一、完形填空

It was the old ladys birthday. She got up early to be ready for the post. From the second floor flat she could see the postman when he came down the street， and a little boy， Johnnie， 1 her letters from the ground floor on the rare 2 when anything came.

Today she was sure there would be something. Myra 3 forget her mothers birthday， even if she 4 wrote at other times. Of course Myra was busy， but 5 ， Enid， the daughter the old lady loved most， died two years ago. Since then Myra had been to see her mother three times， but her husband， Harold， never.

The old lady was eighty today. She had put on her best dress. Perhaps — perhaps Myra might come. After all， eighty was a 6 birthday， another decade lined or tolerated just as you chose to look at it. 7 Myra did not come， she would send a present. The old lady was 8 of that. Two spots of colour 9 her cheeks. She was 10 like a child. She would enjoy her day！

Now， she stood by the window， 11 . The postman turned round the corner on his bicycle. Her heart beat 12 . Johnnie had seen him too and ran to the gate. Then clatter（咔嗒聲）， clatter up the stairs. Johnnie knocked at her door. He had got her post — four envelopes. Three were unclosed cards from old friends. The fourth was closed， in Myras writing. The old lady felt a sharp pain of 13 .There was no parcel for her！ Maybe the parcel was too large to come by letter post. That was it. It would come later by parcel post. She said to herself. She must be 14 .

Almost 15 she tore the envelope open. 16 in the card was a piece of paper. Written on the card was a message under the printed Happy Birthday — Buy yourself something nice with the 17 ， Myra and Harold. The cheque moved quickly to and fro in the air to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. Slowly the old lady .18 . to pick it up. Her present！ her 19 present！ With 20 fingers she tore it into little bits.

1. A. took away B. brought up

C. moved off D. set down

2. A. occasion B. opportunity

C. ceremony D. anniversary

3. A. mustnt B. mightnt

C. wouldnt D. neednt

4. A. occasionally B. always

C. almost D. seldom

5. A. Unhappily B. Unfortunately

C. Unforgettably D. Unkindly

6. A. casual B. remote

C. special D. conventional

7. A. Even if B. So that

C. In case D. Now that

8. A. proud B. capable

C. sure D. afraid

9. A. sharpened B. weakened

C. widened D. brightened

10. A. excited B. alarmed

C. inspired D. satisfied

11. A. thinking B. imagining

C. welcoming D. watching

12. A. steadily B. wildly

C. nervously D. randomly

13. A. discontent B. loneliness

C. disappointment D. annoyance

14. A. patient B. anxious

C. urgent D. mild

15. A. immediately B. cheerfully

C. angrily D. unwillingly

16. A. Pinned B. Folded

C. Lined D. Roped

17. A. card B. bonus

C. cheque D. cash

18. A. bent B. leaned C. struggled D. stretched

19. A. painful B. sad C. expensive D. lovely

20. A. moving B. trembling

C. reacting D. freezing

二、閱讀理解

閱讀下列短文，從每篇短文后所給各題的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

Talking plants might sound like characters in a fairy tale. But recent scientific studies have shown that plants communicate with each other and with other living things in a surprising number of ways. To understand them， scientists say， we just have to learn their language. Farmers are especially interested in what plants have to say.

“Plants are able to communicate with all sorts of organisms（有機(jī)體）. They can communicate with giant bacteria， with other plants and with insects. They do this chemically，” said Cahill， an Ecology Professor of the University of Alberta in Canada.

Plant scientists are just beginning to understand this chemical “l(fā)anguage”. Cahill says studies have shown， for example， that plants can evaluate conditions in their immediate environment and take appropriate actions. Plants have an ability， for example， to signal pain or discomfort caused by anything from temperature extremes to an insect attack. Jack Schultz， a professor of chemical ecology at the University of Missouri， says when a plant senses that its being eaten， it cannot walk away from trouble； on the contrary， it will release a chemical vapor that alerts other plants nearby.

“Their language is a chemical language， and it involves chemicals that move through the air that are easy to be changeable， and most of all are smells that we are familiar with，” Schultz explained.

“All plants responded to the attack by changing their chemistry to defend themselves，” Schultz recalled. “But we were quite surprised to find that nearby plants also changed their chemistry to defend themselves， even though they were not part of the experiment.”

Studies have also shown that plants under attack release pleasant chemicals. Those chemicals attract friendly insects that attack the pests eating the plant.

In the end， plants ability to communicate their needs — and our ability to understand them — could help farmers reduce the use of poisonous chemicals， cut operating costs and limit damage to the environment.

1. The recent scientific studies have shown that plants can .

A. communicate with other living things in a chemical way

B. hardly react to any sudden change in temperature

C. use a very special chemical language which is familiar to us

D. respond to the attack by giving off poisonous chemicals

2. When being eaten by an insect， the plant will .

A. walk away from trouble

B. change its chemistry to kill the insect

C. release a chemical vapor to “ask” other plants for help

D. give off nice chemicals to attract friendly insects killing the pest

3. The underlined word “alert” most probably means “ ”.

A. warn B. protect C. threaten D. allow

4. Which would be the best title for the passage？

A. Communication between Plants

B. A Chemical “Language”

C. Plants Can Talk

D. How Plants Protect Themselves

三、短文寫作

請你根據(jù)以下提示，結(jié)合生活中的一個(gè)事例，用英語寫一篇短文。

Never be afraid of making mistakes. Factually， making progress is making mistakes. Mistakes reveal where success lies.

注意：1. 無須寫標(biāo)題，不得照抄英語提示語；

2. 除詩歌外，文體不限；

3. 文中不得透露個(gè)人姓名和學(xué)校名稱；

4. 詞數(shù)為120左右。