For well over a thousand years, smallpox was a disease that everyone feared. The disease killed much of the native population in South America when the Spanish arrived there in the early sixteenth century. By the end of the eighteenth century, smallpox was responsible for about one in ten deaths around the world. Those who survived the disease were left with ugly scars on their skin.
It had long been well known among farmers that people who worked with cows seldom caught smallpox; instead, they often caught a similar but much milder disease called cowpox (牛痘) . A British doctor called Jenner was extremely interested in this, and so he studied cowpox. He believed that, by vaccinating (给接种疫苗) people with the disease, he could protect them against the much worse disease smallpox. In 1796, he vaccinated a boy with cowpox and, two months later, with smallpox. The boy did not get smallpox. In the next two years, Jenner vaccinated several children in the same way, and none of them got the disease．
News of the success of Jenner’s work soon spread. Vaccination soon became a common method to protect people against other diseases caused by virus, such as rabies (狂犬病), and vaccines were sent across the world to the United States and India.
It took nearly two centuries to achieve Jenner’s dream of getting free of smallpox from the whole world. In 1967, the world Health Organization (WHO) started a great vaccination program, and the last known case of smallpox was recorded in Somalia in 1977. The story of vaccinations does not end there, however. There are many other diseases that kill more and more people every year. Besides, many new diseases are being discovered. The challenge for medical researchers will, therefore, probably continue for several more centuries
【小题1】Smallpox was so serious that _________________ by the end of l8th century

For well over a thousand years, smallpox was a disease that everyone feared. The disease killed much of the native population in South America when the Spanish arrived there in the early sixteenth century. By the end of the eighteenth century, smallpox was responsible for about one in ten deaths around the world. Those who survived the disease were left with ugly scars on their skin.
It had long been well known among farmers that people who worked with cows seldom caught smallpox; instead, they often caught a similar but much milder disease called cowpox (牛痘) . A British doctor called Jenner was extremely interested in this, and so he studied cowpox. He believed that, by vaccinating (给接种疫苗) people with the disease, he could protect them against the much worse disease smallpox. In 1796, he vaccinated a boy with cowpox and, two months later, with smallpox. The boy did not get smallpox. In the next two years, Jenner vaccinated several children in the same way, and none of them got the disease．
News of the success of Jenner’s work soon spread. Vaccination soon became a common method to protect people against other diseases caused by virus, such as rabies (狂犬病), and vaccines were sent across the world to the United States and India.
It took nearly two centuries to achieve Jenner’s dream of getting free of smallpox from the whole world. In 1967, the world Health Organization (WHO) started a great vaccination program, and the last known case of smallpox was recorded in Somalia in 1977. The story of vaccinations does not end there, however. There are many other diseases that kill more and more people every year. Besides, many new diseases are being discovered. The challenge for medical researchers will, therefore, probably continue for several more centuries

1. 1.

   Smallpox was so serious that _________________ by the end of l8th century

   1. A.
      its death rate was up to ten percent
   2. B.
      those who caught it were certain to die
   3. C.
      one in ten people in the world died of smallpox
   4. D.
      one in ten deaths in the world was caused by smallpox
2. 2.

   Edward Jenner discovered that vaccination with cowpox could ____________

   1. A.
      make smallpox much milder
   2. B.
      stop people from getting smallpox
   3. C.
      protect people against any disease
   4. D.
      prevent people’s scars after smallpox
3. 3.

   Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

   1. A.
      The first experiment with cowpox was made by a British doctor
   2. B.
      After 1977 smallpox disappeared around the world according to WHO
   3. C.
      Vaccination had existed among ordinary farmers before being discovered
   4. D.
      Vaccination can be used to protect people in the world against not only smallpox
4. 4.

   The author of the passage thinks that _________________

   1. A.
      vaccinations bring many new problems
   2. B.
      vaccinations end the spread of diseases
   3. C.
      there is a long way to go to fight against diseases
   4. D.
      there is a long way to go to discover new diseases

Sam, an unemployed piano tuner, said it was only the second thing he had ever won in his life. The first thing was an Afghan blanket at a church raffle（抽奖）when he was 25 years old. But this was much bigger: it was $120,000! He had won the Big Cube, a state lottery game. To win, a contestant must first guess which number a spinning cube will stop on. The cube has six numbers on it: 1X, 10X, 50X, 100X, 500X, and 1000X. If he is correct, the contestant must then guess which of two selected variables（变量）is going to be greater. So, just guessing which number appears on the cube does not guarantee that you will win any money.

Sam correctly guessed 1000X, but he still had to choose between two variables. One variable was the number of cars that would run the stop sign at Hill Street and Lake Avenue in six hours. The other variable was the number of times that a teenage boy would change TV channels in a three-hour period. This was a tough decision.

Finally, Sam flipped（掷）a coin. It came up heads, so Sam picked the teenager. He picked right. The stop sign was run only 76 times, but the teen clicked 120 times. Sixty-year-old Sam jumped for joy, for he had just won 1000 times 120, or $120,000. Sam dreamily left the lottery studio. Talking excitedly on his cell phone while crossing the street, he got hit by a little sports car.

Sam is slowly getting better. He was in the hospital for a month. His hospital bill was $109,000. And the insurance company for the little sports car’s owner charged Sam for $10,000 worth of repairs. Also, Sam still has to pay federal taxes on his winnings. Sam doesn’t play the state lottery any more. He says it’s better to be unlucky.

60. According to the passage, “the Big Cube” is ________.

A. a TV program                                               B. a lottery game

C. a quiz show                                                  D. a real-life show

61. In order to win “the Big Cube”, a person must ______________.

A. guess the correct number on the cube             B. guess two selected variables

C. accomplish two tasks assigned to him             D. select between two variables

62. What is true about Sam?

A. He was a sixty-year-old man with a job to tune pianos for others.

B. He picked the first number by using a coin to help him make the decision.

C. He was hit by a little sports car when he was going out of the lottery studio.

D. His big prize was hardly enough to cover all the expenses after his accident.

63. Which is the most suitable title of this story?

A. Sam and the Lottery Game                             B. How to Win a Lottery Game

C. It’s Better to Be Unlucky                             D. Good Luck Doesn’t Come Easy

       Sam, an unemployed piano tuner, said it was only the second thing he had ever won in his life. The first thing was an Afghan blanket at a church raffle（抽奖） when he was 25 years old．But this was much bigger: it was $120,000! He had won the Big Cube, a state lottery（彩票） game. To win, a contestant must first guess which number a spinning cube will stop on. The cube has six numbers on it: 1X, 10X, 50X, 100X, 500X, and 1000X. If he is correct, the contestant must then guess which of two selected variables（变量） is going to be greater. So, just guessing which number appears on the cube does not guarantee that you will win any money.

       Sam correctly guessed 1000X, but he still had to choose between two variables. One variable was the number of cars that would run the stop sign at Hill Street and Lake Avenue in six hours. The other variable was the number of times that a teenage boy would change TV channels in a three-hour period．This was a tough decision. Finally, Sam flipped(掷) a coin. It came up heads, so Sam picked the teenager. He picked right. The stop sign was run only 76 times, but the teen clicked 120 times. Sixty-year-old Sam jumped for joy, for he had just won 1000 times 120, or $120,000．Sam dreamily left the lottery studio. Talking excitedly on his cell phone while crossing the street, he got hit by a little sports car.

       Sam is slowly getting better. He was in the hospital for a month. His hospital bill was $109,000．And the insurance company for the little sports car’s owner charged Sam for $10,000 worth of repairs. Also, Sam still has to pay federal taxes on his winnings. Sam doesn’t play the state lottery any more. He says it’s better to be unlucky.

1．According to the passage, “the Big Cube” is ________.

       A．A TV program                                     B．A lottery game

       C．A quiz show                                        D．A real-life show

2．In order to win “the Big Cube”, a person must ______________.

       A．guess the correct number on the cube    B．guess two selected variables

       C．accomplish two tasks assigned to him    D．select between two variables

3．What is true about Sam?

       A．He was a sixty-year-old man with a job to tune pianos for others.

       B．He picked the first number by using a coin to help him make the decision.

       C．He was hit by a little sports car when he was going out of the lottery studio.

       D．His big prize was hardly enough to cover all the expenses after his accident.

4．Which is the most suitable title of this story?

       A．Sam and the Lottery Game                   B．How to Win a Lottery Game

       C．It’s Better to Be Unlucky                      D．Good Luck Doesn’t Come Easy

                         History Has Arrived 

  Nine-year-old Barack Obama was looking through a magazine But the African-American boy was shocked by a series of photos. The pictures were of a black man who destroyed his skin with chemicals that promised to make him white.

For the first time, the boy began to doubt who he was. “I stood in front of the mirror and wondered if something was wrong with me,” Obama said.

However, now the boy who used to struggle with his identity doesn’t see it as a problem any more, but an advantage for his career. In January, 2009, Obama made history by being elected as the first black president of the US. He defeated John MaCain in a landslide(压倒性的) victory.

Obama’s story starts in opposite corners of the world. His white mother was born in the heartland of the US. His black father grew up in a tiny village in Kenya. They met in Hawaii, but his father left the family when Obama was just two years old and his mother moved to Indonesia.

At 10, Obama moved back to live with his white grandparents in Hawaii where his sense that he didn’t belong grew. At his class a white boy asked Obama if his father ate people. Out of embarrassment, Obama lied to his classmates that his father was prince. “I kept asking who I am and I ended up trying drugs and drinking,” Obama recalled.

Things came to change after the young man made friends with those with a similar background at college. Their experiences back in Africa helped Obama to finally face up to his African origin. He worked hard to become a star at Harvard Law School and the third black senator(参议员) in US history.

  At the beginning of his campaign for the White House, few people viewed Obama favorably(赞同地).Many doubted his unusual background, which left him neither “ black” enough nor white enough.

But Obama turned his pain of growing up into a tool to make Americans believe: “There is not a black America, an Asian America. There’s the United States of America.”

Barack Obama’s victory is “a historic victory that promised change and overcame centuries of prejudice(偏见)。 His success fulfilled Martin Luther King’s dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character,” wrote ABC news.

60. From the above passage we can know that Barack Obama was born in _____.

A. Kenya, Africa     B. Hawaii, the USA   C. Indonesia, Asia  D. an unknown city, in Latino America

61. He lied to his classmates that his father was prince because _______.

A. he felt ashamed of his African origin   B. he had unusual background—neither black nor white

C. his black father deserted him when he was very young

D. he didn’t have the sense of belonging

62. Put the following things in order of time.

a. Obama is the third black senator in US history  

b. Obama’s mother settled down in Indonesia with Barack Obama

c. Obama stood out among his classmates in Harvard Law School

d. Obama lived with his white grandparents in Hawaii.

e. Obama’s balck father left him and his mother.

A. c,d,a,b,e   B. e, d, b, c, a     C. d, b, a, e, c     D. e, b, d, c, a

63. What does the title “History has arrived” probably mean?

A. Barack Obama eventually defeated his white opponent, John MaCain in a landslide victory.

B. Barack Obama’s victory has given blacks and other minorities a true national role model.

C. Barack Obama has become the first African-American President, overcoming centuries of prejudice(偏见).

D. Through his great efforts, Barack Obama became the third black senator in the US history.