Former South African President Nelson Mandela who was treated for a recurring (复发的) lung infection, dies on Dec. 5th, 2013, at the age of 95.
People around the world are mourning the loss of the country's first black president. He was often called humble, charming, loyal person and a man who cared about others.
“He seemed to have that special charismatic(有魅力的) personality,” said Herman Cohen, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa from 1989 to 1993. “He became the symbol in the fight against apartheid.”
Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. As a young man he became active in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the African National Congress, or ANC, in the 1940s.
The white-led government banned the ANC in 1960, but the group continued to operate secretly. Mandela became head of the group's new military wing, coordinating a sabotage campaign against South African military and government targets.
In 1962, he was arrested and put on trial for his actions and sentenced to life in prison on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town. He spent 18 years there, refusing a government offer to release him if he would renounce the ANC's armed struggle. But he was freed in 1990 after South African President Frederik de Klerk legalized all political parties and discharged most political prisoners.
Shortly after his release, Mandela was elected president of the African National Congress. And in 1994, when the ANC won South Africa's first all-race elections, he was inaugurated (就职) as the county's first black president at age 75.
“Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another,” he said.
President Mandela said he would stay for only one five-year term. Cohen says Mandela earned international respect for South Africa's national reconciliation.
“Mandela devoted himself mainly to rallying the Africans to this new era to work on economic development, having good education, also he was very much of a spokesman on the international scene.” he said.
In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with his once bitter enemy F.W. de Klerk for their contribution to the peace process in South Africa. After receiving the award, Mandela praised the South African people.
“All have created a society which recognizes that all people are born equal,” he said. In a country torn apart by years of racial conflict, Nelson Mandela is considered a remarkable leader -- a man who turned South Africa away from violence and hatred into a country of greater peace and understanding.The underlined word “apartheid” in the 3rd paragraph probably means______.
| A.racial separation | B.financial aid |
| C.infectious illness | D.fulfilling life |
How long was Nelson Mandela sent to prison?
| A.18 years | B.28 years |
| C.6 years | D.19 years |
What is the author’s attitude in the passage?
| A.negative | B.positive |
| C.subjective | D.neutral |
Why was his bitter enemy F.W. de Klerk awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela?
| A.F.W. de Klerk did not kill Mandela during his presidency. |
| B.F.W. de Klerk was one of Mandela’s friends in the early years. |
| C.F.W. de Klerk made his own contribution to the process peacefully as well. |
| D.F.W. de Klerk was considered a remarkable leader turning South Africa away from violence. |
The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer(征服) himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful, says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral freedom.
A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. Keep cool, says George Herbert, for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. Anger, says Pythagoras, brings with folly(愚蠢)and ends with regret. You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?
| A.The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself. |
| B.One’s moral freedom is based on the control of himself. |
| C.To control oneself is the most difficult in one’s life. |
| D.If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful. |
If a man lacks self-control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT _______.
| A.the very backbone and nerve of character |
| B.the patience and power to control himself |
| C.strong feelings |
| D.self-confidence |
The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to _______.
| A.explain that self-control is the key to success |
| B.teach people how to control everything in order to make a great success |
| C.distinguish all kinds of self-control and suggest ways for keeping it |
| D.advise people not to lose temper so as to make and keep more friends |
The passage is mainly developed by _____.
| A.analyzing(分析)causes | B.making comparisons(比较) |
| C.examining differences | D.listing quotations(引证) |
Driver Wanted
Clean driving license(执照).
Must be of smart appearance.
Age over 25.
Apply to(申请): Capes Taxi, 17 Palace Road, Royston.
Air Hostesses for International Flights Wanted
Applicants(申请者) must be between 20 and 33 years old.
Height: 1.6 m to 1.75 m.
Education to GCSE standard.
Two languages. Must be able to swim.
Apply to: Recruitment(招聘) office, Southern Airlines, Heathrow Airport West. HR 37 KK.
Teachers Needed
For private language school.
Having college education.
Teaching experience unnecessary.
Apply to: The Director of Studies, Instant Languages Ltd. 279 Canal Street, Royston. What prevents Jack, an experienced taxi driver, working for Capes Taxi?
| A.Fond of beer and wine. |
| B.Punished for speeding and wrong parking. |
| C.Unable to speak a foreign language. |
| D.Not having college education. |
Ben, aged 22, fond of swimming and driving, has just graduated from a college.
Which job might be given to him?
| A.Driving for Capes Taxi. |
| B.Working for Southern Airlines. |
| C.Teaching at Instant Languages Ltd. |
| D.None of the three. |
What prevents Mary, aged 25, becoming an air hostess?
| A.She once broke a traffic law and was fined |
| B.She can’t speak Japanese very well. |
| C.She has never worked as an air hostess before. |
| D.She doesn’t feel like working long hours flying abroad. |
Which of the following is not mentioned in the three advertisements?
| A.Marriage. | B.Male or female. |
| C.Education. | D.Working experience. |
King’s College Summer School
King’s College Summer School is an annual(每年的) training program for high school students at all levels who want to improve their English. Courses are given by the teachers of King’s College and other colleges in New York. Trips to museums and culture centers are also organized. This year’s summer school will be from July 25 to August 15.
More information is as follows:
| Application (申请) date ●Students in New York should send their applications before July 18, 2009. ●Students of other cities should send their applications before July 16, 2009. ●Foreign students should send their applications before July 10, 2009. |
Courses ●English Language Spoken English: 22 hours Reading and Writing: 10 hours ●American History: 16 hours ●American Culture: 16 hours |
| Steps ●A letter of self-introduction ●A letter of recommendation(推荐) ﹡ The letters should be written in English with all the necessary information. |
Cost ●Daily lessons: $200 ●Sports and activities: $100 ●Travels: $200 ●Hotel service: $400 ﹡You may choose to live with your friends or relatives in the same city. |
| Please write to: Thompson, Sanders 1026 King’ s Street New York, NY 10016, USA E-mail: KC-Summer-School@ yahoo, com |
You can most probably read the text in ________.
| A.a newspaper | B.a travel guide | C.a textbook | D.a telephone book |
Which of the following is true about King’ s College Summer School?
| A.Only top students can take part in the program. |
| B.King’ s College Summer School is run every other year. |
| C.Visits to museums and culture centers are part of the program. |
| D.Only the teachers of King’ s College give courses. |
If you are to live with your relatives in New York, you will have to pay the school _______.
| A.$200 | B.$400 | C.$500 | D.$900 |
What information can you get from the text?
| A.The program will last two months. |
| B.You can write to Thompson only in English. |
| C.As a Chinese student, you can send your application on July 14, 2009. |
| D.You can get in touch with the school by e-mail or by telephone. |
Can trees talk? Yes, but not in words. Scientists have reason to believe that trees do communicate (交际) with each other. Not long ago, researchers learned some surprising things. First a willow tree attacked in the woods by caterpillars (毛虫) changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them. Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special smell---a signal (信号) causing its neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty.
Communication, of course, doesn’t need to be in words. We can talk to each other by smiling, raising our shoulders and moving our hands. We know that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals, flying in certain patterns that tell other bees where to find nectar (花蜜) for honey. So why shouldn’t trees have ways of sending message? It can be concluded from the passage that caterpillars do not feed on leaves that ______.
| A.are lying on the ground | B.have an unpleasant taste |
| C.bees don’t like | D.have an unfamiliar shape |
According to the passage, the willow tree was able to communicate with other trees by ______.
| A.waving its branches | B.giving off a special smell |
| C.dropping its leaves | D.changing the colour of its trunk |
According to this passage, bees communicate by ______.
| A.making special movement | B.touching one another |
| C.smelling one another | D.making unusual sound |
Bears and humans often meet in National Parks. Although campers and hikers are warned not to feed the bears, many people ignore these warnings and feed the beasts anyway. When bears are used to people’s food, problems soon arise.
Bears like to eat a large variety of things, both meat and vegetable. Without human assistance, bears live nicely on roots, twigs, leaves of trees, insects and small animals. With people around, the bears’ tastes quickly expand to include sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, and anything else they can temp humans into giving up.
Bears often develop clever strategies for getting people to let go their food supplies. More often than not, an unsuspecting hiker has taken off his or her pack for a rest only to have a bear charge out of the woods, grab the pack and quickly disappear into the underbrush with it. Hanging the pack on a tree branch won’t help. Bears have been known to climb up, jump off, and catch the pack on the way down. One mother bear stretched up with her baby on her shoulders to reach a pack stored on a pole. Many bears threaten people into giving up their supplies. Although a bear is unlikely to attack a person and would probably run away if screamed at, few people are willing to do so. Most people drop the pack and run the other way. This, of course, delights the bear. In some places, the Park Service installed some metal barrels with lids to help campers keep their supplies safe from bears. Although the bears were unable to open these containers, the effort was less than successful. Most campers, unable to tell the metal drums from rubbish cans, never used them for the intended purpose.Feeding bears on people’s food .
| A.brings the people a lot of fun | B.can cause problems |
| C.often causes injuries and deaths | D.helps bears survive |
If people had never fed bears, the bears .
| A.might be satisfied with what they had originally |
| B.would have starved long before |
| C.wouldn’t have enough food supply |
| D.would have hunted for other kind of food |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A.If fed on sandwiches and hot dogs, the bears would no longer eat roots, twigs and insects . |
| B.It’s likely that bears would hurt people if the people didn’t give up their food. |
| C.Most people would frighten away the bears that would temp their food. |
| D.Seeing a pack, the bear would quickly snatch it and run away with it. |
Bear-proof containers didn’t work because .
| A.bears were clever enough to get the food in them |
| B.they were left open in the open air |
| C.people were not sure of their use |
| D.they were once used as rubbish cans |