The island Fiji has always been around me in my life. My parents met in Fiji when my father was a teacher as a Peace Corps volunteer and my mother a student. They taught me about its people, culture, foods and religious beliefs.
At the age of two, I made my first trip across the Pacific Ocean to Fiji. My mother and I made that trip unexpectedly because my grandma was ill and longed to see her American granddaughter. Although I have few memories of that first trip, I do remember grandma braiding (编辫子)my hair every day. The brush gliding through my hair is a feeling I will treasure forever because she passed away soon. I returned to America when I was five years old. This time I had a brother, Martin, who was two.
I resisted my third trip to Fiji when I was 15, being a teenager who did not want to spend the summer away from friends. It was this trip, however, that made me realize that Fiji is not just a place to visit but a part of who I am. The smells and sounds and sights came back to me, but the best part was getting to know my relatives.
Vishal was one cousin I quickly bonded with. Born two days before me, I had only known him through pictures before. Though raised oceans apart in different cultures, we talked and laughed about everything from American sports to Fijian dancing. I was able to form close ties with all my cousins, and when I talk about them now, it’s as if I have known them my whole life. Spending time with them helped me understand the traditions and values my mother grew up with. Hospitality and care and respect for family members are central values in Fijian culture.
I truly enjoyed learning about my roots during this trip. Fiji is just like a second home, and I will never forget the time I have spent there.
【小题1】From the passage, we can learn that _______.

Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’．An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

At school the children are taught to add up and subtract（减法） but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England．Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say．And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed．Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long．Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends．By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft（透支） as a way of extending their spending power．Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

The UK has been in the worst financial recession（衰退）for generations．It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university．In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents．

The passage is mainly about _____________.

       A．how to manage school lessons

       B．how to deal with the financial crisis

       C．teaching young people about money

       D．teaching students how to study effectively

It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.

       A．the author complains about the school education

       B．pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract

       C．students have been taught to manage their finances

       D．laws on financial education have been effectively carried out

The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.

       A．instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money

       B．promote the connection of schools and families

       C．ask the government to dismiss the parliament

       D．appeal for the curriculum of financial education

According to Pfeg, ___________.

       A．it is easy to keep good habits long

       B．teenagers spend their money as planned

       C．parents are willing to pay the debt for their kids

       D．it will be in trouble if the teenagers are left alone

A poll is mentioned to ___________.

       A．stress the necessity of the curriculum reform

       B．show the seriousness of the financial recession

       C．make the readers aware of burden of the parents

       D．illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal

Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask. But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history. Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history.
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past. I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the thifigs that made these successes and failures. However, as the unfortunately true statement goes "the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to learn from history." Perhaps at least in teaching history, to my children I can do a small part in changing this.
A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context. We can- not even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less (更不必说) try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be.
I teach my children history, for one more reason. I purchased a set of historical audio (录音机) tapes for our children. My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over. It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself. I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr. if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished. I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for.
1. What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 ?
A. Many people aren't clever enough to learn well from the past.
B. Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes.
C. Many people feel it hard to understand history.
D. Many people have no interest in studying history.
2. In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because _______________.
A. it makes the current political situation go smoothly
B. it helps us realize the importance of historical events
C. it helps us understand why things are the way they are
D. it helps people accept the present situation where they live
3. Some historical figures are mentioned in the last paragraph to show ______________.
A. people can be inspired to do good, while also learning to fight against evil
B. people may also learn from bad historical figures
C. more celebrations should be held to honor their achievements
D. today’s people can also achieve what they achieved
4. What would be talked about in the following paragraph?
A. How to teach history effectively.
B. Some negative reasons for studying history.
C. How to get more people to study history.
D. Some bad historical figures.
5. The main purpose of this passage is to ____________.
A. ins[me the parents to teach their children history
B. show the importance of history in politics
C. explain the reasons why children study history
D. introduce the writer' s own way of teaching history

The campaign（竞选）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（少数民族）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.”
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, __________.

How Long Can People Live?

    She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121 ^st birthday.

    When it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder. She lived to the ripe old age of 122. So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span（寿命）? If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150－or beyond?

    Researchers don’t entirely agree on the answers. “Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135, ”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas.

    Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees. “People can live much longer than we think, ”he says. “Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110. When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120. So why can’t we go higher? ”

    The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing. “Anyone can make up a number, ”says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan. “Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine. ”

    Won’t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries? Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120. Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most. So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller, “adding another 50 percent would get you to 120. ”

    So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers? That life span is flexible（有弹性的）, but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington. “We can get flies to live 50 percent longer, ”he says. “But a fly’s never going to live 150 years. ”Of course, if you became a new species （物种）, one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story, he adds.

    Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve （进化）their way to longer life? “It’s pretty cool to think about, ”he says with a smile.

72. What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?

      A. People can live to 122.                       B. Old people are creative.

      C. Women are sporty at 85.                    D. Women live longer than men.

73. According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas, ______.

      A. the average human life span could be 110

     B. scientists cannot find ways to slow aging

     C. few people can expect to live to over 150

     D. researchers are not sure how long people can live

74. Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?

     A. Jerry Shay.         B. Steve Austad     C. Rich Miller     D. George Martin

75. What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?

      A. Most of us could be good at sports even at 120.

     B. The average human life span cannot be doubled

     C. Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before.

     D. New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species