When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored "Tom Thumb" weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
1.The underlined words "talk of the town" means________.
A. it was in the newspaper
B. it was the most popular topic
C. people spread bad rumors about it
D. it was discussed in a city meeting
2.What does the author think about Tom's wedding?
A. Tom and Lavinia were stupid.
B. People gave it too much of their attention.
C. It was funny and ridiculous.
D. It helped people cheer up in a dark time.
3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.
B. People are always disappointed during war time.
C. Entertainment can serve an important purpose.
D. People should be married when they are small children.
假设你是李华，一名高三学生，在网络上看到一所国外大学的招生信息 (admission information), 该大学对中国学生开设30多个专业，你对此非常感兴趣,打算用英语撰写一份个人申请，主要内容包括：
1. 想申请的专业；
2. 个人优势；
3. 进入大学后的设想。
注意：1. 词数：100左右；
2. 书信格式已给出；
3. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sir or Madam,
Yours Sincerely,
Li Hua
短文改错
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。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（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
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。
On a snowy winter night, a bus with 45 passenger had an accident because the wet road. And all of them were trapping in the bus and what is worse, the bus ran out of gas and it was very cold in it. They could do nothing but to wait for help. A man who lived nearby saw that had happened. He and some villagers succeeded in open the door and helped all of them out of the bus. He took them to his home but offered food and water and even some warm clothes to the children. They spent two days in their home and finally help came. All of them were thankfully for their help.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Scientists have discovered that__1. _(stay) in the cold could help us lose weight. Researchers at the University of California found that exposure to the cold increases levels of a protein that helps form brown fat-the type of fat that produces heat and keeps us warm. Brown fat burns energy, ___2.__ helps us lose weight. White fat stores extra energy, which results 3. weight gain. The researchers said that because air conditioning and heating give us constant, __4. _(comfort) temperatures, our body's need for brown fat has decreased. They found that:“Outdoor workers in northern Finland who___ 5. __(expose) to cold temperature have__ 6._ significant amount of brown fat when___7. __(compare) to same - aged indoor workers.”
The research was conducted on two different control groups of mice.__ 8. __group was injected with the protein that helps create brown fat. This group later gained 30% less weight after both groups were fed high - fat diets. The researchers say this could be good news in the fight against obesity. People who are obese have ___9.__(low) levels of brown fat than thinner people. Head researcher Hei Sook Sul said: "This protein could become an important target for research into the treatment and prevention of obesity and obesity - related diseases.” She added: "If you can somehow increase levels of this protein, you could__10.__(possible) lose more weight even if eating the same amount of food.”
完形填空,阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Lyse Doucet lives a happy life in Chicago. But recently there is some difficulty for her and her family. She and her husband have each other’s parents and young daughter and for that they are . But she and her husband are both currently . And their car is in great need of . And then there is the matter of their second child, who is soon. So things are a little tense for the Doucet family these days.
When Lyse and her daughter were walking through a store lot recently, Lyse picked up an envelop from the ground that $4,000 in cash. There were a _of different explanations that could be considered. Was this a kind of good ? Could it be an attempt by the universe to balance everything? Could it be simply a gift from God? Lyse didn’t know. The only thing she knew was that the cash in that envelope to someone else. Oh, and one other thing she knew was that her young daughter was . “My kid was standing right there I found it,” Lyse told WLS-TV in Chicago. “So basically I wanted to teach my daughter how to be . And for me that was enough.”
Never mind the bills that were , or the car that needed to be fixed, or the baby that would come soon. When she the money over to the police she was told that there was actually nothing illegal if she it.
The police were able to return the money to the person who it-- an old woman. And one can imagine the joy and she felt when the police handed the lost envelop back to her. “She came to my house and she was almost in tears, me,” Lyse said. “She gave me a hug and an envelope with a small in it. But what was in it wasn’t . What mattered was the opportunity to teach my daughter honesty.”
1.A. restricted B. upset C. grateful D. sensitive
2.A. appreciated B. unemployed C. disappointed D. removed
3.A. cash B. protection C. sale D. repair
4.A. sick B. due C. desperate D. dull
5.A. gathering B. begging C. cleaning D. parking
6.A. contained B. involved C. charged D. paid
7.A. handful B. deal C. number D. flood
8.A. expense B. luck C. hope D. prize
9.A. belonged B. reacted C. pointed D. responded
10.A. urging B. affecting C. laughing D. watching
11.A. before B. when C. because D. though
12.A. ripe B. loyal C. honest D. humorous
13.A. passing by B. giving away C. showing off D. piling up
14.A. turned B. watched C. got D. collected
15.A. checked B. made C. kept D. promoted
16.A. sent B. lost C. disliked D. generated
17.A. relief B. anxiety C. tension D. respect
18.A. comforting B. congratulatingC. thanking D. offending
19.A. option B. present C. envelope D. amount
20.A. important B. serious C. sufficient D. efficient
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
How to protect your ears
You and your friends are leaving a concert on a Friday night. When you get outside, your ears are ringing. You have to shout to be heard. 1._So no harm done…right?
Not quite. Temporary buzzing may be easy to ignore, but repeated exposure to loud noise will eventually cause serious and irreversible(无法治愈的) hearing loss. A new study conducted by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston shows that one in five people between the ages of 12 and 19 are experiencing slight hearing loss, and one in 20 have mild hearing loss._ 2. __But the good news is that there plenty of ways you can protect your ears from further damage — and still listen to the music you love:
Ask around. Put your ear buds in or your headphones on, and then ask a friend next to you whether or not he or she can hear what you’re listening to.__ 3.__Turn it down.
Buy noise-canceling headphones. A pair of ear buds or headphones that fits comfortably will limit outside noise so that you can hear your music better at lower volumes.
Take breaks.__ 4.__So when listening to music, take your headphones off for 15 or 20 minutes and let your ears enjoy the quiet.
___5.__You can buy a cheap pair at any drugstore as an easy way to lower volume at concerts — or while playing or practicing your own music — without changing the quality of the sound.
A. Use earplugs.
B. Keep the volume below 70 percent.
C. If the answer is yes, your music is too loud.
D. Like every other part of your body, your ears need rest.
E. But by morning, your hearing is totally back to normal.
F. Unfortunately, there’s no way to get back hearing you’ve already lost.
G.. The exposure to noise is louder and longer than in any previous generation.
