Throughout this long, tense election, everyone has focused on the presidential candidates and how they’ll change America. Rightly so, but selfishly, I’m more fascinated by Michelle Obama and what she might be able to do, not just for this country, but for me as an African-American woman. As the potential First Lady, she would have the world’s attention. And that means that for the first time people will have a chance to get up close and personal with the type of African-American woman they so rarely see.

　　Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The prevailing theory seems to be that we’re all hot-tempered single mothers who can’t keep a man. Even in the world of make-believe, black women still can’t escape the stereotype of being eye-rolling, oversexed females raised by our never-married, alcoholic (酗酒的) mothers.

　　These images have helped define the way all women are viewed, including Michelle Obama. Before she ever gets the chance to commit to a cause, charity or foundation as First Lady, her most urgent and perhaps most complicated duty may be simple to be herself.

　　It won’t be easy. Because few mainstream publications have done in-depth features on regular African-American women, little is known about who we are, what we think and what we face on a regular basis. For better or worse, Michelle will represent us all.

　　Just as she will have her critics, she will also have millions of fans who usually have little interest in the First Lady. Many African-American blogs have written about what they’d like to see Michelle bring to the White House—mainly showing the world that a black woman can support her man and raise a strong black family. Michelle will have to work to please everyone—an impossible task. But for many African-American women like me, just a little of her poise (沉着), confidence and intelligence will go a long way in changing an image that’s been around for far too long.

1.Why does Michelle Obama hold a strong fascination for the author?

A.She serves as a role model for African women.

B.She possesses many admirable qualities becoming a First Lady.

C.She will present to the world a new image of African-American women.

D.She will pay closer attention to the interests of African-American women.

2.What is the common stereotype of African-American women according to the author?

A.They are victims of violence.

B.They are of an inferior violence.

C.They use quite a lot of body language.

D.They live on charity and social welfare.

3.What do many African-Americans write about in their blogs?

A.Whether Michelle can live up to the high expectations of her fans.

B.How Michelle should behave as a public figure.

C.How proud they are to have a black woman in the White House.

D.What Michelle should do as wife and mother in the White House.

4.What does the author say about Michelle Obama as a First Lady?

A.However many fans she has, she should remain modest,

B.She shouldn’t disappoint the African-American community.

C.However hard she tries, she can’t expect to please everybody.

D.She will give priority to African-American women’s concerns.

5.What do many African-American women hope Michelle Obama will do?

A.Help change the prevailing view about black women.

B.Help her husband in the task of changing America.

C.Outshine previous First Lady.

D.Fully display her fine qualities.

The entertainment profession or “show business" attracts many young people. Unfortunately, only very few can hope to become famous and successful. Talent is not enough, because show business is as competitive as any other business .Without a good manager ,a performer can never hope to succeed .Fashion is important in this business, too. The best tailor in the world will never be a success if he makes old-fashioned clothes. In exactly the same way, a performer must change his “act" in order to follow the taste of the moment. This is true for actors, dancers and comedians, but perhaps most of all singers.

“Pop" stands for “popular" and a pop singer has to work very hard to become popular .He must either give the public what they already want, or he must find a new way of singing that will attract their attention. Even when he has succeeded, and his records are sold everywhere, he can not relax. Then he must work harder than ever because there are always younger singers trying to become famous and to steal some of the popularity.The life of a successful pop singer is not at all easy. He can only relax when he is alone, because everything he does is watched and reported in the special newspaper written for the “fans”. The fans are the most important people in the world for the singers. They buy his records, they go to his concerts and they make him rich and famous. But they can be very annoying, too. Sometimes their enthusiasm get so hysterical that they do anything to get a “souvenir"（纪念品）. They steal handkerchiefs, they tear off buttons, and they even cut off pieces of the unfortunate singer's hair. Many singers have been forced to hide. A pop singer has to spend a lot of money on clothes, because he must always look smart or at any rate different. He must have a luxurious car. And — most important — he must always keep smiling for the benefit of his public.

1.Why must a pop singer have a good manager?___________.

2.Why must a pop singer work even harder when he has become famous?___________

3.For a pop singer , the most important advantage of having fans is that____.

Paris is the capital of the European nation of France. It is also one of the most beautiful and most famous cities in the world.

Paris is called the City of Light. It is also an international fashion center. What women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world. Paris is also a famous world center of education. For example, it is where the headquarters of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The Seine River divides the city into two parts. Thirty-two bridges cross this beautiful river. The oldest and perhaps most well-known is the Pont Neuf, which was built in the sixteenth century.  The Sorbonne, a famous university, stands on the left bank of the river. There are many other famous places in Paris, such as the famous museum, the Louvre, as well as the Notre Dame. However, the most famous building in this city is Eiffel Tower.

Paris is named after a group of people called the Parisii. They built a small village on an island in the middle of the Seine River about two thousand years ago. This island, called the lie de la Cite, is where Notre Dame lies. Today around eight million people live in the Paris area.

1.This article mainly tells us about       .

2.From the passage we may conclude that       .

3.The building of        is the most famous building in Paris.

4.Which of the following descriptions of Paris is not true according to the text?

This is a part from US President Barack Obama’s speech on May 14 at Bamard College in New York.
… My last piece of advice – this is simple, but perhaps most important: 36. Nothing worthwhile is easy. No one of achievement has avoided failure – sometimes catastrophic failures. But they keep at it. They learn from mistakes. They don’t 37.
When I first arrived on this 38, I was with little money, fewer options. But it was here that I tried to find my place in this world. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but it was 39 how in fact I’d go about it. But I wanted to do my part to 40 a better world.
So even as I worked after graduation in a few 41 jobs here in New York, even as I went from motley (鱼龙混杂的)apartment to motley apartment, I 42.
… And I wish I could say that this perseverance came from some innate (天生的)toughness in me. But the truth is, it was 43. I got it from 44 the people who raised me. I grew up as the son of a single mom who struggled to put herself through 45 and make ends meet. She had a marriage that fell apart; 46 went on food stamps at one point to help us 47. But she didn’t quit. And she earned her degree, and made sure that 48 scholarships and hard work, my sister and I earned 49.
And 50, I met a woman who was assigned to advise me on my first summer job at a law firm. And she gave me such good advice that I married her. And Michelle and I gave everything we had to balance our careers and a 51 family. We made that marriage work.
… So 52 it’s starting a business, or running for office, or 53 an amazing family, remember that making your 54  on the world is hard. It takes patience. It takes commitment. It comes with plenty of 55 and it comes with plenty of failures.

Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It selves directly to bring about a rapid sale of goods at reasonable prices, so setting up a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at good prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps greatly to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it causes an increased need for labor, and is therefore a nice way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television program would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or subway would cost more.
And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a promise of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Besides the fact that twenty-seven Acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for the public has the good sense not to buy the poor article more than once. If you see an article frequently advertised, it is the proof I know that the article does what is promised for it, and that it has good value.
Advertising does more for the good of the public than any other force I can think of.
There is one more point I feel I ought to touch on. Recently I heard a well-known television person declare that he was against advertising because it persuades rather than informs. He was telling us the real difference. Of course advertising tries to persuade.
If its message were nothing but information, that would be difficult to get more people to buy, for even a detail such as the choice of the color of a shirt is a bit persuasive-advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention. But perhaps that is what the well-known television person wants.
【小题1】By the first sentence of the passage the writer means that     .