Let’s say you have a piece of wood, a nail, and a hammer. Pretend the wood is a person, and the nail is a mean rumor(謠言) about that person. If you hammer in the nail, you’re obviously hurting him or her. If you then pull out the nail, there’s still a hole in the wood, and the damage has been done.

There are many reasons why that nail of a rumor can be so harmful. Rumors are, quite simply, a form of bullying(欺侮). When a person or a group makes up a rumor about someone or decides to spread gossip, it’s usually to hurt someone, break up a friendship, or make someone less popular. It’s the same thing as teasing, only it’s done behind someone’s back instead of to his or her face.

When you spread a rumor about someone, you’re sending a signal that the person is outside of the group, and somehow less worthy of friendship than others. You’re making fun of that person or pointing out negative things about him or her. This can let others think that it’s okay to make the person feel bad, and make him or her an outsider.

We need to be able to trust our friends, and gossip and rumors can break this trust. If you tell a personal secret to a friend, and he turns around and tells it to someone else, you might feel like you will get burned if you ever get close to him again.

Letting a rumor influence your behavior is like letting someone else make a big decision for you. Let’s say you hear that the teacher plans to call a Snow Day tomorrow because a blizzard (暴風(fēng)雪) is coming. Expecting a day off, you don’t do your homework. The next morning, the blizzard turns out to be nothing more than a drizzle(毛毛雨), and school isn’t off after all. You get zeroes on your work.

1.To tell a rumor and a tease apart, you depend on ______.

A．whether it is done behind someone

B．whether it is painful or not

C．whether it is a kind of bullying

D．whether it is spread fast.

2.If a rumor is spread about someone, others may_______.

A．point out his or her advantages

B．keep away from him or her

C．not feel he or she is an outsider

D．be hurt if getting close to him or her again.

3.The purpose of this passage is to _______.

A．a(chǎn)dvise on how to deal with rumors

B．teach us how to judge a rumor

C．find out why rumors spread fast

D．explain why rumors hurt

三、完形填空（15分）
You may think there is only sand in the desert(沙漠) of the world, but it is not true. In the desert, as we know, there is a little__26__ and it is not__27__ for most plants. Still we can see some plants live in the desert.
There is___28_ in some places in the deserts. We__29__ these places oases(綠洲). In the oases, there are villages and towns. People grow__30__ kinds of vegetables and rice in the fields there. People__31__ live outside the oases. They have camels(駱駝), sheep and other animals. These animals live__32__ the desert plants for their food and do not need any water. The__33__ are useful to the desert people in many ways. They eat the__34__ and drink the milk of the animals. They__35__ the camels for carrying water, food, and_36___.
The people of the desert have to keep__37__ from place to place. They must always look__38__ grass or desert plants for their animals. When there__39___ no more food for their animals, they move to another place. The desert people are__40__. Every one in the desert likes to help the people in trouble and give them food and water.
26. A. rain           B. rains           C. wind           D. winds
27. A. good          B. good enough     C. enough good    D. enough
28. A. earth          B. plants           C. wood          D. water
29.A. say            B. call            C. tell           D. find
30.A. every          B. all              C. a             D. one
31.A. also           B. too              C. either         D. still
32.A. on             B. with            C. of            D. by
33.A. water         B. plants           C. animals        D. food
34.A. meal           B. meat            C. body          D. food
35.A. let            B. make           C. drive          D. use
36.A. other something  B. something other  C. else something  D. something else
37.A. walking         B. carrying        C. moving        D. going
38.A. up             B. for             C. after          D. at
39.A. is              B. are             C. have          D. has
40.A. carefully        B. careful          C. friendly        D. friend

閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的四個選項（A，B，C，D）中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。

For centuries, magicians have used various ways to shock the audience. We all have seen how a   36   performer carefully steps   37   a bed of burning coals -- barefoot. Then he walks across   38   a single burn on his feet. Is it mind over matter, or is it just physics? As it turns   __39  , walking on burning coals isn’t that hot as   40  . “The coals are hot enough to   41__  you, but if you walk quickly across them you   42   being burned.” says Jonathan Hall, a physician at Penn State University in Eric Pennsylvania.

That’s because some coals are made   43   burning wood chips. Wood has two   44__   properties（特性）for fire-walking, explains Hall. First, wood is an insulator（絕緣體）--it doesn’t   __45   heat very well. “It   46 _ time for heat to travel   47   the wood to your feet.” Hall says. If the performer walked across red-hot metal   48  , that would truly be   49  , because metal conducts, or transmits, heat very well. The metal would   50   burn a performer’s feet.

Second, wood has a low specific heat-- it doesn’t take much heat to   51   its temperature. Heat is a form of   52  . Temperature is a   53   of heat, in units of degrees. So   54   the coals are hot, the value（數(shù)值）of heat energy they contain is low. Thus, a well-trained performer can   55   such an amazing result.

Still, you don’t want to walk on burning coals, do you?

1.A. daring         B. dare      C. rough    D. fearful

2.A. at       B. over      C. on                D. above

3.A. with   B. within   C. without D. over

4.A. out         B. on  C. off               D. in

5.A. imagine      B. imagined       C. imagining       D. to imagine

6.A. fire        B. burn       C. light       D. flame

7.A. prevent      B. keep     C. ignore   D. avoid

8.A. off      B. from      C. of       D. in

9.A. ideal  B. classic   C. favorite          D. standard

10.A. transmit   B. communicate       C. bring         D. send

11.A. gathers    B. takes     C. gains     D. stands

12.A. through   B. into               C. over         D. pass

13.A. unhappy  B. unharmed     C. unhealthy      D. unprepared

14.A. charming B. magical C. tricky    D. fashionable

15.A. instantly   B. constantly     C. frequently     D. lately

16.A. produce  B. raise      C. construct       D. create

17.A. power      B. source  C. energy  D. strength

18.A. measure  B. rank      C. estimate        D. rate

19.A. what if      B. however        C. as if              D. even though

20.A. achieve    B. arrive    C. draw     D. take

A great French writer has said that we should help everyone as much as we can because we often need help ourselves. The small even can help the great. About this, he told the following story.

An ant was drinking at a small river and fell in. she tried her best to reach the side, but she couldn’t move at all. The poor ant got too tired but was still doing her best when a big bird saw her. With a pity, the bird threw a piece of wood. With it the ant reached the bank again. While she was resting and drying herself in grass she heard a man coming up. He was walking without shoes on his feet and carrying a gun in his hand. As soon as he saw the bird, he wished to kill her, and he would certainly do so, but the ant bit(咬) him in one of his feet and at that moment the bird flew away at once. It was an animal much weaker and smaller than the bird herself that had saved her life.

1. According to the French writer, we often need help from others, so we should _____ .

A．help others as much as we can

B．help the people who may be useful to us

C．get as much help as we can

D．first need to help ourselves

2.Why could the bird fly away at once?

A．Because the bird could fly very fast.

B．Because the man hurt his feet himself.

C．Because the man didn’t want to kill her.

D．Because the ant bit the man in one of his feet.

3.The writer tells this story to show ____  _. 

A．how brave the bird is

B．even the small can help the great

C．how an ant saved a bird

D．how clever the ant is

4.The title of this story can be “___  __”. 

A．The Ant           B．Pity              C．Help             D．The Bird

 Let’s say you have a piece of wood, a nail, and hammer. Pretend the wood is a person, the nail is a mean rumor (謠言) about that person. If you hammer in the nail, you’re obviously hurting him or her. If you then pull out the nail, there’s still a hole in the wood, and the damage has been done.

There are many reasons why that nail of a rumor can be so harmful. Rumors are, quite simply, a form of bullying (欺悔). When a person or a group makes up a rumor about someone or decides to spread gossip, it’s usually to hurt someone, break up a friendship, or make someone less popular. It’s the same thing as teasing, only it’s done behind someone’s back instead of to his or her face.

When you spread a rumor about someone, you’re sending a signal that the person is outside of the group, and somehow less worthy of friendship than others. You’re making fun of that person or pointing out negative things about him or her. This can let others think that it’s okay to make the person feel bad, and make him or her an outsider.

We need to be able to trust our friends, and gossip and rumors can break this trust. If you tell a personal secret to a friend, and he turns around and tells it to someone else, you might feel like you will get burned if you ever get close to him again.

Letting a rumor influence your behavior is like letting someone else make a big decision for you. Let’s say you hear that the teacher plans to call a Snow Day tomorrow because a blizzard (暴風(fēng)雪) is coming. Expecting a day off, you don’t do your homework. The next morning, the blizzard turns out to be nothing more than a drizzle（毛毛雨）, and school isn’t off after all. You get zeroes on your work.

1.The purpose of the first paragraph is to        .

A. help readers know what a rumor is        B. attract readers to read the following paragraphs

C. emphasize the damaging effects of rumors   D. explain how a rumor spreads

2.To tell a rumor and a tease apart, you depend on        .

A. whether it is done behind someone            B. whether it is painful or not

C. whether it is a kind if bullying                 D. whether it is spread fast

3. If a rumor is spread about someone, others may        .

A. point out his or her advantages B. keep away from him or her

C. not feel he or she is an outsider  D. be hurt if getting close to him or her again

4.From the last paragraph, we can infer that        .

A. it is hard to keep rumors a secret             B. rumors can destroy your interest in learning

C. believing rumors can lead to bad choices    D. rumors can control your whole life

5. The purpose of this passage is to         .

A. advise on how to deal with rumors  B. teach us how to judge a rumor

C. find out why rumors spread fast     D. explain why rumors hurt