Puppies for Sale 待售的小狗

A store owner was putting a sign above his door that read “Puppies For Sale”. Signs like that have a way of   1   small children, and   2   enough, a little boy appeared under the store owner’s sign. “  3   are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked.

       The store owner replied, “Anywhere from $30    4   $ 50.”

       The little boy   5   in his pocket and pulled out some   6  . “I have $ 2.37,” he said. “  7   I please look at them?”

       The store owner   8   and whistled and out of the kennel (狗窝) came a lady, who ran down the aisle (过道) of his store   9   by five puppies. One puppy was   10  . Immediately the little boy singled out the puppy and said, “What’s   11   with that little dog?”

       The store owner explained that the veterinarian (兽医) had   12   the little puppy and had discovered that it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always walk slowly and with difficulty. It would always be lame. The little boy became   13   “That’s the little puppy that I want to buy.”

       The store owner said, “No, you don’t want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I’ll just give him to you.”

       The little boy got quite upset. He looked   14   into the store owner’s eyes, pointing his finger and said, “I don’t want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I’ll pay   15   price. In fact I’ll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month    16   I have him paid for.”

       The store owner answered, “You really don’t want to buy this little dog. He is   17   going to be able to jump and play with you like the other puppies.”

       To his surprise, the little boy reached   18   and rolled up his pant leg to show a badly twisted, crippled (残疾的) left leg   19   by a big metal brace (支架). He looked up at the store owner and softly replied, “Well, I don’t run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who   20  !”

A. absorbing       B. attracting    C. bargaining  D. greeting

A. sure B. luckily       C. surprisingly       D. interestingly

A. What       B. How come  C. When  D. How much

A. on    B. at       C. to       D. between

A. put   B. arrived       C. reached      D. filled

A. coin B. note    C. value  D. change

A. Can  B. Shall   C. Will    D. Must

A. performed      B. smiled C. disagreed    D. announced

A. applied    B. guided       C. followed    D. linked

A. falling behindB. setting foot       C. lending a hand   D. putting forward

A. the price       B. the matter   C. the weight  D. the name

A. tested    B. studied       C. examined   D. experimented

A. excited  B. shocked      C. worried      D. disappointed

A. straight  B. deeply C. closely       D. totally

A. half       B. lower  C. higher D. full

A. unless    B. after   C. until   D. once

A. always   B. often   C. no      D. never

A. up  B. down  C. out     D. over

A. supported      B. assisted      C. adjusted     D. surrounded

A. encourages    B. cooperates  C. understands       D. recognizes

I used to live selfishly, I should admit. But one moment changed me.

I was on my lunch break and had    44___the office to get something to eat .

On the way, I ___45__a busker(街头艺人)，with a hat in front of him. I had some ____46___ in my pocket, but I would not give them to him, thinking to myself he would ___47___ use the money to feed his addiction to drugs or alcohol. He___48__like that type-young and ragged. ____49__what was I going to spend the money on? Only to feed my addiction to Coca-Cola or chocolate! I then ____50__I had no right to place myself above ____51__just because he was busking.

I ____52__ and dropped all the coins into his  ___53___and he smiled at me, I watched for a while. As ____54__as it sounds, I expected something more to come from that moment—a feeling of ___55___or satisfaction, for example. But nothing happened ___56____, I walked off. “It proved to be a waste of ____57____,”I thought.

On my way home at the end of the___58__, I saw the busker again and he was  __59___ . I watched him pick up the hat and walk___60__ a cafe counter. There he poured the _61____contents into a tin collecting __62____ an earthquake fund-raising(募捐) event. He was busking for charity(慈善)！

Now I donate any ____63__ I have to charity tins and enjoy the feeling of giving.

1.A. left         B . cleaned      C . prepared          D . searched  

2.A. led         B . chose        C . saw              D . fooled    

3.A. chocolates        B . coins        C . tins              D . drugs    

4.A. almost            B . only         C . rather            D . still    

5.A. acted             B . looked        C . sounded         D . smelt    

6.A. Though           B . For            C . Therefor         D . But      

7.A. declared          B . realized       C . expected         D . guessed   

8.A. it                 B . all           C . him             D . them     

9.A. waited            B . followed      C . stopped          D . arrived     

10.A. rag            B . hat           C . pocket          D . counter     

11.A. selfish          B . awkward      C . innocent         D . special       

12.A. happiness       B . sadness       C . love             D . hate           

13.A. DisappointedlyB.Unfortunately  C.Coincidentally      D. Comfortably        

14.A. words      B . effort         C . space                         D . money              

15.A. moment        B . day          C . break                      D . event              

16.A. walking around B. passing by   C . packing up         D. running off         

17.A. around         B . in           C . behind                 D . to                

18.A. chief       B . basic            C . actual                D . total            

19.A.by         B . for               C . on                   D . with              

20.A.work       B . time            C . energy            D .change           

    A few days ago, he was just Colonel (上校) Yang; Few people knew his name or recognized his face. But last Thursday, when he came back to the earth after a 21-hour trip to space, Yang Liwe's smile was seen across the world above the magic words:“China’s first spaceman”.

    The 38-year-old astronaut was sent into space at 9 a. m. last Wednesday by China’s Shenzhou V spacecraft, which orbited the earth 14 times. He landed safely at 6: 23 a. m. the next day, making China the third country to successfully send a person into space, after the former Soviet Union and the US.

    Yang was satisfied with his job. “I have seen many landing scenes before on video, and I think ours was one of the most successful,” he said on a special plane to Beijing after landing.

    Born into an ordinary family in Liaoning Province, he became a pilot in the Chinese Air Force in 1987, spending 1, 350 hours in the air. He joined the Chinese space programmer 11 years later.

    While in space, Yang recorded everything he saw as well as showing China’s national flag and the United Nations’ flag to the people watching on TV at home. He also ate a meal of diced chicken and fried rice, before taking a 3-hour nap. The whole project went according to plan, but space exploration is not as easy as it seems.

    Anyone who saw the destruction of the US space shuttle Columbia in February this year will know that Yang took a great risk.

    He experienced extremely high temperatures, while the gravitational forces (重力) on takeoff and landing were strong enough to force tears from his eyes.

    He has spent five years training to become a spaceman.

    "I eat all of my meals at the space programmer’s dinning room and have never been able to take my son to kindergarten," he said. "I’ve never met his teachers."

    But becoming China’s first spaceman has made all the effort worthwhile.

    “When I boarded the spacecraft for the first time, I couldn’t help feeling excited,”he said.“I decided that I had to fly it.”

    To Chinese people, Yang is now a hero. One visitor to a Xinhua news agency online forum (网上论坛) said:“Yang’s trip is a giant leap forward for China.”

    Officials say the next Shenzhou will be launched by 2005. China also plans to develop space walking and a space lab.

1. What is the main idea of the story?

    A. China’s first manned space flight.

    B. A hero with great courage

    C. The first Chinese man in space

    D. How Yang Liwei became China’s first spaceman

2. How long did each of Yang’s orbits take on average?

    A. 1 hour.　　　　　　  B. 1. 5 hours.　　　　 C. 6 hours.　　　　    D. The story didn’t mention.

3. Why did the writer mention the gravitational forces on takeoff and landing?

    A. To stress the hardship and the spaceman had to experience.

    B. Because it was a very special experience for any spacemen.

    C. To stress how much training he had to do to prepare for the flight

    D. To show that Yang is lucky.

4. Why did the writer use“giant leap”in the title?

    A. Because the space flight marked China’s great progress in the field of space exploration.

    B. Because Neil Armstrong said it was a "giant leap" for mankind when he first set foot on the moon.

    C. Because the space flight was a huge success.

    D. Both A and B.

Giant leap for China

    A few days ago, he was just Colonel (上校) Yang; Few people knew his name or recognized his face. But last Thursday, when he came back to the earth after a 21-hour trip to space, Yang Liwe's smile was seen across the world above the magic words:“China’s first spaceman”.

    The 38-year-old astronaut was sent into space at 9 a. m. last Wednesday by China’s Shenzhou V spacecraft, which orbited the earth 14 times. He landed safely at 6: 23 a. m. the next day, making China the third country to successfully send a person into space, after the former Soviet Union and the US.

    Yang was satisfied with his job. “I have seen many landing scenes before on video, and I think ours was one of the most successful,” he said on a special plane to Beijing after landing.

    Born into an ordinary family in Liaoning Province, he became a pilot in the Chinese Air Force in 1987, spending 1, 350 hours in the air. He joined the Chinese space programmer 11 years later.

    While in space, Yang recorded everything he saw as well as showing China’s national flag and the United Nations’ flag to the people watching on TV at home. He also ate a meal of diced chicken and fried rice, before taking a 3-hour nap. The whole project went according to plan, but space exploration is not as easy as it seems.

    Anyone who saw the destruction of the US space shuttle Columbia in February this year will know that Yang took a great risk.

    He experienced extremely high temperatures, while the gravitational forces (重力) on takeoff and landing were strong enough to force tears from his eyes.

    He has spent five years training to become a spaceman.

    "I eat all of my meals at the space programmer’s dinning room and have never been able to take my son to kindergarten," he said. "I’ve never met his teachers."

    But becoming China’s first spaceman has made all the effort worthwhile.

    “When I boarded the spacecraft for the first time, I couldn’t help feeling excited,”he said.“I decided that I had to fly it.”

    To Chinese people, Yang is now a hero. One visitor to a Xinhua news agency online forum (网上论坛) said:“Yang’s trip is a giant leap forward for China.”

    Officials say the next Shenzhou will be launched by 2005. China also plans to develop space walking and a space lab.

1. What is the main idea of the story?

    A. China’s first manned space flight.

    B. A hero with great courage

    C. The first Chinese man in space

    D. How Yang Liwei became China’s first spaceman

2. How long did each of Yang’s orbits take on average?

    A. 1 hour.　　　　　　  B. 1. 5 hours.　　　　 C. 6 hours.　　　　    D. The story didn’t mention.

3. Why did the writer mention the gravitational forces on takeoff and landing?

    A. To stress the hardship and the spaceman had to experience.

    B. Because it was a very special experience for any spacemen.

    C. To stress how much training he had to do to prepare for the flight

    D. To show that Yang is lucky.

4. Why did the writer use“giant leap”in the title?

    A. Because the space flight marked China’s great progress in the field of space exploration.

    B. Because Neil Armstrong said it was a "giant leap" for mankind when he first set foot on the moon.

    C. Because the space flight was a huge success.

    D. Both A and B.

Is it time to kick Russia out of the BRICs （金砖四国）? If so, it may end up sounding like a famous ball-point pen maker-BIC. An argument is being made that Goldman Sach’s famous marketing device（策略）,the BRICs, should really be the BICs.
“Is Russia really worth the name BRICs?” asks Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in an article for Foreigh Policy. Aslund, who is also co-author with Andrew Kuchins of “The Russian Balance Sheet”, thinks the Russia of Putin and Medvedev is just not worthy of inclusion alongside Brazil, India and China in the list of future economic powerhouses. He writes:
“The country’s economic performance has fallen to such a weak level that one must ask whether it has any say at all on the global economy, compared with the other members of its group. I have just returned from Moscow, which is always dull around this season. For the last seven years, Russia has taken very few measures to improve its economy. Instead, the state has been living on oil and gas. ”
Economically, Aslund has the numbers on his side. The International Monetary Fund figures that the Russian economy will fall by 6.7 percent in 2009, while China will grow 8.5 percent and India 5.4 percent. There is less of a case for Brazil, with a fall of 0.7 percent, but it is still doing
far better than Russia.
But the BRICs are not just about economy. As is mentioned above, it is a marketing device to encourage investors to focus on the big promising players. From an investment standpoint, it could be argued that Russia is leading the BRICs. Its stock（股票）market is up 128 percent this year while around 80 percent is for the other three.
At very least, however, Russia’s economic underperformance and stock market outperfoumance does suggest it is indeed one of the group.
【小题1】According to the passage, which country will enjoy the biggest increase in 2009?