Sports are all about change. A team gets better. A kid practices more and swims a personal best or learns a new move on the basketball court. In 2006, two things happened that got me thinking about change—in sports and in life.
One of them is tennis champion Andre Agassi, who retired in 2006. Agassi was a terrific player who won 60 titles, including eight major championships(冠军称号). But his greatest accomplishment（成就）might have been how much he changed during his career.
When he was young, Agassi was a show off who seemed to care only about himself. He didn't train very hard, but he won matches because of his tremendous（极大的） talent.
Eventually, though, injuries and his bad attitude caught up with him. He fell from No.1 in the world ranking to No.141.
So Agassi changed. He trained harder and became a world-class player again. More importantly, he changed as a person. He was nicer to fans and opponents（对手）. He stopped thinking just about himself and started thinking about others. Through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, he raised more than $60 million to help disadvantaged kids around his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. He even started a school, the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, for at-risk kids.
At the start of a new year, lots of people promise themselves they will change. They might vow to get in good physical shape, do better in school or be nicer to others.
Changes such as those can be difficult. But they do happen. Just remember Andre Agassi: It wasn't easy, but he changed, and changed for the better.According to the writer, which of the following may be the greatest achievement for Agassi?
| A．He once ranked No.1 in the world rankings. |
| B．He won 60 titles. |
| C．He changed much during his career. |
| D．He won 8 major championships. |
What does the underlined work “vow” in the 6th paragraph probably mean?
| A．promise. | B．agree. | C．wish. | D．prove. |
What do you know about Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation?
| A．It is intended to help at-risk kids. |
| B．It is a charity school set up by Agassi. |
| C．Some disadvantaged kids can get help from it. |
| D．Agassi runs it with his prize money. |
What might be talked about in the paragraphs following this passage?
| A．What achievements Agassi has made after he changed for the better. |
| B．How we can change for the better. |
| C．Another thing happened in life that got the writer thinking about change. |
| D．Some assessments(评价) about Agassi from different people. |
I’m sure you know the song “Happy Birthday”. But do you know who wrote the song and for whom it was written?
The retired professor, Archibald A. Hill in Lucasville, USA could tell us the story. Ninety-seven years ago, two of Mr. Archibald Hill’s aunts, Miss Patty Hill and Miss Mildred Hill were asked to write some songs for a book called “Song Storied for the Sunday Morning”. Miss Patty Hill and Miss Mildred Hill were both kindergarten teachers then. They loved children very much and wrote many beautiful songs for the book. One of them was the famous “Good Morning to You.” The song said, “Good morning to you, good morning to you, dear children, good morning to all.” This song was very popular at that time among kindergarten children. But not many grown-ups knew it. A few years later little Archibald was born. As his aunt, Miss Patty Hill sang the song “Happy Birthday” to the melody（曲调）of “Good Morning to you” to her little nephew（侄子）. She sang the song like this: Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Archie! Happy birthday to you!
Miss Patty Hill and her sister had never expected that this song would become so popular, but it really did. People all over the world like the song because of its simplicity in tune（曲调简单）and friendliness in words. Archibald A. Hill was __________.
A. English B. Russian C. American D. Australian Professor Archibald A. Hill was Miss Mildred Hill’s __________.
A. son B. student C. brother D. nephew The song “Happy Birthday” has a history of __________ years.
| A．97 | B．about 90 | C．more than 90 | D．less than 90 |
Why did Miss Hiss wrote songs?
| A．Because they are musicians. |
| B．Because they love children. |
| C．Because they were asked to write for a book. |
| D．Because their nephew asked them to do so. |
The sentence “it really did” means __________.
| A．The song really became popular |
| B．Their wish would really come true |
| C．People all over the world like to listen to the song |
| D．Yes, but the song didn’t become popular |
How often one hears children wishing they were grown-ups and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.
Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved, whatever he may do. It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return. In addition, life is always presenting new things to the child — things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-known. But a child has his parents. He is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things or being punished for what he has done wrong.
When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society. According to the second paragraph, the writer thinks that __________.
| A．if much is given to a child, he must do something in return |
| B．a child is always loved whatever he does |
| C．life for a child is comparatively easy |
| D．only children are interested in life |
After a child grows up, he __________.
| A．will have little time playing |
| B．has to be successful in finding a job |
| C．can still ask for help in time of trouble |
| D．should be able to take care of himself |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Life is less interesting for old people. |
| B．People are often satisfied with their life. |
| C．Adults are free to do what they want to do. |
| D．Adults should no longer rely on others. |
The underlined word "responsibilities" in the second paragraph means __________.
| A．jobs | B．duties | C．suggestions | D．desires |
The main idea of the passage is __________.
| A．life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains |
| B．young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard |
| C．childhood is the most enjoyable time in one's life |
| D．one is the happiest if he can make good use of each age in his life |
Most of the news in the newspapers is bad but sometimes there is a story with good news. This is one of those stories. Millions of people around the world suffer from AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases. There are medicines to treat these diseases but for people in poor countries, these medicines are too expensive to buy. When a pharmaceutical（制药的）company produces a new medicine, they receive a special license called a patent. This license means that the new medicine or drug is protected for a period of 20 years. The company that produced the drug can fix the price of the drug and no other company is allowed to produce the same drug or a copy of the drug for 20 years. At the moment, these patents operate all over the world, both in rich countries and in poor countries. The drugs companies say that they need patents so that they can get the money to pay for research to find new drugs and medicines. In rich countries people usually have enough money to pay for these drugs but in poor countries people can’t afford to buy them and cannot treat diseases like AIDS and malaria.
Last month, however, a group of experts published a report which says that patents are very bad for poor countries. The report says that drug companies do not want to find new medicines for diseases of poor people in poor countries. It says that poor countries should be allowed to buy cheap drugs without patents from other countries.
The authors of the report were lawyers, scientists and a senior director from the drug company Pfizer. Of course, the pharmaceuticals industry doesn’t agree with the report, “We need patents so that we can develop new medicines to fight disease both in the developed and developing world,” said a spokesman. But the report is the first sign that there might be a change in the patent system. This change could save millions of lives in the world’s poorest countries. This really is good news. Why are medicines expensive for people in poor countries?
| A．They are protected by patents. | B．They are produced in rich countries. |
| C．They are imported. | D．They can cure the deadly diseases. |
What does the underlined word “patent” in Para1 mean in Chinese?
| A．执照 | B．专利权 | C．专利品 | D．商标 |
Why do drugs companies need patents?
| A．To sell drugs in rich countries. |
| B．To sell drugs in poor countries. |
| C．To get money to produce new drugs. |
| D．To compete with other companies. |
What does the report say?
| A．Poor countries should spend more money on drugs. |
| B．Poor countries shouldn’t obey a pharmaceutical patent. |
| C．Poor countries should import drugs. |
| D．Poor countries should be allowed to make copies of drugs. |
What might happen if the patent system is changed?
| A．Millions of lives will be saved in poor countries. |
| B．Drugs companies will stop producing drugs. |
| C．Drug companies will make more money. |
| D．The competition will be canceled. |
Peggy Hilt wanted to be a good mother. But day after day, she got out of bed feeling like a failure. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t connect with Nina, the 2-year -old girl she’d adopted from Russia as an infant （幼儿). The preschooler （学龄前儿童）pulled away whenever Hilt tried to hug or kiss her. Nina was physically aggressive with her 4-year-old sister, who had been adopted from Ukraine, and had violent tantrums（发脾气). Whenever Hilt wasn’t watching, she destroyed the family’s furniture and possessions. “Every day with Nina had become a struggle,” she recalls now.
As the girl grew older, things got worse. Hilt fell into a deep depression. She started drinking heavily, something she’d never done before. Ashamed, she hid her problem from everyone, including her husband.
On the morning of July 1, 2005, Hilt was packing for a family vocation, all the while swallowing one beer after another and growing increasingly angry and impatient with Nina’s deeds. “Everything she did just got to me,” Hilt said. When Hilt caught her reaching into her diaper（尿布）and smearing feces（粪便）on the walls and furniture, “a year and a half of frustration came to a head,” Hilt says. “I snapped（崩溃). I felt this uncontrollable rage.”
Then Hilt did something unthinkable. She grabbed Nina around the neck, shook her and then dropped her to the floor, where she kicked her repeatedly before dragging her up to her room, punching her as they went. “I had never hit a child before,” she says. “I felt horrible and promised myself that this would never happen again.” But it was too late for that. Nina woke up with a fever, and then started throwing up. The next day she stopped breathing. By the time the ambulance got the child to the hospital, she was dead.
Hilt is now serving a 19-year sentence for second-degree murder in a Virginia prison. She and her husband divorced, and he is raising their other daughter. She realizes the horror of her crime and says she isn’t looking for sympathy. “There is no punishment severe enough for what I did,” she told NEWSWEEK in an interview at the prison. This story mainly tells us __________.
| A．a cruel mother who killed her daughter |
| B．a social problem of adoption |
| C．a family problem in Western countries |
| D．an unlucky child’s fortune |
How did Hilt let out her depression at the beginning?
| A．By hitting her adopted girl. |
| B．By showing her more love. |
| C．By drinking heavily. |
| D．By hugging and kissing her. |
What does the underlined sentence in Para.4 mean?
| A．It was too late to hit the girl in order to make her good. |
| B．It was too late to save the girl’s life. |
| C．It was too late to regret hitting the girl. |
| D．It was too late to regret adopting the girl. |
“NEWSWEEK” in the last sentence of this text refers to a __________.
| A．magazine | B．journalist | C．book | D．policeman |
Why do some adoptions go so wrong？
| A．It’s the kid’s fault. | B．It’s the mother’s fault. |
| C．It’s the fault of the society. | D．The writer doesn’t mention the reason. |
Bernstein had been appointed Assistant Conductor for the New York philharmonic only a few months before that night. Just 25 years old, he was relatively inexperienced. At the last minute, Bernstein was told he was to take Walter’s place, so he didn’t have any time to rehearse（排演）. The music he was going to conduct was very difficult. Plus, the concert was going to be broadcast nationally on the radio. Despite all these pressures, Bernstein rose to the occasion and received a standing ovation（长久的鼓掌）at the end of the concert. The event made national headlines, and Bernstein became famous overnight.
Some people feel they do their best under the most stressful circumstances. What was it about Leonard Bernstein that made him do so well in such a difficult situation?
Perhaps Leonard Bernstein did so well because music was his devotion. The son of a man who supplied hairdressing products, Bernstein became interested in music at the age of 10. By the time he was a teenager, he was performing in public. He became a soloist of the Boston Public School Orchestra, and for 13 weeks in 1934, he played classics on the radio. The underlined word “break” in the first paragraph means “__________”.
| A．rest | B．chance | C．pause | D．gap |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the second paragraph?
| A．The concert Bernstein was to play at was going to be broadcast nationally on TV. |
| B．The music Bernstein was going to conduct was very difficult. |
| C．When Bernstein was told he was to take Walter’s place, he had no time to practice the performance. |
| D．Before his performance as a conductor, Leonard Bernstein had little experience. |
Leonard Bernstein was successful at the concert because of __________.
| A．the wonderful music | B．the stress of the circumstances |
| C．his devotion to music | D．Bruno Walter’s absence |
From the last paragraph, we can learn that __________.
| A．Leonard Bernstein was very clever |
| B．Leonard Bernstein’s parents worked hard |
| C．chances are important to a famous person |
| D．early interest led to Leonard Bernstein’s success |
What might be the best title for the text?
| A．Leonard Bernstein’s Debut | B．Leonard Bernstein’s Life |
| C．A Young Soloist | D．A Great Conductor |