Mr. Clarke was born in a poor family. He was in school for only two years. When he was sixteen he left the poor mountain village and walked to the capital. He had worked in a garden, in a workplace. When he reached the biggest city in the country, nobody gave him any work. He had to beg（乞讨）in the street.

One day he was looking for some food when a bag fell off a motorbike. But the rider didn’t find it and left quickly. He picked it up and found there was plenty of money in it. There was nobody except him there. He sat by the road and waited for the loser. About half an hour later an old man came back by motorbike and looked for something. The young man returned the bag to him. The old man thanked him very much and told him to work in his shop.

Mr. Clarke worked hard and watched everything carefully. He learned a lot. With the old man’s help, he had a shop. He never fooled anybody and was friendly to the shoppers. And people liked to do the shopping in his shop. Of course he got a lot of money. Now he had several shops, a beautiful house, a few cars and other valuable（ 值 钱 的 ）things. He went to his village and brought his parents, wife and children to the city. How happy they were all when they moved into the beautiful house!

Before Mike, their thirteen-year-old son, went to a middle school, Mrs Clarke said, “Try to be modest（谦虚的）, son. Don’t tell anybody that we’re rich.” “OK, mummy,” answered the boy.

That morning the teacher told his students to write a composition “My Family”. Mike remembered what his mother had said. So he wrote, “My family is large. Here’re thirteen people in my family. They are my grandpa, grandma, father, mother, sister, two cooks, two drivers, three servants（佣人）and I. My family is poor. Our cooks, drivers and servants are all poor!”

1.Mr. Clarke went to the capital on foot when he was young because .

A. he wanted to visit the places of interest

B. he wanted to find work on his way

C. he had no money

D. there was no bus at that time

2.At first Mr. Clarke begged in the capital because .

A. he couldn’t find any work there

B. he didn’t know anybody there

C. the people there were all kind

D. he wanted to know the city well

3.As , the old man told Mr. Clarke to work in his shop.

A. he thought the young man was able

B. the young man was worth trusting （信赖）

C. the young man needed a job

D. he needed a helper

4.Mr. Clarke became .

A. a rich shopkeeper B. a poor worker

C. a kind farmer D. an able driver

5.The Clarkes were happy because .

A. they left the poor mountain village

B. they said goodbye to the hard life in the mountain village

C. they had their own shops

D. they did nothing at home

Country music is one of the most popular kinds of music in the United States today because it is about simple but strong human feelings and events-love, sadness, good times, and bad times. It tells real-life, stories and sounds the way people really talk. As life becomes more complicated（复杂）, it is good to hear music about ordinary people.

Country music, sometimes called country-west, comes from two kinds of music. One is the traditional music of the people in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. The other is traditional cowboy music from the West. The singers usually play guitars, and in the 1920s they started using electric guitars. At first city people said country music was low class. It was popular mostly in the South. But during World War II, thousands of Southerners went to the Northeast and Midwest to work in the factories. They took their music with them. Soldiers from the rest of the country went to army camps（军营）in the South. They learned country music. Slowly it became popular all over the country.

Today country music is also popular everywhere in the United States and Canada — in small towns and in New York City, among black and white, and among educated and uneducated people. About 1, 200 radio stations broadcast country music twenty-four hours a day. English stars sing it in British English, and people in other countries sing it in their own languages. The music that started with cowboys and poor Southerners is now popular all over the world.

1.It can be learned from the passage that country music comes from .

A. the Northeast and Midwest

B. factories and army camps in the South

C. the Appalachian Mountains and the West

D. real-life stories in small towns

2.Before World War II country music was popular mainly in .

A. the South B. the North C. the Midwest D. the Northeast

3.During World War II many Southerners went to the Northeast and the Midwest because .

A. they wanted to take music with them

B. they wanted to make other people like country music

C. they wanted to work in the factories there

D. they wanted to make country music popular

4.Country music is one of the most popular kinds of music in the world today because .

A. city people said it was low class

B. people could sing it in many different languages

C. it started with cowboys and poor Southerners

D. it is loved by different kinds of people in the world

5.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Country music is about human feelings and events.

B. Country music is sung by stars all in English.

C. Country music is popular among city people today.

D. City people didn’t like country music at first.

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的词或填入括号中所给单词的正确形式（最多限填三个单词）。

Mount Qomolangma is the highest mountain in the world. It is in the Himalayan Mountains between Nepal（尼泊尔）and China, and it is 8900 meters high. Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal were the first people ever1. (climb) Mount Everest in 1953. Men from several different countries climbed it after that.

Junko Tabei, a Japanese, was the first woman to climb the mountain2. (difficult). A Japanese newspaper-television company3. (choose) the fifteen women from mountaineering clubs to climb Mourn Qomolangma in 1975. The group climbed4. several days. Then there was an5. . The heavy ice and snow hurt ten of the women.

They had to stop climbing. The other five went on climbing. Only Ms. Tabei 6.(be) able to climb the last 70 meters. She stood on the top of the world. She was the7.(one) woman there. Ms. Tabei was 35 8.(year) old at the time. She started climbing mountains in 1960. She still climbs mountains. She is not an ordinary Japanese housewife. Ms. Tabei makes money for her trips by9.(teach) English and piano to children. She climbs a mountain about every three years. She has climbed some of the highest mountains in six countries. Finally, she wants to climb the highest mountain in every country in the world. When she reaches the top of a mountain, she thinks, “I’m glad that I’m10.the top.”

书面表达

期末复习备考期间，学校组织了频繁的考试。一些同学认为这很有必要，但另一些同学则不以为然。你赞成哪种观点？请你结合实际，就是否应当进行经常性的考试发表自己的看法和理由，并发表你的观点。

要求：(1) 短文应包括表中所给信息及补充内容；

(2) 文中不得出现真实校名和姓名；

(3) 词数：80—100 个，开头已给出，不计入总词数。

参考词：期末考试the final examination 频繁的frequent 必要的 necessary

Recently, the students in our school had a discussion about whether it is necessary for us to have frequent examinations before the final examination. Some of us think __________________________________

单词辩音

1.A. balcony B. bathroom C. Japan D. Canada

2.A. double B. country C. ground D. cousin

3.A. fridge B. machine C. pizza D. police

4.A. person B. waiter C. western D. over

5.A. volunteer B. worry C. company D. nothing

6.A. better B. message C. elder D. design

7.A. study B. future C. hundred D. lucky

8.A. farm B.  artist C. large D. warm

9.A. for B. work C. forty D. sport

10.A. offices B. beaches C. miles D. notices

The Eiffel Tower is a famous one in ______.

A. Japan B. the USA C. the UK D. France

We read 10,206 like this ____________.

A. ten thousand two hundred and six B. ten thousand two hundreds and six

C. ten thousands two hundred and six D. ten thousands two hundreds and six

We can make fire ____  the room warm.

A. to keep B. keeping C. keep D. keeps

There ________a meeting tomorrow afternoon.

A. will be going to B. is going to be C. will going to be D. will have

—__________! How beautiful the sound is!

— Yes. It __________ a bird.

A. Hear; sounds like B. Listen; sounds

C. Listen; sounds like D. Listen to; sounds