According to the United States government, people are classified as homeless if they have no place to stay and no expectation of finding a place for the next thirty days. Although technically accurate, that is an impersonal assessment of an enormous and very human problem.

    The homeless population represents all of us Americans. It includes men and women, the elderly, children, and infants. Its members are from all ethnic groups. What they have in common is poverty.

    Currently in the U.S., thirty-nine million people live in poverty. When money is really tight, paying the rent or buying food often becomes a choice. Government assistance in the form of food stamps does help but, as one homeless man explains, you can’t pay the rent with food stamps.

    With no money for rent, the streets and homeless shelters become the alternative.

    Although men make up the largest group within the homeless population, homeless women with children are rapidly joining them. In fact, one quarter of the homeless people in the U.S. are teenagers and young children.

    People may become homeless for numerous reasons. However, there are certain factors that many of these individuals have in common. They include a lack of adequate education and job skills. A majority of the teenagers and adults have not completed high school.

    The abuse of alcohol and drugs is also a common factor. One third of the adult homeless population abuses alcohol, while one quarter of the same group uses drugs.

    Some members of this population suffer mental health problems. Within the past several years many institutions for the mentally ill have been closed and their patients sent “home”. Unfortunately, a number of those people have no home to go to and they are unable to adequately look after themselves.

    Job loss in today’s economy has also become a real factor in the loss of people’s homes. The breakup of families through abandonment and divorce is also contributing factors, particularly when there are children involved. The parent who is left to care for the kids with inadequate income may be forced to depend on the homeless shelters to put a roof over their heads.

The writer thinks that the U.S. government’s definition for the homeless shows _________.

A. an insincere attitude toward the homeless

B. an unbearable attitude toward the homeless

C. an uncivilized attitude toward the homeless

D. an unsympathetic attitude toward the homeless

The U.S. government helps the homeless by _________.

A. giving them homeless allowance           B. giving them food stamps

C. finding jobs for them                        D. finding residence (a place to live) for them

People become homeless for all the following reasons EXCEPT _________.

A. the lack of adequate education

B. the abuse of alcohol and drugs

C. the closure of institutions for the mentally ill

D. the poor performance of economy

The breakup of families is likely to lead to homelessness because a parent with kids may _________.

A. lose his or her job in today’s economy

B. be unable to look after the kids

C. not have enough income

D. find residence at a homeless shelter

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961. His parents  36  while both were  _37   the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a  38   student. Barack Obama's birth name is Barack Hussein Obama.

In the memoir (传记), Barack Obama described his experiences  39  in his mother's American middle class family. Of his early childhood, Barack Obama wrote, "That my father looked nothing  _40_ the people around me -- that he was  41  as pitch (沥青), my mother white as milk --  42_   impressed in my mind. "

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. Then the family moved to Indonesia in 1967,   _43  Obama attended local schools, such as Asisi, in Jakarta  44  he was ten years old. He then  45_   to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents (外祖父母) Madalyn and Stanley Dunham, while attending Punahou School from the fifth grade in 1971 until his  46  from high school in 1979.

_47  high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at Occidental College (西方学院) for two years.  48  his academic ambitions, he moved to New York's Columbia University, where he   _49  his undergraduate degree in political science.

Barack Obama is the first African-American  50  President of the United States. His rich and varied life experiences have  51  his political journey. Baraek Obama is able to  52   parties and people under a similar purpose:  53   the challenges of everyday Americans. This is a big part of what makes Barack Obama such a (n)  54  candidate (候选人) in the 2008 election.

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama  55  the chair of the American President as the 44th President of the country.

A. touched                B. met              C. exchanged          D. influenced

A. attending               B. leaving           C. quitting            D. overcoming

A. hopeful                B. clever            C. foreign           D. promising

A. taking up              B. turning up                C. calling up         D. growing up

A. like                   B. as                  C. for                 D. on

A. black                  B. green              C. blue                 D. red

A. hardly                 B. really               C. only                D. probably

A. when                  B. where               C. while               D. so

A. as if                   B. because             C. although          D. until

A. returned             B. managed            C. travelled            D. went

A. independence           B. graduation           C. improvement        D. success

A. Adding               B. Catching            C. Following          D. Studying

A. To realize              B. To honor           C. To share            D. To enjoy

A. aeeei3ted              B. earned             C. arranged            D. rejected

A. recommended         B. charged            C. developed           D. elected

A. shaped                B. designed            C. proved              D. repeated

A. lead                  B. combine            C. guide              D. unite

A. understanding         B. meeting           C. performing        D. reaching

A. experienced           B. attractive           C. suitable             D. famous

A. occupied             B. employed         C. received            D. postponed

    Adrian’s “Amazing Race” started early when his parents realized that he, as a baby, couldn’t hear a thing, not even loud noises. In a special school for the hearing-impaired (听觉受损的)，he learned sign language and got to mix with other disabled children. However, the sight of all the disabled children communicating with one another upset his mother. She wanted him to lead a normal life. So after speaking to an advisor, she sent him to private classes where he learned to read lips and pronounce words.

     Later on, Adrian’s parents decided to send him to a regular school. But the headmaster tried to prevent them from doing so, saying regular school couldn’t take care of a special needs students. His parents were determined to take the risk and push him hard to go through his work everyday because they wanted to prove that, given the opportunity, he could do anything. Adrian made the grade and got accepted. It was a big challenge. The pace （节奏）was faster so he had to sit at the front of the class and really pay attention to the teacher, which wasn’t always easy. But he stuck to it and did a lot of extra work after school.

    The efforts made by Adrian and his parents paid off. Adrian graduated with good grades and got into a top high school. He also achieved a lot in life outside school. He developed a love for the outdoors and went to Nepal to climb mountains. He even entered the World Yacht Race 05/06--- being the first hearing-impaired Asian to do so.

    But none of these achievements would have been possible without one of the most important lessons from his mother.” “If you believe in yourself and work hard, you can achieve great results.” She often said.

41. How did Adrian communicate with other children in the special school?

A. By speaking.            B. By using sign language

C. By reading lips           D. By making loud noises

42. Adrian’s parents decided to send him to a regular school because          .

A. they wanted him to live a normal life

B. they wanted to prove the headmaster wrong

C. he wouldn’t mix with other disabled children

D. he wasn’t taken good care of in the special school

43. How did Adrian finally succeed in his study?

A. He did a lot of outdoor activities.

B. He was pushed hard to study every day.

C. He attended private classes after school.

D. He worked very hard both in and after class

44. Why is Adrian’s life described as an “Amazing Race”?

A. He did very well in his study

B. He succeeded in entering a regular school

C. He reached his goals in spite of his disability

D. He took part in the World Yacht Race 05/06

Young people and older people do not always agree. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. But in one special program in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way.

　　Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and fun in work. Some teenagers work in the forests or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and to build houses. The adults teach them these skills.

　　There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo-taking or drawing. Others sit around and talk or sing. Each teenager chooses his own way to pass his free time.

　　When people live together, they should have rules. In this program the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, “Why did it happen? What should we do about it?”

　　One of the teenagers has said something about it, “You have to stop thinking only about yourself. You learn how to think about the group.”

In one special program in New York State, young and older people_______.

　A. don’t work well together     B. teach each other new ways of building houses

　 C. are friendly to each other　D. spend eight weeks together, working as farmers

All the members work some time every day mainly to________.

　 A. lead a busy life                    B. find useful things and pleasure in work

　C. get used to the life on the farms   D. learn new skills of farming

Living together, ________.

　 A. the teenagers don’t have to obey the rules

　B. the members have to obey the regulations the adults make

　 C. the members have no free time but on weekends

　D. the members should not break the regulations they make together

The best title for the passage is________.

　A. The Rules of Living Together    B. Teenagers and Adults Together

　C. Life in New York State                D. Free Hours in the Special Work Group　

SCIENTISTS have discovered that living to the age of 100 may have nothing to do with the lifestyle you lead and everything to do with the type of genes (基因) you have.

For the lucky carriers of “Methuselah” genes, worries over smoking, eating unhealthily and not getting enough exercise may not be as necessary as to those of us without the special gene pattern .

The “Methuselah” genes could give extra protection against the diseases of old age such as cancer and heart disease. They could also protect people against the effects of the unhealthy lifestyles that we believe will lead us to an early death, scientists say. However, the genes are very rare.

The genes include ADIPOQ, which is found in about 10 percent of young people but in nearly 30 percent of people living past 100. They also include the CETP and the ApoC3 genes, which are found in 10 percent of young people, but in about 20 percent of people over 100 years old.

Some of those genes were discovered by a research group at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, led by Professor Nir Barzilai. The team studied the genes of over 500 people over 100 years old, and their children.

The studies show that tiny mutations (变异) in the make-up of some genes can greatly increase a person’s lifespan. Barzilai told a Royal Society conference that the discovery of such genes gave scientists clear targets for developing drugs that could prevent age-related diseases, allow people to live longer and stay healthy.

David Gems, a researcher at University College London, believes that drugs to slow ageing will become widespread.

“If we know which genes control longevity (长寿) then we can … target them with drugs. That makes it possible to slow down ageing,” he told The Times.

“Much of the pain and suffering in the world are caused by ageing. If we can find a way to reduce that, then we are obliged to take it.”

According to the article, which of the following is the most important if a person is to live to the age of 100?

A. Eating healthy food every day.

B. Having the right types of genes.

C. Having a healthy lifestyle.

D. Taking drugs that prevent ageing.

According to the article, the ApoC3 gene is found in ______ of people over 100 years old.

A. 10%           B. 20%          C. 30%       D. 50%

Which of the following statements is TRUE of the research led by Professor Nir Barzilai?

A. The team studied the genes of over 100 people over 100 years of age.

B. The researchers found that mutations in certain genes lead to longer life.

C. The researchers found ways to develop drugs that could cure age-related diseases.

D. The study suggested that most people have genes that could lengthen their lives.

According to David Gems, ______.

A. drugs to slow ageing will be very expensive

B. modern science will be able to find more longevity genes

C. it is the duty of medical scientists to fight the problems of ageing

D. scientists can make new genes that will allow longer life