While high school does not generally encourage students to explore new aspects of life, college sets the stage for that exploration. I myself went through this ________ process and found something that has changed my ________ at college for the better: I discovered ASL — American Sign Language(美式手语).

I never felt an urge to ________ any sign language before. My entire family is hearing, and so are all my friends. The ________ languages were enough in all my interactions(交往). Little did I know that I would discover my ________ for ASL.

The ________ began during my first week at college. I watched as the ASL Club ________ their translation of a song. Both the hand movements and the very ________ of communicating without speaking ________ me. What I saw was completely unlike anything I had experienced in the ________. This newness just left me ________ more.

After that, feeling the need to ________ further, I decided to drop in on one of ASL club’s meetings. I only learned how to ________ the alphabet that day. Yet instead of being discouraged by my ________ progress, I was excited. I then made it a point to ________ those meetings and learn all I could.

The following term, I ________ an ASL class. The professor was deaf and any talking was ________. I soon realized that the silence was not unpleasant. ________, if there had been any talking, it would have ________ us to learn less. Now, I appreciate the silence and the ________ way of communication it opens.

1.A. searching    B. planning    C. natural    D. formal

2.A. progress    B. experience    C. major    D. opinion

3.A. choose    B. read    C. learn    D. create

4.A. official    B. foreign    C. body    D. spoken

5.A. love    B. concern    C. goal    D. request

6.A. meeting    B. trip    C. story    D. task

7.A. recorded    B. performed    C. recited    D. discussed

8.A. idea    B. amount    C. dream    D. reason

9.A. disturbed    B. supported    C. embarrassed    D. attracted

10.A. end    B. past    C. course    D. distance

11.A. showing    B. acting    C. saying    D. wanting

12.A. exercise    B. explore    C. express    D. explain

13.A. print    B. write    C. sign    D. count

14.A. slow    B. steady    C. normal    D. obvious

15.A. chair    B. sponsor    C. attend    D. organize

16.A. missed    B. passed    C. gave up    D. registered for

17.A. prohibited    B. welcomed    C. ignored    D. repeated

18.A. Lastly    B. Thus    C. Instead    D. However

19.A. required    B. caused    C. allowed    D. expected

20.A. easy    B. popular    C. quick    D. new

Creativity is a skill that you can work on with time, training, and effort. There are many areas you can focus on to improve your overall creativity.1.

Doodle(信手涂鸦)in your spare time. Doodling can increase creativity by increasing your engagement with the world and attention span. 2.The more information you’re able to absorb, the more creative you will be.

Listen to music. Simply playing music in the background can inspire you creatively. It can help you focus better and increase your overall concentration. Classical music tends to work particularly well for creativity and concentration. 3.While classical music has beneficial effects for many, experiment a little to find the music that best helps you concentrate and feel creative.

Play video games. 4.Interactive games that require movement help with creative thinking as they stimulate multiple senses. Things like Wii Tennis or Dance Dance Revolution would work well. Avoid games that require you to sit for long periods.

Read more. Make a habit of reading regularly. Pick books from multiple types and styles of writing to expand your horizons and really cultivate your creativity. Try to make time to read every day. 5.This will help direct your reading if you’re unsure what kinds of books to start with.

A. Try joining a book club.

B. Not every type of music works for everyone.

C. Some video games are actually good for the creative mind

D. Creativity is really important to your life as well as to society.

E. Video games do harm to our creativity instead of helping with it

F. The following are some creative approaches you can involving yourself in

G. It helps you stay engaged during activities where you would otherwise zone out

Hey, ladies! It’s summer again and it’s time for a new you! No more make-up, no more pretending! Yes, that’s right! It’s time to stop making ourselves beautiful for the camera, and start posting confident pictures without all the make-up and extra tricks we add onto ourselves in the hope of appearing more attractive and beautiful. Because believe it or not, we already are!

After we wash our face and go to bed, it is not so perfect. You know it the face we should confidently be showing to the world! Who cares if you have pimples（面痕）or your eyes look small, or if you have crow’s feet? Guess what? Those are actually what make you such a beautifully grown woman. And any person who doesn’t think so is just not as strong as you.

Nowadays we are so prone to do anything and everything to make us look as young and perfect as possible. Yet the troth is, by doing this, we are actually making our tree skin get worse and badly affected by all the junk we put on. We are making ourselves believe that by changing our appearance we will be more accepted and seem more attractive to other people. And yet, our final goal is to find that without all of the make-up. What kind of twisted（扭曲的）game are we really playing with ourselves?

So I would like to make a suggestion for all women out there to give yourself a break at least this summer. Take a couple of pictures without all of that make-up on. You don’t need it every single day, especially not this hot summer! You’ll be surprised that the more confident you are about showing the real side of you, the more attractive you will be to everyone else.

Yes, the saying, “Beauty comes from within” is an old one, definitely still holds some troth today. So be brave, carefree, and make-up free! Let the world see you for who you really are!

1.The author thinks that ladies should show others _______.

A. their crow’s feet

B. their beautiful pictures

C. their real face with confidence

D. their attractive appearance

2.What does the author think of adding make-up to our face?

A. It makes perfect images.

B. It’s really meaningless.

C. It makes true images go outdated.

D. It’s hard to achieve what we wish.

3.What is the author’s purpose of quoting the old saying?

A. To declare it’s what one really is that matters.

B. To show the importance of adding make-up

C. To give us some examples of adding make-up.

D. To tell us not to neglect those old sayings.

4.What is the topic of this text?

A. Spending more time being with families and friends.

B. Not putting on any make-up on our face this summer.

C. Paying enough attention to ourselves in this summer.

D. Showing the beautiful side of ourselves to others.

It was Mother’s Day morning last year and I was doing my shopping at our local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were leaving, we found that only minutes earlier an elderly woman had fallen over at the entrance and had hit her head on the concrete. Her husband was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock. Walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very upset about what had happened to the couple. He said to me, “Mum, it’s not much fun falling over in front of everyone.”

At the front of the supermarket a charity(慈善) group had set up a stand selling cooked sausages and flowers to raise funds. Tenyson suggested that we should buy the lady a flower. “It will make her feel better,” he said. I was amazed that he’d come up with such a sweet idea. So we went over to the flower seller and asked her if we could buy a flower for the lady to cheer her up. “Just take it,” she replied. “I can’t take your money for such a wonderful gesture.”

By now paramedics（救援人员）had arrived, and were attending the injured woman. As we walked up to her, my son became intimidated by all the blood and medical equipment. He said he was just too scared to go up to her.

Instead I gave the flower to the woman’s husband and told him, “ My son was very upset for your wife and wanted to give her this flower to make her feel better.”

At that, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you so much, you have a wonderful son. Happy Mother’s Day to you.” The man then bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. Though badly hurt and shaken, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with love in her eyes and gave him a little smile.

1.What does the author intend to tell us?

A. One can never be too careful.

B. Actions speak louder than words.

C. A small act of kindness brings a great joy.

D. Love begins with a little smile.

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The elderly woman was knocked down by Tenyson.

B. Tenyson’s idea of buying a flower gained his mother’s support.

C. Tenyson’s care for the elderly woman puzzled the flower seller.

D. The elderly woman was moved to tears by Tenyson’s gesture.

3.The underlined word “intimidated” in the third paragraph probably means “___________”.

A. frightened    B. astonished

C. struck    D. excited

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Mother’s Day    B. Flower Power

C. An Accidental Injury    D. An Embarrassing Moment

“I never expected that I would be so busy. Why can’t there be 25 hours in a day?” complained Liu Ran in Hong Kong as mid-term exams were going on.

The 18-year-old was Shandong Province’s top scorer in this year’s college entrance examination. After graduating from Tai’an No.1 High School, she chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong(香港中文大学), although both Peking University and  Tsinghua University promised her a place.

“I want to experience a more international school and social life in Hong Kong. I’m majoring in journalism, so Hong Kong will surely help widen my horizons,” Liu said.

It is two months since Liu first set foot on Hong Kong. She missed home a lot at the beginning, because of the food and language problems.

“The canteen offers mostly Western or Guangdong food, but it’s convenient to cook for ourselves in our dorm if we like. People speak Cantonese and almost all classes are in English,” Liu explained.

Her English and Cantonese are now both improving, but she still needs more time to adapt to the new environment.

“I’m happy that I made the right decision to study here. With a mix of the Eastern and Western cultures, there is so much to discover and learn,” she said.

Liu has 18 credit hours(学分) of classes every week and 23 non-credit hours every other week. She has signed up for four associations including the Chinese Language Debating Team and the drama club. Essays, book reports and presentations also take plenty of time to prepare. And , of course, there are various parties to attend.

“I wasn’t a party animal before, but that may be interesting part of college. I sense myself changing,” Liu said.

1.Liu Ran chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong, because___________.

A. she couldn’t be admitted to Peking University

B. Hong Kong is a good place

C. she wants to be far from her homeland

D. the Chinese University of Hong Kong can widen her horizons

2.According to the last paragraph, we can infer__________.

A. now Liu Ran is an animal

B. Liu Ran hates the busy life in the Chinese University of Hong Kong

C. Liu Ran likes the food there

D. the busy and full life makes Liu Ran feel good

3.Liu Ran had to overcome the difficulties in many aspects EXCEPT_______________.

A. food    B. language

C. missing home    D. no friends

假定你是李华，想邀请外教Henry一起参观中国剪纸（paper-cutting）艺术展。请给他写封邮件，内容包括：

1.展览时间、地点；

2.活动内容（如参观剪纸作品、观看剪纸表演等等）。

注意：1.词数100左右；

2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

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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（∧），并在其下写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，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。

One year ago, I was in great trouble. I worked hard at English and devote all my spare time to practise it. But I failed to pass the mid-term examination, which made me great disappointed. So I asked my grandpa for advice when I got to home. Hearing that I told him, he said, “To some extent, examination results sometime cannot reflect your study level. You can’t judge your progress by one examination.” He encouraged myself to work hard for long time to check my results. I took my grandpa advice. Now I realize that the process of learning is much more important and my English is much good than before. From my experience, I feel that we should listen to opinions from old people.

阅读下面短文，在空白处填人1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Xuan paper, known as one of the Four Treasures of Study, first came into 1. (exist) in Xuan Prefecture in the Tang dynasty. The traditional skill of making the paper 2. hand has been passed down through generations. The process takes as many as 100 steps, all of 3. require a level of delicacy.

Take papermaking master Zhou Donghong for example. He uses a fine screen to filter（过滤） a mixture of water and fibers. He lifts it up, and it’s a sheet of paper. It takes him and his partner only 15 seconds 4. (form) and shape it, but they’ve devoted 5. (them) to perfecting the skills for decades.

“There are a lot of tricks of filtering the fibers, and timing is the 6. (difficult) part of all. We have only one chance to filter the right amount of fibers, and only the proper weight guarantees the paper is neither too thin nor too thick, and the margin for error is 7. (extreme) small,” said Zhou. With just the right degree of thickness, top quality Xuan paper holds ink and water tightly.

The skill of papermaking, 8. (recognize) as a national treasure, has also proven to be an international one. We felt 9. great sense of pride as it was listed as a world intangible culture heritage(非物质文化遗产) by UNESCO in 2009. Since then, in Jingxian County, Xuan papermaking  10.(teach) in schools.

"Meow, meow, meow," is what I heard as I walked through the alley（小巷；胡同）. I approached the noise and noticed a tail sticking out from under a piece of wood. Under the wood was a _______ black and white cat. I picked him up and _______ he must be freezing to death. I _______ home with the cat held in my jacket.

My new best friend, who soon became known as Little Bit, received his name because he was almost _______ when I held him in my hands. He stood about five inches tall. Little Bit's small size had a great advantage - he _______ perfectly in the pocket of my jacket, which made _______ him everywhere very easy. Any time I was home, he wouldn't leave my _______. He was always eager to play with me. When I fell asleep at night, he would always _______ up around my head to ensure that I was warm.

Unfortunately, I grew up. My teenage life _______ my relationship with Little Bit. I lived at such a fast pace that I stopped ________ time for him. My free time was spent with my friends instead. I would come in the house on my phone and not ________ him at all. His meows became an annoyance to me, but it wasn't his ________ that he wanted his best friend back.

Time had caused a ________ to Little Bit. His body began ________ down and by the time I realized something was wrong with him, he had already lost his balance. He lay there and looked at me, and ________ this day I still remember the ________ look in his bright green eyes. I took him to the vet (兽医), but there was nothing he could do. The last time I ________ him he wasn't the same tiny cat I had found ten years before. Little Bit filled my arms and he was put to sleep that day.

Little Bit's ________ made me realize how much he meant to me. He was always there for me when I needed him. I ________ our last years together and I feel sorry for not always being there for him. I will always ________ the special memories we made.

1.A. lovely    B. tiny    C. pretty    D. friendly

2.A. agreed    B. insisted    C. realized    D. proved

3.A. left    B. stayed    C. drove    D. hurried

4.A. weightless    B. useless    C. breathless    D. hopeless

5.A. grew    B. fitted    C. played    D. existed

6.A. showing    B. keeping    C. taking    D. guiding

7.A. mind    B. heart    C. body    D. side

8.A. rise    B. stand    C. wake    D. roll

9.A. weakened    B. fastened    C. deepened    D. sharpened

10.A. making    B. losing    C. wasting    D. gaining

11.A. overlook    B. interrupt    C. acknowledge    D. recognize

12.A. desire    B. purpose    C. fault    D. greed

13.A. fear    B. loss    C. delay    D. concern

14.A. dropping    B. tearing    C. calming    D. shutting

15.A. on    B. to    C. in    D. for

16.A. shameful    B. hateful    C. harmful    D. sorrowful

17.A. helped    B. protected    C. held    D. cured

18.A. illness    B. death    C. sadness    D. pressure

19.A. regret    B. bother    C. confuse    D. dream

20.A. treasure    B. admire    C. evaluate    D. explore

For the love of reading

The importance of nurturing (培养) young children as readers has become more and more apparent. 1.

Read aloud.

A six-year study found reading aloud to children every day puts them almost a year ahead of children who do not receive daily read-alouds. It is a way to bathe children in the power of the written words. Using texts above the children’s levels gives them the chance to hear high-level vocabulary and absorb complex language structures. 2.

Encourage close reading from the youngest age.

We can do this by asking them questions. Use picture book illustrations to strike up deeper questions and conversations. Ask questions you don’t know the answers to so that children will be able to answer in ways that reflect their own ideas.

3.

Entering the world of stories and knowledge should feel like an exciting discovery process. Create visual ways to track the journey. From a reading minute tracker to a “words we learned” or “our big ideas” chart, we can use these visuals to pause for “hip hip hooray (欢呼)” moments.

Honor each child’s unique identity.

Children become great readers by finding connections as they read. 4.“I notice you like books where animals are the main characters.” “I notice you like books where girls are strong characters.” Even the youngest child will begin to recognize that each person’s reading choices matter.

5. A child who sees reading as a lifelong, constant companion is more likely to have a lifetime of success.

A. Make the journey a celebration.

B. Hand them a pen when it is necessary.

C. All in all, young children can read early and should be reading all year.

D. Name what you notice about why a child is drawn to a text.

E. Here are four ways to help your child become a reader.

F. The child builds the knowledge that is necessary for being a reader.

G. Reading aloud below their levels also allows them to relax and enjoy beloved texts.