C
I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes.
At 19, when I began studying astrophysics, it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement--- jobs, research papers, awards --- was viewed through the lens of gender（性别）politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus right brain, or nature versus nurture（培育, I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.
Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations: I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.
Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.
72. Why doesn’t the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again?
She feels unhappy working in male-dominated fields.
She is not good at telling stories of the kind.
She finds space research more important.
She is fed up with the issue of gender discrimination.
73. From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would attribute the author’s failures to ______.
her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist
the very fact that she is a woman
her involvement in gender politics
the burden she bears in a male-dominated society
74. Why does the author feel great satisfaction when talking about her class?
Her students’ performance has brought back her confidence.
Her female students can do just as well as male students.
More female students are pursuing science than before.
Female students no longer have to bother about gender issues.
75. What does the image the author presents to her students suggest?
A.  Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation.
Women have more barriers on their way to academic success.
Women now have fewer problems pursuing a science career.
Women can balance a career in science and having a family.

The day finally came, when I had to leave the warm home where I’d grown up. I ran to the back yard, as tears came up from my heart. Suddenly I    36  a hand rest on my shoulder. I looked up to    37  my grandfather. “It isn’t    38  , is it, Billy?” he said softly.
He gently    39   my hand in his, and then we walked, hand in hand, to the front yard,    40   a huge red rose-bush sat alone.
“What do you see here, Billy?” he asked. I looked at the flowers, not knowing    41   to say, and then answered, “I see something soft and    42  , grandpa.”
He pulled me    43  . “It isn't just the roses that are beautiful, Billy. It’s that special place in your heart that makes them so.” “Billy, I    44   these roses when my first son was born. It was my    45   of saying ‘thank you’ to God. I    46   to watch him pick roses for his mother. Then, as a young man of only 20, a terrible war robbed him of his life.” Grandpa slowly stood up. “Never say good-bye, Billy. Never    47   to the sadness and the loneliness. Instead, I want you to remember the joy and the    48   when you first said hello to a friend.”
A year later, my grandpa became very    49  .Then all members of the family
were    50   back, and I returned to the old house. When it came to my    51  , I took his hand as    52   as he had once taken mine.
“Hello, grandpa,” I    53  .His eyes slowly opened and said, “Hello, my friend.” With a brief    54   he died. Suddenly, and truly, I knew what he had    55   about never saying good-bye — about refusing to give in to sadness.

His first successful fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa. Then, as the first black president, he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS.
On March 19 the 82-year-old, former president, hosted his second AIDS-awareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease.
Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918. He was adopted by the chief of his tribe and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life.
But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination(歧视). He decided to fight for equal rights for all the people in South Africa. Before 1990, under the country’s Racial Segregation Law, colored and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board.
For his opposition to the system, Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and became the president of the country after the first election were held in which everyone could vote.
Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer and fought in the ring when he was young.
“Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one’s body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat”, he wrote in his autobiography.
As a skillful fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hopes to win another victory against AIDS.
【小题1】When was Mandela arrested? 

More than three years after moving from Australia to this remote part of England, we are still learning how things are done here.

Not too long after we arrived and unpacked, we were invited for “a drink on Sunday morning” by a retired couple nearby. We got there about noon, to find the living-room crowded — lots of chat and discussions, and in all a very jolly occasion.

Trouble was, there was no food — no self-respecting Australian would regard a tray of crisps as food. In Sydney, when you are invited for a drink any time after midday on a Sunday, you know you will be fed as well as watered and you plan accordingly. Meaning the hardworked little woman makes no plans to cook lunch because you are eating out.

By one-fifteen my stomach was sending up “please explain” to me. Even the crisps had gone. There was nothing we could do except wait, and wonder if the hostess was going to perform some magic and feed us fashionably late. Then, as quickly as if word had spread that there was free beer at the local pub, the room emptied. By one-forty-five there were only a few guests left, so we decided to go home. Tinned soup for lunch that day because the little woman was not really interested in real cooking for us.

A few weeks ago we were invited out for “supper” and the hostess suggested 8:15. Ah, we thought greedily, “this is going to be the real thing.”

We dressed with some care — I putting on a dark suit — and arrived on time. My wife looked pretty good, I thought — a little black dress and so on. But when we walked in I had a terrible feeling we had got the night wrong because the hostess was dressed in a daytime kind of way and the husband was in jeans and an open-neck shirt. But no, we were greeted and shown into the sitting-room.

After a drink I looked around and saw that this was indeed a superior cottage because it had a (more or less) separate dining-room. But there were no signs of a table-setting. Not again! I thought. Were we meant to eat before we came? I decided that in future my wife and I would always carry a chocolate bar. About 9:28 our hostess went out of the room, saying something about food. Ten minutes later she returned and asked us to follow. We were led out to the kitchen. There on the table were country style plates and a huge bowl of soup, rough bread and all the makings of a simple meal. And that is what it was. In other words we had not read the signals right when we were invited for “supper”. If they want you to come to dinner, they say so, and you know that means dark suits and so on. If they mean supper, they say it, and you get fed in the kitchen.

1．When the author and his wife were invited out for “a drink on Sunday morning”, they thought _________.

A. they would be the only people there

B. they would be given lunch as well

C. they would be taken to a restaurant for lunch

D. they would be asked to take some food with them

2．The “party” had been going on for about an hour and three quarters when _________.

A. the hostess decided to feed her guests

B. everyone had tinned soup for lunch

C. most of the guests went to lunch at the pub

D. the author realized he would go home hungry

3．When invited out for “supper” a few weeks later, the writer _________.

A. expected to be served a proper dinner

B. arrived on the wrong evening

C. interpreted the invitation correctly this time

D. realized there was no dining-room in the cottage

4．As the evening wore on, the writer became aware that _________.

A. no one used their dining-rooms in the countryside

B. he should have had a meal before going out

C. “supper” meant a simple, informal meal

D. he should, in future, eat only chocolate in the evening

My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork.

My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.

Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.

If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.

That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.

If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.

Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.

1..

 From the passage, we know that the author is probably ______ .

   A. a poet   B. an educator   C. a novelist   D. an engineer

2..

 We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that we students still _____ .

   A. have enough time                     B. can meet the president

C. get everything done well               D. should accept the explanation

3..

 Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

   A. The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework.

   B. The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job.

C. You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time.

D. You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student.

4..

 What’s the passage mainly about?

   A. Students don’t have enough time.       B. Don’t work harder; work smarter.

   C. No one can get more time.             D. Read better and write better.