I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated (控制) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes.
At 19, when I began studying astrophysics, it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my PhD at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement --- jobs, research papers, awards --- was viewed through the lens of gender (性别) politics. So were my failures.
Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all annoyance. I don’t talk about that any more. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.
Today I research and teach at Bamard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.
【小题1】Why doesn’t the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again?

—Tom, why didn’t you go to work today?

—Oh, the manager said he no longer wanted to see me again; _____, I was fired.

A.above all             B. after all             C. in other words   D. in some way

A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery （火红的） ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.
The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. “It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am.”
She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.
It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold, too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on— it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... It all seemed deserted. She couldn’t understand what was going on.
She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said, “Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but — where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents’ room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn’t in her mother’s room and she wasn’t wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her snug bed in her pajamas （睡衣）.
It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, “Are you feeling better now? You know you got us very, very scared.”
【小题1】What does “This thought” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week, a guy whom I hadn’t seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for “Easy E” to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out, after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However, I’m pretty sure we won’t ever write wall-to-wall, let alone e-mail each other. But he’ll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members, college buddies, co-workers from past and present, and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e-mail addresses, I’m confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends, former classmates, distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on-screen relationships, keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all, there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e-mail, the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with e-mail, people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That’s normal. People move from school to school, job to job, city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day, the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication easier. However, convenience can be a walking stick. Some things shouldn’t be simplified. When it comes to friendship, there can be no shortcuts.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, the website is famous because       .

I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and hated asking for help. After all, I was a teenager girl, and I couldn't bear people to look at me and think I was not like them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads, coming across me wandering through the traffic; motorists probably would have to step rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.

One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something. "I'm awfully sorry," I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamppost. This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn't stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to try to guess if the bus had arrived.

Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.

But on this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; it seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself, I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.

1.The girl refused to ask for help because she thought_________

A. she might be recognized                                           

B. asking for help looked silly

C. she was normal and independent                            

D. being found blind was embarrassing

2.After the girl got off the bus that evening, she_________.

A. began to run                                                                 

B. hit a person as usual

C. hit a lamppost by accident                                

D. was caught by something

3.At the request stop that evening, the girl___________.

A. stopped a big lorry                                             

B. stopped the wrong bus

C. made no attempt to stop the bus                              

D. was not noticed by other people

4.What was the problem with guessing at the sound to stop a bus? _________

A. Other vehicles also stopped there.                          

B. It was unreliable for making judgments.

C. More lorries than buses responded to the girl.

D. It took too much time for the girl to catch the bus