One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap(包装).
On September 11th. 1958. Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying. "I promised you a gift, and here it is. " What an honor! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories. 1 told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it. Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as "hopeless", "pitiful", and "dying", which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming. "Don’t expect any presents this year." Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room. "If your baby brother lives, that'll be Christmas enough. " As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I'd never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say. "What? He's all right?" He hung up and shouted upstairs. " The hospital said we can bring Richard home!"
"Thank God.'" I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I downstairs. My sacks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love! what happened to the author on September 11 1958 ?
| A．He got a baby brother |
| B．He got a Christmas gift |
| C．He became four years old |
| D．He received a doll |
What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean？
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring |
| C．Difficult | D．Fearful |
Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
What is the passage mainly about ?
| A．A sad Christmas day |
| B．Life with a lovely baby |
| C．A special Christmas gift. |
| D．Memories of a happy family |
Sitting at a desk in a classroom all day can be pretty boring.
The teachers at Ward Elementary in Winston –Salem，North Carolina ，picked up on that and traded in their students’ desks for exercise bikes as a part of their Read and Ride program!
The Read and Ride program began five years ago．One classroom has enough bikes for every student in any given class，and throughout the day teachers bring in their students to the room to ride them and read their books．
Even regular classrooms have one bike in the back of each room for students who just can’t sit still to use to help them burn energy in a good way．
Students love being more active! Teachers enjoy seeing students eager to read．Parents appreciate stronger，smarter children．Headmasters value this effective and cost-free program．“Riding exercise bikes makes reading fun for many kids who get frustrated(挫败的)when they read．Thus，they have a way to release that frustration while they ride，”said Scott Ertl，who started the program．“As we can see，everyone wants to promote literacy and lose weight! But many students who are overweight struggle with sports and activities since they don’t want to always be the last or lose with others watching on the playground．On exercise bikes，however，students are able to exert(发挥)themselves at their own level—without anyone noticing when they slow down or take a break．”
As it turns out，not only are the bikes helping the students burn calories，they’re also helping them learn better and stay focused．At the end of the school year the school analyzed testing data and found that students that spent more time reading and riding did more than twice as well on reading tests than their fellow students who spent the least time in the program．Why did the teachers start the Read and Ride program?
| A．To get the students out of the classrooms． |
| B．To make the students more active in sports． |
| C．To read effectively in an active way． |
| D．To help the overweight students keep fit． |
According to Scott Ertl，riding exercise bikes___________．
| A．is the least expensive way for exercise |
| B．call benefit overweight students in both ways |
| C．is the best way to build up students’body |
| D．is a good way to avoid being watched by teachers |
The program helps the students in the following ways except________．
| A．help them learn better |
| B．reduce their reading difficulties |
| C．build up their bodies |
| D．improve their learning concentration |
Passwords are no safeguards
Typing your password or credit card number into a computer is a moment’s work. But if you think your personal details disappear as soon as you hit the Return key, think again: they can sit on the computer’s hard disk for years waiting for a hacker(黑客)to take them.
As people spend more time on the web and hackers become more experienced, the dangers of storing personal information on computers are growing by the day, security experts say. There are some safe-guards, such as never allowing your computer to store your passwords. But even that in no guarantee of security.
When you type in a password, it is stored in random access memory (RAM), where it is held temporarily until other data overwrites it or the computer is switched off.
But every so often , the computer copies the contents of its RAM onto hard disk, where it is easy to prey（捕获） for a hacker, who can read it directly or design a worm to e-mail it back. The longer sensitive data stays in RAM, the more likely it is to be copied onto the disk, where it stays until it is overwritten-which might not happen for years.
Tal Garfinkel and colleagues from Stanford University have created a software tool which simulates (模拟)the workings of a complete computer system. Within the simulation, sensitive data can be tagged and then tracked as it passes through the system. Next, Garfinkel and his team simulated computers running common software that regularly handles passwords or secret personal information, such as Internet Explorer, the Windows login script and Apache server software.
In a paper to be presented, they conclude that the programs took no measures to limit the length of time the information is kept. Some of the tested software even copied the sensitive information, obviously without restraint(阻拦).What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．It’s important to set passwords to your computer. |
| B．Passwords help keep your personal information. |
| C．It’s unsafe to store personal information on computers. |
| D．There are some safeguards for your personal information. |
Hackers usually get others’ information from.
| A．RAM | B．the hard disk |
| C．a worm | D．the e-mail |
Garfinkel and his colleagues created a software tool to .
| A．find out how hackers steal personal information |
| B．protect personal information from being stolen |
| C．see how a complete computer system works |
| D．tag and track sensitive data on the computer |
Talking about computer safety, which of the following the writer would probably suggest?
| A．People should stop using computers. |
| B．Hackers should be heavily punished. |
| C．Better computer programs are needed. |
| D．Program developers are to blame. |
In front of a popular restaurant, a line of customers wait for taxis. And wait. Most of the cabs(taxis) are full. That’s nothing unusual in this city of 4 million people. But it’s 2:30 in the morning.
Visitors to the Olympic Games may leave disappointed if they see Athens only through the eyes of the typical tourist, who makes a beeline of the islands after the visit to the Acropolis(雅典卫城) and the unusual and attractive Plaka district. To fully appreciate and discover Athens’ many charms(魅力), do as the Greeks do: walk out into the neighborhoods, find the packed nightclubs, eat at one of the innumerable(数不清的) restaurants, or see Hollywood stars under real stars in a romantic outdoor cinema.
The Greek capital is named for the ancient goddess Athena, whose favourite animal was the owl(猫头鹰). It’s a fitting symbol for the city’s nocturnal (夜里的) nature, which often reaches its highest point in summer with a rush hour just before dawn.
As native Athenian Panos Demestiha said, Athens by day is unlivable(不宜居住的), but it’s magical at night. Athenians face up to heavy traffic block, decreasing green space, dusty streets… City officials are using the momentum(契机) of the August 13-29 Olympics to fix some of these problems and make city life more bearable.To the surprise of the visitors to Athens , ____.
| A．most of the cabs are often full all day long |
| B．the cabs are often empty |
| C．the cabs are almost full even at 2:30 am |
| D．there is no cab in the street at 2:30 am. |
The name of Athens came from ____.
| A．a goddess | B．a famous athlete |
| C．a kind of animal | D．a kind of plant |
The typical visitors will often visit the following places EXCEP ____.
| A．the neighborhood | B．the Plaka district |
| C．the Acropolis | D．famous islands |
The underlined word “bearable” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “____”.
| A．astonishing | B．forgettable |
| C．exciting | D．comfortable |
Foreign attacks on U． S． soil
1812 ---- During the War of 1812, British forces（军队） burned the new capital at Washington, D． C． They also attacked Baltimore and New Orleans and captured（占领） Detroit, which at the time was a remote military outpost (前哨基地)．
1846 ---- A brief invasion（入侵）by Mexican troops across the Rio Gande began the U． S． - Mexican War in 1846． But the remaining action in that conflict（冲突） occurred in California, New Mexico and in Mexico． California and New Mexico belonged to Mexico at the time．
1916 ---- Mexican revolutionaries led by Pancho Villa attacked the town of Columbus, N． M．, on March 9, 1916．
1941 -- Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec． 7, 1941, killing nearly 2,400 people and forcing America into World War II．
1993 ---- Terrorists（恐怖主义者） blew up a truck bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000．
2001 ---- Terrorists hijacked(劫机) several planes on Sep．11, 2001． Two ploughed into（撞入） New York’s World Trade Center (WTC), toppling the two highest buildings in the city; a third seriously damaged the Pentagon（五角大楼）． The fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania． Several thousand people were killed in the attacks．During the War of 1812, British forces did the following except that _____．
A．they captured Detroit
B．they attacked Baltimore and New Orleans
C．they attacked the town of Columbus, N． M．
D．they burned the new capital at Washington, D． C．During the September 11th terrorist attacks, _____．
| A．terrorists hijacked three planes |
| B．destroyed the Pentagon completely |
| C．killed six people and injured more than 1,000 |
| D．two planes knocked into New York’s World Trade Center |
The underlined word “toppling” in the last paragraph means _____．
| A．reaching the highest point of | B．causing to fall |
| C．knocking into | D．building |
How many foreign attacks mentioned in the passage did the US have?
| A．5 | B．6 | C．7 | D．8 |
Do you love holidays but hate the increase weight that follow? You are not alone.
Holidays are happy days with pleasure and delicious foods. Many people, however, are worried about the weight that comes along with these delicious foods.
With proper planning, though, it is possible to control your weight. The idea is to enjoy the holidays but not to eat too much. You don’t have to turn away from the foods that you enjoy. The following suggestions may be of some help to you.
Don’t miss meals. Before you leave home for a feast (宴会),have a small, low-fat snack. This may help to keep you from getting too excited before delicious foods.
Begin with clear soup and fruit or vegetables.
A large glass of water before you eat may help you feel full.
Use a small plate; a large plate will encourage you to have more than enough.
Better not have high-fat foods. Dishes that look oily or creamy have much fat in them.
Choose lean meat. Fill your plate with salad and green vegetables.
If you have a sweet tooth, try mints(薄荷)and fruits. They don’t have fat content as cream and chocolate.
Don’t let exercise take a break during the holidays. A 20 minute walk after a meal can help burn off excess calories.Holidays are happy days with pleasure but they may ______.
| A．bring weight problems |
| B．bring you much trouble in your life |
| C．make you worried about your foods |
| D．make you hate delicious foods |
In order to really enjoy your holidays without putting on weight, you d ‘better ______.
| A．drink much water and have vegetables only |
| B．not eat too much food in high fat |
| C．not accept invitations to feasts |
| D．turn away from delicious foods |
According to the passage, ____ is a necessary part to stop you from putting on weight.
| A．vegetables | B．water |
| C．calorie of energy | D．physical exercise |
Many people can’t help putting on weight after the holidays because they _____.
| A．can’t control themselves |
| B．go to too many feasts |
| C．enjoy delicious foods |
| D．can’t help turning away from the foods |
Excess calories can be found in your body in the form of _________.
| A．energy | B．fat |
| C．food | D．something invisible |