Her frozen fingers touched the flame trying to feel alive. She could feel the warmth but it was a cold heat, as if the candle was rejecting her.

Her arms turned red because of the cold, her short sleeved shirt not giving her enough warmth. The winter air grabbed(抓住) at her arms, causing her pain, but she didn’t mind. She knew she should put her jacket on, it was winter in Connecticut, but that would be giving up. Up here, in this tree she felt safe.

She looked at the candle, surrounded by hardening wax(蜡). She placed her fingers gently on the warm green wax. This candle was a reminder of her life inside that house, a life she would have to return to eventually.

As a child, she had gotten this candle. She spent all she had on it. The beautiful crystal box （水晶盒）had caught her eye. Five whole nickels（五分币） had brought her that candle.

She gave it to her mother for Mother’s Day. Her mother had managed a smile and put it on a shelf. “It’s very pretty, honey! I will put it right here.” Since then that candle had never been moved, never been lighted, sitting dusty on a cluttered shelf that no one could see. Later on, her parents got divorced.

By now the candle was colder than the air and the darkness was complete. The snow on the ground made the night lighter and less satisfying than it had been before the first snowfall. She liked the darkness because she felt safe in it. From the glances of her friends who liked the girl she used to be. From the boys who could never figure out who she was. From her guidance counselor(顾问) whose endless worried looks never made her feel any better.

No one was outside at this time of night. She was alone in the world, just how she liked it. Just as she was about to lean back against the branch, she heard a sound.

She heard footsteps breaking the ice in the snow, heading toward her. He was making his way toward the white fence at the edge of the building, right against the road. Normally she would have ignored this person and stayed on her branch faraway from human contact, but this figure had something with him. He trudged(吃力地走) toward the white fence carrying a case. The figure reached the fence, opened the case and took out a shiny object.

She took her eyes off this figure only long enough to climb down the tree to get a better view of him. She reached the bottom and saw that the person had turned to face the street, sitting on the white fence that she and her friends once sat on. She stepped carefully on the ice, making her way toward him.

And then a beautiful sound of music came from the shiny object. She stopped and listened to it. She started walking towards the guy again. Just as she was about to step onto the snow banks, she slipped on the ice crashing to the ground. The figure turned around in surprise and a sudden recognition fell upon them both.

1.The girl was hiding in the tree at deep night to ______.

A．keep herself from the cold                B．wait for the boy to come

C．want to be left alone                     D．seek safety from any hurt

2.From the story, we can learn that ______.

A．the girl suffered a lot in her life

B．the girl’s parents divorced because of her

C．teachers and friends treated the girl badly

D．the girl used to stay in the tree when feeling sad

3.The underlined word “it” in the story refers to ______.

A．leaning back against the branch            B．being alone in the world

C．not being disturbed at night               D．it being dark with snow around

4.From the end of the story, it can be known that the girl _______.

A．knew the person                        B．knew what the object was

C．realized her wishes                      D．would never feel alone any more

The campaign is over. The celebrations have ended. And the work for US president-elect Barack Obama has begun.
The 47-year-old politician rose to the highest post because of his stand against the war in Iraq and his plans to fix a weak economy. But what will the first 47-year-old African-American president do for race relations?
Obama’s victory appears to have given blacks and other minorities a true national role model. For years, many looked to athletes and musicians for inspiration. As Darius Turner, an African-American high school student in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times, “Kobe doesn’t have to be everybody’s role model anymore.”
Recent polls（民意测验）also suggest that Obama’s victory has given Americans new optimism about race relations. For example, a USA Today poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites “will finally be worked out”. This is the most hopeful response since the question was first asked during the civil rights revolution in 1963.
However, it’s still too early to tell whether Obama’s presidency will begin to solve many of the social problems facing low-income black communities.
Although blacks make up only 13 percent of the US population, 55 percent of all prisoners are African-American. Such numbers can be blamed on any number of factors on America’s racist past, a failure of government policy and the collapse(瓦解)of the family unit in black communities.
It is unlikely that Obama will be able to reverse (扭转) such trends overnight. However, Bill Bank, an expert of African-American Studies, says that eventually young blacks need to find role models in their own communities. “That’s not Martin Luther King, and not Barack Obama,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s actually the people closest to them. Barack only has so much influence.”
In the opinion of black British politician Trevor Phillips, Obama’s rise will contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations in the US.
“When the G8 meets, the four most important people in the room will be the president of China, the prime minister of India, the prime minister of Japan and Barak Obama,” he told London’s The Times newspaper. “It will be the first time we’ve seen that on our television screens. That will be a huge psychological shift (心理转变) for both the white people and the colored ones in the world.”
【小题1】For years, before Obama was elected president of the US, __________.

Busy senior managers need no longer waste time in showering themselves－an Australian company has invented a suit that can be worn while they wash.

The suit has been specially designed so that it can be cleaned under the showerhead. There is no need for soaking (浸泡)，dry cleaning－or even soap.

The Japanese market has taken a liking to the “shower suit”，described as “revolutionary” by its owner Australian Wool Innovation (AWI)，which is the research and marketing body that represents Australian wool－growers. Orders have been placed for 170,000 of the woolen suits.

The suit could be worn in the shower，although it was probably better to hang it on a clothes hanger and carry it instead，AWI corporate affairs spokesman Stephen Feighan said.“The idea is that you hang it up and then...you give it a spray (喷雾)，and it’s dry the next morning，” Mr Feighan said.

A Japanese researcher working for AWI invented the suit by combining three technologies. The secret is the best lining (内衬)，which allows the suit to dry quickly.The shower suit attracted busy corporate people，particularly those who often traveled or stayed up late，Mr Feighan said.The airline industry was also interested.

Mr Feighan confessed he had not worn one of the suits yet，or tried to wash it in the shower，because they cut to fit Japanese figures.AWI believes that the shower suit will spread from the Japanese market through Europe and India. Mr Feighan hoped the suit，made from local wool，would be available in Australia in 12 to 18 months’ time.

1.What is the writing purpose of the article?

A．To introduce a newly－designed shower suit.

B．To help the white collars arrange their life more sensibly.

C．To provide suggestions on saving time in bath.

D．To praise AWI for its important achievement.

2.Which is true about the suit according to the passage?

A．It can spare the owner’s trouble of soaking，dry cleaning and applying soap.

B．It is of the quality of fast dry for its best cloth.

C．It is not suitable for hanging.

D．It has attracted more orders than any other suit.

3.The suit draws the attention from all the following groups EXCEPT________.

A．corporate people who are always on the go

B．people on occasional business trips

C．the airline industry

D．people burning the midnight oil

4.Which of the following has much to do with Mr Feighan?

A．The invention of the suit.

B．The try－on of the suit.

C．The combination of the three technologies on the suit.

D．The popularization of the suit and best wishes for it.

When my father died, one of the tasks that fell to me was to sort through and decide which objects to save and which to throw away. Now I look at the   51   of my life as if I were dead,   52   what my children will do with the human skull(骷髅) that   53   on the bookcase next to my desk. I couldn’t   54   them if they threw it out. They’ve been wanting to do that for some years,   55   will they know how much can be learned from   56   with a skull? And what about my books?   57   they can find some place in their   58   for ten thousand books. However, I know they will look at the white, plastic head of a horse on my desk and   59   it into a Glad trash bag without any   60  , never knowing that it is the only place   61   from the first chess set (棋子)I owned.

How many boxes of mine will my children   62  ? Can I trust my children with my   63   ? Every object of our lives is a   64   , and emotion swirls(旋动) around it like fog, hiding and   65   a tiny truth of the heart.

I look at these objects that are mine and know, too, that they are   66   of how alone I am, how alone each of us is,   67   no one knows what any object means except he or she who   68    it. I have the memory of taking it home   69   one of my newly-born children from the hospital; only I have the memory of what it looked like when I lived in that apartment and where it sat in that house. I look at the objects that are mine, and the memories are   70   and permeated（渗透着）with love. I look at the objects that are mine and know that I’m going to miss me very much.

A. tasks              　　 B. objects                  C. books            D. pictures

A. wondering         B. designing       C. concluding        D. weaving

A. cries                B. sleeps             C. sits             D. smiles

A. educate              B. understand         C. blame           D. strike

A. and               B. so               C. or              D. but

A. helping     　　B. living             C. playing          D. speaking

A. Honestly           B. Luckily         C. Naturally       D. Surely

A. desks                B. bags            C. apartments        D. hearts

A. drag              B. take            C. move                   D. throw

A. hesitation          B. love            C. care              D. worry

A. casting           B. expanding      C. remaining        D. shining

A. enjoy            B. reserve           C. find           D. prepare

A. life             B. passion           C. respect          D. heart

A. mark              B. pleasure         C. belief                   D. memory

A. preventing        B. spreading       C. protecting        D. encouraging

A. symbols         B. phenomena        C. measures        D. tracks

A. when            B. once           C. unless            D. as

A. prefers           B. repairs                  C. owns            D. remembers

A. like             B. for              C. with           D. to

A. strange          B. warm          C. new           D. bitter

The White Deer Plain directed by Wang Quan’an is one of_______most moving films and I really want to see it for ______second time.

A. a; a　             B. the; a                       C. the; the　              D. a; the