……

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She is a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons, because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America: the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "we shall overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there’s so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves, if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? 

(From Obama’s victory speech, 2008 )

56. What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Ann Nixon Cooper was once a slave.              B. Ann Nixon Cooper is a black woman.

C. Ann Nixon Cooper knows Obama and his family very well.

D. Ann Nixon Cooper contributed much to the changes of America.

57. What does the underlined part“cast her ballot”in the first paragraph probably mean?

A. expressed her happiness                                B. worked for Obama

C. voted in the election                                     D. celebrated the victory

58. What message does this part of Obama’s speech mainly send?

A. Ann Nixon Cooper has experienced the best time and the darkest hours of America in the last century.

B. America has undergone great development in the last century and is looking forward to more great changes.

C. Ann Nixon Cooper has witnessed the development and democracy of America.

D. This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.

Jean is a bright young lady who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy. Well, almost everything is good. But the problem is that Jean’s family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ. She likes being anonymous(匿名), talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often.

Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself: He was a tall, good looking young man with big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.

When Jean’s father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite rock singer. But when she knocked on David’s door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!

1.Jean spends a lot of her time on QQ because she is _________.

A．rich              B．young            C．lonely            D．talkative

2.The reason why they even forgot their time is that they _________.

A．talked in delight on QQ

B．hated study

C．fell in love with each other

D．had similar hobbies

3.Why did Jean leave her home for San Francisco?

A．To amaze David.

B．To be on a business trip.

C．To be invited to Jim's birthday party.

D．To send some gifts to Jim.

4.The following states are true about Jean EXCEPT that _________ according to the passage.

A．she is a university student

B．she was born in a wealthy family

C．she made a friend named Jim younger than her

D．she uses her family name on her QQ

5.We could believe that Jean was _________ when seeing Jim himself instead of David at his door.

A．delighted          B．disappointed       C．regretful          D．confused

阅读下面短文， 掌握其大意， 然后从各题所给的四个选项中， 选出最佳选项。

As soon as I learned to say the word “beauty”, I set out to look for it. Before I could find it, I asked my mother what a beauty was like. She said that a beauty is  36  who has large bright eyes and fine skin.

When I was in Grade Four, I  37  such a girl. I sat right in front of her and  38  her to see if she was a real beauty. She  39  a beauty in my eyes until the day she  40 with me. She demanded that I  41  her pencil box which I  42  knocked on to the floor. I  43 . Suddenly she flew at me and threw me onto the ground and we rolled about  44  each other.

During the years that followed, I came across  45  explanations given to me by different people. Some said a girl with a thin figure(体形) is a beauty,  46  that a girl with a gentle voice is beautiful,  47  said it is a girl with hair that is like a waterfall. I  48  give these a second thought.

I searched for a beauty  49  had told me before, but it was useless. Then I met an old man. He told me that a beauty is a girl who might not be quite  50   with natural beauty. However, she becomes a beauty  51  experiencing hardship. After a 10-year hunt for a beauty, I found her. She became my  52 . She was not very pretty but she was 53 . She was born in a  54  family and had to take care of herself from young. When we married, I really got the idea about a beauty. She was the one the  55  old man had described to me.

36.A. your classmate    B. a girl               C. an experienced girl   D. an ugly girl

37. A. liked                 B. was tired of      C. was against                D. found

38. A. stared at            B. scolded            C. beat                D. laughed at

39. A. wasn’t              B. pretended to be        C. treated himself       D. was

40. A. quarreled           B. talked              C. played                       D. studied

41. A. steal                  B. rob her of        C. like                        D. pick up

42. A. by chance          B. by no means  C. by herself              D. by the way

43. A. agreed                  B. refused              C. was happy                  D. did so

44. A. talking with      B. helping          C. hitting                   D. leaving

45. A. the same            B. different  C. the opposite        D. some correct

46.A. but                       B. or                     C. as                              D. so

47. A. Everyone          B. The others        C. Nobody             D. Others

48. A. did                      B. must          C. didn’t                    D. should

49. A. an old man               B. some people  C. nobody              D. my mother

50. A. lucky                       B. sad                 C. willing                     D. happy

51.A. after                  B. without            C. liking                       D. against

52. A. friend                      B. teacher            C. classmate                  D. girlfriend

53.A. ugly                  B. beautiful  C. lovely                       D. kind

54.A. rich                      B. farmer’s     C. happy                       D. poor

55.A. foolish                  B. kind-hearted      C. wise                      D. honest

Too Much Happiness was written by Alice Munro，winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature，one of our greatest contemporary writers of fiction and the owner of the Man Booker Price for Fiction．Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker，The Atlantic Monthly，and other publications，and her collections have been translated into thirteen languages．

? The main character is Sophia Kovalevsky，a great Russian mathematician，writer and advocator拥护者）of women’s rights in the late nineteenth century. After visiting her lover Maxsim Kovalevsky in Riviera，she travels in Europe，ending up in Sweden，where she teaches at the only university in Europe willing to employ a female mathematician．The book writes about her journey from Riviera to Sweden．

??? The story tells the typical struggle of an intellectual（知识分子）woman to achieve success and happiness．However，when she is going to die，Sophia says“too much happiness”．I think it’s irony（讽*11的）．As reading the story，she has too many mental problems·First，as a woman mathematician，she was born in a wrong time ．She was married to Vladimir Kovalevsky without love，called“a white marriage”．She explained that“no a young Russian woman who was unmarried could leave the country．”She satisfied her marriage to seek her career．

??? Furthermore，when she sees a man look like Maxsim in the station，she says to herself，“of course，it would not be Maxsim，what could he be doing in Paris？”She doesn’t want to face the fact because she doesn’t want to lose her hope．She believes they will marry in spring．And in her letter to Julia she says：“it is to be happiness after all，happiness after all．Happiness．”She is cheating herself. In fact，the man does not want to marry her，and the happiness she expected doesn’t take place at all．

??? Finally, I conclude that the end must be a tragedy（悲剧）．From the very first pages the atmosphere is gloomy黯淡的）and threatening.“One of us will die this year.”“Because we have gone walking in a graveyard（墓地）on the first day of the New Year.”Some pages further，“a black cat across their path”all reflect it will be a bad ending．Not because she had some problems with her lung，but because her life does not bring her happiness，and because of these disharmony things that happen in her life．

1.We can infer from the passage that＿＿·

A．Sophia was born in a wrong time and was mentally ill

B．women were not fairly treated in Europe in Sophia’s time

C．Sophia loved travelling around Europe to meet `different people

D．unmarried women were forbidden to learn mathematics at that time

2.The underlined phrase“the fact”in Paragraph 4 most probably refers to the fact that

A．her husband refuses to divorce B．she can’t teach in university

C．she falls in love with Maxsim D．Maxsim doesn’t want to marry her

3.Why does the author name this book Too Much Happiness？

A．It is used to suggest that the story must be a comedy．

B．It’s a phrase repeatedly used by Sophia herself to her friend．

C．It’s used in an ironic way to show that Sophia isn’t happy at all．

D．It’s to show Sophia is very happy to achieve success in her career．

4.What can we conclude from Sophia’s experience？

A．It’s hard for an educated woman to achieve success in Europe at that time．

B．Russian women were not allowed to go abroad without a white marriage．

C．Married women could travel freely across Europe in the late nineteenth century．

D．Seeing a black cat across the path would bring people to death in the end．

5.In a newspaper，this passage is most probably in the section of____．

A. Entertainment B. Travel C．Career D. Culture

Nodira, 18, lives in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan. She was born with a rare disease and is now paralyzed(瘫痪) from the waist down. Her life is confined to a wheelchair but her dreams know no such boundaries. Her hopes for the future include attending university, riding in her father’s car and being able to walk like other children.

Nodira, which means ‘unique’ in Uzbek, is one of five children in a poor family. Every morning, after reciting her prayers, Nodira feeds the hens and goats from her wheelchair. The rest of her day is spent knitting for other people and helping her mother with the household chores.

Nodira has never been to school because it is too far from her home and inaccessible for her wheelchair. A local teacher used to come and tutor her at home and, as a result, she was able to finish third grade. After that, her parents moved to another town and the tutor could not visit as much.

Despite the many difficulties in Nodira’s life she is lucky to be living with her family. The stigma(羞辱) attached to the children living with disabilities, combined with the lack of wheelchair access in schools and the economic difficulties faced by many Uzbek families, have led many parents to place children with disabilities in special institutions.

These days, Nodira does homework exercises at home and reads as much as she can. Still, it is unlikely that she will be able to finish her primary education, much less attend university. While missing out on an education is a great disappointment to Nodira, her greatest wish, for a true friend, can still come true. “What I want more than anything is a friend who also has a disability,” she says. “Somebody will not feel sorry for me or make fun of me, and will understand what my life is like.”

1.The underlined sentence in the first paragraph probably means “_____”.

A. her dreams will help her desert her wheel chair

B. her dreams are never limited by her disability

C. she often dreams of moving freely without a wheel chair

D. she never dreams of recovering from her disability

2.Nodira does all the following every day EXCEPT _____.

A. give food to some animals 

B. to make clothes from woolen or cotton thread

C. drive cars designed for the disabled  

D. help with the housework

3.The underlined word “tutor” in the 3rd paragraph can be replaced by “_____”.

A. educate         B. visit        C. treat             D. comfort

4.What Nodira wants most is ______.

A. to go to university                                B. to walk on her own feet

C. to finish her primary education         D. to find a true friend