I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated (controlled) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space, time and the nature of black holes.

At 19, when I began studying astrophysics (天体物理学), it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement—jobs, research papers, awards—was viewed through the lens of gender politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus right brain, or nature versus nurture (培育), I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.

Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations (挑衅): I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.

Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t take account of those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant (怀孕的) doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.

59．From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would attribute (把……归因于) the author’s failures to ________.

　　A. the very fact that she is a woman

B. her involvement in gender politics

C. her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist

D. the burden she bears in a male-dominated society

60．What did the author constantly fight against while doing her Ph.D. and post-doctoral research?

A. Lack of confidence in succeeding in space science.

B. Unfair accusations (accusing sb.) from both inside and outside her circle.

C. People’s fixed attitude toward female scientists.

D. Widespread wrong understanding about nature and nurture.

61．Why does the author feel great satisfaction when talking about her class?

A. Female students no longer have to bother about gender issues.

B. Her students’ performance has brought back her confidence.

C. Her female students can do just as well as male students.

D. More female students are pursuing science than before.

62．What does the image that the author presents to her students suggest?

A. Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation.

B. Women have more difficulties on their way to academic success.

C. Women can balance a career in science and having a family.

D. Women now have fewer problems pursuing a science career.

I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the American society until I was injured in a car accident. After the accident, I had to see a doctor and go to court. When the accident happened, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and decided to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He said he had good reason to charge me and that if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me to find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every time I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report only contained ten lines, and it cost me $215.
My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to fire him. And he made me pay him $770.
Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Because of my inexperience, I told the insurance the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time … and I left without getting a cent.
My experiences taught me two things about America: firstly, in a country like America, money is everything. It is more important than friendship, honor or professional morality; secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated. So when we talk about America, we should see both its advantages and disadvantages.
【小题1】 The author’s roommate offered to help him because ________.

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36～55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

Once the King of India was ill and sent for his doctor. The doctor came,  36  him and said, “You will be well soon in a few days if you take bull’s milk.” The King was  37  , for he had never heard of a bull that gave milk. “How is it  38  ?” he asked.

“Order Gulbo to get it for you,” answered the doctor, “He can do anything.” Gulbo was a person with great knowledge and was  39  to the doctor. So the doctor thought this would be a way of making him  40  . When the King told Gulbo what the doctor said and  41  him to get bull’s milk, Gulbo  42  understood what the doctor was trying to do.

When he got home, he sat thinking how to get out of the  43 . His daughter, seeing him worried, asked what was the  44 . On hearing what the King had asked for, she said, “don’t  45  , Father, I will help you.”

The next day she took some old clothes, went to the bank of the river near the palace, and chose a place  46  the King’s bedroom window. In the middle of the night, she started to do her washing. She made so much noise  47  the King could not sleep. The King got very angry and sent a guard to  48  what was the matter. The soldier found the girl, and led her to the King. “Why do you wash your clothes here at night?” said the King.

The girl  49  to be afraid and said, “I had to wash clothes at night. This afternoon my father had a baby, I was  50  all day because of that. Then I found there were no clean  51  for the baby, so I had to come and wash them now.”

“What!” cried the King. “Are you trying to make a  52  of me? I have never heard of man having a baby.”

“Well, if the King himself orders someone to get bull’s milk for him,  53  can’t a man have a baby?”

The King smiled and said, “You must be Gulbo’s  54 . Go and tell your father that he may keep the bull’s milk for his  55.”

1.                A．checked        B．tested          C．judged   D．examined

2.                A．pleased        B．surprised       C．touched  D．moved

3.                A．possible        B．impossible       C．usual D．unusual

4.                A．a friend        B．an enemy       C．a neighbor D．a patient

5.                A．suffer          B．happy          C．angry D．laugh

6.                A．begged         B．ordered        C．decided  D．demanded

7.                A．suddenly       B．certainly        C．immediately   D．directly

8.                A．chance         B．situation        C．position  D．difficulty

9.                A．matter         B．wrong          C．thing D．problem

10.               A．frighten        B．worry          C．doubt D．fear

11.               A．above          B．on            C．below D．under

12.               A．but            B．when          C．as    D．that

13.               A．find out        B．get out         C．take out   D．bring out

14.               A．began          B．looked         C．became   D．pretended

15.               A．busy           B．free           C．surprised  D．anxious

16.               A．food           B．clothes         C．boxes D．something

17.               A．trick           B．joke           C．friend D．fool

18.               A．why           B．how           C．who  D．what

19.               A．girl            B．daughter       C．wife  D．friend

20.               A．daughter       B．son            C．girl   D．baby

I knew I couldn’t let my worries spoil my daughter’s fun. There was nothing I could do for Mom except pray, I thought. We left the house and went down the block. I was so upset that I hardly took notice of the kids around me. There came the man to whose son I’d once given piano lessons. “Hello there,” I said, greeting him and the boy at his side.
“Hello,” the father answered. “Having fun?”“I’m trying,” I said. “Why, what’s wrong?” he asked. I told him the whole story. “My mother, in China, broke her leg and didn’t understand any of the doctors. And I’m too far away to do anything!” I said.
He raised his eyebrows. “Beijing, you said?” he asked. I nodded. He smiled. “Believe it or not, my sister is a doctor at an English-speaking hospital there. If you want, I’ll make a call right away and we’ll try and get your mom transferred (转移).”
A few days later I sat in the living room with my daughter as she finished the last of the candy. “Mommy, how far away is China?” she asked. “Not as far as I thought,” I said.

1. 1.

   What did the author’s daughter want to do?

   1. A.
      Pray with the author.
   2. B.
      Enjoy herself outside.
   3. C.
      Play a trick on her mom.
   4. D.
      Go to the theatre to see a play.
2. 2.

   What was the author’s mother worried about most?

   1. A.
      She couldn’t get used to the life in Beijing.
   2. B.
      She was hurt in the leg badly while travelling.
   3. C.
      She was too old and weak to pray for her daughter.
   4. D.
      She couldn’t make herself understood by the doctor.
3. 3.

   The author hardly took notice of the kids around because _____ .

   1. A.
      she was calling her mother
   2. B.
      she felt very sad at that time
   3. C.
      she was about to give a lesson
   4. D.
      she couldn’t find her daughter
4. 4.

   We can infer from the text that _____ .

   1. A.
      the man’s sister would help the author’s mother
   2. B.
      the author would come to China to see her mother
   3. C.
      the author was a famous music teacher in the town
   4. D.
      the author’s daughter wanted to travel in China

One day, Jack threw some papers on my desk. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Next time you want to change anything, ask me first,” he said, and left. I had made just one small change. But it’s not that I hadn’t been warned. My colleagues had said he was responsible for the resignations of the two previous secretaries. As the weeks went by, I came to look down on Jack.

         After another of his episodes had left me in tears I stormed into his office. “what?” he said suddenly. “Jack, the way you’ve been treating me is wrong. I’ve never had anyone speak to me that way. As a professional, it’s wrong for me to allow it to continue,” I said. Jack smiled nervously, “Susan, I make you a promise that I will be a friend. I will treat you as you deserve to be treated, with respect and kindness.”

        Jack avoided me the rest of the week, and never questioned my work again. I brought cookies to the office one day and left some on his desk. Another day I left a note: ”Hope your day is going great. ” Over the next few weeks, there were no more Jack episodes. One year later

I discovered I had breast cancer, and was scared. The statistics were not great for my long-term survival.

         One day, however, Jack visited me in the hospital and silently handed me a bundle with several bulbs inside. “Tulips(郁金香),” he said. I smiled, not understanding. “If you plant them when you get home, they’ll come up next spring. I think you will be there to see them when they come up. Next spring you will see the colours I picked out for you.” Tears clouded my eyes and he left. I have seen those red and white striped（有条纹的） tulips push through the soil every spring for over ten years now. This past September the doctor declared me cured. At a moment when I was praying for just the right word, a man with very few words said all the right things. After all, that’s what friends do.

1.Jack became angry that day because__________.

A. he was feeling unwell

B. Susan had failed to keep his office clean

C. he felt Susan changed too much about the papers

D. Susan had changed something without his permission

2.Susan stormed into jack’s office to tell Jack that__________.

A. he wasn’t worthy of respect

B. he should apologize to her right away

C. she would treat him the way he treated her

D. one should show others respect and kindness

3.Which of the following describes Susan?

A. Moody but firm.

B. Shy and demanding

C. Confident and friendly.

D. Tough and troublesome.

4.From the passage, we can conclude that__________.

A. Jack cares about his employees

B. Jack gets along well with his employees

C. Jack is always particular about his work

D. Jack doesn’t care about the feelings of others

5.We can infer from the passage that__________.

A. a friend in need is a friend in deed

B. a few words can be as meaningful as many

C. a friend who says little must be a good friend

D. we must treat disrespectful people with disrespect