-I've started my own software company.-()

— I've started my own software company.

—________________

A、Could you tell me who is the owner？

B、 No kidding! Congratulations!

C、If I had the money, I'd start one.

23 Chestnut Ave. ,

Wellington, Shropshire.

Wednesday, 5th October

Dear Joe,

I'm afraid this won't be a very cheerful letter because at the moment I'm feeling absolutely fed up. It's the usual story; this morning I had another quarrel with my mother. Well, to tell you the truth, it wasn't really a quarrel, because I just shut up and didn't say a word, which always angers her. Anyway, what happened was that she came into my bedroom and started shouting at me because I had thrown my dress over the chair instead of hanging it up properly. Well, she is right of course, but on the other hand I'm so busy at the moment with exams and one thing and another that I really haven't got time to do everything right. I know I'm not the world's tidiest person, but it seems that at the moment I cannot do anything right as far as she is concerned. Do you know what I mean？ Anyway, when I didn't reply, she really lost her temper and started going on about all sorts of things, bringing up every single thing that I've done wrong in the last few years. To listen to her, you'd think I was the laziest, the most selfish and the most thoughtless person in the world, and I don't know what else. I know she doesn't really mean it, and in her own funny way she is trying to do her best for me.

Anyway, as if all that wasn't enough, my father lost his temper with me at lunchtime, just because I asked him a perfectly reasonable question. Honestly, Joe, it's at times like this that I can hardly wait to get away from home, find a place of my own, and start living my own life in my own way.

Sorry to sound so gloomy. I'll write to you again when I'm in a better mood. Please write to me when you have time. I always look forward to your letters.

Love,

Anna

P.S. As always, give my love to your pretty daughter, Claire. Tell her I'm coming to see her next summer.

According to the passage, ______ annoys Anna's mother most.

A．her quarrel with her mother this morning

B．her throwing her dress all over the chair

C．her keeping silence facing her mother's scolding

D．her asking her father an unreasonable question

e with their new comment book entitled Tales of The Forest. With a diverse cast of characters, and a craze story that reflex upon both reality and unreality, Samuel has once again exposed his unique art to a much larger audience. Here in the studio we are happy to have you with us. Samuel, as an artist, where have you been, and where are you going？

M: Well, I'd like to think that my past as an artist has been an interesting one thus far. Stylistically there have been a lot of changes; I started out with a chunky organic brush style, very popular that time. Back then when I did my first book, My Dollar, I had a feeling that comments would just be too precious, and I want my work to be bold. I still enjoy working that way. But since then my interests have changed. Half way through my Run on the Little Cat. That's my second series. I move towards a more linear style, which is something I always loved. I've been trying a little variations on things out since then, and now I am trying to push towards a more graphic look. I really loved doing color work.

W: I'd say your works have been fairly eclectic in tone and story, do you agree？

M: Yeah, eclectic is a good word for it. I try to 'take on a project that seems interesting to me, I can't imagine working on just one kind of story for the rest of my life.

W. You are an, for lack of a better term, all-inclusive artist, meaning you usually ink your own pencils and keep your own style, can you stand to be influenced by someone else？

M. I have been influenced by others in the past, and they've all done an outstanding job. It's the nature of collaboration, isn't it？ The thing is now I really enjoy having control over the final look of the art work.

W: What is it about the company that you've given it so much of your time and effort as an artist？

M: It's a very nurturing environment. My editors are all open to new ideas, and have encouraged me to push my abilities and grow. It's a great place to be, and I'm honored they keep renewing my contract.

(47)

A．He writes comic stories.

B．He draws pictures for comic books.

C．He teaches painting in an art school.

D．He compiles comic books with other writers.

You know how it is when we get together. They talk about impossible dreams. “If I won the lottery (彩票), I would …”, “If I had plenty of money, I would …” But I never told anyone about my dream. I was afraid they would laugh if they knew. My aunt died and left everything to me. So I went around the world in search of the perfect woman that I really loved. I first went to America, but I didn’t find I was looking for. The women I met were either too thin or too fat, too quiet or too noisy. So I started off for Spain. Most of the women I met were much too self-confident. Then I went to China. The women there were lovely, but much too shy, and I like taller women. Finally, I found myself back in my own country. I was sad. Well, you can never guess what happened. In my own country, I found the woman I was looking for! Funnily enough, she lived near me, and I was surprised that I had not noticed her before. We met in the local shop. She dropped her bag. I picked it up and give it to her. I knew at that moment that she was the woman for me. But I wanted to be very careful. I didn’t want to say or do anything that might frighten her away. So I just made small talk as we walked back to the car park. Back home, I planned to win her heart. After a few more meetings, I finally invited her to have dinner with me. She accepted. Everything went well during dinner and seemed to enjoy the food. Finally, I told her about my search. “That’s amazing (令人惊奇的)！” she said. “I’ve just come into a lot of money, too, and I have decided to go round the world in search of the perfect man. I think I’ve found him.” Question： What’s the writer’s dream？

A、To win the lottery.

B、To have plenty of money.

C、To travel around the world.

D、To marry a perfect woman.

E、To meet many women.

A.personnel

B.sponsors

C.assignment

D.reputation

esult they've lost respect for their parents and their elders generally？

W: I don't think so. My parents never interfered with my plans too much. They advised me but never forced me to do anything I didn't want to do. I was allowed to take up the career that I liked. I think I respect and love them more for this.

M: Are you quite independent of them now？

W: Yes. Since I left school and started my studies as a nurse, I've become independent financially. I have a government grant which is enough for my keep. But I still stay with them a lot, as you know.

M: You seem very close to your parents.

W: I am. I know that many young people today say they have nothing in common with their parents but I'm rather lucky because I get on very well with mine. What about you？

M: Well, we value family life very much in our country. I'm very fond of my family, but I don't always get on very well with them. They try to control me too much.

W: But they allowed you to come to study in England on your own!

M: Yes, but only after a lot of persuasion! Your parents treat you as an adult; mine treat me as a child.

W: As I said, I'm lucky. Some English parents are like yours. They interfere too much and they're out of sympathy with our generation.

M: That's really a problem.

W: Maybe it's just because of a lack of communication.

(20)

A．They show great respect to their parents.

B．They always do what their parents ask them to do.

C．They are very close to their parents.

D．They often disregard their parents' opinions.

much stock in that. I am convinced, however, that we are surrounded by sentient things of our own making whose single aim is the harassment of the individual and, ultimately, the destruction of society.

Let me illustrate. A couple of years ago, I received a $ 600 insurance dividend. Sitting at the kitchen table, my wife and I discussed what we might do with the bonanza. I realize now that the refrigerator overheard our conversation. The very next day, it went berserk. The repairman told us we needed a new unit. Cost: $ 600.

Not long after, we got a refund from the IRS, enough to pay for a vacation in Mexico.

"I've something to tell you," I said to my wife. "Privately."

"How about the den？" she suggested. I remembered that the color television set is in the den. "No, not there. Let's go outside."

I showed her the check as we stood in the driveway. We hugged each other elatedly and hardly noticed the rain.

My car was parked within earshot. I didn't think anything of it at the time. As I started for the train the next morning, the car began making devilish screeching sounds.

"The engine's shot," my mechanic said, "Replacing it will cost about a thousand dollars." The car's demise convinced me I was on to something big. I dug through our financial records. I discovered that over the past ten years our receipt of "found" money invariably was followed by equal expenditures to replace a hot-water heater, a television and a stove.

Today, I lavish compliments on all the mechanical devices in our home. And I never, ever mention financial rewards in front of them.

But if this article is published and I'm paid for it, the word processor is going to go wrong for sure. It'll know.

In Paragraph 1, "sentient things of our own making" refer to ______.

A．extraterrestrial beings

B．human beings

C．our sense organs

D．mechanical devices made by man

SECTION 1 (10 points)

Listen to the following passages and then decide whether the statements below are true or false. There are 10 questions in this section, with 1 points each. You will hear the recording only ONCE. At the end of the recording, you will have 2 minutes to finish this section.

听力原文： The reason my husband Bill and I bought a video camera eight years ago when our first daughter Jane was born was that we could relive every moment of our kid's lives. Until Annie's first dance recital when the camcorder had a sudden breakdown, I never realized how little of their lives I was experiencing when I had a camcorder in front of my face. So I decided to try life without one.

At first, I felt neglectful not filming birthdays or the first day of school. But when soccer season started, instead of "directing" my kids so I could get good video, I cheered when Jane, the goalie, made a save or when Annie charged ahead with the ball.

Don't get me wrong -- we want to document the girls' childhoods. I write in memory books, save drawings and take plenty of still photos. With video, you're a passive viewer, and events are recorded as is, with no room to embellish. But leafing through albums together and asking my kids "Remember when.9" triggers a dynamic collaboration. I ask them, then offer my own recollections, and before we know it, we've turned an event that's ho-hum on video, like a trip to the zoo, into something spectacular.

My husband and I bought a camcorder when we had our first kid.

A．正确

B．错误

er own recruitment agency of temporary marketing staff when she lost her own job some years ago. Thank you for coming, Beth.

F: Thank you, Michael. Nice to be hero.

M: A lot of people think it's the end of work when they lose their jobs. Tell us what happened in your case...

F: Well, I was working for Fast Forward, a marketing services agency. It seemed very successful — you know, with a very impressive client list... but I had heard there were cash flow problems. There was some talk of a possible takeover to save the company, but this all came to nothing. Without any notice, we were all suddenly made redundant.

M: And how did you react？

F: Well, I didn't think that there'd be any difficulty for me, or for the friends I'd worked with at the agency, in finding new jobs. My main concern was actually for one of the company's main client, Dryden Limited.

M: The agricultural machinery company？

F: Yes, that's right. I was running their big sales campaign for Eastern Europe, and the promotion still had another month to run. Now they'd be left without an agency, I felt very bad about that.

M: And it was because of this that you started up your own business？

F: Yes. I talked to them and offered to run the account from home. I already had a small PC and a fax machine and plenty of room to work in, but nothing suitable for running such a large campaign.

M: Did they invite you to work at their office？

F: I really wanted to work from home, so they gave me an up-to-date computer and a photocopier. And that was the beginning of Jumpstart, ray own agency. I soon had too much to do so I took on an assistant. She's still with me.

M: What happened next？

F: A friend of mine, Thomas Beck, gave me some really useful advice. He's a successful investment manager — I've known him for years.

M: What did he suggest？

F: Well, I had a lot of plans for Jumpstart, offering a whole range of marketing services. Thomas liked my ideas, but he thought I should focus on just one area.

M: And did you take his advice？

F: Yes, I decided to make Jumpstart a marketing recruitment agency, because I knew the business and had good contacts.

M: Was it easy getting started？ How did you raise the money？

F: Well, I'd learnt an important lesson from my time at Fast Forward. They'd had to stop trading because of large bank loans. I didn't want to make the same mistake with Jumpstart. I thought I might have to sell my house, but fortunately, somebody I'd worked with at Fast Forward was very interested in coming in with me as a partner and also had money to invest.

M: So how did Jumpstart find enough recruits to get started？

F: We planned to advertise in local newspapers because it was so cheap. But then decided that it wouldn't reach the right people, so we placed ads in several specialist marketing magazines, expensive, but very effective — lots of enquiries. Nowadays, we advertise mainly on Internet, but not then, of course.

M: And what do you look for in a recruit？ What is essential？

F: Well, even though the work is temporary, I've always felt that it's very important to provide quality staff. Because of this, I don't think it really matters if the recruit has a degree in marketing, for example, but I always insist on them having experience in the field. Location is never a problem though — I recruit staff of companies all over the country.

M: You make it sound easy. Weren't there any problems？

F: It wasn't difficult getting good recruits, though it took up a lot of time. What wasn't easy at first was selling the idea of temporary marketing staff to possible clients. The real challenge, however, was negotiation rates that companies would see as value for money. They were quite used to going to an agency for temporary secretaries but not for other types of staff.

M: Well, your efforts really worked. Now, tell us wh

A．had financial difficulties.

B．lost a major contract.

C．was taken over.

Talks and Conversations

Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear several short talks and conversations. After each of these, you will hear a few questions. Listen carefully because you will hear the talk or conversation and questions ONLY ONCE, when you hear a question, read the four answer choices and choose the best answer to that question. Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

听力原文： Man: I really enjoyed coming to your store, Linda. It was interesting seeing you at work. You're very professional.

Woman: Thanks, Wang. I've been working here since I was sixteen, so I've learned a lot.

Man: I just don't understand why you work. In China, children who are in school never work. Besides, your parents make plenty of money.

Woman: Sure, Mom and Dad could give me everything I need, but they think it's good for me to learn some responsibility, how to plan a budget, and what I should pay for out of my salary. I've been working almost three years now. I'm getting much better at handling money.

Man: Do you give your money to your parents, or do you pay rent and buy groceries？

Woman: No, what I earn is mine. Mom and Dad pay for all the serious stuff. I pay for some of my clothes and school supplies, but mostly I pay for my entertainment. That way I can learn how to spend it wisely.

Man: Do your parents give you advice on how to spend your money？

Woman: Yeah, when I planned my budget, Dad said I should save about half of what I earn so that I can pay for some of my college. He says if I pay for it, I'll probably study harder and appreciate it more. And I am saving money for college. I have a scholarship for my tuition, but buy my own textbooks and pay for some of the extras like skiing class.

Man: But doesn't working interfere with your studies？

Woman: I had a little trouble at first because I was used to having a lot of free time, but I learned to be organized. I do a lot of studying at school between classes, and I get up really early. I've learned to fit everything in. In fact, I've been getting better grades since I started working.

Man: You've almost convinced me, and this seems to go along with your general philosophy of independence.

11.How long has Linda held the part-time job？

12.Which of the following things does she pay for？

13.What can Linda learn from part-time job according to the passage？

14.What can we infer from the passage？

(31)

A．Sixteen years.

B．Four years.

C．Three years.

D．Nineteen years.

Unleashing Your Creativity

By Bill Gates

I've always been an optimist and I suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning new things and solving problems. So when I sat down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, I was hooked. It was a clunky old Teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. But it changed my life.

When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home," which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change the world. And they have. And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade. I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inventiveness--to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own.

Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it "tap-dance to work." My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me "tap-dance to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, "I didn't know you could do that with a PC!"

But for all the cool things that a person can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world. There are still far too many people in the world whose basic needs go unmet.

I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world. My wife, Melinda, and I have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as may people as possible.

As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant (辛酸的) or tragic than the death of a child anywhere else. And that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives.

I'm still very much an optimist, and I believe that progress on even the world's toughest problems is possible and it's happening every day. We're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world.

I'm excited by the possibilities I see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology. And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime.