A maths talent who won fame this week for giving up a million?dollar prize is living with his mother in a simple flat in St Petersburg，co?existing on her ￡ 30?a?month pension，because he has been unemployed for many years.

The Sunday Telegraph tracked down the strange recluse(隐士) who shocked the maths world when he solved a century?old puzzle known as the Poincaré Conjecture.

Grigory Perelman's trouble comes from a split with a leading Russian mathematical institute，the Steklov，in 2003.When the Institute in St Petersburg failed to re?elect him as a member，Dr Perelman was left feeling an “absolutely ungifted and untalented person”，said a friend.He became unconfident and cut himself off.

Other friends say he cannot afford to travel to the International Mathematical Union's congress in Madrid，where many people want him to receive the maths equivalent(等价物) of the Nobel Prize，and that he is too modest to ask anyone to pay for his trip.

Interviewed in St Petersburg，Dr Perelman insisted that he was unworthy of all the attention，and was uninterested in the prize.“I do not think anything that I say can be of the slightest public interest，” he said. “I am not saying that because I value my privacy，or that I am doing anything I want to hide.There are no top?secret projects going on here.I just believe the public has no interest in me.”

He continued: “I know that self?promotion happens a lot and if people want to do that，good luck to them，but I do not regard it as a positive thing.I realized this a long time ago and nobody is going to change my mind. Newspapers should be more discerning(有洞察力的) over who they write about.They should have more taste.As far as I am concerned，I can't offer anything for their readers.”

Dr Perelman has some small savings from his time as a lecturer，but is apparently unwilling to increase them with the D＄1 million offered by the Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge，Massachusetts，for solving one of the world's seven “Millennium Problems”．

1．Grigory Perelman lives with his mother because ________.

A．he has to look after her

B．his mother has a million dollars

C．he has been out of work for a long time

D．he is badly paid at the mathematical institute

2. The phrase“absolutely ungifted and untalented person”shows that Dr Perelman felt ________.

A．angry　　　　　　　　　　B．discouraged

C．proud　　　　　　　　　 D．confident

3．Grigory Perelman refused to accept the prize because ________.

A．he thought the prize was worthless

B．he didn't believe the news

C．he couldn't afford to travel to Madrid

D．he showed no interest in it

4．From the passage, we can infer that Grigory Perelman ________.

A．solved the most difficult maths problem

B．has a strong personality

C．wanted to make himself known to all

D．didn't get on well with the press

5．What's the best title for the passage?

A．Great Mathematician Leads Simple Life

B．Maths Genius Abandons a Million?dollar Prize

C．Mathematics Institute Offers Grigory D＄1 Million

D．One of the World's Seven “Millennium Problems” Solved

Tracy Wong is a well-known Chinese-American writer. But her writing ___36___ was something she picked up by herself. After her first____37____, teaching disabled children, she became a part-time writer for IBM. ___38___, writing stories was simply a ___39___. interest. Tracy sent three of her stories to a publisher(出版商).___40____, they immediately suggested that she put them together to make a single one long___41___and paid Tracy a $ 50,000 advance. "A pretty money," said the publisher, "for___42____writer.”

      ___43___Traey's characters(人物) are interesting, her stories sometimes___44___readem uneasy: those about the supernatural. "My mother believed I could___45___the afterlife world," she told a close friend. "She used to have me speak with my grandmother, who died many years ago."

      "Can I? I don't think I can," Tracy said with a laugh. "But l do have___46___ when things come to me___47___. " Once, she was wondering how to complete a ___48___set in ancient (古代的) China. ___49___the doorbell rang. It was a FedEx delivery man, with a copy of a book on Chinese ___50___. It came without her having ___51___it.

     Though she has published 10 books, Tracy has remained ___52___by her fame. She lives in the same ___53___she lived 27 years ago - although in a mom comfortable home. There' s more room for___54___in her life - and it wasn’t just ___ 55___.

Tracy Wong is a well-known Chinese-American writer. But her writing ____ was something she picked up by herself. After her first____, teaching disabled children, she became a part-time writer for IBM. ____, writing stories was simply a ____ interest. Tracy sent three of her stories to a publisher. ____, they immediately suggested that she put them together to make a single one long ____ and paid Tracy a $ 15,000 advance. “A pretty money,” said the publisher, “for ____ writer.”

   ____ Tracy’s characters are interesting, her stories sometimes ____ readers uneasy: those about the supernatural. “My mother believed I could ____ the afterlife world,” she told a close friend. “She used to have me speak with my grandmother, who died many years ago.”

      “Can I ? I don’t think I can,” Tracy said with a laugh. “But I do have ____ when things come to me ____. “Once, she was wondering how to complete a ____ set in ancient China. ____ the doorbell rang. It was a FedEx delivery man, with a copy of a book on Chinese ____. It came without her having ____ it.

     Though she has published 45 books, Tracy has remained ____ by her fame. She lives in the same ____ she lived 27 years ago — although in a more comfortable home. There’s more room for ____ in her life — and it wasn’t just __ __.

1.A. skill             B. experience                      C. practice    D. method

2.A. duty          B. effort                        C. job                  D. task

3.A. Instead                  B. Normally        C. Certainly             D. Then

4.A. general                 B. deep             C. personal             D. lively

5.A. Interested              B. Anxiously         C. Seriously             D. Encouraged

6.A. film            B. story             C. program              D. article

7.A. a foreign                B. a popular         C. an unusual           D. an unknown

8.A. Now that      B. Even though              C. Just because D. Except that

9.A. find                     B. turn                         C. leave                D. hold

10.A. make up                B. connect with     C. control              D. explain

11.A. events         B. chances               C. feelings             D. moments

12.A. for no reason   B. from a distance               C. by accident         D. as gifts

13.A. description            B. condition                C. scene              D. talk

14.A. Surprisingly            B. Suddenly                  C. Expectedly          D. Fortunately

15.A. cooking      B. history            C. play                  D. medicine

16.A. known         B. sent              C. realized    D. ordered       

17.A. unchanged            B. excited                      C. determined          D. unmoved     

18.A. life                    B. city             C. house              D. way

19.A. success      B. work                         C. joy                  D. variety

20.A. writing         B. reporting                   C. luck                    D. fun

Tracy Caulkins is known as the first American to set an American record and win an American title in each of four swimming strokes（泳姿）: breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, freestyle.
Tracy Caulkins was born in Minnesota and lived in Iowa until she was six. She began swimming when she was eight, after the family had moved to Nashville, Tennessee. While unwilling at first to swim in cold water or get her face wet, she began to train in earnest (认真地) as her talent became clear. Though her father worked for the public schools, the family sent her to a private school when the public schools could not accommodate (适应) her training schedule.
At age 13, Tracy Caulkins took part in the trials(选拔赛) for the 1976 Olympics, but did not make the team. She continued to win national and international titles, and was disappointed in 1980 when the U.S. didn’t attend the Moscow Olympics. She continued to train and compete.
In 1981, Tracy Caulkins began college, graduating in 1985. In college, she continued competing and training, though she had slowed down from her peak (顶峰) years.
Caulkins trained especially hard for the 1984 Olympics, and not only made the team, but was captain of the swim team and at Los Angeles, won three gold medals and was named Sportswoman of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee. After that she retired from swimming, and was a commentator (解说员) for swimming events as well as taking advantage of her fame to do business.
Tracy Caulkins married Australian swimmer, Mark Stockwell, in 1991, their romance having begun at the 1984 Olympics when he jumped into a warm-up pool to introduce himself. They married in Nashville and moved to Australia, where they had three children. Caulkins continued to be professionally involved in sports.
【小题1】Tracy Caulkins was sent to a private school because _____.