Throughout this long, tense election, everyone has focused on the presidential candidates and how they’ll change America. Rightly so. But selfishly, I’m more fascinated by Michelle Obama and what she might be able to do, not just for this country, but for me as an African-American woman. As the potential First Lady, she would have the world’s attention. And that means that for the first time people will have a chance to get up close and personal with the type of African woman they so rarely see.

Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The widespread theory seems to be that we’re all hot-tempered single mothers who can’t keep a man. Even in the world of make-believe, black women still can’t escape the stereotype (模式化的形象) of being eye-rolling, oversexed females raised by our never-married, alcoholic mothers.

These images have helped define the way all black women are viewed, including Michelle Obama. Before she ever gets the chance to commit to a cause, charity or foundation as First Lady, her most urgent and perhaps most complicated duty may be simply to be herself.

It won’t be easy. Because few mainstream publications (出版物) have done in-depth features on regular African-American women, little is known about who we are, what we think and what we face on a regular basis. For better or worse, Michelle will represent us all.

Just as she will have her critics, she will have millions of fans who usually have little interest in the First Lady. Many African-American blogs have written about what they’d like to see Michelle bring to the White House — mainly showing the world that a black woman can support her man and raise a strong black family. Michelle will have to work to please everyone — an impossible task. But for many African-American women like me, just a little of her poise (沉着), confidence and intelligence will go a long way in changing an image that’s been around far too long.

1.Why does Michelle Obama hold a strong fascination for the author?

2.What is the common stereotype of African-American women according to the author?

3.What do many African-Americans write about in their blogs?

4.What does the author say about Michelle Obama as a First Lady?

 ---- I shouldn’t have any more cake.

---- Oh, _________. It won’t kill you.

A．hold on, please                         B．go head

C．you are welcome                       D．that’ll do

Question: What are some ways I can calm down quickly when I’m feeling overwhelmed (不知所措的)? Sometimes I don’t realize how much stress is building up. Other times, several stressful events happen at once. I suddenly go from calm to completely overwhelmed quickly. 1

Answer: There are many ways to calm down quickly. The following are four quick and easy ways to deal with whatever situations are at hand:

● Take a walk.

2 Taking a walk provides the chance of getting you out of the stressful situation. You can return in a new state of mind.

● 3

You can feel better right away by practicing breathing exercises. Getting more oxygen into your body and releasing physical stress are two ways that can make you feel better. You can do them anytime or anywhere.

● Give your mind a break.

You can steal away a few minutes of peace. 4 It’s easy to do. It can relax you physically as well as mentally (精神上地).

● 5

If you can look at your situation in a different way, you may be able to have a different opinion. It will cause you less stress. Read more about stress, and learn how you can change the way you look at things. It’ll be useful when you’re stressed.

A. Take a deep breath.

B. Reduce stress in your life.

C. Try to get back peace of mind.

D. Exercise can help you to throw off stress.

E. Look at your situation differently.

F. How can I quickly calm down when it happens?

G. What’s your opinion about how to deal with stress?

For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict（冲突）between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

    Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part，this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ （青少年）complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.

    In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrel on unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is—politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg—the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong，for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something—and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.

1.Why does the author compare the parent teen war to a border conflict?

A. Both can continue for generations.       

B. Both are about where to draw the line.

C. Neither has any clear winner.           

D. Neither can be put to an end.

2.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?

    A. The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.

    B. The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict.

    C. The teens accuse their parents of misleading them.

    D. The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents.

3.Parents and teens want to be right because they want to__________.  

A. give orders to the other          B. know more than the other   

C. gain respect from the other       D. get the other to behave properly

4.What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A. Causes for the parent-teen conflicts      

B. Examples of the parent-teen war

C. Solutions for the parent-teen problems     

D. Future of the parent-teen relationship

From poor beginnings to most expensive player

      ZINEDINE Zidane，who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month，has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words．

      Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany's Leverkusen 2一1．

      He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy's Juventus for US $ 66 million．And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3-O defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final．

      But despite his success，Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground．He leads a quite family life，there is hardly any gossip about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight．

      “Just because I'm a public figure it doesn't mean I have to express myself on everything．I don't like to discuss some personal matters publicly．”he said．

      Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille，France，where he was raised by his Algerian parents，Zidane was shy．

      He loved football even as a little kid．“I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking，”he said．

      Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread，Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich．

      Before he was 10 years old，it was obvious that he could become a great footballer．He was offered his first professional contract(合同)when he was just 20．Now，at the age of 29，he has already picked up two World Player  of the year awards．

      This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup．But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he'll do this time．

What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that_____________.

A．he could become a great footballer

B．he could become rich if he became a footballer

C．football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking

D．football is a favorite sport in the future

According to the article，what are Zidane’s main characteristics?

A．He is a shy but successful man．

B．H e loves his wife and children．

C．He doesn't like to speak in public．

D．He is a quiet，down—to earth person of few words．

When the writer says“Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”,he means_________.

A．Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days

B．Zidane is a down-to earth person

C．Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch

D．Zidane likes standing when he succeeds

The sentence“Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich”means___________．

A．football made Zidane's poor family wealthy when he was a child

B．Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child

C．football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family

D．Zidane knew that if he wanted to be  rich he must play football from childhood