The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues (瘟疫) that flesh receives. The most widespread fallacy (谬误) of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one.
If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
　　During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches (战壕) cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds. In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp (奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.
　　At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be dipped with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
　　If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
　　No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain-killer pills such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms.
【小题1】How many examples are offered by the writer to support his argument?

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.
So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.
It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.
【小题1】According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A. are lack of care　　　　　B. are watered      C. are weeded out　　　　　D. are beaten

According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A. “Seeing is believing”                                    B. “Put everything in proper use”

C. “Practice makes perfect”                               D. “No pain, no gain”

The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A. strong　　                      B. strange　　       C. deep　　                        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B. I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C. I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D. I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A Nice Doctor  B. The Deep Roots  C. Adversity and Suffering  D. My Childhood Memory

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A. are lack of care　　　　　B. are watered      C. are weeded out　　　　　D. are beaten

According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A. “Seeing is believing”                                    B. “Put everything in proper use”

C. “Practice makes perfect”                               D. “No pain, no gain”

The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A. strong　　                      B. strange　　       C. deep　　                        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B. I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C. I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D. I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A Nice Doctor  B. The Deep Roots  C. Adversity and Suffering  D. My Childhood Memory

What I Want for You and Every Child in America

　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　 by President-Elect Barack Obama

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you’ve both had a lot of 　1 these last two years during the campaign, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that although you are both excited about that new puppy(幼犬), it doesn’t 2 for all the time we’ve been apart. I know 3 I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me--about how I’d 4 my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my 5 　with all your curiosity and mischief （捣乱） and those smiles that never 6 to fill my heart and light up my day. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. That’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools 7 of their potential---schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill （灌输） in them a sense of 8 about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college 9 their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them have time to spend time with their own 10 .

I want us to 11 back the boundaries(界限) of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach 12 the divides(分水岭) of race and region, gender and religion that 13 us from seeing the best in each other.

That was the 14 your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for 15 because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean 16 .

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better and that the 17 work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It’s a duty we pass on to our children.

These are the things I want for you--- to 18 in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach. And I want every child to have the same 19 to learn and dream and grow that you girls have. That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you 20 you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, confidence, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Love, Dad

1. A. play　　　　　　 B. fun　　　　　　 C. pain　　　　　　 D. gain

2. A. take up　　　　　 B. pick up　　　　 C. make up　　　　　 D. put up

3. A. how much　　　 B. how many　　　 C. how soon　　　　 D. how long

4. A. lose　　　　　　 B. make　　　　　 C. take　　　　　　　 D. walk

5. A. world 　　　　　 B. family　　　　 C. position　　　　　 D. place

6. A. succeed　　　　 B. come　　　　　 C. tend　　　　　　　 D. fail

7. A. worth　　　　　 B. worthless　　　　 C. worthwhile　　　　 D. worthy

8. A. humor　　　　　 B. hatred　　　　　 C. wonder　　　　　 D. sadness

9. A. even if　　　　 B. as if　　　　　　 C. as long as　　　　 D. if

10. A. friends　　　　 B. kids　　　　　　 C. boys　　　　　　 D. girls

11. A. rush　　　　　 B. catch　　　　　 C. push　　　　　　 D. pull

12. A. to　 　　　　 B. in　　　　　　 C. into　　　　　　　 D. beyond

13. A. keep　　　　　 B. let　　　　　　 C. make　　　　　　 D. warn

14. A. way　　　　　 B. method　　　　　 C. means　　　　　 D. lesson

15. A. quantity　　　 B. quality　　　　　 C. equality　　　　　 D. quarter

16. A. everything　　 B. something　　　 C. anything　　　　　 D. nothing

17. A. unfinished　　 B. finished　　　　 C. unfinishing　　　　 D. finishing

18. A. wake up　　　 B. grow up　　　　 C. come up　　　　　 D. get up

19. A. difficulty　　　 B. barriers　　　　 C. anxiety　　　　　 D. chances

20. A. rather than　　 B. other than　　　　 C. less than　　　　 D. more than