New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate and enter the new year with a smile on your face. This year, there’re plenty of local activities for all ages and interests, so the smiles will come easily.
BLUE CONCERT
Blues band the Coyotes is playing at the Dance Barn,at 8 Barn View in Sudden Valley, The show will start at 9 p. m. and benefit the charity Bikers Fighting Cancer. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Call 224-2308 for more information.
NEW YEAR’S LAUGHS
Ring in the New Year and laugh out the old one at the Upfront Theatre Comic improvisers will hit on all the highlights of the year with The Last Laugh of 2008. The 9 p. m. show will cost $15 and is open to all ages. The 11 P. m. show is to 21 and older and costs $18, which includes a champagne (香槟酒) toast. Call 733-8855 for more information.
MAZE
For a fun activity earlier in the evening,walk the labyrinth (迷宫) at the Leopold Crystal Bellroom. Wander through the maze, based on the French Chartres Cathedral, for free from 4 to 9 P. m. Call 752-0048 for more information.
COUNTRY DANCING
At the Bellingham Eagles Hall, live local music will help get the dance started at 8 p. m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and free for kids 12 and younger. For more information, call 676-1554.
【小题1】In what way do these activities have in common?

A.They’re all held in the same day.
B.They’re all held by the same organization.
C.They’re all organized for children.
D.They’re all about the dancing and music.
【小题2】Which of the following activities may be free for Tom aged 16?
A.COUNTRY DANCING.
B.NEW YEAR'S LAUGHS.
C.MAZE.
D.BLUE CONCERT.
【小题3】If you want to know something about the Coyotes at 8 Barn view, you'd better call _______.
A.676-1554
B.733-8855
C.752-0048
D.224-2308
【小题4】Which of the followings will be the highlights of NEW YEAR'S LAUGHS?
A.Wander through the maze.
B.The champagne toast.
C.Its live music.
D.The Last Laugh of 2008.
【小题5】It can be inferred from the text that ___________.
A.$10 is enough to book a ticket to Blue Concert
B.you can read the text on a telephone book
C.all these activities are international ones
D.New Year’s Laughs will hold shows three times


It looks exactly like other handicraft (手工艺品) shops in a traditional Chinese hutong, or alley, except that each item has a story. The city's first-of-its-kind charity shop, owned by Nathan Zhang, sells Chinese handicrafts along with used books, clothes and other items. The concept is that money from what is sold is donated to help rural (农村的) women in China.
“Many NGOs (non-governmental organizations) produce their own things but don't have a place to sell it,” said Zhang, who returned to Beijing in 2008 after working in Canada for nearly a decade in the telecommunications world. “A rural women's group tried to open a little shop but only sold two things. When they put their products in my shop, everything sold out.”
Located in Wudaoying Hutong in Dongcheng district, Brand Nu's walls are lined with handicrafts from a number of different NGO supported projects aimed at benefiting women across the country. The other half of the space is filled with almost brand-new clothes that have been donated from Beijing citizens. The jackets, dresses, tops and pants sell for around 30 yuan ($4.40) each.
Most of the money Brand Nu gets goes directly to the Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women. The NGO offers a number of programs for poor women, including literacy classes (识字班), support networks and mental health education.
Zhang is also working with a local Scottish designer to create a clothing line made from the fabric (织物) of second-hand garments. And he is collecting books and raising money to help the NGO build a library near Beijing. He plans on expanding his product line soon as well, engaging more disadvantaged women to make sweaters, soaps and other items that he can sell in Beijing to help raise their socioeconomic status in the countryside.
Yet with ambitions come worries. Right now Zhang is operating on a shoestring budget and looking for work on the side to support both his business and his family. “I wanted to do something meaningful,” said Zhang. “If you can help one woman, you can help an entire family.”
61. The name of the charity shop is ______.
A. Nathan Zhang        B. NGO                C. Wudaoyin Hutong    D. Brand Nu
62. The owner of the charity shop ______.
A. is a returned overseas Chinese
B. has long been working for the charity cause
C. is professionally engaged in telecommunication
D. is also the head of an NGO
63. The charity shop ______.
A. sells goods to poor women at low prices
B. sends donated clothes to poor rural women
C. opens literacy classes for illiterate women
D. gives money to poor women through an NGO
64. The last paragraph but one tells us that Zhang tries to ______.
A. open more charity shops
B. donate more money to the rural women
C. help the women live better through their own efforts
D. find jobs in Beijing for the rural women
65. The article is mainly about ______.
A. the charity cause in Beijing                    B. Beijing’s first charity shop and its owner
C. the living condition of rural women        D. the difficult situation a charity worker faces

More than half of rich Americans have not shown their full wealth to their children, a new survey showed last Tuesday.
The survey, published by the Bank of America, studied the rich with$3 million or more in possessions. It found that “surprisingly few of those surveyed have well-developed plans to preserve and pass on their possessions to their children”.
The majority of the 457 people surveyed are self-made, first-generation rich. Fifty-two percent of parents have not chosen not to tell their children just how wealthy they are,and 15 percent have given away nothing about the family wealth. One in three parents said they had never thought to do it.
They are worried that their children would become lazy, spend money freely,make bad decisions and even become a target for attractive women who use their looks to get money from rich men.
Only 34 percent strongly agreed that their children would be able to handle any inheritance(遗产)they plan to leave them.
“There is an expectation about the wealthy parents that they have a responsibility to pass down their fortune to the next generation,” said Sallie Krawcheck,president of the Global Wealth and Investment Management of the Bank of America. “Our research, however, uncovered changing views of what one generation owes the next.”
The trend is led by the world’s richest man Bill Gates, who promised in 2008 that he would leave his $58 billion fortune to the charity started by him and his wife, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation(基金会),and not to his children.
“ We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive effect,” he said.
Of his plans for his children , Gates said: “I will give the kids some money but not a meaningful percentage… they will need to work but they will feel reasonably taken care of.”
【小题1】We can learn from the passage that              .

A.rich parents may not know how to manage their inheritance
B.rich parents don’t equal rich kids, at least in the US
C.American children don’t get to inherit their parents’ wealth
D.poor children don’t expect themselves to be as rich as their parents
【小题2】According to the survey, most rich Americans                   
A.think they owe their children nothing
B.think it best to give their money back to society
C.doubt their children’s ability to handle wealth
D.are confident of their children’s ability to handle wealth
【小题3】The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 6 refers to                 
A.responsible children
B.Bill Gates and his wife
C.first-generation rich
D.rich parents
【小题4】From the last paragraph,we can see that Bill Gates wants to show              .
A.the trend of leaving no inheritance to children
B.the positive effect of charity on society
C.the way of giving back to society
D.the importance of independence for children

Homelessness is a huge problem all over the world. It’s said that each day there are about 1 million people living on the streets in the US. It is a serious problem which should be dealt with effectively.

There are two main reasons for people leaving their homes: poverty and less affordable houses due to bad economic conditions. Other reasons include: domestic violence, divorce, and mental illness. Living without a home makes people main targets of violence activities and besides, these homeless people have to face the following difficulties on a daily basis.

They have to move about, carrying their belongings, which makes it difficult for the charity and the government to help them. They have limited access to bathrooms and restrooms and are forced to live in dirty conditions, making them easy to be attacked by diseases. They have limited access to health-care facilities in case of emergency, and almost no access to education as they have no money. They are often ill-treated by society, which makes them unfriendly, often ending up being involved in activities connected with crime like selling drugs or guns.

Homelessness is not something that happened overnight --- it has been in the country for decades. The society usually believes those living on the street to be mentally unstable. This belief is partially true. Most of them are normal people just like you and me.

The federal government is doing all it can to help but it is not enough, so the ordinary citizens have to stand up and try to help whenever it’s possible. There are various organizations, such as charity organizations that are working constantly to make sure that homeless people find a shelter to live in. the united efforts have helped millions of people return to their normal lifestyle. However, there is still a long way to go before a better situation is created for all the homeless.

1.How many reasons are mentioned for people having no home to live in?

A. Five                         B. Four                        C. Three                      D. Two

2.The homeless are usually treated as __________.

A. a danger to society

B. having mental problems

C. physically disabled people

D. being too lazy to do anything

3.Which of the following are mentioned to help solve the problem of the homeless?

① the government  ② homeless people  ③ charity organizations  ④ the ordinary citizens

A. ①②③                   B. ①②④                   C. ①③④                   D. ②③④

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Most homeless people died of hunger and cold.

B. The homeless should work hard to change their own situation.

C. The homeless people have nothing to take when they move about.

D. The homeless problem is a serious problem that need solving effectively.

 

Perhaps every older generation since ancient times has complained about young people, and today is no different. Isn’t it obvious that kids these days are self-absorbed social network addicts?

However, this summer, my impression of today’s kids has been restored by the story of Rachel Beckwith. She could teach my generation a great deal about maturity (成熟) and unselfishness — even though she’s just 9 years old, or was when she died on July 23.

At age 5, Rachel had her long hair cut off and sent to Locks of Love, which uses hair donations to make artificial hair for children who have lost their own hair because of cancer or other diseases. After that, Rachel announced that she would grow her hair long again and donate it again. And that’s what she did.

Then when she was 8 years old, her church began raising money to build wells in Africa through an organization called “charity: water”. Rachel was astonished when she learned that other children had no clean water, so she skipped her ninth birthday party. Rachel set up a birthday page on the charity: water website with a target of $300. Instead of presents, she asked her friends to donate $9 each to charity: water. Finally Rachel raised only $220 — which had left her just a bit disappointed.

Then, on July 20, a serious traffic accident left Rachel critically injured. Church members and friends, seeking some way of showing support, began donating on Rachel’s birthday page — charitywater.org/Rachel — and donations reached her $300 goal, and kept rising.

When it was clear that Rachel would never regain consciousness, the family decided to remove the life-support machine. Her parents donated her hair for the final time to Locks of Love, and her organs to other children.

Word spread about Rachel’s last fund-raiser (募捐行动). Contributions poured in, often they donated $9. The total donations soon topped $100,000, then $300,000.

This is a story not just of one girl, but of a young generation of outstanding problem-solvers working creatively.

1.Which of the following is TRUE of Rachel?

A.She died at the age of 8.

B.She was a cancer patient.

C.She was a warm-hearted girl.

D.She founded Locks of Love.

2.The underlined word “skipped” in Paragraph 4 probably means “      ”.

A.put off

B.gave up

C.expected

D.planned

3.According to the text, Rachel set up the birthday page to       .

A.make more new friends

B.call on people to donate hair

C.ask her friends to send her gifts

D.raise money to help African children

4.How does the author feel about the young generation now?

A.Worried

B.Critical.

C.Appreciative.

D.Doubtful

5.What would be the best title for the text?

A.Rachel’s last fund-raiser

B.Rachel and her birthday page

C.Kids are addicted to social networks.

D.What’s wrong with the young generation?

 

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