Open Letter to an Editor

I had an interesting conversation with a reporter recently — one who works for you. In fact, he’s one of your best reporters. He wants to leave.

Your reporter gave me a copy of his resume (简历) and photocopies of six stories that he wrote for you. The headlines showed you played them proudly. With great enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues, approaches them, and writes about them, which tells me he is one of your best. I’m sure you would hate to lose him. Surprisingly, your reporter is not unhappy. In fact, he told me he really likes his job. He has a great assignment (分工), and said you run a great paper. It would be easy for you to keep him, he said. He knows that the paper values him. He appreciates the responsibility you’ve given

him, takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his freedom.

So why is he looking for a way out?

He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so much more of him. He wants to be

pushed, challenged, coached to new heights.

The reporter believes that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors usually ask how

long the story will be, when it will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is.

He longs for conversations with an editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones. He wants someone to get excited about what he’s doing and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the best ways to report it. He wants to be more valuable for your paper. That’s what you want for him, too, isn’t it?

So your reporter has set me thinking.

Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors, photographers, artists — everyone — is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential. If we can’t do it,

they’ll find someone who can.

What does the writer think of the reporter?

A. Optimistic.           B. Imaginative.          C. Ambitious.            D. Proud.

What does the reporter want most from his editors in their talks?

A. Finding the news value of his stories.   B. Giving him financial support.

C. Helping him to find issues.           D. Improving his good ideas.

Which of the following is nearest to the meaning of “turn his story idea upside down and inside

out” in the passage?

A. Study his story idea in details.                B. Get some general idea of his story.

C. Turn his writing over and over.          D. Find some reasons to kill his story.

The letter aims to remind editors that they should ______.

A. keep their best reporters at all costs         C. be aware of their reporters’ professional development

B. give more freedom to their reporters           D. appreciate their reporters’ working styles and attitudes

In Canada you can find dogs， cats， horses， etc． in almost every family． These are their pets． People love these pets and have them as their good friends． Before they keep them in their houses， they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections（注射） so that they won't carry disease． They have special animal food stores， though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store． Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food． When you visit people's houses， they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them． You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden． All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal． They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada． They have a law against killing wild animals． If you killed an animal，you would be punished． If an animal happened to get run over by a car， people would be very sad about it．

  People in Canada have many reasons to like animals． One of them might be：Their family ties are not as close as ours． When children grow up， they leave their parents and start their own life． Then the old will feel lonely． But pets can solve this problem． They can be good friends and never leave them alone．

1. The passage mainly talks about ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

   A． how to keep disease from pets       B． pets in Canada

   C． how to take good care of pets        D． life of the old in Canada

2. They give their pets injections before keeping them at their houses because ＿＿＿ ．

   A． the pets are sick                        

B． the pets are wild

   C． they want to stop them from carrying disease

   D． they want them to sleep on the way home

3.This passage shows that Canadians ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

   A． hate animals         B． often kill animals

   C． love animals         D． don't keep pets inside houses

4.In Canada， children leave their parents when they grow up because ＿＿＿＿＿ ．

   A． they don't love their parents any more

   B． they can only find jobs far from their parents   

C． their parents' houses are too small

  D． they wouldn't depend on their parents any more

Angels

My friend Heather mentioned that she had never seen an Angel. Then I remembered the 36  I had with my sister Sandra earlier this week.

This will be Sandra’s first Christmas without her husband. This summer he died in her arms. On Thursday, she was in the store 　37　 for an ideal card for her two sons and daughter. Time passed by quickly as she 　38  the many choices. She wanted a card that sent something special to each of them, 　39  she knew they would have a(n) 　40  place in their heart this holiday season.

Finally! She found the one that expressed the 　41 feeling. The words expressed the feelings that she wished to share. However, a sharp pain pierced(穿透) her heart when she realized that the card was 　42 “mom and dad.” She stood there, 　43  it close for a long time, unable to move from the 　44  . Tears began to run down her cheeks.

“Is there something I can do for you?” a 　45  voice asked. She 　46  to face a stranger, a woman, who was looking at her with 　47  and concern. “Uh…oh...OH!” Sandra responded, “I can’t give this card to my children because…because my husband died and this is the 　48  card.”

Hearing this, the stranger’s face softened with sympathy(同情) and love. She reached out and　49  my sister into her arms, giving her unspoken permission to cry in the protection of her embrace(拥抱). She 　50  held my sister until her calmness　51  . “Thank you for listening to me cry on,” was what my sister said when all was better. “You are welcome, and I am so sorry for your 　52 ,” the stranger answered and said goodbye to her.

During her telling of this event I was feeling 　53  that I hadn’t been there. My sister needed me and a stranger had to do my 　54  .  “You know,” she went on, “a friend suggested that it was like meeting with an Angel.” My 　55  disappeared in an instant. My sister required an Angel, and I think that is exactly what she got.

The report came to the British on May 21, 1941. The German battleship Bismarck, the most powerful warship in the world, was moving out into the Atlantic Ocean. Her task: to destroy the ships carrying supplies from the United States to war-torn England.

The British had feared such a task. No warship they had could match the Bismarck in speed or in firepower. The Bismarck had eight 15-inch guns and 81 smaller guns. She could move at 30 nautical miles(海里) an hour, she was believed to be unsinkable.

However, the British had to sink her. They sent out a task force headed by their best battleship Hood to hunt down the Bismarck. On May 24, the Hood found the Bismarck. It was a meeting that the German commander Luetjens did not want to see. His orders were to destroy the British ships that were carrying supplies, but to stay away from a fight with British warships.

The battle didn’t last long. The Bismarck’s first torpedo(鱼雷)hit the Hood, which went down taking all but three of her 1,419 men with her. But in the fight, the Bismarck was slightly damaged （损坏）. Her commander decided to run for repairs to France, which had at that time been taken by the Germans. The British force followed her. However, because of the Bismarck’s speed and the heavy fog, they lost sight of her.

For two days, every British ship in the Atlantic tried to find the Bismarck, but with no success. Finally, she was sighted by a plane from Ireland. Trying to slow the Bismarck down so that their ships could catch up with her, the British fired at her from the air. The Bismarck was hit. On the morning of May 27, the last battle was fought. Four British ships fired on the Bismarck. And she was finally sunk.

1.The Bismarck sailed into the Atlantic Ocean ______.

A. to sink the Hood                     B. to gain control of France

C. to cut off American supplies to Britain      D. to stop British warships reaching Germany

2.Many people believed that the Bismarck could not be defeated because she ______.

A. was fast and powerful                    B. had more men on board

C. was under Luetjens' command              D. had bigger guns than other ships

3.We learn from the text that on 24 May______.

A. the British won the battle against the Bismarck

B.the Bismarck won the battle against the British

C. the British gunfire damaged the Bismarch seriously

D. the Bismarck succeeded in keeping away from the British

4.Which of the following is the immediate cause of the sinking of the Bismarck?

A. The British air strikes.             　　B. The damage done by the Hood.

C. Gunfire from the British warships.       D. Luetjen's decision to run for France

第二节完形填空  (共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分)

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36至55各个题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

The moment I knew my mother had incurable lung cancer, I realized for the first time that time will one day run out for us all.

I have determined to be with my mother as much as I possibly can. This is not out of a sense of

36  , but because I really want to be near her. But making the time to   37   with my mother has been my greatest   38   . I have a husband, a four-year-old son and a home to nm. I also hold down a(n)    39    job as a radio announcer at the BBC.

I arrived at work one day to be told we would be doing a radio series exploring “time poverty”. I’ve    40    been taken with the idea that we are time-poor. How can I - who have so many labor-saving machines and an only child – have   41   time than my mother who had six children and no  42  ?

I put this   43   a professor. He pointed out that it is because I try to keep my home much cleaner than my mother did. I admit I like to   44   to my friends. My husband says  45   that I remove all traces (痕迹) of human life    46    anyone arrives.

The professor said    47   has become the new religion. We expect work to provide us with a sense of identity and a means to secure our future. And because we   48   so much time in our working lives, we like to reward ourselves with material things. Frequently, we spend our money before it’s earned.   49  is an annoying worry, keeping us 50  to the work treadmill (跑步机).

The same professor suggested we    51   a Buddhist concept -- to enjoy each moment and activity for its own sake,   52  try to do lots of things at once. Since then I have been   53   the art of “living in the moment” whenever I get the chance. I have cleared my schedule of nonessential tasks,   54   house and garden plans, and turned down some extra work.

It is my mother’s illness, a once-in-a-lifetime event, that sets me   55   on the fact that we forget that time is a limited resource.

36. A. duty           B. guilt              C. sorrow             D. sympathy

37. A. live            B. be                 C. chat                D. go

38. A. concern         B. challenge           C. chance              D. trouble

39. A. demanding         B. critical             C. boring              D. amazing

40. A. almost          B. seldom            C. never               D. often

41. A. better          B. worse             C. less                D. more

42. A. tape-recorder    B. washing machine    C. air-conditioner       D. television

43. A. with           B. for               C. in                         D. to

44. A. show off       B. draw attention       C. look forward        D. get close

45. A. angrily          B. surprisingly         C. jokingly            D. seriously

46. A. after           B. when              C. as                 D. before

47. A. time           B. entertainment        C. work              D. family

48. A. invest         B. contribute          C. give               D. devote

49. A. Pressure        B. Expense           C. Life                D. Debt

50. A. led             B. chained            C. relied              D. focused

51. A. adopt          B. advocate            C. adapt               D. acquire

52. A. more than       B. instead of           C. rather than          D. other than

53. A. exercising      B. practicing           C. believing            D. holding

54. A. fixed          B. conducted          C. postponed           D. made

55. A. reflecting      B. thinking            C. considering          D. wondering