SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — Hundreds of families from the two Koreas on Saturday met at the DPRK's (朝鲜人民主主义人民共和国) Mount Kumgang resort (度假胜地)in the first government-arranged reunion since the inauguration（就职）of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
Earlier in the day, 96 South Koreans, of whom more than three-quarters were at the age of 70 or older, crossed the inter-Korean border（韩朝边界）, heading for the Kumgang resort to meet their families separated by the 1950—1953 Korean War.
Arriving at the DPRK's resort in the afternoon, South Koreans met with their long-separated families at a large-scale gathering at around 3 p.m. local time, and later are to have a dining meeting in the evening.
The separate, personal meetings are planned to be held on Sunday.
The South Korean families will come back home on Monday after the three-day gathering, followed by the second-session reunion event which will last from Tuesday to Thursday.
The reunion, which had become a semi-regular event(半定期举行的活动) since 2000 after a historic inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang(平壤), was suspended（取消）in 2007 with a worsening mood in inter-Korean relations.
Saturday's family meeting, however, came as a result of an agreement reached last month between the DPRK leader Kim Jong-il and Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai Group.
The recovery of the family meetings is regarded as conveying the DPRK's reconciliatory(和解) intentions, along with the country's recent moves including lifting a ban(解禁) on cross-border traffic to and from the Kaesong Joint Industrial Park, local media said.
About 600,000 South Koreans are believed to have relatives in the DPRK. Ordinary citizens were not allowed to make phone calls, send letters or exchange e-mails across the border.
【小题1】.  Why were there so many families separated according to the passage?

Like a backward tape, time returns to my mom's teens．She is waiting for admission results from a famous high school．She has studied for the test but with joy, since she feels no suffering in learning．Suddenly I spy her jumping and laughing, waving a paper in her hand while her family stands nearby, more shocked than happy．No one else from their village has ever passed the test．

??? Later, at her new high school, I proudly watch as she continues to rise to the top．Many of her essays are published in newspapers, and her classmates seek her advice when a test is approaching． She never refuses them, and I feel honored to be related to such an intelligent person．

??? As I walk with her through her journey, I finally come to the point I have been looking forward to most: her life in America． After passing several tests and finding a kind boss to sponsor her, she becomes a college student at University of California, Los Angeles． At first, I sense her loneliness and panic as she tries to adapt to her new surroundings．Though her English is broken and she knows little about American culture, I can tell she is more than grateful to be here． Here she has access to electricity and running water, and most importantly, better schools． At UCLA, she has so many opportunities to grow and advance in her field．

??? Her journey to America was for just one reason: education．Though having an education will better her life, I know she doesn't do it for herself．My mom wants her children to have an easier life that will not require hard labor．I see what my mom goes through, and I'm filled with gratitude that she has made the brave choice to move here．

1.According to the first paragraph, the writer's mother considers learning to be???????? .

A． easy and joyful???????????????? ????????????? B． bitter but rewarding

C． costly and boring????????????????????? D． exciting but fruitless

2.Which of the following does the writer's mother do at high school?

A．Working as a newspaper deliverer．

B．Feeling proud of her intelligence．

C．Working hard to be honored and awarded．

D．Giving her classmates advice before tests．

3.How does the writer's mother pay for her college education?

A． By doing a part-time job．

B． By asking her parents for support．

C． With the financial support from a kind boss．

D． With the help from her teachers and classmates．

4.What is the final aim of the writer's mother's going to America?

A． To accumulate wealth．

B． To benefit her children．

C． To make her parents live better．

D． To become famous in her field of study．

We all remember seeing hitchhikers（搭便车的人）, standing by the side of the road, thumb sticking out, waiting for a lift. But it is getting rare nowadays. What killed hitchhiking? Safety is often mentioned as a reason. Movies about murderous hitchhikers and real-life crime have put many drivers off picking up hitchhikers. That no single women picked me up on my journey to Manchester no doubt reflects the safety fear: a large, strangely dressed man is seen as dangerous.
But the reason may be more complex: hitchhiking happens where people don’t have cars and transport services are poor. Plenty of people still hitchhike in Poland and Romania. Perhaps the rising level of car ownership in the UK means the few people lift hitchhiking are usually considered strange. Why can’t they afford cars? Why can’t they take the coach or the train?
Three-quarters of the UK population have access to a car; many of the remainder will be quite old. The potential hitchhiking population is therefore small. Yet my trip proves it’s still possible to hitchhike. The people who picked me up were very interesting-lawyer, retired surgeon, tank commander, carpenter, man who live in an isolated farmhouse and a couple living up in the mountains. My conclusion is that only really interesting people are mad enough to pick up fat blokes in red,
spotted scarves. Most just wanted to do someone a good turn; a few said they were so surprised to see a hitchhiker that they couldn’t help stopping.
The future of hitchhiking most likely lies with car-sharing organized over the Internet, via sites such as hitchhikers. org. But for now, you can still stick your thumb out(actually, I didn’t do much of that, preferring just to hold up my destination sign) and people-wonderful, caring, sharing, unafraid people-will stop.
In the UK, with its cheap coaches and reasonable rail service, I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. But having enjoyed it so much, I’m ready now to do a big trip across Europe and beyond. In the 1970s a female friend of my wife’s hitchhiked to India. How wonderful it would be to have another go, though Afghanistan might be a challenge. I wish I’d got that tank commander’s mobile number.
【小题1】The author tried to hitchhike but was rejected by single women drivers because_____________ .

BRITAIN is a popular tourist place. But tours of the country have pros and cons.
Good news
Free museums: No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities(古董).
Pop music: Britain is the only country to rival(与……比敌)the US on this score.
Black cabs: London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never enough of them at weekends or night.
Choice of food: Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurants.
Fashion: Not only do fashion junkies love deeply and respect highly brand names such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen; street styles are justly loved, too.
Bad news
Poor service: “It’s part of the image of the place. People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says Professor Tony Seaton of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.
Poor public transport: Trains and buses are promised to defeat the keenest tourists, although the over-crowded London tube is inexplicably(不可解的) popular.
Lack of language: Speaking slowly and clearly may not get many foreign visitors very far, even in the tourist traps.
Rain: Still in the number one complaint.
No air-conditioning: So that even splendidly hot summer become as unbearable as the downpours.
Overpriced hotels: The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.
Licensing hours: Alcohol is in short supply after 11 p.m. even in 24-hour cities.
【小题1】What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?

A．Pop music in Britain is better than that in the US.

B．Pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US.

C．Pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US.

D．Pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US.

“We do look very different; we’re older. Leo’s 38, I’m 37. We were 21 and 22 when we made that film. You know, he’s fatter now -- I’m thinner.” So says Kate Winslet, who is thrilled at the 3-D re-release of Titanic to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the ship’s demise. “It happens every time I get on any boat of any kind." She recalls. There are all the people who want her to walk to the front of the ship and re-create her famous pose, arms flung wide. Most people remember the tragedy: The British passenger ship—said to be unsinkable—hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, during its maiden voyage from England to New York City. More than 1,500 people died. But little known is what the world learned from the sinking to prevent future incidents.
Probably the greatest deficiency (不足) of the Titanic was that she was built 40 years before the widespread use of the wonderful invention radar (雷达). Her only defense against icebergs and hidden obstacles was to rely on manned lookouts. On that fateful night the eyesight of trained lookouts only provided 37 seconds of warning before the collision.
Traveling at nearly 30 miles an hour, the Titanic was moving far too fast to avoid the huge iceberg. The warning did prevent a head-on collision as the officer on the bridge managed to turn the ship slightly.
The last ship to which it could send an SOS message was the California. She was within ten miles of the Titanic during the disaster, but her radio operator went to bed at midnight and never received any of the SOS messages from the Titanic. That was one of the important lessons learned from the catastrophe, the need for 24-hour radio operators on all passenger liners.
Another lesson learned was the need for more lifeboats. The Titanic remained afloat (漂浮) for almost three hours and most of the passengers could have been saved with enough lifeboats.
1,500 passengers and workers died in the 28 degree waters of the Atlantic. Out of the tragedy, the sinking did produce some important maritime reforms. The winter travel routes were changed to the south and the Coast Guard began to keep an eye on the location of all icebergs. The new rules for lifeboats were obvious to all. There must be enough lifeboats for everybody on board.
The most important lesson learned was that no one would ever again consider a ship unsinkable—no matter how large or how well constructed. Never again would sailors place their faith in a ship above the power of the sea.
【小题1】The text mainly tells us ______.