I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt’s house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.
I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving and never to come back was hardly in my head then.
The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times. ”
My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.
From my experiences I have learned one important rule: Almost all common troubles eventually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.
61. How did the author get to know America?
A. From her relatives B. From her mother
C. From books and pictures D. From radio programs
62. Upon leaving for America the author felt .
A. confused B. excited C. worried D. amazed
63. For the first two years in New York, the author .
A. often lost her way
B. did not think about her future
C. studied in three different schools
D. got on well with her stepfather
64. What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 4?
A. She worked as a translator.
B. She attended a lot of job interviews.
C. She paid telephone bills for her family.
D. She helped her family with her English.
65. The author believes that .
A. her future will be free from troubles
B. it is difficult to learn to become patient
C. there are more good things than bad things
D. good things will happen if one keeps trying
More than 600, 000 tourists from the Chinese mainland visited Taiwan last year, fulfilling expectations despite the impact of H1N1 flu and the global economic downturn.
A total of 606, 100 mainland tourists visited Taiwan in the past year, with each spending nearly $1, 800 on the island, including accommodation and shopping, Shao Qiwei, chairman of the Beijing-based Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits, said on Friday.
“We see good cooperation between tourism industries across the Straits taking shape,” Shao said. Since July 2008, when Taiwan first opened to mainland tourists, about 660, 000 mainland tourists have visited the island and spent $1.13 billion there, benefiting local transportation as well as the retail, entertainment and health industries.
In four months starting August last year, mainland tourists spent $65.72 million through UnionPay payment cards, figures from mainland bankcard association China UnionPay showed.
“Years of isolation between the two sides have made Taiwan an attractive place for mainland tourists,” said Zheng Lijuan, deputy (副的) general manager of CITS International MICE Co. Ltd.
But under the impact of H1N1 flu since May, the number of mainland tourists to Taiwan had also dropped sharply, leading to industry insiders(内部的人)casting doubt as to whether the goal of attracting 600, 000 mainland tourists to Taiwan in 2009 could be achieved.
Despite the unfavorable conditions, a string of relaxed rules last year have spurred (刺激) the interest of mainland tourists in visiting Taiwan.
In the past year, Taiwan has opened to mainland residents in 25 provinces, up from the initial 13 provinces. Relaxed rules have also allowed five tourists to form a group to visit Taiwan, instead of the initial requirement of at least 10 tourists. Mainland tourists can also stay in Taiwan for a maximum of 15 days, instead of the initial 10 days.
Combined with mainland business groups, more than 900, 000 mainland travelers visited Taiwan in 2009, Christine Lai, director of the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association, told China Daily.
Without releasing the goal for this year, Lai expressed hopes that mainland tourists would head to Taiwan on second or even third visits.
66. Why do mainlanders like to visit Taiwan?
A. Taiwan is a very beautiful island.
B. There are many shops, malls and bookstores in Taiwan.
C. The accommodation and transportation are very good in Taiwan.
D. Years of isolation between Taiwan and mainland makes it an attractive place.
67. What was the original goal of mainland tourists to Taiwan in 2009?
A. 660, 000 B. 606, 100 C. 600, 000 D. 900, 000
68. The number of mainland tourists to Taiwan in 2009 was fulfilled because .
A. the residents of 25 provinces could visit Taiwan
B. mainland tourists could stay in Taiwan for 15 days
C. the Chinese government made a string of relaxed rules
D. there were no impacts of H1N1 flu in Taiwan and mainland
69. We can infer from the text that .
A. there may be a goal for Mainland tourists visiting Taiwan in 2010
B. Chinese mainland tourists can stay in Taiwan for a maximum of 10 days
C. the global economic downturn had not influnced Taiwan’s travel industry
D. H1N1 flu had not made the number of the mainland tourists to Taiwan drop
70. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Visitors to Taiwan will slowdown
B. Mainland tourists to Taiwan hit mark
C. More and more mainland tourists visit Taiwan
D. H1N1 and global economic influence Taiwan’s travel industry
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The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down” . You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”
I noticed every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I looked down on the computer and asked her, “What do all you people do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.
“I have no idea. Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There’s no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’s down it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no backup(备用) computer, I said. “Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They’re still flying, aren’t they?”
“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington, ” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know, ” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ‘IT’ knows. ‘It can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.
56. Where do you often hear these frightening words “Our computer is down”?
A. At the airport. B. At the gate. C. On business. D. In the ticket office.
57. What could the girl in the ticket office do without asking the computer?
A. She could do nothing.
B. She could sell a ticket.
C. She could write out a ticket.
D. She could answer the passengers’ questions.
58. What does the underlined word “down” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. White. B. Broken. C. Black. D. Dark.
59. We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.
A. a modern computer won’t be down
B. computers can take the place of human
C. there will be great changes in computers
D. sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people
60. The best title for the article is _______.
A. Asking the Computer B. When the Computer Is Down
C. The Computer of the Airport D. The Most Frightening Words
Scientists say they have discovered a promising treatment for sleeping sickness, a killer disease that infects(感染) about 60,000 people in Africa a year.
British and Canadian experts say drugs could attack the parasite(寄生虫) causing the illness needs to survive. They say the drug could be ready for human medical test in about 18 months.
The disease, spread by the bite of a fly, is caused by a parasite attacking the central nervous system. It has similar symptoms(症状) to malaria(疟疾), making it difficult to diagnose. Left untreated, it moves to the brain, resulting in mental confusion and final death
The "breakthrough" came at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where scientists were offered money to research diseases ignored by major drugs companies.
Professor Paul Wyatt, director of the programme, said: "This is one of the most significant findings made in recent years in terms of drug discovery and development for ignored diseases."
He said the research, published in the journal Nature, represented "significant progress" in the development of a full blown drug against the disease.
The World Health Organization said there are between 50,000 and 70,000 cases of the disease a year, with a further 60 million people at risk of infection.
The research in Dundee was backed by partners at the University of York in England and the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto, Canada. The two drugs currently available to treat sleeping sickness both have problems. One is with side effects that kill one in 20 patients and the other is costly, only partially effective and requires long-time hospital treatment, the scientists said. The word backedin the last paragraph probably means_____.
| A.conducted | B.supported | C.believed | D.managed |
What the World Health Organization said suggested that______.
| A.about 60000 people died of the disease each year |
| B.about 60000 people were cured of the disease each year |
| C.600 million people are likely to get infected |
| D.the disease is spreading fast in Africa |
We can read this passage______.
| A.in the journal Nature |
| B.in a newspaper of the University of Dundee |
| C.in a book about flies |
| D.in a newspaper about medicine |
We can learn from the passage that______ .
| A.big drug companies play an important role in the research of the new drug |
| B.people who get infected with the disease are mentally disturbed |
| C.among 200 people infected with the disease, 5 may die because of the old drug |
| D. Professor Paul Wyatt may be a professor at the University of York |
(BBC)The "father of the personal computer" who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68. Dr Henry Ed
ward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that led to the home computer age.
Gates and Allen contacted Dr Roberts after seeing the machine on the front cover of a magazine and offered to write software for it. The program was known as Altair-Basic, the foundation of Microsoft's business. "Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers , and we have always been thankful to hi
m," the Microsoft founders said in a statement.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told technology website CNET that Dr Roberts had taken " a critically important step that led to everything we have today".
Dr Roberts was the founder of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), originally set up to sell electronics parts to model rocket hobbyists. The company went on to sell electronic calculator parts, but was soon overshadowed by bigger firms.
In the mid-1970's, with the firm struggling with debt, Dr Roberts began to develop a computer kit(配套零件) for hobbyists. The result was the Altair 8800. The $395 kit (around £1,000 today) was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975, resulting in a flood of orders.
Amongst those interested in the machine were Paul Allen and Bill Gates. The pair contacted Dr Roberts, offering to write software that would help people program the machine. The pair finally moved to Albuquerque - the home of MITS - where they founded Micro-Soft, to develop their software.
Dr Roberts sold his company in 1977. He died in hospital on 1 April after a long period of pneumonia.(肺炎)Why did Dr Roberts probably decide to sell his company?
| A.Because he was in heavy debt in the mid-1980's . |
| B.Because he wanted to take a chance on Gates and Allen. |
C.Because he wanted to develop a computer kit for hobbyists. |
| D.Because he had difficulty competing with big companies. |
What do we know about MITS?
| A.It was set up by Steve Wozniak. |
| B.It sold electronics parts to big firms. |
| C.It is located in Albuquerque. |
| D.It is a technology website. |
We can learn that Popular Electronics is likely to be ____.
| A.a newspaper | B.a magazine | C.a Website | D.an organization |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A.The story of the Altair 8800 |
| B.The founder of MITS |
| C.Father of the personal computer died |
| D.The story of Dr Roberts |