①Brain-injured boy set for ￡ 1.75m payout

　　A YOUNGSTER who was knocked off his bicycle by a taxi and left with a serious brain injury is set to be awarded ￡ 1.75 million.

　　Fourteen-year-old George Currie, from Dalkeith, was living in country Durham with his parents Allister and Paula at the time of the accident in September 1993.

　　George, who was then three years old, was riding his small tricycle along the pavement when he lost control and swerved on to the road into the path of an on-coming taxi.

　　The driver's insurance company has now ac cepted responsibility for the accident and New Castle County Court is expected to rule on the payout on Monday.

　　②Boating accidents reduce

　　Lee and Collier counties tied at No. 10 for boating accidents in Florida in 2004, an improvement for both.

　　But because the counties remained in the top 10 among Florida's 67 counties, safety continues to be a concern, officials said.

　　③Teens react to new law on driving permit

　　Lawmakers may hope to make teenage drivers drive more safely, but some local teens behind the wheel feel angry following the passing of Senace Bill 36 last week.

　　SB 36 is a law that limits times new teen drivers can drive and the number of passengers

　　④Road accidents take costly toll

　　Traffic accidents kill more than one million people each year, injure tens of millions more and cost developing countries twice as much as they receive in international aid, the leader of a research body said Wednesday.

　　The figures have led experts to form an international road safety network to choose the most important research areas, inform policy makers and help develop ways to prevent accidents, particularly in poor nations.

　　pavement: 人行道

　　swerve: 突然转

　　insurance: 保险.

　　Florida counties with the most accidents in 2004:

　　1．Monroe (98)

　　2．Palm Beach (65)

　　3．Pinellas (64)

　　4．Broward (59)

　　5．Miami-Dade (54)

　　6．Okaloosa (34)

　　7．Orange (24)

　　8．Bay (22)

　　9．Lee (21)

　　10．Collier (21)

(1) What does Passage ① tell us about the boy?

[　　]

A．He was injured in the head when he was 14.

B．He has waited for the payout for a long time.

C．He has lived in the same place since the accident.

D．He was run over by a taxi when riding on the pavement.

(2) What can we learn about Lee and Collier counties from Passage ②?

[　　]

A．They both became safe places.

B．They won the same place in race.

C．They had the same number of accidents.

D．They joined hands in reducing accidents.

(3) Which passage would give more information on the prevention of road accidents?

[　　]

　　Water costs money．In some places water is hard  16  ．What  17 when a town has these problems？A small town in California found a happy   18 ．

　　Very 19 rain ever fell there．The town had no water  20  ．The water it used was  21  from a river 300 miles away．As more people   22  live in the town，   23   water was needed．Now water   24  to be brought in from 600 miles away．All these cost  25  money．

　　The town 26 a plan．It found 27   to clean its “dirty” water．Once the cleaned water was reused   28  many ways．Five  29  lakes were built．Here people could swim and fish and go   30   ．They  31  have picnics in their new parks．Farmers had more water  32  their crops．New factories can be built，now that they have the promise of  33  ．

　　In most places，water is used and thrown 34  ．The town that saved  35  water has saved the town！

Using words

Match the words and phrases in Box A with their meaning in Box B.

　　　　　　A

1．transport　　6．stubborn

2．fare　　　　7．insist

3．graduate　　8．proper

4．cycle　　　　9．determine

5．persuade　　10．familiar

B

a．having a good knowledge of

b．take sth. /sb. from one place to another in a vehicle

c．decided not to give way; strong－willed

d．demand forcefully

e．suitable; correct

f．cause sb. to do. sth by giving reasons

g．complete an educational course

h．ride a bicycle

i．money charged for a journey by bus, ship, taxi, etc

j．decide

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.