Gregory Kloehn digs through dustbins every day,but not for the reason that most people would think．He isn’t homeless．In fact he is trying to help the homeless．
Gregory began his life as a sculptor．But he often felt that his sculptures．Which just stood in rich people’s houses for years，lacked a meaningful purpose．So in 201l he decided to put his artistic energies into creating homes to sell—not ordinary homes but small structures built entirely from recycled materials．
The thought of creating homes for the homeless didn’t occur to him until the year 2013， when a homeless couple asked him for a tarp(防水布)．Instead of a tarp，Gregory offered them something better：a small home with a water tank,a kitchen and a trap for waste．They were so grateful that Gregory decided to focus his efforts on helping house the homeless population in his city．And soon his“Homeless Homes Project”was started．
Before starting a new home，Gregory，goes hunting for materials by digging through dustbins．Everything he finds is usable—refrigerator doors become house doors；washing machine doors often serve as windows，and the tops of cars become strong roofs．He put wheels at the bottom for users to move their homes around easily．Each home takes two to three days to make．
So far Gregory has donated dozens of homes to the city's most needy．While his small low- cost mobile homes are not the final solution to the problem of homelessness，they are really practical and do provide a warm and safe place for the homeless to stay in．They are simply a way for one man to do something nice for those in need of some help．
Gregory has written a book titled Homeless Architecture，where he explains techniques to build those homes and he is now working on weekend workshops．“A lot of people who hear about what I’m doing want to get involved，”he said．“Maybe we can meet someplace and put a couple of homes together．”Why did Gregory turn from making sculptures to creating homes?
| A．He had no home to live in． |
| B．He had to make more money． |
| C．He lost interest in sculpture． |
| D．He wanted to help the homeless． |
The author mentions the story in Pamgmph 3 to tell us____________．
| A．Gregory’s small homes were popular among the homeless |
| B．how Gregory got the idea of“Homeless Homes Project” |
| C．the homeless couple asked Gregory to produce more homes |
| D．housing the homeless in acity was not an easy task |
What can we conclude from Paragraph 4？
| A．Gregory has great trouble hunting for materials for his small houses． |
| B．It takes Gregory a long time to produce a home． |
| C．Gregory’s work requires imagination and creativity |
| D．Everything in the dustbins will be used in Gregory’s work． |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．Gregory’s project will help more homeless people． |
| B．Gregory doesn’t need to make small homes now． |
| C．Gregory’s work will completely solve the homelessness problem． |
| D．A single person can make no difference to social problems． |
She was born to wealth and power in an era when money and politics were left to the men. Later, as The Washington Post's publisher, Katharine Graham became one of America's most powerful women.
Despite a privileged background, Katharine had to deal, while growing up, with the high demands her mother placed on her children. Katharine's love of journalism, which she shared with her father, led to her career after college at The Washington Post, the newspaper her father bought in 1933. At the Post, Katharine met Phil Graham, a young, charming lawyer who became her husband. When, in 1945, Katharine's father chose Phil over her to take over his struggling paper, Katharine didn't object and stayed at home as a wife and mother of four.
While Phil's successful efforts to restore the Post to prominence (显著) made the Grahams popular members of the Washington social scene, Katharine privately suffered tremendous pain from her husband's increasingly abusive behavior and wild mood swings caused by severe depression. When Phil committed suicide (自杀), the 46-year-old Katharine found herself thrown into a new job, that of newspaper publisher. But determined to save the family paper for her children, Katharine rose to the challenge of running the Post, attending meetings in every department, working endlessly to prove herself to her critics, and becoming the toast of Washington.
In 1971, Katharine ordered the Post to print a copy of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret documents revealing the truth about the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. What's more, her courageous decision and support for her journalists prepared the Post to break the most important political story in modern history: Watergate, one of the greatest scandals (丑闻) in American political history. Katharine managed to keep control over the most chaotic (disorder) of situations when it was reported, all the time insisting the news stories be accurate and fair. Watergate made the Washington Post an internationally known Paper and Katharine was considered as the most powerful woman in America. Katharine Graham was born in a time when ______.
| A．women were not given the chance to receive education |
| B．women were not considered as intelligent as men |
| C．women were not permitted to achieve their goals |
| D．women were not allowed to enter every field |
When her husband was chosen to take charge of the newspaper, Katharine Graham ______.
| A．was strongly against the idea |
| B．was not happy to be rejected |
| C．was willing to take her share of responsibility |
| D．didn't believe her husband would do a good job |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．It was Katharine Graham's husband who made the greatest contributions to the Post. |
| B．When Katharine Graham first took over the Post, her critics doubted her ability. |
| C．Katharine Graham was successful in her career but suffered severe depression. |
| D．Katharine Graham was free to do whatever she liked in her early life. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Ups and downs of The Washington Post. |
| B．Katharine Graham's family life and career. |
| C．Katharine Graham: from housewife to successful publisher. |
| D．Katharine Graham: a woman who shaped American journalism. |
Dear MSN,
I live in San Diego. I’m single and would like to meet people near me. Can I do this on the Internet?
Searching in San Diego
Dear Searching,
On the Internet, you could easily go looking for love in all the wrong places, but here are lots of great ways to meet singles near you.
The Web is a good place to start. MSN also has international sites for Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.
There are several California–based MSN Web communities where you can meet like –minded people near you as well as city-specific chat rooms for real-time interaction (互动). Hope for some clever friends. What a little more excitement in your online interactions? Try the “Gaming Zone!”
I also tried MSN Search, looked under the “Personal” heading and found “Relationships”. Clicked on that, then found “Ads & Personals”, by “Region” and found San Diego–specific personal from there. Try it!
Also, give “IRC” (Internet Relay Chat) and “Usenet Newsgroups” a try. Many a net romance has started and then developed in these off-the-Web communities. If you’d rather make friends F2F (face to face), the Web has some helpful dating and redating tips. Searching has written this letter with the purpose of _______
| A．getting help from MSN with his computer |
| B．winning the heart of a love from the web |
| C．meeting single people on line |
| D．looking for love in all the wrong places |
According to the second letter, MSN has several advantages such as ________
| A．shooting IRC and Usenet Newsgroups |
| B．giving you time and places to chat with others |
| C．satisfying you with whatever kind of help you want |
| D．supplying you with many methods to make friends |
From the second letter we can infer that MSN treats an ordinary reader so kindly and warmly because ________.
| A．it is its duty to help those who have trouble with their computers |
| B．it needs to attract as many readers as possible so as to make greater benefit |
| C．it likes to see more net romances and shares their happiness |
| D．all people need it and it needs all people |
A classical guitarist was excited to hear from New York City police that his valuable guitar had been found. It disappeared almost a year ago when he got out of a cab and forgot to take the guitar with him. Laurence Lennon, 44, said he was running late that day. He was talking to his manager on his cellphone when he dashed out of the taxi. He said that he gave the driver $ 60 and told him to keep the change. He walked through the front doors of the concert hall still talking on the phone to his manager.
Upon discovering his loss, Lennon used his cellphone to call the police. The policewoman asked him for the name of the cab company, the number of the cab, and the name of the driver. He said that she had to be kidding.
She told Lennon that he could file a missing items report at the police station or online. Lennon asked for the online address. She told him that finding the guitar might take a couple of years—finding guitars was not as important as finding murderers and marijuana smokers. Then she told him to have a nice day.
“This year has been depressing，” said Lennon. “I had to postpone the recording of two new CDs. I've been using borrowed guitars. And I was losing hope of ever recovering my guitar.”
Lennon was reunited with his $ 100,000 musical instrument yesterday. The case and the guitar had been discovered in the corner of a coffee house only two blocks from where Lennon had lost it in the first place. Lennon had offered a $ 10,000 reward for its return. He said he would give the reward to the coffee house owner, who had informed the police.It can be inferred from this reading passage that________.
| A．Lennon gave the driver much more money than what was actually needed |
| B．Lennon couldn't give any useful information about the driver and his cab |
| C．Lennon was too busy talking to his friend to remember to pay the cab driver |
| D．Lennon used to work at the concert hall in New York City |
The policewoman told Lennon________.
| A．not to worry about the guitar |
| B．to have a nice day in New York City |
| C．to find the cab driver and talk to him |
| D．to wait with patience |
Which of the following is the most important according to the policewoman?
| A．Finding a lost guitar. |
| B．Finding the cab driver. |
| C．Finding murderers. |
| D．Enjoying one's own life |
The underlined word“depressing”can be best explained by“________”．
| A．making people feel sad |
| B．making people unfortunate |
| C．making people losing money |
| D．making people losing good luck |
What do you guess the driver did to the guitar after Lennon left it in the cab?
| A．He sold it to someone for 10,000 dollars. |
| B．He took it to a coffeehouse and then left it there. |
| C．He gave it to a friend, who lost it some time later. |
| D．He kept it for himself but then lost it carelessly. |
The British film star Hugh Grant can’t seem to work out what women want.
“There’s no girl who only wants bastards（坏蛋），and no girl who wants a nice guy（伙计）.Women want both,” the British star tells the May issue of the Talk magazine. “And，really，they’d like to change by turns on a weekly basis. Can any man be both? I like to keep women guessing.”
Since Grant’s break-up last year with his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley，the thought of throwing himself into another big relationship doesn’t seem like it’s expected.
“How easy do you think it is to find someone you can share 14 years of personal jokes with? Not easy. And I don’t know that I will，” he says.
Still，the 40-year-old star admits he can’t help thinking that his clock is ticking.
“In the end，I want to have kids（children）.But in the back of my mind，I never wanted to have kids until I’d done something I’m proud of written a book，had my name on something really worthwhile,” he says. “I’m determined not to be in front of the cameras any more.”
With all of these concerns（心思)inside，has Grant ever considered seeing a psychiatrist（精神病医生）to sort things out?
“I don’t think I need treatment，thank you,” sniffs the star.
“I’m frightened of those people. And more than that，I don’t want to know what lies beneath（在下面）.”Judging from what Hugh Grant says，the film star may consider himself ______________.
| A．either a bastard or a nice guy |
| B．both a bastard and a nice guy at the same time |
| C．a bastard in one week and a nice guy in the other |
| D．neither a bastard nor a nice guy |
Hugh Grant _________________.
| A．is looking for another girlfriend at the present time |
| B．never feels sure of finding a girlfriend who can take the place of Elizabeth Hurley |
| C．considers it a shame to look for another girlfriend |
| D．doesn’t value much the relationship he had with Elizabeth Hurley |
The underlined clause “his clock is ticking” possibly means _________.
| A．he’s having a good time |
| B．he can’t stand being single |
| C．his film life is going to end soon |
| D．he is getting too old |
Hugh Grant thinks that he is not yet successful enough to be _______.
| A．a nice guy |
| B．a husband |
| C．a film star |
| D．a father |
My Aunt Edith was a widow of 50, working as a secretary, when doctors discovered what was then thought to be a very serious heart illness．
Aunt Edith doesn’t accept defeat easily. She began studying medical reports in the library and found an article in a magazine about a well-known heart doctor Dr. Michael DeBakey, of Houston, Texas. He had saved the life of someone with the same illness. The article said Dr. DeBakey’s fees were very high；Aunt Edith couldn’t possibly pay them．But could he tell her of someone whose fee she could pay?
So Aunt Edith wrote to him．She simply listed her reasons for wanting to live；her three children, who would be on their own in three or four more years, among them a little girl who always dreamed of traveling and seeing the world．There wasn’t a word of self-pity—only warmth and humor and the joy of living．She mailed the letter, not really expecting an answer．
A few days later, my doorbell rang．Aunt Edith didn’t wait to come in：she stood in the hall and read aloud:
Your beautiful letter moved me very deeply．If you can come to Houston, there will be no charge for either the hospital or the operation.
Signed：Michael DeBakey
That was seven years ago．Since then, Aunt Edith has been around the world．Her three children are happily married．For her age, she is one of the youngest ,most alive people I know．“Aunt Edith doesn’t accept defeat easily” means that ______
| A．she is very beautiful |
| B．she is very strong |
| C．she is very brave |
| D．she is very warm-hearted |
Why did Aunt Edith write to Dr. DeBakey? Because ____
| A．she had no time to visit him |
| B．she didn’t know the wav to Houston |
| C．she didn’t believe in him |
| D．she wanted to get some help from him |
In fact, Aunt Edith’s letter to Dr.DeBakey was full of _____.
| A．courage |
| B．illness |
| C．pity |
| D．sadness |
After reading Dr. DeBakey’s letter, Aunt Edith felt ______.
| A．discouraged |
| B．frightened |
| C．disappointed |
| D．encouraged |