I was born and raised in the shadow of the Capitol(美国国会大厦), in Washington, D.C., as were my parents and my mother’s parents.

Our row house was on a tree-lined street just blocks from the building that was the heart of the federal legislative branch. When I was a child, in the 1940s, friends and I would pack a lunch or ride a streetcar to the Capitol. If we roller-skated, we hid the skates in the bushes in the park across the street before entering the building.

I knew every corner of the Capitol. We’d play hide-and-seek and pretend we saw ghosts in the halls and stairways. I don’t know how we got away with it. I remember the beautiful ladies’ rooms, with their marble floors and sinks. I pretended that I was a fine lady in them.

In those days, you could walk around the Capitol dome(圆顶屋), which was a little scary for me. I loved the wonderful paintings and statues and the subway rides to the Senate Office Building. It was like an amusement ride. I even used to sit in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives—until I became bored with all the talk and went on another adventure.

Whenever I ran up the steps to the huge bronze doors of the Rotunda, I would look back to the world below like a hero. As soon as the doors were opened, the sense of history surrounded me, and I knew it was someplace special.

Those were lucky days, when an American citizen could wander in the Capitol and be a part of history.

Once war was declared, some things changed in the nation’s capital. Because of concerns that Washington might be attacked, as London had been, everyone prepared. Kids at my elementary school wore dog tags, and each of us was fingerprinted.

My father, a pipe worker, became a civil defense warden(民防队员). During an air-raid(空袭), his job was to turn off any leaking gas. Since he always had a cigarette in his mouth, maybe that was not a good choice, but he had a gas mask and flashlight hanging in the rafters of our basement. The mask looked like a monster in the ceiling. My 15-year-old brother was a junior civil defense warden. During air-raid drills, he knocked on doors and asked people to put out their lights. I remember huge searchlights that crisscrossed the skies during the drills, looking for enemy planes.

What can we infer from the passage?

A. The writer attended the meeting in House of Representative.

B. The writer’s family lived in Washington D.C. for generations.

C. American citizen, except children, could never enter the Capitol.

D. The writer’s father had a gas mask to prevent him from smoking.

When the writer said “I was born and raised in the shadow of the Capitol” (1st paragraph),    she most probably meant that ________.

A. she spent her childhood in an area near the Capitol

B. she grew up under the pressure of the Capitol

C. the Capitol had some bad influence on my childhood

D. she was born and brought up secretly in the Capitol

By telling the childhood experience, the passage suggests that ________.

A. London was attacked during the war, as well as Washington

B. the writer is a daughter of a member of Representatives

C. the writer’s father and brother joined the army during the war

D. the Capitol used to be open to the public in history

What is the writer’s attitude towards the things that changed in the nation’s capital?

A. neutral                     B. positive             C. negative D. ironic

If you are planning to study in the United States, you need to consider several factors. Everyone has different opinions about where the best places to live in also; the best places to live are not always home to the best schools. Finally, many schools specialize in different areas of study. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, is a great school for computer science and technology-based fields of study, However, if you want to study oceanography, your interests may be better served by attending school in a place that is on a coastline or near the ocean.

Now I am sure that you know which schools are considered the best in the country. So I will tell you about which states I believe are the best to live in.

California is a nice state. Northern California specifically has very good weather. Los Angeles in southern California is another story though. Life in LA is full of excitement and fast, and sometimes—dangerous. As for me, I enjoyed the history and culture. The weather is not as perfect as California, but it is still quite nice. My favorite area of America is the Mid-west. Middle America, I think, is home to the true American sense of values. In addition, there are many good universities there.  

Also, you need to think about your likes and dislikes and then research the various states. You like sunshine and hate snow? Then you probably won’t like the Midwest or even the Northeast. Open space, nature and peace and quiet? Then you should stay away from America’s larger cities. Are you interested in government? Then Washington D.C. is the only place for you. Whatever you decided put some thought into it. The place you live could be the difference between a great study abroad experience and a state of great suffering on earth.

From the first paragraph we can conclude that in the U.S.A. __________.

all colleges and universities lie in big cities

all colleges and universities lie in beautiful places

famous colleges and universities lie in nice places

famous colleges and universities may not lie in nice places

What should be considered first if you want to study in the U.S.A.?

A. The climate.       B. The scenery.        C. The study condition.       D. The living condition.

If you study in Middle America, you can probably _______.

find the best universities

feel the real character of the nation

meet the most famous professors there

face more difficulty

From the last paragraph of this passage we can get to know that ________.

Washington is the largest city in the U.S.A.

Washington is the political center of the U.S.A.

you can’t find sunshine in the Midwest

you can’t find any universities out of big cities in the U.S.A.

He is a man of few words, and seldom speaks until _______ to.

A. spoken       B. speaking

C. speak  D. be spoken

A severely handicapped teenager who cannot walk,talk or hold a paintbrush has won a place at Oxford to study fine art.

Hero Joy Nightingale,16,who communicates through hand movements,is to be given assistants to paint and sculpt on her behalf.Her mother Pauline Reid “translated for” her daughter during interviews for the place at Magdalen College.

The teenager is the most severely handicapped student ever to be granted a place at Oxford.She suffers from “locked-in syndrome”,a profound apraxia caused by brain damage that renders her body useless and her voice mute.

She is unlikely ever to be able to walk,feed or care for herself but,thanks to the efforts of her mother,she can communicate.When Hero was four,Pauline devised a complicated system of hand gestures that equate to the alphabet.

A spokesperson for Oxford said,“The university welcomes applications from students with disabilities.In cases where students are profoundly disabled,there may be many issues that need to be carefully addressed before an individual can take up a place,such as establishing how the student can best be taught and examined.”

Hero,who suffers almost daily epileptic fits and has a hole in her heart,has not attended school since she was six.She has been taught at home by her mother and father,the pro-vice chancellor of Kent University.

Peter Giles,her art tutor until last year,said she has a genuine talent for art.“She is ferociously gifted.We would sit together and her mother would grab her daughter’s hand and then we would begin work,”he said.

Together,they built several modern sculptures from plaster and metal.“The instructions would take a while to decipher.But eventually,they would come,and eventually make sense.”

Hero’s classes will be held at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art.

Hero communicates with others _________.

A.through common hand movements

B.by typing words on computer

C.through a complicated system of hand gestures devised by her mother

D.by drawing pictures on a board

According to the passage,how does Hero paint or sculpt?

A.She instructs her assistants to paint or sculpt through hand movements.

B.She gives instructions,and her mother paints or sculpts following her instructions.

C.She paints or sculpts with her own hands.

D.She gives instructions,her mother “translates” them,and her assistants paint or sculpt according to the “translations”.

From the story we can infer _________.

A.Oxford welcomes any handicapped student who is good at fine art

B.Hero has not attended school since she was six

C.Hero is gifted in fine art

D.Hero is a strong-minded girl who loves life very much

Which of the following is NOT true?

A.Hero is the most seriously handicapped student ever to be admitted to Oxford.

B.Oxford will admit a disabled student without any requirements.

C.Hero has been taught by her parents at home for10 years.

D.Hero is not able to walk,talk or hold a paintbrush.

More than one million children in the United States do not go to school. Instead, they learn at home. Most often, their parents are their teachers. Educational companies, libraries and the Internet provide many families with teaching materials.

    Parents choose home schooling for several reasons. Some choose it because of their religious beliefs. Others say it provides more time for the family to be together. They say the home offers a better place for learning. Some parents believe home schooling avoids learning. Some parents believe home schooling avoids problems of national schools. Critics, however, say children need to attend school with other children.

    All fifty American states and the District of Columbia permit home schooling. Some states do not require much preparation by parents or testing of children. Other states have more requirements for home schooling. Home schooling in the United States began when the country was established. In farm areas, people often lived far from a school. Widespread home schooling took place until about the middle of the nineteenth century. Then, in 1852, the state of Massachusetts passed the first law requiring children to attend school.

    Over the years, the American public education system strengthened and grew. By the 1960s and 1970s, however, some Americans believed that traditional education was not helping their children. So a number of parents began home schooling.

    Home schooling expert Linda Dobson says many people have helped the movement grow. She says many kinds of people have joined the movement. These include rich people and poor people. They represent many races, religions and political beliefs. Ms. Dobson says the number of home-schooled children has increased an estimated fifteen to twenty percent each year during the last fifteen years.

Teaching materials for home schooling do NOT come from _______.

   A. parents                                  B. libraries       

C. the Internet                            D. educational companies

Which of the following is one of the reasons why parents choose home schooling?

A. it makes parents and their children have less time together.

  B. Some people have different religious beliefs from the others.

   C. It can’t provide a comfortable place for children to be in.

   D. There are too many students in a home classroom.

Home schooling was started in ________.

   A. the 1960s                 B. the 1970s       C. the 1850s          D. the 1776

Home schooling in the United States now is __________.

   A. facing many difficulties             B. struggling

   C. growing fast                      D. decreasing in large numbers