Recently the World Health Organization announced that the disease of smallpox（天花）had almost been wiped out in most parts of the world, thanks to widespread vaccination（种牛痘）. Most people are vaccinated at least once in their lives and if they wish to travel from one country to another they must be able to prove that they have had a recent vaccination. In this way the disease has been prevented from spreading and today one seldom hears of it at all.
This is mainly because of the great discovery made by a village doctor, Edward Jenner, in about 1798 when he published his report of his new experiment called vaccination (from the word ‘vacca’ meaning a cow). Jenner discovered that people who worked with cattle often suffered from a harmless disease which they caught from the cattle, but these people never seemed to get smallpox. So he experimented by putting the disease into a small opening on the arms of healthy people, and though their arms became painful for a day or two, they soon recovered and none of these people ever got smallpox.
So the news of the wonderful discovery spread to other countries and people
rushed to their doctors to be vaccinated. In many countries the simple way to deal with the arm was done on thousands of people, and the terrible smallpox began to disappear.
71．Vaccination against smallpox has been so successful that _________ .
A．the discoverer made a large amount of money
B．Dr Jenner was given a prize by the World Health Organization
C．smallpox has almost disappeared in most countries
D．smallpox was no longer in existence on earth
72 ．Smallpox has been prevented from spreading through the following measures EXCEPT that _____.
A．most people were vaccinated against the disease at least once
B．people going abroad should promise not to spread the disease
C．people travelling from one country to another must prove they
are vaccinated
D．people must be vaccinated shortly before going to foreign countries
73 ．What led Dr Jenner to experiment with vaccination was that ________ .　
A．he wanted to make a great discovery and publish it
B．vaccination could make people's arms safe
C．he tried to cure the farmers of some disease caught from the cattle
D．those who worked with cattle seemed free from getting smallpox
74．The doctor's new discovery was called ‘vaccination’ for the reason that ________ .
A．he discovered smallpox near a farm
B．he experimented with a disease from the cattle
C．he was working with cattle in the countryside
D．people got the disease of smallpox from the cattle
75．The news of the discovery ________.
A．caught people's attention from all corners of the world
B．spread far and near in the western countries
C．made people rush to Dr Jenner for vaccination
D．helped to get rid of the terrible disease of smallpox

My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. At this rate he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. Nothing worked.

One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and pleaded for help.“

Please God, I can’t do anything more for my son.  I’m at the end of my rope. I’m

giving the whole thing up to you.” I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absences.” Before he could say another word, I choked up and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. “I love my son but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It’s out of my hands.” For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, “Thank you for your time”, and hung up.

Karl’s next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he even made the honor roll. In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were astonished at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I nodded. “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That’s when I knew I had to make you proud.”

By saying “Karl became withdrawn”, the author means that the boy changed entirely and ______.

A. preferred to stay alone at home       B. lost interest in his studies

C. refused to talk to others    D. began to dislike his mother

There was silence on the other end of the line because______.

A. the speaker was too moved to say anything to the mother

B. the speaker waited for the mother to finish speaking

C. the speaker didn’t want the mother to recognize his voice

D. the speaker was unable to interrupt the mother

The sentence “he even made the honor roll means that______”.

A. he was even on the list to be praised at the parent-teacher meeting

B. he was even on the list of students who made progress in grades

C. he was even on the list of students who had turned themselves around

D. he was even on the list of the best students at school

What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Children in single-parent families often have mental problems.

B. Mother’s love plays an important role in teenagers’ life.

C. Being understood by parents is very important to teenagers.

D. School education doesn’t work without full support from parents.

His report was so exciting that it was   __    interrupted by applause（掌声）.

A. constantly                  B. constant                  C. seldom                       D. never

This is a dangerous world we live in．The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc．You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper． But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little．

   This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous．For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide．This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors（肿瘤）, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once．After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth．The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background．

   The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said．When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths．Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view．For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe．Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike．When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics．If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s．To be warned is to be prepared．

1.In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?

         A．We are now living in a dangerous world．

         B．We get a lot of false statistics from the media．

         C．Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things．

         D．There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc．

2.Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?

         A．To argue that high school students are easily persuaded．

         B．To show the danger of reporting only part of the information．

         C．To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous．

         D．To warn us of the harmful substance around us．

3.Relative information is often left out because__________．

         A．Relative information is not that important．

         B．too much information will make readers feel confused．

         C．the author is trying to show what he or she says is true．

         D．readers are not able to analyze so much information at once．

4.What can we learn from the passage?

         A．We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides．

         B．Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world．

         C．The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control．

D．Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong．

Peanuts to This

Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes． Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher． Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself． “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task． This was the first real talk I received in my new school． It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington． Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before． As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America． I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant． I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip （掷） a coin． Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy． Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver．

Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost． Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong． As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution．” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

Obviously, my grade was awful． Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around． I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade． I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance． Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year． Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster’s office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation． I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade． Justice is sweet!

1.What did the author’s classmates think about his report?

2.Why was the author confused about the task?

3.The underlined word “burning” in Para． 3 probably means _______．

4.In the end, the author turned things around _______．