My mother is the only living person who has never used email to send a letter.In all her life，she has never turned on a computer，opened an email account and touched the Internet.She has a phobia(恐惧症) about technology.When Dad was deadly sick she began to use a cell phone.Mom is far from the information age.She likes the way of her living.In 1955 she met her new husband.Since then she has lived in Silicon Valley.The man is an expert who is rich in computer technology.

Mom is still that farm girl，and she is proudest of it.She sees her friends and her life “real”．She shows no interest in the information and technology life.My mother experienced Depression，World War Ⅱ and the Cold War.She enjoyed country music on The Sons of the Pioneers，a Canadian broadcast.But she had no way to listen to the radio.In the age when a lot of people were moved by Churchill for the first time with radio broadcasts，she only experienced them monthly.

In her early twenties，Mom had worked in the field before she was a wife.Thus family and church became her life's center.She was never really interested in television，though I think she enjoyed a few of the TV series we had watched before，like All in the Family.Computers，the Internet and mobile phones are simply not parts of her life.Mom disagrees with the opinion that technology can make the life easier.In her life，she sees online music，email and information which are “unreal”．

However，I can partly understand.I like to read the books in my schoolbag.And also I am a child who enjoys the online books and music.I've written down my love­hate feelings with my computer.Mom's technophobia surely plays a role here，but it works for her.She's the happiest as she is.

21．The author's mother began to use a mobile phone when ________.

A．she found it hard to find her husband

B．the author's dad was suffering from a serious illness

C．she listened to the radio broadcasts

D．she lived in Silicon Valley in 1955

22．What is the author's mother proudest of according to the passage?

A．Having so many close friends.

B．Experiencing too much in her life.

C．Living in her own life style happily.

D．Keeping in touch with technology.

23．What is the author's attitude towards his mother's technophobia?

A．Doubtful.　　B．Positive.    C．Puzzled.     D．Opposed.

24．What's the best title of the passage?

A．My mother's hobbies

B．My mother's farm life

C．My mother's influence on me

D．My mother's real life

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 21, 1853 but moved to Russia with his parents in 1842, where his father made a strong position for    56    in the engineering industry. After his father went bankrupt, most of the family returned to Sweden in 1859. Alfred Nobel had never been to school    57    university, but had studied    58   (private) and by the time he was twenty, he was a skillful chemist and excellent linguist,    59   (speak) Swedish, Russian, German, French and English. Like his father, he was imaginative and inventive, but he had better luck in business and showed more    60   (finance) sense. He was quick to see industrial chances for his scientific inventions and    61    (build) up over eighty companies in twenty different countries.

But Nobel’s main concern was never with making money or even with making scientific    62    (discover). Instead, he was always searching for a meaning for life, and from his youth he had taken    63    serious interest in literature and philosophy. He also cared deeply about the whole of mankind. His greatest wish was to see an end to wars and the peace between nations. In 1896, Nobel died in Italy. In his will, he left money    64   (provide) prizes for outstanding work in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, Medicine, Literature and Peace. And so, the man who felt he should have died at birth is remembered and respected long    65    his death.

Investing in yourself

   Figuring out how to invest your money can be a difficult task. This is something that you will want to learn how to do.

   ___16__ Things that will improve your knowledge, skills or health are all great investments. However, before you start, you need to be clear about what you will gain out of doing all of these things.

    You may think investing in yourself means investing in your education. ___17___. There are some other things you can do as well as buying a gym membership or learning a new skill.

    So what are some specific things you can do? ____18____. Reading books can really expand your mind and allow you to learn different skills and gain knowledge. I’m talking about the books where you will actually learn a new skill, not fiction books.

    You can also take courses and attend seminars. These programs are taught by people with a high level of knowledge or skill. ____19____. Only in this way can you avoid being fooled by some sales presentation.

    Moreover, investing in yourself is a safe way to keep your money. Although a savings account is seen as the most secure investment, that isn’t 100% safe. Even if you never experience your bank closing down, the return is little when inflation(通货膨胀) is taken into consideration. ____20____. But over time, they will show up in terms of your happiness level as well as your level of success.

A. This is just one way.

B. The benefits will stay with you.

C. If you aren’t a reader, you should start with that.

D. The more you do this, the more valuable you will be.

E. Of course, you need to do some research before investing.

F. The best way to invest your money is to invest it in yourself.

G. When you invest in yourself, you may not see gains right away.

 We _______ the difficulty together, but why didn’t you tell me?

A. should face               B. might face

C. could have faced          D. may have faced

In colleges around the country, most students are also workers.

The reality of college can be pretty different from the images presented in movies and television. Instead of the students who wake up late, party all the time, and study only before exams, many colleges are full of students with pressing schedules of not just classes and activities, but real jobs, too.

This isn’t a temporary phenomenon.The share of working students has been on the rise since the 1970s, and one-fifth of students work yearround. About one-quarter of those who work while attending school have both a full-courseload and a full-time job. The arrangement can help pay for tuition (学费) and living costs, obviously. And there’s value in it beyond the direct cause: such jobs can also be critical for developing important professional and social skills that make it easier to land a job after graduation. With many employers looking for students with already-developed skill sets, on-the-job training while in college can be the best way to ensure a job later on.

But it’s not all upside. Even full-time work may not completely cover the cost of tuition and living expenses. The study notes that if a student worked a full-time job at the federal minimum wage, they would earn just over $15,000 each year, certainly not enough to pay for tuition, room, and board at many colleges without some serious financial aid. That means that though they’re sacrificing time away from the classroom, many working students will still graduate with at least some debt. And working fulltime can reduce the chance that students will graduate at all, by cutting into the time available for studying and attending classes.

There is little reward for attending but not finishing college. Students who wind up leaving school because of difficulty in managing work and class are likely to find themselves stuck in some of the same jobs they might have gotten if they hadn’t gone at all. The difficulty of working too much while in school can create a cycle that pushes students further into debt without receiving any of the financial or career benefits.

63.According to the passage, the reality of college students is that ______.

A. they throw parties a lot                                  B. they stay up late every night                    

C. they pay no attention to exams                     D. they work besides attending classes

64.What is the indirect cause of an increasing number of working students?

A.The need of developing social networks.

B.The lack of summer jobs for young adults.

C.The chance of finding a job after graduation.             

D.The expenses of high tuition and living costs.

65.We can learn from the passage that ______.

A. working students are more likely to finish college

B. students can cover their college expenses through working

C. students receive a huge reward for managing work and class

D. dropping out of college may not help students get career benefits

66.What is the best title for the passage?

A. The Difficulties of Landing a Job

B. The Struggle of Work-School Balance                

C. The Reward of Working While Studying

D. The Images of Working College Students

New data from NASA's Curiosity rover indicate Mars Crater once held an enormous lake. This discovery suggests that the red planet may have been much wetter than scientists thought and raises the possibility that the planet was once habitable.

“The size of the lake and the length of time and series that water was showing up implies that there may have been sufficient time for life to develop.” NASA's Mars Exploration Program scientist Dr. Michael Meyer told Reuters.

Curiosity collected the new data on its five-mile drive to Mount Sharp, the prime destination on its mission to study Mars' climate and geography. The rover landed in Gale Crater in August 2012.

After reaching Mount Sharp in September, the rover spent two months studying rocks at the base of the three-mile-high mountain, discovering fine layers of mudstone--which tend to collect at the bottom of lakes. This shows how a mountain inside a Mars' Gale Crater might have formed.

"If our assumption for Mount Sharp holds up, it challenges the idea that warm and wet conditions were passing, local, or only underground on Mars,” Dr. Ashwin Vasavada said in a written statement. “A more radical explanation is that Mars' ancient, thicker atmosphere raised temperatures above freezing globally, but so far we don't know how the atmosphere did that."

Vasavada said curiosity will continue to study changes in the rock formation as it climbs Mount Sharp in the next few months, which should test the team's hypothesis..

"We'll also look at the chemistry of the rocks to see if the water that was once present would've been of the kind that could support microbial life, if it ever was present," he said in a video released by NASA. "With only 30 vertical feet of the mountain behind us, we're sure there's a lot more to discover."

33. What does this text mainly talk about?

A. How scientists explored Mars.

B. The ways Curiosity used to explore Mount Sharp.

C. Some data about Gale Crater.

D. The discovery of Curiosity rover on Mars.

34. The discovery of the lake proves that _____.

A. early Mars was ripe and ready for life

B. the climate on early Mars was hot

C. life once existed on Mars

D. humans can live on Mars

35. Where does this text probably come from?

A. A science fiction.

B. A science report.

C. A news report on solar system

D. An official announcement.

If something that you’re doing doesn’t challenge you, then it doesn’t change you. We all need some normal stress in our lives, after all.   16   So challenge the following limits:

1. Figure out what you’re scared of and do it continuously.

If you’re a salesman, and you’re scared of talking to people personally or over the phone, now, instead of being scared and thinking you’ll fail, spend at least five minutes a day to pick up the phone and make a call.   17   But don’t stop on the first try! Eventually, you can look at fear in the eyes and say, “Go on, I’m not scared!”

2.   18 

Make sure this hobby is not linked to your career; you have to relax and relieve your stress while performing this. Some examples might be cooking, sewing, painting and so on. Apart from helping you challenge yourself, taking a class for your hobby may also give you extra income.

3. Set aside at least nine minutes a day for physical exercise.

  19   A simple 9-minute run around your neighborhood can do wonders for yourself. Exercise can not only help you maintain your regular weight, but also make you feel better about yourself.

4. Travel and allow yourself to be interested in new people.

Don’t just limit yourself to your fellow travelers --- try to connect with the service staff. You never know what kind of people they’re going to be. Get out of your house or go online right now to book your class.   20 

A. You should do it continuously.

B. Someone may hang up on you.

C. Take a class for a hobby you’ve been hoping to develop.

D. Running in the gym may be a better choice.

E. Start to travel now and learn to challenge yourself.

F. You don’t need to go to the gym.

G. You can never see any improvement if you stick to your comfort zone.

                      Tayka Hotel de Sal

Where: Tahua, Bolivia

How much: About $ 95 a night

Why it's cool: You've stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That's

something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt-including

the beds (though you'll sleep on regular mattresses and blankets). The hotel sits

on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake which is the world's biggest

salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks,

and glue them together with a paste (糊) of wet salt that hardens when it dries.

When rain starts to dissolve the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to

strengthen the bricks.

                   Green Magic Nature Resort

Where: Vythiri, India

How much: About $ 240 a night

Why it's cool:  Taking a pulley(滑轮)-operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is

just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window-there is

no glass!  -you watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy(罩篷). Later

you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the

main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don't even

have to come down for breakfast-the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn

“elevator" .

                     Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

Where: Cottonwood, Idaho

How much: $ 92 a night

Why it's cool: This doghouse isn't just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-

foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his

hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up

a few steps of the loft(阁楼) in Willy's head, or hang out inside his nose.

Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet

in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant(消防栓)  outside.

                    Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Where: Ayvali, Turkey

How much: Between $ 130 and $ 450 a night

Why it's cool: This is caveman cool! Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago,

when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay

will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect

from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms

cool in summer. (Don't worry-there is heat in winter. )

24. What do we know about Tayka Hotel de Sal?

     A. It is located on a prehistoric lake.

    B. It should be protected against the rain.

      C.  Everything in the hotel is made of salt.

    D. You have to cross a rope bridge to the hotel.

25. How are the hotels similar?

   A. Expensive.                   B. Comfortable.

   C. Natural.                    D. Unique.

26. What do the underlined words “Sweet Willy" refer to?

    A. The name of the hotel.

     B. The name of the hotel owner.

     C. The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.

     D. The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner.

27. Which of the hotels gives you a feeling of living in the far past?

     A. Tayka Hotel de Sal.

    B. Green Magic Nature Resort.

     C. Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.

    D. Gamirasu Cave Hotel.

We have only a short holiday，so let’s ________ the most of it and try to enjoy ourselves.

      A．get                   B．take            C．make                D．have

--- Why didn’t you pay the accommodation rent?      

--- The rent? ________.

  A. It all depends.                 B. It’s up to you.  

C. You are crazy!                   D. That isn’t due yet.

My heart story started when I was 13 years old. My father died of a heart attack while on a golf course at the young age of 45. Heart disease   41   in my family. Like my father, I have extremely high lipid（脂质）levels and the good news is that today there are some   42   that can significantly reduce my lipid levels to   43   normal ranges.

In 2011, when I was 45 and my own son was 13, history   44   itself. While skating with my son, I began to   45   an “uncomfortable feeling”. I didn’t think it was heart-related. When we   46   my wife gave me aspirin and we decided to go and see my   47   the next day because my symptoms had   48   decreased. My doctor sent us straight   49   the hospital where I had my heart examined. Tests   50   that I had trouble with my heart. After nine days at the hospital and a surgery, I went home on my 46th birthday with a   51   life.

  52   there was no evidence of any heart damage at all. My doctor told me that I must have been doing   53   pretty good before my heart attack because patients didn’t usually   54   the kind of blockage（堵塞物）I had, or they met   55   damage to the heart. I told them that I had been   56   walking for seven years before my heart attack, walking up to 20 miles a week. Several people in the medical profession told me that walking   57   my life!

This October, I will be walking at the Heart and Stroke Walk in Tacoma. Every step is a   58   that life is fragile and can be taken from us at any moment. My   59   to you is very simple:   60   you have heart disease in your family, there is something you can do about it.

41. A. affects              B. runs             C. joins                D. attacks

42. A. measures         B. ways             C. ideas                D. drugs

43. A. near             B. below                C. above                D. with

44. A. covers               B. repeats              C. remains          D. controls

45. A. express              B. avoid                C. experience           D. expand

46. A. set out              B. calmed down      C. got back         D. got away

47. A. doctor               B. friend               C. mother               D. son

48. A. probably         B. completely           C. considerably     D. practically

49. A. to                   B. for              C. in                   D. at

50. A. exposed              B. declared         C. implied          D. showed

51. A. special              B. common           C. colorful         D. new

52. A. Personally           B. Amazingly            C. Naturally            D. Eventually

53. A. nothing              B. something            C. everything           D. anything

54. A. survive              B. abandon          C. understand           D. suffer

55. A. permanent            B. slight               C. significant         D. minor

56. A. referring to         B. seeking for          C. insisting on         D. wondering at

57. A. saved                B. improved         C. treated              D. enriched

58. A. sign             B. reminder         C. dream                D. battle

59. A. plan             B. course               C. thought          D. message

60. A. unless               B. because          C. whether          D. if

Jerome Kern is often called “The father of American musical theater (音乐剧)”. Kern is remembered for the hundreds of songs he wrote for musical plays and movies. Music historians say that Kern gave artistic importance to American popular music for the first time.

Jerome Kern was born into a middle-class family in New York City in 1885. Jerome’s mother, Fanny, loved the piano. She began to teach Jerome how to play it when he was very young. He became a fair piano player, but not so good that anyone expected him to become a great musician.

Jerome was a quiet boy. When he completed high school, his father said he would have to work in the family’s store. Mr. Kern said his son could never make money by writing music. But he later came to believe that Jerome might do better in music than in business after all. So he let the boy go to Europe to study music, as almost all serious young musicians did at the time.

Jerome Kern began his career as a songwriter in theaters in London and later in New York City. Success came quickly. By the early 1920s, Kern was a successful young composer for Broadway musical comedies. In one three-year period alone, he wrote music for 19 shows.

Other people wrote the words for Kern’s songs. Kern wrote only the music. And he worked on each song endlessly until he was satisfied that the music was perfect. He almost never changed his music to fit the words.

One critic wrote this about his music: Kern’s songs are like black and white drawings. They need no color,no decoration. His song is always in balance, perfect in form and pleasing in design.

5. Jerome Kern does best in ________.

       A. directing movies                      B. singing songs

       C. writing songs for musical theater         D. writing plays and movies

6.What do we know about Kern’s childhood?

     A. He received little education.     B. He was born into a poor family.

     C. His mother influenced him a lot.  D. His father expected him to become a musician.

7. What’s mainly talked about in the fourth paragraph?

     A. Kern’s hope about his future.          B. Kern’s achievements.

     C. The awards Kern gained.             D. The advantages Kern had.

8. According to the critic’s comments in the last paragraph,_____________..

     A. Kern’s works are pure without any unnecessary decorations.

     B. Kern’s works will be better with more colors and decorations.

     C. Kern’s works always present sadness and other bad emotions.

     D. Kern’s works are looked down upon by critics.

I am mad when my wife insists on selling the house. I _______ she would decide that.

A. don’t think         B. haven’t thought         C. didn’t think            D. hadn’t thought

 The Milan Expo 2015, ______ theme is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”,

   is aimed at arousing awareness regarding global hunger.

    A. where        B. when         C. which        D. whose

—Have you been wasting time on computer games again?

— ________ . I’ve been studying a lot and I need a break.

A．No way        B．Not really       C．I don’t agree      D．I couldn’t

  The Winter Middle School Drama Club has recently given their annual Winter Shows. Over 80 students participated in the three shows presented this year. The performances included two 10-minute plays, Eighteen Ways to Annoy Your Teacher and Zippy. It was a fun and successful night for all, and the WMS Drama Club will compete later this year in the Massachusetts Middle School Drama Competition.

   It had taken the students two months to prepare. The clothes in the play were designed all by themselves. Some of the students made full use of their spare time, even breaks between classes to discuss the details about the play . Bruce Johnson, one of the play writers, had even revised the play Zippy six times.  

   “That experience taught me teamwork!” One of the participants, Stephen Tracy, considered the experience to be unforgettable, “Being in the show, I realized my ideas, and I felt great to work with other classmates.” Another student, Chris Haskell, who was glad to be a part of the show, said, “it was a little time-consuming to do all the work like designing, practicing, etc, but the show made me feel alive.”

[写作内容]

1. 以约30个词概括以上短文的内容；

2. 然后以约120个词就“参加集体活动”这一主题发表你的看法，内容包括：

（1）你对以上活动的感受；

（2）讲述一次你参加集体活动的经历；

（3）说说你从该活动中的获益。

Americans prefer to try every way to have fun, for example, they drive their own cars, some even tow （拖）a small boat after vehicle. They start from Los Angeles, California under sun,    41   through four or five hundred miles to go to La Fulin, Colorado to spend weekends   42  Chinese people are still busy with work, and have dinner at home together with families in weekends or  43  time watching TV.

The difference is mainly due to   44   customs and traditions between the two countries. It is said that Chinese people are living for others, while Americans are for   45  . When Chinese people come to the United States, they fight for   46  first, and then   47  make money after they are recognized by others. It seems that, the purpose to earn money is not to enjoy life, but for their following generations: sons and daughters and even grandchildren. Chinese people prefer to save money   48   emergency, such as illness. Although Chinese people with   49  in the United States don’t need to worry about their own social welfare and health insurance , they work still very hard, as they hope that they can   50  more money.

Chinese people’s interest is in the amount on the passbook（存折）, so they spend   51  money usually. Most of Chinese are very thrifty（节约的）, and they are  52   to spend money, but there are exceptions. They are willing to spend money on their  53  . Many Chinese people think that, they endure（容忍）many  54  , so they wish that their children could live much better.  55  in the United States elementary schools, you can see that those who wear the best, with more pocket money are Chinese students. In contrast, American children dress very simply, with just a little pocket money.

     56   Chinese, Americans believe in living for themselves. They do everything for their own. Therefore, they earn money to enjoy a  57  life, and pursue a higher quality of life.   58  their own parents or children, they think that parents have their own pension and social welfare, and children should live a(n)   59  life when they are 18 years old. So they could boldly spend money on themselves.   60  , Americans save little money. In the street, it is easy for Chinese to take out 300-400 dollars, but it is hard to say for Americans.

41.A. running            B. driving             C. going              D. walking

42.A. if                 B. while              C. as                 D. until

43.A. spend              B. take               C. cost               D. pay

44.A. moral              B. spiritual            C. cultural            D. educational

45.A. others              B. theirs              C. them              D. themselves

46.A. survival            B. remainder           C. existence           D. material

47.A. hardly              B. desperately         C. seriously           D. strongly

48.A. in return for         B. on account of        C. in spite of          D. in case of

49.A. identity             B. force              C. fame              D. power

50.A. borrow             B. give               C. use                D. save

51.A. large               B. few               C. much              D. little

52.A. easy               B. reluctant           C. willing             D. happy

53.A. children            B. relatives           C. parents             D. friends

54.A. troubles            B. hardships           C. sorrows            D. problems

55.A.Otherwise          B. However            C. Therefore          D. Since

56.A. Different from      B. Interested in          C. Similar to          D. Thanks to 

57.A. rich               B. well                C. good              D. better

58.A. As with            B. As for              C. Owing to           D. But for

59.A. independent        B. single               C. different            D. comfortable

60.A. In brief            B. As a result           C. In this way          D. From it

My wife and I moved into our home two years ago. We had a _41 with a lot of rocks. Very often  42 we have flowers, Denise or I would plant some between the rocks, just to add some color to the area.

Last summer, I found a tiny little 43 in the yard that I could not 44 identify. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either. We decided to let it continue growing until we could find out what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the 45 plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to _46 the weeds around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something 47 . The sunflower had not 48 where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big 49 and grown under and around it to reach the _50 .

That’s when I _51 that if a tiny little sunflower didn't let a big rock stand in its _52 of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. If we 53 ourselves like that little sun flower, we can reach where we _54 to go and get what we need for growth.

We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the _55 to achieve our goals. Like the 56 , it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had 57 in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be _58 who and what we are, then the environment will begin to  59 us. We will find a way to go under or__ 60 any “rocks” in order to reach our goals.

41.A.yard               B. room                 C. roof                     D. platform

42.A.where              B. how              C. if                   D. when

43.A.tree               B. plant                C. weed                     D. seed

44.A.naturally          B. completely       C. immediately          D. finally

45.A.weak               B. lonely           C. pretty                   D. strange

46. A. watch                B. collect          C. remove               D. tend

47.A.valuable           B. unusual          C. wonderful                D. terrible

48.A.started                B. left                 C. died                     D. passed

49.A.wall               B. tree                 C. table                    D .rock

50.A.top                B. sun              C. air                  D. house

51.A.regretted          B. hoped            C. realized                 D. doubted

52. A. way              B. course           C. place                    D. process

53.A.worry about            B. believe in           C. fill in                  D. put in

54.A.aim                B. wait                 C. forget               D. afford

55.A.plan               B. idea                 C. ability              D. wish

56. A. sun              B. yard                 C. summer               D. sunflower

57.A.faith              B. energy           C. strength                 D. courage

58.A.aware of           B. proud of             C .tired of                 D .afraid of

59.A.affect                 B. upset                C. support              D .forgive

60. A. through          B. from                 C. into                     D. around

—Airport, please. I have to be there by 11.

—           , but I will do my best.

       A．I can’t promise    B．No problem         C．All right               D．It’s impossible