There are good Santas and there are bad Santas. The good Santas all realize one thing: In the mind of a child, Santa Claus is perfect.

That’s difficult. And so they come from around the world to attend the Charles W. Howard School in Midland, Mich. The school offers a three-day, 40-hour course for Santas hoping to be excellent. There’s a real range to what Santas earn, from big bucks for large events to no pay for charities^①. One thing for them all is a pure love for children.

A former Macy’s Santa named Charles Howard founded the Michigan school in 1937. “Many people will think if you have a suit and you’re a Santa,” said Tom Valent, the school’s current dean. “It’s more than that.” So with a pet reindeer^②, his properly named wife Holly and a workshop full of wonder.

The school teaches everything from breathing techniques for carol singing to the beard maintenance. There are lessons in child psychology, sign language and even media training for talk-show appearances and call-in shows. Santas also need to make sure they know all the names of the reindeer. What’s harder to deal with, however, is children who ask for Christmas gifts like bringing daddy home or making mommy happy again.

After spending time in the classroom, Weir went to the mall to test his training. However, at one point, his hat fell off, and he was unsure how to react. “You’re the real Santa,” Valent said. “Pick that hat up, slip it back on, keep smiling and do your job. You’ve got to stay on top of your game. Even the last one at night, when you’re tired, you’ve got to remember: This one’s forever, so do a good job.”

Notes:

charity  n. 慈善，慈善团体

reindeer  n. 驯鹿

According to the passage, good Santas should be the ones that ________.

        A. can offer the children some gifts        B. help adults look after their children

        C. have ability to make children happy     D. should be perfect in the mind of children

The underlined words “big bucks” should refer to ________.

        A. lots of money   B. many gifts    C. loves for children    D. gifts from children

The Michigan school was founded by Charles Howard with the purpose to ________.

        A. train the pet reindeer for the Santas       B. earned money from its students

        C. train perfect Santas for the world         D. show the world’s concern to the poor

According to Weir’s performance, we can conclude that ________.

        A. Weir was short of experience            B. Weir was not fit for the job as a Santa

        C. Weir did very badly in the game         D. Weir was not a good student in school

第二卷（共35分） 非选择题 .

第四部分：写作（共两节，满分35分）

第一节：对话填空（共20小题：每小题1分，满分10分）

请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，在答题卡上标有题号的横线上，写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

J =" Jackie  " L = Lisa

J: Warm day，isn’t it?

L: Yes, it's the (76) w      winter we have ever had.

J: In my childhood, we often had snow in winter, but these years, I (77) s                   ­see it

L: What do you think caused the (78) c      to change so much?

J: I think it is what we call green-house effect. Countries build factories to develop their economy, but they (79) p      a lot of waste gas into the air without being (80) t      .

L: And the cars also have (81) c      to the changes in the temperature all around the world

J: I couldn't agree more. If the temperature (82) c       to go up , the sea level would rise and some (83) c      cities would disappear.

L: Sounds terrible. We must do something about it.

J: (84)  L_____ , governments of many countries have realized that and are taking

(85) a      to prevent the pollution.

L: I am happy to hear that

This is What a REAL Silver Dollar Looks Like

 If you trust in the yen, the euro, and the dollar... stop reading.

Because this is a story about the silver coin EVERYBODY wants.

You read the headlines. You know that troubled economic times have put global currency on a rollercoaster ( ride. But millions have found a smarter way to build long-term value with high-grade collectable silver. And right now, those people are lining up to secure some of the last 2012 U. S. Mint Silver Eagles, America's Newest Silver Eagle Dollars. Today, you can graduate to the front of that line. Buy now and you can own these brilliant uncirculated Silver Dollars for only $38.95!

You Can't Afford to Lose

Why are we releasing (发行) this silver dollar for such a remarkable price? Because we want to introduce you to what hundreds of thousands of smart collectors and satisfied customers have known since 1984—New York Mint is the place to find the world's finest high-grade coins. That's why we're offering you this Brilliant Uncirculated 2012 U. S. Silver Eagle for as little as $37.45 (plus s/h).

Timing is Everything

Our advice? Keep this to yourself. Because the more people who know about this offer, the worse it is for you. Demand for Silver Eagles in 2011 broke records. Experts predict that 2012 Silver Eagles may break them all over again. Due to rapid changes in the price of silver, prices may be higher or lower and are subject to(受...影响)  change without notice. Supplies are limited. Call immediately to add these Silver Eagles to your holdings before it's too late.

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2012 American Silver Eagle Coin

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Please mention this code when you call.

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Burnsville, Minnesota 55337

www. NewYorkMint. com

64. What is stressed in the ad?

A. The coin is of high quality and worth collecting.

B. The coin can be circulated as a currency.

C. Limited supplies guarantee a stable price of the coin.

D. Demand for the coin is bound to break records.

65. If you buy six 2012 U. S. Mint Silver Eagles by post, you should pay at least ____.

A. $230.7       B. $233.7       C. $240.7       D. $243.7

66. The ad strongly encourages people to purchase the silver coins by ____.

A. shopping online  B. making a phone call

C. lining up in front of the stores   D. writing to the company

请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，在标有题号的右边横线上，写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

M: Well, this is it! What do you think of it?

W: I can hardly believe it's real. I've (76)d        of seeing it ever since       _________

 I saw it in books when I was a child. Just thinking of all this being built

 by hand more than 2,000 years ago! No (77)w       it's one of the      _________

wonders of the world.

M: (78) A      the started building is more than 2,500 years ago when   _________

 China was divided into (79)v      states. Three of the northern states   _________

 built defensive walls along their borders to keep (80)o       the enemies.

._________

W. But I always thought the wall had been built by Qin Shihuang, the first

   (81) E       of China.                                                                 _________

M: Well, yes. In the way, you see, he united the(82)w      country in the_________

 third century B. C. and one of the things he did was to join the (83)s    _________

walls into one big wall and to build more walls from the east coast right

across the length of north China to the west.

W: It is certainly something any nation could be proud of. I hear this is the

 only human(84)c       on the earth that can be seen from the moon.    _________

 By the way, how tall is the wall?

M: The average (85) h       is 7.8 meters; the average width is 6.5 meters_________

 at the base and 4.5 meters at the top. Would you like to go up to the top?

W: Yes! I'd like to have a look from the top.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
From its opening lines – “ ‘You my lucky piece,’ Grandma says.... Her hand is wrapped around mine” – Heidi W. Durrow pulls us into her first novel, a moving story encircling us as firmly as that protective grandmotherly grip.
When we meet Rachel Morse, the daughter of an African-American GI and a Danish woman, she is just moving into the Portland, Oregon., home of her strong-minded paternal grandmother and her warm, classy Aunt Loretta. We soon learn that Rachel has survived a fall from a nine-story apartment building in which her mother, brother, and baby sister all died. Three months earlier, Rachel’s mother had left her alcoholic husband in Germany, following her “orange-haired” lover to Chicago. But Nella hadn’t been prepared for boyfriend’s drinking and racism, or for the looks and questions she gets as the mother of three brown children.
Rachel’s “new-girl feeling” in her grandmother’s home goes beyond her recent tragedy. Having grown up with a Scandinavian mother in the more colorblind society of an overseas Army base, this is her first time in a mostly black community. Her light-brown skin, “fuzzy” hair, and blue eyes raise questions about her racial identity that are entirely new and puzzling to her.
Starting sixth grade in her new school, Rachel notes, “There are fifteen black people in the class and seven white people. And there’s me. There’s another girl who sits in the back. Her name is Carmen LaGuardia, and she has hair like mine, my same color skin, and she counts as black. I don’t understand how, but she seems to know.” Several years later, in high school, her status remains uncertain. “They call me an Oreo. I don’t want to be white. Sometimes I want to go back to being what I was. I want to be nothing.”
Winner of the Bellwether Prize, created by Barbara Kingsolver to celebrate fiction that addresses issues of social injustice, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” comes at a time when bi-racial and multicultural identity – so markedly represented by President Obama – is especially topical.
But set in the 1980s and focusing on one unusually sympathetic girl overcoming family tragedy and feeling her way through racial tensions, Durrow’s novel surpasses topicality.
Like Rachel, Durrow is the light-brown-skinned, blue-eyed daughter of a Danish mother and an African-American father enlisted in the Air Force. With degrees from Stanford, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School, it’s no wonder she gives her heroine discipline and brains.
Rachel’s life, however, is clearly not Durrow’s. No, there’s alcohol and drug addiction; deaths by fire, trauma, and infection. There are mothers who lose their children, and a saintly drug counselor who loses his beloved girl-friend. Through it all, what makes Durrow’s novel soar is her masterful sense of voice, her assured, delicate handling of complex racial issues – and her heart.
After hearing the blues music for the first time, Rachel feels what her mother called hyggeligt – “something like comfort and home and love all rolled into one.” She wonders what might have happened if her mother had known about such soulful music, “that sometimes there’s a way to take the sadness and turn it into a beautiful song.”
This, of course, is precisely what Durrow has done in this powerful book: taken sadness and turned it into a beautiful song.
60. What should be the direct cause of Rachel coming to Portland, Oregon?
A. Her mother left her alcoholic father.
B. A deadly tragedy happened to her family.
C. Her grandmother wants her to come and stay with her.
D. There was too much racism where she used to live with her mother.
61. Durrow’s life is different from Rachel’s in that _____________.
A. Durrow has to struggle through her life, depending on herself.
B. Durrow is troubled in her life by racism, living in a poor neighborhood.
C. Durrow has come through life much easier, with a better family background.
D. There’s alcohol and drug addiction in Durrow’s suffering-laden neighborhood.
62. Why does the writer of the book review mention President Obama in this writing?
A. To show the progress in America’s black community.
B. To highlight the racial harmony in the United States.
C. To indicate Obama’s influence in helping Durrow win the Bellwether Prize.
D. To remind readers of the background when the novel was written and won the Bellwether Prize.
63. The blues music Rachel hears is, deep at the bottom of her heart, most suggestive of ______.
A. bravery          B. hope           C. sadness         D. beauty