There are good Santas and there are bad Santas. The good Santas all realize one thing: In the mind of a child, Santa Claus is perfect.

That’s difficult. And so they come from around the world to attend the Charles W. Howard School in Midland, Mich. The school offers a three-day, 40-hour course for Santas hoping to be excellent. There’s a real range to what Santas earn, from big bucks for large events to no pay for charities. One thing for them all is a pure love for children.

A former Macy’s Santa named Charles Howard founded the Michigan school in 1937. “Many people will think if you have a suit and you’re a Santa,” said Tom Valent, the school’s current dean. “It’s more than that.” So with a pet reindeer, his properly named wife Holly and a workshop full of wonder.

The school teaches everything from breathing techniques for carol singing to the beard maintenance. There are lessons in child psychology, sign language and even media training for talk-show appearances and call-in shows. Santas also need to make sure they know all the names of the reindeer. What’s harder to deal with, however, is children who ask for Christmas gifts like bringing daddy home or making mommy happy again.

After spending time in the classroom, Weir went to the mall to test his training. However, at one point, his hat fell off, and he was unsure how to react. “You’re the real Santa,” Valent said. “Pick that hat up, slip it back on, keep smiling and do your job. You’ve got to stay on top of your game. Even the last one at night, when you’re tired, you’ve got to remember: This one’s forever, so do a good job.”

Notes:

charity  n. 慈善,慈善团体

reindeer  n. 驯鹿

According to the passage, good Santas should be the ones that ________.

        A. can offer the children some gifts        B. help adults look after their children

        C. have ability to make children happy     D. should be perfect in the mind of children

The underlined words “big bucks” should refer to ________.

        A. lots of money   B. many gifts    C. loves for children    D. gifts from children

The Michigan school was founded by Charles Howard with the purpose to ________.

        A. train the pet reindeer for the Santas       B. earned money from its students

        C. train perfect Santas for the world         D. show the world’s concern to the poor

According to Weir’s performance, we can conclude that ________.

        A. Weir was short of experience            B. Weir was not fit for the job as a Santa

        C. Weir did very badly in the game         D. Weir was not a good student in school

第三部分阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)

A teenager says he convinced the White House that he was Iceland’ s president and managed to schedule a call with George W.Bush , but was found out before he got to talk to the US president.

“My call was transferred around a few times until I got hold of Bush’s secretary and managed to book a call meeting with Bush the following Monday evening ,” Vifill Atlaso, 16, told Reuters.

Several Icelandic police turned up at his door two days later---the day of the planned call---and took him in for questioning.

“They told me the CIA had called the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police and asked if the police could try and find out where I received that phone number from,” said Atlason.

The teenager said he was unable to recall where he had discovered the telephone number of the White House.

“I know I’v had it on my phone card for at least four years now and that an Icelandic friend gave it to me, but I don’t remember who,”he said.

At a White House news conference on Monday, Bush’s spokeswoman Dana Perino said her understanding was that Atlason had called a public line “that anybody can call”, according to a transcript(记录).

Jon Buartmarz, Chief Superintendent at Iceland’s national police headquarters, said Icelandic police had not spoken to their US counterparts about the matter. He declinced(拒绝) to say how police were tipped off (通告) about Atlason’s call.

“As far as we’re concerned, there will not be any further investigation, and I don’t know if the American government is taking any action because of this,”he said.

1.According to the passage, when did Atlason call the White House ?

A.On Friday      B. On Saturday     C. On Sunday    D. On Monday

2.What does the underlined “it ”refer to ?

A.The telephone number of the White House.

B.The telephone number of his friend.

C.A White House news conference .

D.CIA

3.How did Atlason get the telephone number of the White House ?

A.From a newspaper   

B.From Bush’s secertary

C.From an Icelandic friend  

D.By calling the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police.

4.What is the main idea of the article ?

A.An Icelandic teenager tricks the the White House

B.CIA found out the truth of a trick.

C.A teenager pretended to be the Icelandic president.

D.The telephone number of the Whiite House is known by public.

 

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