Nine-year-old Barack Obama was looking through a magazine and he was shocked by a series of photos. The pictures were of a black man who destroyed his skin with chemicals that promised to make him white.

       For the first time, the African-American boy began to doubt who he was.

       However, now the boy who used to struggle with his identity doesn’t see it as a problem any more, but an advantage for his successful career. Last week Obama made history by being elected as the first black president of the United States. He defeated John McCain in a landside victory(压倒多数的绝对胜利).

Obama’s story starts in opposite corners of the world. His white mother was born in the heartland of the US. His black father grew up in a tiny village in Kenya. They met during college in Hawaii, but his father left the family when Obama was just two years old and his mother moved to Indonesia.

At 10, Obama moved back to live with his white grandparents in Hawaii. At his class, a white boy asked Obama if his father ate people. Out of embarrassment, Obama lied to his classmates that his father was a prince. “I kept asking who am I and I ended up trying drugs and drinking,” Obama recalled.

       Things came to change after the young men made friends with those with a similar background at college. Their experiences back in Africa helped Obama to finally face up to his African origin. He worked hard to become a star at Harvard Law School and the third black senator(参议员) in US history.

       At the beginning of his campaign for the White House, few people viewed Obama favorably. Many doubted his unusual background, which left him neither “black” enough nor “white” enough. But Obama turned his pain of growing up into a tool to make Americans believe: “ There’s not a black America and a white America, a Latino American, an Asian America. There’s the United States of America.”

       Barack Obama’s victory is “ a historic victory that promised change and overcame centuries prejudice（偏见). His success accomplished Martin Luther King’s dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character”, wrote ABC news.

1. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refers to _______.

       A who he was

       B Obama’s successful career

       C making him white

       D defeating John McCain

2. We can learn from the passage that ________.

       A Obama’s parents come from the same country

       B the black man who destroyed his skin was Obama himself

       C Obama was once troubled by his identity

       D Africa is where Obama was born

3. Which of the following is the correct order?

       a. being elected the first black president of the US

       b. returning to live with his grandparents

       c. becoming the third black senator in US history

       d. going to college

       e. going to Africa for his origin

       f. joining in the campaign for the White House

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

4. The best title of the passage would be _____.

       A The first president of the US

       B Martin Luther King’s dream

       C A historic victory

       D. The history of African Americans

     If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year，he'd better offer you more money to do so--or even double that depending on where you live now．That's because Moscow has just been found to be the world's most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
Using the cost of living in New York as a base，Mercer determined Moscow is 34.4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing，transportation，food，clothing，household goods and entertainment(娱乐)．
A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs$4,000 a month；a CD$24.83， and an international newspaper $6.30，according to Mercer．By comparison，a fast food meal with a hamburger  (汉堡包)is a steal at$480．
London takes the No.2 place，up from No.5 a year ago，thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar. Mercer estimates(估算)London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days．Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo，both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York，while No.5 Hong Kong is l9 percent more costly．
Among North American cities，New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world's most expensive cities．But both have mien since last year's study--New York came in15th,down from 10th place，while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place a year ago．San Francisco came in a distant third at No.54，down  20 places from a year earlier．
Toronto, meanwhile，is Canada's most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82nd place worldwide．In Australia．Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No．21 worldwide．
65. What do the underlined words "a steal" in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. an act of stealing              B. something delicious
C. something very cheap                  D. an act of buying
66. London has become the second most expensive city because of ______.
A. the high cost of clothing        B. the stronger pound against the dollar
C. its expensive transportation       D. the high prices of fast food meals
67. Which city is the third most expensive on the list?
A. Tokyo        B. Hong Kong       C. Moscow      D. Los Angeles
68. Which city has dropped most on the list in North America?
A. New York．    B. Los Angeles．    C. San Francisco   D. Tokyo

III  完型填空       15%
Reports about stolen virtual property(虚拟财产), (for example, the money that is gained through Web games,) are becoming increasingly frequent.
Who is responsible(负责任的) for this?
“Virtual property theft(偷窃) is __31__ today all over the world,” __32__ professor Greg Lastowka, an American specialist in internet law.
Though a few cases have managed to make it to the courtroom(法庭), most of the time __33__ are not reported or not followed up. “local police are __34____ confused by virtual theft, thinking it has no real value,” says Lastowka.  “But virtual items(虚拟物) can be sold easily for__35___ money, making it a “lucrative(赚钱的) opportunity for criminals(罪犯).”
___36____“theft”, “users in China whose virtual property is stolen can report it to the Internet department of the local public security bureaus(公安局),” says Tencent Mao. “We can cooperate（合作）with officials and offer technical __37____.”
But lawyers suggest that the companies involved have the obligation(义务) to safeguard consumers’ virtual property.  “__38__ they can’t prove they have done __39___ to protect the virtual property, they should bear the responsibility (担责任),” says Guo Qing, of Beijing’s Yingke Law Firm.
_40__themselves are advised to __41__ their virtual property. Mao suggests “not __42___ files from strangers, __43___going to websites with a bad reputation（名声）”. Changing __44___ every three months can ___45___ help.
31. A. happening           B.    happened        C. occurred            D. appearing
32. A. speaks                B. says                         C .talks                 D. reports
33. A. when                  B. which               C they                   D. it
34. A. seldom               B. hardly               C. often                 D. usually
35. A. real                           B. more                   C. much                  D. many
36. A. In search of         B. In case of           C. In time of     D Instead of
37. A. support               B. advices                     C. request          D. demand
38. A. If                       B. When                C. Because             D. As
39. A. better                 B. enough                 C. more                 D. less
40. A. They                  B. Users                   C. Those         D. Companies
41. A. have                   B. own                     C. protect              D. keep
42. A. receiving            B. accepting              C. getting              D. accept
43. A. and                       B. but                  C. or                     D. so
44. A. passwords       B. keys                     C. answers             D. computers
45. A .even                   B. also                    C. as well              D. too