—Do you think it will be cool tomorrow?

      — ______. It has been too hot for a week.

      A. So it is        B. I’m afraid so      C. I hope so   D. Of course not

1Read the passage and fill the blanks with proper words (在短文的空格内填入适当的词，使内容通顺，每空格限填一词，首字母已给)

The Empire State Building(帝国大厦) has held a special place in the hearts of Americans since it was completed in 1931.It r___1__ more than 443 metres into the sky. For more than forty years , it was the tallest building in the world.

It has one hundred and three levels and six thousand five hundred windows. Visitors can ride in one of seventy-three elevators that take them from the b__2__ to very near the top of the building. Some of these elevators are very fast, reaching the eightieth floor in only forty-five seconds.

The heads of government of almost every n__3__ in the world have visited the Empire State Building. These important people are just a few of million who have ridden to the observation area near the top of the building each year. From there, visitors can see almost all of New York City. They can see the view a __4__ the Hudson River into the state of New Jersey. They can see ships in the East River.

Even if you have never visited New York, there is a good chance for you to see the Empire State Building. It has been photographed c __5__ times. It has even played parts in movies. One is about a huge ape(猿)that escapes and climbs to the top of the building. The movie is “King Kong”(金刚). It was made in 1933. The Empire State Building also appeared in the love story “An Affair to Remember”(金玉盟).Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr play a man and a woman who meet and fall in love on a ship. They are looking at the New York City skyline from the ship when they plan a future meeting.

 More recently, in “Sleepless in Seattle(西雅图未眠夜)”，two people in love agree to meet at the Observation Deck on Valentine’s Day(情人节). B__6__ do arrive, but one is a little later. They almost m __7___each other.

In the early nineteen seventies, the Empire State Building lost its place as the tallest building in New York. People in the city then had the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to look up to. Tragically that all changed on the morning of September 11,2001. Terrorists hijacked(劫持) passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers and destroyed them. The Empire State Building again has become the city’s tallest building.

Ms. LaRosa is a great teacher. She can answer almost any question that you have about any history topic and if she cannot, she will try her best to help you find the answer. Although she has a hearing aid(助听器., she does not let that prevent her from being a great teacher. She told the class about it on the first day and told us not to let it get in the way of our learning and not to treat her differently.
We all like her class, especially an activity which is called the station. Stations are when our tables of four or five become our groups and we go through four various activities, such as Ancient China, in which we need to put together a sentence and write it using ancient symbols. Each station needs about 40 minutes to complete.
Ms. LaRosa has a policy that not many teachers give a second thought to. That is writing in cursive (草书的.letters. She will provide you with various resources so that your cursive handwriting is the best that it can be. Ms. LaRosa always says that she has a reason for everything that she does. Recently we just understood her reason for supporting cursive handwriting. Cursive writing can force you to think in words but not in letters. Also it has been proven that people who write in cursive letters do better on tests.
Ms. LaRosa’s class gets to do various fun and exciting things. She also uses real examples from her own life, such as things that her daughter has done. Ms. LaRosa also has absolute trust in her students. She always leaves her purse on her desk.
Ms. LaRosa is a great person and a great teacher who is always there for you, and I feel like I can tell her anything.
【小题1】 Ms. LaRosa is a teacher with a good knowledge of history, isn’t she? （1 分.
__________, ___________________________________________________________.
【小题2】 What activity is especially liked by the students? （2分.
______________________________________________________________________.
【小题3】 How long do the students usually spend on each station? （2分.
_____________________________________________________________________.
【小题4】 Why does Ms. LaRosa support cursive handwriting? （2 分.
_____________________________________________________________________.
【小题5】 How does Ms. LaRosa usually teach her class? （2 分.
_____________________________________________________________________.
【小题6】What do you think makes Ms. LaRosa a great teacher? （3分.
_____________________________________________________________________.

Bamboo (竹子) is one of nature's (自然) most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist reported one bamboo plant which grew 1. 5 metres(4 feet) in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1, 000 kinds of bamboo.
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimetres wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimetres (1 foot) across. This plant also comes in different colours, from yellow to black to green.
Bamboo has been used to make many things such as hats and kitchen tools( 厨房用具). Because it is strong, bamboo is also used to build buildings.
Many Asian countries have used bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for buildings and supporting (支撑) new buildings and bridges while they are being built.
In Africa, poor farmers are taught how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap way to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water. Bamboo pipes( 管子) help poor farmers bring water to their thirsty fields without spending a lot of money.
【小题1】How is bamboo like grass?