Twenty-six years after a terrible bicycle accident left her comatose（昏迷） for two months and with permanent brain injuries, Barbara Buchan, performs many actions more slowly than others. But on September 10 in Beijing, Buchan, at 52, the oldest member of the United States Paralympic team, broke the record and won the gold medal for her disability class in the individual 3,000-meter cycling pursuit.

“You can be very upset at the world and have everyone take care of you,” Buchan said by telephone from Beijing, “or get back on your feet again.”

Buchan first dreamed of Olympic gold at age 15 while watching the 1972 Munich Games. She became a top American cyclist by July 1982, when a terrible road-race crash injured her brain and left doctors doubtful about whether she would survive. She was wearing only a soft leather helmet at the time; her accident made the rule put into practice that cyclists wear the hard-shell helmets that are now common.

Buchan recovered enough of her athletic ability to run track in the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, where she won a silver medal in the 800 meters. Women’s cycling was not included in the Paralympics yet, so Buchan trained to the point where she raced against men in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia — she finished 9th and 10th in two races — and then successfully fought for a separate women’s cycling program beginning in 2004 in Athens, where she did not get a medal.

Even though she was approaching her 50s, Buchan kept racing and again made the United States Paralympic team for Beijing — where she is twice the age of most of her teammates and competitors.

“Barbara’s almost the leader of our team — she’s been through it all,” said Craig Griffin, the United States cycling coach. “She’s never retired. She’s never let her body go and then come back. I don’t think age is as big of a deal as people make it out to be.”

1.According to the passage, after the accident,  ____________.

A．Buchan asked her friends to take care of her

B．cyclists started to wear helmets in competition

C．Buchan could not answer questions correctly

D．doctors doubted whether Buchan could come back to life

2.What’s the right order of the events related to Buchan?

a. She won a gold medal in Beijing.

b. She became a top American cyclist.

c. She won a silver medal in the 800 meters.

d. She suffered a terrible bicycle accident.

e. She took part in a cycling program in Athens.

A．c-d-b-a-e          B．b-c-d-a-e          C．b-d-c-e-a          D．c-b-d-e-a

3.What does the underlined phrase “get back on your feet” in the second paragraph mean?

A．rise to your feet                        B．walk on your way

C．go beyond yourself                      D．depend on yourself

4.Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A．The Making of a Hero                    B．From a Loser to a Winner

C．All Roads Lead to Rome                   D．Health is Better than Wealth

 

 A few months ago as I wandered through my parents’ house, the same house I grew up in, I had a sudden, scary realization. When my parents bought the house, in 1982, they were only two years older than I am now. I tried to imagine myself in two years, ready to settle down and buy the house I’d still be living in almost 30 years later.

It seemed ridiculous. On a practical level, there’s no way I could afford to buy a house anytime soon. More importantly, I wouldn’t want to. I’m not sure where I’ll be living in two years, or what kind of job I’ll have. And I don’t think I’ll be ready to settle down and stay in one place.

So this is probably the generation gap that divides my friends and me from our parents. When our parents were our age, they’d gotten their education, chosen a career, and were starting to settle into responsible adult lives.

My friends and I – “Generation Y” – still aren’t sure what we want to do with our lives. Whatever we end up doing, we want to make sure we’re happy doing it. We’d rather take risks first, try out different jobs, and move from one city to another until we find our favorite place. We’d rather spend our money on travel than put it in a savings account.

This casual attitude toward responsibility has caused some critics to call my generation “arrogant”, “impatient”, and “overprotected”. Some of these complaints have a point. As children we were encouraged to succeed in school, but also to have fun. We grew up in a world full of technological innovation: cellphones, the Internet, instant messaging, and video games.

Our parents looked to rise vertically(垂直的)--starting at the bottom of the ladder and slowly making their way to the top, on the same track, often for the same company. That doesn’t apply to my generation.

Because of that, it may take us longer than our parents to arrive at responsible, stable adulthood. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our desire to find satisfaction, we will work harder, strive for ways to keep life interesting, and gain a broader set of experiences and knowledge than our parents’ generation did.                                                                              

By Ariel Lewiton

1.When the author walked through her parents’ house, she _______.

A．was frightened that she had no idea what she wanted from life

B．started to think about her own life

C．realized I should buy a house.

D．wondered why her parents had settled down early

2.What is the main “generation gap” between the author and her friends and their parents according to the article?

A．Their attitude toward high technology.

B．Their ways of making their way to the top.

C．Their attitude towards responsibility.

D．Their ways of gaining experience.

3.Which of the following might the author agree with?

A．It’s all right to try more before settling down.

B．It’s better to take adult responsibility earlier.

C．It involves too much effort to rise vertically.

D．It’s ridiculous to call her generation “arrogant”.

4.What can we conclude from the article?

A．The author is envious of her parents enjoying a big house at her age.

B．Growing up in a hi-tech world makes “Generation Y” feel insecure about relationships.

C．“Generation Y” people don’t want to grow up and love to be taken care of by their parents.

D．The author wrote this article so that others would be able to understand her generation better.

5.What is the main theme of the article?

A．The sudden realization of growing up.

B．A comparison between lifestyles of generations.

C．Criticisms of the young generation.

D．The factors that have changed the young generation.

 

Amusement parks make most of their money from admission fees paid by guests attending the park. Other sources include parking fees, food and drink sales and souvenirs. Practically all amusement parks operate using one of two admission principles:

     Pay-as-you-go In this form, a guest enters the park at little or no charge. The guest must then buy rides one by one, either at the attraction’s entrance or by buying ride tickets. The cost of the attraction is often based on its complexity (复杂性) or popularity. The park may allow guests to buy unlimited admissions to all attractions within the park. A pass is then shown at the attraction entrance to gain admission.

     Disneyland opened in 1955 using the pay-as-you-go form. Initially, guests paid the ride admission fees at the attractions. Soon, the problems of dealing with so many coins led to the development of a ticket system that, while now out of use, is still part of the amusement-park vocabulary. In this new form, guests bought ticket books that contained a number of tickets, with “A,” “B” and “C.” Rides and attractions using an “A-ticket” were generally simple, with “B-tickets” and “C-tickets” used for the larger, more popular rides. Later, the “D-ticket” was added, then finally the now-famous “E-ticket,” which was used for the biggest rides, like Space Mountain. Smaller tickets could be traded up for use on larger rides. Disneyland, as well as the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, gave up this practice in 1982.

The advantages include:

guests pay for only what they choose to experience

attraction costs can be changed easily

The disadvantages include:

guests may get tired of spending money almost continuously

guests may not spend as much on food or souvenirs

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Attractions of amusement parks

B. Admission fees of amusement parks.

C. Admission principles of amusement parks

D. Sources of income of amusement parks.

2.According to the pay-as-you-go principle, guests _____.

A. don’t pay at the gate of the park

B. must pay for each ride they take

C. have to pay for all rides in the park

D. needn’t pay after entering the park

3.According to the passage, what is the meaning of the underlined word “Initially” in Paragraph 3?

A. Gradually.    B. At the beginning.     C. At last.      D. Commonly.

4.What would be introduced following the passage?

A. The other admission principle

B. Amusement parks’ earnings.

C. Some other admission principles

D. Users of the pay-as-you-go principle.

 

（2011·山东卷）C

  Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21-year-old twin sons: a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart.

  “I have two kids in college, and I want to say ‘come home,’ but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education,” says Jacobs.

The Jacobs family did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid from the schools, and each son increased his borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program. They will each graduate with $20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to finish school.

    With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear more families like the Jacobs. More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans. College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around.

    At the same time, tuition（学费）continues to rise. A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147%. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade,

    “If we go on this way for another 25years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education,” says Patrick M. Callan, president of the center. “The middle class families have been financing it through debt. They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt.”

    Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them. The good news, however, is that federal loans account for about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted.

67. How did the Jacobs manage to solve their problem?

    A. They asked their kids to come home.

    B. They borrowed $20,000 from the school.

    C. They encouraged their twin sons to do part-time jobs.

    D. They got help from the school and the federal government.

68. Financial aid administrators believe that _______.

    A. more families will face the same problem as the Jacobses

    B. the government will receive more letters of complaint

    C. college tuition fees will double soon

    D. America’s unemployment will fall

69.What can we learn about the middle class families from the text?

A. They blamed the government for the tuition increase.

B. Their income remained steady in the last decade.

C. They will try their best to send kids to college.

D. Their debts will be paid off within 25 years.

70.According to the last paragraph, the government will       .

A. provide most students will scholarships

B. dismiss some financial aid administrators

C. stop the companies from making student loans

D. go on providing financial support for college students

Growing up is not always easy. When facing difficulties, courage and a spirit of independence can be more useful than crying for __36___! That’s what Hong Zhanhui’s story of__37__ boy to man with family hardships tells us.

Hong was born in 1982 in a poor family in Xihua County, Henan Province. When he was ___38___ 11, his father became mentally ill and one day came back with an abandoned baby girl. A year later, Hong’s mother and younger brother both ___39__home because of poverty and pressure from his sick father.

Their burdens fell onto the 12-year-old’s shoulders: to treat his father’s illness, to ___40___ the adopted sister Chenchen, and to go on to study.

Hong didn’t __41___ . Since a young age, he has worked in part-time jobs to feed his family. At the same time, he has studied at college. To take care of Chenchen , he worked hard to___42__a room near his campus for her, and send her to school.

After Hong’s story went public, people were ___43___to tears by his unselfishness. Hard __44__ his life was, Hong didn’t abandon his father and the adopted ___45__, because they needed his help. With his hard-won money, he even aided other students ___46__against misfortunes.

Today when many tend to worry more about their own happiness, Hong’s deeds ___47__ us of what we usually neglect: Love and care for others. Without these, ___48___ of us could survive.

Hong ___49__ donations from others. He said that he felt encouraged by kind offers, but he could ___50__ his own work. Short of money to buy food, the boy climbed tall trees to get birds’ eggs for his baby sister. He walked two hours at weekends to buy different things to ___51__ around his school to earn money. Through his hard life, the boy developed ___52___ against misfortune that made him a hero in people’s eyes.

Hong’s story shows that with love and willpower, no hardship can ___53__ a person but himself. So when facing difficulties, don’t ___54__ about bad luck. Consider what more you could do for your family and society ___55___ you’ll find the world smiling back.

1.	A．money B．food C．clothes D．help

2.A caring          B. growing     C. moving      D. turning

3.	A．only B．already C．ever D．still

 

4.	A．stayed B．went C．sold D．left

 

5.	A．bring up B．turn to C．stick to D．devote to

 

6.	A．give away B．give up C．run out D．turn down

 

7.	A．build B．rent C．but D．paint

 

8.	A．encouraged B．moved C．inspired D．made

 

9.	A．as B．because C．unless D．while

 

10.	A．brother B．daughter C．sister D．uncle

 

11.	A．struggling B．learning C．standing D．turning

 

12.	A．left B．remembered C．reminded D．told

 

13.	A．any one B．every one C．none D．no one

 

14.	A．threw away B．turned out C．gave off D．turned down

 

15.	A．depend on B．stick to C．refer to D．turn to

 

16.	A．show B．eat C．sell D．share

 

17.	A．a chance B．an ability C．a spirit D．a belief

 

18.	A．bury B．defeat C．win D．knock

 

19.	A．worry B．care C．complain D．joke

 

20.	A．and B．when C．while D．until