There’s a modern African proverb I like to use when explaining why I feel it is so important to give back to my homeland：“When you take the elevator (lift)up to reach the top, please don’t forget to send the elevator back down, so that someone else can take it to the top. ”
As a young man, I was given a wonderful opportunity to pursue an education in the United States at Georgetown University. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would lead to a career in the NBA, which has allowed me to send the elevator back down to my people in Africa.
Africa has been described as a continent that is dying, a continent that is suffering, a continent that needs help.
It breaks my heart every day to think of all the children growing up in poverty (贫困), and without a sense of hope.
But there is hope. It’s hard for me to describe my feelings when I think about what NBA players are doing to spread good will to people all over the world, but especially in Africa.
I’ve waited so long for such a moment －seeing more NBA players participating and devoting their time and energy for the youth of the African continent. There’s nothing that brings more joy to my heart than this.
The kids that we were working with come from such deep suffering. Some have never even left their village before. To get an opportunity to board a plane and travel to another country to take part in Basketball without Borders, to meet and interact with NBA players and coaches, is like a dream come true. They got to eat wonderful meals. They’re given a uniform and basketball shoes. Some of them are so overwhelmed, they don’t even know what to say.
Pete Babcock, who was general manager of the Atlanta Hawks when I played for them, told me in all his years around basketball, he has never received as many thank you as he did in Africa. When I hear something like that, I feel such a deep sense of pride, because I know how truly appreciative these kids are for this experience.
(1)
What can we learn about the author?
[ ]
A．
He dreamt of being a NBA player when he was young.
B．
He has made a lot of contributions to his homeland.
C．
He has trained several famous African basketball players.
D．
He wants the African people to remember what he has done for them.
(2)
What the author has expected most is that ________.
[ ]
A．
he will return to his homeland after he is retired
B．
more and more African children get trained in Africa
C．
the African people can survive from poverty by themselves
D．
his NBA fellows are able to do something for the African youth
(3)
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
[ ]
A．
All the African kids have never left their hometown.
B．
The author still plays basketball for Atlanta Hawks.
C．
Pete Babcock has been to Africa to help the people there.
D．
All the NBA players and coaches are eager to talk with African kids.
(4)
The underlined word “overwhelmed”in Paragraph 7 means “________”.
TALLMANSVILLE, W．Va．-Eleven miners who died in the Sago disaster could have walked out alive had they known that there was healthier air less than 2,000 feet away, the head of the mining company told NBC News in an interview aired on zMonday-exactly a week to the day that the men sat trapped in the mine awaiting rescuers who arrived too late for all but one survivor．
”They were headed into an unknown,” International Coal Group CEO Ben Haield said．“They had no way of knowing how big, how disastrous the explosion was．In hindsight, if they had known that the smoke was only extremely dense in an area of perhaps 1,000 or 1,500 feet, yes they could have moved to fresh air, yes they could have survived, but they had no way of knowing that．”
”It’s over two miles to the outside and they no doubt would have been concerned that they can’t walk through two miles of smoke,” he added．“If they had known that it was only 1,500 or 42,000 feet of smoke certainly they could have come on out and yes they could have been saved．”
Haield called it a tragedy that was”unavoidable and horribly sad” because the miners, even though they had breathing devices, did exactly what they had been taught to do：hunker down(蹲下)and wait for rescuers．
Crews did not know the location of the miners while they awaited rescue and had no way to communicate with them．
The men appeared to have died after about 10 hours and the rescuers only arrived after about 40 hours．Eleven men died awaiting rescue, one died in the blast that caused the disaster and a 13th survived．
(1)
Which of the following is the most suitable headline for this news report?
[ ]
A．
Mine explosion kills twelve．
B．
Fallen miners were not far from safety．
C．
International Coal Group CEO expresses condolences on(衰悼)death of miners．
D．
Fear of walking long distance leads to death．
(2)
The underlined word”dense” in Paragraph 4 means ________．
[ ]
A．
poisonous
B．
harmful
C．
light
D．
thick
(3)
The underlined paragraph implies that ________．
[ ]
A．
some safety knowledge may mislead victims in a particular situation
B．
all the trapped miners could have survived if they had not hunkered down
C．
to avoid similar tragedies, it is better not to teach miners what to do in case of danger
D．
the miners’ ignorance of proper safety measures lead to the tragedy
(4)
Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
[ ]
A．
One miner survived the accident by moving to fresh air on his own．
B．
The trapped miners did not walk out to safety because they could not tell their location．
C．
The only survivor was rescued around 40 hours after the explosion．
D．
Twelve miners died after sitting trapped in the mine for about 10 hours．
阅读理解
I received pictures of my daughter floating(漂浮)on a lake in California．Right there under the sun during the hottest time of the day, she has only her swimsuit to cover her．
When I showed it to my students, it was as if I had shown them scenes from a horror(恐怖)movie．
“But she will get dark,”they said．
“That's what she wants,”I told them．“We think darker skin(肤色)is beautiful．”
They looked at me in disbelief．It was as if I came from the moon．
For years, American girls spend their summer trying to get as tanned(晒黑)as possible．In China, on the other hand, girls use umbrellas all year round．
What in the world is going on?
The pale skin we think looks unattractive(不漂亮)is what Asian women want．Both groups want to meet their culture's standard(标准)of beauty．
In the US, if you can afford to go on vacation in the summer, you head for a river, a lake or a beach, where you try to get as much sun as possible．If you are rich you take a winter vacation in some sunny spot．Your winter tan shows your wealth．
In China, once upon a time, the few wealthy were the ones who didn't have to work out in the hot sun．So the whiter the skin, the richer the woman．The folk opera performers who play these ladies wore lots of white makeup(妆容)．The tradition survives to this day．
So it comes naturally that none of my students wishes to follow the Western ways in this regard．
But now I am noticing that a new business-the tanning booth(美黑店)-started up in China．I admire those brave enough to define(给…下定义)their own idea of beauty, but I do wonder what their grandmothers would have to say to them about it!
(1)
The students were shocked at the picture the writer showed them because ________．
[ ]
A．
they thought it shameful for a girl only to wear a swimsuit
B．
the writer's daughter was wearing very little while out in the sun
C．
it is dangerous for a girl to be out on a lake alone
D．
with the powerful sunlight the writer's daughter would have got a suntan
(2)
According to the article, which kind of woman meets the American standard of beauty?
[ ]
A．
Women with blond hair．
B．
Women with a slim figure．
C．
Women with tanned skin．
D．
Women with pale skin．
(3)
In the US a winter tan usually means the person ________．
[ ]
A．
is hard-working
B．
doesn't have to work
C．
has a lot of money and spare time
D．
is from a very poor family
(4)
The writer ________ the tanning booth started up in China．
