When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.

I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.

The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops. One difference is that it is covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle so that children can wind the computer up to give it extra power when needed.

These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet. These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.

Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and, probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone', and that is always a good thing.

It's an excellent idea to recycle old mobile phones because _______.

A. it reduces waste and can help others  

B. it prevents waste and can earn lots of money

C. it can send the waste produced by developed countries to other countries

D. it is good for the environment and very educative for phone users

The author gives the example of Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers _______.

A. to show what high tech can bring us.

B. to illustrate the kindness of people in the developed countries

C. to show how to find business opportunities in developing countries

D. to give an example of how to help developing countries

Which of the following statements is TRUE about Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers?

      A. His computers don’t need any power to function well.

      B. His computers are covered with rubber so that they are very cheap.

      C. His computers will help children in developing countries to have better education.

      D. His computers will help people in developing countries to find all the solutions.

Where does this passage probably come from?

      A. A magazine      B. A newspaper        C. A lecture          D. An advertisement

Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood. When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.

We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the tree and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.

I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and that way have my own private musician.

I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home, I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

I had left the cage out on our back porch（门廊）, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth . The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened? I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.

Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time and, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred: “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”

Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.

1.The boy caught a mockingbird because___________.

  A. he wanted a pet for a companion         

B. he liked its beautiful feather

  C. he wanted it to sing for him            

D. he had just got a cage

2.The mockingbird died because__________.

   A. it ate some poisonous food the boy gave it by mistake

B. it ate the poisonous food its mother gave it

C. it was frightened to death

D. it refused to eat anything

3.The word “ornithologist” in the last but one paragraph probably means________.

A. a religious person                  

B. a kind and sympathetic person

C. a schoolmaster                      

D. an expert in birds

4.The most important lesson the boy learned from the incident is that______.

A. birds put in a cage won’t live long

B. you have to be very careful about the food you give to young birds

C. when you capture a young mockingbird, you should keep it away from its mother

D. freedom is valuable to all living creature.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of the most private women in the world, yet when she went to work as an editor in the last two decades of her life, she revealed（展现）herself as she did nowhere else.

After the death of her second husband, Greek shipping magnate（巨头）Aristotle Onassis, Jacqueline’s close friend and former White House social secretary Letitia Baldrige made a suggestion that she consider a career（职业）in publishing. After consideration, Jacqueline accepted it. Perhaps she hoped to find there some idea about how to live her own life. She became not less but more interested in reading. For the last 20 years of her life, Jacqueline worked as a publisher’s editor, first at Viking, then at Doubleday, pursuing（追求）a late-life career longer than her two marriages combined. During her time in publishing, she was responsible for managing and editing more than 100 successfully marketed books. Among the first books were In the Russian Style and Inventive Paris Clothes. She also succeeded in persuading TV hosts Bill Moyer’s and Jose Campbell to transform their popular television conversations into a book, The Power of Myth. The book went on to become an international best-seller. She dealt, too, with Michael Jackson as he prepared his autobiography（自传）, Moonwalk.

Jacqueline may have been hired for name and for her social relations, but she soon proved her worth. Her choices, suggestions and widespread social relations were of benefit both to the publishing firms and to Jacqueline herself. In the books she selected for publication, she built on a lifetime of spending time by herself as a reader and left a record of the growth of her mind. Her books are the autobiography she never wrote. Her role as First Lady, in the end, was overshadowed by her performance as an editor. However, few knew that she had achieved so much.

1.We can learn from the passage that Jacqueline _________

A. because fond of reading after working as an editor

B. was in charge of publishing 100 books

C. promoted her books through social relations

D. gained a lot from her career as an editor

2.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that_________

A. Jacqueline ended up as an editor rather as First Lady

B. Jacqueline’s life as First Lady was more colorful than as an editor

C. Jacqueline was more successful as an editor than as First Lady

D. Jacqueline’s role as First Lady was more brilliant than as an editor

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Jacqueline’s two marriages lasted more than 20 years

B. Jacqueline’s own publishing firm was set up eventually

C. Jacqueline’s views and beliefs were reflected in the books she edited

D. Jacqueline’s achievements were widely known.

4.The passage is mainly______________

A. an introduction of Jacqueline’s life both as First Lady and as an editor

B. a brief description of Jacqueline’s lifelong experiences

C. a brief account of Jacqueline’s career as an editor in her last 20 years

D. an analysis of Jacqueline’s social relations in publishing

The poet and        pianist is going to give us a talk this afternoon.

  A. a   B. the     C. 不填     D. an

After moving to the United States, immigrant groups trying to fit in tend to choose high calorie fatty foods in an attempt to appear more American，a new study finds．That's one reason why immigrants approach US levels of obesity within 15 years of moving to America．

    The researchers also did an experiment that measured whether or not the threat of appearing un-American influenced respondents' food choices．After being questioned about their ability to speak English，75 percent of Asian-Americans identified a typical American food as their favorite. Only 25 percent of Asian-Americans who had not been asked if they spoke English did the same.

    When their American identity was called into question during a follow-up study, Asian-American participants also tended to choose typical American dishes，such as hamburgers and cheese sandwiches．In that experiment, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to choose a meal from a local Asian or American restaurant. Some participants were told that only Americans could participate in the study. Those who chose the more typical American fare ended up consuming an extra 182 calories，including 12 grams of fat and 7 grams of saturated fat（饱和脂肪）.

"People who feel like they need to prove they belong to a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in，"said Sauna Cheryan，an author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington." If immigrants and their children choose unhealthy American foods over healthier traditional foods across their lives，this process of fitting in could lead to poorer health." Cheryan added．

    Social pressures，the study concluded, are at the heart of the problem．"In American society today, being American is associated with being white．Americans，who don't fit this image even if they were born here and speak English，feel that pressure to prove that they're American," said Cheryan．

1.The author wants to show that __________.

A. more and more Asians enjoy high-calorie snacks

B. immigrants tend to eat American junk food to fit in

C. most Americans are at the risk of heart disease

D. all the American people have a bad eating habit

2.According to the survey, __________.

A. Asian-Americans care less about their health

B. 25 percent of Americans like junk food

C. choosing food is related to Asian-Americans' situation

D. immigrants are forced to eat junk food

3.The underlined word "fare" in Paragraph 4 most probably means" __________".

A. food offered as a meal                              B. a person taking a taxi

C. money spent on food                           D. an arranged thing to do

4.According to Sauna Cheryan, __________.

A. what immigrants have done is ridiculous 

B. American traditional foods are healthier

C. immigrants risk their health in order to fit in

D. American culture affects immigrants deeply

5.Which of the following should take the blame for the bad eating habit?

A. The situation of employment.                        B. The traditional culture.

C. The American government.                          D. The pressures from society.