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。

Jack used to miss his classes very often. One day, the teacher decided to drive him away. 　　　　16　　　　

Jack arrived just as the teacher was about to go for lunch.

“Is this the time to come?” said the teacher seriously.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said Jack, “but I got to school very late today. 　　　　17　　　　 ”

“Some gold coins?” said the teacher with his eyes wide open. “Oh, what are you going to do with them?”

“I decided to build a large house, and buy lots of land and several sheep to keep,” said the student. “　　　　 18　　　　 ”

The teacher was pleased and invited Jack to eat with him. The young boy enjoyed the food but the teacher hardly touched his food. 　　　　19　　　　

“I hope you’ve kept the gold coins in a safe place,” the teacher said.

“I never got a chance to do that,” said Jack. “It disappeared when my mother shook me awake.”　

“What?” shouted the teacher. “You mean it was all a dream?”

The young boy said, “Yes.” The teacher tried to control his anger.

“I’m happy you remembered me in your dream,” he said. “I hope you remember me when you really get some gold coins. 　　　　20　　　　 ”

When the young boy had left, the teacher remembered why he had sent for him.

D

Cervantes was born to poor parents. His future looked dark as he grew to see a life of sadness and poverty before him. He joined the army as a common soldier and was hurt so badly that he could not use his left arm.

He later failed to find a job and, on two occasions, was sent to prison. He continued to have brushes (冲突) with the law and struggled just to survive.

But, despite these troubles of his life, he never let go of his dream — to write a book. He realized his dream and he wrote a book. In the book he told of a beautiful story which came from his heart’s deepest dreams. It is about a man who saw the world differently than everyone else. Though created in suffering, the book is an inspiring (鼓舞人的) story of hope. This man’s story has been put to music and film, translated into many languages and remains a literary classic after some 400 years. It has moved many people in the world. The author was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and the book is Don Quijote de la Mancha (《堂吉诃德》). Perhaps Cervantes himself believed that “the world sees people as they are — I see them as they can be!” Cervantes may never have written such a wonderful work if he had not seen some potential (潜能) within himself. He knew, and has taught others ever since, that great truth: What we see will come to be.

Some see situations as they are, others as they can be. Some see people as they are, others as they can be. And some see themselves as they are, others as they can be. But when we set our sights upon the best that is within a situation or a human being, what we see will come to be. And we’ll know the power of hope.

13. The author writes this passage to remind us that 　　.

A. we should be brave to deal with troubles

B. nothing is hard if we put our heart into it

C. we all have great potential inside ourselves

D. no one knows what he can do until he tries

14. What was the dream of Cervantes?

A. To be a writer.

B. To be a solider.

C. To be a banker.

D. To be a doctor.

15. Cervantes met the following troubles EXCEPT that 　　.

A. he was sent to prison

　　　 B. his left arm got hurt　

　　　 C. he failed to find a job

　　　 D. he was refused by the army

C

Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day each year on February 14th. So do candy companies, jewelry stores and people selling flowers. Valentine’s Day is for lovers. It is a good day to ask your boyfriend or girlfriend to marry you. It is also a popular day for marriage. But other couples might celebrate with a dinner at a nice restaurant.

The holiday is named for Saint Valentine. He was an early Christian churchman who was said to have helped young lovers. Valentine was executed (处死) for his Christian beliefs on February 14th, more than one thousand seven hundred years ago. But the day is even older than that.

The ancient Romans celebrated a holiday for lovers more than two thousand years ago. As part of the celebration, each girl wrote her name on a piece of paper and put it in a large box. Each boy reached into the box and pulled out the name of a girl. That girl became his girlfriend for a year.

Lovers still put their names on pieces of paper on Valentine’s Day. They send each other cards that express their love. Sometimes they send other gifts, too, like jewelry, flowers, candy, or all three!

It was reported that the average American spent about $134 for Valentine’s Day in 2014. That was up about three dollars from 2013. Men spent about twice as much on their partners as women did. And it is said the total spending for Valentine’s Day in the United States reached about $17.3 billion.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

9. Valentine’s Day is named for Saint Valentine mainly because Valentine 　　.

A. came up with the idea for Valentine’s Day

B. lost his life because of his Christian beliefs

C. once helped young lovers as a churchman

D. sent gifts to young lovers on February 14th

10. At the ceremony for lovers in ancient Rome, 　　.

A. a boy got his girlfriend quite by luck

B. boys and girls exchanged cards to show love

C. a girl had the freedom to choose her boyfriend

D. girls put their words of love in a large box

11. Which of the following traditions on Valentine’s Day is kept alive from ancient days?

A. Writing lovers’ names on pieces of paper.

B. Sending gifts like candies, flowers and jewelry.

C. Asking your boyfriend or girlfriend to marry you.

D. Having a dinner with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

12. When was the passage probably written?

A. After Valentine’s Day in 2013.

B. Before Valentine’s Day in 2013.

C. After Valentine’s Day in 2014.

　　　　 D. Before Valentine’s Day in 2014.

B

Our first expression is “in the red”. It is another way of saying that a business is losing money. In the past, numbers in the financial (金融的) records of a company were written in red ink to show a loss (损失).

A business magazine recently published a report about a television company. The report said the company was still in the red, but was able to cut its loss from the year before. A profit by a business is written in black numbers. So a company that is “in the black” is making money.

Another financial expression is “run on the bank”. That is what happens when many people try to get all their money back from a bank. A “run on the bank” usually happens when people believe there is a danger that a bank may fail or close down. Newspaper reports about a bank crisis (危机) in Russia used that expression. They said the government acted because of the fear that the crisis would cause a run on the bank.

“Day trading” is a new expression about a system that lets investors (投资者) trade directly in an electronic market system. The system is known as NASDAQ, short for the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation. It was the first completely computerized stock market (股票市场). Day trading companies offer a desk and a computer system to an investor who wants to trade. Investors must provide fifty thousand dollars or more for the trading company to pay for the stocks they buy. Thousands of other investors do day trading at their homes.

A day trader keeps a watchful eye on stock prices. When he sees a stock rise in price, he makes use of the computer to buy shares of the stock. If the stock continues to rise in price in the next few minutes, the day trader sells out the shares quickly to make a small profit. Then he looks for another stock to buy. If a stock goes down, he may sell his shares and accept the loss.

The idea is to make a small profit many times during the day. Many day traders may break down in a week or so. Only about thirty percent people succeed in earning enough money from their efforts to continue day trading.

5. What does the passage mainly talk about?

　　 A. Some financial words and expressions.

　　 B. Newspaper reports about a bank crisis.

　　 C. Some interesting stories about making money.

　　 D. Some tips on how to buy and sell stocks.

6. When a company runs well, the financial records will be written in 　　 ink.

　　 A. red　　　　　　　 B. black　　　　　　　 C. green　　　　　　　　 D. yellow

7. When a bank is faced with a crisis, we can use the expression “　　”.

　　 A. break the bank　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. run on the bank　

　　 C. in the red　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. day trading

8. In which section of a newspaper will this passage appear?

　　 A. Economy.　　　　　　　　 　 B. Health & Life.

　　 C. Entertainment.　　　　　　 　　 D. Science.

A

We were traveling to the Caribbean with our three kids aged 12, 7 and 4. Being from Chicago, we were all in need of a little sun and sand after an especially cold and long winter.

Before the trip, my eldest child asked if we could consider getting him a lifeproof case for his iPhone. He thought it would be fun to take pictures and videos of his brother and sister underwater in the pool. That made sense to us, and we agreed that it could make great memory of good time. We bought the case for him.

Down to vacation we went. Snap! On went the lifeproof case. We performed the suggested water test, and into the pool he went. Pow! That was the end of the phone. Water immediately leaked (渗入) into it and the phone was never turned on again.

Now, this could be a post about what a poorly-designed product the case is, but in fact, that is not what I’m writing about.

Actually, what truly surprised us was what happened to our 12-year-old over the course of the next seven days of our vacation. Aside from the initial (最初的) five minutes after the phone died, our son never mentioned his phone again.

Instead of his usual plugged-in state, he spent much of the vacation reading books, playing silly games with his siblings and talking to us at dinner. Normally when we’re on vacation and he and his siblings are done with eating, he’ll leave the table to text friends or check sports scores. But with no phone, there was no pull to keep in touch with his friends or to look at the latest posts. Instead, our almost-13-year-old played tag with his 4-year-old sister, chased iguanas (鬣鳞蜥) with his 7-year-old brother and entertained them with games while we finished our meals. At the end of the trip, when we asked him about the lack of phone, he admitted it was nice to have a break from the constant chatting and keeping in touch with friends.

I’m not saying I intentionally hope his phone dies again, but it does give us time to reflect as to whether or not we should make the kids leave their cell phones at home as part of the spring break contract. Or at least we should severely curtail phone usage on vacation.

1. Why did the author’s eldest son want a lifeproof case for his iPhone?

　　 A. To put his phone away. 　　　 B. To make his phone beautiful.

　　 C. To limit his phone use. 　　　　 D. To protect his phone underwater.

2. What probably surprised the author most during the vacation?

　　 A. The change in his eldest son.

　　 B. The relationship between his children.

　　 C. The power of children’s games. 　　　　　　　　　　

　　 D. The function of the iPhone.

3. How does the author’s eldest son feel about the lack of phone?

　　 A. Uncomfortable.　　 B. Upset.　　　　 C. Excited.　　　 D. Fine.

4. The underlined word “curtail” in the last paragraph probably means 　　.

　　 A. forbid　　　　　　 B. continue　　　 C. practice　　　 D. increase

46. ________　　 47. ________　　 48. ________　　 49. ________　 50. ________

41. ________　　 42. ________　　 43. ________　　 44. ________　 45. ________

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. 　　　　16　　　 ”

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. 　　　　17　　　 　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. 　　　　18　　　 　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. 　　　　19　　　 　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. 　　　　20　　　 　Then the father handed over the keys of his shop to the son.