Barcelona December 22,2007.
Spain’s “El Gordo,” the word’s biggest lottery (彩票), gave out 2.2 billion euros (欧元) (1.6 billion pounds) in Christmas prizes on Saturday.
El Gordo, Spanish for "The Fat One", is designed so that as many people as possible across Spain get a festive windfall. The top prize this year was 3 million euros -- going to the series of tickets with the mag
ic number 06381.
Because the tickets are sold in a series of 10, only those who paid 200 euros for the whole strip get the full prize.
The bi
ggest
share of winning tickets was bought by people in the town of Nava, in the north-western Asturias region.
The draw lasts three-and-a-half hours and is carried live on national television with children from the San Ildefonso school, a former orphanage in Madrid, in turn chanting the winning numbers and the amount won.
Lotteries have two centuries of history in Spain. The country spent 2.87 billion euros on the lottery -- 5.7 percent more than last year. Seventy percent is paid out in prizes. Most of the rest goes in costs. Eight out of ten Spaniards bought tickets for the lottery, spending on average 64 euros. Spaniards often choose lottery numbers matching significant dates although there was no particular favourite in 2
007. In 2006, one of the most sought-after series was 22105, the date on which Fernando Alonso became Formula 1 world champion for the second year running.
【小题1】The underlined word “windfall” in par
agraph two probably means .
| A.fat gift | B.unexpected fortune |
| C.big feast | D.wind and snow |
| A.People who paid 200 euros for the wole group of seri |
| B.People who bough tickets with the magic number 06381. |
| C.People who lived in a town in the northwestern Asturias. |
| D.People who chose lottery numbers matching Alonso’s date. |
| A.host the draw of lottery live on TV |
| B.offer a show of three – and – a – half hours |
| C.perform with the lottery draw as Christmas celebration |
| D.help make some declarations for the draw as invited guests |
| A.Most of the money people spent on lotteries goes in the cost. |
| B.The majority of Spaniards have the experience of buying lotteries. |
| C.Lottery numbers matching significant dates help people win every year. |
| D.As the biggest in the world, Spanish lotteries have a history of two centuries. |
Calvin Coolidge (1872 – 1933) was the thirtieth president of the United States. He looked down on a person as being unworthy of respect who was too fond of talking about the details of others people’s actions and private lives because he had no time for small talks. The following two incidents clearly show how Collidge treasured silence.
When he was vice president, Coolidge had plenty of opportunities to participate (参加) in Washington’s social life, especially the many dinner parties. As be ignored the art of conversation, he couldn’t exactly make himself dear to his hostesses. One lady felt she could solve this problem. She placed him next to Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of the former President Roosevelt. Mrs. Longworth, a very brilliant conversationalist (谈话者), began to talk in her usual charming manner, but all attempts to a wake the interest on the part of the vice president were unproductive. Finally, being shamed into anger, she said, “I’m sure that going to as many dinners as you do, you must get terribly bored.”
Without lifting his eyes from his plate, Coolidge said not very clearly, “Well, a man has to eat somewhere.”
Later, when he was president and once again at a dinner party, Collidge was seated next to an ou
tstanding society woman, one of those busybodies, who seemed to take delight in trying to change the lives of everyone they met. “Oh, Mr. President,” she spoke with too much enthusiasm, “you are always so quiet. I made a bet (打赌) today that I could get more than two words out of you.”
【小题1】President Collidge considered those people as being unworthy of respect .
| A.who liked to talk about the affairs of others |
| B.who never talked about anything serious |
| C.who often spoke insincerely |
| D.who talked much but did little |
| A.he treated women coldly and rudely |
| B.he paid no attention to conversational skills |
| C.he was too serious to please any women |
| D.he was pretty easy and quick to get angry |
| A.the vice president took part in too many dinner parties |
| B.the vice president didn’t lift his eyes from his plate |
| C.the vice president didn’t speak exactly and clearly |
| D.the vice president didn’t react to all her efforts |
| A.Mr. Coolidge didn’t want to talk with Mrs. Longworth a |
| B.Mr. Coolidge had really got tired of so many social dinners |
| C.Mr. Coolidge was unhappy with the dinner he was eating that day |
| D.M |
阅读文章后,从第50至53题所给A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳答案。
For the first 10 years after the Wright brothers' original flight in 1903, flying was only a sport.It was a pastime for daredevils (不怕死的人).One very determined dare
devil was Bessie Coleman.She was the
first black woman to fly an airplane.
Coleman,
born in Texas in 1892, the tenth of 13 children, dreamed of becoming a pilot.To earn money for flying lessons, she washed other people's laundry.At the age of 19 she took a t
rain to Chicago, where she began to study in a beauty school.For five years she worked in a barbershop, and then she looked for a flying school.There were none in the United States that would teach women, but Coleman heard that there were schools in France that would.So she studied the language and sailed off to France.
When she returned to the United States in 1921, Coleman was the first licensed black woman pilot.Her "aerial acrobatic (航空特技)exhibitions" impressed audiences.She took her airplane through loop-the-loops and flew upside down.She did slow rolls and sharp rolls.Audiences were amazed when she performed a move called "falling leaf."
Coleman became a famous person.She performed her acrobatic flights all over the country.She also spoke to African-American audiences in schools, churches, and theatres.Fly, she told them.Be a part of the new aviation(航空) industry.Many young African-American men listened to her.Some became honored military pilots during World War II.Many others made their careers in aviation.
On April 29, 1926, Coleman was flying when a tool carelessly left in the airplane hit the control stick.The plane went into a dive and did not recover.The daring 34-year-old pilot was killed.
【小题1】Bessie Coleman went to France to ____.
| A.work in a barbershop | B.study the language |
| C.look for a flying school | D.take flying lessons |
| A.Flying | B.Speaking to audiences. |
| C.Getting a pilot's licence. | D.Impressing audiences. |
| A.a holding back | B.a public show |
| C.falling leaf | D.loop-the-loops |
| A.An early daredevil | B.The first flying woman |
| C.A pioneer in aviation | D.The first licensed black pilot |
One evening, a young man at a certain college who was known to be something of a poet read one of his poems to a small group of his friends in a room.The poem was greatly admired.But afterwards, one of them, who was called Crick, said, "I was very interested in Hand’s poem, but it was stolen from a book."
His words were reported to Hand, who was very angry and required an apology."Well," said Crick, "I don’t often take back what I said, but this time I admit (承认) I was mistaken.When I got to my room, I looked in the book which I thought the poem was stolen from, and I saw it was still here!"
【小题1】The poem Hand read one evening was written by .
| A.Hand | B.Crick |
| C.one of his friends | D.another poet |
| A.it was read by Hand | B.Hand was a poet |
| C.it was real | D.it was stolen from a book |
| A.was really mistaken | B.really took back what he said | C.was a poet himself | D.was quite familiar with the poem |
| A.didn’t do as Hand asked | B.admitted he was wrong |
| C.was unwilling to do so | D.showed the poem to Hand |
| A.was a young poet | B.liked poems very much |
| C.would be a poet | D.was regarded as a poet |
Madame Curie ,the youngest of five children ,was born in Warsaw ,Poland in 1867. Marie Curie's maiden name was Manya. Her parents were teachers,and she learned the im
portance of education at an early age. No higher education was offered to women in Poland at that time,so Manya took a job as a governess(女家庭教师). She sent part of her income to Paris to help pay for her older sister's medical studies. Her sister qualified as a doctor and married a fellow doctor in 1891. Manya went to join them in Paris ,changing her name to Marie. She entered the Sorbonne(now the Universities of Paris)and studied physics and mathematics, graduating at the top of her class. For the research she wanted to do , she was introduced to another young scientist, Pierre Curie. Later they fell in love with each other . After their marriage, they worked together on radioactivity.![]()
Fame troubled Marie Curie and also her husband, because science was their world and in this world of science fame and honor to persons had no value. One day when a writer for a newspaper tried to ask Marie about herself and her thoughts and her beliefs, she answered him, “In science we must be interested in things,not in persons.” Much of the real character and spirit of this unusual woman was found in these few words,which she was later often to repeat. One evening, at a big party,a friend asked if she would like to meet the King of Greece,who was also a guest.She answered in her simple manner, “I don't see the value of it.” Then,seeing that she had hurt the feelings of her friend, she quickly added, “But …but…of course,I shall do whatever you please. Just as you please.”
【小题1】What did Marie Curie once do to help pay for her older sister's medical studies?
| A.She was a teacher. | B.She was a doctor. |
| C.She was a governess. | D.She was a waitress. |
| A.science and research. | B.fame and honor. |
| C.character and spirit. | D.persons and things. |
| A.things | B.Marie Curie | C.Marie's husband | D.persons |
| A.The King was angry with Marie Curie. |
| B.For the sake of her friend Marie Curie met the King of Greece. |
| C.The King of Greece wrote a letter to invite Marie Curie to meet him. |
| D.Marie Curie held another party for the King. |