Every one of us has shortcomings. However, what’s the most important is that we should recognize them and overcome them.
注意：①无须写标题，不得照抄英语提示语；
②除诗歌外，文体不限；
③文中不得透漏个人姓名和学校名称；
④词数不少于120。
第一节 完成句子。(共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分)
1.with ________________ the photo, he was totally lost in his thought, unaware of something happening. (fix)
他眼睛盯着那张照片，完全陷入思索中，没注意到发生了什么。
2.The farmer-worker with the baby in her arms hurried to the train station, only ______________ the train had gone five minutes before. (inform)
抱着婴儿的那个农民工急匆匆地赶到火车站，却被告知火车五分钟之前已离开了。
3.___________________ the key university is just the beginning. You will have a long way to go ahead of you. (admit)
被重点大学录取仅仅是个开始。你前面还有很长的路要走。
4.Fully ________________ the research work, she couldn’t spend most of her spare time with her children. (occupy)
研究工作令她忙得不可开交，她不能花费她的大部分业余时间和孩子们在一起。
5.This is the first time ___________ in a TV series in my life, which is really amazing. (play)
这是我人生中第一次在电视连续剧里担任角色，这真是太令人惊喜了。
6.I was brought up by my grandparents in an old country house’ in front of which _____________ offering us pleasant shade in summer. (stand)
我是在乡下的一座老房子里由我的祖父母抚养大的，在那所房子的前面有一座大树，它在夏日里给我们提供舒适的阴凉。
7.Mary，as well as her boyfriend，______________the driving tests which are considered stricter than ever. (pass)
据说，Mary和她的男朋友已通过了被认为比以往任何时候更严格的驾照考试。
8.The Korean singing star, ______________________, is going to release a new album. Just wait for it with patience. (like)
这位韩国歌星即将发行一张新专辑，你最喜欢他的声音，你就耐心等待吧。
9.My new mobile phone costs me __________ of my old one，which，however，is totally worthy of being bought. (price)
我的新手机是旧手机价格的两倍，但它完全值得买。
10.Having been blamed for several times，she seems ____________ her mistakes. (aware)
被责备了好几次，她似乎已经意识到自己的错误了。
If you are looking for a creative solution to a piece of work or a school assignment，don’t lock yourself up in a quiet room.
A new study suggests that moderate background noise is a better spur(动力) to creative thinking than the sound of silence，Time magazine reported.
A paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research says that the perfect working environment should buzz(嗡嗡作响)with a little noise.
Researchers found that test subjects were at their most creative when background noise was measured at 70 decibels，the level one might find in a busy coffee shop.
A nearly silent environment(50 decibels)was too quiet. Turning up the volume to 85 decibels (a jackhammer tearing up the pavement outside your building) was counterproductive-the noise became a distraction.
The researchers asked 65 students at the University of British Columbia，Canada，to perform various creative tasks while noises recorded at a roadside restaurant were played in the background.
In one experiment，scientists asked participants to brainstorm ideas for a new type of mattress(气垫). Test subjects had the most successful discussions when the noise in the background was noticeable but not too loud.
While a quiet environment may make it easier to read a book. the authors of the study say that moderate background noise creates just enough of a distraction to force people to think more imaginatively, without breaking their focus so completely that they can’t think at all.
Should we all head for Starbucks to get creative? Not necessarily.
Researchers found limited work time surrounded by the low-level noise of a coffeehouse is what really stimulates creativity.
Equally, working in a care environment isn’t good for everybody. The productivity boost was most obvious among those who were naturally creative to begin with.
1.The recommended level of background noise is__________.
A. 50 decibels B. 65 decibels
C. 70 decibels D. 85 decibels
2.Why is moderate background noise good for creativity?
A. It relaxes people and stops them from getting bored.
B. It can help people to focus on a subject.
C. It can absorb sudden noises that cause distraction.
D. It pushes people to use their imagination but doesn’t reach a level that disturbs them.
3.According to the last three paragraphs，___________.
A. the low—level noise of a coffeehouse may be too loud for some people to work with
B. if a person is not a creative type, then background noise may not be of so much help to them
C. a person’s own creative ability is as important as the environment they are in
D. working in a coffeehouse is effective for most people
4.Which best describes the writer’s tone in the passage?
A. Negative. B. Objective.
C. Enthusiastic. D. Doubtful.
This is not a typical summer camp. Michelle Pawlaw and eight other teenage girls are participating in the three—day camp offered by the Arlington County Fire Department located just outside Washington. Firefighter Clare Burley is in charge of the program，who said the purpose is to try to get young women interested in considering the fire service as a career.
The free-of-charge，overnight camp is designed to let the girls experience what firefighters do to protect the community. That includes some rigorous activities such as moving a fire victim. “I dindn’t think I could pull that 170 pound body with a friend, but I was actually able to do it.” she said.
They take classes and learn how to climb the ladder on a fire truck, operate emergency tools and rescue an injured person. They also do their share of cleaning the firehouse and the equipment.
“Every week without fail on a Saturday，the job is to wash all the equipment. And we wanted the girls to see this is what we do. This is a typical day in a firehouse，”she said.
Firefighting is still a male-dominated service，but Burley says with 22 women on its force of 320 the Arlington County Fire Department is above the national average of 4.5 percent. She joined the department seven years ago.
“We do everything that the guys do to the same standard. We are tested to the same standard. We are expected to operate at the same standard，”she said.
Most of the girls say they had never thought about becoming a firefighter. but the camp was a great learning experience. ”I think it is definitely not a job that only men can do. Women can do it just as well as men can，”said Michelle Pawlaw.
1.What’s the purpose of the summer camp?
A. To tell the girls how to put firefighting knowledge into practice.
B. To teach the girls what to do when caught in fire.
C. To provide the girls with a typical summer camp.
D. To attract more girls to take firefighting as a career.
2.What can we infer from Paragraph 5？
A. Arlington County Fire Department is in the lead in employing women firefighters.
B. Arlington County Fire Department is the first to employ women firefighters.
C. More and more women are ready to join the fire department.
D. No women ever want to perform the firefighting service.
3.What can we infer from Michelle’s words in the last paragraph?
A. She has determined to join the firefighters in the future.
B. She will persuade her fellow students to join in the camp.
C. She realizes that women can also be good firefighters.
D. She decides that she’ll join in the camp again later.
4.What can we learn about the summer camp according to the passage?
A. American fire departments often hold such events.
B. It is sponsored by Arlington County Fire Department.
C. The girls spent their night in the summer camp，which lasted 3 days.
D. It is very popular among American girl students.
A few years ago，my friend Al won the lottery. It changed his life. He did not have a rich family. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead，my friend was always hard up for cash. He did not have much money. And the money he did earn was chicken feed — very little.
Sometimes Al even had to accept handouts，gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me wrong. My friend was not a deadbeat. He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he owed. He simply pinched pennies. He was always very careful with the money he spent. In fact，he was often a cheapskate. He did not like to spend money. The worst times were when he was flat broke and had no money at all.
One day，Al scraped together a few dollars for a lottery ticket. He thought he would never strike it rich or gain lots of money unexpectedly. But his combination of numbers was chosen and he won the lottery. He hit the jackpot. He won a great deal of money.
Al was so excited. The first thing he did was buy a costly new ear. He splurged on the one thing that he normally would not buy. Then he started spending money on unnecessary things. He started to waste it. It was like he had money to burn. He had more money than he needed and it was burning a hole in his pocket so he spent it quickly.
When we got together for a meal at a restaurant，Al paid every time. He would always foot the bill，and pick up the tab. He told me the money made him feel like a million dollars. He was very happy.
But，Al spent too much money. Soon my friend was down and out again. He had no money left. He was back to being strapped for cash. He had spent his bottom dollar, his very last amount. He did not even build up a nest egg. He had not saved any of the money.
I admit I do feel sorry for my friend. He had enough money to live like a king. Instead，he is back to living on a shoestring—a very low budget. Some might say he is penny wise and pound foolish. He is wise about small things，but not about important things.
1.The underlined word “pinched” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to “___________”.
A. took B. carried
C. squeezed D. spent
2.How did Al feel at first after he bought a lottery ticket?
A. He expected to win the lottery.
B. He was excited to wait for the money.
C. He didn’t think he could win the lottery.
D. He regretted spending money for a lottery ticket.
3.Why did A1 live a poor life again after he won the lottery?
A. Because he lost a lot of money he had won.
B. Because he spent much money freely on unnecessary things.
C. Because his friend borrowed much money from him.
D. Because he gave away a lot of money to others.
4.What can we learn from the story of Al?
A. Keep on and you will succeed one day.
B. Do not pick up the sesame seeds but overlook the watermelons.
C. It is no use crying over spilt milk.
D. No pains, no gains.
By the time I reached junior high，I was sure I wanted to be a nurse. If you didn’t study Latin，you couldn’t be a nurse，so I enrolled. Many Latin words were familiar to me. The hard part turned out to be the usage and creating sentences with the words that seemed so easy to pronounce. Several weeks into the course my teacher came to me，saying，“I think you should withdraw from this course. It seems to be too hard for you. ”
That was the day I learned I wasn’t smart enough to become a nurse. With shame. I handed in my Latin textbook.
After high school，the years raced by. I married and had children. Then one day my husband John came home. “Carol. Max died this afternoon. ”I looked at my husband with disbelief.
John was touched by this tragedy. Finally one evening he said，“Carol，Jackie has never worked and now she’s alone with four children. I've been thinking — if anything happens to me. I want you to be able to take care of yourself and the children. Why don’t you think about what you’d like to do and get the training you’ll need to do it?”
I signed up for the entrance exam for nursing programs. One day I received a letter from the schoo1. I wanted so badly to open it，but with my lack of confidence，I laid it on the kitchen counter saying，” I'm not in the mood for a rejection letter today. ”
Finally I forced myself to open it. “Dear Carol，”I read. ”We are pleased to inform you that you successfully passed the entrance exam.”
An insensitive teacher once stole my dream. If you have a dream, exhaust every effort to reach it. I’ve worked thirty years now as a nurse and I’ve never been more certain that this is what I was meant to be.
1.Why did John advise Carol to find a job?
A. To support the family
B. To be able to live independently
C. To live a more colorful life
D. To provide more money for her kids
2.From the text, we know what the teacher said____________.
A. saved Carol from wasting her time
B. helped Carol find her true interest
C. destroyed Carol’s dream to be a nurse
D. encouraged Carol to be careful in learning
3.After receiving the letter from the schoo1, Caro1____________.
A. couldn’t wait to open it
B. had no mood to read it then
C. didn’t take it seriously at all
D. was uncertain about the result
4.What may be the best title for the text？
A. Too stupid to be a nurse
B. A dream too high to achieve
C. Never too late to 1earn
D. A chance too important to miss
