任务型阅读(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)

请认真阅读下列短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。

注意:每个空格只填1个单词。

You may have heard the term “the American Dream”. In 1848, James W. Marshall found gold in California and people began having golden dreams. That 19th century “American Dream” caused the Gold Rush and gave California its nickname(绰号) of the “Golden State”.

The American Dream drove not only 1800s gold-rush prospectors (淘金者) but also waves of immigrants throughout that century and the next. People from Europe, and a large number of Chinese, arrived in the US in the 19th century hoping that in America they would find gold in the streets. But most, instead, worked as railroad labourers. They created the oldest Chinatown, in San Francisco, and gave the city a Chinese name “the old gold hill”.

In the 20th century, some critics (评论家) said that it was no longer possible to become rich through determination and hard work. Unfair education for students from poor families and racial discrimination (歧视) almost made the American Dream a nightmare (噩梦).

Then, in the 1990s, California saw a new wave of dreamers in Silicon Valley. People poured their energy into the Internet. This new chapter of the American Dream attracted many business people and young talents from China and India to form start-ups and seek fortunes in America.

Better pay, a nice house, and a rising standard of living will always be attractive. However, the new American Dream is no longer just about money. It encourages Americans to use money with a plan, protect the environment, raise the quality of life, and promote social justice.

The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has become the model of the new American Dream. After years of hard work, he grew from a poor young man from Austria into a movie superstar and then governor. Many people hope his story can save the American Dream and give California a brighter future.

 


Life (56)____

Kenya wants to organize a major international conference to discuss how to fight piracy(海盗) off the coast of Somalia. The conference may also deal with ways to rescue Somalia from seventeen years of civil war. More than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia’s political problems.

Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. The pirates have fast boats, modern weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems.

Pirates hijacked the Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya and moved it to waters off Somalia.

The tanker Sirius Star, at three hundred thirty meters long, is the biggest ship ever known to have been captured by pirates. It also happened farther south than most attacks, and farther out at sea ---- more than eight hundred kilometers from land.

The ship was headed for the United States with two million karrels of oil, worth an estimated one hundred million dollars. A Saudi Arabian company owns the tanker. The pirates have  reportedly demanded twenty-five million dollars in negotiations to release the ship and its crew of twenty-five.

Somali pirates generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members. Among the ships is a Ukrainian vessel hijacked(劫持) in September with a load of military weapons including tanks.

The increase in piracy is raising the cost of insuring ships. Also, oil from the Middle East and exports from East Asia could take longer to arrive.

Some of the world’s heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. One of the world’s biggest shippers, A.P, Moeller Maersk, says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden. A move away from the Suez Canal could hurt Egypt’s economy.

American and other foreign navy ships are now watching for pirates. This week the Indian Navy destroyed a heavily armed “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers.

56. According to the passage, which of the following is the key to solving the piracy in Somalia?

A. Providing lots of money.               B. Ending Civil war.

C. Supplying enough food.                D. Handling Somalia’s political problems.

57. Somali pirates do the following things except that _______.

A. they demand money                  B. they hold the ships with crew

C. they kill some of the hostages           D. they hijack ships with military weapons

58. What can we infer from the passage?

A. The cost of ship transport is decreasing.

B. The routes of some ships might change.

C. Nothing has been done to fight against the piracy.

D. The Suez Canal is of no importance to Egypt’s economy.

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