The phone ID flashed, “Emergency Vet”. “Oh no” I whispered. I could not lose Merlin now.

Ron and I had tried to have children for a long time with depressing results. I threw myself into my work. Any maternal feelings I had were spent on Merlin.

I couldn’t wait to get home from work each night. I wanted to pick up that warm bundle of loving fur and nestle him. I wanted to sing “Rock-a-bye Merlin”, as I did every night as he would put his paws around my neck.

Merlin was my comfort especially at times when I wondered if God was listening. But last night something had changed. Not only did I sing “Rock-a-Bye Merlin”, but I asked, “What will I do after you’re gone?”

Although Merlin was 19 years old, a senior in the age of a cat, he didn’t look or act that way. I didn’t want to accept the fact that he was nearing the end of his lifetime. My job at the law firm was so demanding and stressful that I couldn’t imagine getting through the day without Merlin waiting to greet me at home.

I dialed the vet’s number. I asked for my husband but he already left. Then I took a breath and asked the question that no one wants to ask, “Is my Merlin still alive?” The nurse said “yes.”

Ron came home and said that Merlin had almost no red blood cells left. White blood cells were replacing them. Merlin would need expensive transfusions most likely on a monthly basis. We both knew Merlin was running out of time. I asked Ron to drive me to the vet so I could say goodbye to my little boy cat but he was beat tired and it was late. Ron said if Merlin was still alive the next morning then he would take me to the vet.

The next morning I called the vet. Merlin had survived the night.

After driving to the vet, I went into the examining room. The nurse brought Merlin and placed him on an examining table on his side. His eyes were tightly shut. I thought he died already. I carefully edged my hand to reach his body. His body felt warm, but when I spoke his name there was no response. No response to his name or that I was there and that I loved him. I was extremely sad.

In that examining room I felt helpless. I wondered how many people in an examining room felt as helpless as I did.

Feeling driven to prayer I yelled, “God this isn’t good enough. I need to see my Merlin the way I remember him, I need a miracle and I need it now!”

At that moment, God granted a miracle. Merlin’s favorite compliment entered my mind. I said, “Merlin, You are Beautiful and You are Gorgeous, do you hear me?”

One eye opened.

I said “Gotcha”. I kept repeating those words.

Merlin opened the other eye and, one limb at a time, got up. He was waiting for that phrase. He wanted to hear that he was beautiful and gorgeous again.

Then I experienced another miracle.

There was no sound in that examining room until Merlin started walking to me. From out of nowhere, or maybe from heaven, I clearly heard a song we sung in church often: “It Is Well With My Soul.” I remembered thinking, “Yes, it is well with my Soul. I got to see my little boy cat one more time.”

Merlin walked to me. He put his face in mine, which he had never done before. He rubbed a circle around my face twice. Merlin said goodbye with his face and marked me for life.

Ron appeared shocked that Merlin was up and had walked to me. I said to Merlin, “Tell God you are a good boy and how much we love you” and then handed him back to the nurse.

Tears of gratitude poured forth in memory of a miracle. You see for nineteen years God spoke to me through a special cat named “Merlin.” On Merlin’s last day, God proved he heard me when he granted a miracle. That miracle gave me time to say goodbye.

65. Ron’s wife couldn’t lose Merlin because ________.

   A. Merlin was her adopted child for nineteen years 

B. Merlin could supply her with comfort and warmth

   C. she failed to give birth to her own biological child

   D. she would sing her usual song to no one later in life

66. What did Ron’s wife think of Merlin?

    ①comfortable  ②demanding   ③long life   ④full of devotion   ⑤lovely   ⑥religious

A. ①②⑥            B. ①②③                C. ④⑤⑥                D. ③④⑤

67. What does “The next morning I called the vet.” in Paragraph 8 imply?

   A. The writer turned to the vet because Merlin was in desperate condition.

   B. The writer was so hopeless as to ask a favor of the vet.

   C. Ron would accompany her wife to the vet to live up to his promise.

   D. Ron did not care about Merlin so that the writer called the vet.

68. When Merlin reached the examining room, ________.

   A. he shut his eyes tightly and was obviously dead

   B. his body felt warm because the writer rubbed him hard

   C. the writer chanted prayers to him trying to waking him up

   D. the writer felt helpless to have no timely surgical operation

69. We can infer from the passage that _______.

   A. we have to have faith in the church to get miracles in future life

   B. God will not disappoint us if we are devoted to our loved ones

   C. couples should have a child or something to fill in their free time

   D. doctors may not always be reliable when our loved ones need their help

70. Which of the following can be the proper title?

A. The Miracle Granted                                   B. A Dying Cat

  C. God Accompanying Us                         D. Gratitude Out Of Miracle

 

 The US federal government has released 252 applications so far, ______ fields including education and health care.

   A. covered                   B. to cover                  C. covering                  D. having covering

 The American girl has a good ________of Chinese and can express herself freely in the language.    

A. item       B. series       C. command         D. usage

---Where is Mom?

--- She is downstairs ______ prepared for the tea party.

A. to get                  B. getting                 C. to be getting         D. having got

 

 The past year has been successful and, _____ ahead, we expect to do even better in the coming

year.

A. looking                           B. to look                           C. look                        D. looked

The teacher handed our writings back to us, ____ some necessary changes.

   A. making            B. to have made              C. having made               D. made

---How do you know he is from Hunan Province?

--- Oh, his accent ______ himself when he spoke.

A. displayed     B. betrayed        C. appeared        D. showed

  During my last trip to Europe, I had the opportunity to visit Stonehenge. I remember it was a very hot day   61   a lot of sunshine. Almost every   62   (tour) who travels to England visits this ancient place.

  The Stonehenge was made of huge square stones,   63   weigh nearly five tons each, stand eighteen feet high, and are there feet thick. It was   64   (amaze) to see them up close. Something that I   65   (real) asked myself was how the ancient people could have been clever enough   66   (arrange) the stones as upright pillars, then connect the stones overhead, and place   67   altogether to form a circle. It was a great   68   (feel) to admire the magnificent stones up close.

   As I walked around the stones, I noticed how isolated they were; there was nothing else  69  (stand) around them, no community or anything. Were they also isolated in ancient times? If so,

  70   had the ancient people constructed them that way? If only I could really travel back in time and find out the reason for that!

A survey said the average Asian dad spent one minute a day with his children．I was shocked. I mean, a whole minute? Every day? Get real. Once a week maybe. The fact is, many Asian males are terrible at kid—related things. In fact, I am one of them．

 Child—rearing (养育) doesn’t come naturally to guys. My mother knew the names of our teachers, best friends and crushes. My dad was only vaguely aware there were short people sharing the apartment. My mother bought healthy fresh food at the market every day. My dad would only go shopping when there was nothing in the fridge except a jar of capers and a bay leaf．Then he’ d buy beer. My mother always knew the right questions to ask our teachers. My dad would ask my English teacher if she could get us a discount on school fees．My mother served kid food to kids. My dad added chili sauce to everything, including our baby food．

 The truth is, mothers have superpowers. My son fell off a wall once and hurt himself all over. I demanded someone bring me a computer so I could google what to do. My wife ignored me and did some sort of chanting phrase such as “Mummy kiss it better,” and cured l7 separate injuries in less than 15 seconds．

 Yes, mothers are incredible people, but they are not always right. Yet honesty forces me to record the fact that mothers only know best 99.99 percent of the time．Here are some famous slip-ups.

 The mother of Bill Gates: “ If you’ re going to drop out of college and hang out with your nerdy friends, don’ t come running to me when you find yourself penniless.” The mother of Albert Einstein: “When you grow up, you’ ll find that sitting around thinking about the nature of time and space won’ t pay the grocery bills.” The mother of George W．Bush: “You’ll never be like your dad, who became President of the United States and started his own war.”

28. The tone for the writer to write the passage is       .  

A. cruel    B. humorous     C. disapproving     D. critical

29. In paragraph 2 the writer makes a comparison between mothers and fathers to prove that        .

A. females love kids more than males

B. males are not good at child—rearing

C. my dad is not interested in child-rearing

D. child-rearing is difficult both for females and males

30. What does the underlined word “slip-ups” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A. stories    B. shortcomings      C. mistakes     D. advantages

31. The last paragraph is mainly developed by           .

A. providing different examples       B. following the order of space

C. making comparisons            D. analyzing causes

College life can become a great struggle because students have to balance school, a social life, and sometimes a job as well. The following steps could help the grades of college students.

  Go to class. Why did your parents pay for your tuition or why are your parents paying their taxes for financial aid? Even when you don't feel like attending class, just go.? 36  Many classes have in class assignments, pop quizzes, and case studies that only could be taken in class. If you are not there, you might lose points.

__37   . College is all about multitasking. Planners can really help you to balance homework, due dates and tests. You should try to get your work done early, then you will have less stress.

 Be business-like about your education. If you had a job, you would have to go to your job at 9 a.m and stay there until 5 p.m. __38  If you did the same thing in college, you would be great. Go to class, go to the library, study seriously, at 5 p.m put away the books and go home. Once in a while you might have to work late, just like at a real job.

__39   .Everyone studies in different ways. Some can study with a lot of noise and others want silence. Some can't even study with music on and some need dead silence. Some like the library and some like to study with friends, or even outside.

___40    

A. Stay organized.

B. Always try to keep a positive attitude and have confidence

C. You might get participation points, and the professor will also get to know you better.

D. The rest of the day would be your own time.

E. Use your time effectively and efficiently.

F. Find your own best method of studying.

G. You may be homesick sometimes.

"Some secrets are hidden from health," wrote John Updike in his poem "Fever".

I have experienced the truth of Updike's observation. My excellent health kept me from seeing some things—things that became secrets of sort.

One relates to my son Chris. When I lost my health in March, I discovered something I had missed about him.

Christopher has been a scholar and athlete through high school. He has behaved responsibly, engaged in community service. He has had an impressive peer group of serious students.

While I saw these things, I had missed before what I experienced while in hospital. Early on, Christopher offered the clearest and most forceful words about my need to be positive and to fight acute leukemia(急性白血病). He never left the room after a visit without making me promise that I would be mentally tough and positive.

During the first week, he showed his own mental toughness, researching leukemia and learning what the chances were. He even stopped my doctor outside the room, introduced himself and asked directly what he thought of my chances. He processed the answer without overreaction.

Christopher did admonish(劝告) me against my choice of words the first week at home. I had moved back into my room from weighing myself, discovering a thin figure I did not know. I announced to him and my wife, “dead man walking”. I thought it was a way to lighten the obvious. He saw it as negativity and was strongly against such thinking and talking.

When I resisted taking medicine sometimes, Christopher formed a “good-cop-bad-cop” team with his mother. Betsy gently and patiently encouraged. He directly and forcefully insisted. He always made the logical arguments for why I needed to take some awful pills.

My health had hidden something from me; my ill-health helped me to see it.

9. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 indicates that the author ________.

A. got to know more about his son while in hospital

B. knew little about his son until in hospital

C. had no chance of knowing more about his son

D. hardly remembers what happened in the hospital

10. What did Christopher do when the author was in hospital?

A. He told the author not to say anything wrong.

B. He offered some suggestions to the doctor.

C. He always encouraged the author to be confident.

D. He tried to get help from community service.

11. What does “good-cop-bad-cop” in the text refer to?

A. A trick to force the author to obey.

B. A measure to keep the author happy.

C. A friendly way to make the author see what was good for him.

D. A joint effort to persuade the author both kindly and forcefully.

12. What may be the best title for the text?

A. Lessons from Ill-health        B. Unexpected Love

C. Secrets Hidden from Health    D. Discovery Made in Hospital

    It was days or even weeks since I had been left on the island. My only companion was a dog called Philly which had survived the shipwreck. Memories of what happened were still fresh.

       The magnificence of the ship had given us all a false sense of security. As the first signs of the storm started, our captain announced it’s nothing much, just another storm. Yet, he was wrong! The storm hit the ship so badly that large holes were made at the sides of the ship. As the freezing water started rushing in, our ship was consumed quickly by the dark water.

       My train of thought was disturbed by Philly licking my hand dearly. Are you hungry? I spoke my first words ever since the shipwreck occurred. Woof, woof! Barked Philly enthusiastically. At this moment, my stomach gave a loud growl, too. I could not remember when my last meal was, probably a ten-course dinner on the ship. As I had never fished before, I thought maybe I could try something simpler, like picking fruits. With Philly at my side, armed with a sharp branch, we walked into the forest on the island together. Suddenly I thought I heard noises. Could there be anyone else on this island? I wondered. As we were looking for fruit trees, we chanced upon one that bore yellow, juicy-looking fruit. Philly started barking-we had company. It was a dark-skinned woman, holding a sharp spear, dressed in fur and grass. I backed away from her, afraid that she would be aggressive. Then, I saw that she was trying to save us. Pointing her spear at the fruit tree, she shook her head strongly.

       I nodded at her to show I understood what she was saying. Signaling to us to follow her, she turned to walk along a small path that I had never noticed. At the end of the small path, there was a small village. Tears of joy filled my eyes.

24. What happened to the ship the writer had been on?

   A. It was frozen in the sea.                               B. It was turned over by the storm.

   C. It was deserted because it was insecure.           D. It sank due to the damage caused by the storm.

25. According to the passage, which of the following can best describe Philly?

   A. Active and friendly.                        B. Caring but aggressive.

   C. Smart and faithful.                          D. Noisy but enthusiastic.

26. Why did the writer walk into the forest?

   A. To take shelter from the storm.                    B. To go to a small village.

   C. To find someone for help.               D. To look for something to eat.

27. The woman most probably tried to tell the writer that ________________.

   A. the fruit tree wasn't the best choice              B. the fruit was unfit for eating

   C. the writer wasn't allowed to pick the fruit          D. she wasn't afraid of the writer

假定你是李华，你校将迎接英国学生代表团。作为学校书法社团的部长，请你写一篇发言稿，要点如下：

1.介绍书法用具      2.阐述学习书法的好处        3.邀请英国同学参与

注意：1.词数100左右

  2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯

  3.开头和结尾已为你写好

参考词汇：书法calligraphy

文房四宝the Four Treasures of the study—writing brush,ink stick,paper and ink slab

Dear friends,

We’d like to share our culture with you by introducing the art of Chinese calligraphy to you.

                                                                                                                              

Yours,

Li Hua

As we all know, what’s most needed ____ is to save the life of world economy.

A. at the moment       B.in a moment       C. for a moment  D.at any moment

 I love the job of selling guitars. That's        my strengths meet my passions for music.

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

Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher. Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task. This was the first real talk I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before. As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip (掷) a coin. Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy. Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.

Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost. Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution.” The whole world became quite! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

Obviously, my grade was awful. Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade. I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance. Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster’s office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade. Justice is sweet!

9. What did the author’s classmates think about his report?

A. interesting        B. ridiculous.        C. boring.           D. puzzling.

10.Why was the author confused about the task?

A. He was unfamiliar with American history.  

B. He followed the advice and flipped a coin.

C. He forgot his teacher’s instruction.        

D. He was new at the school.

11.The underlined word “burning” in Para. 3 probably means _______.

A. annoyed            B. ashamed           C. ready                D. eager

12.In the end, the author turned things around _______.

A. by redoing his task                   

B. through his own efforts

       C. with the help of his grandfather          

D. under the guidance of his headmaster

Bicycle Safety

Operation  Always ride your bike in a safe, controlled manner on campus(校园). Obey rules and regulations. Watch out for walkers and other bicyclists, and always use your lights in dark conditions.

Theft Prevention  Always securely lock your bicycle to a bicycle rack---even if you are only away for a minute. Register your bike with the University Department of Public Safety. It’s fast, easy, and free. [KS5UKS5U]Registration permanently records your serial number, which is useful in the possible recovery of the bike stolen.

Equipment

Brakes  Make sure that they are in good working order and adjusted properly.

Helmet  A necessity, make sure your helmet meets current safety standards and fit properly.

Lights  Always have a front headlight---visible at least 500 feet in front of the bike. A taillight is a good idea.

Rules of the Road

Riding on Campus  As a bicycle rider, you have a responsibility to ride only on streets and posted bicycle paths. Riding on sidewalks or other walkways can lead to a fine. The speed limit for bicycles on campus is 15mph, unless otherwise posted. Always give the right of ways to walkers. If you are involved in an accident, you are required to offer appropriate aid, call the Department of Public Safety and remain at the scene until the officer lets you go.

Bicycle Parking  Only park in areas reserved for bikes. Trees, handrails, hallways, and sign posts are not for bicycle parking, and parking in such posts can result in a fine.

If Things Go Wrong

If you break the rules, you will be fined. Besides violating rules while riding bicycles on campus, you could be fined for:

No bicycle registration---------------------------------------------------$25

Bicycle parking banned--------------------------------------------------$30

Blocking path with bicycle ---------------------------------------------$40

Violation of bicycle equipment requirement -------------------------$35

12. Registration of your bicycle may help you _____________.

A. find your stolen bicycle                                            B. get your serial number

C. receive free repair services                                     D. settle conflicts with walkers

13. According to the passage, what bike equipment is a free choice for bicycle riders?

     A. Brakes.                      B. A helmet.                             C. A headlight.             D.A taillight.

14. When you ride a bicycle on the campus, ___________.

     A. ride on posted bicycle paths and sidewalks             

     B. cycle at a speed of over 15 mph[KS5UKS5UKS5U]

     C. put the walkers’ right of way first                              

     D. call the police before leaving in a case of accident

15. If you lock your bicycle to a tree on the campus, you could be fined _________.

     A. $25                            B. $30                                     C. $35                         D. $40

Dear girls,

   The dream itself comes from hard work, some good luck and good timing. Here are some words of wisdom as you  41  your way in the world, from an entrepreneur(企业家)and your  42  .

   In high school, I wanted to be a politician. I left my hometown for college in Washington DC. There, I   43 that I loved to support women. It taught me that I’m a creative, strong leader and great at marketing.  44  , I moved to be the head of a national healthcare nonprofit. Becoming a mother opened my mind to  45  a breast pump bag(储奶袋)business. Now I  46  a highly successful company that I started up on my own.  47  what you are good at and what you are passionate about. Keep an open mind.

   Failure is  48  to your success. I won’t tell you to feel good about  49  . But I will tell you that every failure I’ve had along the way has absolutely made me  50 .

   Failing the big math exam in high school was   51  . I eventually passed, and I’ve   52  failed an exam again. I learned from that  53  to ask for help. Now I ask for help in business  54  .

   Being passed over for a significant job opportunity that I more than qualified  55 hurt me. I was so depressed  __56  soon I got a big job at a national organization. It’s okay to get angry! Take that and  57  it into positive action.

   I’m proud to be a role  58  to you as a mom and an entrepreneur. I hope I inspire you to believe that you can be  __59  you want and you can have everything on your list. It will be my pleasure to watch your life  60  before my eyes.

41. A. lose                  B. pay                         C. get                         D. make

42. A. aunt                  B. mama                     C. uncle                      D. papa

43. A. discovered         B. informed                 C. imagined                D. developed

44. A. However           B. Therefore                C. Otherwise               D. Meanwhile

45. A. pushing            B. taking                     C. launching                D. pulling

46. A. run                   B. close                      C. leave                      D. work

47. A. Come out           B. Work out                       C. Hold out                 D. Figure out

48. A. pleasant             B. convenient              C. critical                    D. different

49. A. justice               B. failure                     C. courage                  D. honesty

50. A. worse               B. bad                         C. well                        D. better

51. A. embarrassing     B. exciting                   C. amusing                  D. inspiring

52. A. ever                  B. always                    C. never                      D. often

53. A. accident            B. experience               C. feeling                    D. memory

54. A. all the time         B. of all time                C. at a time                 D. in no time

55. A. on                    B. to                           C. for                         D. with

56. A. or                     B. so                          C. while                      D. but

57. A. turn                  B. put                         C. make                      D. get

58. A. example            B. star                        C. symbol                   D. model

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

60. A. fold                  B. unfold                     C. cover                     D. uncover

M: Excuse me, madam. Do you mind if I ask you some questions? I need your help to complete a survey.

W: Of course not.   51 

M: Could I have your opinion about modern pop music?

W: Modern pop music? Um..., well, I don’t really listen to pop music, or watch pop videos.

M: Well, why don’t you like it?

W:   52   And the songs are really nonsense.

M: But, you know, most young people are fond of it.

W:   53   My son, who’s fifteen, is a real pop music fan. He listens to it all the time at home, and it  really annoys both my husband and me.

M:   54 

W: Absolutely. My husband enjoys traditional folk music. He says it makes him calm and relaxed when listening to it, and he would get a headache whenever he hears modern pop music.

M:   55 

W: And believe it or not, the moment my son turns on his music, my husband always demands he put his headphones on, and so does my son when his father listens to his. Each calls the other’s music noise pollution, and the argument never ends. Ha ha ha...

A. I beg your pardon? B. It sounds funny. C. You’re absolutely right. D. Go ahead, please! E. Maybe the traditional folk music sounds softer. F. Is that interesting? G. The music is too noisy.

This afternoon an American high school delegation, consisting 10 students and 5 teachers come to visit our school. Our headmaster showed them around some part of the school. Fortunately, our class was choosing to have an informal discussion with the visitors, that was a good opportunity for us to practise our English. Everyone on present was active in introducing them one by one. Our monitor, Zhang Hua, made a brief introduction to Chinese traditional festivals, especial the Chinese Spring Festival. Soon after that, Tom, a American student, who was a great fan of Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin, said something about NBA and some other hobbies. Then we talked about some other topics that we were concerning with.