PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7 — At 26, many people haven’t even decided on a career. Luke Ravenstahl, cashing in on his family’s political tradition, is already the mayor of Pittsburgh, the youngest mayor of any major city in the country. Although mayors elsewhere have been younger, Jeff Dunkel was 18 in 2001 when he was elected mayor of Mount Carbon, small towns in New York, and elsewhere have also elected teenagers as mayors. But, Tallahassee, is the only other city with a population over 100,000 that has had a mayor as young as Mr. Ravenstahl. A supporter of Mr. Ravenstahl said concerns about Mr. Ravenstahl’s age would dissipate once the city saw his work ethic.

 But now comes the hard part. As he strives to be taken seriously and take charge of a city only recently back from the brink of bankruptcy, the baby-faced mayor said that even the smallest decisions felt weighty, even what to wear in the Steelers game matters.

And another pressing issue is to strengthen the city’s economy. Pittsburgh has lost all its mills, nearly half its population and much of its downtown commercial district in the last several decades. “But Pittsburgh has 50,000 college students, and our challenge is to figure out how to retain them and to increase downtown development.” He said.

But one of the biggest uncertainties is how long he will remain in office. According to the city charter, Mayor Ravenstahl’s term will not expire until November 2009. Some city lawyers, however, have argued that he must face the electorate next year. And residents in Pittsburgh are still withholding judgment on him. Deli, Jimmy Cvetic, a sandwich shop owner, said “I call him Cool Hand Luke. He’ll be all right, but he’s going to need a cool hand to get through this.”

Mayor Ravenstahl said he was still coming to terms with the challenge he faced.

41. About Luke Ravenstahl, which of the following statements is correct?

He is the youngest mayor in the U.S.A.

His family background has contributed to his successful political career.

His young age has won support from media and young voters.

He will be mayor of Pittsburgh at least until 2009.

42. The underlined word “dissipate” in the first paragraph probably means________.

A. disappear                 B. appear                      C. spread               D. reduce

43. What can you infer from the article about Pittsburgh?

A. It is a small town in New York famous for steel mills.

B. It has always enjoyed prosperous economic success.

C. Many young college students there are the new hope of the district.

D. It is a major city in the U.S.A with a population slightly smaller than 100,000.

44. Where can you find this article?

A. A magazine      

B. A brochure about politicians

C. A newspaper

D. An advertisement about some mayor candidates

45. What kind of Challenges will not Luke Ravenstahl cope with?

A. Distrust from his citizens                      B. pressure from other outstanding young majors

C. economical standstill of his city              D. decreasing population in his city

 Fourteen – year – old Richie Hawley had spent five years studying violin at the Community School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles when he took part in a violin contest. Ninety two young people were invited to the contest and Hawley came out first．

The contest could have been the perfect setup for fear, worrying about mistakes, and trying to impress the judges．But Hawley says he did pretty well in staying calm. “I couldn’t be thinking about how many mistakes I’d make—it would distract me from playing,” he says．“I didn’t even remember trying to impress people while I played． It’s almost as if they weren’t there． I just wanted to make music．”

Hawley is a winner． But he didn’t become a winner by concentrating on winning． He did it by concentrating on playing well．

“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part,” said the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin．“The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle．The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well．”

A characteristic of high performers is their intense, pleasurable concentration on work, rather than on their competitors or future glory or money, says Dr．Charles Garfield, who has studied 1,500 achievers in business, science, sports, the arts, and professions．“They are interested in winning, but they’re most interested in self-development, testing their limits．”

One of the most surprising things about top performers is how many losses they’ve had and how much they’ve learned from each． “Not one of the 1,500 I studied defined losing as failing,” Garfield says．“They kept calling their losses ‘setbacks’．”

A healthy attitude toward setbacks is essential to winning, experts agree．

“The worst thing you can do if you’ve had a setback is to let yourself get stuck in a prolonged depression． You should analyze carefully what went wrong, identify specific things you did right and give yourself credit for them．” Garfield believes that most people don’t give themselves enough praise． He even suggests keeping a diary of all the positive things you’ve done on the way to a goal．

1.Hawley won the contest because _______．

A．he put all his mind to his performance

B．he cared much about the judges’ feelings

C．he tried his best to avoid making mistakes

D．he paid close attention to the people around

2.High performers is that they tend to give priority to _______．

A．glory          B. wealth        C. pleasure    D. work

3.According to the passage, successful people concentrate on _______．

A．challenging their own limits         B．learning from others

C．defeating their opponents  D．avoiding setbacks

4. It can be learned from the passage that top performers are not _______．

A．interested in winning              B．free of losses

C．accustomed to failures             D．concerned about setbacks

5.The passage tells us that “praise” in times of trouble _______．

A．helps people deal with their disappointment

B．makes people forget their setbacks

C．makes people regret about their past

D．helps people realize their goals

Teresa was born in Yugoslavia on August 27,1910. Her parents were Albanians(阿尔巴尼亚人) and member of the Roman Catholic Church. When she was seven years old, her father was murdered. She decided not to be filled with hate because of this tragedy(悲剧). Instead, she would seek a life of love. This ambition led her to Ireland where she became a nun(修女) at the age of eighteen.

After only one year of training, she was sent to India to teach in a school called Loretto House, where the students were mostly from rich Indian families. After 15 years there, she left her duties as a teacher to “follow Christ into the slums(贫民窟).” Her heart led her away from the rich to the needs of the poor. She was then 36 years old.

Teresa no longer was affiliated(隶属) with the Irish nuns who sent her to Loreto House but worked independently. However, her work was recognised by the Pope in Rome for she still was a nun. He allowed her to set up her own group, which was called the Missionaries of Charity(仁爱传教修女会).

She no longer dressed as a nun in the European or Irish tradition. Instead, she put on a sari, the local dress of the Indian people. At first, people were sceptical(怀疑的) about her motives. Soon, they realised she was really interested in loving poor people, even those who were dying and had no chance of survival.

Soon, other Indian people began to spare time to help Mother Teresa. She had taught everyone that the poor and dying people need love most of all.

In 1979, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Why did Mother Teresa become a nun?

A. Her father was killed.                B. The hate of her father’s death.

C. She was looking for a life of love.      D. The poor life of her childhood.

Why did she leave her duties as a teacher after 15 years in Loretto House?

A. To be a teacher was too tired       B. The students in Loretto House were rich.

C. She was tired of teaching.         D. The poor in the slums needed her care.

Which of the following is WRONG?

A. Mother Teresa was a Catholic.

B. “Sari” is an Indian word that means clothing.

C. At first people didn’t believe her motives.

D. She served poor people in the slums as a teacher.

Perhaps the most important lesson the world has learned from Mother Teresa is     .

A. regular assistance               B. food and shelter

C. to care for the poor of the earth    D. protection

As you probably know,  J．Paul Getty was one of the richest and moat successful American industrialists in history．Quite ambitious from an early age, Getty made his first million at age 23 in 1916．He later went on to found the Getty oil company, In 1957, Fortune magazine named him the richest living American and in 1966, the Guinness Book of Records named him as the world's richest private citizen．

Although he is highly regarded by vast numbers of people for his financial success, as a younger man, his drive to acquire power and money had a detrimental impact on other aspects of his life, particularly in his relationships with women．He was, at one point quoted assaying "A lasting relationship with a woman is only possible if you are a business failure．” He married five times, having children with four of these wives．He couldn’t seem to keep a marriage going for very long．His obsession with having a fortune and power alienated （疏远） each of his wives, eventually driving them away． His marriage with his first wife Jeanette lasted for only three years, with Allene for two years, Adolphine, four years, Ann, four years, and finally Louise, nineteen years．

Perhaps as a young man, Getty was willing to pay whatever price for financial success．Yet Paul came to feel some regret in regard to his life priorities as he approached his later years when he Wrote: "I hate and regret the failure of my marriages．I would gladly give all of my millions for just one lasting marriage success．"

At the end of Getty's life, all of the wealth that he had got meant very little to him．It was only then that he became wise enough to understand what really mattered most．Despite all of his accomplishments, he died with great regret．

It' s a sad story and a cautionary tale for those of us who may have chosen to make career building our highest priority（优先权）, thereby ignoring our relationships．Like any other living organism, relationships require care and attention in order to grow．Even the strongest relationships will he damaged, if there is not enough care．

1.What is Paragraph l mainly about?

2.The underlined word "detrimental" in Paragraph 2 is the closest in meaning to "_         "．

3.J．Paul Getty's marriage that lasted for the longest time was with _         ．

4.At the end of his life, what J．Paul Getty cares about most is the success in              ．

5.What is the author's conclusion from the passage?

Fifty-two years ago in the USA, a little black girl named Ruby Bridges arrived at her new primary school. The school was in New Orleans, Louisiana.

As she walked toward the school’s front door, an angry crowd of people shouted at her. United States marshals walked with her. A marshal is a police officer. They were there to protect the first grader. That’s because the people didn’t want Ruby to go inside the school. But the 6-year-old walked into the school anyway. As she did, she marched into history books.

The day was Nov. 14, 1960. On that morning, little Ruby became one of the first African Americans to attend an all-white primary school in the South.

Before then, the law in many states said that black children could not attend the same schools as white children. People of different races also had to use separate public restrooms. It was called segregation. That is when people of different races are kept separate.

U.S. leaders worked to end segregation. They helped bring civil rights to all Americans. Those are the rights mean that all people should be treated equally. A few months before Ruby started school, a federal court (联邦法庭) had just ordered an end to school segregation in New Orleans.

By the time Ruby started the second grade, there were no more angry people outside her school. There were other African American students in her class. Today, children of all races go to school together.

Bridges said she was never scared to go to school during the first grade. She wasn’t really afraid and she didn’t really know what was going on at the time.

1.Why was Ruby Bridges famous in the American history?

A．She served on the U.S. federal court.

B．She got along well with the U.S. marshals.

C．She helped end school segregation in New Orleans.

D．She brought all rights to the Americans with U.S. leaders.

2.Which of the following is about “segregation” (in Paragraph 4)?

A．White and black children couldn’t study in the same school.

B．All people should have the right to be treated equally.

C．Different races can use the same public convenience.

D．Students of all races should be able to attend school together.

3.What do you think of the U.S. leaders’ work to end segregation?

A．Disappointing.                          B．Acceptable.

C．Successful.                            D．Confusing.