假如你是李华，你准备暑假去英国旅游一个月。请你写信向你的英国笔友Tom询问有关在英国住宿、观光等方面的问题以及其他注意事项。要点如下：

1.写信的目的；

2.寻求帮助和建议；

3.表达谢意。

注意：1.词数100左右；

2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Tom,

How are you getting on with your life?

I’ m looking forward to your early reply and I can’t wait to see you.

Yours,

Li Hua

Last summer, two nineteenth-century cottages were rescued from remote farm fields in Montana, to be moved to an Art Deco building in San Francisco. The houses were made of wood. These cottages once housed early settlers as they worked the dry Montana soil; now they hold Twitter engineers.

The cottages could be an example of the industry's odd love affair with "low technology," a concept associated with the natural world, and with old-school craftsmanship that exists long before the Internet era. Low technology is not virtual（虚拟的）--so, to take advantage of it, Internet companies have had to get creative. The rescued wood cottages, fitted by hand in the late eighteen-hundreds, are an obvious example, but Twitter's designs lie on the extreme end. Other companies are using a broader interpretation of low technology that focuses on nature.

Amazon is building three glass spheres filled with trees, so that employees can "work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting." At Google's office, an entire floor is carpeted in glass. Facebook's second Menlo Park campus will have a rooftop park with a walking trail.

Olle Lundberg, the founder of Lundberg Design, has worked with many tech companies over the years. "We have lost the connection to the maker in our lives, and our tech engineers are the ones who feel most impoverished, because they're surrounded by the digital world," he says. "They’re looking for a way to regain their individual identity, and we've found that introducing real crafts is one way to do that."

This craft-based theory is rooted in history. William Morris, the English artist and writer, turned back to pre-indu-strial arts in the eighteen-sixties, just after the Industrial Revolution. The Arts and Crafts movement defined itself against machines. "Without creative human occupation, people became disconnected from life," Morris said.

Research has shown that natural environments can restore our mental capacities. In Japan, patients are encouraged to "forest-bathe," taking walks through woods to lower their blood pressure.

These health benefits apply to the  workplace as well.  Rachel Kaplvin，a professor of environmental psychology, has spent years researching the restorative effects of natural environments. Her research found that workers with access to nature at the office--even views of trees and flowers—felt their jobs were less stressful and more satisfying. If offices can potentially nourish the brains and improve the mental health of employees then, fine, bring on the cottages.

28. The writer mentions the two nineteenth-century cottages to show that          .

A. Twitter is having a hard time

B. Internet companies have rediscovered the benefits of low technology

C. early settlers once suffered from a dry climate in Montana

D. old cottages are in need of protection

29. Low technology is regarded as something that          .

A. consumes too much energy      B. is related to nature

C. is out of date today            D. exists in the virtual world

30. The main idea of Paragraph 5 is that human beings         .

A. have destroyed many pre-industrial arts

B. can become intelligent by learning history

C. have a tradition of valuing arts and crafts

D. can regain their individual identity by using machines

31. What might be the best title for the passage?

A. The More Craftsmanship, the Less Creativity

B. Past Glories, Future Dreams

C. The Virtual World, the Real Challenge     

D. High-tech Companies, Low-tech Offices

  假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文， 请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。 

增加: 在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除: 把多余的词用斜线( \ )划掉。 

修改: 在错词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意: 1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；      

2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

Hello, Jack.

I’m so glad to have received your letter. Your letter reached me yesterday. You said in your letter that you are punished for using cell phones, that puzzled you.

It is no doubt that cell phones can bring us much convenient. We can keep in touch with friends and families wherever they are. Besides, playing with the cell phone is a great fun. However, there are some problems with using cell phones. The ring of phones must disturb teachers and students in class. It has proved that often using cell phones do harm to health. And another problem is that some students can spend too much time and money in cell phones, thus result in poor scores in study.

As a student, you should concentrate on study. It is right for your school to prevent you from using cell phones.

Do you like shopping? Or does the thought of wandering around the shops fill you with terror? For some of us, shopping is an enjoyable way of spending our spare time and our money. For me, it’s something I would rather avoid. Thank goodness for the Internet! It’s more convenient to buy CDs, electrical items, even food from the comfort of your sofa. But that’s not the only reason: price is an

important factor. We can buy goods and services cheaper online. But sometimes the problem is

knowing what to buy. This has led to a type of shopping called “showrooming”.

Showrooming is something I’ve done. I will go to a shop to see, touch and try out products but then go home and buy them online at a knock-down price. I’m not alone in doing this. Research by a company called Foolproof, found 24% of people showroomed while Christmas shopping in 2013.

Amy Cashman, head of Technology at TNS UK, says the reasons for this new shopping habit

are that “people are lacking time, lacking money and they want security about the products they are buying ”. She explains that consumers are not only shopping online at home but they are using the Internet in store or on their smartphones to shop around.

But does this mean technology will kill shops? Certainly shops will change. They will have to

offer more competitive prices or encourage people to buy more by giving in-store discounts or free gifts.

We mustn’t forget that buying in a shop means you can get expert advice from the sales

assistant and you can get good aftercare. It’s good to speak to a real human rather than look at a

faceless computer screen, but at least by showrooming, you get the best of both worlds!

1. The two questions in Paragraph 1 are raised to ________________.

   A. introduce the topic 　　　　　   B. give two examples

   C. compare different opinions 　　   D. get answers from readers

2. According to Amy Cashman, which is not the reason for showrooming?

   A. The lack of time.

   B. The comfort of the sofa.

   C. The shortness of money.

   D. The security of the product.

3. The author’s attitude towards showrooming is __________________.

   A. critical 　   B. neutral 　   C. casual 　   D. supportive

假定你是李华，你校外教露西女士近期准备回英国度假，你班同学准备举行晚会为她送行。请你根据以下提示，用英语写一封e-mail，通知她相关情况。

1、对她的辛勤教学工作表示感谢； 

2、晚会本周六晚上6：30开始，预计持续一个小时；

3、地点：高三12班教室；

4、活动：一起唱英文歌，班长代表全班赠送鲜花和亲手制作的礼物。

   注意：1. 字数100词左右。

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文更连贯。

3. 开头和结尾已给出。（不计入总词数）

Dear Lucy,

   We hear that you’ll return to the United Kingdom on a holiday soon. All the class will miss you very much during your absence!_________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                             Yours truly,

                                                            Li Hua

  If you are hungry, what will you do? Grab a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? Just like stomach, even your mind will be hungry. But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your dream lover, favorite star and many such absurd things. So it silently begins to hide your needs and never lets itself grow. When mind loses its freedom to grow, creativity gets its full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think “What happens next?”, “Why can’t I think?”, “Why am I always given the difficult problems?” Well, this is the result of using our own karma(宿命)of using our brain for thinking of not-so-worthy things.

Hunger of the mind can be actually satisfied through extensive reading. But why is it reading but not watching TV? Because reading has been the most educational tool used by us right from the childhood. Just like that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to turn to reading for help. You have a number of books in the world which will answer all your “how-to” questions. Once you read a book, you just don’t run your eyes through the lines, but your mind decodes  it and explains it to you. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed. Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas. The same seed, if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, which you would never thought of in your wildest dreams! This is nothing but creativity. The more books you read, the wider your mind will become. Also this improves your speech-making skills to a large extent and also makes a significant contribution to your vocabulary. When you start speaking English or any other language fluently with your friends or other people, you never seem to run out of the right words at the right time.

Actually, I had a problem in speaking English fluently, but as I read, I could improve significantly. So guys, do join me and give food for your thoughts by reading, reading and more reading. Now what are you waiting for? Go, grab a book and let me know!

32. What does the author mean by saying that our mind is hungry?

   A. Our creativity gets a full stop．             B. We don’t read books．

   C. We don’t know what to do next．           D. We don’t have a good memory．

33. One’s mind is hungry because it____

   A. can’t work out things well                 B. is mentally busy with many absurd things

   C. 1oosens its freedom to forget               D. begins to pay careful attention to his needs

34. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of reading?

   A. Helping you enlarge your vocabulary．       B. Helping you develop your creativity．

   C. Helping you run your eyes through the lines． D.Helping you improve your speaking skills．

35. By reading more，we are sure to_______

   A. speak English fluently                    B. store books in our mind

   C. dream the wildest dreams                 D. perform better mentally in the future

 ----I have good news for you. You’ve been accepted as a member of the Students’ Union.

   ---__________ That’s great!

   A. Have I?                 B. Pardon?           C. Congratulations!  D. Good idea!

Last year’s springtime    61  (be) the perfect moment to visit Huangshan in Anhui Province to go for a hike and see the beautiful scenery that attracts so many   62   (visitor) every year. My boyfriend and I prepared the back pack,    63   turned out to be too heavy for the hike. I am an inexperienced hiker and those endless steps made me want to return to safe places. But with the help of my boyfriend’s motivation: “Look, the top is coming closer and closer. We are almost there.” I controlled   64  （I）and kept going. After a three-hour exhausting hike to the top, but with spectacular views on the way, we finally arrived on the top and also found a hotel. But all the rooms were too   65    (expense) for us. So I asked the possibility of a tent. The hotel owner sold a tent    66   80 RMB. He was such a friendly person that he even offered to put up the tent for us. So the only foreign guests that night ended up   67   (sleep) in a tent. We spent the night    68   (comfortable) in the tent and at 5 am woke up to see the unbelievable sunrise. Afterwards, we    69    (continue) to explore the beautiful area around Huangshan and walked all the steps back down to safe grounds, which made my muscles ache even more than the climb up. This is    70   unforgettable adventure during my three years in China.

_{You’re probably most familiar with college dictionaries, often called abridged dictionaries．Although abridged means ―shortened, these dictionaries contain more than 150,000 entries and provide detailed definitions that are sufficient for most college students and general users.
　　1.__________.Webster’s Ⅱ New Riverside University Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language are college dictionaries.
　　Unabridged dictionaries contain as many as 500,000 entries and provide detailed definitions and extensive word histories (etymologies词源)．2.__________．Unabridged dictionaries include the Oxford English Dictionary and the Random House Dictionary of the English Language.
　　3.__________．Some entries also include plurals and capitalized forms, synonyms,antonyms, and derivatives．Americanisms and etymologies may be provided along with usage notes, cross-references, and idioms. If you prefer using the dictionary on a computer, you can obtain CD-ROM versions of many major dictionaries．In addition, you can access numerous dictionaries, such as WWWebster’s Dictionary, on the Internet．4.__________．Online dictionaries also offer additional features, such as word games, language tips, and amusing facts about words．Some online dictionary services allow you to access numerous dictionaries, both general and specialized, in on search.
　　5.__________．For example, there are dictionaries for the specialized vocabularies of law, computer technology, and medicine．In addition, there are dictionaries of synonyms, cliche’s, slang, and even regional expressions, such as the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE)．There are also dictionaries of foreign languages, famous people’s names, literary characters’ names and place names.
A．Specialized dictionaries provide in-depth information about a certain field.
B．These dictionaries, possibly in several volumes and mostly found in libraries, are excellent sources for scholarly inquiries.
C．But dictionaries these days do not judge how a word should be used．They simply describe how people use them, and Random House, for example, have free online services.
D．Online dictionaries allow you to enter a search word to see a definition, and sometimes even an illustration.
E．College dictionaries also contain separate lists of abbreviations, biographical and
geographical names, foreign words and phrases, and tables of measures.
F．A dictionary entry has many elements: multiple definitions, syllabication, preferred spelling and pronunciation, and part-of-speech labels.
G．Many of the 10,000 new words in the Eleventh Edition of the Collegiate Dictionary  involve computers.}

New genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive human-made climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out. A study,   41  in the latest edition of Ecology and Evolution, reveals the   42  age of some Amazonian tree species -- more than 8 million years -- and   43  shows that they have survived previous periods as warm as many of the global warming imagined periods   44   for the year 2100.

    The authors write that, having survived warm periods in the past, the trees will   45   survive future warming, provided there are no other major environmental changes.   46   extreme droughts and forest fires will impact Amazonia as temperatures   47  , the trees will stand the direct impact of higher temperatures. The authors   48  that as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions to minimize the risk of drought and fire, conservation policy should remain   49  on preventing deforestation（采伐森林）for agriculture and mining.

    The study disagrees with other recent researches which predicted tree species’ extinctions   50 relatively small increases in global average air temperatures.

    Study co-author Dr Simon Lewis (UCL Geography) said the   51  were good news for Amazon tree species, but warned that drought and over-exploitation of the forest remained major  52  to the Amazon’s future.

    Dr Lewis said: “The past cannot be compared directly with the future. While tree species seem likely to   53   higher air temperatures than today, the Amazon forest is being transformed for agriculture and  54  , and what remains is being degraded（使恶化）by logging（伐木）, and increasingly split up by fields and roads.

    “Species will not move as freely in today’s Amazon as they did in previous warm periods, when there was no human   55  . Similarly, today’s climate change is extremely fast, making comparisons with slower changes in the past   56  .”

    “With a clearer   57  of the relative risks to the Amazon forest, we   58  that direct human impacts -- such as forest clearances for agriculture or mining -- should remain a key point of conservation policy. We also need more aggressive   59  to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to make minimum the risk of drought and fire impacts and   60   the future of most Amazon tree species.”

41. A. advertised              B. described               C. published               D. presented

42. A. frightening             B. surprising               C. exciting                   D. interesting

43. A. still                  B. nevertheless           C. however                 D. therefore

44. A. assess                   B. confirm                   C. forecast                  D. promise

45. A. particularly             B. probably                 C. merely                           D. possibly

46. A. Since                     B. Although                 C. When                     D. If

47. A. rise                 B. change                  C. drop                       D. end

48. A. consider          B. decide                           C. guarantee                     D. recommend

49. A. based                    B. built                        C. focused                  D. made

50. A. in relation to    B. in response to        C. in reply to               D. in reference to

51. A. findings           B. thoughts                 C. inventions               D. writings

52. A. threats                   B. disadvantages        C. embarrassments           D. instructions

53. A. accept                    B. tolerate                   C. permit                            D. require

54. A. farming           B. planting                  C. catering                  D. mining

55. A. power                     B. influence                 C. desire                            D. violence

56. A. difficult            B. clear                             C. easy                       D. important

57. A. belief               B. direction                 C. understanding        D. suggestion

58. A. doubt                     B. conclude                 C. calculate                 D. prefer

59. A. thought           B. guidance                C. protection               D. action

60. A. secure                   B. advance                 C. sacrifice                  D. evaluate

When Pat Jones finishes college, she decides to travel around the world and see as many foreign places as she could while she was young. Pat wants to visit Latin America first, so she got a job as an English teacher in a school in Bolivia. Pat spoke a little Spanish, so she was able to communicate with her students even when they didn't know much English.

Once, a sentence she had read somewhere struck her mind; if you dream in a foreign language, you have really mastered it. Pat repeated this sentence to her students and hopes that some day she would dream in Spanish and they would dream in English.

One day, one of her worst students came up and explained in Spanish that he had not done his homework. He had gone to bed early and had slept badly.

“What does this have to do with your homework?” Pat asked.

“I dreamed all night, Miss Jones. And my dream was in English.”

“In English?” Pat was very surprised, since he was such a bad student. She was even secretly jealous. Her dream was still not in Spanish. But she encouraged her young students, “Well, tell me about your dream.”

“All the people in my dream spoke English. All the newspapers and magazines and all the TV programs were in English.”

“But that's wonderful,” said Pat. “What did all the people say to you?”

“I am sorry, Miss Jones. That's why I slept so badly. I didn't understand a word they said. It was a nightmare.”

21. Pat believed that           .

A. people can learn foreign languages in their dreams

B. she already dreamed in Spanish so she has mastered Spanish

C.one of her worst students had already mastered English

D. dreaming in a foreign language means a good command of it

22. Pat's student didn't finish his home work because      .

A. the home work was too difficult

B. the student dreamed in English

C. the student didn't sleep well

D. the student didn't know much English

23. The writer wrote this story       .

A.to show us how to learn a foreign language

B. to show us how to teach a foreign language

 C.to amuse us with an interesting story

D.to encourage us to travel to foreign countries

24.From the passage we can infer that       .

A.in Bolivia,people speak Spanish

B.Pat’s student who dreamed in English was actually good at English

C.Pat has already learned much Spanish

D.in Latin America,the newspapers and magazines are in English

Health campaigns aimed at keeping teens and others from drinking and driving，smoking and other risky behaviors often use shame and guilt to get their messages across. But a new study finds anti－drinking advertisements can actually lead some audiences to increasing binge drinking(酗酒)．

“The situation is worse than wasted money or effort，”said researcher Adam Duhachek.“These ads finally may do more harm than good because they have the potential to cause more of the behavior they're trying to prevent.”

“The conventional wisdom from people who design these ads is，‘If we scare people enough it's always going to be a good thing.’”Duhachek said.“But we've shown there are circumstances where they are not only effective，but cause a strong negative reaction that leads people actually to drinking more than they would if they were exposed to the ads.”

They tested two advertisements that showed the back of a person hugging a toilet bowl(抽水马桶)after a night of drinking. One advertisement，the guilt－inducing one，included information about the negative consequences a person's drinking could have on friends and family，such as causing car accidents. The other shame－inducing advertisement  showed what friends and family would see，including watching the drunk person get into a car accident or get arrested.

To work out why the advertisements might increase drinking，the researchers asked participants how likely they thought it was that they and others would suffer the negative consequences of drinking，such as getting into fights or getting sick. Students who saw the advertisements were less likely to think they were at risk than other groups.

In another part of the study，students who had looked at the advertisements tended to rate their friends as being at risk of the negative consequences，but not themselves.

Duhachek's advice：If you want to positively influence drinking，make sure the campaigns convey both the terrible consequences and an inspiring message.“If you're going to try to arouse fear，temper (使缓和)it with the idea that the danger can be avoided，”he said.“It's always best to use a carrot along with the stick.”

32．According to Duhachek，the present anti－drinking advertisements usually ________．

A．are a good use of money and effort

B．lead to the results the designers intended

C．attempt to frighten people out of risky behaviors

D．cause people to feel ashamed and guilty

33．Duhachek supports his argument by ________．

A．telling an interesting story about drinkers　　B．presenting the results of his study

C．describing an accident　　　　　　　　　 D．testing the idea by reasoning

34．Which of the following would Duhachek agree with?

A．Carrots can reduce the negative effects of drinking.

B．Severe punishment should be given to drinkers.

C．Drinkers should attend alcohol－addiction programs.

D．Both inspiring messages and danger should be conveyed by advertisements.

35．What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Anti－drinking advertisements lead to more drinking in some people.

B．Anti－drinking advertisements lead to more car accidents.

C．People feel guilty after viewing anti－drinking advertisements.

D．Many people think they are at greater risk from drinking than their friends are.

Third-Culture Kids

       Did you grow up in one culture, your parents came from another, and you are now living in a totally different country? If so, then you are a third-culture kid!

       The term “third-culture kid” (or TCK) was first used in the 1960s by Dr. Ruth. She first came across this phenomenon when she researched North American children living in India. Caught between two cultures, they form their very own.   36    About 90 percent of them have a university degree, while 40 percent pursue a postgraduate or doctor degree. They usually benefit from their intercultural experience, which helps them to grow into successful academics and professionals.

        37  In fact many hardships may arise from this phenomenon. A third-culture kid may not be able to adapt themselves completely to their new surroundings as expected. Instead, they may always remain an outsider in different host cultures. Max, for example, experienced this feeling of strangeness throughout his life as a third-culture kid.   38  While this can be a way to create a network of friends all around the world, it can be difficult for a third-culture kid like Max to maintain close friendships and relationships.

       For a third-culture kid, it is often easier to move to a new foreign country than to return to their “home” country. After living in Australia and South Korea for many years, Louis finally returned to Turkey as a teenager. But she felt out of place when she returned to the country where she was born.  39   She did not share the same values as her friends’ even years after going back home.

       While a third-culture kid must let go of his/her identity as a foreigner when he/she returns, the home country can prove to be more foreign than anything he/she came across before. The peer group they face does not match the idealized(理想化的) image children have of “home”.   40 

       As a part of the growing “culture”, TCKs may find it a great challenge for them to feel at home in many places.

       A. This often makes it hard for them to form their own identity.

       B. Yet being a third-culture kid is not always easy.

       C. In general, they often reach excellent academic results.

       D. However, their parents can help them see the opportunities of a mobile lifestyle.

       E. Their experience abroad helps them to understand cultural differences better.

       F. Additionally, making new friends and saying goodbye to old ones will at some point become routine for a third-culture kid.

       G. Unlike other teens of her age, she didn’t know anything about current TV shows or fashion trends.

The book A Big Fat Crisis: The Hidden Forces Behind Obesity and How We Can End It by Deborah Cohen, a senior natural scientist, is very popular now. __36___ But according to this book, the following are some misunderstandings of obesity or being overweight.

1. If you're obese, blame your genes.

___37__ Yet, between 1980 and 2000, the number of Americans who are obese has doubled-----too quickly for genetic factors to be responsible. At restaurants, a dollar puts more calories on our plates than ever before, because restaurant meals usually have more calories than what we prepare at home, so people who eat out more frequently have higher rates of obesity than those who eat out less.

2. If you're obese, you lack self-control.

Research shows that if we are faced with too much information, we have a tendency to make poor choices on diet. ___38___ Even the most vigilant（警觉的）people may not be good controllers of themselves.

3. __39____

Although the US Department of Agriculture estimates that fewer than 5 percent of Americans live in the "food deserts", about 65 percent of the nation's population is obese. For most of us, obesity is not related to access to more fresh fruits and vegetables, but to the choices we make in supermarkets.

3. The problem is not that we eat too much, but that we don't exercise.

Michelle Obama's "Let’s Move" campaign is based on the idea that if kids exercise more, childhood obesity rates will decrease. __40___ In fact, although a drop in work-related physical activity may explain up to 100 fewer calories burned, leisure physical activity appears to have increased.

A. Lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a cause of obesity.

B. Obesity rates have increased.

C. Fresh fruits and vegetables we choose in a supermarket are related to obesity.

D. But there was no obvious decrease in physical activity levels as obesity rates climbed in the 1980s and 1990s.

E. People hold different views on obesity.

F. People benefit a lot from physical activities.

G. Our world has become so rich in food that we can be led to consume too much in ways we can't understand.

A bit more effort，I think，____ the problem could be settled．（　　）

A．and B．so   C．or    D．but

Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth, is the fifth 61_________(large) continent in the world. The conditions there are quite extreme with 62________(near) no rainfall. 98 percent of the land 63__________（cover）permanently by ice. However, it is full of wildlife like the penguins, 64________ can adapt 65________ its hard conditions. The ice there has become a window on the past with gases and minerals 66________(trap) in it. Not until the late 18^th century did James cook 67________(across) the Antarctica Circle. Then in 1895, a Norwegian 68__________(explore) called Carstens set foot on the mainland. In 1961, 12 countries signed a treaty to make 69________ the biggest nature reserve of the world.  Today, many scientists go there 70________(study) its resources and to work together for progress and peace.

I felt very depressed the other day. The weather had been dark and rainy, and I just didn’t feel so   41   . As I was sitting at my desk, I  42   it was the birthday of a dear long-time friend — a single, middle-aged woman who had devoted the past 30 years to nursing and loving her  43  .

Knowing that she didn’t have family in town, I  44  to give her a call. Sure enough, she was on her shift,   45   to work late into the evening, and wouldn’t have  46  of a birthday this year. As always, though, she  47  cheerful and was happy that I  48  .

After I hung up, I couldn’t   49   the feeling that she would really appreciate a little attention on her special day.   50   feeling a little depressed myself, I tried to put it out of my mind, but as the day passed, I couldn’t shake the thought. I   51   gave in, and set off to the hospital with a card, a cheese cake, and some balloons that evening. My friend’s grateful smile and joyful surprise   52   me that I’d done the right thing, and they were a generous   53    for the little effort it had taken.

When I got home, I realized that not only had I cheered up a  54   friend on her birthday, but my own negative feelings had also disappeared. Making her day had   55   my own! Isn’t that the way it is  56   we take the time and make the   57   to do something for someone else? It’s just like the saying, “Loving kindness is twice blessed; it blesses him who gives, and him who   58  .”

Cheering up people on their birthdays isn’t the only thing we can do to make their day. Life constantly presents us with   59   to take an extra step or do a kind deed that will make a difference to  60  . And the wonderful thing is that as we do, it changes things for the better for us too.

假定你是学生会主席李华，学校将举行每年一次的十八岁成人仪式，请你给外教Steven写一封邮件邀请他参加活动。内容包括：

1、时间：9月12日上午9点至11点；

2、地点：学校大礼堂；

3、对象：全体高三师生和家长；

4、活动意义：……

参考词汇：成人仪式coming-of-age ceremony; 礼堂auditorium

注意：

1. 词数100左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3. 开头语已为你写好。

Dear Steven,

 — I have a lot of work to do. I’m afraid I have to go now. Bye (Hurriedly)!

   — Then... __________ (puzzled).

A. Stay here longer, please                  B. Nice to meet you here

C. No problem                                   D. So long

   To live in the United States today is to gain an appreciation for Dahrendorf’s declaration that social change exists everywhere. Technology, the application of knowledge for practical ends, is a major source of social change.
    Yet we would do well to remind ourselves that technology is a human creation; it does not exist naturally. A spear or a robot is as much a cultural as a physical object. Until humans use a spear to hunt game or a robot to produce machine parts, neither is much more than a solid mass of matter. For a bird looking for an object on which to rest, a spear or robot serves the purpose equally well. The explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the Russian nuclear accident at Chernobyl drive home the human quality of technology; they provide cases in which well-planned systems suddenly went haywire and there was no ready hand to set them right. Since technology is a human creation, we are responsible for what is done with it. Pessimists worry that we will use out technology eventually to blow our world and ourselves to pieces. But they have been saying this for decades, and so far we have managed to survive and even flourish. Whether we will continue to do so in the years ahead remains uncertain. Clearly, the impact of technology on our lives deserves a closer examination.
    Few technological developments have had a greater impact on our lives than the computer revolution. Scientists and engineers have designed specialized machines that can do the tasks that once only people could do. There are those who assert that the switch to an information-based economy is in the same camp as other great historical milestones, particularly the Industrial Revolution. Yet when we ask why the Industrial Revolution was a revolution, we find that it was not the machines. The primary reason why it was revolutionary is that it led to great social change. It gave rise to mass production and, through mass production, to a society in which wealth was not confined to the few.
    In somewhat similar fashion, computers promise to revolutionize the structure of American life, particularly as they free the human mind and open new possibilities in knowledge and communication. The Industrial Revolution supplemented and replaced the muscles of humans and animals by mechanical methods. The computer extends this development to supplement and replace some aspects of the mind of human beings by electronic methods. It is the capacity of the computer for solving problems and making decisions that represents its greatest potential and that poses the greatest difficulties in predicting the impact on society.

63. Why does the author give the examples of the Challenger and Chernobyl?

A. To show that technology could be used to destroy our world.

B. To stress the author's concern about the safety of complex technology.

C. To prove that technology usually goes wrong, if not controlled by man.

D. To demonstrate that being a human creation, technology is likely to make an error.

64. What does the phrase "went haywire" in paragraph 2 most probably mean?

A. were out of range              B. went out of date

C. fell out of use                 D. got out of control

65. According to the author, the introduction of the computer is a revolution mainly because___________.

A. the computer has revolutionized the workings of the human mind

B. the computer can do the tasks that could only be done by people before

C. it has helped to switch to an information technology

D. it has a great potential impact on society

  66. In the passage, the author clearly shows his_____________.

  A. keen insight into the nature of technology

  B. sharp criticism of the role of the Industrial Revolution        

  C. thorough analysis of the replacement of the human mind by computers

  D. comprehensive description of the negative consequences of technology