Complete each of the following sentences with the most likely answer. (15 points)

China is _______ old country with _______ long history.

A. an, a

B. an, the

C. the, a

D. the,/

We could not see the moon, for a cloud came _______.

A. at between

B. in between

C. for between

D. on between

We all think of you as the most suitable one to _______ the work.  

A. take advantage of

B. take care of

C. take charge of

D. take in

Some of the hotels in our district are too expensive for ordinary people to _______ for a night. 

A. stay at

B. stay up

C. stay of

D. stay away

It must be John. Who else would _____ he does?

A. work hard as

B. be working as hard as

C. do harder work than

D. work harder than

His health has begun to ______ now that he is old.

A. decline

B. decrease

C. declare

D. defeat

Leave at once _______ I’ll beat you. 

A. and

B. or

C. however

D. but

“Why didn’t you tell me this before？”“I _______ but I didn’t have the chance.”

A. would

B. would have

C. would rather

D. could

The line was busy. Someone _______ the telephone. 

A. must be using

B. must use

C. must have been using

D. should have been using

The boss urged his workers _______. 

A. away

B. off

C. up

D. on

I know you will not let me _______.

A. in

B. up

C. down

D. out

Occasionally she and her husband _______ ride into the country for a picnic.

A. could

B. must

C. would

D. should

If you buy two books, you’ll get another one _______.

A. thrown away

B. thrown off

C. thrown up

D. thrown in

As _______ health, I have nothing useful to say as I have little experience of illness.

A. regards

B. regard

C. regardless

D. regarding

The total effect of Edison’s career _____ the sum of all of his inventions.

A. excels

B. succeeds

C. affects

D. surpasses

Fill in each blank in the passage with the most likely answer. (15 points)

     Jenna, a popular girl from Westwood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new   16   in high school. However, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts(选拔赛)for cheerleaders(拉拉队队员). She was competing against very  talented girls, and she knew it would be   17   for her to be selected. Two hours later, the  18   read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart   19   as the list ended without her name. Feeling   20   , she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

    Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was   21   . She moved on to English and history, and was relieved to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to   22   math for the time being.

    The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school   23    . Mrs. Biden wasn’t as   24   as Jenna. “I’m sorry, but we have enough writers for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we’ll talk then.” Jenna smiled   25   and left. “Why is high school so  26   ?” she sighed.

     Later in   27   class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much   28   . By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to fit in at her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to   29    . High school was just as her mom had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond   30 a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the best fish you can be.”

（）

A. processes

B. decision

C. challenges

D. exercises

（）

A. difficult

B. easy

C. boring

D. interesting

（）

A. editor

B. boss

C. candidate

D. judge

（）

A. jumped

B. sank

C. stopped

D. raced

（）

A. strange

B. happy

C. awful

D. lonely

（）

A. struggling

B. improving

C. working

D. complaining

（）

A. put up

B. prepare for

C. worry about

D. give up

（）

A. committee

B. newspaper

C. radio

D. team

（）

A. enthusiastic

B. artistic

C. sympathetic

D. realistic

（）

A. widely

B. weakly

C. excitedly

D. brightly

（）

A. similar

B. ordinary

C. different

D. familiar

（）

A. physics

B. history

C. English

D. math

（）

A. pleasure

B. hope

C. trouble

D. sorrow

（）

A. swim

B. try

C. ask

D. escape

（）

A. in return for

B. in case of

C. in terms of

D. instead of

Choose the closest paraphrased version for each of the sentences or italicized parts. (10points)

Our passion to understand the universe and our compassion for others jointly provide the chief hope for the human race. 

A. People’s enthusiasm about the universe and their profound sympathy for others are considered the two major hopes of the human race.

B. The hope for the human race lies mainly in our enthusiasm about the universe and our profound sympathy for others.

C. The hope of the human race refers to either people’s enthusiasm about the universe or people’s profound sympathy for others.

D. The hope for the human race lies mainly in either our enthusiasm about the universe or our profound sympathy for others.

Once you turn over a new leaf, you can’t expect to change completely right away. 

A. You read a book from the first page.

B. You change your ways for the better.

C. You pick a fresh leaf from the tree.

D. You start doing something new.

You no longer need to make mental conversions of the country’s money. 

A. You needn’t change the country’s money to your country’s money in mind because you have adjusted to live in that country.

B. You needn’t change the country’s money to your country’s money in mind because you no longer return it.

C. You needn’t change the country’s money to your country’s money in mind because you can’t calculate it.

D. You needn’t change the country’s money to your country’s money in mind because you have tried to do that.

Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed.

A. A rich person who doesn’t have a job can still have the right to fall in love.

B. Only rich people have the right to fall in love, while those who are poor and out of work don’t have that right.

C. Rich as a person is, if he loses his job, he doesn’t have the right to fall in love.

D. Poor as a person is, if he is not out of work, he still has the right to fall in love.

She felt well enough to be up and about.

A. She felt that she could stand up and walk around the house.

B. She felt she has recovered from illness.

C. She felt well enough to do anything.

D. She felt well enough to go everywhere.

Courtesy is often nothing than a highly developed sense of fair play.

A. Courtesy is not a highly developed sense of fair play.

B. Courtesy is more than a highly developed sense of fair play.

C. Courtesy is just a highly developed sense of fair play.

D. Courtesy is more important than fair play.

They wouldn’t let you down in a crisis. 

A. They wouldn’t leave you alone in times of difficulty.

B. They wouldn’t disappoint you in times of difficulty.

C. They wouldn’t stay with you to cope with difficulty.

D. They would do whatever they could to help you.

The beauty of our country is as hard to define as it is easy to enjoy.

A. The beauty of our country is easy to appreciate but difficult to describe.

B. The beauty of our country is impossible to understand and depict.

C. The word beauty is hard to define.

D. The beauty of our country is noticeable, so it’s easy to describe it.

Since I attained a little fame I have on occasion been addressed by strangers. 

A. Since I became a little famous, some strangers have occasionally visited me.

B. Because I obtained a little fame, some strangers have occasionally visited me.

C. Since I became somewhat famous, some strangers have occasionally asked me about my address.

D. Since I became somewhat famous, some strangers would come up to talk to me from time to time.

…you can take up just where you left off.

A . …you can continue just at where you stopped.

B. …you can begin just what you have left.

C. …you can take just what you have left.

D. …you can go on just which you left.

Read the two passages and answer the questions. (20 points)

Passage 1

    Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate. Each time they fixate, we see a group of words. This is known as the recognition span or the visual span. The length of time of which the eyes stop—the duration of the fixation—varies considerably from person to person. It also varies within any one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity with the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as lighting and tiredness.

     Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement courses have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the purely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For instance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, say, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often constructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at each successive fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to understand the relationship between words. Consequently, for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulness of eye training, especially since any approach which trains a person to read isolated words and phrases would seem unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.

The time of the recognition span can be affected by the following facts except _______.

A. one’s familiarity with the text

B. one’s purpose in reading

C. the length of a group of words

D. lighting and tiredness

The author may believe that reading _______.

A. requires a reader to take in more words at each fixation

B. requires a reader to see words more quickly

C. demands an deeply-participating mind

D. demands more mind than eyes

What does the author mean by saying “but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently” in the second paragraph?

A. The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.

B. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both the ability to see and to comprehend words.

C. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve an efficient reading.

D. The reading exercises mentioned has done a great job to improve one’s ability to see words.

Which of the following is NOT true? 

A. The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.

B. Many experts began to question the efficiency of eye training.

C. The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.

D. The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.

The tone of the author in writing this article is

A. critical

B. neutral

C. pessimistic

D. optimistic

Passage 2

    Upon reaching an appropriate age (usually between 18 and 21 years), children are encouraged, but not forced, to “leave the nest” and begin an independent life. After children leave home they often find social relationship and financial support outside the family. Parents do not arrange marriages for their children, nor do children usually ask permission of their parents to get married. Romantic love is most often the basis for marriage in the United States; young adults meet their future spouses (配偶) through other friends, at jobs, and in organizations and religious institutions. Although children choose their own spouses, they still hope their parents will approve of their choices.

    In many families, parents feel that children should make major life decisions by themselves. A parent may try to influence a child to follow a particular profession but the child is free to choose another career. Sometimes children do precisely the opposite of what their parents wish in order to assert their independence. A son may deliberately decide not to go into his father’s business because of a fear that he will lose his autonomy in his father’s workplace. This independence from parents is not an indication that parents and children do not love each other. Strong love between parents and children is universal and this is no exception in the American family. Coexisting with such love in the American family are cultural values of self-reliance and independence.

The writer discusses the marriage of young adults in order to show which of the following?

A. They enjoy the freedom of choosing their spouses.

B. They want to win the permission of their parents.

C. They have a strong desire to become independent.

D. They want to challenge the authority of their parents.

Most young adults in the U.S. get married for the sake of_______.

A. love

B. financial concern

C. their parents

D. family background

Based on the passage, it can be assumed that _______.

A. American young adults are likely to follow the suit of their parents

B. most American people never make major decisions for their children

C. American young adults possess cultural values of independence

D. once a young person steps into his twenties, he will leave his home permanently

A son is unwilling to work in his father’s business mainly because _______.

A. he wishes to make full use of what he has learnt in school

B. he wants to prove his independence

C. he wishes to do the opposite of what his parents approve of

D. he wants to show his love for his parents

The subject matter of this selection is_______.

A. family values

B. marriage arrangements

C. the pursuit of a career

D. decision making