My mind went blank when I saw the gun pointing against the car window as we pulled out of the garage. This can't be happening to me. Then I felt the gun, cold, against my head, and I heard my friend Jeremy saying，“What do you want? Take my wallet，” but at the time I thought of nothing.
I remember being a little annoyed when the gunman pulled me from the car by the hair. I remember the walk to the house—Jeremy, me, the two men with two guns. I remember the fear and anger in the gunmen's voices because Jeremy was being slow, and I remember wondering why he was being slow. I did not realize that Jeremy had thrown the keys into the bush. But I remember that sound of the gun hitting Jeremy's head and the feeling as the man who had hold of my hair released me. And I remember the split second when I realized he was looking at Jeremy，and I remember wondering how far I could run before he pulled the trigger. But I was already running, and upon reaching the car across the street, I didn't crouch (蹲伏) behind it but screamed instead.
I remember thinking there was something ridiculous and illogical about screaming “Help, help！” at eight o'clock on a Tuesday evening in December and changing my plea(恳求) to the more specific “Help, let me in, please let me in！” But the houses were cold, closed, unfriendly, and I ran on until I heard Jeremy's screams behind me announcing that our attackers had fled.
The neighbors who had not opened their doors to us came out with baseball bats and helped Jeremy find his glasses and keys. In a group they were very brave. We waited for the police to come until someone said to someone else that the noodles were getting cold, and I said politely，“Please go and eat. We're OK.”
I was happy to see them go. They had been talking of stricter sentences for criminals, of bringing back the death penalty(处罚) and how the President is going to clean up the country. I was thinking, they could be saying all of this over my dead body, and I still feel that stiffer sentences wouldn't change a thing. In a rush all the anger I should have felt for my attackers was directed against these contented people standing in front of their warm, comfortable homes talking about all the guns they were going to buy. What good would guns have been to Jeremy and me?
People all over the neighborhood had called to report our screams, and the police turned out in force twenty minutes later. They were illtempered about what was, to them, much trouble about nothing. After all, Jeremy was hardly hurt, and we were hopeless when it came to describing the gunmen. “Typical，” said one policeman when we couldn't even agree on how tall the men were. Both of us were able to describe the guns in horrifying detail, but the two policemen who stayed to make the report didn't think that would be much help.
The policemen were matteroffact about the whole thing. The thin one said，“That was a stupid thing to do, throwing away the keys. When a man has a gun against your head you do what you're told.” Jeremy looked properly embarrassed.
Then the fat policeman came up and the thin one went to look around the outside of the house. “That was the best thing you could have done, throwing away the keys，” he said. “If you had gone into the house with them...” His voice became weaker. “They would have hurt her” ——he twisted his head toward me——“and killed you both.” Jeremy looked happier. “Look，” said the fat policeman kindly, “ there's no right or wrong in the situation. There's just luck.”
All that sleepless night I replayed the moment those black gloves came up to the car window. How long did the whole thing last? Three minutes, five, eight? No matter how many hours of my life I may spend reliving it, I know there is no way to prepare for the next time—no intelligent response to a gun. The fat cop was right. There's only luck. The next time I might end up dead.
And I’m sure there will be a next time. It can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone.Security is an illusion(幻觉); there is no safety in locks or in guns. Guns make some people feel safe and some people feel strong, but they're fooling themselves.When the writer saw the gun pointing against the car window，________.
| A．she felt very annoyed |
| B．she lost consciousness |
| C．she felt very much nervous |
| D．she lost the power of thinking |
What most possibly drove the two gunmen away?
| A．Jeremy's fighting. |
| B．The author's screaming. |
| C．Their neighbour's brave action. |
| D．The police's arrival. |
When the author called for help, the neighbors didn't come out immediately because________.
| A．they were much too frightened |
| B．they were busy preparing dinners |
| C．they needed time to find baseball bats |
| D．they thought someone was playing a trick |
What the author wants to tell us is that________.
| A．neighbors are not helpful in moments of difficulty |
| B．the police are not reliable when one is in trouble |
| C．security is impossible as long as people can have guns |
| D．preventing robbers entering your house is the best choice |
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school. she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women.Why couldn’t Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?
| A．She couldn’t get admitted to medical school |
| B．She decided to further her education in Paris |
| C．A serious eye problem stopped her |
| D．It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United States |
What main obstacle(障碍) almost destroyed Elizabeth’s chances for becoming for a doctor?
| A．She was a woman. |
| B．She wrote too many letters. |
| C．She couldn’t graduate from medical school. |
| D．She couldn’t set up her hospital. |
How many years passed between her graduation from medical school and the opening of her hospital?
| A．Eight years | B．Ten years | C．Nineteen years | D．Thirty-six years |
According to the passage, all of the following are “firsts” in the life of Elizabeth Blacekwell, except that she ______.
| A．became the first woman physician |
| B．was the first woman doctor |
| C．and several other women founded the first hospital for women and children |
| D．set up the first medical school for women |
As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods． “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse． If I went to a friends house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone（语气） of airy acceptance． It is similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk．” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while．
We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring（探索）． Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today． History seemed to be mostly about explorers． Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way． Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Indian burial mound．
Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were． If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees． There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in．
It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end． By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）． In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring． We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree． Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria．The author and his friends were often out in the woods to _______．
| A．spend their free time |
| B．play golf and other sports |
| C．avoid doing their schoolwork |
| D．keep away from their parents |
What can we infer from Paragraph 2 ?
| A．The activities in the woods were well planned． |
| B．Human history is not the result of exploration． |
| C．Exploration should be a systematic activity． |
| D．The author explored in the woods aimlessly． |
The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______．
| A．calm | B．doubtfu | C．serious | D．optimistic |
How does the author feel about his childhood?
| A．Happy but short． | B．Lonely but memorable． |
| C．Boring and meaningless | D．Long and unforgettable． |
For many of us, printed books are satisfying in ways beyond the words they contain． Billions of printed books have been published, read and saved in the 600 years since movable type was invented, so why mess with a good things?
Sony Electronics is doing just that, betting that readers will be won over by the convenience of readability of its new electronic book devices． Sony's reader, the PRS-505, can hold 160 books in its fixed memory, enough to line the shelves on a good-sized wall in the average American home． The $299 device is about the size of a paperback book, but a half-inch thick and weighs less than a pound．
The Sony book reader is revolutionary not only in its storage capacity． The font（字体） is highly readable and adjustable by size． Unlike laptop computers, you can put the Sony in your purse, read it in direct sunlight and even bookmark the pages． And you can connect it to your PC to download books．
Surprisingly, though the reader has liberated the book from paper, electronic books aren't always a bargain． For example, David Baldacci's "Stone Cold" download retails（零售） for $15．19 at the Sony site, while Amazon（卓越网） will deliver a hard copy to your mailbox for $16．19．
The Sony reader also lets you store and play or display music． So what's not to like about the Sony? Well, for many bibliophiles, a lot． Book lovers like to have, hold and keep their volumes, which don't need charging． You can write notes in the margins, and enjoy the ambience they provide on your book shelves．The need for electronic reading devices is likely to grow as more people worried about the billions of tons of paper used for printed material． Many believe the time will come when devices like the Sony reader are as common as printed newspapers and magazines today．
According to the passage, the Sony book reader _________．
| A．is as light as a laptop computer |
| B．can hold more than 200 books |
| C．is convenient to carry around |
| D．cannot be connected to a PC |
What is the author’s point when he mentions “Stone Cold”?
| A．Amazon’s printed books are very cheap |
| B．“Stone Cold” can be got from the Sony site and Amazon |
| C．The Sony book reader is not very cheap to use |
| D．The Sony book reader can benefit its buyers a lot |
The underlined word “bibliophiles” in Paragraph 5 refers to “__________”．
| A．music lovers | B．book lovers |
| C．electronic reading devices | D．Sony readers |
According to the author, what’s the future for the electronic reading devices?
| A．They’ll replace printed newspapers and magazines |
| B．They’ll still be more expensive than printed newspapers |
| C．They’ll become a must in people’s daily life |
| D．They’ll become more popular as time goes on |
BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident． Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates（最新报道）on the rescuers’ progress．
The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a．m---more than three hours after it happened．“It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine． The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group．
At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4, 800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p．m．Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later．
He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for
30 to 35 years．The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each．The company has not released the names of the miners．
The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect （remove） the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that．“ We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said．The cause of the explosion was not immediately known．High levels of carbon monoxide were discovered shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided（减退）, authorities said．According to the passage, we can infer that ________．
| A．all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive |
| B．communication with the trapped miners was cut off |
| C．the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time |
| D．the rescue started as soon as the accident happened |
If the first team advanced at an average speed, they could dig about _______ per hour．
| A．1,000 feet | B．2,400 feet | C．1,200feet | D．4,800feet |
Where can the passage be seen?
| A．In a magazine． | B．In a newspaper． |
| C．In a science book．． | D．On an advertisement． |
Which of the following shows the position where the miners wd?
One warm May day, two eighteen – year – old students from San Francisco State College decided to cool off with a swim at Bakers’ Beach． The two students were named Robert Kogler and Shirley O’Neill． They headed out to sea for a distance of 50 metres． Robert was in front．
“Suddenly, I heard him scream,” Shirley recalls． “I looked round and saw this great grey thing going up in the air． The water seemed to be alive．”Robert screamed again． “It’s a shark! Get out of here!”
An eye – witness, Army Sergeant Leo P． Day was on guard at the nearby army post． He saw exactly what happened next． “I could see this boy struggling with the shark in the water,” he said． “The sea was red with blood． He was shouting and signalling someone to go back, go back． Then I saw the girl． She was swimming towards him． She completely ignored his warning．”Shirley reached Robert, and tried to take his hand．“When I pulled, all I could see was his arm, handing by a thread,” she said．
So she put her arm about Robert’s back, and started to swim towards the shore． She kept praying “Don't’ let it attack again!” That journey to the shore seemed to last for hours． At last, as they neared the shore, a fisherman threw them a line, and pulled them both the rest of the way．The young man had lost a lot of blood, and died two and a half hours later, From the teeth marks, experts identified the attacker as a Great White Shark．For what Sergeant Day called “the greatest exhibition of bravery I have ever seen,” the President of the US gave Shirley a medal for bravery．When Albert was attacked by a shark Shirley．
| A．was swimming in the sea |
| B．was watching him on the shore |
| C．was on guard at the nearby army post |
| D．was shouting and struggling with a shark, too |
Choose the right time order of the following events in the story．
a． Army Sergeant saw the girl swimming to the boy．
b． Shirley saw a great grey thing．
c． They headed out to sea．
d． Robert died．
e． A fisherman threw them a line．
f． He saw a boy struggling with a shark．
| A．b,c,e,d,f,a | B．c,a,f,d,e,b | C．b,c,f,a,d,e | D．c,b,f,a,e, d |
We can learn from the passage that．
| A．the two students were brave and considerate |
| B．the fisherman was adventurous and helpful |
| C．the experts didn’t do much research on sharks |
| D．the Sergeant cared too much about his own life |