Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.

There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.

Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.

If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.

The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .

       A. most people in the world speak Chinese

       B. there are thousands of languages in the world today

       C. man has much knowledge about languages

       D. some people know several languages

According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .

       A. will soon die out completely    B. were once a relative of English

       C. are no longer spoken        D. come from the same family

According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.

       A. Chinese      B. English      C. Spanish      D. German

According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.

       A. German     B. English      C. Spanish     D. Chinese

The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .

       A. a special language spoken by Chinese

       B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area

       C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese

      D. the form of a language used in one part of the country

假设你是李华，你新买的某外国品牌MP3出了故障，现你写信到其公司反映问题。

[写作内容]

1. 购买日期：上个月；2. 故障：一周前屏幕 (screen) 坏了，看不见显示内容；

3. 已跟当地销售商家投诉，但其不能解决；

4. 要求：更换一台新的，如不行则要求退货、拿回货款。

[写作要求]

1．必须使用5个规范的英语句子表达全部的内容。2．将5个句子组织成连贯的短文。

3．开头和结尾已为你写好（不算入要求的5句话里）。

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thanks for your attention. I’m writing to complain about your product.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    I am looking forward to your early reply.

                                                         Li Hua

----- Hey, Look where you’re going?

  ------ oh, I’m terribly sorry. ______.

A. I’m not noticing     B. I wasn’t noticing

C. I haven’t noticing    D. I don’t noticing

The thought of summer suggests _____.

   A. swimming     B. to swim       C. we swim     D. that he swims

Every possible means ________ to prevent the air pollution, but the sky is still not clear.

A. is used     B. are used     C. has been used     D. have been used

I tried hard to get some information about the new technology from him, but he remained ______.

A.peaceful   B. skilful     C.silent      D.calm

  She is only 12 years old but lives only with her younger sister. Her parents are far away from home, and she has to take care of her younger sister. She is He Can, a student at Anqing Jiangzhen Middle School in Anhui, one of the “stay-at-home children” in her town. To make money, these kids’ parents go to big cities to find jobs. Their children have to stay at home because they have to go to school.    

       He Can’s parents left home when she was only four. They only come back for the Spring Festival every year. Because she had to live with different relatives at different times, He Can went to eight different primary schools.    

       “I used to complain,” she said. “But later I understood my parents. They have to go away to make a better life for us.” He Can said her frequently (频繁地) changing life also has a good side.    

       “When I went to a new school, I had to try to make friends,” said He Can. “I became outgoing. Now I’m not afraid of talking to people.”    

       He Can said her relatives were kind to her. They taught her how to cook and wash clothes.     

       When He Can was going to start junior high school, her parents agreed to let her live out with her younger sister. She rents a house near the school. Sometimes their grandmother comes over and helps them.    

       Every day, He Can gets up at 6:00 am and cooks breakfast. Then the two girls go to school. They have supper at 6:00 pm. Then He Can does chores and helps her sister take a shower. She usually goes to bed at 9:30 pm.    

       Though busy, He Can is still a top student in her class. She said the secret is never to put things off until tomorrow.    

       “I think my life is OK,” she said. “But if possible, I would like my parents to settle down (安顿下来) and live with us.”

Why does He Can live only with her younger sister?

A. Because their parents don’t like them.       

B. Because their parents have to work in a big city.

C. Because they enjoy living by themselves.   

D. Because their schools are too far away from their home.

Where did He Can live before she started junior high school?

A. In her relatives’ houses.                   B. In her own house.

C. In a house she rented.                    D. In her school.

What does He Can think of changing schools so often?

A. She hates it and complains a lot about it.  

B. She thinks it good for her growth.

C. She enjoys it because she can make more friends.

D. She thinks it bad for her studies.

What is He Can’s secret of being top at studies though busy?

A. She often asks her relatives for help.  

B. She exercises a lot to make herself stronger.

C. She gives her sister some work to do. 

D. She tries to finish everything before going to bed.

You have no idea how she finished the relay race ______her foot wounded so much.

A. for                B. when                C. with                  D. while

第二节  书面表达（满分20分）

目前，有些中学聘用外教承担英语口语课教学。对此，你们班里的同学展开了讨论。请根据以下要点写一篇短文介绍讨论的情况。

1．有人认为聘请外教的目的只是为了提高学校的知名度，并没有什么实际意义；

2．有人认为外教可以帮助学生提高学习兴趣，锻炼口语；

3．你的看法。

注意：1．词数120左右。

2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

3．开头已给出，不计入总词数。

There was a heated discussion in our class yesterday on the topic “Is it necessary to employ foreign teachers in middle schools?”.                                                   

 He had a lot of friends, only a few of ______ invited to his wedding.

    A. whom          B. them             C. which                   D. who