A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There lay my house, reduced towaist-high ruins, smelly and dirty.
Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed. When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill，she noticed my Louisiana license plate. “You from New Orleans?”she asked I said I was, “No charge.”She said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened.
As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage (抵押贷款〉on our mined house. We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory. We’d began to accept that we*d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kemmedy in California. He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for State, the online magazine and wanted to give us (""no conditions attached’）a new house across thelake from New Orleans.
It sounded too good to be true, but I replied, thanking him for his exceptional generosity, that we had no plan to go back. Then a poet at the University of Florida offered to let his house to me, while he went to England on his one-year paid leave. The rent was rather reasonable. I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kemdedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months.
Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity. It’s almost worth losing your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance.The garage employee’s attitude toward the author was that of
| A．unconcern | B．sympathy |
| C．doubt | D．tolerance |
What do we know about James Kemnedy?
| A．He was a writer of an online magazine. |
| B．He was a poet at the University of Florida |
| C．He offered the author a new house free of charge. |
| D．He learned about the author’s sufferings via e-mail |
It can be inferred from the text that
| A．the author’s family was in financial difficulty |
| B．rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster |
| C．houses were difficult to find in the hurricane-stricken area |
| D．the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank |
The author learned from his experience that
| A．worldly possessions can be given up when necessary |
| B．generosity should be encouraged in some cases |
| C．people benefit from their sad stories |
| D．human beings are kind after all. |
A dog sheltered a newborn baby abandoned by its 14-year-old mother in a field in rural Argentina until the boy was rescued, a doctor said on August 22 (Friday).
A resident of a rural area outside La Plata called police late Wednesday night to say that he had heard the baby crying in a field behind his house.
The man went outside and found the infant lying beside the dog and its six newborn puppies, Daniel Salcedo, chief of police of the Province of Buenos Aires, told CNN.
The temperature was a chilly（寒冷的） 37 degrees, Salcedo said.
The dog had apparently carried the baby some 50 meters from where his mother had abandoned him to where the puppies were huddled, police said.
“She took it like a puppy and rescued it,” Salcedo said. “The doctors told us if she ha
dn’t done this, he would have died.”
“The dog is a hero to us.”
Dr. Egidio Melia, director of the Melchor Romero Hospital in La Plata, told CNN that police showed up at the hospital at 11:30 pm Wednesday with the baby who doctors say was only a few hours old.
Though the infant had superficial scratches (抓痕) and bruises (伤痕) and was bleeding from his mouth, he was in good shape, Melia said.
The next morning, the child’s mother was driven by a neighbor to the hospital and told authorities the 8-pound, 13-ounce infant is hers, Melia said.
The teenager was immediately give psychological treatment and was hospitalized, he said. She has said little about the incident.
The child has been transferred to a children’s hospital in La Plata, 37 miles from Buenos Aires.What does the underlined word “sheltered” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．protected | B．fed | C．watched | D．gave |
According to the passage , which statement is true?
| A．It’s hard for the infant to recover soon. |
| B．The puppies were running here and there all the time |
| C．The temperature was very high at that time. |
D．But for the mother do g , the infant would have died. |
How was the baby when he was found?
| A．He was seriously ill. | B．He was dying. |
| C．He was in good shape. | D．He lost a lot of blood. |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A．A baby was rescued by a dog. |
| B．A baby was abandoned by its parents. |
| C．How an abandoned baby was saved by doctors. |
| D．Dogs are heroes to human beings. |
London ［2009-4-01］—In the first meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama prior to the Group of 20 summit in London, the two leaders pledged 
that both countries will be working together to help the world resist the financial crisis.
The two teams will be headed by Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo from the Chinese side and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner from the US side.
President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama made the announcement to the press before they went into the official meeting, their first, at Winfield House, residence of the US ambassador to the UK.
Although it is thei
r first meeting, they have kept a close contact, which Obama said will “set the stage” for both countries “to tackle the challenges in the years to come. ”
Both presidents highlighted the importance of China-US relations, especially during the current economic crisis.
Hu said all
the positive results the two countries have achieved have not come easily, adding that he hoped to develop good working relationship an
d personal friendship with Obama. Sino-US relations are of fundamental interests not only to both countries, but to peace, stability and prosperity to Asia and the world. What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Hu, Obama set up new economic dialogue. |
| B．Sino-US relations will be improved. |
C．China and the US are working together to resist ec onomic crisis. |
| D．China and the US have achieved positive results. |
How do China’ s and US’ s presidents think they should deal with their relations?
| A．By trusting and helping each other. |
| B．By sharing their common interests. |
| C．By establishing the new strategic economic dialogue. |
| D．By establishing new economic policy. |
What is Winfield House?
| A．The US ambassador to the UK. |
| B．Residence of UK ambassador to the US. |
| C．The living place of US ambassador to the UK. |
| D．The residence of British Queen. |
All of the following are mentioned EXCEPT____.
| A．The two presidents agreed to work together to resist the financial crisis |
| B．The two presidents announced to the press before the official meeting |
| C．Both countries will make efforts to improve peace and security |
| D．Sino-US relations are of fundamental interests only to both countries |
“A lot of learning comes through play,” says Mardy McGarry, 52, who has been a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She had seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks. When she wanted to build a playground for children with special needs，she knew it wouldn’t take long to develop interest in it around the small fishing village. But she never expected that 2,800 peo
ple — a third of the town—would all be willing to make a great effort to bring her vision to life.
McGarry started doing some research into play equipment and contacting design companies and she also found a piece of land available. When the city council(市议会) agreed to set aside an area for a playground, she also asked physical and professional therapists(治疗专家) for their investment. And she turned to her friend, Sue, for help. “Neither of us is good at maths, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.
Her Kiwanis Club came through with $7,000，and that’s when the grassroots movement really got started. One woman gave $25,000 and had her company match it. Soon, smaller businesses were joining in. There was a silent effort to collect money. The local Pieper Family Foundation offered to donate half of the remaining $170,000. All McGarry needed was 500 volunteers to work six 12-hour days.
On September 16, 2008, the first day of construction, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s operated their tractors. Ten-year-olds cleared up the mess. “None of them was paid. It was truly an amazing week,” says McGarry. Only three building managers were paid. Volunteers with “building experience” became coordinators(协调人); those who could operate power tools formed a separate group. One team served meals donated from local restaurants and churches, and another organized activities for the children of volunteers.
Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular destinations in Ozaukee County. All children, including the ones with special needs, play shoulder to shoulder. “Some playgrounds have special equipment in a different section. Here, you see all the kids in the same playground, all having fun.”
It’s exactly what McGarry imagined. “People used to ask, ‘Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?” She says, “It’s only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children.” It didn’t occur to Mardy McGarry that __________.
| A．her plan would soon draw the interest of people in the small village |
| B．so many people would volunteer to help her realize her dream |
| C．she would meet with so many difficulties in raising funds |
D．the playground would be the most popular destination in O zaukee County |
We can learn from the fourth paragraph that __________.
| A．the playground was finished in September 2008 |
| B．everything was well prepared, apart from the volunteers |
| C．everyone worked unpaid, except for three building managers |
| D．the playground is so popular that it is overcrowded all the time |
It can be inferred from the text that __________.
| A．Mardy McGarry is a famous architect in the small town |
| B．Sue was forced to join in the project because of her son |
| C．people always ignore the real needs of disabled children |
| D．Mardy McGarry’s vision has been successfully accomplished at last |
What would be the best title for this text?
| A．Mardy McGarry: A Woman with Great Determination. |
| B．Cooperation: The Greatest Power in Overcoming Any Difficulty. |
| C．Show Real Concern for Poor Disabled Children. |
| D．Make it Matter to Build a Playground for Disabled Children. |
It’s amazing what a little free beer can accomplish. In 1997 the small Danish island of Samso, located in the Kattegat Strail, won a contest hosted by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy. Samso, then known for its dairy and pig farms, would become Denmark’s showcase for sustainable power, eventually going carbon-free. How that would happen, however, was far from clear, since the government initially offered no funding, tax breaks or technical expertise(专门知识).
Given that almost all its power came from oil or coal — and the island’s 4,300 residents didn’t know a wind turbine(风力发电机) from a grain silo(谷仓) — Samso seemed an strange choice. Soren Hermansen, though, saw an opportunity. A restless native son who grew up on a family farm, Hermansen was teaching environmental studies at a local school when he heard about Samso’s award. He volunteered to be the first — and only — participant. “I realized this could happen,” he says. “This was realistic.” He may have been the only one who thought so.
Hermansen knew Samso islanders were conservative, but that could be an advantage: once he convinced enough potential first movers to act, the rest would follow. So Hermansen showed up at every community or club meeting to campaign for the renewable-energy project. He pointed to the island’s unexplored potential for wind power and the economic benefits of making Samso energy-independent. He sometimes brought free beer.
It worked. The islanders bought shares in new wind turbines to build 11 large land-based turbines, enough to meet the entire island’s electricity needs. Not satisfied with that, they supported the constru
ction of 10 huge offshore turbines，which provide power that the island’s dependence on cars and ferries needs. Today Samso isn’t just carbon-free — it actually produces 10% more clean electricity than it uses, with the extra power fed back into the national electricity network at a profit.
Hermansen has become a green angel, traveling from country to country telling the story of Samso’s success when he’s not at home running the Energy Academy, a research center for clean power. But he’s the first to say that the real credit belongs to the islanders，and that Samso’s lesson is that environmental change can only come from the ground up.What was Hermansen’t response to the Samso’s winning the contest?
| A．He regarded it as a chance. |
| B．He was not satisfied with the award. |
| C．He thought it was strange. |
| D．He thought it was reasonable. |
From the second paragraph we can learn that __________.
| A．many Samso islanders participated in the green project actively |
| B．most Samso islanders were against the renewable energy project |
| C．Samso has a long history of making use of renewable energy |
| D．at first people showed little interest in the renewable energy project |
Why did Hermansen show up at every community or club meeting?
| A．It was his duty to keep the islanders informed of government policies. |
| B．He wanted to convince the islanders to use clean power instead of oil or coal. |
| C．He wanted to persuade the islanders to be involved in the wind power project. |
| D．He wanted to share his beer with other islanders. |
What can we learn about Hermansen’s personality from the last paragraph?
| A．He is practical. | B．He is courageous. |
| C．He is modest. | D．He is ambitious. |
We hear with our ears, right? Yes, but scientists have known for years that we also hear with our eyes. In a study published in 1976, researchers found that people combined both auditory cues(听力提示) and visual ones，like mouth and face movements, when they heard speech.
A new study that looks at a different set of sensory cues adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests such combination is natural. In a paper, Bryan Gick and Donald Derrick report that people can hear with their skin.
The researchers had volunteers listen to spoken syllables. Meanwhile, they connected the volunteers to a device that would blow a tiny puff (气流) of air onto the skin of their hands or necks. The syllables included “ba” and “pa”, which produce brief puffs from the mouth when spoken, and “da” and “ta,” which do not produce puffs. They found that when listeners heard “da” or “ta” while a puff of air was blown onto their skin, they considered the sounds as “ba” or “pa”.
Dr. Gick said the findings were similar to those from the 1976 study, in which visual cues defeated auditory ones — volunteers listened to one syllable but thought it another because they were watching a video of mouth movements corresponding to the second syllable. In his study，he said，cues from sens
ory receivers on the skin defeate
d the ears as well. “Our skin is doing the hearing for us,” he said.
Dr. Gick noted that it would normally be rare that someone actually sensed a puff of air produced by another, although people might occasionally sense their own puffs. “What’s so persuasive about this particular effect,” he added. “is that people are picking up on this information that they don’t know they are using.” That supports the idea that combining different sensory cues is natural.
Dr. Gick said the finding also suggested that other sensory cues might be at work in speech perception(知觉) — that, as he put it, “we are these fantastic perception machines that take in all the information available to us and combine it faultlessly.”“Da” or “ta” were considered as “ba” or “pa” when __________.
| A．they were spoken quickly |
| B．puffs of air were blown onto the listener’s skin |
| C．they were pronounced using a special device |
| D．they were made with face movements |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Humans combine different sensory cues through experience. |
| B．Dr. Gick’s new study is more important than the one in 1976. |
| C．People sometimes can sense their own puffs when speaking |
| D．Only auditory and visual cues are at work in speech perception. |
What is the best title of the text?
| A．We Can Hear with Our Skin |
| B．Our Visual Cues Is Doing the Hearing for Us |
| C．Facial Expressions Are Important |
| D．We Are Fantastic Machines |