My heart sank when the man at the immigration counter gestured to the back room. I was born and raised in America, and this was Miami, where I live, but they weren’t quite ready to let me in yet.
“Please wait in here, Ms. Abujaber,” the immigration officer said. My husband, with his very American last name, accompanied me. He was getting used to this. The same thing had happened recently in Canada when I’d flown to Montreal to speak at a book event. That time they held me for 45 minutes. Today we were returning from a literary festival in Jamaica, and I was shocked that I was being sent “in back” once again.
The officer behind the counter called me up and said, “Miss, your name looks like the name of someone who’s on our wanted list. We’re going to have to check you out with Washington.”
“How long will it take?”
“Hard to say…a few minutes,” he said, “We’ll call you when we’re ready for you.” After an hour, Washington still hadn’t decided anything about me.
“Isn’t this computerized?” I asked at the counter, “Can’t you just look me up?”
“Just a few more minutes,” they assured me.
After an hour and a half, I pulled my cell phone out to call the friends I was supposed to meet that evening. An officer rushed over. “No phones!” he said, “For all we know you could be calling a terrorist cell and giving them information.”
“I’m just a university professor,” I said. My voice came out in a squeak.
“Of course you are. And we take people like you out of here in leg irons every day.”
I put my phone away.
My husband and I were getting hungry and tired. Whole families had been brought into the waiting room, and the place was packed with excitable children, exhausted parents, and even a flight attendant.
I wanted to scream, to jump on a chair and shout: “I’m an American citizen; a novelist; I probably teach English literature to your children.”
After two hours in detention (扣押), I was approached by one of the officers. “You’re free to go,” he said. No explanation or apologies. For a moment, neither of us moved. We were still in shock. Then we leaped to our feet.
“Oh, one more thing,” he handed me a tattered photocopy with an address on it, “If you aren’t happy with your treatment, you can write to this agency.”
“Will they respond?” I asked.
“I don’t know—I don’t know of anyone who’s ever written to them before.” Then he added,” By the way, this will probably keep happening each time you travel internationally.”
“What can I do to keep it from happening again?”
He smiled the empty smile we’d seen all day, “Absolutely nothing.”
After telling several friends about our ordeal, probably the most frequent advice I’ve heard in response is to change my name. Twenty years ago, my own graduate school writing professor advised me to write under a pen name so that publishers wouldn’t stick me in what he called “the ethnic ghetto”—a separate, secondary shelf in the bookstore. But a name is an integral part of anyone’s personal and professional identity—just like the town you’re born in and the place where you’re raised.
Like my father, I’ll keep the name, but my airport experience has given me a whole new perspective on what diversity and tolerance are supposed to mean. I had no idea that being an American would ever be this hard.The author was held at the airport because ______.
| A．she and her husband returned from Jamaica |
| B．her name was similar to a terrorist’s |
| C．she had been held in Montreal |
| D．she had spoken at a book event |
She was not allowed to call her friends because ______.
| A．her identity hadn’t been confirmed yet |
| B．she had been held for only one hour and a half |
| C．there were other families in the waiting room |
| D．she couldn’t use her own cell phone |
We learn from the passage that the author would ______ to prevent similar experience from happening again.
| A．write to the agency | B．change her name |
| C．avoid traveling abroad | D．do nothing |
Her experiences indicate that there still exists ______ in the US.
| A．hatred | B．discrimination |
| C．tolerance | D．diversity |
The author sounds ______ in the last paragraph.
| A．impatient | B．bitter | C．worried | D．ironic (具有讽刺意味的) |
Wugging, or web use giving, describes the act of giving to charity at no cost to the user．By using Everyclick.com, which is being added to a number of university computers across the UK, students can raise money every time they search, but it won’t cost them a penny.
Research shows that students are extremely passionate about supporting charity — 88% of full time students have used the Internet to give to charity．This age group is often the least likely to have their own income．19% of 22 to 24 year olds have short-term debts of more than £5,000．With rising personal debt levels in this age group, due to university tuition fees or personal loans and a lack of long-term savings, traditional methods of donating to charity are often not appealing or possible.
Beth Truman, a 21-year-old recent university graduate, has used Everyclick.com to donate to her chosen charity, the RSPCA, for two years and has seen the “wugging” movement grow in popularity with students．“When you’re at university you become more socially aware, but it’s sometimes hard to give to others when you have little money yourself,” says Beth．“Wugging is great for people in this age group as it allows them to use the technology on a daily basis to give to charity, without costing them a single penny.”
Wugging is perfect for people who want to be more socially aware and supportive but don’t feel they have the means to do so．Students using the web can raise money for causes they care about without costing them anything in terms of time or money, and charities get a valuable source of funding．
Everyclick.com works like any other search engine, allowing users to search for information, news and images but users can decide which of the UK’s 170,000 charities they would like to support through their clicks．Everyclick.com then makes monthly payments to every registered charity．Launched in June 2005, Everyclick.com is now the eighth largest search engine and one of the busiest charity websites in the UK.
63．According to the passage, “wugging” is actually ______.
A．a website B．a charity-related action
C．a school organization D．a student movement
64．In the case of charity, Everyclick.com ______.
A．frees students from the financial worries
B．receives much money from students
C．offers valuable information to students
D．praises students for their money-raising
65．What does Beth Truman think of the “wugging” movement?
A．It makes Everyclick.com popular in the UK．
B．It becomes easy to do charity because of it.
C．It results in students’ more social awareness．
D．It helps students to save money.
66．What would be the best title
for this passage?
A．“Wugging”, a new popular term on the Internet.
B．British people show strong interest in charity.
C．More Britain charities benefit from the Internet.
D．Students raise money for charity by “wugging”.
One evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister．On this occasion, the work was made less troublesome by the presence of his girlfriend．I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children and the younger children would do a wonderful job of accompanying the older ones．Later, I discovered that complete confidence was the last thing I should have left home with.
I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out．I called home with this happy news．But instead of hearing his cheerful, grateful voice on the other end of the line, all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.
It was, I should point out, after 10 p.m., when the two younger children should have been in bed, and when the two older children should have been answering the phone．“I’ll give him a lesson,” I said．I decided they must be outside．Why they might be outside at 10:30 on a wintry night I had no idea, but it was the only explanation I could come up with.
Finally, in desperation, I called his girlfriend’s house．After what seemed like countless rings, his girlfriend answered．“Yes,” she said brightly, “He’s right here.”
He came on the phone．I was not my usual calm, rational self．After all, one of
the rules of survival for modern parents is that you can’t trust modern teenagers．“Where are the children?” I said．He said they were with him．They had done nothing wrong．My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriend’s house just for ice cream and cake．This was too good to be believed．Well, it turns out that I shouldn’t have believed it．It was only part of the truth.
The following Saturday evening we were at my parents’ home, celebrating my birthday．My oldest son gave me the children’s gifts．Mounted and framed were a series of lovely color photographs of my children, dressed in their best clothes, and wearing their most wonderful expressions. They are pictures to treasure a lifetime, all taken by the father of my son’s girlfriend.
59．The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children because _____ _.
A．she knew that his girlfriend was a good baby-sitter
B．she believed he could take good care of the younger ones with the help of his girlfriend
C．the older children have always loved the younger ones
D．she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter night
60．Shortly after the author left home one evening, she discovered that ______.
A．her son had brought his girlfriend home
B．her son had left home with his girlfriend
C．she shouldn’t have completely trusted her son
D．she should have taken the children along with her
61．The sentence “It was only part of the truth.” （Para．5） implies that the children not only enjoyed ice-cream but also ______.
A．had a birthday party B．framed some photographs
C．had their pictures taken D．showed off their best clothes
62．Which of the following possible titles best expresses the main idea of this passage?
A．An Evening Out B．Modern Teenagers
C．Mother and Children D．A Precious Birthday Gift
SYDNEY （AFP） Nick Bryant reports:
“It gives me great pleasure to introduce the new caretaker of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, from the United Kingdom, Ben Southall.”
A global recruitment（招聘） drive with the trappings of a TV reality show made it truly a tourism marketing campaign．
The best job in the world’s competition finally has a winner, Ben Southall, a 34-year-old charity worker from Britain．He beat 34,000 candidates from 200 countries in an online competition that became something of an Internet phenomenon．
“To go away now as the island caretaker for Tourism Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef is an extreme honour．I hope I can fill the boots as much as everybody is expecting, my swimming hopefully is up to standard and I look forward to all of the new roles and responsibilities that the task involves.” [Ben Southall]
For a disappointing Australian tourism industry currently in the doldrums, this has been an unexpected encouragement．Tourism Queensland deliberately chose the middle of winter of the northern Hemisphere to launch the campaign back in January, but didn’t expect anywhere near the global response．They think the only countries where people didn’t visit their website were North Korea and a few African nations．
What’s said to be the best job in the world comes with a $110,000 （about 750,000 yuan） contract for six months’ work, a luxury beachside home and a plunge pool．
In return, the island caretaker will be expected to stroll the white sands, enjoy the sun, diving and taking care of the reef, “maybe clean the pool”-- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.
For the losers meanwhile, there’s the worst of long journeys home.
55．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．The global recruitment mostly took place online．
B．Ben Southall got the job in January.
C．The recruitment started in winter in Australia．
D．The organizers knew the activity would attract attention from all over the world.
56．The caretaker of the islands is expected to be good at all the following EXCEPT ______.
A．swimming B．writing C．photographing D．acting
57．It can be inferred from the report that ______.
A．it’s the easiest job in the world
B．you need to surf the Internet regularly to know what Ben Southall is doing there
C．the organizers of the activity knew North Koreans would never be interested in the job
D．The journey home of the losers of the competition will be dangerous
58．The underlined word “doldrums” probably means ______ .
A．depression B．development C．recovery D．promotion
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Centuries ago, many houses in a bad state in London were torn down to make way for new streets．However, the construction project was put off for quite some time, and the foundations of the houses pulled down were left in the open.
One day, a team of scientis
ts arrived, only to discover that, on the patches of the foundations blocked from sunlight for years, was growing wild plants, dotted with little flowers．Puzzlingly, some species were native to Mediterranean countries only.
Most of the destroyed houses had been built during the Roman invasion．Weighed down by piles of bricks an
d stones year after year, the seeds possibly brought here in Roman times had almost no hope for survival．However, once bathed in the sun, they came alive.
The little seeds were so fragile yet so persevering．Though bricks piled on them many years, they still remained alive．Once exposed to sunshine and rain, th
ey immediately exhibited signs of life．A little seed, lying underground for hundreds of years, still cherished the hope to live on．But what if a man is stuck in a similar situation?
One year, a British expedition was marching through the boundless Sahara sands．With the sun hanging overhead, ho
t waves of sandy winds were blowing against their faces like hot iron grains．The men were suffering both thirst and anxiety．The last drop of water was gone．Just then, the captain brought out a water bottle, saying, “There is still one bottle of water left．However, no one is to drink any before going out of the desert.”
The bottle of water lent them confidence to get through the desert, and embodied their hope to live on．It was handed down the line of people．This changed into firmness the despair registered on the men’s faces．Finally the men walked out of the desert, shaking off the threat of death．Tears out of joy welled out, and trembling hands were trying to screw off the bottle cap and let out the water, which had supported them spiritually．Now, however, it was sand pouring out—a bottleful of sand!
Was it a bottle of sand that rescued them from the burning sun and the boundless desert? No, it was their firm faith, like a seed that had taken root in their hearts and that finally let them out of the awful desert.
51．Centuries ago, a team of scientists arrived in London and discovered _____, which made them confused.
A．some wild plants
B．some foundations of many old houses
C．many houses in a poor state
D．some little seeds
52．When the British expedition were marching through the Sahara, _____.
A．they had one bottle of water left
B．they had the last drop of water
C．the weather was anything but tolerable
D．they experienced thirst, anxiety and hunger
53．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 probably means _____.
A．the bottle of water changed the firmness on the men’s face into despair
B．the bottle of water transformed the men’s desperation into confidence
C．feeling heavy made the men strong rather than weak
D．feeling heavy changed the men’s hope into disappointment
54．What lesson can we learn from the passage?
A．Telling a lie is sometimes necessary.
B．Man can overcome any difficulty whatever it is.
C．A man can do no more than he can.
D．Where there is a seed, there is hope.
Science Daily (Apr 27, 2008) — Dutch ecologist Roxina Soler and her colleagues have discovered that subterranean (地下的) and aboveground herbivorous (食草的) insects can communicate with each other by using plants as telephones. Subterranean insects issue chemical warning signals through the leaves of the plant. This way, aboveground insects are warned that the plant is already “occupied”.
Aboveground, leaf-eating insects prefer plants that have not yet been occupied by subterranean root-eating insects. Subterranean insects send out chemical signals through the leaves of the plant, which warn the aboveground insects about their presence. This messaging makes it possible for spatially-separated insects to avoid each other, so that they do not compete for the same plant.
In recent years it has been discovered that different types of aboveground insects develop slowly if they feed on plants that also have subterranean residents and vice versa (反之亦然). It seems that a system has developed through natural selection, which helps the subterranean and aboveground insects to notice each other. This avoids unnecessary competition.
Through the “green telephone lines”, subterranean insects can also communicate with a third party, namely the natural enemy of caterpillars (毛虫). Parasitic wasps (寄生的黄蜂) lay their eggs inside aboveground insects. The wasps also benefit from the signals sent by the leaves, as these help them find more insects for their eggs.
The communication between subterranean and aboveground insects has only been studied in a few cases. It is still not clear how widespread this phenomenon is. But scientists are looking into it. This research was carried out at the Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) by Roxina Soler, Jeffrey Harvey, Martijn Bezemer, Wim van der Putten and Louise Vet. The PhD project, in which this study was carried out, was funded by the Free Competition of NWO Earth and Life Sciences.
51. After finding a plant occupied by subterranean insects, aboveground insects usually ____.
A. send out warning signals B. choose to give up the plant
C. compete for the plant D. share it with the subterranean insects
52. Aboveground insects will develop more quickly if they ____.
A. feed on plants occupied by subterranean insects
B. feed on plants not occupied by subterranean insects
C. become cleverer through natural selection
D. compete with subterranean insects
53. Subterranean insects communicate with a third party through ____.
A. caterpillars B. parasitic wasps C. wasps’ eggs D. a plant’s leaves
54. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Other animals may communicate in the same way.
B. There will be further research into this phenomenon.
C. Part of the study is a PhD project.
D. The Free Completion of NWO Earth and Life Sciences has the patent for these results.
55. What would be the best title for this passage?
A. Insects use plants as a telephone. B. Insects live in harmony with each other.
C. No species can live alone. D. Plants and animals have an effect on each other.