广东省深圳市菁华中英文实验中学2017-2018学年高二上学期英语期中考试试卷

    Eve was waiting in the corridor outside her class. She was feeling sick. She had two exams that day and physics was first. She really hated physics. It was her worst subject. Lisa looked back at her, and then looked away quickly. Eve thought she looked guilty. She didn't have a problem with physics. She didn't have a problem with anything... Miss Perfect!

    "Hi, Eve! So what's wrong with you and Lisa?" asked Tina, "I thought you were friends." "Yes, so did I," said Eve. "But she hasn't spoken to me for two weeks now. She promised to help me review for the physics exam too, but then she's ignored all my calls and texts."

    While in the exam, Eve found Lisa was holding her phone on her knee under the table and reading from it. Eve couldn't believe it! Is that how Lisa always got such good grades? She thought about telling the teacher, but she hesitated. The next exam was history. That was Eve's favorite subject but she couldn't concentrate. She didn't know what to do about Lisa. Just then, Mr. Reed, their teacher, walked past. "Mr. Reed…"

    Lisa was called to the teachers' office and there waited Mr. Reed…

    The history test was over. Eve was walking towards the school gate when she heard footsteps behind her. It was Lisa. Eve could see that she had been crying. "Listen," said Lisa. "I'm really sorry I haven't answered your calls, but my dad had a heart attack two weeks ago and he's in hospital. He had a big heart operation today and I was very worried about him. So I was reading texts from my mum, but Mr. Reed caught me. He thought I was cheating. He believes me now, but I have to take the exam again. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was happening. Will you forgive me?"

How to Be a Winner

    Sir Steven Redgrave

    Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals

    "In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes(糖尿病). Believing my career was over, I felt extremely low. Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it -- the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn't difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way."

    Karen Pickering

    Swimming World Champion

"I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success—you can't follow a career in any field without being well-organized. List what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you'll be a step closer to achieving them."

    Kirsten Best

    Poet & Writer

    "When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can't achieve something. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to concentrate. When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as 'calm', 'peace' or 'focus', either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological tool"

    July is a month of fun-filled activities for kids and teens as long as you know where to find them. When you want some fun activities for July, consider these ideas happening in this month.

    We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. While I watched, mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop (拖把). She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors."

    "Yes, I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them," the nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working late?"

    Mum just pushed harder, each swipe of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.

    After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum nodded politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you."

    Outside, Mum told me, "Dagma is fine. No fever. "

    "You see her, Mum?"

    "Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It's a fine hospital. But the floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush. "

    Have you heard about Leap year? Leap year is a year that has 366 days instead of the usual 365. It normally occurs every four years, always on an even-numbered year. The extra day is added to our shortest month. That is the second month of the year, which in non-leap years has 28 days, two fewer than any other month.

    We also call Leap year the bissextile year (闰年).  In our calendar system there is a need for a leap year because the solar year (the time it takes the earth to go around the sun once）is actually slightly more than 365 days long. That extra day—Feb 29 every four years—helps correct the difference between our calendar and the solar calendar.

    It is said that Leap year was first made part of the calendar by the ancient Roman leader Julius Caesar. His astronomers had calculated the length of the solar year to be 365 days and six hours. So Caesar declared that an extra day be added to the calendar. 

    However, Caesar's adjustment was not completely accurate because his astronomers' year exceeded the true solar year by eleven minutes and fourteen seconds. By 1582, a difference of ten days had developed between the calendar year and the true solar year. To correct this error, Pope Gregory XⅢ ruled that every fourth year would continue to be a leap year except for century years that could not be divided evenly by 400. By this system, century years such as 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but the year 2000 was a leap year. 

    People born on Feb 29 celebrate their growing up a little differently from the rest of us. But if they go strictly by the calendar, they have only one-fourth as many birthday celebrations as most people.

A. They acknowledge that they get older each year.

B. When you see Feb 29 on a calendar, you know that year is a leap year.

C. This is its formal, or scientific title.

D. This may seem complicated, but it works.

E. In a leap year, the extra day is added to the second month, giving it 29 instead of the usual 28 days

F. The leap year was introduced in the Julian calendar in 46 BC.

G. This is done every four years.

    When I was a junior school student, I was a slightly bored male student who believed that doing any more than 1 was wasted effort. One day, this idea threw me into 2.

    In Mrs. Totten's math class, she3 assigned daily homework, and on the following day, our 4 were based on our oral answers to homework questions.

    Mrs. Totten usually walked up and down the rows of desks 5 answers from student after student in the 6the questions had appeared on our homework sheets. She would 7either at the front or the back of the classroom and work toward the other end.

    Since I was  8 near the middle of about 35 students, it was easy to9which questions I might have to answer. This particular time, I had completed my usual two or three problems according to my 10.

    What I11 to expect was that several students were 12, which threw off my estimate.13 Mrs. Totten made her way from the beginning of the class，I 14 tried to determine which math problem I would get. I tried to work it out before she got to me, but I had 15freeze and it couldn't even16.

    When Mrs. Totten 17 my desk，she asked what answer I'd got for problem No. 14. "I…I didn't get anything," I answered，and my face felt warm.

    "Correct," she said.

    It 18that the correct answer was zero.

    What did I learn that day? First,19 do all your homework. Second, in real life it isn't what you say but how you say it that 20.

    People  (live) in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred  in the world. Each contains many thousands of words. A very large dictionary, for example, contains four five hundred thousand words. But we do not need these. To read short stories you need to know only about two thousand words. you leave school, you will learn only one thousand or more.

    The words you know are called your vocabulary. You should try to make your vocabulary (big). Read as many books as we can. There are a lot of books (write) in easy English. You will enjoy them. When you meetnew word, look it in your dictionary. Your dictionary is your  (much) useful book.