Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived at the White House after serving as First Lady of Arkansas for twelve year. On many occasions, Hillary Clinton has spoken about the need to find the right balance in our lives. For her, the elements of that balance are family, work, and public service.

Hillary Diane Rodham was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 26, 1947. An excellent student. Hillary also enjoyed sports and was always interested in politics. Graduating from Wellesley College with high honors, she entered Yale Law School, where she developed her special concern for protecting the best interests of children and their families. It was there that she met Bill Clinton, a fellow student.

In 1973, Hillary became a lawyer for the Children’s Defense Fund. In 1975 Hillary left Washington and followed her heart to Arkansas, marrying Bill Clinton. The couple taught together in the University of Arkansas. Their daughter. Chelsea, was born in 1980. As First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary continued to work tirelessly for the benefit of children and families. She introduced a program training parents to work with their preschool children. Because of her efforts, Hillary was named Arkansas Mother of the Year in 1984. Hillary Rodham Clinton brings her own special talents, experience, style and interests to the role of First Lady of the US. She played a leading part in national Health Care Reform.

Hilary Clinton was elected to the US Senate (参议院) in 2000, becoming the first Lady elected to public office and the first female senator to represent New York. In 2006, Senator Clinton won re-election to the Senate, and in 2007 she began her historic campaign for President. In 2008, she campaigned for the election of Barrack Obama and Joe Biden, and in November, she was chosen by President elect Obama as Secretary of State.

1．What do we know from the first paragraph?

         A．Hillary Rodham Clinton never finds it hard to balance herself in life.

         B．Family, work and public service are all important to Hillary Clinton.

         C．The experience as First Lady of Arkansas led her to the White House.

         D．Before entering the White House, Hillary had worked for the First Lady. 

2．Why did Hillary leave the Children’s Defense Fund?

         A．Because she wanted to marry Bill Clinton who was in Arkansas.

         B．Because she married Bill Clinton and had to move to Arkansas.

         C．Because she found she fell in love with Arkansas.

         D．Because she was offered a better job in the University of Arkansas.

3．Where did Bill Clinton get his high education?

         A．At Wellesley College.

         B．At the Children’s Defense Fund.

         C．At the University of Arkansas.

         D．At Yale Law School.

4．Which is the right order of the following events?

    a. Hillary was elected to the United States Senate.

    b. Hillary was chosen as Secretary of State.

    c. Hillary served as the First Lady.

    d. Hillary supported Obama in his presidential election.

    e. Hillary began her campaign for President.

         A．c, a, e, d, b         B．c, e, d, b, a         C．a, e, c, b, d         D．b, e, c, d, a

 

“My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively. For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony of a century’s prosperity. One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.

But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends be needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world. It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.

Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks. It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor, and a fallen Martin Luther King Jr. on the hard balcony of a Memphis motel. When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to posterity from the Eastman Kodak Company.

In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people. Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take stilted pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the sacred and precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.

And it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that familes cherish.  Kodak let the fleeting moments of birthdays and weddings, picnics and parties, be preserved and saved. It allowed for the creation of the most egalitarian art form. Lovers could take one another’s pictures, children were photographed walking out the door on the first day of school, the person releasing the shutter decided what was worth recording, and hundreds of millions of such decisions were made. And for centuries to come, those long dead will smile and dance and communicate to their unborn progeny. Family history will be not only names on paper, but smiles on faces.

The cash flow not just provided thousands of people with job, but also allowed the company’s founder to engage in some of the most generous philanthropy in America’s history. Not just in Kodak’s home city of Rochester, New York, but in Tuskegee and London, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bankrolled two historically black colleges, fixed the teeth of Europe’s poor, and quietly did good wherever he could. While doing good, Kodak did very well. Over all the years, all the Kodakers over all the years are essential parts of that monumental legacy. They prospered a great company, but they – with that company – blessed the world.

That is what we should remember about the Eastman Kodak Company.

Like its founder, we should remember how it lived, not how it died.

History will forget the small men who have scuttled this company.

But history will never forget Kodak.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is to blame for the fall of Kodak?

A．The invention of easy digital photography

B．The poor management of the company

C．The early death of George Eastman

D．The quick rise of its business competitors

2.It can be learnt from the passage that George Eastman         .

A．died a natural death of old age.

B．happened to be on the spot when President Kennedy was shot dead.

C．set up his company in the capital of the US before setting up its branches all over the world.

D．was not only interested in commercial profits, but also in the improvement of other people’s lives.

3.Before George Eastman brought photography to people,             .

A．no photos has ever been taken of people or events

B．photos were very expensive and mostly taken indoors

C．painting was the only way for people to keep a record of their ancestors.

D．grandparents never knew what their grandchildren looked like.

4.The person releasing the shutter (Paragraph 5) was the one        .

A．who took the photograph

B．who wanted to have a photo taken

C．whose decisions shaped the Eastman Kodak Company

D．whose smiles could long be seen by their children

5.What is the writer’s attitude towards the Eastman Kodak Company?

A．Disapproving

B．Respectful

C．Regretful

D．Critical

6.Which do you think is the best title for the passage?

A．Great Contributions of Kodak	B．Unforgettable moments of Kodak
C．Kodak Is Dead	D．History of Eastman Kodak Company

 

Famous centenarians (百岁老人) still active in arts, science are in no mood to retire. "Those who stand still, die," is one of Oliveira's favorite phrases. He knows from experience what it means, as the Portuguese film director has reached the age of 102 and is still active in his profession. Every year, Oliveira shoots a film and is currently working on his next project. "You have to work, work, work in order to forget that death is not far away," he said. When asked about his age, Oliveira said with some humility: "It's down to mother nature. It gave to me what it took from others."

   Being both mentally and physically fit in old age is partly a matter of luck, but it also has something to do with character. Not every white-haired person is wise and social skills, openness and the ability to train the brain are essential for senior citizens.

   Along with the architect Oscar Niemeyer (103), Nobel laureate Montalcini (101) and director Kurt Maetzig (100), Oliveira is one of those people of whom it would be very wrong to think as members of a listless elderly generation.

   Another master in his profession is the architect Oscar Niemeyer. The 103-year-old Brazilian is best known for his futuristic-looking buildings in Brasilia, but he also speaks out on behalf of the poor. "The role of the architect is to struggle for a better world where we can develop a form of architecture that serves everyone and not just a privileged few," said Niemeyer recently. He spends almost every day working in his office in Copacabana, and even when he falls ill he keeps working on ideas: After a gallbladder (胆囊) operation he composed a samba tune (桑巴舞曲) in the clinic.

   Another man who could sing a song about age is 107-year-old Heesters. The Dutch-born opera singer spent most of his life performing in Germany, where he still works. Recently Heesters said: "I want to be at least 108-years-old." He also plans to keep performing. "Should I just sit at home and wait until they come and pick me up?" Heesters has not given up trying to add to his tally of awards and is looking for a "good stage role".

   Italian scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini, who is 101-year-old and is still active in medical science, has described the force that keeps driving her on: "Progress is created through imperfection." In 1986 she and her lab colleague were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work on nerve growth factor. She's convinced that humans grow on challenges.

   With so many brilliant examples given, we can see clearly that age is no barrier to some high achievers.

1.From the first two paragraphs, we can see ______.

  A. being active at 102 is achievable for everybody

  B. Oliveira owes his long life to his mother’s help

  C. being fit in old age is a matter of luck and character

  D. social skills and wisdom are difficult for the senior

2.How many centenarians are mentioned in this passage?

  A. 4          B. 5            C. 6           D. 7

3.By saying "Should I just sit at home and wait until they come and pick me up?” in Paragraph 5, Heesters shows us he ________.

  A. wants to sit or lie in comfort

B. is waiting for people to pick him up

  C. is willing to work till he dies

D. prefers to give performance at home

4.In the passage so many examples were given to show ________.

  A. old age is a big problem if you want to succeed

  B. as a senior citizen, you have to be open-minded and optimistic

  C. old people should never think of themselves as old

  D. old age cannot prevent a great person from achieving a lot

5.In the writer’s opinion, the architect Oscar Niemeyer is not ________.

 A. intelligent       B. pessimistic          C. positive             D. diligent

 

Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge(报复)of the Nerds. They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book. They are not good at social communication and look clumsy while doing sports.
How, then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres?
Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School. She also sings in the choral group, serves on the student council and is a member of the mathematics society. For two years she has maintained A’s in every subject. Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque. He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair, and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station. Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony, he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes, plus bonus points for A’s in two college-level courses.
How do super-achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer. “Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students, ” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super-achieving students.“Knowing how to make the most of your innate(天生的)abilities counts for more. Much more.”
In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ. For them, learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down.
Hard work isn’t the whole story, either.“It’s not how long you sit there with the books open, ” said one of the many-A students we interviewed.“It’s what you do while you’re sitting.”Indeed, some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates.
The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn.
【小题1】The underlined word “nerds” can probably be________ .

A．dull bookworms lacking sports and social skills

B．successful top students popular with their peers

C．students with certain learning difficulties

D．born leaders crazy about social activities

【小题2】What can we conclude from the first paragraph?

A．Most TV programs and films are about straight-A students.

B．People have unfavorable impression on straight-A students.

C．Everyone knows about straight-A students from TV or films.

D．Straight-A students are well admired by people in the society.

【小题3】Some students become super-achievers mainly because_________ .

A．they are born cleverer than others

B．they work longer hours at study

C．they make full use of their abilities

D．they know the shortcut to success

【小题4】What will be talked about after the last paragraph?

A．The interviews with more students.

B．The role IQ plays in learning well.

C．The techniques to be better learners.

D．The achievements top students make.

【小题5】What can we infer from the passage?

A．IQ is more important than hard work in study.

B．The brightest students can never get low grades.

C．Top students certainly achieve all-around developments.

D．Students with average IQ can become super-achievers.

Research shows that much of our predisposition （倾向） towards determination, sociability and self - control and sense of purpose is in our genes．In fact, our DNA plays a bigger role in influencing these traits （ characteristics）than our upbringing （儿童期的教养）and the company we keep．Taken together, these aspects of personality can make the difference between success and failure, say the Edinburgh University researchers．        

They questioned more than 800 pairs of twins about their attitudes to life to tease apart the influences of nature and nurture．Comparing identical twins, who share all their DNA and their up bringing, with non-identical twins, who have a shared background but are no more genetically alike than other brothers and sisters, is a technique often used by researchers to quantify the influence of genetics．

The results, published in the Journal of Personality, showed that genes play a much bigger role than lifestyle, with self-control particularly etched （铭刻） into our DNA．                   

Our genes a222so largely determine how determined and persistent we are．This is important in terms of success, as someone who refuses to give up is more likely to achieve their dreams than someone who throws in the towel at the first hiccough．

Researcher Professor Timothy Bates said, "Ever since the ancient Greeks, people Lave de hated the nature of a good life and the nature of a virtuous life．Why do some people seem to manage their lives, have good relationships and cooperate to achieve their goals while others do not? Previously,  the role of family and the environment around the home often controlled people' s ideas about what affected psychological well-being．However, this work emphasizes a much more powerful influence from genetics．"

However, those who haven' t been dealt a helpful hand of genes shouldn' t he too depressed．The professor says a sense of purpose is the key and advises those who are eager for success to focus their thoughts on making a difference．

1.What does the result of the research indicate?

A．Our DNA is the only factor to decide our traits．

B．Our DNA plays a decisive role, in achieving success．

C．Education plays little part in the formation of our character．

D．Society has Little effect on us in our personality．

2.The underlined part in Paragraph 4 refers to someone who                ．

A．is born successful	B．determines to make a difference
C．makes great effort	D．admits defeat easily

3.Timothy Bates mentions the ancient Creeks in order to indicate that          ．

A．some people can live a good life because they can manage their lives

B．people haven't made it clear yet what is the key personality trait（持点,特征） to be a success

C．in ancient Greece the role of family and the environment was ignored

D．the relationship between personality and success has always been people's concern

4.According to the passage, the key personality trait is            ．

A．determination

B．kindness

C．politeness

D．sociability

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A．How do people work hard?	B．Why can some people succeed?
C．DNA determines success or failure	D．Several factors determine personality