Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.

People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.

The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.

I see people trapped in a pathological（病態(tài)的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.

What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.

Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.

1.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.

A. advantage B. attraction

C. adaption D. attempt

2.From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.

A. attract people to buy their products

B. provide the latest information

C. improve people’s quality of life

D. deal with cultural diseases

3.It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.

A. consider too much technology wonderful

B. have realized the harm of high-tech devices

C. can regain freedom without high-tech devices

D. may enjoy life better without overused technology

4.What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?

A. Neutral. B. Skeptical.

C. Disapproving. D. Sympathetic.

1. Sometimes they try to get out of a class to escape a teacher they don’t like. Here is some advice to solve this problem.

Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this teacher?” Even if you don’t worship his or her personality or lectures, dig deep until you find a subject in which he or she is very knowledgeable. Focus on that part of the teacher’s personality, and use him or her as a tool for learning. Not only will you gain more knowledge in that subject, but a closer relationship with your teacher may help you understand one another better. 2.

Talk to students who are doing well in the class and ask them for tips, tools, and a plan of action to get along with the teacher better. 3.

If you still can’t get along, make an appointment with the school guidance counselor (輔導(dǎo)員). He or she will offer many tips and suggestions for you to get out of difficult teacher relationships. 4. That means they can help you and your teachers get rid of the bad impression on each other.

5. Your parents can meet with your teacher and try to work it out.

Teachers are there for more than just homework, and they know about more than just their subject matter. They can help you learn how to function as an adult and a lifelong learner.

Undoubtedly, these will be a few teachers along the way who you will always remember and who might change your life forever.

A.Sometimes a guidance counselor can act as a mediator between you and the teacher.

B.If you’re too shy to talk to another student, study his or her actions and behavior in the classroom and try to follow that lead.

C.Guidance counselors have the right to blame teachers.

D.There must be something good in every teacher for you to learn from.

E.Students find it easy to get along well with their teachers.

F.If your relationship problems can’t be solved in school, then it’s time to tell your parents or guardians.

G.Students don’t always get along well with their teachers.

Dinah Shore said, “There are no hopeless situations — only people who are hopeless about them.” Some 30 years ago, when he was only 11 years old, Morgan Rowe lost his left arm and much of the use of his right arm. It happened when he off a tractor at his father’s fence company, and was dragged under the machine.

Young Morgan was from the hospital after three and a half months. The first thing he to do was to help pay the bill — $30,000 worth. For a boy of 11 to such a task, the situation seemed .

For five years Morgan roadsides picking up cans and bottles. He thousands of cans and picked up and old newspapers. He never gave up . First, he paid off the $455 ambulance bill. He was still a long way off his parents raised another $9,000 toward the debt.

People began to the injured boy and poured in, totaling $25,000. The bill was paid ！Morgan set aside the money for future education.

What then? Morgan his projects and collected money for the hospital so he could others though the bill was paid up.

Maybe someone to tell the boy he was too injured for that kind of work. Maybe someone neglected to inform him that the was hopeless. Somehow young Morgan didn’t that an 11-year-old boy could never pay off a hospital bill so large.

Martin Luther once said, “Everything that is done in the world is done by the hopeful.” Without hope, is possible.

1.A. ran B. fell C. drove D. lay

2.A. released B. dismissed C. removed D. liberated

3.A. set about B. set up C. set out D. set down

4.A. understand B. complete C. arrange D. cancel

5.A. hopeless B. different C. meaningful D. dangerous

6.A. searched B. controlled C. explored D. examined

7.A. purchased B. recorded C. collected D. prepared

8.A. delivered B. sold C. gave D. bought

9.A. courage B. challenge C. hope D. adventure

10.A. though B. so C. but D. because

11.A. hear about B. learn from C. worry about D. benefit from

12.A. invitations B. applications C. suggestions D. donations

13.A. exactly B. fully C. deeply D. partly

14.A. voluntary B. useless C. additional D. present

15.A. ended B. kept C. began D. paused

16.A. help B. comfort C. affect D. move

17.A. attempted B. managed C. forgot D. remembered

18.A. situation B. life C. illness D. devotion

19.A. realize B. discuss C. argue D. expect

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

An idea to cycle to Tibet ____1.__(occur) to me one year ago. I know___2.___ idea is quite practical in economical way. For one thing, I can’t have too much money. For another, it is bound to do me good because I can take in fresh air___3.___ the way there. I called Tom, ___4.___ had borrowed me a sum of money, telling him my idea. He was excited at my words and promised to pay off his debt as soon as possible. He also offered to team up with me. ___5.___ (apparent), he also showed great interest in this trip. Five months____6.___ our trip, we kept taking exercise and built up strong body because we knew_7.____ would be impossible to realize our dream without being ___8.___ (health). I used to hear that some people__9.___(make) a trip there died from the lack of oxygen---- they did devote their lives to their dream ! But the cost is too much. So ___10.___ of us insisted on running in the morning from time to time.

短文改錯(cuò)(共10小題；每小題1分，滿分10分)

下面短文中共有10處錯(cuò)誤，錯(cuò)誤涉及一個(gè)單詞的增加、刪除或修改。

增加：在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏詞符號（∧），并在此符號下面寫出該加的詞。

刪除：把多余的詞用斜線（\）劃掉。

修改：在錯(cuò)的詞下劃一橫線，并在該詞下面寫出修改后的詞。

注意：1．每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞；

2．只允許修改10處，多者（從第11處起）不計(jì)分

Dear Headmaster,

I am writing to talk about the canteen of our school. There are only a few stand in the canteen, leading to lots of students have to line up for food. It is waste of time, isn’t it? But at times the food is not fresh and does not taste deliciously. So it’s not surprising that some students chose to go to the street to buy junk food which do harm to their health. Would you think about that how to improve it? I would appreciate you if you could take some measures. Hopefully, my opinion can be taken to account.

Jack

假如你是某中學(xué)的學(xué)生李華。前不久，你參加了全國英語演講比賽并獲得了一等獎。請用英語給�？瘜懸黄�文章，談?wù)勀愕捏w會。內(nèi)容主要包括：

1.付出才有回報(bào)；

2.收獲自信和友誼；

3.感激之情。

注意：1. 詞數(shù)120左右；

2. 可適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫；

3. 開頭語已經(jīng)寫好，不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

Looking back to the National English Speaking Competition I took several days ago, I have a lot to share with you.

When I was 11, I threw a glance into Dad’s lunch box and made the unexpected discovery that my mother still showed her love towards my father. The evidence, a napkin resting on top of the sandwiches packed in wax paper, was certain “Love you!” she had written on the napkin. “ Meat loaf for supper!”

Mom penned all kinds of messages to Dad on those paper napkins, and he saved a whole pile of them. What embarrassed me as a kid has become a precious memory of my parents.

It also started my own brand of lunch box notes. When my kids were young, I’d glue little drawings on their lunches. Lots of sketches(素描) of our dog, Max, along with smiling flowers. When they were teenagers, I’d copy words of wisdom from great people, Einstein, for example, or Bruce Springsteen. Then, my kids grew up making their own handwritten notes. And my husband writes me love notes on recycled paper, because he’s all about being green.

Friends who know about my lunch box notes eagerly share stories of their own family traditions. So many focus on food. Maura’s mom always drew hearts on the shells of hard-boiled eggs. Melinda wrote messages on her kids’ bananas.

We’re into the third generation of lunch box notes in our home. Whenever my 3-year-old grandson, Clayton, spends the night, he knows his lunch is going to have a napkin note from Grandma in the morning. Last week, I drew a picture of me, waving widely and shouting his name. He took one look at it and screamed, “ Where’s Grandpa?” I added a man in a clean shirt. “ You forgot his tie,” he said. I quickly drew a line of stripes(條紋) down the front of the shirt. Clayton smiled. “Grandpa,” he whispered, running his fingers across the napkin. “It’s you!”

1.When the author first saw Dad’s lunch box notes, she felt ______.

A. moved B. awkward

C. proud D. nervous

2.What did the author put in the lunch boxes when her kids were in their teens?

A. Words of love.

B. Pictures of flowers.

C. Drawings of their favorite animals.

D. Famous words of wisdom

3.It can be inferred that ________.

A. the author’s grandson likes drawing pictures on napkins.

B. the author’s children dislike making lunch box notes.

C. the author’s husband is an environmentalist.

D. the author’s friends all had their brand of lunch box notes.

4.What’s the best title for the text?

A. Old generation’s way of expressing love.

B. Different brands of lunch box notes.

C. Lunches packed with love.

D. Some interesting family traditions.

Living near the beach may come with an extra perk (利益): better health. A new study analyzed information from more than 48 million people in England and found that the nearer they lived to the coast, the more likely people were to report good health within the past year.

Living near the coast may be associated with better health because the seaside environment reduces stress, the researchers said. They pointed to another British study that found that people who took trips to the coast experienced more feelings of calmness and relaxation than those who visited urban parks or the countryside.

The difference from living near the coast was relatively small. But a small effect, when applied to an entire population, can have a substantial impact on public health, said study researcher Ben Wheeler of Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in Exeter, England.

However, it’s too soon to advise people to hit the beach to improve health, Wheeler said. The study only found an association, not a cause-effect link, and it’s possible that other factors could explain the results. For instance, it could be that people who are wealthier, and therefore healthier, are more able to move to desired locations such as the coast, Wheeler said, a phenomenon known as the migrant effect. But the study did find that the association between coastal living and better health was strongest for those living in the poorest areas, which perhaps indicates that wealth cannot explain the results, Wheeler said.

Because the study looked at only England—an island country in which everyone lives within 72 miles of the coast—it’s not clear whether the findings would apply to other populations. Far from England, a health expert not involved in the study said that while the British research certainly doesn’t prove that people’s health and the place they live are linked, it’s possible that proximity to the seas does something for our bodies.

If future studies confirm the results, the next step would be to find out it is what coastal environments that can benefit health. Wheeler said it may then be possible to bring those benefits to people living in other areas, through virtual environments, for instance.

1.We can conclude from the passage that ______.

A. people are encouraged to move to the coast

B. people living near the sea may be healthier.

C. people pay increasingly attention to health

D. people are worried about residential environment

2.According to the researchers, living near the sea ______.

A. doesn’t nearly affect the British population

B. can cure some difficult diseases in a way

C. can help get over one’s stress

D. means freeing from sadness or troubles

3.What Ben Wheeler said means ______.

A. the British public health is decreasing

B. concrete evidence favors life near the sea

C. wealthier people are likely to be healthier

D. exact reasons are proposed for further research

4.What does the underlined word “proximity” in the passage mean?

A. being close B. being distant

C. being similar D. being opposite

As we know, Julian Beever is an international well-known sidewalk chalk artist whose drawings have appeared on the streets of London, Buenos Aires, Paris, New York, and countless other cities around the world. Beever creates drawings that look completely three- dimensional when seen from the correct angle.

Now, in his book, Pavement chalk artist: The three-dimensional drawings of Julian Beever, the artist shares some of his most fascinating and humorous pieces, Here are a few examples you’ll find in the book.

●Philadelphia eagle

In Pennsylvania, Beever created “Philadelphia eagle ”a huge drawing with an eagle landing successfully on an American national flag.

●Meeting Mr. Frog

“Meeting Mr. Frog” was created in Salamanca, Spain, and is about a realistic-looking frog sitting on a Lily pad.

●Swimming pool in the high street

My personal favorite is “Swimming pool in the high street” from Brussels, which is about a woman relaxing in a swimming pool-----a swimming pool sunk into the middle of the street, that is!

Along with an introduction about his background, Beever includes a description of the techniques he used and the challenges he overcame with every drawing. He shares information about his time at home in the UK. and abroad; there is a fun story to back up each piece of art.

Beever’s artwork is truly jaw drooping. You’re sure to spend ages turning the leaves back and forth, surprised at how one man can create what looks like a three-dimensional design on a flat surface with just a bit of chalk. From animals to superheroes to famous buildings, the paintings are a wonder to lay eyes on.

＊Payment chalk artist: The three-dimensional drawings of Julian Beever is surely worth a look. And another look. This 112-page hardcover book is available now from Firefly Books at a list price of $ 29.95

1.What do we know about the book mentioned in the text?

A. It has a paper cover.

B. It hasn’t been published.

C. It includes some drawing techniques.

D. It’s a biography of Julian Beever.

2.What does the underlined part “ jaw dropping” most probably mean?

A. Romantic. B. Amazing.

C. Frightening D. Depressing.

3.We can infer that the text is ______.

A. a book review.

B. a description of street art.

C. an advertisement for a new book.

D. an introduction to an artist.

People are being lured (引誘) onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing they’re paying for it by giving up large amounts of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages.

Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook because people don’t really know what their personal data is worth.

The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you keep everything private. That was the great thing about facebook — you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things — your city, your photo, your friends' names—were set, by default (默認(rèn)) to be shared with everyone on the Internet.

According to Facebook’s vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a “l(fā)ess satisfying experience”.

Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friends?

The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator(議員) Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites. “I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,” Schrage admits.

I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy is only the beginning, which is why I’m considering deactivating(撤銷) my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t know. That’s too high a price to pay.

1.What do we learn about Facebook from the first paragraph?

A. It is a website that sends messages to targeted users.

B. It makes money by putting on advertisements.

C. It provides loads of information to its users.

D. It profits by selling its users’ personal data.

2.Why does Facebook make changes to its rules according to Elliot Schrage?

A. To provide better service to its users.

B. To follow the Federal guidelines.

C. To improve its users’ connectivity.

D. To expand its scope of business.

3.What does Senator Charles Schumer advocate?

A. Setting guidelines for advertising on websites.

B. Banning the sharing of users’ personal information.

C. Removing ads from all social-networking sites.

D. Formulating(制訂) regulations for social-networking sites..

4.Why does the author plan to cancel his Facebook account?

A. He is dissatisfied with its current service.

B. He doesn’t want his personal data abused.

C. He finds many of its users untrustworthy.

D. He is upset by its frequent rule changes.