A car drew up outside the Swan Hotel and a young man got out.Pausing only for a moment to see that he had come to the right place，he went into the hotel and rang the bell on the counter of the bar.
Mrs.Crump，the landlady，who was busy in the kitchen at the time，hurried out，wiping her hands.The young man raised his hat.
“Excuse me，”he said.“I’m looking for my uncle，Mr.White.I believe he is staying here.”
“He was staying here.”Mrs.Crump corrected him.“But I’m afraid that he went back to London yesterday.”
“Oh，dear，”said the young man，looking disappointed.“I understood that he was going to stay here until the end of the month.At least that is what his servant told me when I rang up his house.”
“Quite right，”said Mrs，Cramp.“He planned to stay here the whole of July，as he always does. But yesterday he got a telegram to say that his relative was ill.So he caught the train back to London immediately.”
“I wish he had let me know, ”The young man said.“I wrote him a letter saying that I was coming.I’ve had all this trouble for nothing.Well，since he isn’t here，there’s no point in waiting.”
He thanked Mrs.Grump and went out.Mrs.Grump went to the window and watched him drive off.When his car was out of sight，she called out：“You can come out now, Mr.White. He’s gone.”
Mr.White came out of the kitchen，where he had been waiting.
“Many thanks，Mrs.Grump，”he said，laughing，“you did that very well.These nephews of mine never gave me any peace.That young man is the worst of them all.As you see，when he needs money, he even follows me into the country.Well，perhaps next time he won’t warn me by writing a letter!”

1. 1.

   This story is about a man         .

   1. A.
      who was very much loved by his nephews
   2. B.
      whose nephew went to visit him at the hotel
   3. C.
      who was not willing to meet his nephew
   4. D.
      whose nephew is always asking him for help
2. 2.

   When his nephew came to the hotel，Mr.White            .

   1. A.
      took the train back to London
   2. B.
      left to visit a sick relative
   3. C.
      went to pick up a telegram
   4. D.
      hid himself in the kitchen
3. 3.

   Mr. White didn’t like his nephews because         .

   1. A.
      they always follow him around
   2. B.
      they frequently disturb their relatives
   3. C.
      they won’t write to him often
   4. D.
      they usually visit him in hotels

A group of robbers dug their way into the basement of a bank in Paris and emptied almost 200 private safes(保险箱).

They entered the Credit Lyonnais branch using building equipment to dig holes and destroy walls.

1.        Saturday night, they tied up a security guard and spent 2.        next nine hours robbing the bank.

One investigator described the robbery 3.        a “professional job”. The robbers came in at about 22:00 on Saturday 4.        left at 7:00 on Sunday. They entered through the basements of the neighboring building, digging through a series of tunnels and making a hole into a wall of 80 cm thick to get into the bank, 5.        was having building works at the time.

         When 6.        left, the robbers set the place on fire to remove any trace of evidence, switching  on the anti-fire system and flooding the building. Fortunately, the guard escaped unharmed.

7.         is difficult to estimate the total value of 8.        was stolen as only the bank’s clients(储户) know the content of their private safes.

Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences .Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars . Often they relive (重新体验) these experiences in nightmares .

Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill ,which will help people forget bad memories . The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience . They hope it might reduce , or possible erase (抹去) the effect of painful memories .

In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain . So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced , not that the memories are eased .

The research has caused a great deal of argument . Some think it is a bad idea , while others support it . Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war .

They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories . “Some memories can ruin people’s lives . They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare . They usually come with very painful emotions ,” said Roger Pitman , a professor of psychiatry (精神病学) at Harvard Medical School. “This could relieve a lot of that suffering .”

But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity (物质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past . “All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are . I’m not sure we’d want to wipe those memories out.” said Rebecca Dresser , a medical ethicist (伦理学家).

Some people fear that although the drug would first be used in only very serious cases , it would become more and more common . “People always have the ability to misuse science,” said Joeph Le Doux, a New York University memory researcher . “All we want to do is help people have better control of memories .”

What’s the main idea of the text ?

      A．People often suffer from bad memories .

       B．American researchers are trying to develop a pill .

       C．Forget bad memories , and be happy .

       D．The research has cause a heated argument .

The underlined word “it” in paragraph 4 refers to “       ”.

       A．the new drug          B．the research into the drug

       C．the memory            D．the chemical in the drug  

Which of the following is not the opinion of the supporters ?

       A．The pill can erase all the memories in the past

       B．Some memories can ruin people’s lives. The pill can relieve emotional suffering .

       C．The pill can also help many other types of people who suffer from terrible memories .

       D．The pill can also prevent or treat troubling memories in soldiers after war

Which of the following is not the opinion of the opponents (反对者)?

       A．Our memories give us our identity .

       B．The memories help humanity avoid mistake of the past .

       C．The drug should be used in only very serious cases .

       D．People may not be sure whether they want to wipe the memories out .

It could be inferred from the passage that         .

       A．the pill has been developed and will be more and more common

       B．the pill has helped soldiers forget bad experiences during the war .

       C．The pill is being tested on some people by some researchers .

       D．The pill will be forbidden because people have different opinions of it .

When 7-year-old Warren Buffett said, “I will be the richest man one day,” his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”. But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money by selling drinks, delivering newspaper and buying stocks. The American had already earned $9,000 (equal to $90,000 today) by the time he graduated from the high school.

And this month the 78-year-old, who earned his fortune by making a lot of sound investment in the stock market, took the place of Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, as the world’s richest man. Gates’ worth declined $1.5 billion to $55.5 billion in 33 days after the recent financial storm, according to Forbes Magazine.

Buffett, the only son of a stockbroker, was ready to think outside the box to develop his business from a very early age. At 8, he went to golf courses collecting and selling the used balls. At 11 when he sold soda pop door-to-door with a friend, the pair collected lids on streets to judge which flavor was the most popular.

As a paper boy during high school, Buffett delivered two competitor papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions (订阅) , he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffett bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collected rent. Young Buffett stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $5. The experience taught him one of the virtues（优点）in investing patience.

After graduating from university, Buffett started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-Cola, Buffett has become rich.

“Learning is important to Buffett’s success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he over achieved his aptitude (能力),” said Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner.

1.The passage is mainly about_____.

A．why Buffett took the place of Bill Gates as the world’s richest man

B．what effect Buffett’s childhood experiences have on his success

C．how Buffett earned his fortune and achieve his aptitude

D．what Buffett dreamt about when he was a child

2.How did Buffett behave at the stock market?

A．He will buy the stock whose price is lower than its value.

B．He often prefers some inexpensive stocks.

C．He always borrows money from his friends to buy stocks.

D．He will sell the stock if its price doesn’t go up.

3.Which is the main factor that determines Buffett’s success?

A．His desire to learn.

B．His family background.

C．His education.

D．His cooperation with his partner.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．Buffett is an immediate success in the stock market

B．Buffett and Gates are business partners.

C．His father helped him a lot in his business.

D．Buffett has a good sense of business.

Twenty-six years after a terrible bicycle accident left her comatose（昏迷） for two months and with permanent brain injuries, Barbara Buchan, performs many actions more slowly than others. But on September 10 in Beijing, Buchan, at 52, the oldest member of the United States Paralympic team, broke the record and won the gold medal for her disability class in the individual 3,000-meter cycling pursuit.

“You can be very upset at the world and have everyone take care of you,” Buchan said by telephone from Beijing, “or get back on your feet again.”

Buchan first dreamed of Olympic gold at age 15 while watching the 1972 Munich Games. She became a top American cyclist by July 1982, when a terrible road-race crash injured her brain and left doctors doubtful about whether she would survive. She was wearing only a soft leather helmet at the time; her accident made the rule put into practice that cyclists wear the hard-shell helmets that are now common.

Buchan recovered enough of her athletic ability to run track in the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, where she won a silver medal in the 800 meters. Women’s cycling was not included in the Paralympics yet, so Buchan trained to the point where she raced against men in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia — she finished 9th and 10th in two races — and then successfully fought for a separate women’s cycling program beginning in 2004 in Athens, where she did not get a medal.

Even though she was approaching her 50s, Buchan kept racing and again made the United States Paralympic team for Beijing — where she is twice the age of most of her teammates and competitors.

“Barbara’s almost the leader of our team — she’s been through it all,” said Craig Griffin, the United States cycling coach. “She’s never retired. She’s never let her body go and then come back. I don’t think age is as big of a deal as people make it out to be.”

1.According to the passage, after the accident,  ____________.

A．Buchan asked her friends to take care of her

B．cyclists started to wear helmets in competition

C．Buchan could not answer questions correctly

D．doctors doubted whether Buchan could come back to life

2.What’s the right order of the events related to Buchan?

a. She won a gold medal in Beijing.

b. She became a top American cyclist.

c. She won a silver medal in the 800 meters.

d. She suffered a terrible bicycle accident.

e. She took part in a cycling program in Athens.

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

3.What does the underlined phrase “get back on your feet” in the second paragraph mean?

A．rise to your feet                        B．walk on your way

C．go beyond yourself                      D．depend on yourself

4.Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A．The Making of a Hero                    B．From a Loser to a Winner

C．All Roads Lead to Rome                   D．Health is Better than Wealth