Ginny Ruffner is one of the best-known glass artists in the United States. Her one-of-a-kind pieces are colorful, detailed and often humorous. Over the years, she became famous for a method called lamp working, also known as flame working. It involves using a torch to melt and shape the glass instead of blowing on it.
Ginny Ruffner almost died in a three-car accident in 1991. No one thought the Seattle-based artist would ever walk or talk again. An award-winning(优等的) film documentary explores that period of her life. "It's scary when you can't talk, you can't do... all your life." said Ruffner.
Ms. Ruffner was in a coma(昏迷) for five weeks and a wheelchair for five years. But she overcame her injuries. And although she still has difficulty walking and talking, she has willed herself back to work. Now, she has a team that helps bring her dream to life.
Her team recently finished an eight point five meter-high flowerpot made of steel and aluminum. It is now in downtown Seattle. Ms. Ruffner was recently honored in Washington, DC.  The Renwick Gallery presented a special showing of the film, "A Not So Still Life, the Ginny Ruffner Story."
Ms. Ruffner says “it has been a long battle, but the hardest part has not been the physical problems. I hate being taken for granted, being ignored. The way I talk, people assume that I'm either really old, or kind of retarded(智力迟钝的), and that is so frustrating."
But she is firm. She says "Fortunately I've done a lot of stuff in my life, so I know that the best thing is to be open to the mystery, who knows what great things will happen. I'm sure they're many more to come."
Ginny Ruffner's art can be seen in more than forty museums around the world. Her work and her life continue to motivate people of all ages.
【小题1】Within five years after a car accident, Ginny Ruffner _____.

This is an open letter to the three people who stole my handbag from the department store I am employed as a shop assistant ．

When you took my bag, I don't know what you thought you were going to get．With my wages, there's not much left on a Tuesday．I hope the ￡5 was useful to you ．I have informed the  social security office so you won't be able to cash the child benefit next week ．I hope that won't leave you too short．But if you really need a couple of pounds, I suppose you could always cash one of the two checks left in my check book．Of course,I phoned the bank right away and the check-casing card is no longer valid, so it won’t be much use to you ．

Actually I don't mind about the money too much．We single parents who work to support our families understand only too well what it means to be short of cash ．However, I don’t suppose it went very far among the three of you．Sorry about that!

I wish you had left the bag behind and just taken the wallet and check book．There were all kinds of papers in it, and notes and things that I really need．I really think that was very inconsiderate of you ．I mean, how would you like something like that to happen to you?

Well, perhaps the bag will turn up．It wasn't even an expensive one．just a plain, old brown leather shoulder bag．You probably dumped it in the nearest rubbish bin or threw it into the bushes. We've looked around, of course, but no one saw which way you went after you left the shop．

I'm not really angry with you．I know how the pressures of modern living can affect us, but I am sad at the loss of my personal things．I feel violated and helpless．The police were very icy, and they just shrugged（耸） their shoulders．"It happens all the time," they told me ．Some small comfort, I suppose．But I've lost just a little more faith in human nature．And as my young son said when I told him what had happened, "Why? Mummy, why us?" I couldn't answer that question．I wonder if you can．

1.In writing Paragraph 2, the writer wants to            ．

    A．describe the contents of the bag in detail．

    B．give some suggestions to the three thieves

    C．tell the thieves hardly any money was available

    D．state the fact that she was careless with the money

2.Which of the following is the most valuable to the writer?

    A．The cash in her bag．                B．The papers and notes in the bag．

    C．The handbag itself．                 D．The check books in the bag．

3.What can we conclude about the police?

    A．They have doubts about human nature．

    B．They show sympathy for the woman．

    C．They think the case quite common．

    D．They are unable to find the thieves．

4.Why does the author write the letter?

    A．To give the thieves a serious warning．

    B．To complain about the fall of morality．

    C．To call people’s attention to their belongings．

    D．To express her affection for her valuable bag．

根据短文内容，从下框的A—F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项．

E．Check Your Progress through Pacing

F．Speed up When Necessary.

61．______

Most of us can find 15 minutes or half an hour each day for some specific regular activity. For example, one famous surgeon always made it a rule to spend at least 15 minutes on general reading before he went to sleep each day. Whether he went to bed at 10 p.m. or 2:30 a.m. made no difference.

62．______

Nearly all ‘speed reading’ courses have a ‘pacing’ element---some timing device which lets the students know how many words a minutes he is reading. You can do this simply by looking at your watch every 5 or 10 minutes and noting down the page number you have reached.

63．______

Obviously there is little point in increasing your reading speed if you do not understand what you are reading. If you find you have lost the thread of the story, or you can’t remember clearly the details of what was said, re-read the section or chapter.

64．______

Take four or five pages of an interesting book you happen to be reading at the time. Read them as fast as you possibly can. Do not bother about whether you understand or not. After a ‘lightning speed’ of reading, you will usually find that your ‘normal’ speed has increased.

65．______

Most paragraphs in an article have a ‘topic sentence’ which expresses the central ideas. The opening paragraph often suggests the general direction and content of the piece, while paragraphs that follow expand or support the first. The closing paragraph often summarizes the very essence(实质) of what has been said.

I’m a teacher. But there are days, like today, when I wonder why. The results of an English quiz taken by my fifth-graders were depressing. Despite my best efforts, the world of pronouns remains a mystery to them. How I wish there were a way to make the study of our language as exciting as a computer game, so the glazed (目光呆滞) looks would not appear in their eyes at the mention of the word “grammar.” I remember my husband’s words: “Why don’t you quit? You’d probably make more money by doing something else, and you wouldn’t have papers to grade every night.”

Tonight I have a stack of papers to grade, which I promised my students I would return tomorrow. But a friend, whom I haven’t seen in a year, is visiting from Belgium, and I told her I would keep this evening free.

Sitting in traffic behind a distant stoplight, it’s hard not to replay the day. A voice reports the body of a local youngster, missing for weeks, has been identified.

This missing child has had a deep effect on my students. They wondered, “If it happened to her, could it happen to me?”

My children had found the answer themselves. They got out their pencils, markers and made cards. Cards were written with words of compassion and love for a mother and father they didn’t know. Cards were filled with red hearts, golden crosses, flowers and angels. Their cards, intended to comfort others, comforted the children themselves by leading them past the anxiety, back into the world of security (安全) that should be theirs.

And then I remember why I’m still teaching. It’s the children. They’re more important than a lifetime filled with quiet evenings and more valuable than a pocket filled with money. My classroom, a child-filled world of discovery, of kindness and of caring is the real world.

It’s time to call my friend. I have promises to keep. She’ll understand. After all, she’s a teacher.

1.The writer wonders why she is a teacher because _____.

A. her students often play games in class

B. teaching is not a well-paid job

C. her students feel bored with grammar

D. she feels frustrated at teaching

2. The students’ attitude to the missing child’s parents might be that of _____.

A. doubt    B. unconcern    C. sympathy     D. tolerance

3.What is the most important according to the writer?

A. A pocket filled with money.

B. The kind and caring children.

C. A lifetime filled with quiet evenings.

D. The freedom to control her own time.

4.What promise will the writer keep?

A. To grade papers that night.  B. To help a student with homework.

C. To accept her husband’s advice. D. To meet her old friend.

I was feeling a little blue because my mother had been laid off from her job and she had lots of bills to pay. It left me wondering what was going to happen to us now.
I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. That’s  36  I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked a little slower so that I could 37   where it was coming from.   38   the crowd I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her. She was singing songs about love, keeping on trying, and not underestimating (低估) the power within yourself. The way she was singing    39   me a bit. I stood there watching her play for about fifteen minutes, thinking that it must      40   to perform alone in the middle of a crowded place.
She must have felt my   41   because she would  42 look in my direction. Then I walked over and put some  43     in her carriage and she said, “Thank you”. Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, “I have been  44     a rough time lately, but you’ve made me  45 again.”
“I’m happy that I could help,” she replied. “Why are you so sad?”
“Well, my mum told me she had got    46   from her job, and that made me sad. I’m not so sure what to do …”
“You see, here’s the problem,” she explained. “While you were        47   , your head was down. Don’t look  48 , because  49   comes in different ways and if your head were down, you might lose it.”
She also explained to me that she saw a lot of  50 people in the world and she tried to bring more  51 by sharing motivational (鼓舞人心的) music. She told me that when she wasn’t making music she studied  52  . So, that was how she knew some of the things she was telling me.
I  53     a little wider because I knew that she was doing a good thing. So, after we  54, my heart was  55      and lightened by a musical soul!