D

When people ask me what I want to do when I grow up, I say, “I want to change the world and find happiness.” That’s a hard one, don’t you think? In a world full of war, poverty and hatred (仇恨), it’s definitely not possible. Well, that’s what some people say.

But you know what I think? There is hope. And you find happiness everywhere — old couples who’ve been together for a long time, little kids running around the playground, inspirational books, little babies, changes of seasons — I find happiness in every single little thing. I find it every minute.

Around me, I find people of my age, doing drugs, going to parties — just to gain attention. We’re so busy being selfish, comparing ourselves to others, setting unrealistic goals for ourselves, wanting to look prettier, lose more weight, make more money, and be more popular. But then I think, is that really what life’s all about? There are innocent kids out there, being abused, poor, and hungry. And here we all are complaining about how hard our lives are.

Most of us are always depressed and unhappy. Why do we always try to run away from our problems, rather than just facing them? I mean this is life! You cannot run away from it, and you cannot hide from it definitely. All we can do is to accept what life gives us, and face our problems, difficulties and frustrations (挫折). And maybe, just maybe, they’ll turn into your best friends. They’ll make you stronger, they’ll help you face reality and they’ll teach you to value the little things in life.

Because we always fail to look at the brighter side of things, we always fail to find happiness in little things. There are so many beautiful things around which we seldom notice. Maybe that is why people can’t find happiness; we keep looking for it in the wrong places — money, fame and so on.

“FIND” happiness — we all think it’s some sort of destination. We keep “looking” for it; we wake up every day wishing it would be the day when everything goes right.

What we all fail to understand is that happiness isn’t really something that we can “find”. It’s not a destination, it’s not something you find along the road of life; it’s a choice, a feeling — you can be happy wherever, whenever, only if you choose to be. Happiness is something within you, waiting to be found, waiting to help you escape from this harsh reality.

So here are your questions:

Are you happy?

Have you found what you are looking for?

Do you think life is hard?

Have a great day, and I hope you’re happy with whatever you do. Life can be hard at times, but I hope you find the strength to face whatever it gives you.

11. What does the author think about the idea of changing the world?

　　 A. Hard.　　　　　　　 B. Easy. 　　　　　 C. Possible.　　　　 D. Impractical.

12. According to the third paragraph, many of the author’s peers 　　.

　　 A. are popular and admiring

　　 B. have a bad attitude to life

　　 C. suffer from extreme poverty

　　 D. are very generous and wealthy

13. Why do most people feel very unhappy?

　　 A. They might live a poor life.

　　 B. They have difficulty getting best friends.

　　 C. They fail to value friendship with others.

　　 D. They lack the courage to face difficulties.

14. Which of the following is TRUE about happiness according to the author?

　　 A. Happiness is an attitude.

　　 B. Happiness is too unreal to feel.

　　 C. Happiness is a kind of destination.

　　 D. Happiness means that everything goes right.

15 The author’s purpose in writing this article is to tell us 　　　　.　

　　 A. what happiness is 　　　　　　　　　　

　　 B. where happiness is

　　 C. why we feel unhappy

　　 D. who controls our happiness

C

Good luck symbols and their meanings

Rich or poor, happy or sad, the only thing that holds us together is luck. Let’s have a look at the meanings of some luck symbols.

	Bamboo is often connected with growth not only in terms of wealth, but also in terms of relationships, careers and life in general. That is why people believe presenting bamboo to another person is akin to presenting the person with good luck.
	Considered to be one of the gods of wealth by the Buddhists, the Buddha is connected with prosperity (繁荣), success and financial gains. Placing the Buddha diagonally (成对角线地) opposite the main door activates and greets the good energy entering the house. While the Buddha is admired for his happiness, completeness and wisdom of contentment, rubbing his stomach is believed to bring good luck.
	A symbol of fertility and rebirth, presenting someone with eggs is considered lucky. A brown egg is connected with not just luck but also happiness. Eggs are also used to encourage the growth of crops, protect young children from misfortune and also as a means to keep away from the evil eye.
	A ladybug is a symbol of patience, good health and wealth. A ladybug that lands on a person is said to take away the illness. A ladybug landing herself on a recently married woman brings happiness and joy.
	Call them the luck bringers, for spotting a penny lying on the floor is indeed your luck. You know the saying, “Find a penny, pick it up, and all that day you’ll have good luck!”

There are many more symbols of good luck. However, one should never rely completely on these symbols for success, and should view them as just confidence boosters. Good Luck!

7. The underlined word “akin” probably means 　　　.

　　 A. due　　 　　　 　　B. useful　　　 　 C. similar　　　 　 D. harmful　　　　

8. Which of the following can bring us good luck?

　　 A. Keeping a ladybug as a pet.　　　　

　　 B. Rubbing the Buddha’s stomach.

　　 C. Dropping a penny to the floor.

　　 D. Placing the Buddha against the main door.

9. According to the text, a brown egg 　　　.

　　 A. may invite the evil eye 　　　　　　

　　 B. is not a sign of good luck

　　 C. can bring people happiness

　　 D. is more delicious than ordinary ones

10. What does the author tell us in the last paragraph?

　　 A. Learn how to get good luck.　　　

　　 B. Learn more symbols of good luck.

　　 C. Try hard to build up our confidence.

　　 D. Rely on ourselves rather than the luck symbols.

B

The bell rings and in a few moments, the most disordered part of the day begins — lunch. Food begins to be dished out, and some students are eager to see their friends, while others cannot bear the thought of what is about to happen. Anxiety (焦虑) builds for many as they think today will be just like any other day. Press repeat and this happens every day.

But Bridport Elementary in Bridport introduced a system to solve this classic scene of loneliness and meet new friendships. There’s hardly room for the question, “Will you save me a seat?” at Bridport Elementary, where students are guided to assigned (指定的) tables and given the opportunity to open their hearts and minds to a new friend. The school’s president Kilbourne had observed too many days in which the same kids were left alone, while the others were always accompanied by friends. Something had to change.

The school gives a new system in which students line up to pick a numbered stick before getting their food. Each stick has a number that’s linked with a table, showing where they will eat lunch for the day.

This system was used five months ago. Today, if you walked into the cafeteria, you wouldn’t find any numbers or any sticks. Kilbourne made a promise to the students that the system would eventually disappear if she saw that students learned to value inclusivity (包容) and friendship.

People really saw a change. A girl was walking around by herself with her lunch in her hand, and four tables asked her to join them. At another table, a kindergartener was sitting alone for just a few moments before two sixth graders came over to sit with him, and actively included him in conversation.

Now we are left wondering: how can lessons learned from the cafeteria be used elsewhere? Students and adults all over the country could benefit from an approach in which every person is always welcome at the table in any situation.

4. What inspired the president of Bridport Elementary to introduce the system?

　　 A. Students didn’t speak to friends at a table.

　　 B. Students didn’t manage to get a seat in the cafeteria.

　　 C. Students had no one to communicate with in a crowd.

　　 D. Students had little interest in lunch due to the pressure of study.　

5. Why could no numbers or sticks be found in the cafeteria?

　　 A. Because students were tired of them.

　　 B. Because they didn’t work out as expected.

　　 C. Because they were replaced by something else.

　　 D. Because there was no need for them any more.

6. What is most likely to be talked about in the paragraph following the passage?

　 　 A. The benefits of the system.　　　　

　　 B. The disadvantages of the system.

　　 C. The wider use of the system.

D. The lessons learned from the system.

A

Making choices is necessary, but not always easy. Many of our expressions tell about this difficulty.

One of these expressions is “Hobson’s choice”. It is often used to describe a difficult choice. But that is not what it really means. Its real meaning is to have no choice at all. The Hobson in the expression was Thomas Hobson. Mr.Hobson owned many horses in Cambridge. Mr. Hobson often rented his horses to the students at Cambridge University. But he didn’t really trust them to take good care of the horses. So, he had a rule that prevented the students from riding his best horses. They could take the horse that was nearest the stable door. Or, they could not take any horse at all. Thus, a Hobson’s choice was really no choice.

Another expression for having no real choice is “between a rock and a hard place”. It is often used to describe a difficult situation with few choices — none of them is good. For example, your boss may ask you to work late. But you have plans to go to a movie with your friends. If you refuse to work, your boss may get angry. But if you do not go to the movies with your friends, they may get angry. So what do you do? You are “caught between a rock and a hard place”.

Another expression — “between the devil and the deep blue sea” — also gives you a choice between two equally dangerous things. Its meaning seems clear. You can choose the devil and his burning fires of hell. Or, you can choose to drown in the sea. Some experts in lexicology (词汇学) say the expression comes from the days of wooden ships. The “devil” is a word for a seam between two pieces of wood along the waterline of a ship. If the seam or crack between the two pieces of wood begins to leak (漏), then a sailor must fix it. The sailor ordered to make the repairs was in a dangerous situation. He was hung over the side of the ship, working “between the devil and the deep blue sea”.

There is still another expression that describes a situation with only bad choices — “on the horns of a dilemma” (左右为难). The dictionary says a dilemma is a situation in which you must make a decision between two equally balanced choices. When your dilemma has horns (角), making a choice becomes impossible. When you are “on the horns of a dilemma”, no matter which horn you choose, something bad will happen.

1. We could learn from Mr. Hobson’s story that he 　　　.

　　 A. wanted to teach the students a lesson

　　 B. liked to make things difficult for the students

　　 C. didn’t permit the students to ride his best horses

　　 D. didn’t know the students were good at riding horses

2. The underlined word “seam” in Paragraph 4 refers to 　　　.

　　 A. the line where two pieces of wood meet

　　 B. the piece of wood which begins to leak

　　 C. the side of the ship which was being hung over

　　 D. the sailor ordered to repair the broken side of the ship

3. Which of the following expressions doesn’t mean bad choices?

　　 A. Between the devil and the deep blue sea.　　　

　　 B. Hobson’s choice.

　　 C. Between a rock and a hard place.

　　 D. On the horns of a dilemma.

第二节 书面表达(满分25分)

某中学生英语学习网站正在举行以“友谊”为主题的征文活动，请你根据以下要点提示写一篇征文稿。

要点：

1. 简要介绍自己的一个朋友；

2. 描述他/她对自己的帮助；

3. 谈谈自己的感受。

注意：

1. 100词左右；

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

第三部分 写作

第一节 短文改错 (共10小题; 每小题1分, 满分10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。

One Saturday morning, Li Ming and his grandpa are feeding the bird in the cage. The bird was unhappy though it had enough food and water. Li Ming did not know when.

The next morning on his way to school Li Ming saw the some birds flying in the sky. Then he thought of the alone bird in the cage. He decided to get his grandpa to set the bird freely. When he got home, she said to his grandpa, “Birds are our friend! We shouldn’t let the bird out.”　 To his joy, his grandpa disagreed.

The bird was out. Grandpa and the child were very happy see the bird flying away into the sky.

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

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