I was born an albino．No one in my family had ever known what an albino was，what it meant to be an albino，and what had to be done differently because I was an albino．

My parents treated me just like they treated everybody else．That was just about the best thing they could have done．It helped me trust myself，so when the annoyances came along，I could deal with them．

True，my photo always looked like a snowball with two pieces of coal for eyes．Kids would tease me，asking if I was joining the circus and calling me “Whitey”．Like most albinos，I had terrible eyesight，and my grades suffered until eventually I overcame my feeling ashamed of myself and realized it was okay to ask to sit in the front of the classroom so I could see the blackboard better．People stared at me when I held reading material right at the tip of my nose so I could see it well enough to read. Even when I was eight or nine，movie-theater clerks started asking me to pay adult prices because I “looked older”．

The worst part for me was that because my eyesight was so bad，I couldn’t play sports very well．I didn’t give up trying，though．And I studied harder．

Eventually，I got better at school and loved it．By the time I got to college I was double majoring，going to summer school and devoting myself to every kind of extracurricular activity I could find. I had learned to be proud of being an albino．I did my best to make “albino” a positive word. And I decided to make my living with my eyes．

I couldn’t see well enough to play sports，but with a solid education and the drive to do it, I could make a living involved in the field I love                        I’ve done it now for more than thirty years in print and in video，and now in cyberspace．People make jokes about how I’m the only “blind editor” they know，but most of the time the jokes are signs of respect．And I make jokes about being an albino．

I was just a proud albino kid from the coal country of Pennsylvania. I now realize that being born an albino helped me to overcome difficulties，gain confidence，and be proud of my personal achievement and humble about my professional accomplishments．

1．What is an “albino” according to the passage?

    A．Someone with bad eyesight．

    B．Someone with some kind of disease．

    C．Someone who looks older than his age．

    D．Someone who joins the circus．

2．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

    A．The author’s study was affected by his eyesight at first．

    B．The author had to pay adult prices for movies when he was still young．

    C．Despite his bad eyesight，the author played sports well．

    D．“Albino” has already become a positive word now．

3．Why are people’s jokes about the author mostly signs of respect?

    A．Because he is an albino．

    B．Because he has a solid education．

    C．Because they think he is a great “blind editor”．

    D．Because they think he is proud of his achievement．

For most Chinese university students, the US is a favorite destination for further education．But apart from obstacles such as the GRE and TOEFL exams, choosing a good graduate school is no easy task．

Admission is very competitive for international students, so it is important to apply to a number of institutions to have a reasonable chance of acceptance．

Since the application to most universities requires a certain fee, Chinese students usually choose seven to seventeen universities according to their own financial circumstances．

Wang Yuwei, a Zhejiang University graduate, sent applications to 15 US universities．

When the 24-year-old began looking for a US graduate school in her senior year, she took time to compare the various schools and find the ones most suiting her needs．Now, studying at the University of Washington, she knows that her hard work paid off．

“To broaden your chances, at least one third of the applications should be to less selective schools,” said Wang．“Applicants shouldn’t limit their choices to the most famous institutions．” Ks  Furthermore, one shouldn’t rely too much on college rankings such as the Gorman Report or US News & World Report’s annual league tables．

The right school is the one that best meets your own personal needs and interests, rather than someone else’s assessment of an institution’s prestige（声望）．

“Usually choices are based on one’s personal interests and academic background, but it is important to make sure that your chosen subject is satisfied,” said Wang．

1．The author believes that the right school is the one that _____．

     A．has the best location

  B．best meets one’s own personal needs and interests

  C．best meets one’s assessment of an institution’s prestige

  D．offers good living conditions

2．According to this passage, what can we judge?

  A．More and more students will go abroad for their further education．

  B．Choosing a good graduate school is a piece of cake．

  C．To go abroad for further education, you must pass the GRE or TOTEL．

  D．To get a better chance to go abroad, you’d better apply to a less selective school．

3．In the passage the writer uses the example of Wang Yuwei to show ______．

  A．you must spend a lot of time comparing the various schools

  B．it isn’t worthwhile to spend time looking for the right university

     C．it is necessary to find the suitable university that meets your personal interests

  D．one’s own financial circumstances are worth considering

4．What will be continued after this passage?

     A．How hard Chinese students studied in America.

     B．Some advice on how to take care of yourself in America.

     C．The difficulties you will meet with while living in America.

  D．Some other things to consider to choose the right school．

中国的高等教育发展迅速，在校大学生人数不断增长，请你根据下面的图表及汉语提示，写一篇短文，描写其变化，并简析其原因。

中国的高等教育发展迅速，在校大学生人数不断增长，请你根据下面的图表及汉语提示，写一篇短文，描写其变化，并简析其原因。

1、根据图表，对比新中国成立时与2002年在校大学生的人数。

2、简单分析上述变化的原因：

1） 改革开放，经济发展，需要人才。

2） 政府重视教育，自1999年开始高校扩招。

3） 大多数人开始意识到高等教育的重要性。

注意：1）词数：100左右。

    2）参考词汇：图表 chart 招生 enrollment 改革开放 reform and opening up

They crossed in front of me as I was driving out of the store parking lot. I would be delayed for a whole ten seconds. However, I realized that it was an elderly couple who were briefly delaying my departure. No more anger.

         The man leaned on his wife who walked in front of him. He not only used her for support but it was obvious that he was blind．She was his eyes as well. The two of them worked as one----- each needing to function in this fast-changing world．

         That little example of true strength that day changed my whole personal perception of life. Suddenly I wasn’t so mad about having to work a few extra hours on Saturday. I had my strength, and I was still relatively young.

         That picture of those two elderly people walking with dignity and strength stayed with me the entire week. My life wasn’t so bad after all. I had my health and a good job．My wife always gave me good advice whenever I needed it. I started to think--- not wonderful old couple, who, despite the trials and hardships of a long life, still had the love and support of each other to carry them through this world．

         There are so many people out there just like that couple. My wife and I sometimes picture ourselves in our old age, walking arm-in-arm into the sunset. That image always gives us a warm feeling of comfort. Just remember, none of us would be here if it weren’t for our elders. We should spend an extra minute to listen and learn when it comes to helping our elder friends. They need it.

     1. What was the author’s first reaction when he was stopped by the old couple ?

        A．He showed great pity for the couple.

        B．He didn’t mind at all.

        C．He got angry at being delayed．

        D．He waited patiently.

     2. Before meeting the old couple, the author had a（n） ______attitude towards life.

        A．energetic        B．enthusiastic        C．doubtful     D．negative

     3. From the fourth paragraph, we can learn that ___________.

        A．the author once decided to change his job

        B．the author’s wife gave him lots of support

        C．old people are more likely to get impatient with others

        D．it is a bad thing to live a long life full of hardships

     4. The main message that the author wants to get across in the last paragraph is that ___________.

        A．everyone should live with dignity and strength

        B．we should be patient when dealing with old people

        C．old people can teach us many important lessons

        D．happiness lies in a positive attitude towards life

Einstein”s IQ =160 + What about yours?

 Intelligence Quotient

I.Q. stands for “Intelligence Quotient” which is a measure of a person's intelligence found by means of an intelligence test. Before marks gained in such a test can be useful as information about a person, they must be compared with some standard, or norm（规范）. It is not enough simply to know that a boy of thirteen has scored, say, ninety marks in a particular test. To know whether he is clever, average or dull, his marks must be compared with the average achieved by other boys of thirteen in that test.

In 1906 the psychologist, Alfred Binet （1857--1911）, devised the standard by which intelligence has since been assessed．Binet was asked to find a method of selecting all children in the schools of Paris who should be taken out of ordinary classes and put in special classes for defectives. The problem brought home to him the need for a standard for measuring intelligence, and he hit upon the very simple concept of “mental age”.

First of all, he invented a variety of tests and put large numbers of children of different ages through them. He then found at what age each test was passed by the average child．For instance, he found that the average child of seven could count backwards from 20 to 1 and the average child of three could repeat the sentence:" We are going to have a good time in the country ."Billet arranged the various tests in order of difficulty, and used them as a scale against which he could measure every individual. If, for example, a boy aged twelve could only do tests that were passed by the average boy of nine, Binet held that he was three years below average, and that he had a mental age of nine.

The concept of mental age provided Binet, and through him, other psychologists, with the required standard．It enabled him to state scores in intelligence tests in terms of a norm merely by subtracting（减去） the “mental” age of a child from his “chronological” age. Then the boy in the example given would be 'three years retarded'（迟缓、耽误）. Later the “mental ratio” was introduced; that is to say, the ratio of the mental age to the chronological age. Thus a boy of twelve with a mental age of nine has a mental ratio of 0.75.

The “mental age” measurement was then replaced by the more famous I.Q.（intelligence quotient）

1．To judge a child' s intelligence, his marks in a test must be compared with marks gained by _ _____________.

      A．others of the same age

B．children of different ages

      C．a number of children aged thirteen

      D．the same child at different ages

 2．The word “defective” refers to ________.

      A．average children                                      B．poor children 

C．children of low intelligence                      D．very intelligent children

 3．Binet used a large number of children in his tests because he wanted to find out________. 

      A．who were the most stupid                  B．the defectives

      C．what a bright child could do                D．a norm

 4．The purpose of I.Q. test is to find out ______________. 

      A．whether one has the intelligence of thirteen-year-old children 

      B．whether one is clever, average or dull

      C．whether one is mature enough for his age

      D．whether one is tall enough for his age

5．The I.Q. is___________________.

     A．the mental age divided by the chronological age and multiplied by a hundred

B．the mental age multiplied by the chronological age and divided by a hundred

     C．the chronological age divided by mental age and multiplied by a hundred

     D．the average age divided by the mental age and multiplied by a hundred．

The uncared-for baby is crying alone． The young man, suffering from a lack of sleep, wants to commit suicide．The marriage fails because of the husband’s obsessive （着迷的）behavior．

Is this just another story of social breakdown in the modern age? Not really．But they are the effects of a real social problem — Internet addiction （上瘾）, or, the Internet addiction disorder．There have been few long-term studies of this very 21st century illness．

But the increase of the obsession is obvious from the popularity of one game alone “Halo 2”． It is a first-person shooter developed by Budgie Studios for the Xbox video game console．By early 2005, 1 million players worldwide had clocked up an amazing 100 million hours on the game．

China has about 94 million regular Internet users． Of these, a survey suggested, 4．4 million are teenagers so addicted to it that they give little attention to everything else．

Video gamers who have gone too far show symptoms （症状）similar to those of alcohol and drug users．“The real world meant nothing to me when I was fully involved with online games．I lost my senses of time, space, hunger, pain, everything,” explained Liu Pinyi, a college dropout（辍学者）．She has treatment in Beijing for her addiction．

Experts say young people are attracted to video games partly because they are thrust right into the centre of the action．This allows them to overcome a lack of confidence which people at that age can often suffer from in reality．

China strengthened （加强） controls on computer games again this week, with the Ministry of Culture banning （取缔）nine online games．The ministry said it would also force game operators to technically clear away anything that could cause addiction．

1． By the first paragraph, the author means to _______．

A． warn Internet users of their problems

B． direct the readers to the topic of the passage

C． express his worries about problems in the modern age

D． show how serious the problems are if we use the Internet

2． The example of “Halo 2” is given to show _______．

A． how popular online games are

B． how interesting online games are

C． game players are easy to be addicted

D． game players are likely to drop out of college

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

A． Social Problems Caused by the Internet． 

B． College Students Harmed by the Internet．

   C． The Internet and Its Disadvantages．

D． The Internet Addiction Disorder． 

阅读下面的短文和问题，根据短文内容，在相应题号后的横线上写下相关信息（不多于五个单词），完成对该问题的回答。答语要结构正确，书写工整，字迹清楚。

We all love bubbles．They float through the air like little glass balls, shining with colors and light．

You can make bubbles with dishwashing soap and a paper cup．Soap makes the water stick together in a round shape． The bubbles you blow will be really big!

• A large bowl

• A spoon

• 4 cups of water

• 5 tablespoons of dishwashing soap 

• A pair of scissors

• A paper cup

1．Fill the bowl with the water．

2．Add the dishwashing soap into the water and mix them together．

3．Cut a small hole in the bottom of the paper cup．This is the hole that you will blow through．

4．Dip the top rim of the cup into the soapy water．Slowly lift the cup out of the bowl．There should be a thin “window” of soapy water filling the open space of the cup．

5．Slowly put your mouth up to the hole in the bottom of the cup．Gently blow air through the hole．A big bubble will rise into the air!

For a party, you can make a bowl of soapy water and a paper cup bubble-blower for each friend．Just think of how many bubbles you can make together!

1．What do bubbles look like? 

________________________________________

2．To blow more bubbles, which two steps should you do again?

 _______________________________________

3．What might be the topic of Paragraph 4? 

________________________________________

根据题目所提出的具体要求，写出一篇连贯完整的短文。

2009年10月1日是我们祖国的60岁生日。包括你在内的很多中学生参与了国庆志愿者服务工作。请根据下列提示描述你们所做的事情，并简单谈谈你的感想。可以适当添加细节。词数不少于60词。

提示词： 翻译interpreter; 游行parade

草稿区：

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

假设你是李华，今年暑假你参加了社会实践活动，去某旅行社当业余导游。请根据该旅行社提供的数据和你的所见所闻，用英语写一篇短文。

Number of people in City X traveling abroad in 1999, 2004 and 2009

       要求：1．简析表格，说明产生这种现象的原因；

2．结合漫画，谈谈境外旅游出现的问题；

3．针对所出现的问题简要阐述你的看法（至少两点）；

4．词数120左右。

Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.

Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished. For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns（角） had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds. A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

The Green Revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.

Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling, jealousy. The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay rise and she does not.

1. Greenhorn now refers to ____.

A．a person who is new in a job                     B．a new solider

C．a young horse                                         D．None of above

2. A person who has a green thumb is a person ____.

A．who is good at growing plants                     B．whose thumbs are in green color

C．whose garden is greener than others’         D．who is younger than his neighbors

3. The author is actually talking about ____.

A．colors                     B．language              C．politics                   D．agriculture 

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．In about the 16th century, a greenhorn meant an experienced soldier.

B．The Green Revolution may have some connection with green thumbs.

C．The green-eyed monster was probably created by William Shakespeare.

D．The green-eyed monster can be used to describe a person who is jealous.