Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world’s best marathoners can run!
In April, Jean finished the Boston Marathon in 1 hour 34 minutes 22 seconds. That’s about 33 minutes faster than the winning male runner! She competed on the track, too. She was second in the 800 meter wheelchair race at the 1992 Olympics.
Jean doesn’t like to be told she’s brave. “I’m in sports because I’m a competitive person!” Jean was born with spina befida(脊柱裂), a birth illness that damages the spine（脊椎）. She began to use a wheelchair to get around in high school. Then she tried wheelchair race and was amazed.” Players crashed into each other and fell out of their chairs,” she says, “It was fun.”
Jean tried other wheelchair sports. At the University of Illinois, her wheelchair basketball team won two national titles.
Now Jean coaches and teaches. She tries to get people to set goals. “When I sign my autograph（亲笔签名）, says Jean, “I write, dream big and work hard.”What made Jean take part in sports?
| A．She was brave. | B．She was competitive. |
| C．She was strong. | D．She was disabled. |
What does the underlined word “coach” mean?
| A．to train or give instruction and advice | B．to experiment |
| C．to get hold of and stop | D．to repeat |
What is Jean’s advice on how to succeed?
| A．Work hard. | B．Hope for the best. |
| C．Dream a lot. | D．Have great wishes and work hard. |
If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year, he'd better offer you more money to do so—or even double that depending on where you live now. That's because Moscow has just been found to be the world's most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
Using the cost of living in New York as a base, Mercer determined Moscow is 34. 4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment(娱乐）
A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs $4，000 a month； a CD $24. 83，and an international news-paper $6. 30，according to Mercer. By comparison, a fast food meal with a hamburger(汉堡包)is a steal at $4. 80.
London takes the No. 2 place, up from No. 5 a year ago, thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar. Mercer estimates(估算）London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days. Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo, both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York, while No. 5 Hong Kong is 19 percent more costly.
Among North American cities, New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world's most expensive cities. But both have fallen since last year's study—New York came in 15th, down from 10th place, while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place a year ago. San Francisco came in a distant third at No. 54，down 20 places from a year earlier.
Toronto, meanwhile, is Canada's most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82nd place worldwide. In Australia, Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No. 21 worldwide. What do the underlined words “a steal” in Para-graph 3 mean?
| A．An act of stealing. | B．Something delicious. | C．Something very cheap. | D．An act of buying. |
London has become the second most expensive city because of __________.
| A．the high cost of clothing |
| B．the stronger pound against the dollar |
| C．its expensive transportation |
| D．the high prices of fast food meals |
Which city is the third most expensive on the list?
| A．Tokyo. |
| B．Hong Kong. |
| C．Moscow. |
| D．Sydney. |
Which city has dropped most on the list in North America?
| A．New York. |
| B．Los Angeles. |
| C．San Francisco. |
| D．Toronto. |
On November 18，1995，Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Lincoln Centre in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is not easy for him. He got polio(小儿麻搏症）as a child, and has to walk with the aid of two crutches (拐杖）now.
That night Perlman walked slowly to his chair. Then he sat down and began to play. But, suddenly, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it break—it broke with a loud noise.
People thought to themselves，"He would have to get up to either find another violin or find another string for this one. ”
But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra(管弦乐队）began, and he played from where he had stopped. He played with such passion and such power.
Of course, everyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him changing and recomposing (重新作曲）the piece in his head.
When he finished, there was a silence in the room. Then people rose and cheered. We were all on our feet, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.
He smiled and then he said in a quiet tone，“ Youknow, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left. ”
His words have stayed in my mind ever since I heard them. That is also the way of life. Perhaps our task in this quickly changing world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left. Holding a concert is challenging for Perlman because __________.
| A．he is just a world famous violinist |
| B．he has never performed on stage before |
| C．he is physically disabled as a result of a disease |
| D．he has difficulty in moving his body |
When Perlman had just begun playing，__________.
| A．there was something wrong with the violin |
| B．he fell ill suddenly |
| C．an accident happened and caused a disturbance |
| D．a very loud noise arose from the audience |
If one of the strings suddenly broke, what would an ordinary player do?
| A．He would cancel the concert. |
| B．He would find another violin or find another string. |
| C．Another performer would play instead. |
| D．The concert would be put off. |
The audience rose and cheered __________.
| A．to show they are satisfied with Perlman's performance |
| B．to thank the orchestra for their passionate performance |
| C．to ask Perlman for another performance |
| D．to express their appreciation of what Perlman had done |
The lesson we draw from the story is that __________.
| A．we should make the best of what we have |
| B．what we have is more important than what is lost |
| C．we should not care about what is lost |
| D．the way of life is to always live with music |
Pete Rose, the famous baseball player, whom I have never met, taught me something so valuable that changed my life. Pete was being interviewed in spring training the year he was about to break Ty Cobb's all- time hits record. One reporter asked，"Pete, you only need 78 hits to break the record. How many at-bats(轮到击球）do you think you'll need to get the 78 hits? " Without hesitation, Pete said，" 78. " The reporter yelled back，"Ah, come on, Pete. You don't expect to get 78 hits in 78 at-bats, do you? "
Mr. Rose calmly shared his rule in life with all the reporters who were anxiously awaiting his reply. "Every time I step up to the plate, I expect to get a hit! If I don't expect to get a hit, I have no right to step in the batter's box in the first place ！ If I go up hoping to get a hit, then I probably don't have a prayer of getting a hit. It is the positive (积极的）expectation that has got-ten me all of the hits in the first place. "
When I thought about Pete Rose's rule and how it was applied to everyday life, I felt a little embarrassed. As a business person, I was hoping to make my sales meet the quotas(定额）. As a father, I was hoping to be a good dad. As a married man, I was hoping to be a good husband.
The truth was that I was an adequate (合格的） salesperson, I was not so bad as a father, and I was an okay husband. I immediately decided that being okay was not enough ！ I wanted to be a great salesperson, a great father and a great husband. I changed my attitude to one of positive expectation, and the results were amazing. I was fortunate enough to win a few sales trips, I won Coach of the Year in my son's baseball league, and I share a loving relationship with my wife ！ Thanks, Mr. Rose ！ Which of the following sayings can most appropriately be used to describe Mr. Rose's rule?
| A．He who doesn't want to be a general can't be a good soldier. |
| B．Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. |
| C．If you work hard enough, your dreams will come true. |
| D．Rome was not built in one day. |
What can be inferred about Pete Rose from the passage?
| A．He was generous to share all his rules with every-one. |
| B．He got all the hits he wanted because of good luck. |
| C．He set himself a goal of being the best. |
| D．He liked to dream of something impossible. |
Bysaying “I was an adequate salesperson” (Para. 4)the writer probably means“__________”.
| A．he could make adequate money as a salesperson |
| B．he didn't do an excellent job as a salesperson |
| C．he was good enough to be a salesperson |
| D．he knew how to sell goods in a proper way |
Which of the following is NOT a role of the writer?
| A．A teammate of Rose. |
| B．A salesman. |
| C．A father. |
| D．A baseball coach. |
Why does the writer thank Mr. Rose at the end ofthe passage?
| A．Because Mr. Rose showed him how to be a successful salesperson. |
| B．Because Mr. Rose taught him to face life with positive expectation. |
| C．Because Mr. Rose trained him to win Coach of the Year for his son. |
| D．Because Mr. Rose gave him advice on managing a happy family. |
Imagine a boy from a small village in East Africa. He, from a very early age, has been looking after cattle. At twelve years old he knows more about cattle than most of you. However, he has never been to school. Has this boy ever had any education?
Education is discovering about ourselves and about the people and things around us. All the people who care about us—our parents, brothers, sisters, friends—are our teachers. In fact, we learn something from every-one we meet. We start learning on the day we are born, not on the first day we go to school. Every day we have new experiences, like finding a bird's nest, discovering a new street in our neighborhood, making friends with someone we didn't like before. New experiences are even more fun when we share them with other people.
Encouragement from the people around us enables us to explore things as much as possible. As we grow up, we begin to find out what we are capable of doing. You may be good at cooking, or singing or playing football. You find this out by doing these things. Just thinking about cooking doesn't tell you if you are good at it.
We learn so much just living from day to day. So why is school important? Of course you can learn some things better at home than at school, like how to do the shopping, and how to help old or disabled people who can't do everything for themselves. At school, teachers help us to read and write. With their guid-ance, we begin to see things in different ways. The writer takes the African boy as an example to show that __________.
| A．African children are very poor |
| B．some children are unlucky |
| C．education takes many ways |
| D．schools are of great importance |
In the eyes of the writer __________.
| A．we have to learn from the people around us |
| B．school is not important at all |
| C．only the people caring for us can teach us |
| D．education takes place everywhere |
One can find out what one is good at by __________.
| A．the encouragement of people around |
| B．the teachers of he or she meets |
| C．thinking of it when growing up |
| D．trying and practicing it |
According to the passage, we know that __________.
| A．school is not so important as our living places |
| B．school enables us to understand the world in other ways |
| C．school teaches us something useless at home |
| D．school cannot prepare us for our daily lives |
Thepassage tells us that __________.
| A．everyone gets education from the day he or she is born |
| B．different education trains different classes of people |
| C．school is absolutely necessary if one wants to understand the world |
| D．everyonewill find out what he or she is good at |
If there is no difference in general intelligence(智力）between boys and girls, what can explain girls' poor performance in science and mathematics?
It seems to be that their treatment at school is a direct cause. Mathematics and science are seen as subjects mainly for boys, and therefore, as girls become teenagers, they are less likely to take them. Interestingly, both boys and girls often regard the subjects for boys as more difficult. Yet it has been suggested that girls do not take mathematics courses, not because they are difficult, but for social reasons. Girls do not want to be in open competition with boys because they are afraid to appear less feminine (女性的）and attractive.
However, if we examine the performance of boys and girls who have taken mathematics courses, there are still more high-achieving boys than there are girls. This difference appears to be worldwide. Biological explanations have been offered for this, bat there are other explanations, too.
Perhaps the difference which comes out during the teenage years has its roots in much earlier experiences. From their first days in kindergarten, boys are encouraged to work on their own and to complete tasks. Facts show that outstanding mathematicians and scientists have not had teachers who supplied answers.
Besides, there can be little doubt that teachers of mathematics and science expect their boy students to do better at these subjects than their girl students. They even appear to encourage the difference between boys and girls. They spend more time with the boy students, giving them more time to answer questions and working harder to get correct answers from them. They are more likely to call on boys for answers and to allow them to take the lead in classroom discussion. They also praise boys more frequently. All of this seems to encourage boys to work harder in science and mathematics and to give them confidence that they are able to succeed.
Such a way of teaching is not likely to encourage girls to take many mathematics and science courses, nor is it likely to support girls who do. When it comes to these subjects, it seems certain that school widens the difference between boys and girls. Girls are likely to think that __________
| A．science courses are for both boys and girls |
| B．science courses make them more popular |
| C．science courses make them successful |
| D．science courses are difficult for them |
Thetext mainly discusses __________ reasons for thedifference between boys and girls in scientific achievements.
| A．biological |
| B．historical |
| C．social |
| D．personal |
What are boys usually encouraged to do at school?
| A．To get help with their homework. |
| B．To play the leading role in class. |
| C．To work with girl students in class. |
| D．To learn to take care of others. |
What does the passage say about great mathematicians?
| A．Theirteachers did not supply answers to them. |
| B．Theystarted learning mathematics at an earlier age. |
| C．Theyshowed mathematical abilities in their teen-age years. |
| D．Their success resulted from their strong interest in mathematics. |
Theauthor would probably agree that __________.
| A．boys and girls learn in the same way |
| B．boys and girls are equal in general intelligence |
| C．girls are more confident in themselves than before |
| D．girls should take fewer science courses than boys |