B

It took me 16 years to realize that my black is beautiful. I have believed the fact that indeed my black is beautiful now. This skin I was in for so many years determined my self worth.

I had so many factors “against” me in my mind. I was a tall, thin, dark-skinned girl with a gap-toothed smile and a head full of curly (卷曲的) hair. Growing up, the only role model that I had was my mother, a beautiful brown and deep complexion (肤色). It’s amazing how I could find beauty in my mother’s complexion but not my own. One of the most outstanding memories of my childhood is that terrible word “Oh, she is so cute for a dark-skinned little girl”. People spoke as if I wasn’t in the room.

From a young age, I felt shame that my black wasn’t good enough; so I buried myself in books to stay away from the mirror. I knew that my education would and could take me further than my looks. I stopped watching TV, absorbed in my studies and I was happy with my decision. Now I have been admitted to my ideal Coppin State University, which is all for the black students and has a long history.

I came to a breaking point where I had, for 16 years, been brainwashed to agree to the European standard of beauty. I no longer accept this standard, because I set my own. My black is beautiful including my full lips, the wideness of nose, and the intensity (明亮) of my eyes. I refuse to follow their standard of beauty and they can set their sights elsewhere. I believe that there are plenty of beautiful dark-skinned women in the world.

4. When she was young, the author 　　　.

　　 A. thought that her skin was beautiful

　　 B. wasn’t satisfied with her own appearance　

　　 C. thought that her mother was not beautiful

　　 D. didn’t mind others’ opinions about her looks

5. We can learn from the text that 　　　.

　　 A. the author was a tall and thin girl with perfect teeth

　　 B. people praised the author for her attractive appearance　

　　 C. others always spoke ill of the author behind her back

　　 D. the author worked hard at her lessons and succeeded

6. How did the author break away from her unhappiness?　

　　 A. She focused her minds on her study.

　　 B. She watched TV and read a lot of books.

　　 C. She decided to take the college examination.

　　 D. She hid her mirrors where she couldn’t find them.

7. The text mainly tells us 　　　.

　　 A. dark-skinned women are often looked down upon

　　 B. black women are the most beautiful in the world

　　 C. the change of the author’s standard of beauty

　　 D. how the author’s skin helped her succeed

A

Teachers have so much to do with not enough time, and many of the things they need help with can be done right in your own home. This is a good way to have some fun with your children and show them your dedication to their education. Even if you’re not helping their teacher, your children will still see that you care.　

Some of the things I’ve done for my daughter’s elementary school are sharpening pencils for her classmates, gluing student portraits to construction paper, and cutting out flash cards. My daughter was eager to help with all of these projects, and they took us not more than an hour to complete each. Usually the teachers give you a few days to a week or sometimes more to complete them — so you can do this on your schedule. These are things your child can help with and can help the little ones with their math skills at the same time.

There are some more complicated (复杂的) projects that take a bit more time, but you’re not required to do those if you can’t spare the time. I am always on the computer, so I offered my time to update the PTA section of my daughter’s school website. It took a matter of minutes to get the training from our school librarian, who maintains (维护) the rest of the school website, and I could keep it updated in my sleeping dress at home. I’ve probably spent at most a half hour over the last year working on the website, and I still feel like I’m doing something for the school.

1. The underlined word “dedication” in Paragraph 1 probably means “　　　 ”.

　　 A. impression　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. determination　

　　 C. organization　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. contribution

2. According to the author, those take-home projects 　　　.

　　 A. never included sharpening pencils for a classmate

　　 B. usually took them at most an hour to complete each

　　 C. helped her gain much team work experience

　　 D. helped her develop a good relation with teachers

3. What can we learn from the text about the website project?

　　 A. It may take a week or so to complete.

　　 B. It is offered along with a computer.

　　 C. It requires some technical training.

　　 D. It can be completed in several minutes.

第三节 写作（满分30分）

假如你是李华，最近收到你的美国笔友Mike发来的电子邮件，向你询问有关新学校老师的情况，请你根据下列提示用英语写一封回信：

1. 简要介绍一位你喜欢的老师的外貌特征；

2. 简要说明喜欢这位老师的原因。

注意：词数120左右。

第二节 短文改错 (共10小题, 每小题1.5分, 满分15分)

短文中共有10处错误，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号(∧)，并在此符号下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线( \ )划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词的下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

　　　 2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

On my way home on the bus, I saw an old man to get on with his grandson. He was carrying the boy schoolbag and violin. I offered my seats to the old man at once. Therefore, the boy sat down first. The old man has to stand nearby. After a while, the boy shouted to her grandpa for water and then dropped the empty bottle over the bus. When I saw this, I got much angry. I think the boy should only respect and take care of the old man but also keep an environment clean.

第三部分 写作

第一节 单词拼写（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）

根据下列各句句意和空白之后的汉语提示词，写出对应单词的正确、完整形式，每空只写一词。

66. What’s your first 　　 (印象) of your new Chinese teacher?

67. How can you keep yourself 　　 (精力充沛的) all day?

68. I felt a bit 　　 (紧张的) when the plane took off.

69. As soon as they received the call, they set off 　　 (立刻).

70. I sent him an e-mail to 　　 (感激) his timely help when I was in trouble.

71. The thief has 　　 (承认) stealing the purse.

72. My teachers are very 　　 (耐心的) with us.

73. It took us two months to do the 　　 (科学的) experiment.

74. The party was well 　　 (有组织的) and everyone had a good time.

75. We were asked to write a one-page 　　 (摘要) of the report.

第二节 (共5小题; 每小题2分, 满分10分)

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

A rich man had a lazy son. He wanted him to know the importance of hard work. One day he said to his son, “Today, I want you to go out and earn something. 　　　　61　　　 ”

The boy was lazy and didn’t want to do any kind of work. He was so scared that he went crying straight to his mother. 　　　　62　　　 　In the evening when the father asked his son how much he had earned, the son gave him ten dollars. The father then asked him to throw it away. The son did as he was told.

The father knew that the ten dollars was given by the boy’s mother. The next day he sent his wife to her parents’ town and asked his son to go and earn something again. 　　　　63　　　 　The son had to go to the market.

One of the shopkeepers there told him that he would pay him ten dollars if he carried the heavy box to his house. 　　　　64　　　 　As he returned home tiredly and put the ten-dollar note before his father, he was asked to throw it again. The boy cried out.

At this moment, the man smiled. He told him that one feels the pain only when the fruits of hard labor are wasted. The son had now realized the value of hard work. 　　　　65　　　 　Then the father handed over the keys of his shop to the son.

D

The white swan (天鹅) is the most beautiful bird in the world. They are mostly quiet through their life. They float quietly on the water, unable to sing sweet songs like most other birds.

In ancient times, however, people believed that the swan was given a special gift of singing at the end of its life. The ancient Greek philosopher (哲学家) Socrates talked of this 2,300 years ago. Socrates explained that the swan was singing because it was happy and the bird was happy because it was going to serve the Greek god Apollo.

And the expression swan song has long been a part of the English language. At first, swan song meant the last work of a poet, musician or writer. Now, it means the final effort of any person. Someone’s swan song usually is also considered that person’s finest work.

Another expression with a similar meaning is the last hurrah. It may be used to describe a person’s final attempt to win the votes (投票). The last hurrah also can mean the last act of a politician.

Writer Edwin O’Connor made the expression popular in 1956. He wrote a book about the final years in his life of a long-time mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. He called his book The Last Hurrah.

Some language experts say the expression came from a name given to noisy supporters of Andrew Jackson, America’s seventh president. They cheered hurrah so loudly for Andrew Jackson that they became known as the hurrah boys.

57. In ancient times, people thought a swan 　　　.

　　 A. was looked after by the Greek god Apollo

　　 B. began to sing only when it was very glad

　　 C. would be given a gift by people when it died

　　 D. sang a most beautiful song before it died

58. If a musician says “this is my swan song”, he means 　　　.

　　 A. it is his best work　　　　　　　　　 B. he likes the swan best

　　 C. it is his first work　　　　　　　　　 D. he likes to listen to music

59. The phrase “the last hurrah” was widely known because of 　　　.

　　 A. Socrates　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Edwin O’Connor

　　 C. Andrew Jackson　　　　　　　　　　 D. the Greek god Apollo

60. What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?

　　 A. To explain why swans keep quiet all their life.

　　 B. To tell a story of American president Jackson.

　　 C. To request people to take care of swans.

　　 D. To introduce two interesting English expressions.

C

Read the advertisements carefully and answer the following questions.

53. Which hotel is the closest to the international Chicago airport?

　　 A. Cosmos Hotel.　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Jolly Alon Hotel.

　　 C. Zimbru Hotel.　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Arus Hotel.

54. What does the underlined word “hospitality” mean?

　　 A. Being helpful to friends. 　　　 B. Being friendly to visitors.

　　 C. Being honest with friends.　 　 D. Being careful with everyone.

55. Which of the following would most probably choose Cosmos Hotel?

　　 A. A professor who plans to hold a lecture.

　　 B. A college student who is preparing for his exam.

　　 C. A sports fan who wants to practice playing football.

　　 D. A rich man who wants to do business with foreigners.

56. We may read this article in 　　　.

　　 A. a newspaper　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. a storybook

　　 C. a science report　　　　　　　　　　　 D. a sports magazine

B

During my first day at senior high school, I met my new teacher. She looked at me and said, “I am happy to have an international student in my class.” I was very excited.

One day, I came to the class about three minutes late, and she told me to write my name on a piece of paper and, beside it, the word “late”. In that way she could know I was late for the first time. At first, I was embarrassed and angry. Then I did not complain because she taught me an important lesson: time is very valuable.

I learned another important lesson during one of my classes — the day of the first exam. After I finished my exam, I did not review my answers because it was the end of the exam time. One week later, she returned my exam paper. I found that one of my answers was wrong. Even though the only choices were A, B and C, I chose D instead of C. I tried to explain my mistake to her, “I marked D though I knew C was the right answer.” However, she refused my request and told me, “I do believe you, but I am not going to forgive your mistake. This will encourage you to be more careful before you turn your papers in.” I was not expecting that from her, but she was completely right.

49. The teacher told the writer to write his name to 　　　.

　　 A. force him to work hard　 　　　 B. test his writing style

　　 C. make him angry　 　　　　　　　　　 D. tell him the importance of time

50. Why did the writer choose D instead of C?

　　 A. D was the right answer.　　　　　 B. The exam time was short.

　　 C. It was just an accident. 　　　　　 D. He didn’t know the right answer.

51. The writer thought the teacher’s attitude to his request was 　　　.

　　 A. rude　　　　　　 B. bad　　　　　　　 C. unexpected 　　 D. wrong

52. What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?

　　 A. To praise his teacher very highly.

　　 B. To show how strict his teacher was.

　　 C. To tell us to be careful in exams.

　　 D. To tell his experience of studying abroad.