Rae Armantrout, who has been a poetry professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) for two decades, has won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for her most recent book, "Versed".
"I'm delighted and amazed at how much media recognition that the Pulitzer brings, as compared to even the National Book Critics Award, which I was also surprised and delighted to win," said Armantrout.
"For a long time, my writing has been just below the media radar, and to have this kind of attention, suddenly, with my 10th book, is really surprising."
Armantrout, a native Californian, received her bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley, where she studied with noted poet Denise Levertov, and her master's in creative writing from San Francisco State University. She is a founding member of Language Poets, a group in American poetry that analyzes the way language is used and raises questions to make the reader think.
In March, she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for "Versed."
"This book has gotten more attention," Armantrout said, "but I don't feel as if it's better."
The first half of "Versed" focuses on the dark forces taking hold of the United States as it fought the war against Iraq. The second half looks at the dark forces casting a shadow over her own life after Armantrout was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.
Armantrout was shocked to learn she had won the Pulitzer but many of her colleagues were not. "Rae Armantrout is a unique voice in American poetry," said Seth Lerer, head of Arts and Humanities at UCSD.
"Versed", published by the Wesleyan University Press, did appear in a larger printing than her earlier works, which is about 2,700 copies. The new edition is scheduled to appear in May.According to Rae Armantrout, __________
| A．her 10th book is much better |
| B．her winning the Pulitzer is unexpected |
| C．the media is surprised at her works |
| D．she likes being recognized by her readers |
Which of the following is true of Rae Armantrout?
| A．She published a poetry textbook. |
| B．She used to teach Denise Levertov. |
| C．She started a poets' group with others. |
| D．She taught creative writing at UC Berkeley. |
What can we learn about "Versed"?
| A．It partly concerns the poet's own life. |
| B．It is mainly about the American army. |
| C．It is a book published two decades ago. |
| D．It consists of three parts. |
Rae Armantrout's colleagues think that she __________.
| A．should write more | B．has a sweet voice |
| C．deserves the prize | D．is a strange professor |
What can we learn from the text?
A. "Versed" has been awarded twice. B. Cancer made Armantrout stop writing.
C. Armantrout got her degrees at UCSD. D. About 2,700 copies of "Versed" will be printed.
III. 阅读 (共两节，满分35分)
第一节阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
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.
1. 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
2. Upon leaving for America the author felt .
A. confused B. excited C. worried D. amazed
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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
In America, when people say “man’s best friend”, they don’t mean another person. Instead, they are talking about a lovely animal: A dog! These words show the friendship between people and animals. Dogs and other pets can give happiness to people’s lives. Some people think of their pets as their children. A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!
Animals can help people, too. Dogs can be taught to become the” eyes” for a blind person or “ears” for a deaf person. Scientists have found that pets help people live longer! They make people happier, too. Because of that, animals are brought into hospitals for “visit”.
Americans hold “Be-Kind-to-Animals Week” in the first week of May.
Pet shows are held during the week. Even if you don’t live in America, you, too, can do this. How? First, think about how animals make your life richer. If you have a pet, take more time this week to play with it. Remember to give it delicious food. Also, be sure to keep your pet from those unwanted babies.
If you don’t have a pet, be kind to animals around you. For example, if you see a street dog, don’t kick (踢) it or throw things at it. Instead, just leave it alone, or better it yet, make friends with it. If others around you do bad things to an animal, try to stop them. As people, we must protect animals who can’t speak for themselves.
1. “A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!” means that ________.
A. pets have the right to inherit (继承) money
B. money can give pets happiness
C. it’s the best way to spend money
D. some pets are taken as children
2. Dogs are brought to hospitals ________.
A. because they are ill and need to see doctors
B. because they can make the patients happier
C. because they can find out the problems of the patients
D. because doctors can do experiments (实验) on them
3. The most popular activity in the “Be-Kind-to-Animals Week” is ________.
A. holding a pet show in the week
B. playing with pets the whole week
C. cooking delicious food for pets
D. making friends with other people’s pets
4. The passage is mainly about ________.
A. a lot of people are interested in dogs
B. dogs can help people do many things
C. pets are lovely and need care and protection
D. we have done a lot of things for pets
5. The words “man’s best friends” show _________.
A. the friendship between people
B. the friendship between people and animals
C. the friendship between animals
D. the friendship between men and women
Free and secure accommodation, no bills and even the odd home-cooked meal. It sounds like the perfect living arrangement for cash-strapped students.
Two mothers believe they have devised（提出） a way for struggling students to save on accommodation costs when they leave home to study at university.
Kate Barnham and Amanda Flude have launched Student Swaps, an online accommodation forum（论坛） for parents and students, in advance of the introduction in September of ￡3,000 higher education top-up fees.
Their website says, “The principle behind Student Swaps is to enable students to literally swap (交换) family homes.” The website will hold a database of students who would like to swap and link them with suitable matches. So those from one town / city could swap with those from a different town / city.
The site describes itself as offering a “cost-free accommodation alternative… at a time of growing student debt”. There is no charge for the service at the moment but Ms Barnham and Ms Flude intend to introduce a ￡10 annual fee if it becomes established.
However, the National Union of Students (NUS) has warned that, while the scheme may sound appealing to struggling freshers, it lacks any formal regulation.
Veronica King, NUS vice-president of welfare, said, “The fact that this scheme has even been suggested is evidence to the high levels of debt students now face on graduation.” Recent research has shown that students are more likely to live at home in coming years, in a bid to cut down on the cost of a degree.
“This is worrying, as it may mean that students choose their university on the basis of where it is, rather than because it offers the best course for them. It also means students will miss out on what is for some a key part of the student experience-living away from home.”
1. A “cash-strapped” student means one who __________.
A. lacks money B. prefers to stay at home
C. is careful with money D. wants to change cash
2. What is Kate Barnham and Amanda Flude’s purpose of launching Student Swaps?
A. To provide cheaper accommodation for students.
B. To let students stay close to their universities.
C. To help students spend less on accommodation costs.
D. To let students exchange ideas freely online.
3. What can students do on Student Swaps?
A. They can find students to exchange homes with.
B. They can make friends with students from a different city.
C. They can borrow money to pay for their higher education.
D. They can voice their opinions against the rising cost of a degree.
4. Now many students would prefer a university _________.
A. which can give them free accommodation B. which is not far away from their homes
C. which offers the best courses D. which can offer home-cooked meals45. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. High Cost Troubles University Students in UK.
B. Students Swaps is Welcomed by Students in UK.
C. Two Mothers’ Good Intention to Help Students in UK.
D. Website Helps Students Live at Someone Else’s Home.
第三部分阅读 (共两节，满分40分)
第一节：阅读理解(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
Since weeks ago, China has been involved a worldwide A／H 1 N 1 flu that has already killed more than 80 people in the middle of May, 2009 in Mexico and has turned into a global pandemic．
The central government has asked people entering China from the virus-hit countries to report flu-like symptoms to the authorities. In an emergency notice issued on Saturday night，the country’s top quality watchdog ordered the Customs to check passengers’ temperature, too．
A Beijing airport official Li said Customs officers are on a high alert level.
“Three temperature detectors are now in operation. We’re ready with protection garments and equipment, too. Passengers flying in from Mexico and other A／H1N1 flu-hit countries are being monitored closely, ”he said．
The Ministry of Health, however, said yesterday there was no evidence to suggest that a person would contract the disease by eating pork．
Hong Kong, too, has raised its alert level against the flu to “serious”. Secretary for Food &Health，Mr.York Chow urged people to avoid visiting places from where A／H1N1 flu cases have been reported, and said the virus would be added to Hong Kong’s list of the diseases which have been noticed．
The terrible A／H1 N1 flu has been contracted by about 4000 people in Mexico, and most of the killed were aged between 25 and 45．
The virus has also infected about 5000 people in the US．The US Center for Disease Control said this kind of virus is spreading from human to human，raising fears of a global pandemic．
1．What is the passage mainly about?
A．A／H1N1 flu killed more than 80 people．
B．A／H1N1 flu is spreading from human to human．
C．China has begun to take steps to prevent A／H1N1 flu．
D．All the people are strongly affected by A／H1 N1 flu．
2．The underlined word “pandemic” in the first paragraph probably means
A．death B．panic C．enemy D．disease
3．Why does the flu cause global fears?
A．Because most people in the world eat pork．
B．Because it’s spreading from human to human．
C．Because we still don’t know the cause of it．
D．Because it has infected about 5000 people．
4．According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE?
A．People would contract the A／H1N1 flu if they often eat pork．
B．The virus of the A／H1N1 flu has infected people all over the world．
C．People from A／H1N1 flu—hit countries are all forbidden to enter China．
D．People should avoid visiting places where A／H1N1 flu cases have been reported．
5. We can infer from the passage that .
A. College students are most likely infected by A/H1N1 flu.
B. A person would be infected by the virus by eating pork.
C. Passengers from the United States are being monitored closely.
D. Mr. York Chow said that the virus had been added to Hong Kong’s list of the diseases.
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook? Have you been doing internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can’t you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults are so idle（闲散的）they’d catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.
Just over 2,000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain’s largest health charity. The results were shocking. About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control (遥控器)was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up. More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly, of the 654 questioned people with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them. This led the report to conclude that it’s no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classifted as obese（肥胖）before they start school.
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said: “People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families， too. If we don’t start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the simplest tasks.”
And Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the laziest city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%.
The results pose serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year.
1. According to the researchers at Nuffield Health, about ________ people who were surveyed would not run to catch a bus.
A. 10 B. 150 C. 330 D. 660
2. One in six children in the UK are classified as obese before they start school because ________.
A. they stay too long a time with their pets
B. they spend too much time watching TV
C. their parents don’t play with them much
D. they suffer from obesity-related illnesses
3. ________ is the second laziest city in the UK.
A. Scotland B. Glasgow C. Birmingham D. Nuffield
4. What’s the writer trying to tell us?
A. Parents have much to do with their children’s obesity-related illnesses.
B. British people are getting lazier, which can cause serious social problems.
C. The National Health Service has to face a lot of serious challenges every year.
D. A study into how lazy British people are has been carried out at Nuffield Health.