Georgia was waking up to a new president Monday but it was also getting as its first lady a green?eyed linguist from Holland who has already managed to cast a spell over the little Caucasus nation. Sandra Roelofs is seen by some as the secret weapon which enables her husband Saakashvili to win in this presidential election.

       She runs an investment consultancy（投资咨询公司）, speaks six languages and some believe she is the real brains behind her husband’s rise to power.

       Roelofs, who is a year younger than her husband, met him in 1993 when he was studying an international law programme in Strasbourg, France. She planed to go from there to Somalis as an aid worker but Saakashvili persuaded her to go with him instead to New York, where he had got a scholarship. They married soon after and when Saakashvili returned to his native Georgia to begin a career in politics, she went with him.

       She has enchanted(使人心醉) many of her adopted countrymen. The mention of her name sends women swooning（神魂颠倒）, and melts the tough expressions of strong Georgian men.“You can really tell that she cares about people,” says a resident of the capital, Tbilisi.“She runs a hunitarian organization. She is smart and pretty and kind and did you hear the way she speaks Georgian? Perfectly!”

      The new first lady’s looks and intelligence play a large part in her appeal. But Georgians are especially taken by her simple manner. She has said that she plans to keep living in the family’s modest flat, even though they have the right to move into a luxurious government residence. “She doesn’t care about fancy houses and cars.” said Malika, a 29?year?old civil servant in Tbilisi.

11. The underlined part “cast a spell over” means_________.

A. cast a shadow over                                B. attract

C. love                                                     D. respect

12. Which of the following can be best used to describe Sandra Roelofs?

A. Proud.                     B. Hard?working.        C. Charming.         D. Humble.

13.What moves Georgians most is that Sandra Roelofs is very ________.

A. pretty               B. modest                     C. intelligent          D. plain

14. Which is the right order in which Sandra Roelofs did the following?

a. Roelofs married Saakashvili.

       b. She planned to go from France to Somalis as an aid worker.

c. Roelofs runs an investment consultancy.

d. Roelofs came from Holland.

e. Roelofs went to Georgia with Saakashvili.

A. d?a?e?c?b                                B. d?a?b?e?c

C. a?b?e?c?d                                       D. d?b?a?e?c

After spending three days in a wheelchair, I was ready to quit. Not only did I have to battle cracked (裂缝的) and uneven (不平的) pavements, I had to deal with the bad attitude of pedestrians (行人) and a cold rain. But I didn’t give up because of people like Tiffany Payne.

   Payne, who has been using a wheelchair for 18 years, laughed at me:

   “Imagine trying to get around town in the winter,” she said.

   I could see her point: You’re battling to get to a doctor’s appointment (预约), but no one has shoveled (铲) after a big snowfall. Your choices: Move out and risk getting stuck, or reschedule the appointment.

  Those of us fortunate enough to get around on our own two legs don’t give a second thought to the person in a wheelchair next to us at a crosswalk. That would require us to look down.

   So I decided to try using a wheelchair to get a sample of what their lives are like. It wasn’t long before I saw that people who use wheelchairs are forced to deal with a lot of trouble.

   During my experiment, I was ignored by store staff while shopping and bumped into by inattentive (疏忽的) walkers without so much as an apology.    

   Some people even gave me angry looks as if I were the one at fault.

   Once in a store, a woman bumped into me trying to get to the new iPad. She didn’t say, “Excuse me.”

  When salespeople did offer assistance, they talked to people who were with me, instead of me. I wanted to yell: “Hey, I’m down here!”

  Some salespeople talked to me as though I were a child or acted like they didn’t want to be bothered with me.

   People who use wheelchairs want to be treated like everyone else. They also comprehend (理解), so you don’t have to speak to them in a childlike, sing-song voice. It’s not very appealing (吸引人的), especially when the person is an adult. And most importantly, remember they have feelings that can be hurt just like yours.

   Spending three days in a wheelchair made me look differently at those who have to use one. I hope you do the same.

                                            By James E. Causey

1.The author writes the story to _______.

  A. help those in wheelchairs gain self-confidence

  B. share his experience of acting as a wheelchair user

  C. ask people to show sympathy for those in wheelchairs

  D. call on people to respect and help those in wheelchairs

2. During his three days in a wheelchair, the author met all of the following  

  difficulties EXCEPT ______.

  A. bad road conditions          B. poor attitudes of ordinary people

  C. terrible medical service         D. bad weather

3. What can we conclude from the article?

  A. A wheelchair user may feel offended when you do not address him or her directly.

  B. Assistants in big stores are usually kind to people in wheelchairs.

  C. People in wheelchairs should fight for fair treatment.

  D. People in wheelchairs are usually hard to get along with.

4. Which of the following statements would the author agree to?

  A. Look down on a person in a wheelchair.

  B. Speak to a person in a wheelchair in a sing-song voice.

  C. Treat a person in a wheelchair as you would any other person.

  D. Offer assistance to a person in a wheelchair without asking for permission.

Brittnie Pemberton listened attentively as Jim Herrick took her and her mother, Tanya, on a brief tour of San Diego State University on Thursday. Her dream is much closer to reality after she received a promise from the university. The university promised that she would get a full four-year scholarship to the school as long as she met the entrance requirements.

Brittnie, 10, laughed. Her mom cried.

They live at the Salvation Army Door of Hope, a living center for homeless women and their children. Photojournalist Linda Solomon met them in August when she came to the facility and taught boys and girls, ages three-and-a-half to 13, how to take pictures. She gave them all disposable cameras and told them to capture images that reflected their dreams. The children's images - a big house, a church, a playground, a backyard and more - are kept. This is a project called“Pictures of Hope" organized by the Salvation Army

"I wish to go to college, so I took a picture of the sign out in front of San Diego State University," Brittnie said last month. The Fletcher Elementary School fifth-grader was pointing to the Christmas card bearing her photograph.

Adrienne Finley, development director at the Salvation Army, hosted a reception for Solomon, who told Finley about the president of a small university who gave a child the scholarship she dreamed of last year.

Finley called his old friend, Herrick, who serves as the SDSU President. "We have a wonderful opportunity here to make a difference in a little girl's life," Finley said. Soon her mom and Brittnie were face to face with SDSU President Jim Herrick.

"You must be Brittnie," he said, reaching out to shake her hand. She quickly pulled her hands out of the pockets of the new SDSU sweatshirt she had been given that morning.

They sat down at a table in his office and talked about college, about science, about her love of math and his hope that she and other girls wouldn't lose interest in those subjects, as happens to many girls as they grow older.

Then they talked about how much discipline she would need over the next eight years to make her dream come true. Both signed the paper outlining their agreement to the terms of the scholarship. Back outside on the sunny campus, Brittnie admitted she's tempted sometimes not to do her homework. "But not anymore," she said.

According to the first paragraph, we can know that________.

A. it is certain that Brittnie will be admitted into SDSU

B. Brittnie will not need to pay for her university education if she can study in SDSU.

C. Jim Herrick promised Brittnie’s mother to offer her a job in SDSU.

D. Brittnie made a promise that she would never give up her dream. .

The Salvation Army Door of Hope is intended to ______.

A. recruit young men and young women to help others

B. provide shelters for homeless moms and their children

C. carry out some projects to help those who are in trouble

D. help homeless people no matter who they are

According to the passage, the following statements are true EXCEPT_______.

A. Linda Solomon taught children photography to inspire them.

B. Children told people about their dreams through their pictures.

C. Brittnie took a picture standing at the gate of SDSC.

D. Brittnie’s picture was so good that it was printed on a Christmas card.

From what Ferrick said to Brittnie, we can infer that_______.

A. Ferrick has a strong belief that Brittnie will be a scientist in the future.

B. Brittnie, as well as some other girls, is interested in both science and math.

C. some girls would not be so good in science and math as boys as they grow older.

D. Brittnie will never lose interest in science because of her deep love

Which of the following words can best describe Brittnie’s feelings when she signed

the agreement about the scholarship ?

A. Encouraged                B. Calm               C. Nervous          D. Proud

Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.

“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”

Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.

Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent—child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue int0 adulthood.

No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”

But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”

Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.

“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the  ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”

41. The underlined word gulf in Para.3 most probably means _________.

A. interest

B. distance

C. difference

D. separation

42. Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?

A. Parents help their children develop interests in more activities.

B. Parents put more trust in their children’s abilities.

C. Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs.

D. Parents share more interests with their children.

43. The change in today’s parent-child relationship is _________.

A. more confusion among parents

B. new equality between parents and children

C.1ess respect for parents from children

D. more strictness and authority on the part of parents

44. By saying “today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side.” the author means that today’s parents _________.

A. follow the trend of the change

B. can set a limit to the change

C. fail to take the change seriously

D. have little difficulty adjusting to the change

45. The purpose of the passage is to _________.

A. describe the difficulties today’s parents have met with

B. discuss the development of the parent—child relationship

C. suggest the ways to handle the parent—child relationship

D. compare today’s parent—child relationship with that in the past

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上涂黑。

The Keeper of the River

An old man had been working for many years for a town．His job was to clear away natural waste from the pool water in the hills, which made up the lovely river flowing through the town nearby．Quietly and    , the old man guarded the hills,     the leaves and branches, and cleaned up the dirt that would have      and polluted the fresh flow of water．The town soon became a popular attraction for tourists．Elegant swans （天鹅） floated along the clear river and the view was so beautiful    words．

Years passed．One evening the town    met．As they reviewed the budget, one man's      caught sight of the salary     being paid to the seldom seen keeper of the river．He asked, "Who is the old man? Why do we    to employ him? No one in town ever     him． For all we know, the strange keeper of the hills isn't doing his job．His position isn't     any longer．" Then they voted to      the man．

     For several weeks, nothing changed ．．．

By early autumn, the trees began to     their leaves．Small branches broke off and fell into the pools of the hills,     the flow of the shining water．One afternoon, someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown     in the river．A few days later, the water was much     . Within another week, an oily something covered some sections of the water along the banks, and a terrible      was soon sensed．Swans left, and so did the      . The only thing that was now visiting the village was disease and sickness．

Quickly , the     town committee called a special meeting．Realising their huge mistake in     , they rehired the old keeper of the river again, and within a few weeks, the river began to clear up．Swans and tourists came back again and new life returned to the small town in the Alps．

Never ignore the seeming smallness of a task, job, or life．They may all make a     .

1.A．regularly  B．suddenly     C．casually       D．seldom

2.A．assumed  B．opposed      C．removed     D．conveyed

3.A．rejected  B．poured        C．selected      D．blocked

4.A．beyond    B．despite        C．within D．after

5.A．sympathy B．employment        C．masterpiece        D．committee

6.A．eye  B．care    C．hand   D．spirit

7.A．list   B．privilege      C．skill     D．concept

8.A．donate     B．continue     C．stop    D．fail

9.A．decorates         B．swears         C．shares          D．sees

10.A．negative         B．urgent         C．necessary   D．complex

11.A．find        B．fire      C．support       D．forget

12.A．lose        B．avoid  C．expand        D．admit

13.A．pulling   B．speeding     C．slowing        D．pushing

14.A．fish         B．color   C．flower          D．leaf

15.A．aliver     B．cooler          C．warmer       D．darker

16.A．sound    B．smell   C．wave   D．light

17.A．managers       B．players        C．villagers       D．tourists

18.A．embarrassed B．accepted     C．focused       D．delighted

19.A．depression     B．voyage         C．judgment    D．amusement

20.A．suggestion      B．difference  C．platform      D．devotion