There lived a king who liked art. One day an artist offered to paint the most beautiful picture in the world on the wall of his palace.　　

So the king said, " All right, you may work on one of the walls in the new hall. "

Just then, another artist said, "Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so the either of us cannot see the other. "　　

Everyone in the king's court, including the king and the first artist was surprised. So the king decided to give the man a chance.　　

The following day, a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil and water. But the second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day.　　

A month later the first artist said that his work was completed and invited the king to come. So the king sent the message to the second artist, saying he was coming to see their works that evening.　　

After seeing the first artist's wall, the king was very impressed with the painting and gave him a huge sum of money as a reward. He then asked for the curtain to be opened up.　

The same painting was seen on the opposite wall too! It was exactly like the one on the first wall. But this man had not seen what was going on, on the other side of the curtain. “How have you managed to do this?” asked the king.

The man said simply, "It's very easy. I just polished the wall every day! "　　

It was a wall made of white marble. The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror. The reflection of the painting across the room showed up in it!　　

56. A thick curtain was put upbetween the two walls in order to ________.

A. help them concentrate on their work

B. keep the first artist's painting a secret

C. prevent their paintings from being seen by other people

D. give the king a great surprise.

57. How was the king feeling when he saw the second wall?

A. Surprised and excited.                      B. Fascinated and doubtful.

C. Satisfied and curious.                     D. frightened and attracted

58. What would be best title of the text?　　

A. A king who loved art                B. Two artists and a king

C. Whose painting is better?             D. The paintings on the wall.

Q:

I’d like to know about fluency．What can I do to feel better when I’m talking to other people? Do you have some ways to learn it faster? Please help me!　　　—Roberto in Brazil

A:

Roberto wants to know how to become more fluent in English, and this is something you want to be able to do “fast”．

First, if you get to meet English speakers much, the important rule is to listen not just to native speakers of English, but also to very good users of English．If you don’t, then listen to the radio, TV or films in English．

The next step is to notice what it is that speakers of English do, which makes them sound fluent．The first trick(诀窍) is to probably have confidence．Some people think they might make mistakes．Don’t worry about that．Your listeners will usually try hard to understand you — a few grammar mistakes aren’t going to worry them．

What you do need to worry about is pronunciation, especially stress(重音)．When you learn a new word or expression, learn it with its stress．Notice how a native speaker says it or look it up in a dictionary．

Another good thing that speakers of English do is to have a few tricks up their sleeves(袖子) for when they need to give themselves thinking time．Sometimes they use “filler sounds” like er, um and so on．

It is also useful to know how to bring other speakers into your conversation so that you keep them interested － and this is often done by asking questions like “What do you think?” “How do you feel about this?” and so on．

So, to become a fluent speaker, you’ll need to put into practice all these kinds of things．And there’s the key: practise, practise, practise．　　　　　　　　　　　　　－Susan Fearn

56．Susan first encourages English learners to       ．

A．meet English speakers     B．listen to very good speakers

C．talk to English speakers   D．buy a radio or a TV set

57．When mentioning pronunciation, Susan pays special attention to    ．

A．stress B．expressions      C．dictionaries      D．words

58．What do the underlined words “to have a few tricks up their sleeves” probably mean?

A．To wear a lot of clothes．                   

B．To have a secret plan or idea．

C．To hide some tricks into their sleeves． 

D．To have sleeves covering their whole arms．

59．What do we know from the passage?

A．One can only learn stress from dictionaries．

B．Grammar mistakes worry one’s listeners a lot．

C．Asking questions can make one’s conversation attractive．

D．One can become fluent if one practises one of the suggestions．

第二节：完形填空（共20小题，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。
Once an Arab was traveling in the desert. When the sun went down in the west, he stopped and 36 his tent then, made a fire and have a37 meal. When night fell, he 38 down to sleep.
He had 39 fallen asleep when he felt a soft 40 on his elbow(手肘). He woke up to find that his camel had put his head inside the tent. The camel said: “Would you please let me keep my head in the tent to get warm? It is so cold outside. I will not take up too much 41 .”
The Arab was a 42 man, “All right, do as you 43 .” he said. Then he turned on his 44 and went back to sleep.
It wasn’t long 45 he felt a push on his shoulder. It was the camel again. “Dear master,” the camel said, “my head is quite warm now, but my neck is still cold. Do you mind 46 I keep it inside the tent, too?”
“ 47 .” the man said. But this time he felt a bit 48, as camel had such a long neck.
No sooner had he shut his eyes 49 he got a harder push in his side. This time the camel said, “will you please allow me to bring my front legs inside and warm then a little?”
The Arab 50 over to one side of the tent. He made 51 as small as he could. It was not 52 comfortable, and sleep was now out of 53 .Soon after that the camel gave his a rough push and said, “The tent is too small for the two of us. 54 , my two hind legs are still left in the cold. It is only 55 that you should leave the tent wholly to me.” And with that, the camel kicked the poor man out.
16. A. built                   B. made                       C. put up               D. set
17 A. simple                 B. rich                         C. excellent               D. ordinary
18. A. laid                    B. lay                           C. lied                       D. went
19. A. seldom               B. not                          C. almost                   D. hardly
20. A. touch                  B. beat                         C. kick                      D. bite
21. A. place                  B. tent                          C. room                    D. blanket
22. A. hard-hearted     B. kind-hearted             C. absent-mined         D. careless
23. A. please                 B. willing                     C. are like                 D. want
24. A. light                   B. head                        C. arm                      D. side
25. A. after                   B. before                      C. since                     D. then
26. A. whether                 B. as                            C. that                       D. if
27. A. Yes, of course      B. No, not at all           C. Don’t. please         D. No, you can.
28. A. crowded             B. comfortable           C. warmer             D. narrower
29. A. than           B. then                         C. when               D. after
30. A. went                   B. walked                     C. climbed              D. moved
31. A. the tent.                 B. himself                    C. room               D. ground
32. A. very                   B. much                       C. a lot                D. a little
33. A. question              B. the question              C. quite possible        D. possibility
34. A. Except                B. Besides                    C. After all             D. But
35. A. unfair                 B. wrong                      C. reasonable          D. right

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。  

Introduction to Letters to Sam

Dear Reader,

Please allow me to tell you something before you read this book. When my  36  ,Sam, was born, my heart was filled with joy. I had been sitting in a wheelchair for 20 years before then, and I have been  37  ill many times. So I wondered if I would have the  38  to tell Sam what I had  39  .

For years I have been hosting a program on the  40  and writing articles for a magazine. Being  41  to move freely, I have learned to sit still and keep my heart  42  , exchanging thoughts with thousands of listeners and   43  . So when Sam was born, I  44  to tell him about school and friendship, Romance and work, Love and everything else. That’s how I started to write these  45  . I hoped that Sam would  46  them sooner or later.

However, that expectation  47  when Sam showed signs of autism(自闭症)at the age of two. He had actually stopped talking before the discovery of the signs. He  48  to communicate with others, even the family members. That was  49   for me but didn’t stop me writing on. I realized that I had even  50  now to tell him. I wanted him to  51  what it means to be “different” from others, and learn how to fight against the misfortune he’ll  52   as I myself, his grandfather, did. I just  53   if I could write all that I wanted to say in the rest of my life.

Now,  54  the book has been published, I have been given the chance. Every chapter in the book is a letter to Sam: some about my life, and all about what it means to be a   55  .   

Daniel Gottlieb

A. son         B. nephew      C. brother     D. grandson

A. seriously    B. mentally      C. slightly     D. quietly

A. ability      B. time           C. courage     D. responsibility

A. written     B. suffered      C. observed    D. lost

A. radio       B. television      C. stage       D. bed

A. ready        B. unable     C. anxious    D. eager

A. warm         B. broken     C. closed        D. open

A. hosts       B. visitors        C. readers     D. reporters

A. began        B. stopped      C. forgot      D. decided

A. letters      B. emails      C. books      D. diaries

A. find            B. read            C. collect      D. keep

A. developed   B. disappeared   C. changed     D. arrived

A. tried       B. refused         C. regretted     D. hoped

A. exciting        B. acceptable      C. strange     D. heartbreaking

A. less        B. everything      C. more      D. nothing

A. understand   B. explain   C. believe     D. question

A. fear        B. face            C. know      D. cause

A. felt            B. guessed     C. saw       D. doubted

A. as          B. once            C. though     D. if

A. teacher    B. child      C. man       D. writer

第二节 完形填空 （共20小题：每小题1.5分，满分30分）

     请阅读西面短文，，掌握其大意，然后从36~55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项的标号涂黑。

Introduction to letters to Sam

Dear Reader,

     Please allow me to tell you something before you read this book. When my     36    ,Sam,was born , my heart was filled with joy . I had been sitting  in a wheelchair for 20 years before then ,and I have been     37     ill many times . So I wondered if I would have the

     38   to tell Sam what I had      39 .

     For years I have been hosting a program on the     40     and writing articles for a  magazine .  Being     41 to move freely , I have learned to sit still and keep my  heart    42   , exchanging thoughts with  thousands of listeners and     43  . So when Sam was born .I

     44   to tell him about school and fridship , romance and work , love and everything else . That how I started to write these     45     , I hope that Sam would     46     them sooner or later .

     However , that expectation     47   when  Sam showed aigns of autism (自闭症) at the age of two , He had actually stopped talking before the discovery of the signs . He    48   to communicate with others , even the family members . That was    49  for me but didn’t stop me writing on . I realized that I even    50  now to tell him . I wanted him to    51     what it means to be “diffenet” from others , and learn how to fight against the misfortune  he’ll    52   

as I myself .. his grandfather ,did ,I just     53  if  I could write all that I wanted to say in the rest of my life .

Now .   54    the book has been pubhshed . I have been given the chance , Every chapter in the book is a letter to Sam: some about my life .and all about what it means to be a     55  .

                                                               Daniel Gottlied

36.A.son     B. nephew  C.brother D.grandson

37.A.seriously     B.mentally   C. slightly        D.quictly

38. A.ability       B.time        C.courage          D.reaponsibuty

39. A.writen        B. sulfered   C.observed         D.lost

40. A. radio        B. television   C.stage  D.bed

41. A.ready         B.unable      C.anxious          D.cager

42. A.warm          B.broken      C.closed           D.open

43. A.hosts         B.vistors     C. readers         D.reportets

44. A.boon          B.stopped     C.forgot           D.decided

45.A.letters         B.emunls      C.books            D.diaries

46. A.bad        B. read       C. collecd         D.keep

47. A. decdoped     B.disappeared C. changed         D.arrived

48. A.ined          B.refused     C. regreed         D.hoped

49. A.exciting      B.aeceptable C.strange       D.heartherathing

50. A.less          B.eventhing  C.more             D.nothing

51. A. understand   B.explam      C.believe          D.question

52. A.fear          B.face        C. know            D.cause

53. A.felt          B.guessed     C.saw              D.doubted

54. A. as           B.once        C. thought         D.if

55. A.teacher       B. child      C. man             D.witct