I am Steve. I was born and grew up in South Wales. My favorite place to play was out on the hills where my imagination had plenty of space to expand (拓展).

My family moved out of Wales when I was thirteen. I went to a new school. One of my subjects was French. Because I had never learned any French, my teacher told me to sit in the corner and write anything I was interested in. That’s the time I started writing, just for myself, and I’ve been writing ever since.

I have always loved BIG IDEAS, and so I enjoy writing fantastic stories. And I also write horror (恐怖) I think they are like the old fairytales (童话故事) ，and can teach you important things.

I am in my forties on the outside, twelve on the inside. I like rock music, Indian and Chinese food, and I enjoy drinking. I live in a small village with my wife Mary, ducks, cats, goats, hens and lots of rabbits. If you’d like to find out more about me and hope to buy any books, go to www. showkett. freeserve. co. uk

1.When he was 13, the writer ________.

A．wrote lots of poems                     B．moved out of Wales

C．sold many story books                    D．became a famous singer

2.He liked playing out on the hills because he could ________.

A．expand his imagination                   B．learn French

C．listen to stories                         D．buy some books

3.Maybe the writer is ________ years old now.

A．12               B．22               C．32               D．42

4.According to the passage, the write keeps _______

A．cats, hens and pigs                      B．ducks, goats and rabbits

C．hens, rabbits and dogs                    D．rabbits, pigs and cats

5.From the passage, we can learn that the writer ________.

A．lives in a big city with his son               B．likes eating Japanese and Indian food

C．lives in the countryside with his wife         D．introduces a nice book to us

 

Entering a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to study and train for a future job in subjects like law (法律), medicine or education. But the university is not a modern invention. It has a history that is over a thousand years.

The world’s oldest university, AL-Azhar, is in Cario, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque for religion (宗教寺院) in A.D.972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque. They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in the city of Cario decided to open up a school for higher learning and the University of AL-Azhar was founded.

At AL-Azhar, there were many university ‘firsts’. Different subjects were set up. The earliest ones taught at AL-Azhar were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic (题目), and there was no ‘right’ answer. Finally, famous teachers from around the world came to AL-Azhar to teach and do deep studies on the subjects they were interested in. At the university, people studied the past, but it was also a place for exchanging new ideas.

Over a thousand years later, AL-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library keeps more than 250,000 of the world’s oldest and most valuable (有价值的) books. Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at AL-Azhar.

1.From the first paragraph（段落） we know that _________.

A．universities are important to the city life

B．the university is a quite new invention

C．university education may help a person find law。

D．the university has a history of more than a thousand years

2.AL-Azhar was first built for _______.

A．education         B．religion           C．a meeting         D．law

3.Which of the following are the earliest subjects taught in the University of AL-Azhar?

A．Education and medicine.                  B．Religion and law.

C．Free discussion.                        D．History and tradition.

4.Which of the following is not true about the University of AL-Azhar?

A．AL-Azhar was built in the city of Cario in Egypt.

B．AL-Azhar didn’t become a university until the years around 988.

C．The University of AL-Azhar was a place to read books.

D．Now AL-Azhar is still one of the famous universities in the world.

 

A father was sitting at his desk and looking at his bills when his young son rushed in and said, “Dad, because today is your birthday and you’re 40 years old, I’m going to give you 40 kisses, one for each year!” When the boy started kissing, the father shouted, “Oh, Andrew, don’t do it now. I’m too busy!”

The boy soon became silent as tears fell down from his big blue eyes. Feeling sorry, the father said, “You can finish the kisses later .”

The boy said nothing but quietly walked away. That evening the father said, “Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew!” But the boy didn’t.

Unfortunately, a few days later, the boy had an accident and died. His sad father wrote,“If only I could tell him how sorry I am for my thoughtless words, and how much my heart is hurting.”

Love is a two-way street. We must warmly accept any loving act, or others will take it as a “No” and it may leave a scar(伤痕). If we don’t receive love, our life will lose its true meaning.

Any loving act must be warmly accepted, or it will be taken as rejection and can leave a scar. If we are too busy to give and receive love, we are too silly! Nothing is more important than accepting love from those who are and dear to us.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）

1.On his father’s birthday, the boy wanted to      .

A. help his father write the bills.

B. give kisses to his father.

C. buy a gift for his father.

D. talk with his father.

2.The boy felt      when his father refused him.

A. sad                B. puzzled                   C. excited                    D. happy

3.A few days later, the boy      .

A. went back to school.

B. was hurt in an accident

C. was killed in an accident

D. was angry with his father

4.Which of the following is NOT true?

A. Andrew’s father was busy looking at his bills on his birthday.

B. Andrew was killed in an accident on his father’s birthday.

C. Andrew’s father asked him to give him the kisses later.

D. Andrew’s father felt sorry after the accident happened.

5.We can know from the passage that       .

A. love keeps one busy all the time.

B. love can make people happy and unhappy.

C. it is important to love people around us

D. we should learn to give and receive love

 

Now, more and more cities are facing problems, such as high housing costs, pollution and crime. Let’s see what people in Hyderabad, India and in Sao Paulo, Brazil do to solve (解决) the problems.

Hyderabad, India

To improve people’s lives, Hyderabad is planting more and more trees. The city is even creating greener buildings that use less water and less electricity for power. Adding green to a city has a number of advantages. For example, trees make the air cleaner. In Hyderabad, streets were grey and dirty in the past. However, today they are filled with trees and flowers, making the city cleaner and more colourful. Green areas also give people places to relax or exercise. A study in the USA shows an interesting thing: the greener a neighborhood is, the less crime there is.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Many people work in the centre of Sao Paulo, but they don’t live there. They’ve spread out to neighborhoods outside the city because housing is cheaper. Every day, these people travel into the city, and traffic is very heavy. City planners are using different ways to deal with (处理) the problem. First, they are building better subways. Another goal is to make it cheaper for people to live in the downtown area (中心区). Doing this will reduce traffic and pollution in the city.

1.What does the underlined word “greener” mean?

A．Taller.

B．Easier.

C．Better for the environment.

D．More brightly coloured.

2.Which advantage of making Hyderabad greener is NOT talked about in the passage?

A．It helps people work better.

B．It makes the city cleaner.

C．It reduces crime.

D．It makes it easier to exercise.

3.According to the passage, what problem does Sao Paulo have?

A．A lot of people don’t have jobs.

B．Too many people live in the city centre.

C．A lot of people are moving out of the city.

D．Too many people travel into the city every day.

 

1 

I first had physics lessons when I was in Grade Eight some years ago. In class, I   1   that there wasn’t a Nobel (诺贝尔) Prize winner from China. That made me sad, and I decided to change (改变) it.   2   after that, I got up early in the morning. I turned on the light and took out a physics book. Then I started   3   quietly. I worked so hard because I had a great   4   — one day, I would be the first   5   person to win the Nobel Prize in physics. Later on, I found physics at school too easy for me. I wanted to learn   6  , so I made a reading plan and started to find answers to more difficult problems.

Now I am a top student in physics. I won the first prize in the national physics competition  last month. And I am happy to be closer to my dream after a few   7   hard work. Of course,   8   I have some problems. My classmates always   9   me when they are talking about fashion (时尚) or pop stars, because I know   10   about them. “Well, that doesn’t matter too much,” I tell myself. “They don’t know much about physics , but I won’t laugh at them.”

1.A. joined           B. heard                 C. studied

2.A. So               B. But                       C. And

3.A. writing             B. reading                C. thinking

4.A. dream           B. idea                   C. plan

5.A. Chinese         B. Canada                 C. American

6.A. much            B. more                   C. most

7.A. weeks’          B. months’                C. years’

8.A. usually             B. always                 C. sometimes

9.A. depend on      B. look at                C. laugh at

10.A. anything       B. nothing                C. everything