1、阅读理解

Deisha walked up and down as she waited backstage. This would be her most important piano performance yet. At ten years old, she was the youngest performer in the recital (音乐演奏会). She had practiced playing her song more than 30 times that week. When she closed her eyes at night, the music played over and over again in her head.

    Now that the day had arrived, Deisha was not sure she was ready. She smoothed her hair and picked a piece of lint (绒毛) from the new dress that her mother had bought for her. She noticed that her hands were shaking. How could she play the notes of the song if her hands were shaking? She tried to concentrate on steadying (稳住) them, but they only shook more.

   Deisha's piano teacher, Ms Neal, walked up to speak to her. “I have something for you,” she said, putting a smooth black stone into Deisha's hand. “It's a special stone. There's no other one like it in the world. You've practiced so much, you don't need anything else.”

   The stage lights reflected off the rock. “Thank you,” Deisha said.

   When Deisha's name was called, she rubbed the stone, stepped onto the stage, and played better than ever. After her performance, she noticed that Ms Neal had a whole bag of black stones. “Why did you say this one was so special?” she asked.

   Her teacher responded, “Because, like your talent, it belongs only to you.”

2、阅读理解
    Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1750, people never tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making instruments. In his free time he liked to play the violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called him a dreamer
    One day Merlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think. He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin had an idea. He thought that he would attract a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
    Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin was very proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into the room while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be very surprised.
    On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyone was really surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with all eyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke into many pieces with a very loud noise.
    Nobody forgot Merlin's wonderful entrance after that.

3、阅读理解

     The best known building in Washington D.C. is the White House, home of American presidents since 1800. The U.S. president works here, in the “Oval Office”, but the White House is also a family home.

      The wife of John Adams, the second U. S. president, used to dry her wet clothes in the East Room. President Truman had a piano next to his desk and President Kennedy's children used to play under his office windows.

Next well-known building is the Capitol. The 535 members of Congress meet here to discuss the nation's business. It is easy to get lost in this huge building, full of paintings and statues.

        From the Capitol there is a great view down the grassy Mall, and across a pool of water to the Lincoln Memorial (in memory of the 16th president, Abraham Lincoln). It looks like a beautiful garden, but you need a good pair of shoes because it is, in fact, a long long way.

Most people know about the government buildings of Washington D. C. However, there are also some important museums. You can see all kinds of things. These include spaceships, the dresses of presidents' wives, the largest blue diamond in the world, and the biggest elephant on record (filled with enough materials, of course).

4、根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Everyone knows that fish is good for health.        But it seems that many people don't cook fish at home. Americans eat only about fifteen pounds of fish per person per year, but we eat twice as much fish in restaurants as at home. Buying, storing, and cooking fish isn't difficult.

        This text is about how to buy and cook fish in an easy way.

       Fresh fish should smell sweet: you should feel that you're standing at the ocean's edge. Any fishy or strong smell means the fish isn't fresh.        When you have bought a fish and arrive home, you'd better store the fish in the refrigerator if you don't cook it immediately, but fresh fish should be stored in your fridge for only a day or two. Frozen fish isn't as tasty as the fresh one.

There are many common methods used to cook fish.        First, clean it and season it with your choice of spices (调料). Put the whole fish on a plate and steam it in a steam pot for 8 to 10 minutes if it weighs about one pound. (A larger one will take more time.) Then, it's ready to serve.

A. Do not cook it. B. The easiest way is to steam it. C. This is how you can do it. D. The fish will go bad within hours. E. It just requires a little knowledge.  F. When buying fish, you should first smell it.       G. The fats in fish are thought to help prevent heart disease

1、完形填空
Dear Mom and Dad,
      I'd like you to know that I appreciate everything you've done for me, such as teaching me, taking care of me and loving me.
      I'm writing this thank-you letter, Mom and Dad, because I want you to know what a big    1    you have truly made in my life. You taught me so many things about the world and myself. You were the first ones to tell me about the importance of   2  by telling me it was   wrong to refuse all my other playmates from using my toys. And to this day,     3   those toys are long gone, I   4  to live by the idea of sharing my blessings with the people       5  me.
 Mom and Dad, you also   6  me to be sympathetic(同情的) towards the blind old man. You told me that our pets are there for us to   7and not to hurt. And because of those 8   , I've learnt to be caring .
  Thank you, Mom and Dad. You gave me some of the nicest 9  . Mom, I remember how you would let me sleep in your bed and how you used to bring me my favorite fried chicken and take care of me whenever I was 10  . Dad, I remember how you worked   11  to make me a playhouse in the yard so my friends and I could  12happily there.
  I may have13 you and your purposes when I was much younger. But now I know that everything you did was for my own  14 .
  Mom and Dad, I  15this thank-you letter is enough to let you know how much I     appreciate you for everything you've done for me. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                 All the love,
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Alex                     

1、阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词或括号内的单词的正确形式)。
    Earthquakes are quite common. In fact, thousands of earthquakes happen each day. Most of them are        weak to feel, though. During a big earthquake, there is often a big noise first. Then the earth shakes       (terrible) and many houses fall down.
     As one of the most deadly natural        （disaster) in the world, earthquakes often result in many people being injured or killed. In 2008, a severe earthquake hit China's Sichuan Province, which      (kill) more than 80,000 people there.  
    Besides, the great damage and deaths caused by the earthquake      (it), other accidents such as fires often follow.       (much) buildings may be damaged and more deaths may be caused.
    For centuries, man have been making studies of earthquakes. About 2,000 years ago, for example, a Chinese scientist named Zhang Heng invented a machine, which could find out from which direction the earthquake waves came. With the rapid       (develop) of modern science and technology, we now know a lot more about earthquakes. However, scientists still have
difficulty        (predict) exactly when and where       earthquake will happen, and can't stop it       happening.

1、Why do you like green tea? Can you tell me two r      ?

2、Next week is my grandpa's n       birthday, we're having a big party.

3、Which country has the l       population, China, Indian or Russia?

4、Last night, I f       closing the door. What a bad memory I have!

5、City Park is not far away from here. It's only ten m       walk. You can't miss it.

6、Some girls would never go out w       taking time to dressing themselves up.

7、It's q       convenient to travel by high-speed train.

8、Who is your favorite m      , Beethoven, Mozart or Schubert?

9、Julie is the only c       in her family, with no brothers or sisters.

10、I'm sorry to have kept you w       for such a long time.

1、假定你是初三(3)班长张海。你班将在12月23号晚上在本班教室里开圣诞晚会。请给你们的外教老师John写一封邮件，邀请他参加，内容包括：
①介绍晚会内容；
②告知到达时间；
③请John准备表演。
注意：
①词数80左右；
②可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Nathan,
I'm Zhang Hai, monitor of Class 3 .I'm happy to tell you……
Looking forward to your reply!