Anna Riviere was one of the most admired of 19th-century English sopranos(女高音). She was also one of the most adventuresome.

She was born in London on January 9th, 1810. She entered the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 14. Seven years later, just after her first show, Anna married Sir Henry Bishop, who was 24 years her senior. Her reputation as a singer grew rapidly, based largely on her tours with Sir Henry and harpist Nicholas Bochsa. After a tour of Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, Anna Bishop deserted her husband and three children and ran away with Bochsa.

From then on, Madame Bishop—as she continued to be known—traveled and sang as if her life depended on it. Between 1839 and 1843 she traveled to every major town in Europe, where she sang in 260 concerts. In the course of two years in Naples, she performed in 20 operas. In 1855 she and Bochsa sailed for Sydney, Australia. He died there the following year, and Anna went on to tour South America before returning to New York, where she married a diamond merchant.

Then she began what proved her most dangerous adventure. After another American tour in 1866, she and her husband set sail across the Pacific. They were shipwrecked on a small coral reef, and for more than a month they drifted in a small boat before they finally reaching Guam. She had lost her music, her wardrobe, and her jewelry, but Madame Bishop was not to be stopped. She went on to Manila and began a concert tour that led to Hong Kong, Singapore, and India before she went back to England. After another two-year world tour she returned eventually to New York, where she gave her last public performance in 1883—at age 73.

Meanwhile the husband she left behind, Sir Henry, had become famous for writing the music to lyrics that might eventually have been meaningful to Anna Bishop—“Home, Sweet Home.”

1. Which of the following message about Madama Bishop is true?

A. She became famous after her first show.

B. After her tour in Europe, she returned to New York.

C. She got married more than once.

D. The song “Home, Sweet Home” was meaningful to her.

2.Sir Henry is a _____.

A. poem B. singer

C. writer D. composer

3.Which is the right order of the event？

a. Bochsa died in Australia.

b. Madama Bishop deserted her husband and three children.

c. Madama Bishop toured South America.

d. Madama Bishop and her husband, a diamond merchant, set sail across the Pacific.

A. abcd B.bacd C.bcda D.dcba

【小題 4】The best title for this passage is_____.

A. The English soprano

B. The soprano toured around the world

C. A soprano and her husband

D. The adventuresome soprano

If you can see the magic in a fairytale, you can face the future.” —Danielle Steel

Who have not read fairytales? We all have had the experience of reveling in the beauty and innocence of fairytales. May it be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty... fairytale is a word which cannot be new to us. But have you ever traveled ages back to the earliest of times and uncovered the fascinating facts about these stories? Well, if not, then here are some mystical finds I discovered when I undertook this journey.

A fairytale or fairy story is a fictional tale that usually features folkloric characters (such as fairies, talking animals). A fairytale often stars transformed princes, princesses, animals, as in “fairytale ending” where the humble but heroic princes defeat the wicked enemies or as in “fairytale romance” where after much ado the beautiful princesses marry their Prince Charming.

One distinct feature of fairytales is that, they take place “once upon a time”. The history of the fairytale is particularly difficult to trace. The oral tradition of the fairytale came long before the written page. The oldest known fairytales stem from ancient Egypt around 1,300 B.C and now, after traveling through various periods of time, they have grown and matured in various aspects and have become the most popular genre of stories for young children.

The most famous authors of fairytales are the Grimm Brothers whose works include Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and many more; The Grimm Brothers collected their tales from farmers and edited them to suit their audience.

But whatever may the form be, fairytales are after all fairytales! G. K. Chesterton said, “Fairytales do not tell children the dragons exist; they tell the dragons can be killed.” This quote has great weight. Every child believes in fairies, dragons, etc. They do not need fairytales to tell them that. Instead fairytales tell that good always succeed over evil. So fairytales are necessary for young minds.

Fairytales are narrated to children when they are young. This is very essential indeed, for if in the beginning of our lives our minds are touched by the beauty, innocence and the morals in these tales, we will be able to trace the optimistic side of happenings. The fairies are like our wildest dreams, which seem unreachable but we can make them plausible（真實的）.

1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us?

A. The definition of fairytale.

B. The characters in the fairytale.

C. The brief introduction of fairytale.

D. The plot of the fairytale.

2. What implies in the passage?

A. The fairytale first appeared as a written form.

B. The spoken form of fairytale came earlier than the written form.

C. The fairytale came from ancient Egypt and hasn’t changed much since then

D. The fairytale always begins with “once upon a time”.

3. By saying “Fairytales do not tell children the dragons exist; they tell the dragons can be killed.”, G. K. Chesterton meant________.

A. the dragons are evil things

B. good always win over evil

C. every child believes the existence of the dragon

D. every child can know how to kill a dragon from the fairytale

4.What does the writer think about the fairytale?

A. He believes that we can make fairytale come ture.

B. He thinks the fairytale makes no difference to our lives.

C. He feels doubtful of the fairytale.

D. He thinks the fairytale is unreachable.

Christmas is perhaps the most important holiday in American culture. On Christmas Eve, children sit out with parents in the living room hanging stockings, setting up a Christmas tree, eating candy canes, and setting up milk and cookies for Santa Claus. Perhaps the most beloved figure in American history, Santa Claus has become an important icon for Christmas.

I remember believing in Santa when I was a very young girl. However, as I grew older, I learned many facts that “proved” his existence as false. Always inquisitive by nature and very keen on the scientific method of experimentation, I was determined to use tests and observations to determine whether Santa Claus was real.

The first year of tests happened when I was 5. I decided that if I stayed up all night on Christmas Eve, I could see if Santa really did come down the chimney. However, that was a futile attempt, I fell asleep that year. The next year, I was able to test if location was an issue with Santa’s deliveries. That year, my family spent Christmas with the family of one of my mother’s friends. At the time, I decided that if Santa was all-knowing he would know I wasn’t home. Sure enough, there was a pretty pink package waiting for me the next morning. At age 7, I came up with my ultimate test to see if Santa was real. That year, I didn’t send out my Christmas letter to Santa. On Christmas Eve, my mother dragged me to our local Wal-Mart and led me around the toy section. I refused to say a word, but did let my eye linger on a ballet set. I figured that “Santa” wouldn’t know what to get me because he shouldn’t be able to read my mind. However, mother would know everything that caught my eye in the store. If I got the ballet set the next morning, I would have my evidence. Christmas morning, there was the ballet set, sitting under the tree. As I didn’t use it much, mother ended up returning it a few days later. She claimed Santa was generous enough to leave a receipt. That was the end to my mission to discover the existence of Santa.

Now, I can look back on all of these with fond nostalgia(懷舊). The magic and mystery of it all made Christmas a fun time. Santa was a big part of my childhood.

1.Children do all the things on Christmas Eve except______

set up a Christmas tree

hang stockings and eat candy canes

prepare milk and cookies for Santa Claus

wait for Santa Claus with their parents

2. The underlined word “futile” means____

A. unreal B. unusual

C. unsuccessful D. unreasonable

3. How did the writer prove the existence of Santa Claus as false?

A. He stayed up all night on Christmas Eve and saw Santa come down the chimney.

B. He found that Santa was all-knowing and could make the deliveries accurate

C. He didn’t send out his Christmas letter but still got his Christmas present

D. He used the receipt left by Santa to return his present

4. The writer wants to tell us that_____

A. He proved the existence of Santa Claus as false.

B. Christmas and Santa is a part of his life as well as his child

C. Christmas plays an important role in American culture

D. Santa Claus is the most popular figure in American history

閱讀下列短文，根據(jù)以下提示：

（1）漢語提示 （2）首字母提示 （3）語境提示，在每個空格內(nèi)填入一個適當?shù)挠⒄Z單詞，并將該詞完整地寫在右邊相對應(yīng)的橫線上。所填單詞要求意義準確，拼寫正確。

Danger is not what we expect. But the truth is that it often comes suddenly and unexpectedly. How can we get out of danger? There are many 【小題 1】 a to this question. The key is whether we can face danger 1. _____(勇敢).

What you must remember is that you must believe 2. _____ yourself. Just remember that you can 3. ______ (打敗) danger. Tell yourself that you can turn into a superwoman or a superman when you are in danger. This is4. ____ I am going to tell you the stories of Mrs. Weldon and Dr. Murray.

Mrs. Weldon reported that her body was nearly run over by a car when she was trying to save her baby. Mrs. Weldon5. w only fifty kilograms. She looks as if she is very 【小題 7】 ____ (虛弱) , but she said she lifted the car to save her baby. Dr. Waltson, a zoologist, wrote that he 6. j_____ nearly three meters high into the air to take hold of the lowest branch of a tree when some wolves ran 7.a him. Perhaps you are wondering if you can do such things like【小題 10】____. The chances are that you can!

假如你是李明，你校英語協(xié)會最近正在舉行“最美學(xué)生”評選活動。你希望推薦你的同學(xué)李華參評“最美學(xué)生”。請按要求給組委會寫一封推薦信，信中應(yīng)包含以下內(nèi)容：

1. 你認為“最美學(xué)生”應(yīng)具有的品質(zhì)；

2. 敘述發(fā)生在李華身上的一件具體事例；

3. 你推薦李華的理由。

注意：1. 可以適當增加細節(jié)，以使行文連貫；

2. 詞數(shù)120左右； 3. 開頭已給出，不計入總詞數(shù)。

Dear Sir or Madam,

It is a great idea to hold “the most beautiful student” activity.

Yours faithfully,

Li Hua

Mary heard ____strange sound at ____midnight outside her house and got scared.

A. a; / B. the; / C. /; the D. /; a

According to today’s newspaper, the escaped prisoner threatened to _____ the police station in the near future.

A. use up B. show up C. blow up D. call up

—How long ________ at this job?

—Since 1990.

A. had you been employed B. have you been employed

C. were you employed D. will you be employed

China is one of the developing countries ________ the third world.

A. belongs to B. belonging to

C. is belonging to D. belonged to

She bought the same skirt at a lower price at the same shop where I bought mine because she was a __________ customer.

A. common B. usual

C. normal D. regular