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.
【小题1】A good title for this passage is     .

There are three branches of medicine. One is called “doctor medicine” or “scientific medicine”. Scientific doctors try to observe sickness, look for logical pattern, and then find out how the human body works. From there they figure out what treatments may work. This kind of medicine is believed to date from the 4^th century BC. Although nowadays it is successful, in the ancient this approach(方法) probably did not cure many patients.
The second kind of medicine is called “natural cures” or “folk medicine”, in which less educated people try to cure sickness with various herbs. These folk healers also use observation and logic, but they are not so aware of it. They try things until they find something that seems to work, and then they keep doing that. Folk medicine flourished(兴起) long before the development of scientific medicine and was more successful in ancient times.
The third kind is called “health spas（水疗）” or “faith healing”. Sometimes this may be as simple as touching the holy man and being immediately healed. Other times, a magician may make you a magic charm, or say a spell(咒语), to cure you. Some religious groups organize healing shrines(圣坛) for the sick. In these places people rest, get plenty of sleep, eat healthy food, drink water instead of wine, and exercise in various ways. They also talk to the priests(牧师) and pray to the gods. If you are feeling depressed or you have been working too hard, going to these places may be just the right thing to make you feel better.
【小题1】Doctor medicine _________.

1. has a longer history than folk medicine
2. has been practiced for around 2,400 years
3. bases its treatments on observation and logic
4. was very successful in curing sicknesses in ancient times

1. Folk healers choose different herbs to cure diseases without any sound basis.
2. People who practice folk medicine need lots of formal education on herbs.
3. The success of folk medicine led to the development of doctor medicine.
4. Natural cures worked better than scientific medicine in ancient times.

1. describe different types of medicine
2. argue for the importance of medicine in health care
3. show the important role religion plays in medical treatments
4. compare the educational background of three different types of patients

Dr. Smith was always__________ the poor and the sick, often providing them with free medical care.

The meaning of the word “volunteer ” may be a little different in different countries, but it usually means “one who offers his or her services.” There are many different ways in which people can volunteer, such as taking care of sick people, working in homes for homeless children, and picking up garbage(垃圾) from beaches and parks. Volunteers may work within their own countries or in other countries. They are often people with a strong wish to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Volunteers don’t expect any kind of pay.

   At the root of volunteering is the idea that one person may have the ability to offer services that can help other people. Tracy, a good friend of mine, however, recently came back from India with a new idea of what being a volunteer means. She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa’s homes in Calcutta. The following is her story.

   “I first heard about Mother Teresa in my high school, we watched a video(录像) about her work in India and all over the world. I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every human being that after I graduated from high school, I too wanted to try her kind of work. So with two friends I flew to Calcutta for a few weeks.”

   “I was asked to work in a home for sick people. I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out lunch. I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer the up. I felt it was better to share with them than to think that I have helped them. To be honest, I don’t think I was helping very much. It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and experience another culture(文化) that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world.”

According to the text, a volunteer refers to a person who ______.

   A. is willing to help those in need without pay    B. can afford to travel to different places

   C. has a strong wish to be successful            D. has made a big fortune in life

Tracy started her work as a volunteer _______.

   A. after she met Mother Teresa

   B. after she finished high school

   C. when she was touring Calcutta

   D. when she was working in a hospital

Why did Tracy choose to be a volunteer?

   A. She liked to work with Mother Teresa.

   B. She had already had some experience.

   C. She was asked by Mother Teresa’s example.

   D. She wanted to follow Mother Teresa’s example.

What is Tracy’s “new idea” (Paragraph 2) of being a volunteer?

   A. Going abroad to help the sick.

   B. Working in Mother Teresa’s home.

   C. Doing simple things to help the poor.

   D. Improving oneself through helping others.

Brenda Linson never goes anywhere without an empty spectacles case. It is as vital to her as her purse. Yet, she doesn’t wear glasses. The reason she cannot do without it is that she cannot read and she cannot write. If ever she gets into any situation where she might be expected to do either of these things, she fishes around in her bag for the spectacles case, finds it’s empty, and asks the person concerned to do the reading for her. Until a few months ago hardly anybody knew about her problem. Her husband didn’t know and her children didn’t know. The children still don’t.

She had many tactics for hiding her difficult—for example, never lingering near a phone at work, in case she had to answer it and might be required to write something down.

It has never occurred to the children that their mother cannot read. She doesn’t read them stories, but then their father doesn’t either, so they find nothing surprising in the fact. Similarly they just accept that Dad is the one who writes the sick notes and reads the school reports. Now that the elder boy Tom is quite a proficient reader, Brenda can skillfully get him to read any notes brought home from school simply by asking,“What’s that all about, then?”

Brenda’s husband never guessed the truth in ten years of marriage. For one thing, he insists on handling all domestic correspondence and bills himself. A salesman for a large company, he travels a great deal and so is not around so much to spot the truth. While he’s away Brenda cores with any situations by explaining that she cannot do anything until she’s discussed it with her husband.

Brenda was very successful in her job until recently. For the last five years she had worked as waitress at an expensive restaurant, and had eventually been promoted to head waitress. She kept the thing a secret there too, and got over the practical difficulties somehow.

1. Brenda’s children have never found out about her problem as__________.

A. she isn’t often at home.

B. they are too young to guess the truth.

C. they find it normal to ask their father for everything.

D. they think it natural that short-sighted people like their mother don’t do much reading or writing.

2.What most probably made Brenda try hard to hide her difficulty?

A. Her desire to be successful in her job.          

B. Her fear of losing face.

C. Her deceitful nature.                        

D. Both A and B.

3.Of the following suggested titles, which is the most appropriate?

A. Brenda and Her Family                    

B. A Woman Who Doesn’t Wear Glasses

C. A Woman with an Empty Spectacles Case      

D. The Miserable Life of a Waitress