President Barack Obama has apologized for a gaffe(失言)in which he described his bowling skills as akin to participants in the Special Olympics, a sports program for people with intellectual disabilities．
Obama made the mistake during an interview on Thursday night on “The Tonight Show”with host Jay Leno, the first time a sitting U．S．president had been on the show．
Talking about living in the White House, Obama said he had been practicing his bowling in the home’s bowling alley and had scored a 129 out of a possible 300．
It was an improvement on the embarrassing 37 he had rolled during a stop on the presidential campaign trail a year ago．“It’s like－it was like Special Olympics or something,”Obama said．
The Special Olympics is a global nonprofit organization serving some 200 million people with intellectual disabilities, with a presence in nearly 200 countries worldwide．
Soon after the Jay Leno interview, Obama telephoned Special Olympics chairman Tim Shriver to apologize．
Shriver told ABC’s“Good Morning America”television show that Obama had apologized“in a way that I think was very moving”and that he said “he did not intend to humiliate(羞辱)the population, didn’t want to embarrass or give anybody any more reason for pain or kind of suffering．”
Shriver said people should gain a lesson from the incident．
“I think it’s important to see that words hurt．Words do matter．And these words in some respect, can be seen as humiliating or a put-down to people with special needs, do cause pain．And they do result in stereotypes,”Shriver said．
White House spokesman Bill Burton said Obama“made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to look down upon the Special Olympics．”
“He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world,”Burton said．
(1)
What does the underlined word“akin”in Paragraph 1 mean?
[ ]
A．
skillful
B．
similar
C．
appealing
D．
superior
(2)
Which of the following statements is true?
[ ]
A．
Obama loves sports and is especially gifted at bowling．
B．
Obama apologized for his remarks via ABC’s TV show．
C．
The Special Olympics are for various disabled people．
D．
The Special Olympics don’t intend to make any money．
(3)
What does Shriver mean by saying people should gain a lesson from the incident?
Welcome to Language upon Thames．This brochure has been designed to give you an overview of our Language School and the courses we offer．If you have some additional questions please do not hesitate to contact us for more information．
At Language upon Thames, we feel it is important to be flexible, in order that students can decide what period of study suits them best．
Small Group General English Courses
These courses are aimed at students who wish to improve their speaking, listening, reading and
writing skills and are offered at the following levels：
BEGINNERS
ELEMENTARY(初级)
PRE－INTERMEDIATE
INTERMEDIATE
UPPER－INTERMEDIATE
Studying one of the above courses will enable you to use English more confidently and competently(适合地)on a daily basis．
Try our free online test to see which level you are at－CLICK HERE
Exam courses
These courses are aimed at students who wish to gain academic qualifications in English and are offered at the following levels：
University of Cambridge exams：
ADVANCED1－FCE(First certificate)
ADVANCED2－CAE(Advanced)
ADVANCED3－CPE(Proficiency)
Studying one of the above courses will enable you to continue your education or enter university in this country．(Students wishing to gain admission to a British university are normally required to have the Cambridge Proficiency Certificate．)
Speaking, Listening ＆Pronunciation
This course builds on communicative confidence and competence and is aimed at students who wish to develop the important skills of speaking and listening．
Emphasis is also placed on pronunciation, with activities designed to meet the needs of students of different nationalities, who need to focus on different areas．
CLICK HERE to register for a General English course．
Other Languages
At Language upon Thames we offer a wide range of cafes, restaurants, shops and bars．Most importantly, we have foreign language classes of French, Japanese, German, Spanish and Italian during the day, evening or on a one-to-one basis．
(1)
What does this passage mainly talk about?
[ ]
A．
An overview of the language school．
B．
Ways to develop students' language skills．
C．
A brief introduction to some English courses．
D．
Solutions to build students' communicative confidence．
(2)
If you attend Exam Courses, you will ________．
[ ]
A．
use English more confidently and competently
B．
gain academic qualifications in English
C．
have better pronunciation and deal with everyday English well
D．
be able to get admitted into a university for further education in this country
(3)
Judging from the description, we can tell that this passage must be taken from ________．
[ ]
A．
a newspaper
B．
a magazine
C．
the Internet
D．
a guidebook
(4)
According to the passage, we may conclude that the English courses offered by Language upon Thames ________．
[ ]
A．
are flexible but with few language activities designed for students of different nationalities
B．
are flexible and will meet the needs of students at different levels and with different
backgrounds
C．
place much emphasis on language skills but pay less attention to the needs of learners
D．
are all aimed to improve students' communicative competence by giving classes on a one-to-one basis
阅读理解
12-year-old Romina Mohaqqeq, believed to be Iran's youngest filmmaker, is dreaming of winning an Oscar someday．
“I will not regard myself a filmmaker until I win an Oscar,” she remarks．Born in 1998, she has so far directed several documentaries(纪录片)and short films and has received several awards at national and international festivals．
“I made my first documentary when I was eight years old．The idea came to my mind when I saw an Afghan boy who was collecting paper in a dustbin near our house．I thought it might be a good topic for a documentary,” she said．
“I asked my dad to make a movie about this boy but he said that it would not be an interesting topic．He told me to work on the topic myself if I liked it, so I made my first documentary and named it Long Way”．
Romina's “Long Way” took the best film award at Roshd International Film Festival in 2007, encouraging her to continue filmmaking．“Next, I adapted a story published in a magazine and made the short film A Box Full of Affection”．
She is now working on Thought, a new documentary about positive thinking．
Romina admits that her dad has been her only advisor all these years．
“When Romina decided to work on a topic herself at the age of 8, I taught her the whole process of filmmaking within 6 to 7 months．I even worked as a cameraman in some of her productions．” her father said．
“We also reviewed the book Film Directing Shot by Shot．We read all the sections together where she learned the entire process from pre-production to post-production．”
Romina also played in one of her dad's productions when she was 6, and acted in the movie The Earrings．She was among the judges of 39th edition of the Roshd International film Festival．
(1)
Which of the following films is not directed by Romina?
[ ]
A．
Long Way
B．
A Box Full of Affection
C．
Thought
D．
The Earrings
(2)
We know from the passage that ________．
[ ]
A．
Romina has won an Oscar Award
B．
Romina's first movie was a short film
C．
Romina once worked as a cameraman
D．
Romina's father was her first guide to filmmaking
(3)
According to the passage, “Film Directing Shot by Shot” is ________．
