Are you ready to do your bit to stop global warming? On Saturday, March 29, you will have a chance-to tell Toronto and the entire world that you are devoted to doing your part.
You can do it by turning off your lights during Earth Hour, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Started last year by the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney, Australia, Earth Hour this year is going international, with 17 cities signed up so far, including Toronto.
The challenge for us Torontonians will be to show we are as devoted to fighting global warming as Sydneysiders were last year. Of course, one hour of darkness isn't going to stop global warming. But the thinking behind Earth Hour is that it gets people personally involved(加入). Besides giving people a chance to show their concerns over climate change, the goal is to get them to start changing their wasteful habits. Did you know, for example, that your electronic devices(设备) that you think you've turned off are still drawing power if you leave them plugged in?
If you want to make a difference, sign up today and promise to turn off your lights when Earth Hour arrives on March 29. Persuade others to do their part. Start to think about changes that can be made in your home and your workplace that will cut down on waste and greenhouse gas.
【小题1】What can be the best title for the passage?

单词拼写(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)

I have no idea of the ___________(平均) size of classes in the UK.

Great changes have taken place in our country ___________(近来).

Good ________(准备) should be made before we have the important meeting.

Don’t feel e__________ about being different from others.

I would p________ playing outdoors to watching TV at home.

__________ (注意力集中) more on your work or you will be fired.

I found it difficult to keep my b________ on the icy road.

She performed the most c_________ task without a mistake.

I’m learning German, but I still can’t speak it p_________.

Children should be encouraged to be i____________ thinkers.

单词拼写(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)
【小题1】I have no idea of the ___________(平均) size of classes in the UK.
【小题2】Great changes have taken place in our country ___________(近来).
【小题3】Good ________(准备) should be made before we have the important meeting.
【小题4】Don’t feel e__________ about being different from others.
【小题5】I would p________ playing outdoors to watching TV at home.
【小题6】__________ (注意力集中) more on your work or you will be fired.
【小题7】I found it difficult to keep my b________ on the icy road.
【小题8】She performed the most c_________ task without a mistake.
【小题9】I’m learning German, but I still can’t speak it p_________.
【小题10】Children should be encouraged to be i____________ thinkers.

The professor’s house, big and untidy, stood alone at one end of a huge garden. The place was totally uncared for, quite __36__ and overgrown with all sorts of useless things. I __37__ my way through bushes and tall weeds to the front door and rang the bell.

I was glad that I found him. In twenty minutes he put me right on all the __38__ that had puzzled me. I was on the __39__ of leaving when I looked out of his study window and said, “You’re very fond of gardening, I see”

“No, I’m not,” he said. “__40__, I love this garden, though. It’s __41__ I always wanted it to be. I never touch it __42__ all.”

“It could be made lovely. It seems a pity to let all this ground go to __43__. But perhaps you don’t _ 44__ that way?” said I.

“I don’t. I lived here when I was a child, and I had   45  of gardening then. It was my father’s hobby, you see. Unfortunately, he wasn’t   46  _ enough to do it himself. My brother and I did all of it between us year after year. There was one right way and many wrong ways. Each blade (叶片) of grass was an enemy to be _ _47__ out by hand, not just cut off. I’ve spent a good part of life at work here.”

“I see. You took a dislike to it, and now you’re getting even！”

“I dislike it. Then, of course, I didn’t understand the effect it had. It used to __48__ me. It appeared in my __49__ ——— a mistake here, something not quite straight here, the enemy showing its head in a place I was __50__ to have cleaned. The work was too much. It seemed endless. The size of the place was itself a fight to a boy.”

“And now it’s yours, you’re just letting it go to ...”

“__51__?” he said. “No, I don’t agree with that. This garden and I are now the best friends. I like  _52__ it grow in its own way. I make no __53__ on it. I never disturb it, and it never disturbs me. It has _ 54__ at last, and so have I.”

“But the path is over grown. It’s __55__ for you, isn’t it?”

“That’s part of my pleasure，” he laughed. “You can go out the back way. The weeds are shorter there because they don’t get the sun.”                             

1.                A．wild           B．crazy           C．large D．nice

2.                A．lost            B．felt            C．made D．took

3.                A．gardening       B．problems       C．plants    D．solution

4.                A．time           B．request         C．permission    D．point

5.                A．Even so         B．So             C．As though D．Even if

6.                A．where         B．as             C．why D．whether

7.                A．after           B．of             C．at   D．in

8.                A．desert         B．trouble         C．garden   D．waste

9.                A．recognize       B．observe        C．know D．see

10.               A．much          B．enough         C．something D．nothing

11.               A．interested      B．excited         C．fit    D．demanding

12.               A．fought         B．ruled          C．rooted    D．cut

13.               A．worry          B．shock          C．astonish   D．disappoint

14.               A．life            B．dreams         C．house D．hands

15.               A．thought        B．expected       C．ordered   D．supposed

16.               A．Ruin           B．Develop        C．Grow D．Sell

17.               A．watching       B．attending       C．watering   D．noticing

18.               A．comments      B．difference      C．sense D．demands

19.               A．time           B．freedom        C．sunlight   D．space

20.               A．important       B．useless         C．inconvenient   D．previous

Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman
Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's most famous work, might be updated, 200 years on.
Austen's popularity is rooted in her intelligence. But today she would certainly have had a very different life, as would her characters. Here's my own suggestion. . .
It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men, however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.
" My dear husband," said his hopeful wife one day, " have you heard that the local store, standing empty for so long, is taken over by a bright young businesswoman?"
Her dull and indifferent (漠不关心的) husband replied that he had not. "But it is, it is," she replied excitedly. Mr Dull-Husband made no reply.
"Don't you want to know her plans?" she cried with some impatience.
"Well, clearly you think it matters to your silly little head. .. so I'd better listen. "
"Well, my dear, the rumour (传言) is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England, though how a woman can know anything about that is beyond me. She will move in herself next month. " "What is her name?" "Bingley. "
"Is she married or single?"
"What a question! And none of your business. But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys. " "How so? How can it possibly affect them? "
"My dear love; those lazy boys need something to wake them up. There are bound to be jobs going. "
" Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place. "
" Nonsense, my love, how little you've noticed the world has changed. She's got a first-rate degree and some sort of business qualification, I'm told. She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call. "
" Me? No. Perhaps you can take an interest. You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job. " "Oh, that's not likely. These new chances belong to the younger generation. But now you mention it, I think I'll go along all the same. "
And Mrs Bennet went along. That was 10 years ago. She is now managing director of a FTSE-listed company.
... It would remain the case, of course, that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues, her bonus of a more "female" dimension and her lifespan (年限) among the city's business leaders shorter than theirs. Still, she'd no doubt have enjoyed Davos—and might even have hobnobbed (攀谈) with influential figures.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?