The Red Cross is an international organization which cares for people who are in need of help. A man in a Paris hospital who needs blood, a woman in Mexico who was injured in an earthquake, and a family in India that lost their home in a storm may all be aided by the Red Cross.

The Red Cross exists in almost every country around the world. The world Red Cross organizations are sometimes called the Red Crescent, the Red Mogen Daid, the Sun, and the Red Lion. All of these agencies share a common goal of trying to help people in need.

The idea of forming an organization to help the sick and wounded during a war started with Jean Henri Dunant. In 1859, he observed how people were suffering on a battlefield in Italy. He wanted to help all the wounded people regardless of which side they were fighting for. The most important result of his work was an international treaty called the Geneva Convention(日内瓦协定). It protects prisoners of war, the sick and wounded, and other citizens during a war.

The American Red Cross was set up by Clara Barton in 1881. Today the Red Cross in the United States provides a number of services for the public, such as helping people in need, teaching first aid and providing blood.

1.A good title for this passage is     .

2.The word “aided ” in the first paragraph means     .

3.The author really tries to make the reader see that this organization     .

4.We may draw a conclusion (下结论)that      during a war.

There lived a king who liked art. One day an artist offered to  paint the most beautiful picture in the world on the wall of his palace.

So he king said, “ All right, you may work on one of the walls in the new hall. ”

Just then, another artist said, “Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so the either of us cannot see the other. ”

Everyone in the king’s court, including the king and the first artist was surprised. So the king decided to give the man a chance.

The following day, a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil and water. But the second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day.

A month later the first artist said that his work was completed and invited the king to come.

So the king sent the message to the second artist, saying he was coming to see their works that evening.

After seeing the first artist’s wall, the king was very impressed with the painting and gave him a huge sum of money as a reward. He then asked for the curtain to be opened up.

The same painting was seen on the opposite wall too! It was exactly like the one on the first wall. But this man had not seen what was going on, on the other side of the curtain.

The man said simply, “It’s very easy I just polished the wall every day! ”

It was a wall made of white marble. The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror. The reflection of the painting across the room showed up in it!

56．A thick curtain was put up between the two walls in order to __________.

A．help them concentrate on their work

B．keep the first artist’s painting a secret

C．prevent their painting from being seen

D．make it hard for them to exchange ideas

57．Why did the first artist receive a huge sum of money from the king?

A．His painting satisfied the king.

B．His painting was the best the king has ever seen.

C．He painted better than the second artist.

D．The king promised to give him a reward.

58．How was the king feeling when he saw the second wall ?

A．Surprised and excited.           B. Fascinated and doubtful.

C．Satisfied and curious.            D. The paintings on the wall.

59．What would be best title of the text?        .

A．A king who loved art            B．Two artists and the king

C．Whose painting is better?        D．The painting on the wall

Recently,university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged.It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours.
Unplugged is being run by Dr Roman Gerodimos，a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University.During the experiment，Dr Gerodimos said there were already  signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers.He said：“They’re reporting withdrawal symptoms，overeating，feeling nervous，isolated and disconnected.”
During their 24-hour test，three of the experiment’s participants were followed around by a BBC reporter plus cameraman.They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline，but of course，they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops.
Elliot Day wrote：“Today,my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air.Despite being  aware of the social importance of the media,I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers.”
From Caroline Scott，we read：“I didn’t expect it，but being deprived of the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual…I didn’t break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to，but It’s not something l would like to do again！”
And Charlotte Gay wrote：“I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been  my  mobile；not  only is it a social device，it’s  my main access point of communication.”
Earlier in the year,a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media,often plugged into several things at once.So,with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate,how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?
【小题1】What can we learn about the volunteers?

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，共30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白出的最佳选项。
?After 42-year-old guy Tom had quitted his job, he began to make up his mind to become a freelance (self-employed) writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a(n)  21  typewriter and settled down to work．
After a year or so, however, Tom began to  22  himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by  23  what he wrote．But Tom determined to put his dream to the test —  24  it meant living with uncertainty and fear of  25 ．This is the shadowland of hope, and  26  with a dream must learn to live there．
One day Tom got a call, “We need a(n)  27 , and we’re paying $6,000 a year．” $6,000 was  28  money in 1960．It would enable Tom to get a nice apartment, a used car and more． 29 , he could write on the side． 30  the dollars were dancing in Tom’s head, something  31  his senses．He had dreamed of being a  32  — full time．“Thanks, but no,” Tom said  33 ．“I’m going to stick it out and write．”
After Tom got off the phone, he  34  everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Tom put the cans and cents into a  35  bag, saying to himself, “There’s everything you’ve made of yourself so far．”
　　Finally his work was  36  in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that  37  writers ever experience．The shadows had turned into limelight．
　　Then one day, Tom  38  a box filled with things he had owned years before． 39  was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he  40 himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Tom, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course in the shadowland．

Recently,university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged.It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours.

Unplugged is being run by Dr Roman Gerodimos，a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University.During the experiment，Dr Gerodimos said there were already  signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers.He said：“They’re reporting withdrawal symptoms，overeating，feeling nervous，isolated and disconnected.”

During their 24-hour test，three of the experiment’s participants were followed around by a BBC reporter plus cameraman.They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline，but of course，they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops.

Elliot Day wrote：“Today,my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air.Despite being  aware of the social importance of the media,I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers.”

From Caroline Scott，we read：“I didn’t expect it，but being deprived of the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual…I didn’t break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to，but It’s not something l would like to do again！”

And Charlotte Gay wrote：“I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been  my  mobile；not  only is it a social device，it’s  my main access point of communication.”

Earlier in the year,a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media,often plugged into several things at once.So,with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate,how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?

1.What can we learn about the volunteers?

A.Volunteers didn’t write down about their day offline.

B.Volunteers weren’t allowed to use any media for 24 hours.

C.Volunteers  were followed around by Dr Roman Gerodimos.

D.Only volunteers in the UK took part in Unplugged experiment.

2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the participants’feelings？

A.Anxious.           B.Lonely            C.Bored.            D.Despaired.

3.Which of the following is true of Caroline Scott？

A.The media ban affected his temperature.

B.His work went on smoothly without the media.

C.His work was carried on hard without the media.

D.His life was empty without the radio or newspapers.

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A.People should use the media devices reasonably.

B.People can easily survive the media devices addict.

C.People can spend more time sleeping in the future.

D.People spend about half the time using the media devices.

5.The text is most probably a         .

A.newspaper ad             B.book review

C.news report              D.science fiction story