is no Start Menu from Windows. Yes, there is no Start button in the lower left corner, and this might be a real puzzle of many Windows users. Also, many users have had a problem to get used to the new interface（界面）introduced by Windows 8. The biggest problem that is worth noticing is that Windows 8 was originally designed for touch screen users, and this may have a bad effect on desktop users who have gotten used to doing everything with the help of their keyboard and mouse.

1.What does “plus sides” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?

A. Math symbols. B. Strengths.

C. New rules. D. Messages.

2.The most attractive aspect of Windows 8 is its .

A. fast rate B. complex passwords

C. unique experience D. new interface

3.From the text we can learn that Windows 8 .

A. no longer requires a password

B. was upgraded from windows 95

C. will be popular with desktop users

D. can be used on more than computers

4.Many Windows 8 users will face the problem that .

A. they don’t get accustomed to the new interface

B. they have to use fingerprints instead of buttons

C. keyboard and mouse can’t be used any longer

D. Start Menu is hidden in the lower left corner

Every year in America, high-school students who want to go to college take a national examination called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT in a shortened way. Their score is an important factor in determining which colleges will admit them. The Scholastic Aptitude Test measures one’s mathematical ability and use of the English language. Traditionally, the English part involved grammatical questions and paragraphs that test reading comprehension.

But the SAT folks have added a single question, to be answered in an essay, handwritten on the spot. That’s an interesting way to test writing ability, but content aside, have you ever seen young people’s handwriting lately? Or anyone’s for that matter, in this age of computer keyboards? Students write numbers and sign their names on bank checks. They scribble class notes in what can generously be described as the written word.

Yet today’s kids are asked to write, thoughtfully and clearly, for several minutes on this SAT Test. Good luck to the text scorers who must work out difficultly the scrawl (潦草的筆跡)of young people who’ve been typing on computers since the age of three! Teachers insist that good handwriting can not only help one’s score on the SAT, but also, later on in life, impress potential employers. And don’t forget, we all have to turn to handwriting from time to time, as computers go down when power goes out.

Then how to improve the handwriting? Well, with a few simple steps you can improve your handwriting.

Position the pen. You should hold the pen between the forefinger and the thumb. You should then rest it near the first knuckle（指節(jié)）of the middle finger. The rest of your fingers should be curled （卷曲) under your hand and your hand should remain relaxed.

Evaluate your handwriting. What do you like and what you don’t like about the way you write? Make changes to your letters till you like how they look.

Take your time. Make sure that, while you are writing, you take your time. Speed is bound to make your writing messy- looking. If it is worth writing well, then take your time.

Practice. Practice it a lot; it’s not enough to do it once and hope for the best. It has to be something you work at to make great improvements.

1.The SAT tests students on __________.

A. math, English, reading and handwriting

B. math, grammar, reading and handwriting

C. math, foreign language and writing

D. math, foreign language and handwriting

2.Which of the following should you avoid when improving your handwriting?

A. Practice writing a lot.

B. Writing as fast as you can.

C. Relaxing your hand when holding the pen.

D. Changing your letters till you like how they look.

3.The text is to present the fact that __________.

A. writing seems to be very important in the SAT

B. those who will go to college have to take the SAT

C. students should practice handwriting more often

D. kids don’t know how to write in the computer age

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的七個(gè)選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。

Of the many unpleasant emotions we can experience, fear may top the list. 1. Fear can also keep us from pursuing the things in life that really matter — like following our dreams, and developing important relationships. I have some ideas, though, of how to be free from fear.

Experience fear.

I used to be very afraid of speaking in front of people. I would get sweaty palms and my stomach would be so tied up that I wouldn't be able to eat. However, each time I spoke, I noticed afterwards that it wasn't that bad. Things I fear are never as bad in reality as I make them out in my mind. 2.

Create space.

The first and most important step to being fearless is to create some space between ourselves and the emotion of fear. This isn't accomplished by ignoring the fear, or trying to talk ourselves out of it. 3. In fact, a recent research shows that by simply admitting the emotion we actually begin to reverse the "fight or flight(逃避)" response in the body.

Control the breath and feel the fear.

Once we acknowledge the presence of fear, the second step is to control the breathing so that it becomes slower and gentler. We try to make the breath just a little bit longer, and feel how fear manifests(展現(xiàn)) in the body. 4.

With practice, we can create enough space between us and the emotion of fear so that we're able to replace a fearful thought with a positive one. 5. For instance, before I get up to speak in front of a group of people, I imagine that the audience is positively impressed by what I say and that I manage to complete the speech successfully.

A. Space is created only when we can honestly acknowledge that fear exists.

B. We can imagine a positive outcome for whatever we're about to do.

C. Fear, if left uncontrolled, can even destroy our life.

D. So one way to get rid of fear is to simply push ourselves to do things that we fear.

E. When we can see a positive outcome in our mind, fear no longer holds us back.

F. But fear is more than just physically unpleasant.

G. As we pay attention to the physical symptoms of fear, we can see fear objectively.