WASHINGTON—Laura Straub is a very worried woman. Her job is to find families for French teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.
It’s not easy, even desperate.
“We have many children left to place: 40 out of 75,” said Straub, who works for a Paris-based foreign exchange programme called LEC. When exchange programmes started 50 years ago, family life was more accommodating. For one thing, more mothers stayed home.
But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange-student programmes have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30,000 teenagers who annually come from abroad to spend their academic year in the United States, as well as the thousands more who participate in summer programmes.
School systems in many parts of the US, unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accept. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less exotic.
In searching for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programmes are increasingly broadening their appeals to include everyone who has the ability to do it.
“We are open to many different types of families,” said Vickie Weiner, eastern regional director for ASSE, a 25- year-old programme that sends about 30,000 teenagers on academic year exchange programmes worldwide.
“For elderly people, exchange students keep us young; they really do!” said Jean Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Porst from Denmark.Vickie Weiner is the person who ________.
| A．works for a programme called LEC | B．works for a programme called ASSE |
| C．is 25 years old | D．hosts foreign students |
From the passage we can learn that at the beginning of the exchange programmes_______.
| A．all the families could host foreign students |
| B．only young couples could host foreign students |
| C．only those who were retired could host foreign students |
| D．those who were not too old could host foreign students |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．US Struggles to Find Host Families |
| B．Idea of Hosting Students Is Different |
| C．Foreign-exchange Program Is Going On |
| D．Exchange Students Keep Old People Young |
第二部分阅读理解（共15小题；第一节每小题2分，满分30分）
第一节阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Primary source Holiday Shopping Night at Ten Thousand Villages Brookline
●Shop for four holiday gifts and give back go primary Source at TenThousand Village on Friday, December 4! 15% of all sales from 3:00p.m.---7:00p.m. that day will be donated to Primary Source. Join us for light refreshments and enjoy beautiful handmade gifts from artisans around the world. All are welcome!
Primary Source’s Holiday Shopping Night
Friday, December 4,2009
3:00p.m.---7:00p.m.
Ten Thousand Villages
226 Harvard Street, Brookline, Massachusetts (Coolidge Corner)
Download our flyer and tell your friends!
Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income for the people from developing countries by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Learn more and preview toys, home décor（家庭装修）, jewelry, and other gifts online.
●Can’t join us on Dec.4? At Goodshop, 30% of your spending will be given go to Primary Source. The next time you’re ready to make an online purchase, visit www.goodshop.com and enter “Primary Source” in the space provided. Click “verify” and choose from more than seven hundred popular stores and sites, from Apple to Zappos. Goodshop is free and easy to use, and each purchase you make will help Primary Source provide global education materials for schools all over New England.
1．What is ten thousand villages?
A．A town B．A website C．A shop D．An organization
2．The underlined word “flyer” probably means ________.
A．a software B．an e-book C．a ticket D．an advertisement
3．If you pay $10 for a gift at GoodShop , ________ in the end.
A．7 dollars will go to GoodShop B．3 dollars will go to GoodShop
C．7 dollars will go to Primary Source D．10 dollars will go to schools in New England
Life is difficult.
It is a great truth because once we truly understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties represent(代表) a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems,
depending on their nature, cause in us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability(能力) to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.
1．From the passage, it can be inferred that __________.
A. everybody has problems
B. we become stronger by facing and solving the problems of life
C. life is difficult because our problems bring us pain
D. people like to complain about their problems
2.The main idea of paragraph 3 is __________.
A. most people feel life is easy B. the writer feels life is easy
C. the writer likes to complain about his problems
D. most people complain about how hard their lives are
3. According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to __________.
A. encourage them to learn
B. teach them to fear the pain of solving problems
C. help them learn to deal with pain
D. teach them how to respect for problems
4.The saying from Benjamin Franklin “Those things that hurt, instruct.” suggests that __________.
A. we do not learn from experience B. we do not learn when we are in pain
C. pain teaches us important lessons D. pain cannot be avoided
Primary source Holiday Shopping Night at Ten Thousand Villages Brookline
●Shop for four holiday gifts and give back go primary Source at TenThousand Village on Friday, December 4! 15% of all sales from 3:00p.m.---7:00p.m. that day will be donated to Primary Source. Join us for light refreshments and enjoy beautiful handmade gifts from artisans around the world. All are welcome!
Primary Source’s Holiday Shopping Night
Friday, December 4,2009
3:00p.m.---7:00p.m.
Ten Thousand Villages
226 Harvard Street, Brookline, Massachusetts (Coolidge Corner)
Download our flyer and tell your friends!
Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income for the people from developing countries by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Learn more and preview toys, home décor（家庭装修）, jewelry, and other gifts online.
●Can’t join us on Dec.4? At Goodshop, 30% of your spending will be given go to Primary Source. The next time you’re ready to make an online purchase, visit www.goodshop.com and enter “Primary Source” in the space provided. Click “verify” and choose from more than seven hundred popular stores and sites, from Apple to Zappos. Goodshop is free and easy to use, and each purchase you make will help Primary Source provide global education materials for schools all over New England.
1．hat is ten thousand villages?
A．A town B．A website C．A shop D．An organization
2．he underlined word “flyer” probably means ________.
A．a software B．an e-book C．a ticket D．an advertisement
3．f you pay $10 for a gift at GoodShop , ________ in the end.
A．7 dollars will go to GoodShop B．3 dollars will go to GoodShop
C．7 dollars will go to Primary Source D．10 dollars will go to schools in New England
A T-shirt a day has kept unemployment away for an American man who is making about $85,000 a year by selling advertising space on his shirt．
Jason Sadler, 26, was once a former marketing expert from Florida. In 2008, he founded his own company, “iwearyourshirt”, with the idea to wear a T-shirt supplied by any company and then use social media tools to develop the company . Sadler charges the “face value”of the day for his human billboard (广告牌) service. So January 1 costs $1, while December 31 costs $365. He said this may not sound like a lot, but it adds up to $66,795 a year if he sells out every day, which he did this year. He also sells monthly sponsorships(赞助) for $1,500, adding another $18,000 to his income.
“I walk around, take photos, wear the shirt all day … I blog about those photos, I put them up on Twitter, I change my Facebook introduction…and then I do a Youtube video. I made about $83,000 this year,” he told Reuters Television. The average U.S income is about $615 a week or about $32,000 a year ,according to the U.S government.
Sadler has already begun to plan for his year 2010. He is making services larger by hiring another person to wear a shirt a day on the west coast of the United States.
1．hat is Sadler’s “face value” of the day December 30?
A．$364. B．$365. C．$615. D．$1,500.
2．t can be inferred that Sadler didn’t advertise on ________.
A．Twitter B．Facebook C．Youtube D．Reuters
3．ason Sadler has a new plan to ________ for the year 2010.
A．employ another person to replace him B．start his business on the west coast
C．stay at home on the east coast D．double the charge for the service
4．he passage is mainly about ________ in a new way.
A．taking photos B．writing blogs C．making money D．selling T-shirts
第二部分阅读理解
（共25小题；第一节每小题2分，满分45分）
第一节阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on neighboring farms fell into conflict(冲突) . It was the first serious one between them in 40 years of farming peacefully side by side. In the end, they fell apart.
One morning, a man with a carpenter’s toolbox came for some work. The elder brother said, “I have a job for you. Look at the farm across the creek（河沟）. My younger brother lives there. It was he who used his bulldozer（推土机）to dig the creek last week to spite(刁难) me. So I want you to build me a fence, an 8 – foot – high fence, in order not to see his place any more.” The carpenter smiled and said, “I see. I’ll try to do a job that satisfies you.” Then the elder brother went downtown.
At sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide! To his surprise, there was no fence there at all! Instead, there was a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work! He saw his younger brother coming to him with the hands outstretching. The brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hands. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder.
“No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other work for you,” said the elder brother.
“I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but I have so many more bridges to build.”
1What was the life like for the two brothers before the conflict?
A．They lived a poor life. B．They lived in peace.
C．They never spoke to each other.D．They lived on the same farm.
2It can be learned that the carpenter was ________.
A．unwilling to obey the farmerB．fond of building bridges
C．unable to build a fenceD．willing to help others
3The best title for this passage is ________.
A．A Fine Piece of Work B．A Carpenter
C．A Conflict between Two Brothers D．Two Brothers
4Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A．The elder brother used his bulldozer to dig a creek.
B．The elder brother helped the carpenter build the bridge.
C．The brothers were both satisfied with the carpenter’s work.
D．The carpenter planned to build an 8-foot - high fence as asked to.