Among professional basketball players，Jeremy Lin’s background is not typical.He graduated from Harvard University，which sends few players to the NBA，and he is the only Chinese?American NBA player.But when you watch him on the court，there is no doubt that he belongs there.He moves with speed and grace(魅力) that show years of faithful practice，which is fueled by a love for basketball.

The Family Effect

Lin’s enjoyment of basketball actually began in Taiwan，where his father started watching it.Lin’s father moved to U．S.，and his interest in the sport only grew.He passed on this love of basketball to his son，introducing him to the game at the age of five.The young Lin spent much of his youth playing basketball for fun.After each game，his parents would discuss not only his score but also his conduct toward other players.This taught Lin that character was more important than playing well，a lesson he still remembers.

Rise of a Star

In high school，Lin dreamed of playing in the NBA but did not really expect to do so.When he applied for college，he was not offered a single sports scholarship.However，after his admission to Harvard，he was offered a place on its college basketball team.During Lin’s time at Harvard，his basketball career began to take off.He scored 1,482 points，making him one of the highest scorers in Ivy League history.Eventually，the recognition he received led him to suspect that his NBA dream could come true.

When he first graduated，no professional teams offered Lin a contract(合约)，but he was invited to play in the NBA Summer League.He played well and ended up eagerly signing a contract with the Golden State Warriors.

Life in the NBA

His journey in NBA did not go very well at first.He spent most of his time on the bench during the past two seasons.He constantly compared himself to other players and gave himself no time to rest up.For the first time in his life，he no longer enjoyed playing basketball.After a few very difficult months，he realized that much of his anxiety and stress came from self?centered desires like wanting to be famous.So he transformed his attitude.He never stopped practicing and never gave up any slim chance.

Now he has become the NBA’s latest phenomenon after leading the New York Knicks to seven straight wins.He stays_humble and thinks that the credit for the winning goes to everyone in his team.Knicks fans developed nicknames for him，such as “Linsanity”，“Lincredible”，and “Linderella”．The Associated Press called Lin “the most surprising story in the NBA”．

1.Which of the following is TRUE of Jeremy Lin?

A．He was born in U．S.

B．He was sure of his NBA dream in high school.

C．He loves playing basketball all the time.

D．He was coldly received when he first came to NBA.

2.The underlined phrase “stays humble” in the last paragraph means ________.

A．tries his best? B．is modest

C．keeps working hard? D．faces the difficulties

3.What can we learn from Jeremy Lin?

A．Hard work brings success.

B．We must have a father like Jeremy’s.

C．A good university can help us realize our dreams.

D．Team honour is more important than our own success.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A．What Is Next for Jeremy Lin?

B．Jeremy Lin’s Tips for Success

C．Following Dreams and Finding Joy

D．Six NBA Teams Eyeing Jeremy Lin

The triathlon(铁人三项运动) promises to be one of the most popular Olympic sports.Recently it has drawn huge crowds attracted by athletes swimming 1,500m，cycling 40km，then running 10km without stopping.But what makes an attractive 17?year?old girl give up everything for the doubtful pleasure it offers?

Melanie Sears has not yet learnt those often?repeated phrases about personal satisfaction，mental challenge and higher targets that most athletes use when asked similar questions.“You swim for 1,500m，then run out of the water and jump on your bike，still wet.Of course，then you freeze.When the 40km cycle ride is over，you have to run 10km，which is a long way when you’re feeling exhausted.But it’s great fun，and all worth it in the end，” she says.

Melanie entered her first triathlon at 14 and she won the junior section.Full of confidence，she entered the National Championships，and although she had the second fastest swim and the fastest run，she came nowhere.“I was following this man and suddenly we came to the sea.We realised then that we had gone wrong.I ended up cycling 20 kilometres too far.I cried all the way through the running.”

But she did not give up and was determined that she never will.“Sometimes I wish I could stop，because then the pain would be over，but I am afraid that if I let myself stop just once，I would be tempted(诱惑) to do it again.”Such doggedness draws admiration from Steve Trew，the sport’s director of coaching.“I’ve just been testing her fitness，” he says, “and she worked so hard on the running machine that it finally threw her off and into a wall.She had given it everything，and she just kept on.”

Melanie was top junior in this year’s European Triathlon Championships，finishing 13th.“I was almost as good as the top three in swimming and running，but much slower in cycling.That’s why I’m working very hard at it.” She is trying to talk her long?suffering parents，who will carry the ￡1,300 cost of her trip to New Zealand for this year’s world championships，into buying a ￡2,000 bike，so she can try 25km and 100km races later this year.

But there is another price to pay.“I don’t have a social life，”she says.“After two hours’ hard swimming on Friday night，I just want to go to sleep.But I phone and write to the other girls in the team.” What does she talk about？Boys？Clothes？“No，what sort of times they are achieving.”

1.How does Melanie differ from other athletes，according to the writer?

A．She worries less than they do.

B．She expresses herself differently.

C．Her family background is not like theirs.

D．Her aims are different from theirs.

2.What upset Melanie during the National Championships?

A．She was tricked by another competitor.

B．She felt she had let her team?mates down.

C．She made a mistake during part of the race.

D．She realized she couldn’t cycle as fast as she thought.

3.What is Melanie trying to persuade her parents to do?

A．Buy an expensive bike for her.

B．Give her half the cost of a bike.

C．Let her compete in longer races.

D．Pay for her to go to New Zealand.

4.What does Melanie say about her relationships with her team?mates?

A．She would like to see them more often.

B．She only discusses the triathlon with them.

C．She thinks they find her way of life strange.

D．She dislikes discussing boys or clothes with them.

Scott Langteau has this message for kids：spend less time playing video games.

It’s a message that many a mom and dad have tried to impress upon many a youngster (and some not?so?youngsters) who spend perhaps a bit too much time with game controllers in hand.

But the 40?year?old Langteau isn’t a parent.He’s a veteran (老手) of the video game industry—one who played producer on three “Medal of Honor” games and cofounded his own game development company.

Langteau has just published a children’s books called Sofa Boy，which tells the story of a kid who spends too much time sitting on the couch with controller clutched in hand and the rather terrible consequences that follow.

It’s a fairy tale plucked straight from Langteau’s own experiences as a lad with a fondness for video games and his own bouts with a bit of game addiction.But first，Langteau would like to make one thing clear，“I’m not saying that you shouldn’t play video games.I think video games are great.I think they do great things for kids.”Instead，Langteau says his book is all about a little something called moderation (克制)．

“It’s about being well rounded，” he says.“Just like with anything else，we all need to make sure that there’s a variety in what we do.”

Video gamers can be rather bad?tempered when it comes to accepting criticism about their favorite entertainment.And understandably so.After all，most people who go around talking about the dangers of playing video games tend to be outsiders—people who don’t play video games and certainly don’t understand that they can be a valuable and healthy form of entertainment.

But Langteau and Sofa Boy seem to be in a? unique position to deliver a message of gaming moderation that the young game masses might actually listen to.After all，this is a man who understands what it means to be a kid with a passion for games.His early experience has taught him a lesson.

1. Scott Langteau published Sofa Boy to________.

A．share his great skills on games

B．warn kids against game addiction

C．tell about his fairy tale as a kid

D．deliver a message for video games

2. Which of the following is TRUE about Sofa Boy?

A．The book implies the writer’s own story.

B．The book describes a veteran of games.

C．The boy in the book wins a medal in games.

D．The boy in the book is not a video game addict.

3. We can learn from the passage that________.

A．Langteau advises the young to play games within limits

B．Langteau advises the young not to play games

C．playing video games ruins the future of kids

D．playing video games doesn’t benefit kids

4.By saying “It’s about being well rounded，...” (in Para.6)，Langteau means________.

A．games do great good to kids

B．gamers are usually fat and round

C．games should be viewed from all sides

D．gamers are to blame for their behaviors

The cultures of the East and the West really disting?uish from each other a lot.This is because the culture systems are two separate systems ____.

The origin of the eastern cultures is mainly from two countries：China and India.Both of the two cultures are gestated(孕育) by ___.In China，the mother river is the Yellow River ___ the Indian one is the Hindu River.These two cultures were ____ for several thousand years and formed their own styles.Then in the Tang Dynasty of China，the Chinese culture ____ went overseas to Japan，____ into the Japanese society and ___ the Japanese culture nowadays.Though a bit different from the Chinese one，it ____ to the same system.

When the two mother rivers gave birth to the eastern culture，another famous culture was ____ on the Mesopotamian Plain(美索不达米亚平原)—the Mesopotamian Civilization.This civilization later on developed into the cultures of the Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.And these two are well?known as the ____ of the European culture.____ the Chinese culture，the European one also ____ waters.When the colonists of England ____ in America，their culture went with them over the Atlantic Ocean.So the American culture doesn’t ___ from the European one a lot.

At the same time，the ____ of the language systems adds to the cultural differences.In the East，most languages belong to the pictographic(象形文字的) languages while the Western languages are ____ based on the Latin system，for example，the one I’m using to write this paper.

Other factors like human race difference ____ as well.However，___ the far distance and the steep areas between the East and West，the two cultures seldom ___ until recent centuries.____ they grew up totally in their own ways with almost no interference(干扰) from the other.

1.A.above all? B．on the whole

C．in all? D．in no case

2.A.mountains? B．plains

C．lakes? D．rivers

3.A.or? B．for

C．while? D．when

4.A.developed? B．improved

C．created? D．protected

5.．A.suddenly? B．quietly

C．gradually? D．naturally

6.A.mixed? B．changed

C．decided? D．forced

7.A.expanded? B．interrupted

C．influenced? D．shaped

8.A.comes? B．belongs

C．amounts D．adds

9.A.brought up? B．carried out

C．given out? D．picked up

10.A.result? B．sign

C．base? D．content

11.A.Via? B．Except

C．With D．Like

12.A.affected? B．spread

C．crossed? D．formed

13.A.joined up? B．went up

C．broke down? D．settled down

14.A.come? B．suffer

C．result? D．differ

15.．A.difference? B．development

C．appearance? D．feature

16.A.properly? B．partly

C．simply? D．mostly

17.A.last? B．count

C．reduce? D．change

18.A.in terms of? B．due to

C．as to? D．in case of

19.A.transform? B．display

C．communicate? D．distinguish

20.A.Furthermore? B．Meanwhile

C．Therefore D．However

Should you stay at home to look after your child，or return to work?

Maybe you don’t have the option.Combining work and motherhood is an issue faced by increasing numbers of women every day.

New research for the Institute for Economic and Social Research could solve this quandary once and for all.In short，it concludes that going back to work after the birth of a child can have a negative impact on the child’s development—unless you have lots of money.

“Growing up in a family in which the mother chooses to work appears to have some adverse consequences for children’s welfare，” the research says.However，it adds that extra money brought in by both parents can reduce the negative effect.The negative effect is also less apparent in children of better?educated mothers.

The research by John Ermisch and Marco Francesconi is especially downbeat about welfare to work programmes，and especially，the prospects for the children of some single parents.

“It is hard to see anything but gloomy (阴暗的) prospects for the children of single parents (who are generally poor)，” the researchers said.This is because in a common family where both parents work，extra money brought in by the mother’s working would compensate for less time spent with the children.

In contrast，the researchers said the effects of paternal (父亲的) employment were far more modest，but this did not mean that fathers had no role in shaping their children’s welfare.Money brought in by the father would be a major resource for helping children develop.

The research says，however，that before parents get too carried away by worrying about working，there are more important issues facing a child’s development.Parents’ personalities and emotional stability，parenting practices，and the friends and networks that children experience while growing up will be much bigger factors than whether their mothers work.

1.The extra money brought in by both parents________.

A．plays different roles in shaping a child’s welfare

B．can reduce the negative effect on a child

C．has negative effect on a child’s development

D．may damage the life of children

2.The researchers would agree that________.

A．mothers should keep a balance between work and family life

B．the more money mothers make，the worse their children will be

C．mothers should make as much money as they can

D．it would be better for mothers to be with children at home

3.We can conclude from the passage that________.

A．it doesn’t matter how? much money a father brings home

B．education is the only factor in shaping a child’s welfare

C．money made by mothers can also contribute to a child’s well?being

D．mothers’ income can have a deeper effect on a child’s development

4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Whether mothers work is not worth considering.

B．The research shows family stability is important.

C．Parents should stop worrying about working.

D．More important factors are involved in a child’s development.

I’ve always known my kids use digital communications gear (装置) a lot.But my cellphone bill last month really grabbed my attention.My son had come up to nearly 2,000 incoming text messages，and had sent nearly as many.Of course，he was out of school for the summer and communicating more with friends from a distance.Nevertheless，he found time to hold down a summer job and complete a college course in between all that typing with his thumb.

I was even more surprised to learn that my son is normal.“Teenagers with cellphones each send and receive 2,272 text messages a month on average，” Nielsen Mobile says.

Some experts regret that all that? keyboard jabber is making our kids stupid，unable to read non?verbal cues such as facial expressions，gestures，posture and other silent signals of mood and attitude.Unlike phones，text messaging doesn’t even allow transmission of tone of voice or pauses，says Mark Bauerlein，author of a book called The Dumbest Generation：How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future.

Beyond that，though，I’m not sure I see as much harm as critics of this trend.I’ve posted before on how I initially tried to control my kids’ texting.But over time，I have seen my son suffer no apparent ill effects，and he gains a big benefit，of easy，continuing contact with others.

I don’t think texting make kids stupid.It may make them annoying，when they try to text and talk to you at the same time.And it may make them distracted，when buzzing text messages interrupt efforts to noodle out a math problem or finish reading for school.

But I don’t see texting harming teens’ability to communicate.My son is as accustomed to nonverbal cues as any older members of our family.I have found him more engaged and easier to communicate with from a great distance，because he is constantly available via text message and responds with faithfulness and speed.

1.What does the underlined word “distracted” in the fifth paragraph mean?

A．Confused.? B．Absent?minded.

C．Comfortable.? D．Bad?tempered.

2.What would be the best title for this passage?

A．For Teens，Texting Instead of Talking

B．For Parents，Caring Much for Their Kids

C．Advantages and Disadvantages of Texting

D．The Effect of Communication

3.The author’s attitude towards texting is________.

A．objective? B．opposed

C．supportive? D．doubtful

4.According to the passage，which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．It is normal for a teen to send or receive 60 text messages a day.

B．Texting is a very popular way of communication among teens.

C．When texting，teens never mind talking with others.

D．The writer limited his son to send or receive text messages at first.

When I was 12，all I wanted was a signet(图章) ring.They were the “in” thing and it seemed every girl except me had one.On my 13th birthday，my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials(姓名首字母) carved into it.I was in heaven.

What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn’t being “replaced”．We’d been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything—so most of the “new” stuff(东西) we got was really just to replace what we’d lost.But not my ring.My ring was new.

Then，only one month later，I lost it.I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning.I was sad and searched everywhere for it.But it seemed to have disappeared.Eventually，I gave up and stopped looking for it.And two years later，we sold the house and moved away.

Years passed，and a couple of moves later，I was visiting my parents’ when Mum told me that she had something for me.It wasn’t my birthday，nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other gift?giving occasion.Mum noticed my questioning look.“You’ll recognize this one，” she said，smiling.

Then she handed me a small ring box.I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside.

The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations，which included replacing the carpets.When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom，they found the ring.As it had my initials carved into it，they realized who owned the ring.They’d had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother.

And it still fits me.(2013·福建，A)

1.The underlined word “in” in the first paragraph probably means “________”．

A．fashionable? B．available

C．practical? D．renewable

2. When she got the ring back，the writer was about ________.

A．13 years old? B．15 years old

C．26 years old? D．28 years old

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

A．The writer’s family moved several times.

B．The writer never stopped looking for her ring.

C．The writer’s ring was cleaned up by the new house owner.

D．The writer lost her ring in the morning when she took it off.

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

A．My New Ring? B．Lost and Found

C．Lost and Replaced? D．An Expensive Ring

I________to my cousin’s birthday party last night，but I was not available. (2013·安徽，28)

A．went? B．had gone

C．would go? D．would have gone

It ________be the vocabulary that caused you the problem in the exercise because you know a lot of words.????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? (2013·安徽，34)

A．may B．couldn’t

C．should? D．needn’t

I should not have laughed if I________you were serious.(2013·江苏，30)

A．thought? B．would think

C．had thought? D．have thought