9．　　Summer time in the United States generally means people have a lot more free time to enjoy the outdoors. The sun is out for longer, so there are more hours in the(1)       to enjoy. Having more free time does not mean you need to(2)       a lot of money. There are plenty of ways to enjoy your city or town for little or no money.
　　In summer, many parks(3)       free concerts. Sometimes these concerts feature(以……为特色)bands and musicians that are(4)      . Other times the concerts are given by up and coming(崭露头角的)(5)      . It doesn't matter whether you know the band playing or not, these free concerts in the park are a great way to(6)       music outdoors. If you arrive at the park(7)       with your friends, you can even have a picnic. Many parks also offer free outdoor screenings of(8)      . It's always a good idea to arrive early to get a good viewing spot(地点). Being too(9)      to the movie screen is no fun﹣ your neck will(10)      . And sitting too far means you'll have to squint(眯眼看). These outdoor movie screenings are also great for picnics.
　　If you are a big fan of theater, most big cities have(11)       Shakespeare﹣in﹣the﹣park programs. These programs feature different works of Shakespeare:performed live and outdoors. Many of these programs are free. Some of these Shakespeare ﹣ in﹣ the﹣park pro﹣grams are so(12)       that people line up for hours to get free tickets. Usually the tickets are "first come, first served". If all the tickets are(13)       before you get to the front of the line, then you are out of luck. So get there early!
　　If you don't have air conditioning, many museums offer free admission days or hours. (14)       the museums being cool in temperature, they are also cool(15)       you can see amazing works of art.

10．
　　When an earthquake happens, part of the Earth's surface moves. In fact, the surface of the Earth moves all the time. The tectonic plates(地壳板块)which make up the surface press against each other very(1)      . Over thousands of years, this movement creates great(2)      . In some places where the layers(表层)of rock are weak, this finally causes, a(3)      movement ﹣an earthquake. Thousands of earthquakes happen every day, (4)       most are very small and cause no damage. A large earthquake shakes(5)       to the ground, or causes a tsunami(海啸)wave. The results are usually very(6)       .
　　 It's common for people in southern Europe(7)      big earthquakes, and on November 1st, 1755, a powerful earthquake(8)      the city of Lisbon in Portugal. Between 60, 000 and 100, 000 people lost(9)       lives. After the earthquake a tsunami struck the city, and there was(10)       a fire, which caused nearly total destruction(毁灭). People as far away as Finland(11)       the shock, and the tsunami reached Barbados in the West Indies.

11．Calendar of Events

12．　　Florence Nightingale made nursing a respectable profession for women. She was born in 1820 into a rich British family. She was in her twenties when, she became interested in health care. Her parents were quite surprised to know their daughter's interest, because rich women did not work at all in those days. However, Nightingale did not change her mind and in the end her parents allowed her to train as a nurse for three months in Germany. After that, she worked in London in a hospital for women.
　　In 1854, Britain, France and Turkey went to war against Russia. When reports about the awful conditions for the wounded and sick soldiers appeared in The Times, Nightingale was asked to take some nurses to the military(军队的)hospitals. While working there, she became famous and money was collected for her work.
　　She returned to London in 1856. At first, she hid herself away from attention, but later, she set up a training school for nurses in London. After completing their training, the nurses worked in hospitals all over Britain and Nightingale's influence spread. Florence Nightingale continued to work to improve public health for the rest of her life.

13．　　Some children do too much homework. According to data from the US Department of Education, if you spend more than two hours doing your homework, it can be bad for your marks.
　　 Researchers looked at the math scores of students in the eighth grade and the amount of homework they did. Then the results were compared with similar studies of homework in other countries. They expected the results to be similar around the world but they weren't.
　　 In the US scores are the best for students when they do about one hour of homework each night. When they keep studying two or . more hours their marks begin to fall.
　　In Japan when students study for more than two hours their marks start going down—but only slightly(轻微地).
　　Canadian students seem to benefit from between one and two hours of homework – but when they do more, they don't manage to improve their result. They are about the same as when they work for only one hour!
　　 German students get higher marks when they do two to three hours homework a night, but risk getting lower scores when they do three or more hours.
　　 The conclusion(结论)seems to be that you should avoid spending too much time on your homework.

14．　　People today take lots of photos. Many people use cell phones to take photos of their everyday life, with friends and family. Some photos are really special. They may show beautiful places or important events, like birthday parties or weddings. Years later, people may, look at, these speci　　al photos to remember the past.
　　 But how did people record important events before there were cameras?How did people long ago remember the past?
　　Some people told stories about the past. Others wrote down the things, they remembered. Some people made drawings. These helped them remember important events. One group of people who made drawings to remember, the past was the Lakota tribe(部落). The people of the Lakota tribe were native Americans.
　　Every winter, Lakota leaders picked the most important event from the year. A Lakota artist then drew a picture of that event. These drawings were called winter counts. This is because the event for each picture was picked in the winter. For a long time, these pictures were drawn on animal skins. Later, they were drawn on paper.
　　 The winter counts showed the Lakota tribe's history. Each year, the new drawing was added to the rest of the winter counts. That helped people keep track of the years.
　　Today, winter counts are important records of the Lakota tribe's past.

15．　　The American west is full of "ghost towns", where people left everything behind to find new homes. Now a "ghost city" is being built in the US. It won't be abandoned. It will be used to test the technology of the future.
　　Called CITE﹣the Center for Innovation (创新), Testing and Evaluation (测评)一the city will cover an area of 39 square kilometers in the middle of the New Mexico desert. The city was proposed(提议)by Pegasus Global Holdings, a technology company.
　　Why build a city that nobody lives in?Because new technologies may cause problems or even be dangerous. In a "ghost city", they can be tested for safety.
　　"It will be a true laboratory without the problems and safety issues (问题)that come with people living there. Here you can break things and run into things, and get used to how they work, before taking them out into the market, " said Pegasus managing director Robert Brumley in Wired magazine.
　　Without the worry of harming people, any new idea can be tested in this city. Just think about the possibilities ﹣ driverless cars can move freely on the streets, robot homes can be designed and drone delivery can be used for mailing packages.
　　There's just one problem with CITE. "People can suddenly jump out in front of something, " Reese Jones, a founder of Singularity University, US, told Fortune magazine.
　　Jones is worried that even if a technology works perfectly in CITE, it will not work well in a place full of people.

16．　　Hello, my name is Vernon Marchewski and I'm going to tell you about the best ways to improve your fitness. If you're interested in being an athlete, or just doing sport for fun, this advice is for you.
　　I think the most important thing is to choose a workout that you enjoy. (1)       You need to do something that will motivate(激励)you, so avoid activities that are too hard for you, or boring.
　　(2)       Try a new activity, or change how long you spend doing something, and how difficult you make it.
　　 Another great way to motivate yourself is to make sure you have goals. For example, if you run5 km a day, try to increase it to 6. But be careful, don't over train. (3)      
　　 Look after yourself. (4)       A healthy diet is the best way to a healthy body.
　　 Finally, only use proper equipment. (5)       Only wear good running shoes, and invest in comfortable clothing.

17．(Jenny and Henry are:talking in the school. J ＝ Jenny H ﹣ Henry)
J:Do you want to go to the cinema at the weekend?Mark and I can go on Saturday or Sunday.
H:I'd love to, but I've been really busy this term. I went to a concert a few weeks ago, but that's all. (1)       Have you been out a lot recently?
J:Not really. But I went to a play last week in London.
H:(2)      
J:Amazing!We got cheap tickets for some seats near the front. We could see everything!
H:That sounds great!(3)      
J:Yes, we did. You can get some really good seats sometimes.
H:(4)      
J:Sure. I'll send you the new program next week.
H:Thanks. (5)      
J:Yes, I think so. I think there are always some cheap ones.
H:Great!

18．同学们在阅读理解中读到了四个国家对 "家庭作业多少和学习成绩好坏关系"的调查结果, 想必大家也有话可说．因此, 下周英语课你班将组织一次以"The more homework, the better scores?"为话题的辩论活动, 听来自学生们的看法．现在请你根据此话题及以下要求, 为该辩题准备一份发言稿．
写作要点:Your homework:
a)How much time do you spend on your homework every day?
b)How do you like your homework?
(2)Your opinion:agree or disagree (at least 3 reasons)
(3)Your advice on homework for your teachers.
要求:
(1)短文应包括提示中所有的写作要点;条理清楚, 行文连贯, 可适当发挥;
(2)短文中不能出现真实的人名和地名;
(3)词数不少于80．