Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. ‘‘Father!” Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room.

“Father! What’s that sound?” Hassan screamed, his hands outstretched toward Ali. Ali wrapped his arms around us. A white light flashed and lit the sky in silver. It flashed again and was followed by rapid sharp sounds of gunfire.

“They’re hunting ducks, ” Ali said in a hoarse voice. “They hunt ducks at night, you know. Don't be afraid.”

A siren(汽笛）went off in the distance. Somewhere glass broke and someone shouted. I heard people on the street, woken up from sleep. Hassan was crying. Ali pulled him close and held him with tenderness.

We stayed huddled (蜷缩）that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generations of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of the bombs and gunfire were not yet born. Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any idea that a way of life had ended. The end came when Russian tanks were rolling into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting.

         Just before the sunrise, Baba’s car pulled into the driveway. His door slammed shut and his running footsteps pounded the stairs. Then he appeared in the doorway and I saw something on his face. Something I didn’t recognize right away because I’d never seen it before: fear. “Amir! Hassan!” He cried as he ran to us, opening his arms wide. “They blocked all the roads and the telephone didn’t work. I was so worried!”

We let him wrap us in his arms and, for a brief moment, I was glad about whatever had happened that night.

1.Who is the author of this passage?

A. Amir.                                 B. Ali.                                     C. Baba.                                 D. Hassan.

2.By saying “They’re hunting ducks”, Ali _______.

A. told the children the truth                                          B. played a joke on the children

C. tried to calm the children                                       D. cheered the children up

3.We can infer from the passage that  _______.

A. there were thunderstorms that night                               

B. Afghan children were used to the war

C. people on the street shouted and broke the windows

D. that night was the end of people's peaceful life    

4.From the last sentence of the passage, we know _______.

A. Baba's arms gave the author temporary comfort and joy

B. there was a chance that a world in peace was to come

C. what happened that night seemed nothing to the author

D. the author was glad to see his father come home safe

Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. "Father!" Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room.

"Father! What's that sound? Hassan screamed, his hands outstretched toward Ali. Ali wrapped his arms around us. A white light flashed and lit the sky in silver. It flashed again and was followed by rapid sharp sounds of gunfire. "They're hunting ducks." Ali said in a hoarse voice. "They hunt ducks at night, you know." Don't be afraid.

A siren(汽笛) went off in the distance. Somewhere glass broke and someone shouted. I heard people on the street, jolted from sleep and probably still in their pajamas, with ruffled hair and puffy eyes. Hassan was crying. Ali pulled him close, clutched him with tenderness.

We stayed huddled that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. The end came when Russian tanks were rolling into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting.

Just before sunrise, Baba's car peeled into the driveway. His door slammed shut and his running footsteps pounded the stairs. Then he appeared in the doorway and I saw something on his face. Something I didn't recognize right away because I'd never seen it before: fear. "Amir! Hassan!" He cried as he ran to us, opening his arms wide. "They blocked all the roads and the telephone didn't work. I was so worried!"

We let him wrap us in his arms and, for a brief moment, I was glad about whatever had happened that night.

1.Who is the author of the passage?

A. Hassan         B. Ali         C. Baba          D. Amir

2.By saying “they are hunting ducks”, Ali ___________.

A. told the children the truth

B. tried to calm the children

C. played a joke on the children

D. cheered the children up

3.We can infer from the passage that__________.

A. there were thunderstorms that night

B. Afghan children were used to the war

C. that night was the end of people’s peaceful life

D. people on the street shouted and broke the windows

4. From the last sentence of the passage, we know_________.

A. the author was glad to see his father come home safe

B. there was a chance that a world in peace was to come

C. what happened that night seemed nothing to the author

D. Baba’s arms gave the author temporary comfort and joy

    Published on 2002-02-10

    Posted on 2002-01-18 10:59:14

    Nervous uncertainty surrounds the fate (命运) of US journalist Daniel Pearl, with no clear communication from his kidnappers (绑匪) and no sign of his whereabouts after three separate police searches for his body in the troublesome port city Karachi, Pakistan.

    Pearl, a 38-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter, disappeared two weeks ago on his way to an interview in Karachi. An e-mail allegedly from his kidnappers contained four photos of him and a variety of demands, including one for the release of Pakistani prisoners being held at the US naval base in Cuba.

    The searches were started last Friday night by an email claiming that Pearl had been killed and his body thrown “in the graveyards of Karachi.”

    Pearl has worked for The Wall Street Journal for 12 years and is now their South Asia bureau chief. He was born in Princeton, New Jersey and graduated form Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

    He joined The Wall Street Journal in November 1990, first as a reporter in the Atlanta bureau. In 1993 he moved to the Washington office to cover transportation before beginning a series of overseas postings.

    The members of a radical (激进的) Islamic group in Pakistan who admit having kidnapped him say Pearl is a member of the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad. But Pearls employers have angrily denied (否认) that he is the agent (代理) of any government.

    Pearl’s French wife, Marianne, is six months pregnant with their first child.

    For the past few weeks the couple have been living in Karachi while Pearl tried to arrange an interview with Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani, head of the small militant Islamic group Tanzeem ul-Fuqra.

1. We can see from the text that ________.

    A. Pearl has been murdered　　　　　　　　 B. Pearl has escaped from his kidnappers

    C. Pearl is in danger　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. Pearl’s fate still remains in question

2. According to the text, Pearl most probably disappeared ________.

    A. on January 24, 2002 　　　　　　　　　　　　    B. on January 26, 2002

    C. on January 4, 2002 　　　　　　　　　　   D. on January 11, 2002

3. Pearl’s disappearance has something to do with ________.

    A. Tanzeem ul-Fuqra 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. a radical Islamic group in Pakistan

    C. the US naval base in Cuba 　　　　　　 D. the Israeli intelligence service

They will be Slumdogs no more．The two kid actors who broke our hearts in the Academy Award—winning “Slumdog Millionaire” are being moved out of their miserable Mumbai slum（贫民区）  into real homes with roofs and doors and walls．

    Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail，who played the young Versions of the two main characters，won’t have to pay anything—their new digs are free．“These two children have brought honors to the country，” said Gautam Chatterjee．head of Mumbai’s housing authority．So for 10 -year-old Azharuddin，it’s goodbye to the simple tent by a busy road that was his family home．And for 9-year-old Rubina，it’s goodbye to the one room house she shared with her family．

    Details（细节）about when the families will be moved—or if they will have things we take for granted like indoor plumbing（水暖管道）一were not known．Still，there was lots of joy in the actors’ households．“We ale happy that we will have a permanent roof over our heads．”said Rubina’s dad，Rafiq Qureshi，told The Times of India newspaper．

    Casting agents discovered Rubina and Azharuddin in the terrible Garib Nagar slum．There was a worldwide outcry when it was discovered the kids were still living there even as the movie easily made$100 million．

     Director Danny Boyle, who also won a best director Oscar, refused to admit exploiting the child actors. He said they were paid above local wages for 30 days of work, enrolled in school for the first time ever - and had a fund set up to pay for their tuition, health care and “basic living costs.”

     Also, Fox Searchlight Pictures flew the kids and seven of the Indian children who appeared in the movie to Hollywood for the Oscar ceremony. Indian media reported the sudden generosity by Mumbai housing officials has more to do with politics than pride in the kids.

1．Judging from the article, it may be improper to think of Slumdog Millionaire as ______

A．successful                                B．profitable

C．moving                                  D．amusing

2．Rubina.Ali and Azharuddin Ismail ______

A．are both professional actors

B．played different versions of the same character

C．have both been poor in real life

D．enjoyed life as millionaires in the film

3．How have the kids' families reacted to the offer of the housing authorities?

A．They are happy to accept it.

B．They're doubtful about it.

C．They'd rather remain where they live.

D．Only one family is willing to move.

4．What did Director Danny Boyle do to the two kids?

A．He let them live as famous stars.

    B．He provided houses for their families.

    C．He gave them all they deserved.

    D．He gave them less than expected.

5．We can infer from the article that ______

    A．decision on Academy Award winners involves racial discrimination

    B．Indian media was trying to praise Mumbai's housing authority

    C．the writer is afraid the kids' new houses won't be satisfactory

    D．Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail's families do not take pride in them

A quality education is the basic liberator．it can free people from poverty, giving them the power to greatly improve their lives and take a productive place in society．It can also free communities and countries，allowing them to jump forward into periods of wealth and social unity that otherwise would not be possible．

For this reason，the international community has devoted itself to getting all the world’s children into primary school by 2015，a task known as Education for All．

Can education for aIl be achieved by 2015? The answer is undoubtedly “yes，”although it is a difficult task．If we now measure the goal in terms of children successfully completing at least five years of primary school，instead of just enrolling（注册）for classes，which used to be the measuring stick for education，then the task becomes even more difficult．Only 32 countries were formerly believed to be at risk of not achieving education for all on the basis of enrollment．The number rises to 88 if completion of primary school is used as the standard．

Still，the goal is achievable with the right policies and the right support from the international community．59 of the 88 countries at risk can reach universal primary completion by 2015 if they bring the effectiveness and quality of their education systems into line with standards observed in higher-performing systems．They also need great increases in outside support．The 29 countries falling farthest behind will not reach the goal without extra fast speed of progress．But this is achievable with creative solution，including use fo information technologies，enough foreign aid， and fewer people living in poverty．

A key lesson of experience about what makes development effective is that a country’s ability to use aid well depends heavily on its policies，institutions and management．Where a country scores well on these，foreign assistance can be highly effective．

1．n the first paragraph，the author suggests that a quality education can_________．

A．tree countries from foreign rules B．give people freedom

C．speed up social progress D．liberate people from any pressure

2．Ideally, the goal of the program of Education for All is to ____________by 2015．

A．enroll all the world’s children into primary school

B．get all the world’s children to complete primary school

C．give quality education to people of 88 countries

D．support those devoted to changing their education systems

3．______countries are now at risk of not achieving education for alI on the basis of completing 5 years of primary school．

A．88               B．32               C．29               D．59

4．According to the passage，which of the following is NOT mentioned as the right policy?

A．Raising the effectiveness of education systems．

B．Improving the quality of education．

C．Using information technologies．

D．Building more primary schools．

5．As can be gathered from the last paragraph，foreign aid______．

A．is provided only when some standards are met

B．may not be highly effective

C．alone makes development possible

D．is most effective for those countries falling farthest behind