Barack Obama became US President in January, 2009. Since then, the world has been watching him closely to see whether he keeps his promises about the economy(经济), foreign policy and health care.
But at home, he has also been under pressure from his two daughters to keep his promise: to give them a new dog as a gift for helping him with his election campaign(竞选活动).
On Tuesday the nation’s first dog, named Bo, came out. It is a six-month-old water dog which is black with a white chest and white paws(爪).
“Bo’s got star quality,” said President Obama as he and his family took a walk with the dog on the White House lawn(草坪) in front of reporters.
He then joked, “ I finally got a friend. It took some time,” mentioning a famous saying, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
【小题1】Barack Obama is ______ President now.

A．French

B．British

C．Russian

D．American

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT true?

A．The dog is called Bo.	B．The dog is six month old.
C．The dog is black and white.	D．The dog is all white.

【小题3】The dog is Obama’s gift to ______.

A．the reporters

B．his wife

C．his daughters

D．his sons

【小题4】What might the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?

A．It’s not easy to find a dog in Washington.

B．It’s not easy to find a friend in Washington.

C．Dogs aren’t friendly to man.

D．Man isn’t friendly to dogs.

I was in a strange city I didn’t know at all, and what’s more, I could not speak a word of the language. On my second day I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough, then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived, and even that I pronounced badly. I stopped to ask a newspaper-seller. He handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person.I asked was a policeman. He listened to me carefully, nodded and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I nodded politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.?
　　About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside. The only thing left for me to do was find the nearest railway station.
【小题1】The writer preferred to walk back to his hotel because.

A．he had no money to buy a ticket

B．he wanted to lose himself in the city

C．he tried to know the city in this way

D．it was late and there were no buses passing by

【小题2】From the story we know that the policeman______.

A．was kind but didn’t understand the writer

B．told the writer where to take a train

C．knew what the writer really meant

D．was cold-hearted and didn’t help the writer

【小题3】What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．The writer got close to the hotel where he stayed.

B．The writer got to the hotel with the policeman’s help.

C．The writer found he was much farther away from the hotel.

D．The writer found the hotel in the direction the policeman pointed.

【小题4】In your opinion, what was the writer’s real trouble?

A．He didn’t know the city at all.	B．He couldn’t speak the language.
C．He went too far in the wrong bus.	D．He followed the policeman’s direction.

I love it at night. It’s peaceful. And when it cools down I sometimes do some ironing. I don’t really care for it. I work full-time and too busy for most housework. I remember the old woman who taught me to iron. I was about 15 and somehow got a live-in job taking care of a woman who had been an able-bodied, healthy woman until the accident that caused her to be paralyzed（瘫痪）.
The woman had an electric wheelchair. She could move her head and arms but not her hands or fingers. She had this clamp（夹子）attached to her arm and I’d have to open it and put a cup or a pencil in it and then she could move it. She would tell me how to do things. She would instruct me in great detail on the correct way to do things. Her home was perfect and beautiful. She would follow me around in her electric wheelchair to make sure I did everything exactly right. I’m sure she had been a perfect homemaker. She would have me fold everything, including socks and pillow cases. I would complain silently and wish terrible things on her. She taught me the right way to make the bed and tuck （塞）the corners. I know sometimes she’d get frustrated and impatient with me. I knew she wanted to grab it and do it herself. But she never yelled or scolded. Only insisted I do it right. I didn’t like it much, but I did it.
Today I can iron pretty well. I know where to start on a shirt, the right way to do the collar and sleeves. Now that I think about it, I don’t think she is an old lady. I think she might have been about my age now. Anyway, when I iron, I think of her and silently thank her for all the things I learned.
【小题1】From the passage we can infer that the writer of the passage now is ________.

A．a housewife	B．a full-time worker
C．a clothes maker	D．a college student

【小题2】The writer used to take care of the lady because ______.

A．she wanted to learn how to do housework

B．she was a relative of the disabled woman

C．she wanted to earn some money while sleeping and eating there

D．she had to do something in return to the lady for her kindness

【小题3】When the lady taught the writer how to do housework, the little girl was ______.

A．eager to learn	B．unwilling to learn
C．forced to learn	D．careful to learn

【小题4】What’s the writer’s attitude towards the lady now?

A．Sympathetic

B．Fearful

C．Hateful

D．Grateful

Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My brother, mother and I live in a very rural district on the Big Island of Hawaii. Our farm is at least a dozen miles from the most basic of services. Consequently, we take weekly trips to COSTCO to procure fuel and supplies. About a month ago, we’d finished loading up the SUV and prepared to leave. As I settled into my seat, I glanced down at the roadside, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and read it carefully. Instantly, I was grateful I did.
The form turned out to be a receipt from the State Motor Vehicle Division, documenting the owners’ payment of their Vehicle’s Registration fees. Quickly, I put myself in their shoes and figured: no one would throw this out, especially if it was current. I also looked over the form for contact or any personal data, perhaps a license tag or telephone number. But that seemed impractical. Although the form had been born on the wind, where in the busy, crowded parking lot would I find the owners? Had it been lying there for a few minutes or a week? So I checked the date, the fees paid, noted the names of the owners and pocketed the receipt. Recalling the parable of the Good Samaritan, I concluded that the best and easiest step to take was to put the form in an envelope addressed to the couple and send it to them by post. Further, I imagined how crazy I’d be if I had misplaced my receipt. Much easier to attempt returning it than to leave them angry, upset, etc. over the loss.
By the end of the week, I received a beautiful thank-you letter from a very grateful and happy couple containing a hand written message and a gift card to use at any Starbuck’s. In her note, the wife explained how a gust of wind snatched their receipt from a pocket in her car’s passenger door. They had panicked and searched crazily for quite some time before giving up. It felt great to know I’d helped someone avoid a major loss by doing something that at first glance seemed minor or even unimportant.
【小题1】What did the author really mean when he said “Instantly, I was grateful I did.”?

A．He was lucky to notice the paper on the roadside.

B．He was happy to do shopping in the district for it was convenient.

C．He was right to pick the paper up because it was important.

D．He was thankful to pick up the paper because he found it for a long time.

【小题2】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the short passage?

A．I rode my car to COSTCO to buy supplies a month ago.

B．The receipt was out of date, so the owner threw it away.

C．I waited on the roadside for the receipt owner for half a day.

D．I called up the owner to take back the receipt.

【小题3】The author decided to give the paper back to the owner because ______.

A．it was useless for him

B．he knew the owner was upset about losing it

C．the owner asked him to do so

D．he knew the owner would reward him for it

【小题4】Which would be the best title for this passage?

A．How I helped the couple	B．The loss of an important receipt
C．The owner of the receipt	D．Little things still mean a lot

It was only 5 o’clock in the morning. The house was quiet and Tim' s mother was still asleep. Only the sound of the big freezer broke the quiet. He’d dreamt of the cave last night. The purring (轻微颤动声) of the freezer had been the sea.                                         
Tim pulled on a sweater and put some apples into his schoolbag. It was too early for breakfast. He' d eat after he' d been through the cave, sitting on the rocks and staring at the sea.
He wished he had a proper pack. His schoolbag would have to do. What else? Sandwiches-but his mother might wake up if he started pulling out bread for sandwiches, she’d want to know why he had to leave so early. He settled for some biscuits, and left a note stuck to the table:
Gone to Michael’s. Back tonight, Tim.
The sky was high and soft and light outside, though the sun still wasn't up. Even the highway up the hill was quiet as he made his way down the street. The wind from the sea was fresh and sweet.
The sand hills still breathed heat from yesterday’s sun, though the top of the sand was cool. He ran down to the beach impatiently, but there was no one, just dry sand dancing in the early wind and seabirds marching up and down watching the waves.
The light changed suddenly. The first rays of sunlight stretched (延伸) across the sea. The sun was pushing its way over the edge of the world.
Over the first rocks, along to the point, Tim glanced back. The beach was still empty. The sun sailed higher in the sky.
He could see the cave now, even darker in the morning light. The sand turned silver then dark gold as the water flowed away from it. He had to force himself to go closer. Why was it so much more mysterious (神秘的) now? But it would be silly to go back now after so much trouble. He needn't go in all the way...
【小题1】What did Tim do at the beginning of the story?

A．He put a sweater in his schoolbag.	B．He left the house quietly.
C．He had breakfast at home.	D．He left a note on the freezer.

【小题2】"He settled for some biscuits” (in Paragraph 3 ) means that Tim_______.

A．had to take biscuits instead of sandwiches

B．liked biscuits better than sandwiches

C．had to leave the biscuits on the table

D．could only find some biscuits in the kitchen

【小题3】 What made it possible for Tim to see the entry to the cave?

A．The height of the first rocks.	B．The ups and downs of the waves.
C．The vast stretch of the sunlit beach.	D．The change in the position of the sun.

【小题4】In the story, Tim’s mood changed from_________.

A．loneliness to craziness	B．anxiousness to excitement
C．eagerness to nervousness	D．helplessness to happiness

Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn't exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.
　　One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
　　Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.
　　On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was astonished to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin's grand entrance for a long time!
【小题1】The text is mainly about_________.

A．a strange man	B．how roller skating began
C．an unusual party	D．how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century

【小题2】People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he________.

A．often gave others surprises	B．was a gifted musician
C．was full of imagination	D．invented the roller skates

【小题3】Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to_______.

A．test his invention	B．arrive at the party sooner
C．impress the party guests	D．show his skill in walking on wheels

【小题4】What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?

A．Merlin succeeded beyond expectation.

B．The party guests took Merlin for a fool.

C．The roller skates needed further improvement.

D．Merlin regretted what he had done

When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter(炼铜厂), and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was “No.”
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren't any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. He was told everyone knew that even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn't get his idea accepted.
Paul later got married and had some kids. But, his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the plain common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow(誓言) he made to himself as a child.
【小题1】When Paul was a boy, _________.

A．he had decided never to leave his hometown

B．the economy of Utah depended on the copper smelter

C．he had determined to stop the copper smelter polluting the area

D．no laws were made to protect the environment against pollution

【小题2】Why did Paul go to college to study the science of plants?

A．He wanted to find out the best way to save the area himself.

B．He was interested in planting trees since he was young.

C．He wanted to get more knowledgeable people to help him.

D．He thought his knowledge would make his advice more persuasive.

【小题3】What does the underlined phrase “the plain common sense” in paragraph 5 probably refer to?

A．That his normal work and life would be greatly affected.

B．That it was impossible for trees to grow on the wasteland.

C．That no one would like to join him in the efforts.

D．That he had to keep everything he did secret.

【小题4】The message of the passage is that ___________.

A．perseverance(持之以恒) will work wonders

B．action speaks louder than words

C．God helps those who help themselves

D．many hands make light work.

Prince Roman was a Polish nobleman, a captain in the army of Czar Nicholas of Russia. When his young wife died, the prince left the army and returned in sorrow to his native Poland.
In time, love for his country and its people took the place of his lost love. He joined a Polish rising against the Russians. The rising was crushed, and Prince Roman was taken prisoner. His relatives and friends begged the military court to have mercy on him.
The president of the court received these appeals kindly. He was a good Russian, but he was also a good-natured man. Russian hatred of Poles was not as fierce at that time as it became later; and the Russian felt sympathetic as soon as he saw the prince's thin, tired, sun-burnt face.
The court of three officers sat in a bare room, behind a long black table. Some clerks sat at the two ends, but no one else was there when the guards brought in the prince.
Those four walls shut out from Prince Roman all sights and sounds of freedom, all hopes of the future, all comforting thoughts. How much love for Poland remained in him then? How much love of life? He stood before his judges alone, having refused their permission to sit. He answered their first formal questions — his name and so on — clearly and politely although he felt too weary to talk.
Then the president of the court seemed to suggest how the young man could best help himself. He asked questions in a way that almost put the right answers in the prisoner's mouth.
“Didn't your wife's death drive you to despair? Wasn't your mind unbalanced by that sad event ?”
Prince Roman was silent.
"You were not fully responsible for you conduct, were you?"
Prince Roman was silent.
"You made a sudden blind decision to join the rising. You didn't realize that your actions were dangerous and dishonourable. Isn't that the truth of this unfortunate matter?"
The judges looked at the prisoner hopefully. In silence the prince reached for a pen and some paper. He wrote, "I joined the rising because I believe it was just." He pushed the paper towards the president, who took it and read it in silence.
Prince Roman was sentenced to hard work for life in the Siberian salt mines. It was a sentence of delayed death.
When Czar Nicholas read the report and sentence, he added in his own handwriting, "Make sure that this prisoner walks in chains every step of the way to Siberia."
【小题1】What does the passage tell us of Poland at the time?

A．Polish officers in the Russian army had to return to Poland.

B．Russia was at war with Poland, so the Poles were enemies.

C．The Russians were very cruel rulers of Poland.

D．It was ruled by Russia, and Poles served in the Russian army.

【小题2】How much love for Poland remained in the prince when he stood trial?

A．Not much, probably, after the failure of the rising.

B． More than he had ever felt before.

C．As much as he had ever felt.

D．The passage doesn't suggest an answer to the question.

【小题3】The questions which the president asked show that ______.

A．he was trying to find excuse for the prince's conduct

B．the court wanted the prince to admit his own guilt

C．he wanted to learn the truth about the Polish rising

D．Prince Roman was a weak person

【小题4】In the trial, Prince Roman ______.

A．was afraid to be responsible for his actions

B．blamed others for his actions

C．accepted responsibility for his actions

D．admitted his guilt

【小题5】According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．The judges were less sympathetic than Czar Nicholas.

B．Czar Nicholas was as kind as the judges.

C．Czar Nicholas was not as sympathetic as the judges.

D．The judges were as cruel as Czar Nicholas.

Helen Keller was born in America in June, 1880. Everything was all right when she was born. But when she was 19 months old, an attack of fever left her blind and deaf for the rest of her life. She was so young when she became blind that as she grew older she did not remember being able to see; and she became deaf before she had any idea of the importance of human speech. She lived in darkness and silence.
As she grew older, she, too, wanted to express her ideas and feelings. But she realized she was cut off from others. Her parents were greatly worried. How could anyone make touch with Helen’s mind and intelligence in darkness and silence without speech? Helen was nearly seven before a teacher was found. Her name was Miss Sullivan.
Miss Sullivan had a lot of difficulties in teaching Helen Keller. As the child could neither see nor hear, she had to use manual alphabet. But Helen’s energy and intelligence and strong spirit as well as Miss Sullivan’s skill and patience, overcame all the difficulties. As Helen grew up, she became an able student, passed examination and finally took a university degree in English literature. She then devoted all herself to helping the blind and the deaf. Her personal success, together with the work she had done for others, made her one of the greatest women in modern times. She wrote many books and “The Story of My Life”is a wonderful one.
【小题1】Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Helen Keller was born blind and deaf.

B．She first became blind and then deaf.

C．She became blind and deaf in 1880.

D．She became blind and deaf sometime about January 1882.

【小题2】Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A．Helen became blind and deaf because she suffered from a high fever.

B．Helen became blind before she could see anything.

C．Helen became deaf before she realized how important it was to be able to hear and speak.

D．Helen, too, wanted to touch with others with speech.

【小题3】Helen was finally successful mainly because of______.

A．her parents’ help

B．the manual alphabet Miss Sullivan used in teaching her

C．the help she got when she was studying for a university degree

D．her hard work, cleverness and will-power as well as Sullivan’s great efforts

【小题4】Helen Keller finally became______.

A．an able student

B．a writer

C．the greatest woman in modern times

D．a student who took a university degree in English literature

【小题5】Helen Keller’s parents were greatly worried because___.

A．She was growing older

B．She was cut off from others

C．she, too, wanted to express her ideas and feelings but she could not

D．she was almost seven years old and yet they were not sure whether they could find a suitable teacher for her

Twenty-six years after a terrible bicycle accident left her comatose（昏迷） for two months and with permanent brain injuries, Barbara Buchan, performs many actions more slowly than others. But on September 10 in Beijing, Buchan, at 52, the oldest member of the United States Paralympic team, broke the record and won the gold medal for her disability class in the individual 3,000-meter cycling pursuit.
“You can be very upset at the world and have everyone take care of you,” Buchan said by telephone from Beijing, “or get back on your feet again.”
Buchan first dreamed of Olympic gold at age 15 while watching the 1972 Munich Games. She became a top American cyclist by July 1982, when a terrible road-race crash injured her brain and left doctors doubtful about whether she would survive. She was wearing only a soft leather helmet at the time; her accident made the rule put into practice that cyclists wear the hard-shell helmets that are now common.
Buchan recovered enough of her athletic ability to run track in the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, where she won a silver medal in the 800 meters. Women’s cycling was not included in the Paralympics yet, so Buchan trained to the point where she raced against men in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia — she finished 9th and 10th in two races — and then successfully fought for a separate women’s cycling program beginning in 2004 in Athens, where she did not get a medal.
Even though she was approaching her 50s, Buchan kept racing and again made the United States Paralympic team for Beijing — where she is twice the age of most of her teammates and competitors.
“Barbara’s almost the leader of our team — she’s been through it all,” said Craig Griffin, the United States cycling coach. “She’s never retired. She’s never let her body go and then come back. I don’t think age is as big of a deal as people make it out to be.”
【小题1】According to the passage, after the accident,  ____________.

A．Buchan asked her friends to take care of her

B．cyclists started to wear helmets in competition

C．Buchan could not answer questions correctly

D．doctors doubted whether Buchan could come back to life

【小题2】What’s the right order of the events related to Buchan?
a. She won a gold medal in Beijing.
b. She became a top American cyclist.
c. She won a silver medal in the 800 meters.
d. She suffered a terrible bicycle accident.
e. She took part in a cycling program in Athens.

A．c-d-b-a-e

B．b-c-d-a-e

C．b-d-c-e-a

D．c-b-d-e-a

【小题3】What does the underlined phrase “get back on your feet” in the second paragraph mean?

A．rise to your feet	B．walk on your way
C．go beyond yourself	D．depend on yourself

【小题4】Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A．The Making of a Hero	B．From a Loser to a Winner
C．All Roads Lead to Rome	D．Health is Better than Wealth