It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor(光标) had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else to do, I yanked (用力猛拉) the battery out.
Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a crucial（紧要关头） undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.
I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company's Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don't know what continent they're standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we've been having when there was a monsoon(季风) at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.
"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don't have the Windows Setup CD."
"So you're having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.
It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Her only duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.
To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows' creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don't know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn't have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and polite.
When my voice hit a certain decibel (分贝), I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.
"You don't have the Windows Setup CD, ma'am, because you don't need it," he explained cheerfully.
"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"
"But I do need it."
"Yes, but you don't have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you'd lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it's not covered by the warranty (产品保证书)!"  The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.
I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I'd heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn't be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his.
【小题1】Why did the author shut down her computer abruptly?

It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor(光标) had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else to do, I yanked (用力猛拉) the battery out.

Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a crucial（紧要关头） undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.

I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company's Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don't know what continent they're standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we've been having when there was a monsoon(季风) at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.

"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don't have the Windows Setup CD."

"So you're having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.

It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Her only duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.

To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows' creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don't know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn't have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and polite.

When my voice hit a certain decibel (分贝), I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.

"You don't have the Windows Setup CD, ma'am, because you don't need it," he explained cheerfully.

"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"

"But I do need it."

"Yes, but you don't have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you'd lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it's not covered by the warranty (产品保证书)!"  The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.

I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I'd heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn't be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his.

1.Why did the author shut down her computer abruptly?

A．She had saved what she had written.

B．She couldn't move the cursor.

C．The computer refused to work.

D．The computer offered to repair itself.

2.Which of the following is the author's opinion about the woman at the Global Support Centre?

A．She sounded helpful and knowledgeable.

B．She was there to make callers frustrated.

C．She was able to solve her computer problem.

D．She was quick to pass her along to a technician.

3.According to the passage, the solution offered by the technician was_________________.

A．effective          B．economical        C．unpractical        D．unsatisfied

4. "It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache" in the last but one paragraph means that_____________________.

A．the technician's proposal would make things even worse

B．the technician's proposal could eventually solve the problem

C．files stored on her computer were like a safe

D．erasing the entire system was like curing a headache

5.It can be inferred from the passage that the differences between the Global Support Centre and the local repair shop lie in all the followings except ________________.

A．efficiency         B．location           C．setup CDs         D．attitude

Mr. Ma, a famous mental doctor from Beijing once said at an important meeting, “Now many young students can have many problems with their minds. Some students become worried because they have to study very hard. Others have trouble getting on well with people around them like their parents and classmates. Parents and teachers should care more about this problem.”

Then Mr. Ma gave some examples. One patient, a middle school student from Xi’an was doing badly in his lessons. He thought his teachers and friends often laughed at him, and he became so nervous and worried that one night he left his home without telling parents. Another student, a 14-year-old schoolgirl from Shanghai, was very afraid of exams. While she was reading the exam paper, she couldn’t think of anything to write.

A recent report from Jiefang Daily says about 18% of the young students in Shanghai have mental problems. They often fell worried and very unhappy. Unluckily, many of them won’t go and ask for help. Some think they will look stupid if they go to see a doctor. Others won’t talk about their own secrets.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Ma offered some good ideas to young people:

◆Talk to your parents or teachers often.

◆Take part in group activities.

◆Try to get along well with the people around you.

◆Go to see a doctor if you often feel unhappy.

The students who often become worried or have trouble getting on with others may have ______.

   A. no parents            B. no secrets       C. poor memories   D. mental problems

The schoolgirl’s problem happened whenever she __________.

   A. studied very hard                       B. had exams      

C. talked with her parents                   D. went to see the doctor

Some of those with mental problems won’t ask for help because ______________,

A. they don’t want to tell their secrets to others

B. their parents are too busy to look after them

C. doctors can’t help them with the problems

D. they can do with the problems themselves

According to the last part, which of the following is a good idea?

A. It’s important for children to live with their parents.

B. It’s helpful for people to see doctors every day.

C. It’s useful for students to keep quiet in class.

D. It’s necessary for young people to have group activities.

Cultural Center Adds Classes for Young Adults

The Allendale Cultural Center has expanded its arts program to include classes for young adults. Director Leah Martin announced Monday that beginning in September, three new classes will be offered to the Allendale community. The course titles will be Yoga for Teenagers; Hip Hop Dance: Learning the Latest Moves; and Creative Journaling for Teens: Discovering the Writer Within. The latter course will not be held at the Allendale Cultural Center but instead will meet at the Allendale Public Library.

Staff member Tricia Cousins will teach the yoga and hip hop classes. Ms. Cousins is an accomplished choreographer (舞蹈教师) as well as an experienced dance educator. She has an MA in dance education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she wrote a thesis on the pedagogical (教学法的) effectiveness of dance education. The journaling class will be taught by Betsy Milford. Ms. Milford is the head librarian at the Allendale Public Library as well as a columnist for the professional journal Library Focus.

The courses are part of the Allendale Cultural Center’s Project Teen, which was initiated by Leah Martin, Director of the Cultural Center. According to Martin, this project is a direct result of her efforts to make the center a more essential part of the Allendale community. Over the last several years, the number of people who have visited the cultural center for classes or events has steadily declined. Project Teen is primarily funded by a generous grant from The McGee Arts Foundation, an organization devoted to bringing arts programs to young adults. Martin oversees the Project Teen board, which consists of five board members. Two board members are students at Allendale’s Brookdale High School; the other three are adults with backgrounds in education and the arts.

The creative journaling class will be cosponsored by Brookdale High School, and students who complete the class will be given the opportunity to publish one of their journal entries in Pulse, Brookdale’s student literary magazine. Students who complete the hip hop class will be eligible to participate in the Allendale Review, an annual concert sponsored by the cultural center that features local actors, musicians, and dancers. All classes are scheduled to begin immediately following school dismissal, and transportation will be available from Brookdale High School to the Allendale Cultural Center and the Allendale Public Library. For more information about Project Teen, contact the cultural center’s programming office at 988-0099 or drop by the office after June 1 to pick up a fall course catalog. The office is located on the third floor of the Allendale Town Hall.

1.Which of the following statements is correct? 

A. Tricia Cousins will teach two of the new classes.

B. The new classes will begin on June 1.

C. People who want a complete fall catalogue should stop by the Allendale Public Library.

D. The cultural center’s annual concert is called Pulse.

2.According to Leah Martin, what was the direct cause of Project Teen?

A. Tricia Cousins was available to teach courses in the fall.

B. Community organizations were ignoring local teenagers.

C. The McGee Arts Foundation wanted to be more involved in Allendale’s arts programming.

D. She wanted to make the cultural center a more important part of the Allendale community.

3.Which of the following factors is implied as another reason for Project Teen?

A. The number of people visiting the cultural center has declined over the last several years.

B. The cultural center wanted a grant from The McGee Arts Foundation.

C. The young people of Allendale have complained about the cultural center’s offerings.

D. Leah Martin thinks classes for teenagers are more important than classes for adults.

4.This article is organized in which of the following ways?

A. In time order, from the past to the future.

B. Most important information first, followed by background and details.

C. Background first, followed by the most important information and details.

D. As sensational news, with the most controversial topic first.

For many writers, writing stories or plays is a part-time job: to support themselves they take on other jobs, such as teaching. It is one sign of August Wilson’s success that for many years he has been able to make a living only by writing plays.

Wilson was born in Pittsburgh and dropped out of school in the ninth grade. He was a good reader, however, and continued his education by reading library books, learning about black nationalist movements of the time, and closely observing(观察) the lives of the poor people.

In the late 1960’s Wilson set up a theater company called Black Horizons and began to think of ways to describe African-American life on the stage. He had the idea of a cycle of plays, each of which was set in a different decade(十年) of the 20^th century, showing how African-American life has developed.

The first successful play of this series was Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom about black musicians in Chicago in the 1920s, who are not accepted by white society. Other plays in the series include Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, about blacks in the 1910s who had moved north to Pittsburgh in search of a new identity; Fences, which focuses on a father–son conflict(冲突) in the1950s; and The Piano Lesson, about a 1930s family that was uncertain about whether to sell the family’s treasure. For the last two of these plays Wilson was awarded Pulitzer Prizes.

Wilson has written eight plays in his cycle, the most recent being King Hedley the Second, a play set in the 1980s. His plays are enjoyed by both the blacks and the whites and engage anyone who is interested in African-American experience.

1.Wilson won Pulitzer Prizes for ________.

A．The Piano Lesson & Fences

B． Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom & Fences

C．The Piano Lesson & King Hedley the Second

D．King Hedley the Second & Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

2. It is possible that in his series of the 20^th –century plays, Wilson plans to write ________.

A．no more          B．two more          C．three more        D．four more

3.The underlined word “engage” in the last paragraph means ________.

A．award            B．benefit           C．please            D．attract

4.What’s the passage mainly about?

A．The life of August Wilson.                 B．The growth of August Wilson.

C．A cycle of plays of August Wilson.           D．August Wilson’s theater company.