PEOPLE
NOBLE SMUGGLER
This Thursday, Irena Sendler will be honoured for her work as a smuggler（偷运者）. During World WarⅡ, the Polish social worker smuggled nearly2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto（聚居区）. She gave them new identities, found them safe places with good-hearted Christians, and kept the children’s real names buried in jars in her neighbours’ gardens.（The play, Life in a Jar, based on her story, is being performed.）At 93, Sendler lives in a Warsaw nursing home and is too weak to travel to Washington D.C., to receive the 2003 Jan Karski Award for Valorand Compassion from the American Center of Polish Culture. One of the children she saved will accept the award for her.
You risked your life to save the children.
I was taught by my father that when someone is drowning, you don’t ask if they can swim，you just jump in and help. During the war, everyone was drowning, but mostly the Jewish children.
How did you persuade parents to give up their children？
I had to answer honestly that I didn’t even know if we would get past the guards.
What was the most frightening moment？
When I saw a priest（牧师）in charge of an orphan age for Jewish children in the ghetto walk with them out to be killed. The children were in then best Sunday suits. The priest was killed with them.
How did you get the children to be have as you smuggled them out？
I told the older children to act as if they were sick and sometimes gave the younger ones a sleeping pill. They were told to remember their new names. I also told the children to tell guards they had only been visiting a servant in the ghetto and were going back to their real homes outside.
Did you tell your own two children what you did？
I never told them. Only when my daughter went to Israel did she learn all about me. I thought it was only normal to do so. And it was a very painful subject. It was always on my mind that I couldn’t do more.
——Samantha Levine
1. We can learn from the passage that Irena Sendler____.
A. will go to Washington to accept the award with her daughter
B. was caught a few times while she was rescuing the Jewish children
C. told those parents that their children’s lives would be guaranteed
D. saved thousands of Jewish children at the risk of her ownlife
2. The expression “everyone was drowning” can best be replaced by“______”.
A. everyone was involved in the war
B. all the people were drowned
C. people were facing danger and death
D. Jewish children were being killed
3. Which of the following could NOT be expected when Sendler was smuggling the Jewish children？
A. Some children were told to pretend to be sick in front of the guards.
B. Some children pretended to be returning home after visiting servants in the ghetto.
C. The children were asked to remember and use new names instead of real ones.
D. The children pretended to be brothers and sisters from one big family.
4. Sendler didn’t tell her own children what she did in the war because ______.
A. she thought it was the most frightening experience
B. the topic was too painful and heart-breaking to mention
C. it was already recorded and made known to the public
D. she planned to bury the secret in her heart until her death
In many societies, there is often greater acceptance of light skin than dark skin．Light skin may be seen as a mark of beauty, intelligence and success．These beliefs can lead to social pressure even within the same racial or ethnic group, if some members are darker skinned than others．
The result is that skin lightening has become a common activity across Africa, Asia and other areas of the world．More and more people with dark skin are using skin-lightening products, even if they may face health risks.
They believe that having whiter skin will improve their lives．Many people think they will have a better chance of getting a job or marrying into a better family．Or they want to look like what their society generally considers beautiful.
Some beauty care products and soaps contain chemicals that make skin lighter．This process is also called bleaching．But some of the chemicals are extremely dangerous．One of the chemicals has been linked to kidney (肾) damage and some kinds of cancer．It also causes low birth weight in babies when mothers use it during pregnancy．
At first, bleaching products make the skin color lighter．But after long-term use they can cause problems．They can even make some skin darker．The chemicals in the products block and break down the natural process that gives color to skin．The skin loses its natural barrier to protect against sunlight．Then the skin can become thick and discolored．Usually the person will use more of the product in an effort to correct the problem, but this only makes it worse.
Fatimata Ly treats skin conditions in the Senegalese capital，Dakar．Doctor Ly says skin bleaching has become a problem throughout Senegal．She says the chemicals are now more dangerous because they are stronger．Some cases have resulted in blackened fingernails, infections and permanent skin damage．
And these are not the only risks．Experts say some people who change their skin color suffer emotional damage．They fee
l regret and sadness．They feel that instead of risking their health, they should have learned to love and accept their skin color as it was．
1．Which of the following words can replace the underlined word “bleaching”?
A．whitening B．changing C．lighting D．pleasing
2．Why has the skin lightening become a common activity all over the world?
A．There are many products that can make the dark skin light.
B．Many people with dark skin have no confidence.
C．Relatively speaking, light skin has more advantages over dark skin.
D．People with dark skin are forced by the pressure of their families.
3．According to the text the following ar
e the risks using the bleaching products EXCEPT______.
A．blackened fingernails B．permanent skin damage
C．emotional damage D．a waste of time and money
4．From the text we can conclude the writer’s attitude toward using the bleaching products is probably ___________．
A．supportive B．positive C．doubtful D．negative
●Tower Bridge is one of London’s most well known landmarks．Opened in 1894, this hydraulic (液压的) bridge can be raised to permit river traffic to pass underneath.
Visitors to Tower Bridge can enjoy wonderful views of the River Thames from the bridge towers．There is also a museum which explains how the bascule bridge operates and discusses its history．Tower Bridge is often incorrectly referred to as London Bridge．London Bridge, however, is a different bridge that is located directly upstream from Tower Bridge.
●The British Museum is a “must do” for all visitors to London, England．Treasures from around the world can be found in Britain’s largest and most popular museum．To top it off, admission to the British Museum is free of charge.
Due to the enormous size of the museums, visitors should be clear about what they wish to see．One “must see” is the Rosetta Stone–a key puzzle piece in the recorded history of humankind．The British Museum is located in the Bloomsbury district of London in London WC1.
●Greenwich Park is a beautiful large park located a few kilometers away from the centre of London．Attractions in Greenwich include the Cutty Sark, the Gypsy Moth and the Old Royal Observatory．A painted line at the observatory indicates zero degrees of longitude（经度）.
Many visitors to Greenwich enjoy having their photos taken with one leg in the western hemisphere（半球）and the other in the eastern hemisphere．Greenwich is the place where time was officially tracked – “Greenwich Mean Time” or “GMT”.
Greenwich is located in London SE10.
●The Eurostar high–speed train service provides fast connections between London and Paris and London and Brussels．The Eurostar trains pass through the 32–mile Channel Tunnel under the English Channel．The tunnel is also known as the“Euro Tunnel”or“Chunnel”．The Channel Tunnel is considered to be one of the world’s great engineering wonders.
Trains leave form the Waterloo Rail Station which is located in south London.
1．If a tourist doesn’t have any money on him, which of the following can he do?
A．Visit Tow
er Bridge. B．Visit the British Museum.
C．Go around Greenwich Park. D．Take a Eurostar high–speed train.
2．Where can we find the attraction of the Cutty Sark?
A．On London Bridge. B．In the Old Royal Observatory.
C．In the British Museum. D．In Greenwich Park.
2．What can we learn from the passage?
A．Tower Bridge can be raised mainly to let the water flow faster.
B．The British Museum is the largest museum in the world.
C．Greenwich Park is where the western hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere meet.
D．The Eurostar train can take people from London to many cities in Europe directly.
3．In what web page do you think the passage is probably found?
A．International news. B．Study abroad.
C．Travel Guide. D．Art of architecture.
Jenny Bowen, an American living in Beijing, was selected as the only American to carry the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch on Chinese soil．She and seven other non-Chinese winners had been chosen from 262 applicants from 47 countries in a contest organized by Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group and the official English-language newspaper, China Daily．When Bowen ran with the Olympic torch, she was not only representing the United States, but also representing thousands of Chinese orphans (孤儿).
Bowen, a mother of two adopted (收养) Chinese daughters, is director of Half the Sky Foundation, an organization which was founded in 1998 and aims to enrich the lives of orphaned children in China．In nearly 10 years, Bowen and Half the Sky have touched the lives of over 13,000 children．Half the Sky is now present in 36 welfare institutions in 28 Chinese cities． About 4,000 children are active in the program, which provides trained staff, educational tools, medical support and care for orphans.
Bowen hoped that running with the Olympic torch would help draw attention to the children in China．She was among 19,400 runners who carried the flame along an 85,000-mile, 130-day route across five continents．Beijing organizers say it was the longest torch relay in Olympic history.
Like Bowen, the 
seven other non-Chinese winners, including a German engineer and a Venezuelan designer, live in China．Other countries represented were the Philippines, Colombia, India, Japan and Russia.
According to Olympic organizers, candidates (候选人) were selected based on an online vote, committee selection, their “love of Chinese culture and history” and devotion to “communicating information of a real China to their native countries”．Each runner carried the torch for 200 meters on Chinese soil.
1．Bowen hopes that being a torch runner would help ________.
A．collect educational tools, medical support, etc, for orphans
B．make Half the Sky Foundation well known
C．draw special attention to orphans in China
D．communicate information of America
2．According to the text, Jenny Bowen ________.
A．is interested in Chinese sports
B．fo
unded the organization of Half the Sky
C．has adopted 13,000 children during 10 years
D．loves Chinese culture and history
3．Which of the following about the 2008 torch relay is WRONG?
A．The contest for its runners is organized by Lenovo Group and China Daily.
B．It has eight foreign runners, including an American, a German and a Venezuelan.
C．It will be the longest relay with the most runners in Olympic history.
D．It will be an opportunity to communicate information of a real China to the world.
4．What’s the best title for the passage?
A．Happy Life of a Great US Woman in China
B．A US Woman Carrying 2008 Olympic Torch in China
C．The Development of Half the Sky Foundation
D．The Longest Torch Relay in Olympic History
第二部分阅读理解(共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分)
第一节阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When students think of learning a foreign language, the first thought is of books, exercises, and audio cassettes．Those are important to learning but sometimes a little bit boring．Therefore, it is time for us to spice things up a bit.
Things like a cellphone can keep your interest level high．It’s a perfect study material．You have it with you day after day, you are familiar with how it works and you can use it to practice whenever you have time．Yo
u don’t need to have your books by your side or stay in your room to listen to tapes.
Let’s take a look at how to add your cellphone to your study tools.
Set up your cellphone to use the language you want to study．Go to the menu, find settings, locate language and change it to English or Spanish, which benefits your language learning.
Look at the buttons and connect those items with the new vocabulary．This enables you to master simple words and phrases with little effort．For example, each time you open up your cellphone you’ll see “messag
es”, “games” and “calls made”．These words begin to take root if you see them again and again.
When you have time, take out your cellphone and start hitting buttons．You’ll be surprised at all the vocabulary you can learn by playing with the different menu items．Some things you’ll recognize immediately and others you can guess just by where you find them.
It can keep your learning fresh and interesting．And that’s important because boredom is a big problem with language learners．You need variety and a cellphone is one way to get it.
1．The underlined part “spice things up” in the first paragraph means “______”.
A．make things interesting B．make things realistic
C．make things helpful D．make things obvious
2．Which of the following is NOT an advantage of using a cellphone as a study material?
A．We can study with it at any mome
nt.
B．It keeps our learning interest high.
C．We can use it to practice freely.
D．It offers the chance to practice learning.
3．By playing with a cellphone, you can ______.
A．learn the words in the menu
B．remember the messages sent by others
C．improve the techniques of playing games
D．become familiar with different kinds of languages
4．Why did the author write the passage?
A．To stress the importance of language learning.
B．To introduce the latest ways of language learning.
C．To inform how to keep your learning fresh.
D．To explain how to use cellphones to learn language.
“Sesame Street” has been cal
led “the longest street in the world”. That is because the television program by that name can now be seen in so many parts of the world. That program became one of American’s exports soon after it went on the air in New York in 1969.
In the United States more than six million children watch the program regularly. The viewers include more than half the nation’s pre-school children, from every kind of economic, racial, and geographical group.
Although some educators don’t agree to certain elements in the program, parents praise it highly. Many teachers also consider it a great help, though some teachers find that problems appear when first graders who have learned from “Sesame Street” are in the same class with children who have not watched the program.
Tests have shown that children from all racial, geographical, and economic backgrounds have benefited from watching it. Those who watch it five times a week learn more than occasional(偶然的) viewers. In the US the program is shown at different hours during the week in order to increase the number of children who can watch it regularly.
The programs all use songs, stories, jokes, and pictures to give children a basic understanding of numbers, letters and human relationships. But there are some differences. For example, the Spanish program, produced in Mexico City, devotes more time to teaching whole words than to teaching separate letters.
Why has “Sesame Street” been so much more successful than other children’s shows? Many reasons have been suggested. People mention the educational theories of its creators, the support by the government and private businesses, and the skillful use of a variety of TV tricks. Perhaps an equally important reason is that mothers watch it along with their children. This is partly because famous adult stars often appear on it. But the best reason for the success of the program may be that it makes every child watching feel able to learn. The child finds himself learning, and he wants to learn more.
1. Children who often watch the program _______.
A. can have problems in school B. will be well educated
C. will take no interest in their studiesD. have benefited from it
2. What is special about the program?
A. Children learn and enjoy themselves while watching.
B. It makes children feel able to learn.
C. It is shown at different hours during the week.
D. It offers great fun.
3. Why is “Sesame Street” so popular in the world?
A. Because it is supported by the government and businesses.
B. Because it uses a variety of skillful tricks.
C. Because it makes every child watching it feel able to learn.
D. Because mothers watch it along with their children.
4. The best title for this passage can be _ ______.
A. TV Programs B. Sesame Street
C. Educating Children D. A Great Success