Bill Gates was born on October 28th, 1955. He and his two sisters grew up in Seattle. Their father, William H. Gates II, was a Seattle lawyer. Mary Gates, their late mother, was a school teacher.
Gates attended public elementary school before moving on to the private Lakeside School in North Seattle. It was at Lakeside that Gates began his career in personal computer soft  ware, programming computers at age 13.
In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, who is now Microsoft's president. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version (版本) of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer---the MITS Astair. In his junior year, Gates dropped out of Harvard to devote his energies full-time to Microsoft, a company he had started in 1975 with his boyhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the personal computer would be a valuable tool on every office desk-top and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers.
Gates' foresight has led to the success of Microsoft and the software industry. He plays an important role in the technical development of new products. Much of his time is devoted to meeting with customers and staying in touch with Microsoft employees around the world through e-mail.
In the dozen years since Microsoft went public, Gates has donated more than $ 800 million to charities, including $ 200 million to the Gates Library Foundation to help libraries in North America make use of new technologies and the Information Age.
【小题1】Where did Bill Gates begin his career in personal computer software?

C
On May 8, last Thursday morning, the Olympic flame was lit on the top of Mount Qomolangma! It was a historic moment for China exactly three months ahead of the Beijing Games.
Tibetan female climber Cering Wangmo reached the summit with a special extreme-altitude Olympic torch. This event is what China has promised to the world as the high point of the torch relay, the longest and mostchallengingof all time.
Five torchbearers(火炬手) finished the highest relay ever—three of the climbers are Tibetan athletes.
Team members said “Beijing welcomes you!” in Chinese, English and Tibetan, as they stood at the summit celebrating, with the event broadcast on national television.
“I finally fulfilled the last dream of my husband,” said Gyigyi with tears in her eyes. She was the first torchbearer. Her husband lost his life in an attempt to climb all 14 mountains in China more than 8,000 meters three years ago.
“We are on top of the world! One world, one dream,” shouted Nima Cering, at the top of his voice. He said that although he had climbed the peak（峰顶）several times, this was the most significant ascent(登高). “As a Tibetan and a Chinese I pray for the success of Beijing 2008,” he added.
The special torch is different from the one currently touring the Chinese mainland, after an around-the-world relay. Officials organizing the trek up the peak had earlier set an April 26 target to begin the ascent, but high winds and heavy snow had delayed the mission.
The Xinhua News Agency said that the Qomolangma leg of the torch relay represents the Olympic motto, “higher, faster and stronger,” in practice and will promote unity among all 56 ethnic groups in China.
【小题1】It was a historic moment because ______.

To communicate well with other people,you must learn to speak well,right?
Yes,but speaking isn’t everything.Some experts say that only thirty percent of communication comes from talking.Your gestures and other non-verbal(非语言的)actions matter,too.But in different cultures,the same action can have different meanings.
When you have to meet someone from a different culture,be prepared.Do you know what kind of gestures and customs are appropriate(合适的)？If you understand culture differences,you’ll be a better communicator—even before you open your mouth!
In many Western cultures,men stand up before they are introduced to someone important.Standing up shows politeness and respect.After that,somepne usually offers to shake hands.
But in the east,typical(典型的)introductions often begin and end with bowing(鞠躬)rather than shaking hands.Sometimes even a small nod(点头) of the head is enough.Some Westerners visiting Asia misunderstand shaking hands as a sign of unfriendliness.Such a mistake could be harmful to the start of a new frienship.
【小题1】According to the passage,which of the following is true?

For most people, graduation is an exciting day – the culmination (顶点) of years of hard work. My graduation day... was not.
I remember that weekend two years ago, Family and friends had traveled far to watch our class walk across the stage. But like everyone else in my graduating class, I had watched the economy go from bad to worse during my senior year. We graduates had degrees, but very limited prospects (前景). I hadn’t secured a job, and I knew that the next day, when my lease (租约) ended, I would no longer have a place to call home.
The weeks ahead weren’t easy. I gathered up everything I couldn’t carry and put it into storage. Then, because I had no opportunities in my small university town, I packed up my car and drove to California to find work. But what I thought would take a week dragged into two, then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself still jobless. The due date to begin paying back my student loans was creeping even closer.
Have you ever felt utter dread? That feeling became a constant in my life. The most frustrating part was no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t seem to make any progress.
So what did I do to maintain my sanity? I wrote. Something about putting my words on a page made everything clearer. Something about writing gave me hope.
I channeled my frustration into a children’s book. Beyond the river was the story of an unlikely hero, a little fish who refused to give up.
And then one day, with no writing degree or contacts in the writing world – just hard work and perseverance – I was offered a publishing contract for my first book. After that, things were in place, I was offered a second book deal. Then, a few months later, I got an interview with the Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.
The moral of this story is… don’t give up, even if things look bleak now.  Two years ago I was drinking cold soup right out the can. Things change. All we need is the courage to push beyond the river.
【小题1】When it was time to graduate, the author felt _____.

Let's pretend we're sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It's interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards (葡萄园) on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.
Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei.
The someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren (美女) who has lured many sailors to their deaths.
The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer, and the current of river hurls their boats on the rocks and dashes them to pieces.
Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.
1.The more interesting thing to those who are sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat is      .
A. to watch many boats going up and down the river
B. to see the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides
C. to hear a song about beautiful siren
D. to see a beautiful siren combing her golden hair
2. Which of the following is famous all over the world?
A. The Rhine River.                   B. The River Traffic.
C. Wine from the Rhine Valley.          D. The Lorelei.
3. We can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high      .
A. on our right when coming to a sharp bend       B. on the Rhine hillsides
C. from the Rhine Valley                 D. on the boat
4. The song of the Lorelei is about      .
A. The Rhine wine                   
B. a rocky cliff
C. the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River 
D. a beautiful and dangerous woman genie