考试时间：80分钟 满分：100分

注意：本考试严禁使用手机，电子词典或其它电子存储设备，违者按作弊处理。

第Ⅰ卷（选择题 共50分）

：阅读理解（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Fourteen-year-old Richie Hawley had spent five years studying violin at the Community School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles when he took part in a violin contest. Ninety-two young people were invited to the contest and Hawley came out first.

The contest could have been the perfect setup for fear, worrying about mistakes, and trying to impress the judges. But Hawley said he did pretty well at staying calm. “I couldn't be thinking about how many mistakes I'd make — it would distract me from playing.” he says. “I don't even remember trying to impress people while I played. It's almost as if they weren't there. I just wanted to make music.”

Hawley is a winner. But he didn't become a winner by concentrating on winning. He did it by concentrating on playing well.

“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part，” said the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin. “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

A characteristic of high performers is their intense, pleasurable concentration on work, rather than on their competitors or future glory or money, says Dr. Charles Garfield, who has studied 1,500 achievers in business, science, sports, arts, and professions. “They are interested in winning, but they're most interested in self-development, testing their limits.”

One of the most surprising things about top performers is how many losses they've had — and how much they've learned from each. “Not one of the 1,500 I studied defined losing as failing，” Garfield says. “They kept calling their losses ‘setback’．”

A healthy attitude towards setbacks is essential to winning, experts agree.

“The worst thing you can do if you've had a setback is to let yourself get stuck in a prolonged depression. You should analyze carefully what went wrong, identify specific things you did right and give yourself credit for them.” Garfield believes that most people don't give themselves enough praise. He even suggests keeping a diary of all the positive things you've done on the way to a goal.

1. What is common among high performers is that they tend to give priority to ________.

A．glory B. Wealth C. pleasure D. Work

According to the passage, successful people concentrate on _______.

A．challenging their own limits B. learning from others

C. defeating their opponents D. avoiding setbacks

The passage tells us that “praise” in times of trouble ________.

A．helps people deal with their disappointment B. makes people forget their setbacks

C. makes people regret about their past D. helps people realize their goals

B

Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert, seeking a million in prize money. To win, they had to finish the 142-mile race in less than 10 hours. Teams and watchers knew there might be no winner at all, because these vehicles were missing a key part — drivers.

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, organized the race as part of a push to develop robotic vehicles for future battlefields. But the Grand Challenge, as it was called, just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance. One had its brake lock up in the starting area. Another began by throwing itself onto a wall. Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles.

One turned upside down. One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote control. One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence; another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock. The “winner”， if there was any, reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long narrow hole, and the front wheels caught on fire.

“You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things，” says Reinhold Behringe, who helped design two of the car-size vehicles for a company called Sci-Autonics.“Even ants can do all these tasks effortlessly. It's very hard for us to put these abilities into our machines.”

The robotic vehicles, though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance, had trouble figuring out fast enough the blocks ahead that a two-year-old human recognizes immediately. Sure, that very young child, who has just only learned to walk, may not think to wipe apple juice off her face, but she already knows that when there's a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table, and that when she gets to the cookie it will taste good. She is more advanced, even months old, than any machine humans have designed.

Watchers doubted if any of the vehicles could finish the race because ________.

A. they did not have any human guidance B. the road was not familiar to the drivers

C. the distance was too long for the vehicles D. the prize money was unattractive to the drivers

From the passage we know “robotic vehicles” are a kind of machines that________.

A. can do effortlessly whatever tasks living things can

B. can take part in a race across 142-miles with a time limit

C. can show off their ability to turn themselves upside down

D. can move from place to place without being driven by human beings

In the last paragraph, the author implies that there is a long way to go ________.

A. for a robotic vehicle to finish a 142-mile race without any difficulties

B. for a little child who has just learned to walk to reach the cookie on the table

C. for a robotic vehicle to deal with a simple problem that a little child can solve

D. for a little child to understand the importance of wiping apple juice off his/her face

C

As long as I can remember, I've always loved to draw. But my interest in drawing wasn't encouraged very much. Growing up in the 1950s, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, boys were supposed to be athletic. Certain peer pressures encouraged little fingers to learn how to hold footballs rather than crayons.

My early love for drawing developed into a love for telling stories through pictures. Stories began as fragments (片段) of pictures in my mind. I created a story by posing questions to myself. I called it the “what if” and “what then” approach. For example, for my book The Polar Express, I started out by thinking “What if a boy gets on that train? Where does he go？”

From the time I come up with the idea, write and illustrate the book, and deliver it to the printer, it takes about seven months. First, I begin thinking of the idea. Then I imagine the pictures and the story. A good picture book should have events that are visually arresting. I first consider scenes that are exciting to look at and then my challenge is to weave a story around those pictures. The next step is putting the illustrations and story down on paper.

When you first look at my illustrations, you see ordinary, everyday things. But if you look closer, things might not seem quite so simple. When I'm writing a book, I always try to create something strange or puzzling in each picture. By using artistic strategies, I can give the drawing a kind of mysterious quality.

All of my books are picture books, so they are generally thought of as books for children. But when I make them, I think of the books as being for everybody — for people of all ages. When I was a kid, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, but now I'm really glad I became an artist and a storyteller.

Why does the author mention The Polar Express?

A. To tell us an interesting story. B. To introduce his famous work.

C. To make up a sentence with “what if”． D. To show us how he designed his book.

The underlined word “arresting” in Paragraph 3 probably means ________.

A. frightening B. interesting C. satisfying D. worrying

Which of the following is TRUE about the author?

A. He did well when he was at school. B. He only wrote something for children.

C. He tried his best to meet the readers' taste. D. He regretted not working hard at drawing.

10．What would be the best title for this passage?

A. Telling Stories by Drawing B. “What if” and “What Then”

C. How to Tell Interesting Stories D. Working as a Famous Storyteller

第二节：七选五（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

The Value of a Dollar

If you find a single one dollar bill in your pocket, what could you do with it? __11__ If you take a few moments to think about the value of that dollar, you'd find that it can actually get you further than you think.

Pay a visit to your local dollar store. There are a lot of things you can buy. A simple trip can show wonders in savings if you know where to shop and watch for ads. __12__ Some specials include more things for a dollar in which case the value of that dollar is at least doubled.

A dollar could buy a small lottery ticket. Keep in mind that this may make you spend more money, however. It can be very attractive to many people, so be careful not to let it get to your head. Even so, what is the harm in treating yourself once in a while? __13__ If not, at least it was a moment of excitement in your boring life.

__14__ There are many stores that have containers for the purposes of a charitable cause. Next time you see one of these, take a look at it and actually read the words on the container. If it's a cause you feel strongly about, why not help to make a difference?

__15__ These are only a few to get you thinking about it. In today's society with so many poor people and low-income families, this is something that's very important to think about.

A. You never know if you'll hit it lucky.

B. Why is the value of the dollar lower today?

C. You can also think about giving it away to charity.

D. Many things are often on sale for a dollar or less a piece