Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 53-56.
Important words to learn: E Essential I Improver A Advanced
shoot [?u:t]
▲verb (shot, shot) WEAPON→1 E to fire a bullet or an arrow, or to hit, injure or kill a person or animal by firing a bullet or arrow at them: If he’s not armed, don’t shoot. ⊙The kids were shooting arrows at a target.⊙She was shot three times in the head.⊙He has a license to shoot pheasants on the farmer’s land. ⊙A policeman was shot dead in the city centre last night. ⊙ The troops were told to shoot to kill. SPORT→2 A to try to score points for yourself or your team, in sports involving a ball, by kicking, hitting or throwing the ball towards the goal: He shot from the middle of the field and still managed to score. MOVE QUICKLY→3 A to move in a particular direction very quickly and directly: She shot past me several meters before the finishing line. ⊙ He shot out of the office a minute ago ─ I think he was late for a meeting.⊙They were just shooting off to town so we didn’t stop to speak.
shooter ['?u:t?] noun[C]He’s thought to be the best shooter in the league.
▲idioms have shot your bolt UK INFORMAL to have already achieved all that you have the power, ability or strength to do and to be unable to do more: He started off the game well but seemed to have shot his bolt by half-time.
? shoot yourself in the foot to do something without intending to which spoils a situation for yourself
? shoot your mouth off INFORMAL to talk too much in a loud and uncontrolled way: It’s just like Richard to go shooting his mouth off about other people’s affairs.
? shoot for the moon US to ask for the best or the most you could hope for: You might as well shoot for the moon and ask for a promotion as well as a raise.
? shoot questions at sb to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly, one after the other: He shot questions at me so quickly that I didn’t even have time to answer.
? shoot the breeze US INFORMAL to talk with someone or a group of people about things which are not important: We sat out on the porch, just shooting the breeze.
▲ phrasal verbs shoot sth down to destroy an aircraft or make an aircraft, bird, etc. fall to the ground by shooting at it: He was killed during the war when his plane was shot down.
shoot sb down to shoot and usually kill someone, showing no sympathy: I saw Tom shoot him down like a dog in the street.
shoot for/at sth US to try to do something: It’s worth taking chances when you’re shooting at a chance of fame and wealth.
shoot out If opposing groups or people armed with guns shoot it out, they shoot at each other until one of the groups or people is dead or defeated.
shoot through AUSTRALIAN INFORMAL to leave a place very quickly, especially in order to avoid having to do something
shoot up INCREASE→INFORMAL to grow in size, or increase in number or level, very quickly: David has really shot up since I saw him last. ⊙Prices shot up by 25%.
▲ noun PLANT→1[C]the first part of a plant to appear above the ground as it develops from a seed, or any new growth on an already existing plant: Two weeks after we’d planted the seeds, little green shoots started to appear. ⊙FIGURATIVE The first green shoots (="hopeful" signs) of economic recovery have started to appear.
FILM→2[C USUALLY SINGULAR] when photographer take a series of photographs, usually of the same person or people in the same place: We did a fashion shoot on the beach, with the girls modeling swimwear. WEAPON→3[C]an occasion on which a group of people go to an area of the countryside to shoot animals
shooting ['?u:ti?] noun 1 A [U]when bullets are shot from guns or other weapons: We heard some shooting in the night. 2 A [C]when someone is injured or killed by a bullet shot from a gun: There have been a number of shootings in the capital this week. 3[U]the sport of shooting animals or birds: pleasant/grouse shooting ⊙ He goes shooting most weekends.
【小题1】What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “You will be bound to see that the green shoots of your English level start to grow.”?

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 53-56.

Important words to learn: E Essential I Improver A Advanced

shoot [ʃu:t]

▲verb (shot, shot) WEAPON→1 E to fire a bullet or an arrow, or to hit, injure or kill a person or animal by firing a bullet or arrow at them: If he’s not armed, don’t shoot. ⊙ The kids were shooting arrows at a target. ⊙She was shot three times in the head.⊙ He has a license to shoot pheasants on the farmer’s land. ⊙ A policeman was shot dead in the city centre last night. ⊙ The troops were told to shoot to kill. SPORT→2 A to try to score points for yourself or your team, in sports involving a ball, by kicking, hitting or throwing the ball towards the goal: He shot from the middle of the field and still managed to score. MOVE QUICKLY→3 A to move in a particular direction very quickly and directly: She shot past me several meters before the finishing line. ⊙ He shot out of the office a minute ago ─ I think he was late for a meeting. ⊙ They were just shooting off to town so we didn’t stop to speak.

shooter ['ʃu:tə] noun[C]He’s thought to be the best shooter in the league.

▲idioms have shot your bolt UK INFORMAL to have already achieved all that you have the power, ability or strength to do and to be unable to do more: He started off the game well but seemed to have shot his bolt by half-time.

• shoot yourself in the foot to do something without intending to which spoils a situation for yourself

• shoot your mouth off INFORMAL to talk too much in a loud and uncontrolled way: It’s just like Richard to go shooting his mouth off about other people’s affairs.

• shoot for the moon US to ask for the best or the most you could hope for: You might as well shoot for the moon and ask for a promotion as well as a raise.

• shoot questions at sb to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly, one after the other: He shot questions at me so quickly that I didn’t even have time to answer.

• shoot the breeze US INFORMAL to talk with someone or a group of people about things which are not important: We sat out on the porch, just shooting the breeze.

▲ phrasal verbs shoot sth down to destroy an aircraft or make an aircraft, bird, etc. fall to the ground by shooting at it: He was killed during the war when his plane was shot down.

shoot sb down to shoot and usually kill someone, showing no sympathy: I saw Tom shoot him down like a dog in the street.

shoot for/at sth US to try to do something: It’s worth taking chances when you’re shooting at a chance of fame and wealth.

shoot out If opposing groups or people armed with guns shoot it out, they shoot at each other until one of the groups or people is dead or defeated.

shoot through AUSTRALIAN INFORMAL to leave a place very quickly, especially in order to avoid having to do something

shoot up INCREASE→INFORMAL to grow in size, or increase in number or level, very quickly: David has really shot up since I saw him last. ⊙ Prices shot up by 25%.

▲ noun PLANT→1[C]the first part of a plant to appear above the ground as it develops from a seed, or any new growth on an already existing plant: Two weeks after we’d planted the seeds, little green shoots started to appear. ⊙ FIGURATIVE The first green shoots (=hopeful signs) of economic recovery have started to appear.

FILM→2[C USUALLY SINGULAR] when photographer take a series of photographs, usually of the same person or people in the same place: We did a fashion shoot on the beach, with the girls modeling swimwear. WEAPON→3[C]an occasion on which a group of people go to an area of the countryside to shoot animals

shooting ['ʃu:tiŋ] noun 1 A [U]when bullets are shot from guns or other weapons: We heard some shooting in the night. 2 A [C]when someone is injured or killed by a bullet shot from a gun: There have been a number of shootings in the capital this week. 3[U]the sport of shooting animals or birds: pleasant/grouse shooting ⊙ He goes shooting most weekends.

53. What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “You will be bound to see that the green shoots of your English level start to grow.”?

         A. Great efforts.                                                     B. Signs of improving.

         C. Learning ability.                                                 D. Change in method.

54. Fill in the blank in the sentence “When it is achieved, there will be other plans to _________.”

         A. shoot at                          B. shoot up                C. shoot down          D. shoot through

55. If you are suffering from the consequence of the plan without full consideration, we say you are __________.

         A. shooting the breeze                                         B. shooting your mouth off

         C. shooting yourself in the foot                          D. shooting questions at somebody

56. Choose a word to complete the sentence “__________ is one of the oldest sport events, which is popular with people both at home and abroad.”

A. Shooter                           B. Shoot                      C. Shot                        D. Shooting

Wednesday, January 7,2009

    A blacklist of 19 leading search engine portals (门户) and websites, including Google and Baidu, which “spread vulgar (lacking in good taste) content and harm the young people” has been published, the Chinese government said Monday.

    According to Xinhua News Agency, six central departments conducted a month – long campaign to clean up the Internet of unhealthy and vulgar materials.

“The government will continue to punish or even shut down those shameful Websites that refuse to connect their wrongdoing.” Gai Mangham, director of the State Council Information Office, said. “Immediate action is needed to clean up the Internet environment.”

The government demanded the web portals, a number of video sharing sites, including Sina, Sohu and NetEase, Google in Chinese and other websites to remove vulgar photos after due notice but they failed and continued providing links to these unhealthy sites.

    Google China’s spokeswoman Cui Jin, however, explained that “Google is neither the owner of those Websites nor does it spread (that) information intentionally. We have also adopted ‘safe search’ to block sites with such content automatically. ”

    Baidu, NetEase. com. Ine and SINA Corp., in web statements on Wednesday, admitted their guilt, and apologized for failing to control such contend. Google China, on the other hand, promised to cooperate with Internet users and society to help build a healthy Internet culture. “After we received notice from relevant government departments, we cleaned up links to vulgar content that could have harmful effects on Internet users,” it added.

53．What is the text mainly about?

       A．How the Chinese government manages the leading search engine portals.

       B．How the leading search engine portals react to to the government’s eroticism.

       C．What the government it trying to do ti clean up the Internet environment.

       D．What the leading search engine portals are doing to improve their service.

54．Which of the following is TRUE about Cai Mingzhao?

       A．He works for the Ministry of Public Security.

       B．He called on the shameful Web sites to correct their wrongdoing.

       C．he apologized for failing to clean up the Internet of unhealthy materials.

       D．He is working hard to make the definition of “spreading vulgar materials” clear.

55．According to the text, which company took the most positive attitude?

       A．Google China          B．NelEase. com. Inc. 

       C．SINA Corp.            D．Baidu

56．We can learn from the last paragraph that             .

      A．China’s Internet environment is getting better and better

       B．China still has a long way to go to build a cleaner Internet environment

       C．China has made laws to protect the environment of the Interned

       D．China has not realized the harm of illegal information from the Internet

Growing trees in the concrete jungle of Los Angels brings neighbors benefits beyond beauty.

    As the  36  of TreePeople, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1973, Andy, now 54, has inspired hundreds of thousands of volunteers to  37  plant more than two million trees throughout Southern California.

       Tree People 38 tools, blueprints, planting demonstrations, and tree-care supervisors free to all the participants,  39  me. “You will need their support,” Andy said, referring to my neighbors. “ 40 

the community behind you, the trees you plant will die in five years.” So I started knocking on doors, hoping to share  41  I’d learnt in Tree People’s seminar(培训班) about the critical role of trees in removing smog from the  42  , cooling our homes and preventing water runoff.

       Strange  43  it may seem, some people are afraid of trees. “The roots destroy sidewalks,” one neighbor said, “  44  will ruin my pipes. And I don’t want leaves.”  45   told me.

       When I called Andy about the  46  I was getting from my neighbors, he encouraged me to keep trying. So my son and my wife delivered cookies while I went door to door. It  47  us half a year to sign permission forms from 16 neighbors for 21 trees.

       When the big day arrived, I was excited and  48  . What if I threw a planting tree and  49  else came? But as I set out shovels(铁铲), my son and wife made cakes and doughnuts,  50  started to gather. Friends brought friends. Neighbors came with cousins and grandchildren. A local middle school even  51  with half the seventh grade. More than 300 people joined us.

       Then Andy led us in a  52  : welcoming each tree into the world and  53  it name. After the ceremony, as I shook hands with volunteers and my neighbors, I  54 help but feel we’d accomplished  55  great. After all, trees need people, and people need trees.

A. friend                    B. interviewer            C. president           D. volunteer

A. bravely               B. actively                 C. anxiously          D. generously

A. supports             B. affords                         C. shows               D. provides

A. including            B. considering            C. containing         D. reminding

A. For                    B. Without                    C. With                 D. Except

A. what                         B. which                   C. that                   D. how

A. cloud                    B. wind                        C. sky                   D. air

A. while                    B. if                          C. however            D. as

A. You                    B. I                              C. They                 D. It

A. The other            B. Another                    C. Other                D. Others

A. resistance            B. acceptance             C. agreement         D. praise

A. spent                     B. paid                         C. took                  D. covered

A. moved                B. disappointed          C. surprised           D. nervous

A. everybody             B. nobody                 C. somebody          D. anybody

A. volunteers              B. journalists             C. friends                     D. neighbors

A. made up             B. took up                 C. showed up         D. cheered up

A. ceremony                  B. march                   C. activity             D. celebration

A. calling                B. leaving                     C. making             D. giving

A. wouldn’t            B. shouldn’t                  C. couldn’t            D. needn’t

A. anything             B. something             C. nothing             D. everything