Ugly, a male cat, loved three things in this world: fighting, eating garbage, and, shall we say, love. To start with, he had only one eye and where the other should have been was a big hole. He was also missing his ear on the same side, and his left foot appeared to have been badly broken at one time, making him look like he was always turning the corner. Every time someone saw Ugly there was the same reaction.“That’s one UGLY cat!”So, all the children were warned not to touch him. The adults threw rocks at him. Whenever he was treated badly, he would curl his thin body around feet in forgiveness or begged for love.
One day Ugly shared his love with the neighbor’s dog. The dog's owner did not respond kindly. From my apartment I could hear his screams, and I tried to rush to his aid. By the time I got to where he was lying, it was apparent Ugly’s sad life was almost at an end. As I picked him up and tried to carry him home, I could hear his heavy breath, and could feel him struggling. It must be hurting him terribly.
However, Ugly, in so much pain, suffering and obviously dying, was trying to get closer to me. He turned his one golden eye towards me, and even in the greatest pain Ugly was asking only for a little affection. At that time I thought Ugly was the most beautiful, loving creature I had ever seen. Never once did he try to bite or scratch me, or even try to get away from me. Ugly just looked up at me completely trusting in me to relieve his pain.
Ugly died in my arms before I could get inside, but I sat and held him for a long time afterwards. Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion than a thousand books, lectures, or talk show specials ever could, and for that I will always be thankful. It is time for me to learn to love truly and deeply.
小題1:What reaction did people have when they saw Ugly? (No more than 8 words ) (2 marks)
小題2:Why did the author try to rush to help him? (No more than 5 words) (2 marks)
小題3:What did the author think about the cat when it suffered from much pain?
(No more than 14 words )    (3 marks)
小題4:What is the difference between the neighbor’s attitude and the author’s attitude towards the cat?   (No more than 13 words) (3 marks)

Speaking comes to most people as naturally as breathing. On many occasions our words are expressed without conscious thought; in fact we rarely stop and think about what we are saying. Thousands of words pour out of our mouths each day as our thoughts, opinions, judgments and beliefs are freely conveyed. Often, however, we are unconscious of the positive or negative effect which these words have on ourselves and the people around us.
Words have tremendous power. Words give out energy and a message which creates a reaction in others. Everything you say produces an effect in the world. Whatever you say to someone else will produce some kind of an effect in that person. We are constantly creating something, either positive or negative with our words.
An important key to success in life is to understand the power of words. A word is a permanent thought. Our thoughts do have a great effect on us even though they are internal. What we think affects the way we live our life, and affects our emotions, our attitudes and our behaviour. A thought spoken, however, has even more power. It can never be taken back ; it is out of our mouth and will have an effect. Our words have even more power than our thoughts because they not only affect ourselves, but the people and the world around us.
Successful people take control of their words, rather than letting their words control them. They are more conscious of their thoughts and words and the power they produce. Successful people understand that they need to speak positively rather than negatively in order to see success. Successful people are characterized by the words that they speak. They know the importance of speaking words that will build self-esteem and confidence, build relationships and build possibilities. They speak words of affirmation, encouragement, love, acceptance and appreciation.
小題1:Why does speaking come to most people as naturally as breathing ?(No more than 15 words) __________________________________________________________________________
小題2:Please explain the underlined word “ tremendous” in English. (No more than 2 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
小題3:Why do our words have even more power than our thoughts ?  (No more than 15 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
小題4:What do successful people speak in order to build confidence, relationships and possibilities? (No more than 15 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
小題5:What is the main idea of the passage?(No more than 15 words)
___________________________________________________________________________

Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
Most American school have boys and girls in the same classroom. But a public high school in the small, rural town of Boonsboro, Maryland, offers a special program. Top students in the ninth and tenth grades can attend single-sex classes for math, science, English and social studies.
The aim is to help teenagers keep their minds on their work by keeping males and females apart. Rebecca Brown chooses the students for what Boonsboro High School calls the Academy.
Placement in the Academy is voluntary.
Students are invited after middle school. They need high marks and test scores and strong teacher recommendations. They also need to be involved in activities.
Michael Bair has been at Boonsboro High for twenty years and directs the Academy. His ninth-grade English class for boys centres on books that he believes boys find interesting. He says, “The novels they're reading now are very manly novels. They're novels that deal with the arrogance（傲慢） of man and the pride of man.”
Morgan Van Fleet is a senior at Boonsboro High. She likes being in the Academy. She says boys and girls act differently when they are together in the classroom. She says, “To me, it almost seems like preventing your chances of developing yourself because you’re more focused on ‘Oh, I wish they'd shut up. Oh, what do they think of me?’, instead of focusing on ‘What's the homework? What's going on in this class? Or what's the lesson?''' There is one activity that girls and boys in the Academy do together. At the end of the day, many of them stay and help tutor（輔導(dǎo)） students who are having trouble in school.
小題1:Why does this high school offer such a program? （No more than 16 words）
__________________________________________________________________________
小題2:What requirements should a student meet if he / she wants to be invited after middle school?
（No more than 12 words）
__________________________________________________________________________
小題3:What activity do boys and girls share after school? （No more than 10 words）
__________________________________________________________________________
小題4:What is the main idea of this passage? （No more than 10 words）
__________________________________________________________________________

閱讀下面短文，并按照題目要求用英語回答問題（請注意問題后的詞數(shù)要求)o
My grandma whom we all called Nanny was a solid, first-generation, Italian immigrant. She came to this country with her family on a tiny ship during World War I when she was only 8 years old. During the trip she survived stormy seas，little food, and an attack by a German U-boat. After getting here, her large family worked hard to build a new life in America. They neverhad much money but were rich in love.
One day, when I was about 5 or 6 years old, my parents and brothers went on a trip. It was just me and Nanny in the house for the weekend. Nanny seemed so happy to be taking care of me all by herself. She made me a special breakfast that first morning. However, all I could do was to complain about how the food was not how Mom always made it. Nanny quietly put down the plate and went into the living room. I followed a minute later and saw that she had tears in her eyes. It was the first time I had ever seen my strong and proud grandmother cry and I was the one who had caused it
I walked over to Nanny, climbed on her lap, and for the first time in my short life I did something else too. I apologized without being told to and asked Nanny to forgive me. She smiled, rubbed my head, and told me I was a good boy even though I didn't feel like one then. That memory just like my Nanny's love will stay in my heart forever. It is a sign of both strength and wisdom. Asking for forgiveness helps us to learn, to grow, and to love.
小題1:When did Nanny come to this country?（within 4 words）
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
小題2:What did Nanny survived during the trip?（within 7 words）
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
小題3:What kind of person is Nanny?（within 5 words）
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
小題4:Why did my grandma cry one day?（within 12 words）
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
小題5:What did I learn from the experience?（within 12 words）
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

閱讀下面的短文，并根據(jù)短文后的要求答題（請注意問題后的字數(shù)要求）。
Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches (路溝) along the highway I travel daily to work.
There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eye. I've noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours, the afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day for approximately two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.
This spring, I started a wildflower garden in our yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I've often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the ditch would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers.
Everyday I drove past the flowers thinking, “I’ll stop on my way home and dig them.” “Gee, I don’t want to get my good clothes dirty...” Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a folding shovel(釬) one year to be used for that expressed purpose.
One day on my way home from work, I was saddened to see that the highway department had mowed the ditches and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, “Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring.”
A week ago we            that my oldest sister-in-law has a terminal brain tumor(腦瘤晚期). She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven’t been as close as we all would have liked.
I couldn’t help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband's sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us.
And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, you can bet I’ll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.
小題1:What’s the best title of the passage? (within 10 words)
                                                                             
小題2:Fill in the blank in the last but two paragraphs with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (within 10 words)
                                                                             
小題3:Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
I had wanted to stop and dig them but I didn’t make it anyhow.
                                                                             
                                                                             
小題4:Translate the underlined sentence in the last but one paragraph into Chinese.
                                                                             
                                                                             
小題5:What do you learn from the passage? (within 30 words)
                                                                             
                                                                             

閱讀下面短文并回答問題,然后將答案寫到答題卡相應(yīng)的位置上（請注意問題后的詞數(shù)要求）。
James Dean came to Hollywood when he was eighteen, hoping to get into the movies. At first, he was not successful at all. Then he went to New York. He got a part in a play and was seen by the great director Elia Kazan. Kazan was planning the movie East of Eden and realized Dean would be perfect for one of the main roles.
By this time, Dean had already had a reputation and was difficult to work with. He then went back to Hollywood to make East of Eden and then made two more movies, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. He almost always wore the same overcoat and jeans and he had hardly any friends at all. “If he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t even give you the pleasure of his anger. You could be in the same telephone booth with him, but you wouldn’t exist,” someone who knew him said later.
In spite of his poor eyesight, he loved driving fast motorcycles and even faster sports cars. A few days after he finished Giant, on September 25, 1955, Dean went for a drive in his new Porsche. It was evening and the light was poor. Dean was not wearing his glasses. Suddenly, he saw a car in front of him. It was slowing down and trying to turn off the highway. Dean tried to slow down too, but it was too late. He hit the car at high speed and was killed immediately.
A few years later, a New York salesclerk wrote a book called Jimmy Dean Returns in which she claimed that she was in contact with Dean from the other side of the grave. Half a million copies of the book were sold. It was only the beginning of a strange legend(傳奇) that goes on, even today.
小題1:Why did James Dean leave Hollywood for New York (within 7 words)
小題2:Who made James Dean famous? (within 2 words)
小題3:Why did James Dean have no friends? (within 7 words)
小題4:What happened on September 25, 1955? (within 8words)  
小題5:What was written in the book Jimmy Dean Returns (within 6 words)

When we're learning a foreign language, making sense of what we hear is the first step toward fluency. It sounds obvious, but until recently, we didn't know much about how listening works. New research shows that effective listening involves more than simply hearing the words that float past our ears. Rather, it's an active process of analysing information and making meaning.
Studies of skilled language learners have identified specific listening strategies that lead to excellent comprehension. In addition to that benefit, research has shown that learners who adopt these strategies become better listeners.
So what are listening strategies? Skilled learners go into a listening activity with a sense of what they want to get out of it. They set a goal for their listening, and they make predictions about what the speaker will say. Before the talking begins, they review what they already know about the subject, and form an intention to “l(fā)isten out for”what's important. Once they begin listening, these learners maintain their focus; if their attention wanders, they bring it back to the words being spoken. They don't allow themselves to be thrown off by confusing or unfamiliar details. Instead, they take note of what they don't understand and later make inferences(推測)about what those things might mean, based on other clues available to them: their previous knowledge of the subject, the identity of the speaker, and so on. All the while, skilled learners are evaluating what they're hearing and their own understanding of it. They're checking their inferences to see if they're correct.
Such strategies are all about thinking, and they produce a variety of benefits. Research indicates that such learners are better at analysing and storing new information, better at finding the best ways to practice what they have learned. Last year, for example, University of Ottawa researcher Larry Vandergrift published his study of 106 undergraduates who were learning French as a second language. Half of the students were taught in a traditional fashion, listening to and practicing texts spoken aloud. The other half, dealing with the same skill level and taught by the same teacher, were given clear instruction on how to listen. In the journal Language Learning, Vandergrift reported the results: The second group “significantly outperformed(勝過)” the first one on a test of comprehension. In a 2006 study by researchers from Singapore, Chinese speakers who were learning English as a second language reported increased motivation and confidence after they were taught metacognitive strategies.
Though listening is often treated as a way to make others feel appreciated, it's also one of the most powerful tools we have to gain information and insight(洞察力).

General idea of paragraphs	Detailed information
__小題1:__of effective listening	It includes our hearing the words and _小題2:_of the information to get the meaning.
The _小題3:__of specific listening strategies	★It will lead to excellent comprehension. ★L(fēng)earners _小題4:_them can become better listeners.
Listening strategies	★Review the _小題5:__fact about the subject. ★Set a goal for listening. ★__小題6:__the speaker's information. ★Maintain the _小題7:__on the words being spoken. ★Take note of the confusing details for later inferences. ★Evaluate the information being heard, the understanding of it and its __小題8:__.
The results of the experiment	Learners are more __小題9:__and confident.
_小題10:__	Listening can make others feel appreciated and help the listeners gain information and insight.

閱讀下面短文并回答問題，然后將答案寫到答題卡相應(yīng)的位置上（請注意問題后的字數(shù)要求）
［1］With the right encouragement and tools，children can develop leadership qualities that are important to help them succeed in all areas of life. Leadership activities and games help build these skills by enabling children to become more self-aware and improve their self-respect.
［2］ Good leaders call convey their thoughts and feelings effectively. Poetry, short stories or drawing are ideal activities to .Introduce children to the concept of leadership .Ask children to think about what makes a great leader and then express their ideas. Games like blind obstacle courses can build communication skills as well.
[3]Planning and organizing is a fundamental leadership quality．Children can learn this skill by helping to plan a concert or play .Instead of assigning just one leader, ___________small ones and assign leaders to each group .One group can be in charge of assigning roles and the second could be in charge of making invitations. How you distribute leadership roles will vary depending on the age of the children and what you have chosen to perform.
［4］Compromise is a skill of many effective leaders .Goals are achieved faster when arguments don′ t slow the process. Activities that teach children the art of compromise help them to negotiate with friends and family naturally．Group science projects, for example，can help enable children to learn how to compromise and negotiate. The success or failure of the project will depend on the children’s ability to negotiate and work together．
［5］The ability to work well with others is another important leadership skill. Team sports like baseball can teach children how to work as a group and that their contribution is important to the overall success of the team. This builds their confidence and encourages them to think beyond themselves and their individual needs.
小題1:What’s the main idea of Paragraph 4? （no more than 10 words）
____________________________________________________________________________
小題2:Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3with proper words(no more than 6 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
小題3:Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 into Chinese
____________________________________________________________________________
小題4:How do you distribute leadership roles when planning a play?(no more than 14 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
小題5:Through what activities can you introduce children to the concept of leadership?(no more than 6 words)
____________________________________________________________________________

閱讀下面的短文,并根據(jù)要求完成文章后的題目(請注意問題后的字數(shù)要求)。
 There is no doubt that people with good interpersonal skills have an advantage over others. Some people are born with these skills —they can just handle other people better than the rest. While some are blessed with this talent, others can acquire it over time. Here are a few tips to help you improve your interpersonal skills:
Get over yourself. If there is one thing that stops us from growing, it may well be the ego(自我). We are not always right, but we usually do not like to hear others say that we are wrong. We need to keep our egos well in check so that we do not miss out on other’s constructive criticism. Once we have this done there is little to stop us from getting ahead in life.
Get to understand others. Everyone knows this is not easy, especially when someone is trying to get you to look bad. But do try and put yourself into the other’s shoes. There is much to be learned from this.
Listen more than you hear. How often do we see people fighting their verbal selves to be able to be heard at the table? Let us choose to be one among those who listen, and not just hear. Even an animal can hear. A human should be able to hear, understand and respond to the other people around.
Practice is everything. Just as with all other things, working on your interpersonal skills calls for a bit of practice. Trying to be polite to your very close friends and family is a great place to start.
Once you put your mind to it, then that is half the battle won, and you will soon see your relationships __________ over time.
小題1: List three of the tips mentioned in the text on improving your interpersonal skills. (within 8 words)
 ①_______ ②_______ ③_______
小題2:How should we treat our egos, according to the author?(within 8 words)
_________________________________________________________________
小題3:Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one? We are un willing to hear others’ criticism although we do make mistakes sometimes.
_________________________________________________________________
小題4:Fill in the blank in the last paragraph with proper words. (within 4 words)
_________________________________________________________________
小題5:Translate the underlined sentence in the third paragraph into Chinese.

Big storms. High waves. Technical failure. Loneliness. After battling hard times and danger for over nine months, British teenager Mike Perham made history last month as the youngest person to sail solo(單獨) around the world.
The 17-year-old made the record after he cleared the Panama Canal (巴拿馬運河) and then sailed through the Caribbean and home across the Atlantic.
Mike is only three month s younger than Zac Sunderland, the 17-year-old American boy who had taken the crown as the youngest solo around-the-world sailor in July.
The two youngsters met in Cape Town in South Africa as they crossed the globe in different      direciions.  Mike insisted they were not rival  (竟爭對手).  " No.  It's two teenagers going out there,living their dream and having the adventure of a lifetime, " he said.
Mike may be young, but he is no stranger to sailing adventures. He picked up the hobby at age 6 when his father took him out in a small boat on a local lake.  Father and son sailed separate boats across the Atlantic when Mike was 14, making him the youngest person to cross that ocean solo. That record gave him the taste for this even greater challenge.
On the recent journey, the scariest moment for Mike came when his sailboat was hit by storms in the southern Indian Ocean.
"We were picked up by what felt like a 60-foot wave and threw down on our side at 90 degrees , "  he said.
"It felt like I was going right over.  Stuff was flying around and I just thought ' Oh no' .  "
At other times, he had to dive into the Pacific and fix problems. He tied himself to the boat, jumped into the water and went to work with a knife in 30-second dives undemeath (在......之下) the boat to cut a rope away.
Mike said he felt proud that he made his dream come true.  " You've got to have confidence in yourself that you will make it," he said.
小題1:What' s the main idea of the passage? (No more than 15 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
小題2:Which canal did Mike Perham cross? (No more than 3 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
小題3:What does the underlined word 'staste" in the fifth paragrapht mean? (1 word)
___________________________________________________________________________
小題4:What did Mike believe in? ( No more than 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
小題5:What do you think of Mike Perham? (No more than 10 words)
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