To take the apple as a forbidden fruit is the most unlikely story the Christians（基督教徒）ever cooked up. For them, the forbidden fruit from Eden is evil（邪恶的）. So when Columbus brought the tomato back from South America, a land mistakenly considered to be Eden, everyone jumped to be the obvious conclusion. Wrongly taken as the apple of Eden, the tomato was shut out of the door of Europeans.
What made it particularly terrifying was its similarity to the mandrake, a plant that was thought to have come from Hell（地狱）.What earned the plant its awful reputation was its roots which looked like a dried-up human body occupied by evil spirits. Tough the tomato and the mandrake were quite different except that both had bright red or yellow fruit, the general population considered them one and the same, too terrible to touch.
Cautious Europeans long ignored the tomato, and until the early 1700s most of the Western people continued to drag their feet. In the 1880s, the daughter of a well-known plant expert wrote that the most interesting part of an afternoon tea at her father’s house had been the “introduction of this wonderful new fruit—or is it a vegetable?” As late as the twentieth century some writers still classed tomatoes with mandrakes as an “evil fruit”.
But in the end tomatoes carried the day. The hero of the tomato was an American named Robert  Johnson, and when he was publicly going to eat the tomato in 1820, people journeyed for hundreds of miles to watch him drop dead. “What are you afraid of?” he shouted. “I’ll show you fools that these things are good to eat!” Then he bit into the tomato. Some people fainted. But he survived and, according to a local story, set up a tomato-canning factory.
【小题1】The tomato was shut out of the door of early Europeans mainly because ______.

The United Nations says more than 900 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat.Officials say 100 million more could go hungry this year because of the food and financial crises.

To deal with the situation，the UN World Food Program has started a project to help small farmers.These farmers are mainly women.Many cannot produce enough food even to feed and support their own families.

The new effort is called Purchase for Progress，or P4P.It aims to connect local farmers with dependable markets.That way，they could get a chance to sell their surplus (剩余) at competitive prices.P4P will be tested in as many as 21 countries during the next five years.

The biggest contributor to the project is Bill Gates，through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.Another donor (捐款者) is the Howard Buffett Foundation，led by a son of the American investor Warren Buffett.The government of Belgium is also supporting the project in a former colony (殖民地)，now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Together these donors have provided more than 76 million dollars for projects in Africa and Central America.

Purchase for Progress will work with United Nations agencies，governments and non?governmental organizations to help increase crop production.The World Bank Group and other partners are to help train farmers in better crop management and marketing skills.

The World Food Program says it expects to buy 40,000 tons of food in the first year using methods carried out by the project.That will be enough to feed 250,000 people.

P4P is expected to develop food cooperatives and long?term agreements for buying corn，wheat and other food crops.About 350,000 farmers could be assisted.

Officials say the project will change the way the World Food Program buys food in developing countries.Executive Director Josette Sheeran says this is the first time her agency will buy a large amount of food from small farmers.The agency has traditionally bought most of its food from developing countries，but through larger trading organizations.

1．From the passage，we know that________.

A．in all 900 million people worldwide lack food

B．a project has been started to help women farmers

C．there are only two donors to help the project

D．some farmers still cannot support their families

2．According to the passage，________will work hard to deal with the situation.

A．the United Nations

B．the combined efforts

C．some governments

D．some non?governmental organizations

3．Which of the following will NOT be done to help small farmers?

A．To donate money.

B．To reform the way of food purchase.

C．To provide them with food.

D．To buy a large amount of food from them.

4．What’s the best title for this passage?

A．Project to Help Small Farmers

B．Contribution to Small Farmers

C．Food Problems

D．P4P Is Being Carried Out

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

　 Driving to a store after a busy day at work, I saw a man standing near the store holding a sign that said, “Will work for food.” I knew at that moment that I was going into the store and 　1 him something to eat.

　 As I 　2 the car park, I saw in my car mirror a lady come out from a hairdresser’s and 3 the man. I thought she must be going to give him some 　4　 or something to help him out. In the store I was 　5 to get the things I needed and also the chicken dinner and a soda that I wanted to give the man outside. I hurried out to my car and 　6　 that I was going to be able to hopefully help this man.

When I drove out of the car park, I couldn’t see the 　7 . As I turned the corner I saw the man sitting in a 　8 area away from the hairdresser’s and still 9 up the sign. I immediately 10 over and gave the man the dinner and soda and said, “ 11 this will get you through today.” He looked at me and said, “Thank you so much!”

As I got back into my car, I looked in the 　12 and saw the man swallowing the dinner like he hadn’t eaten for days.

I was so 　13 that I was able to help him and at the same time I was so sad that the woman from the hairdresser’s, 　14 , had asked the man 　15　 from her shop. It’s sad to say that 　16 I live in a small city where homeless is not as 　17　 as in larger cities, people are uncomfortable with these people in 18 . All they need to do is lend a helping hand 19 and it could make a huge 20 in their lives

1. A. cook　　　　　　 B. buy　　　　 C. pay　　　　 　　 D. serve

2. A. turned into　　　　 B. got over　　　　 C. called at　　 　　D. pointed out

3. A, interview　　　　 B. comfort.　　　 C. blame　　　　 　　D. approach

4. A. example　　　　　 B. space　　　　　 C. money　　 　　D. comfort

5. A. preparing　　　　 B. hurrying　　　 C. hesitating　　 　　 D. planning

6. A. explained　　　　 B. wondered　　　 C. agreed　　　 　　 D. felt

7. A. man　　　　　 B. food　　　　 　　C. lady　　　 　　　D. sign

8. A. different　　　　 B. strange　　　　　 C. famous　　 　　　D. comfortable

9. A. making　　　　　 B. holding　　　 C. taking　　　 　　　D. building

10. A. turned　　　　　 B. thought　　　　 C. pulled　　 　　　 D. looked　　

11. A. Hopefully　　　　 B. Finally　　　　　 C. Luckily　　 　　　 D. Naturally

12. A. store　　　　　　 B. mirror　　　　　 C. square　　　 　　　 D. crowd

13. A. popular　　　　　 B. anxious　　　　 C. pleased　　　 　　　 D. patient

14. A. immediately　　　 B. obviously　　　 C. carefully　　 　　　 D. nervously

15. A. stop　　　　　　 B. suffer　　　　　 C. move　　　 　　　 D. change

16. A. whether　　　　　 B. because　　　　 C. though　　 　　　　D. unless

17. A. poor　　　　 　　 B. visible　　　　 C. selfish　　　 　　　 D. happy

18. A. danger　　　　　 B. action　　　　　 C. need　　　　 　　 D. moment

19. A. at times　　　　　 B. at the time　　　 C. at one time　　 　　　D. at a time

20. A. difference　　　　 B. mistake　　　　 C. decision　　　 　　　D. living