完形填空 （共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（ABCD）中，选出可以填入空白的最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

Preparing for tomorrow

    Sixth-grade schoolteacher Ms．Shelton believed in readiness．Students remembered how she walked in on the first day of class and began writing words of eighth-grade on the    36  ．They quickly protested that the words were not on their   37    and they couldn’t learn them．

    Their teacher insisted that the students could and would learn these   38   ．She said that she would teach them something that should be given．Ms．Shelton   39     by saying that one of the students in the classroom could go on to   40   , maybe even be president someday, and she wanted to prepare them for that day．

    Ms．Shelton spoke those words many years ago．  41    did she know that someday one of her students—Jesse Jackson—would take them   42   ．She believed that if they were well prepared, they could   43   high goals．

    Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “People only see what they are   44    to see．” If that’s true, then it is also    45    that they only become what they are prepared to become．And many things in life are just about getting ready．

    “I want to be doing something more    46    with my life than what I am doing now,” a young man once said to me．He    47    what he was doing was just not that important．Other people have said things to me such as, “I only    48    I had a meaningful relationship．” And, “I’d really like to get a better job, but I just don’t see    49    ．”

    You fill in the blanks．What is it you would like to    50    that isn’t happening? Perhaps the answer is that you are not yet   51   ．Maybe you need more time to prepare before you are truly ready for that which you   52   ．

    Think of today as another chance to   53   yourself for the exciting future you are looking for．Today is not wasted．If you desire more from   54   , then you can use today as training．For you will experience only what you are prepared to    55   ．Something wonderful can happen．And you can use today to get ready for tomorrow．

A．desk    B．wall C．chalkboard   D．door

A．duty    B．desk C．mind D．level

A．words   B．grammars C．pronunciations   D．sentences

A．started B．ended    C．warned   D．reminded

A．greatness   B．wealth   C．honor    D．failure

A．Seldom B．Little   C．Hardly   D．Totally

A．nervously   B．eagerly  C．seriously    D．simply

A．keep    B．have C．set  D．achieve

A．prepared    B．forced   C．attracted    D．tempted

A．proper  B．exact    C．legal    D．true

A．difficult   B．significant  C．pleasant D．interesting

A．boasted B．behaved  C．felt D.  looked

A．wish    B．expect   C．hope D．imagine

A．what    B．when C．why  D．how

A．survive B．happen   C．gain D．win

A．adventurous B．active   C．ready    D．intelligent

A．concern B．arrange  C．adore    D．desire

A．prepare B．enjoy    C．imagine  D．conduct

A．history B．nature   C．life D．marriage

A．suffer        B．experience     C．struggle       D．work

Researchers in over 80 nations are taking part in a project to conduct a decade-long census(统计) of sea life. Scientists presented some of their findings at a recent conference as the project neared its completion.

In deep icy waters under Antarctica, scientists found bulbous tunicates, an underground animal, and many newly-discovered creatures believed to be related to starfish (海星) and other marine(海洋的）creatures.

Elsewhere in the world’s oceans, they have recently discovered many kinds of underwater life forms new to science. It is all part of a research effort called the Census of Marine Life.

“There are about 2,000 scientists worldwide involved,” said Bob Gagosian, President, CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Gagosian helps manage the project. “Everywhere they’ve gone they’ve found new things,” he says. “The ocean basically is unexplored from the point of view of marine living things.”

Researchers have placed small markers on hundreds of fish and marine animals to track by satellite their migration(迁移）routes and to discover places where sea life gathers.

According to Ron O’Dor, a senior scientist with the Census of Marine Life, knowledge of life on the ocean floor is especially limited. “90% of all the information we have is from the top hundred meters of the ocean,” O’Dor states.

And he says the sea floor is, on average, at a depth of 4, 000 meters. And so, as some machines dive far below what people have previously seen, scientists are discovering new species of plants, animals and living things.

Since the census project began, more than 5,300 new marine animals have been found. Ocean researchers say they hope to catalogue 230,000 species during the census —which some say is only a small part of all the creatures living in the sea.

1.Why do the researchers place small markers on many marine creatures?

2.From what Ron O’Dor says, we can conclude that        .

3.What can we learn from the passage?

4.Why does the author write the passage?

Homework and stress are rarely reduced inside the classroom. Meanwhile, outside the classroom, the pressure is on to find scholarships for college.

According to Braintrack, a higher education database with worldwide reach, more than 3 billion US dollars (18 billion yuan) in private scholarships are awarded to college students annually. Average awards range from $2,000 to $3,000.

The scholarship application process is similar to the college application process: forms to be completed, test scores and transcripts to be sent, essays to be written and often interviews to be prepared for.

A few great places to start looking for scholarships are: www.fastweb.com, www.finaid.org and www.collegexpress.com.Check out the annual scholarship guidebooks Scholarships, Grants & Prizes by Peterson’s and the Ultimate Scholarship Book: Billions of Dollars in Scholarships, Grants and Prizes by Gen Tanabe and Kelly Tanabe.

Be selective. Thoroughly research the qualifications required by each of the scholarships. Don’t waste your time applying for those that are need-based if you can’t produce the appropriate documents.

Research past recipients (接受者). Check out the websites of the organizations sponsoring the scholarships. Many post the biographies of past recipients. You don’t need to have cured cancer, but if you don’t think your résumé (履历) measures up to the past winners’, you might be better served by moving onto the next scholarship on your list. Prepare for the interview.

You’ll want to dazzle them with your personality, but above all you’ll want to be prepared. Find someone you trust to conduct a similar interview with you – someone who will be honest with you and provide valuable suggestions.

Let your personality shine through in your essays. The essays are the best way for students to share who they are, where they’ve come from, what they’ve overcome and so on. Tell your story in an interesting and persuasive? way. And if you do have an interview, send a thank-you note afterward.

By Lee Bierer

1.What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A. To explain where to find scholarships for US colleges.

B. To inform readers of the scholarship application process.

C. To introduce some typical scholarships offered by US colleges.

D. To give tips on applying for US college scholarships.

2.If you want to learn about past recipients of a scholarship, you can use __.

A. www.collegexpress.com

B. the annual scholarship guidebooks published by Peterson’s

C. the websites of the organizations sponsoring the scholarships

D.The Ultimate Scholarship Book: Billions of Dollars in Scholarships, Grants and Prizes

3.The underlined word “dazzle” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to ___.

A. influence ???? B. impress? ??????? C. guide ?????? D. present

4.To increase your chance of winning a scholarship, you are advised to ____.

A. apply for as many scholarships as you can

B. tell an interesting story in your essay

C. do a similar interview to help you prepare for the real one

D. have a talk with past recipients and try to talk like they do

 (Xinhua)

Chinese and Russian armed forces on Wednesday began a five-day joint military drill aimed at boosting their troops’ capability（提高部队能力）in fighting against terrorist. They will conduct a joint antiterror military exercise beginning July 22.

The exercise, named “Peace Mission-2009”, will be carried out in Russia’s Far East area and the Shenyang Military Area Command in northeast China, according to the two countries’ defense authorities. It will last five days.

About 1,300 people from the army and air force of each side will participate in the exercise. The Russian forces would also send an airborne assault unit(空降突击连) to participate in the exercise, according to the Defense Ministry.

The more than 2,600 soldiers have conducted joint exercise before. From July 23 to 26, the troops will conduct the exercise at a training base in the Shenyang Military Area Command where theater-level command headquarters(司令部) of both sides will be established.

The deputy chief of general staff of Chinese armed forces Ma Xiaotian told reporters this morning that the Chinese military is well prepared for Sunday’s joint anti-terror drill with Russia in a training base in Baicheng, Jilin Province.

The other four member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Takistan, Uzbekistan and the SCO’s secretariat will send military observers.

China, Russia and other member states of the SCO held two similar anti-terrorism exercises under the name of “Peace Mission” in 2005 and 2007 respectively.

The exercise was not targeted at any particular third party, but would show the abilities and resolution of both sides to jointly deal with various kinds of security threats and crack down on terrorist, separatist and extremist forces, the spokesman said.

72.In which day will the military exercise end?

A．On July 22.    B．On July 23.   C．On July 25.   D．On July 26.

73.How many soldiers in all between China and Russian will conduct joint exercise?

A．More than 1,300.     B．Exactly 2,600.

C．More than 2,600.      D．Less than 2,600.

74. The passage tells us that     .

A．the five-day joint military drill is held in Russia’s Far East area.

B．China, Russia and other member states of the SCO, held three similar anti-terrorism exercises before this

C．not only the other four member states of the SCO, but also the members from America and France will send military observers

D．the target for the exercise is to show two nations strong determination to beat the terrorists severely and at the same time to show their military abilities to jointly deal with various kinds of security threats internationally.

75. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Peace Mission-2009.               B．A Five-day Joint Military Drill.

C．Mission for Peace Tarets Terrorists.   D．Chinese Forces Ready for Sunday’s Joint Drill.

Rarely have I experienced a reaction like that which came about following the idea of banning private education. One of those who contacted me to disagree with the idea was 17 year old Anirudh Mandagere. He got 10 A*s at GCSE and is currently studying English, French, Math and History at a private school in Manchester. Here is his response:

For me, the idea that all private schools should be banned is not only ridiculous and unrealistic, but goes against the idea of liberty. We must have the freedom to choose between state-funded and privately educated schools. If parents pay taxes, surely they should be able to choose whether they send their children to a state-funded or a privately-funded school.

The economic impacts of abolishing private education are vast. Banning private schools would obviously contribute to a great transfer to state schools. Many state schools are already overburdened; do they really need more pupils? Abolishing private education would lead to higher taxes for taxpayers since more money would be needed to educate the 7% who were previously private educated. In the times of economic crisis, should the taxpayer need to fork out more money to pay for their education? There would also be a great rise in unemployment of the staff who works at private schools.

It is noted that, in general, private schools have better grades at GCSE and A level than state schools. Yet, why do people view this as a bad thing? The higher private school grades eventually force the government to endlessly improve state education so that the middle-classes do not totally abandon state education for private education. This competition creates reform and progress within state schools and eventually promote them! If the private schools did not exist, where would be the impetus for state school improvement?

Government should not simply ban a system which produces results. It should learn from it and use the private education model as a basis for the state education model. Abolishing a successful system will not help anybody, learning from a successful system will.

In the eye of Anirudh Mandagere, parents have the right to ______.

A. criticize state-funded schools

B. pay taxes for the promotion of private schools

C. choose the way their children receive education

D. advocate the competition between state schools and private ones

According to the passage, banning private education will ______.

A. obviously contribute to lower taxes

B. not cause the state schools to be overburdened

C. force the government to boost state education

D. lead to many people losing their jobs 

The underlined word “impetus” in the fourth paragraph probably means ______.

A. motivation         B. prevention         C. participation       D. assessment

Compared with state schools, private ones ______.

A. educate a little fewer students                B. conduct better than all state ones

C. are better received by the public             D. are more competitive on the whole

Which of the following statements will Anirudh Mandagere agree with?

A. His wonderful performance results from the education his private school offers.

B. Without the existence of private schools, state ones wouldn’t get improved much.

C. Private education is a good system to make students successful in life.

D. Private schools are supposed to be sponsored more than state ones.