Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that he planned to give away almost all of his vast fortune, largely to the cause of global health, during the course of his lifetime. With an estimated (估计) worth of more than $40 billion, according to Forbes, the project will be no small feat (功绩) for Gates. Having already provided the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with $24 billion to address global health issues, Gates said that eventually his entire fortune will be put towards the cause except “a few percent left for the kids”.
So what has made the richest man in the world to channel his resources so heavily into one interest? Gates believes that “the equality of opportunity” in which Americans take such pride needs to extend to other nations around the world. Improving the health of the population, he says, has proven to be an essential (实质的) method in helping poor countries to be financially successful. “National borders allow inequalities,” said Gates: “We all need to take a more global view, rather than just saying my country is doing well. We have to step up these health issues, knowing how few resources are going into them.”
Gates said that both his parents set an example for him as a child. His father, William H. Gates, was the head of the local Planned Parenthood, and his mother, Mary, volunteered for the United Way. As he gathered his fortune, Gates knew he would eventually want to give back as well, but he didn’t expect to devote himself whole-heartedly to one project until he was about 60.
However, Gates, 47, began to question his ability to wait that long. “It seemed there was a real time urgency (紧迫),” Gates said. “I started to think, how many lives could I save before then?”.. Bill Gates will give away his vast fortune to ___.
A.improve the health of population in America alone |
B.improve the health of population all over the world |
C.avoid leaving his children too much money |
D.spare the American government the burden of health care |
.. Bill Gates believes that one important way of developing poor countries is ___.
A.to set up more foundations for them | B.to aid them with natural resources |
C.to put more effort into the health issues in them | D.to help them take a more global view |
. It can be learned from the text that Bill Gates thinks ___.
A.Americans should care about people in other countries |
B.Americans should treat fellow citizens well |
C.Americans should devote themselves to certain projects |
D.![]() |
.. Bill Gates gave away his vast fortune earlier than he had expected because of ___.
A.his weakening health condition | B.his parents’ suggestions |
C.his great s![]() |
D.his concern for suffering people |
. The underlined word “channel” probably has a similar meaning as it is used in sentence “___”.
A.Try to channel your abilities into something useful | |
B.We ought to channel this street so that water can flow away easily | |
C.Ships must follow the channel into the port | D.Which cha![]() |
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mum, you must come and see the daffodils (水仙花)before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Lake Arrowhead. “I will go next Tuesday,” I promised, a little unwillingly, on her third call.
The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible (看不见的)in the cloud and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see!”
My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this weather all the time, Mum. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read “Daffodil Garden”.
We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most beautiful sight! There were five acres of flowers! “But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn. “It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “That’s her home,” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio (庭院), we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking” was the headline.
The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs (鳞茎),” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”
I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than fifty years before, had begun -- one bulb at a time -- to bring the beauty and joy to the mountain top.The author didn’t go to see the daffodils at first because _________.
A.she was not interested in them |
B.they were growing on the mountain top |
C.the weather was not good enough |
D.it was not easy for her to drive there |
What do we know about the woman living in the A-frame house?
A.She must be out of mind. |
B.She acted as a gardener there. |
C.It took her great determination to grow the daffodils. |
D.She was poor and made her living by selling daffodils. |
What could the author probably learn from this experience?
A.Nothing is too difficult if you put your heart into it. |
B.We must put the interests of others above our own. |
C.We can change the world by growing flowers. |
D.It’s never too late to learn. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
A.An Unforgettable Experience. | B.Beautiful Daffodils. |
C.One Bulb at a Time. | D.I Love Daffodils. |
How can you find out what is going on inside a person’s body without opening the patient’s body up? Regular X rays can show a lot. CAT scans can show even more. They can g
ive a complete view of body organs.
What is a CAT scan? CAT stands for a kind of machine. It is a special X-ray machine that gets a 360-degree picture of a small area of a patient’s body.
Doctors use X rays to study and determine diseases and injuries within the body, X rays can find a foreign object inside the body or take pictures of some inside organs to be X-rayed.
A CAT scanner, however, uses a group of X rays to give a cross-sectional(横截面)view of a specific part of the body. A fine group of X rays is scanned across the body and around the patient from many different directions. A computer studies the information from each direction and produces a clear cross-sectional picture on a screen. This picture is then photographed for later use. Several cross sections, taken one after another, can give clear “photos” of the entire body or of any body organs. The latest CAT scanners can even give clear pictures of active, moving organs, just as a fast-action camera can “s
top the action”, giving clear pictures of what appears unclear to the eye. And because of the 360-degree pictures, CAT scans show clear and complete views of organs in a manner that was once only shown during operation or examination of a dead patient.
Frequent appearance before X rays can cause skin burns, cancer or other damage to the body. Yet CAT scans actually don’t cause the patient to more radiation than regular X rays do. CAT scans can also be done without getting something harmful into the patient, so they are less risky than regular X rays.
CAT scans provide exact, detailed information. They can quickly find such a thing as bleeding inside the brain. They are helping to save lives.What is NOT true of a CAT scan?
A.It is safer than regular X rays. |
B.It makes use of computer techniques. |
C.It can stop the action of an organ for a short time. |
D.It gives clear pictures of active, moving body parts. |
The underlined words “a foreign object”(Para 3)most probably refer to.
A.a badly injured part inside the body |
B.a new thing that is unknown to the doctor |
C.a strange organ that has grown in the body |
D.an object that gets inside the body by chance |
What is the special use of the latest CAT scanners?
A.It provides clear photos of moving organs. |
B.It can take 3-dimension(三维)pictures of inside organs. |
C.It won’t cause serious skin burns, cancer or other damage to the body. |
D.It helps to find out what is going on inside a person’s body without opening it up. |
We can infer from this passage that.
A.patients in front of CAT may suffer from a bit of radiation |
B.doctors need no opening-up of the body with CAT scanners |
C.CAT scanners are more expensive than regular X-ray machines |
D.CAT scanners can take photos of either the whole body or a part of it |
The best title of this passage might be .
A.the Newest Medical Invention |
B.New X-ray Machine to Save Lives |
C.How to Avoid the Damage of X Rays |
D.Advantages and Disadvantages of CAT Scanners |
The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful, says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral freedom.
A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. Keep cool, says George Herbert, for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. Anger, says Pythagoras, brings with folly(愚蠢) and ends with regret. You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also. What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?
A.The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself. |
B.One’s moral freedom is based on the control of himself. |
C.To control oneself is the most difficult in one’s life. |
D.If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful. |
What is the correct interpretation of “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad ”in paragraph 2 ?
A.If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first. |
B.If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished. |
C.If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy. |
D.If you are mad, you will be punished by the gods. |
If a man lacks self-control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT _______.
A.the very backbone and nerve of character |
B.the patience and power to control himself |
C.strong feelings |
D.self-confidence |
The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to _______.
A.explain that self-control is the key to success |
B.teach people how to control everything in order to make a great success |
C.distinguish all kinds of self-control and suggest ways for keeping it |
D.advise people not to lose temper so as to make and keep more friends |
The passage is mainly developed by _____.
A.analyzing causes | B.making comparisons |
C.examining differences | D.listing quotations |
The audience starts to scream and young people all over Britain turn on their TVs. Yes, it’s Top of the Pops!
Top of the Pops is an amazing 34 years old. Pop stars from all over the world appear on this successful TV programme. After 1,800 shows, it’s still the most popular pop music show in Britain. So what’s the secret?
“We get lots of bands to perform live in the studio,” says producer Chris Cowey. “That just doesn’t happen on other shows.”
Chris starts planning the programme over a week before it goes out. His first job is to decide which bands to have on the show. When the chart of the top twenty songs is produced on Sunday, Chris can start to book the bands.
Monday starts with Chris meeting his sound, lighting and camera workers. They listen to each song and plan the show.
Tuesday is paperwork day. There are bookings to make sure of letters to answer and lots of phone calls to make. The show is on Thursday. Bands arrive at the studio from 10 o’clock in the morning and start practising. Tonight’s presenter, Jo Whiley, practices too.
First the bands go to make up. Judy and Issy are the make-up artists. “We see the stars with no make-up on, looking terrible,” says Issy. Then the bands go to the costume department where Marianne dresses the stars.
Back in the studio things are happening. The audience are practicing their dance moves! It takes over two hours to record the whole programme, then Chris edits it all night long. The final version is exactly 29 minutes long.
31. What make(s) Top of the Pops still the most popular in Britain?
A. The live performances in the studio.
B. The jobs carefully done by the workers of the TV station.
C. The great fame of the bands.
D. The large numbers of pop fans in Britain.
32. When the bands receive the invitations to the performance, _________.
A. they must decide on the songs
B. they don’t have to decide what songs they will perform
C. the songs that will be performed haven’t been decided on
D. they have no idea what songs they will perform
33.The underlined word “costume”(in Paragraph 7) probably means.
A. makeup B. stage C. studio D. clothesHow is a music programme made at the TV station?
Which is the proper title for the passage?
A.More Popular, More Successful |
B.A Stage for Pop Stars |
C.Go Backstage of Top of the Pops. |
D.A Popular Live Band. |
It was time for Mr. Rocco to shut up shop when I hurried into the florist’s. “Now, what is it you want?” Mr. Rocco turned to me. “I want the most beautiful flower you have.” I replied. “And just how much do you have to pay for this most beautiful flower?” I held out a wet hand showing a quarter and dime. He nodded, and then showed me a plant on the counter. “I can give you this one for 35 cents.” he said. “Aw, gee,” I protested, “it looks like a weed!” About 18 inches high, the plant was in a small pot covered with faded red paper. “Now trust me, boy—I promise that tomorrow morning when you get up, you will find your most beautiful flower.” said Mr. Rocco. I knew him to be a good honest man, so I agreed to take it.
It was almost midnight when I arrived home. Mom was seriously sick and using the front bedroom. I looked in to see if she was asleep, and then quietly tiptoed in and set the plant on the table beside her bed. I wanted her to be surprised when she woke on Mother’s Day.
The next morning, I dressed and hurried downstairs. The sun was shining through kitchen window as I looked into Mom’s room. She motioned for me to come in, then glanced over at the table where the plant was. Holy mackerel! There were three big yellow trumpet-shaped(喇叭状的)blooms. It was just like Mr. Rocco said—the most beautiful flower I ever saw! When I looked at Mom, she was smiling as tears streamed down her cheeks. She held out her hand for me to come near, then pulled me close and hugged till it hurt. Then, remembering her contagious condition and that she wasn’t supposed to touch me, she quickly let me go.
My dear mom died the next night. The moment she hugged me turned out to be the most wonderful moment of my life. Not only had that beautiful plant helped show just how much I loved her, but I’d always know how much she loved me. The author didn’t like the plant recommended by Mr. Rocco at first because ______.
A.the packing of the plant was shabby |
B.the plant was more a weed than a flower |
C.the plant appeared too ordinary to be the most beautiful |
D.he thought Mr. Rocco was reluctant to do the deal with him |
Mother’s condition was contagious (Line 6, Para.3) for ______.
A.she was at the death’s door | B.she suffered from the illness |
C.others were sick of her appearance | D.virus might spread from her to others |
When mother hugged the author tightly, she was showing that ______.
A.she liked being given gifts |
B.she valued what the author had done for her |
C.she was aware of the approaching of death |
D.she was touched by the beauty of the flower |
The story is mainly developed by______________.
A.time | B.logic | C.comparison | D.cause and result |
Which may be the best title of the passage?
A.Flowers of Love | B.A Son’s Love for Mother |
C.Low Price, High Value![]() |
D.A Special Mother’s Day |