Fly Alone for the First Time

I began flying lessons at the age of 14; but the Federal Aviation Administration requires you to be 16 before you make flight by yourself. So I had to wait for two long years until I could fly a plane by myself. I used that time to master the basic maneuvers (要領(lǐng)) of flying. I learned emergency procedures and practiced hundreds of takeoffs and landings until I could land the airplane smoothly without bouncing it down the runway. It wasn’t always easy, and many times I would come home feeling discouraged and thinking maybe everyone was right – I would never learn to fly, but by the next day, I was always eager to try again.

On the day of my 16th birthday, I made my first solo flight, which meant I could finally fly alone. The night before, my dad, who was my flight instructor, explained that the winds were forecast to be high. He said if we were in the air by dawn, the winds would probably be calm enough for me to solo. The next morning it was cold, but the sky was completely clear, and the winds were calm. I expected my dad to stay in the plane for at least three takeoffs and landings. But after the first one, he told me to pull off the runway, and he got out of the plane.

I was alone. As I climbed higher and higher, the world began to change. Everything on the ground became miniature. Houses, cars, and all looked like tiny toys that could fit in the surface of my hand. I made three takeoffs and landings that day. Each landing was perfect. It was one of the happiest days of my life.

Today, as a flight instructor, I stand alongside runways watching as my own students take to the sky on their first solo flights. I understand the joy faces, which always bring me back to that day when my dream came true. I learned that no matter how people tell you that you can’t do something, if you believe in yourself, you can succeed.

1.When practicing flying, the author ______.

A. met several times of emergencies

B. was worried about his own safety

C. couldn’t wait to fly alone in the sky

D. sometimes doubted his ability to fly

2.The underlined word “miniature” probably means “______”.

A. distant B. unclear C. small D. high

3. What was the father concerned about before his son flied alone?

A. Whether his son was brave enough.

B. Whether it would be too windy.

C. Whether he was able to protect his son.

D. Whether there were negative comments.

4.What lesson does the author learn from his experience?

A. Be confident and you will succeed.

B. Be responsible and you can grow up.

C. Give up something and you may win more.

D. Think hard and you can achieve your dream.

Are you trying to learn a new language in a foreign land? You might be better off if you stopped looking at that picture of your family and friends.

New research from Columbia University found that prompting (提示) someone who is learning a new language with images and reminders of their own culture could temporarily ruin everything that the brain was trying to build.

When native Chinese students were asked to talk with a Caucasian avatar (白種人的虛擬頭像) and a Chinese avatar, their English skills were so different. Simply exposing students to a Chinese person affected their ability to speak English. Subjects who talked with the Chinese version felt more comfortable in their speech, but they produced 11% fewer words per minute. They actually became less fluent speakers.

To make sure it wasn’t just the avatar, researchers also showed people random images of China while the participants told a story. When pictures of their homeland appeared, fluency dropped 16% and volunteers were 85% more likely to use a literal (照字面的) translation, for example, calling pistachios “happy nuts”, because that’s literally what the Chinese word for pistachio means.

When the students were shown pictures of fish with one swimming ahead of the others, their culture would change how they look at the photo. With Chinese prompt, like photos of the Great Wall or Chinese Dragon, etc. they saw more students thinking that the fish was being chased, while an American prompt, like pictures of Marilyn Monroe or Superman, saw those students believing that it was a leader fish.

The bottom line is: when attempting to learn a new culture it is far better to surround yourself with that culture than create an island of the old one.

1.Why does the author use a question in the first paragraph?

A. To raise a question.

B. To arouse readers’ awareness.

C. To introduce the topic.

D. To tell a story.

2.The underlined word “pistachios” in the fourth paragraph refers to ______.

A. pictures B. volunteers

C. an image D. a kind of food

3.From the passage we can infer that ______.

A. different images would change with different people

B. different cultures would affect how students look at the photo

C. with Chinese prompts, more students thought that it was a leader fish

D. with an American prompt, more students thought that the fish was being chased

4.According to the research, which is a better way for a student in a foreign land to learn a new culture?

A. To surround himself with that culture.

B. To create an island of the old one.

C. To see random images of China.

D. To talk with a Caucasian avatar.

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。

Do you have a spare room in your house? Do you like to share your drive way in front of your garage with others? Both of these can help you make money. 1.

Perhaps the best-known example of a company in this field is Airbnb – an American web business which allows you to rent out your spare room to holidaymakers. It says it operates in 34,000 cities and it has 800,000 listings of rooms and apartments. 2.

A British company is doing something with parking spaces. JustPark’s founder, Anthony Eskinaizi, says, “when I had the original idea, I spotted a driveway close to a sports stadium. It would have been so convenient if I could have just parked in the driveway rather than in a commercial car park.” 3. Around 20,000 people have advertised their spaces on the website, and he says around half a million drivers use it.

4. They are people who run things like traditional hotels and commercial car parks. They are afraid of ending up losing money.

5. Regulations for these new businesses are unclear. How will renting out your driveway affect your neighbour? Because this a new business world, those rules aren’t there yet.

A. And there is another problem.

B. A commercial car park is inconvenient.

C. And his great idea has proved a success.

D. But the new business of renting has its competitors.

E. They seem to have occupied the majority of the market.

F. But the government says no to the new business of renting.

G. Many people are benefiting from this new business of renting.

短文改錯(cuò)

請(qǐng)改正下面短文中的錯(cuò)誤。文中共有10處語(yǔ)言錯(cuò)誤，每句中最多有兩處。每處錯(cuò)誤僅涉及一個(gè)單詞的增加、刪除或修改。

增加：在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏字符號(hào)（∧），并在其下面寫出該加的詞；

刪除：把多余的詞用斜線（＼）劃掉；

修改：在錯(cuò)的詞下畫一橫線，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。

One Monday afternoon, we were playing the basketball on the playground while Isuddenly slipped and fell over. On seeing that, all my classmates rushed to me. Under the help of several other students, Li Xiang, one of my best friend put me on his back and head for the clinic immediately. It turned out that my right ankle got hurt but I had to be sent to hospital.He did not leave until ambulance arrived. The following day, he came to see me. To my

greatly relief, he brought textbooks with them and helped me with my lessons. It was a great pleasure to have such a devoting friend.

書面表達(dá)

本學(xué)期，你校外籍教師擬開設(shè)如下課程: 1．英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)；2．英語(yǔ)寫作；3．今日美國(guó)。假如你是李華，請(qǐng)給課程負(fù)責(zé)人Mr．Smith寫一份申請(qǐng)書，報(bào)名參加其中一門課程的學(xué)習(xí)，內(nèi)容必須包括：

1．介紹你的英語(yǔ)能力；2．說(shuō)明你感興趣的課程及參加意圖；3．表達(dá)你希望獲準(zhǔn)的愿望。

注意： 1．詞數(shù)100左右；2．可以適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫。

Dear Mr. Smith,

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

—Where would you like to sit? In the corner or near the platform?

—______．I would like to sit by the piano so that I can watch the musician play．

A． Either B． Neither

C． None D． Both

It may be necessary to stop _____ in the learning process and go back to the difficult points in the lessons．

A． at intervals B． at random

C． at ease D． at length

If you completely ____ foods and drinks that you love， you'll only set yourself up to go on a large amount of those items later．

A．take out B．cut out

C．give out D．put out

_____ with so much trouble，we failed to complete the task on time．

A． Faced B． Face C． Facing D． To face

-Mum，I always feel everything is unfair to me．

--Complaints in life ________ no sense，for things will be what they should be．

A． make B． have made

C． will make D． are making