三、阅读理解 (共两节, 满分40分)

第一节 (共15小题; 每小题2分, 满分30分)

A

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox (沙坑). He had a box of cars and trucks with him. When he created roads in the sand, he found a large rock in the middle of the sandbox.

The boy dug around the rock, trying to get it out of the sand. With much effort, he pushed the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very big.) When the boy moved the rock, however, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and over the little wall.

Determined, the little boy pushed it hard, but every time the rock tipped (倾斜), it fell back into the sandbox.

Finally, he burst into tears. At this time the boy’s father watched from his living room window. He quickly came over to the little boy.

Gently but firmly he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had?” The boy answered, “But I did, Daddy. I used all the strength that I had!” “No, son,” said the father kindly. “You didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t turn to me.” With these words, the father reached down, picked up the rock and removed it from the sandbox.

Do you have “rocks” in your life that need to be removed? Are you discovering that you don’t have what it takes to lift them? There is always one who is willing to give us the strength we need. Isn’t it funny that we try so hard to do things all by ourselves?

36. What did the boy want to do with the rock?

A. To break it into smaller pieces.

B. To remove it from the sandbox.

C. To bury it deep under the ground.

D. To carry it to a faraway place by hand.

37. In the father’s opinion, his son       .

A. must be punished for not working hard

B. was strong enough to lift the rock by himself

C. should have asked him to help with the rock

D. should find out a better way to solve the problem

38. It is suggested in the last paragraph that we should       .

A. try our best to solve a problem

B. watch out for possible dangers in life

C. ask other people for help if necessary

D. not lose heart when facing a difficult task

B

As I unpacked the boxes of new coats in the back room of Atkinson’s Department Store, I saw it. I tried it on. I picked up the price tag (价格标签), and then dropped it as if it had burned my hands. Wow! It was so expensive! Even with my employee discount, this coat would use up all the money I’d worked so hard to save.

The next morning, on the school bus, I met my friend, Letisha Robinson. She said she and her brother didn’t have a winter coat.

At dinner, I asked my parents about Letisha’s family.

“I heard that her mother was out of work,” Mom said.

“What does her father do?” I asked.

“He drank all day,” Dad said.

“I wonder if they’ll get any Christmas presents,” my brother, Gary, was much nicer than me.

I excused myself for doing my homework, but I really wanted to go out because I felt uncomfortable. An idea appeared in my mind. That night I dreamed about Letisha’s family sitting around a tree on Christmas morning. When I awoke, I was certain of what I had to do.

At breakfast, I announced my plan to my family. Gary went shopping for a football for Jerome and toys for the kids. I bought a warm outfit for each of the eight kids with my employee discount at Atkinson’s.

On Christmas Eve, at midnight all four of us piled into our car. Dad turned the lights off as we moved near their house. Gary took the box and deposited it on the stoop (门廊).

I learned the joy of giving that Christmas.

39. It can be learned from the first paragraph that       .

A. the writer did a part-time job at Atkinson’s

B. the writer was choosing a coat at Atkinson’s

C. the writer always bought expensive coats

D. the writer was in charge of the store

40. What made the writer feel uncomfortable at dinner?

A. To make an excuse for not doing her homework.

B. The poor conditions of the Letisha family

C. To buy a coat for herself as a Christmas present.

D. To imagine a man drinking all the time.

41. The underlined word “deposited” in the last paragraph probably means “       ”.

A. put B. hid C. showed D. fixed

42. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. An unlucky family B. A Christmas holiday

C. A dream coat  D. A box at midnight

C

Ceramic (陶瓷) West Club

The Ceramic West Club offers members an opportunity to learn and develop their skills and abilities in ceramics. In 2012, the cost for membership is $10 every year. The club is open on Tuesday evenings from 4:30 to 8:30.

19803 R. H. Johnson Blvd.

Sun City West, AZ 85375

623-546-0975

Fitness Club

Located at the Sun City West Recreation Center, the Fitness Club provides an opportunity for members to improve their health and fitness level. While the cost for membership is $5 every year in 2012, additional fees may be charged for individual (单独的) classes. Those classes include jazzercise (爵士乐体操), deep water running and exercise, water fitness, and dance performance.

19803 R. H. Johnson Blvd.

Sun City West, AZ 85375

623-546-9648

Garden Club

The Garden Club is held each year from September to May and teaches members about horticultural (园艺的) gardening in the desert. While lectures include speakers and demonstrations, field trips and activities are also provided to view plants in their natural habitat. The cost of the club is $6 in 2012, and a greenhouse facility (设备) is available to teach members about different types of plants.

19803 R. H. Johnson Blvd.

Sun City West, AZ 85375

623-444-8045

Deer Valley Women’s Golf Club

The Deer Valley Women’s Golf Club started in 1994 and offers women in the Sun City West area a chance to play golf throughout the year. Members get together every Tuesday to play golf, and general meetings are held twice a year to update members on the latest events and happenings.

13975 Deer Valley Rd

Sun City West, AZ 85375

623-518-3546

43. What can members do in the Fitness Club?

A. Create jazz music. B. Play golf.

C. Learn to dance. D. Take field trips.

44. We can learn from the passage that       .

A. the Garden Club opens every two years

B. the Golf Club is in the same road as the others

C. the activity in the Ceramic West Club lasts 4 hours

D. one can take classes in the Fitness Club free of charge

45. The underlined word “update” in the passage is closest in meaning to “      ”.

A. permit B. tell C. warn D. admit

46. The main purpose of the passage is to       .

A. advise  B. persuade  C. comment  D. introduce

D

Dog lovers like to think it is their voices that make their pets so easy to please. In fact, it is not so simple—with eye contact (对视) playing an important role besides spoken commands.

Scientists have found the animals pick up not only the words we say, but our purpose to communicate. In fact, dogs are as advanced as a two-year-old child in following eye contact.

Dogs have similar skills to babies. Jszsef Topal, a researcher of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, said, “Increasing information supports the idea that humans and dogs share some social skills. The way dogs work is like that of a six-month to two-year-old child in a lot of ways. Dogs even watch how we make eye contact to work out what we mean. Dogs, as well as babies, are sensitive to something that signals our purpose.”

Topal’s team tested dogs with videos of a person saying, “Hi, dog!” in different tones of voice and using different levels of eye contact. The team found that the dogs can read the eye contact as well as children. Dogs know when they are being spoken to and can even make a guess at what you are thinking. However, whether or not dogs rely on similar ways to deal with those signals isn’t yet clear.

Researchers used the eye-tracking software to determine that dogs and babies respond (回应) in a similar manner to commands.

Topal added, “Our findings show that dogs are good at receiving human communication in a manner that was thought to only belong to babies before. By following the eye movements of dogs, we are also able to figure out what they are actually thinking.”

47. The underlined part in Para. 2 can best be replaced by 　　　.

A. spoken commands     B. eye contact

C. familiar voices     D. social skills

48. How did Topal’s team do their research?

A. By talking to the dogs in different tones of voice.

B. By searching for different information from other studies.

C. By determining how babies responded to commands and eye contact.

D. By playing videos with people giving commands and making eye contact.

49. Which of the following is one of the team’s findings?

A. Dogs are not as sensitive to eye contact as babies are.

B. Dogs are cleverer than a six-month to two-year-old child.

C. People can learn what dogs are thinking through their eye movements.

D. Dogs rely on the same ways to deal with people’s eye contact as babies.

50. It can be inferred from the passage that 　　　.

A. dogs can learn some social skills through eye contact

B. the eye-tracking software is very helpful in Topal’s research

C. dogs show their different purposes by making different sounds

D. a new eye-tracking technology has been developed by Topal’s team

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。

How to spend a healthy weekend

We all know how it goes. You make good food choices and work out every morning only to find that by night, your willpower (毅力) goes out of the window. Somehow, you begin to eat too much junk food and drink too

much beer, and then sleep through your dancing class the next morning.     51     In fact, weekends are a great time to practice healthy behaviors because you usually have more time to do so. Here are some tips for a healthy weekend.

Try a longer physical exercise.     52     While you might not be able to squeeze (挤出) a 30-minute run during the weekdays, you can use the weekend to go for a longer run at a beautiful park nearby.

53     It can be easy to skip meals on weekends and then make up for it later by overeating at dinner. So, make it a point to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner just like you would do during the weekdays. Your body will thank you!

Stick to your usual sleep schedule. Just think of all those times you stayed up later than usual, got hungry and ended up eating something unhealthy! Changing your sleep schedule can make it harder to fall asleep on Sunday night.     54

Get outdoors. Most of us work indoors during the daylight hours, but the weekends provide a nice opportunity to get outside, see the sun and connect with nature.     55     So get out there and enjoy the great outdoors!

A. Eat like it’s a weekday.

B. Plan for the week ahead.

C. But weekends don’t have to be this way.

D. This will make your weekends seem longer.

E. And this could cause you a tired Monday.

F. Studies show that people are happier when they spend time out in nature.

G. Use the weekend as a time to get more activities in without feeling rushed.

四、写作 (共两节，满分35分)

第一节 短文改错 (共10小题;每小题1分，满分10分)

请修改下面的短文。短文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，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。

Dear Helen,

It’s almost a month before I saw you off at the airport. I miss you a lot. Please accept my thanks for all that you had done to help me with my English. Whenever I got through trouble, you were always there, reaching out hand for me to hold. It was your help and encouragement that helped me through all the difficulty and made me where I am today. I couldn’t have made itself without your timely help. You once told me you enjoyed your travels over China very much. So why not come back to China for a visit when you will have free time? I’ll be looking forward to see you again.

Best wishes!

Yours,

Li Ming

第二节 书面表达 (满分25分)

下面一幅图片描述的是小明进行体检的情况，请你根据图片信息写一则英语短文，说明图片反映出的问题以及你的看法。

注意：词数：100左右。

参考词汇：垃圾食品 junk food    垃圾桶 dustbin