1.Compare the underlined parts and iden-tify the one that is different from the others in pronunciation.

2.

Alexia Sloane，a l0 一 year-old girl，lost her sight when she was two following a brain disease But despite her disability she has excelled at languages and is already fluent in English，French，Spanish and Chinese。and is learning German.

Now she has experienced her dream job of working as an interpreter after East of England MEP(欧盟议员) Robert Sturdy invited her to the parliament building in Brussels，thus becoming the youngest interpreter to work at the European Parliament.

“She was given a special permit to get into the

buildin9，where there is usually a minimum age requirement of l4.and sat in a booth listening and interpretin9，”said her mother，Isabelle.“The other interpreters were amazed at how well she did as the debate was quite complicated and many of the words

were rather technical.”

Alexia has been tri-lingual since birth as her

mother，a teacher，is half French and half Spanish，while her father，Richard，is English.She started talking and communicating in all three languages before she lost her sight but adapted quickly to her blindness.By the age of four，she was reading and writing in Braille(盲文).When she was six。Alexia began to learn Chinese.The girl is now learning German at school in Cambridge.

Alexia has been longing to be an interpreter since she was six and she chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won a young achiever of the year award.She asked if she could shadow interpreters and Mr.Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest.

Alexia worked with the head of interpreting and had a real taste of lire in parliament.“It was fantastic and lm absolutely determined now to become an interpreter，she saidThe tone of the passage can be best describedas

3.请根据下面选项回答题：A.Thank youB.It’s my pleasureC.By the wayD.No, of course notE.Here you areF.Never mind.G.I’m sorryH.No mayFric:Thank you for looking after the cat for me.Jack:.I love cats.

4.

As we recently discovered，there is a Stepmother’s Day，though it is not on any official holiday calendar.So，it would be safe to assume that there is a similar day for stepdads，too.

Right? Well，it depends on what you read.A Google search brought up posts that say，for example，“It’s on father’s day--father’s day is for fathers，step—fathers and people who are like fathers to you-it’s a day for making father figures feel special.”Further searching found a Stepfather’s Day

Facebook page that says，“The unofficial Stepfather’s Day is the fourth Sunday of June.”

Unfortunately，as of the publishing of this article，only 30 people have “liked” the page.Considering that studies show 3.3 million men，or 11.1%of U.S.fathers，live with at least one stepchild，that’s only a drop in the ocean.

It’s interesting to note that there is a National Grandparents’ Day.President Jimmy Carter signed it into law in 1978.Law! While grandparents are undoubtedly special people in our children’s lives，they are often seen as the most loving family members.But what about the stepparents? The stepparents are the ones who are often the outsiders，the ones who have to endure the hurtful “You’re not my dad!” or “You’re not my mom!” And yet they never give up.

They do their best to overcome the inherent challenges of stepparents and be role models for their stepchildren.These unsung(未被颂扬的)family heroes deserve “official” days of honor.Perhaps if we are loud enough，President Obama，who had a stepfather himself，will sign into law National

Stepmother’s Day and National Stepfather’s Day.

Are you with me? Follow me and get your voice heard.How cool it would be if we could make this happen!What did President Jimmy Carter sign into law in 1978 ?

5.根据以下材料，回答40-43题 It is customary for adults to forget how hard and dull and long school is．The learning by memoryof all the basic things one must know is a most incredible and unending effort．Learning to read isprobably the most difficult and revolutionary thing that happens to the human brain and if you don’tbelieve that，watch an illiterate adult try to do it．School is not easy and it is not for the most partvery much fun，but then，if you are very lucky，you may find a real teacher．Three real teachers ina lifetime is the very best of my luck．My first was a science and math teacher in high school，mysecond，a professor of creative writing at Stanford，and my third was my friend and partner，EdRicketts． My three had these things in common：They all loved what they were doing．They did not tell；they catalyzed a burning desire to know．Under their influence，the horizons sprung wide and fearwent away and the unknown became knowable．But most important of all，the truth，that dangerousstuff，became beautiful and very precious． I shall speak only of my first teacher because in addition to the other things，she：brought discovery．She aroused us to shoutin9，book—waving discussions．She had the noisiest class in school andshe didn’t even seem to know it．We could．never stick to the subject．Our speculation ranged theworld．She breathed curiosity into us so that we brought in facts or truths shielded in our hands likecaptured fireflies． I Call tell my son who looks forward with horror to fifteen years of drudgery that somewhere inthedusty dark a magic may happen that will light up the years if he is very lucky．Among his teschers,lefthim a very deep impression．

6.John isn’t a diligent student for it is the third time he has been late, _____?

7.None of the students watched it___

8.__________ I could say anything more, Holmes had rushed off towards the door.

9.“When can we come to visit you?” “Any time you feel__________ .”

10.

There is nothing more possible than a new hip or knee that can put the spring back inyour step.Patients receiving joint implants(移植）often are able to resume many of thephysical activities they love,even those as vigorous as tennis and hiking.No wonder.then,that joint replacement is growing in popularity.

In the United States in 2007,surgeons performed about 806,000 hip and knee implants(the joints most commonly replaced),double the number performed a decade earlier.Though these procedures have become routine,they are not failure free.

implants must sometimes be replaced,said Dr.Henrik Malchau,an orthopedic surgeon(矫形外科医生）at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.A study published in2007 found that 7 percent of hips implanted in Medicare patients had to be replaced withinseven and a half years.

The percentage may sound low,but the finding suggests that thousands of hip patients eventually require a second operation,said Dr.Malchau.Those patients must endure additional recoveries,often painful,and increased medical expenses.The failure rate should be lower,many experts agree.Sweden,for instance,has a failure rate estimated to be a third of that in the United States.Sweden also has a national jointreplacement registry,a database of information from which surgeons can learnhow and why certain procedures go wrongA registry also helps surgeons learn quickly whethera specifictype of implant is particularly problematic,"Every country that has developed aregistry has been able to reduce failure rates."

“Significantly,"said Dr.Daniel Berry,chief of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinicin Rochester,Minn.

A newly formed American Joint Replacement Registry will begin gathering data fromhospitals in the next 12 to 18 months.It's good news for those who are considering replacing a knee or hip.1.What is the problem with hip or knee replacements in the U.S.?（）

11.I can hardly imagine___sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in five days.

12.

The Red Cross is 61 organization which cares for people who are in 62 of help. A man in a Paris hospital who needs blood, a woman in Mexico who was injured 63 an earthquake, and a family in India 64 lost their home in a storm may all 65 by the Red Cross.

The Red Cross exists in almost every country 66 the world . The World Red Cross Organizations are sometimes are sometimes called the Red Crescent( 新月 ) the Red Mogen David, the Sun , and the Red Lion . All of these agencies 67 a common goal of trying 68 people in neeD、

The idea of forming an organization to help the sick and 69 during a war started 70 Jean Henry Dunant. In 1859, he observed 71 suffering 72 a battlefield in Italy. He wanted to help all the wounded people 73 of which side they were 74 .The most important result of his work was an international treaty 75 the Geneva Convention( 日内瓦公约 ). It 76 prisoners of war, the sick and wounded, and 77 citizens during a war.

The American Red Cross 78 by Clara Barton in 1881. Today the Red Cross in the United States provides a number of 79

for the publiC、Such as helping people in need, teaching first aid, 80 water safety and artificial respiration, and providing blood.66.

13. 根据以下材料，回答21-35题 We were late as usual. My husband had 21 watering the flowers in the garden by himselt, and when he discovered that he couldn't manage, he asked me for 22 at the last moment. So now we had only one hour to get to the airport. Luckily, there were not many cars _ 23 buses on the road and we were 24 to get there just in time. We checked in and went straight to a big hall to wait for our flight to be called. We waited and waited 25 no announcement was made. We asked for 26 and the girl there told us the plane hadn't even arried yet. In the end, there came an announcement telling us that those _ 27 _ for flight No. 108 could get a free meal voucher and that the plane hadn’t left Spain 28 technical problems．We thought that meant 29 itwasn’t safe forthe plane t0 30 ．We waited again for a long time until late evening when wewere asked to report again．This time we were 31 free vouchers to spend the night in a nearbyhotel． The next morning after a 32 night because of all the planes taking off and landing，we werereported back to the airport．Guess 33 had happened while we were asleep．Our plane hadarrived and taken off again．All the other 34 had been waken up in the night to catch theplane，but for some reasons or other we had been 35 ．You can imagine how we felt !查看材料32

14.foot

15.My sister ______ my e-mail. Otherwise, she would have replied.

16.Mr.Smith is an old friend of______

17.Claude-Oscar Monet ( 1840 -- 1926 ) was a French artist and a leading member of the Impressionist group of painters. Born in Paris, Monet spent his childhood in Le Havre. There he met a local artist, Eugene Boudin. Who encouraged him to become a landscape painter.In 1859, Monet went to Paris to study at theAcademie Suisse. Between 1860 and 1862, Monet served in the army in Algeria ( 阿尔及利亚 ).He returned to Paris where he met most of the major artists of the era. In 1870, Monet marriedCamille Doncieux. To escape the Franco-Prnssian war,they moved to London Back toFrance, they settled at Argenteuil, a boating centre on the Seine (塞纳河 ) which drew many other Impressionist painters. Working from nature was a particular symbol of the Impressionist movement, and one that Monet valued, reflecting in his paintings the ever-changing impact of light and weather conditions.In 1872,he visited Le Havre where he painted "An Impression,Sunrise". When exhibited in 1874, part of its title was used by a critic to label the whole movement "Impressionism".Monet's wife died in 1879,and he set up home with Alice Hoschede, the wife of one of his most important sponsors. During the 1880s, Monet traveled through France painting a variety of landscapes. He gradually became better known and for the last 30 years of his life he was regarded as the greatest of the Impressionists.From 1890 he began to paint a series (系列 ) ofpictures of one subject, including "Haystacks" "Rouen Cathedral" and "Waterlilies". The latter were painted in the fine garden Monet created at his house at Giverny, where he lived from 1883 on. He painted them over and over again,most significantly in a series especially for a museum in Paris.Monet was introduced to art

18.Not until all the fish died in the river__________ how serious the pollution was．

19.___recent report stated that the number of Spanish speakers in the U.S.would be higher than the number of English speaker by___year 2090.

20.The waterfall was running down from the high cliff so smoothly that it looked like a piece of silver cloth _______ from the sky.