A Tchaikovsky concerto（协奏曲）is what made Romel Joseph fall in love with the violin.

He learned how to play in Haiti, where he was born, but a Fulbright scholarship brought him to the United States, and he finally earned a master’s degree, reports CBS News reporter Katie Couric. Music had changed his life. He wanted to do the same for the children of Haiti.

Joseph built a school in Port-au-Prince nearly 20 years ago. He was on the third floor when suddenly “It was like boom boom boom and everything just opened,” Joseph said. “And the next thing I knew I was on the ground.”

Blind since birth, Joseph tried to feel his way out, but was pinned（夹）beneath heavy concrete（混凝土）. He remained trapped for 18 hours. He prays that his new wife, seven months pregnant（怀孕的）, will be found.

He is now being treated at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital for two injured legs and an arm.

Joseph wonders if he’ll ever play the violin again. He can feel sensation（知觉）in his fingertips. He said, “If you were to give me a violin and if I didn’t have to fold the fingers, I would be able to play.”

Joseph’s daughter Victoria spent three terrifying days unsure of her father’s fate. For her, having him home is the sweetest music.

“Can you imagine your dad not being able to play the violin?” Couric asked.

“No, I can’t,” Victoria Joseph said. “But I will love him all the same if he can’t.”

Romel doesn’t know how many of his 300 students died in the quake. As he waits for news about his wife, Romel Joseph is already planning a return to Haiti to rebuild the school and continue teaching there.

“We can save two children, 20, 200, 300, 500 through education and music, and these children will make a difference,” Romel Joseph said.

54．Romel began to like music ________.

A. because he was blind since birth

B. after he had listened to a famous piece of music

C. when he got a scholarship to study in America

D. since he was born in Haiti

55．From what Romel said in Paragraph 6, we can infer that he was ________.

A. upset        B. fearful          C. excited          D. optimistic

56．To Victoria, the best thing is ________.

A. to see her father recover from the injury quickly

B. to listen to her father playing the sweetest music

C. to play the violin as well as her father

D. to be sure that her father could play the violin

57．Why does Romel want to go back to Haiti?

A. To save his students from the earthquake.

B. To change the life of children by teaching music.

C. To find out how seriously his school was damaged.

D. To look for his wife who is pregnant.

58．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Music education: keep your creativity alive

B. A great blind musician and his students

C. Haiti earthquake: a story of a music teacher

D. How did some Haiti earthquake victims survive

The United States is already one year into a depression That was the news this week from the Na-tional Bureau of Economic Research. The downturn is the longest since a depression that began in 1981and lasted sixteen months.

Economists generally wait for production to shrink for six months in a row before they declare a re-cession. But the bureau, a private group, uses a wider set of information to measure the economy. Thenews only confirmed what many people already knew: that the world's largest economy is weak and maynot recover soon.

Worsening conclitions have led to a big drop in spending, especially on costly products like new cars. Even Japanese automaker Toyota saw its sales fall thirty - four percent in the United States in November from a year ago.

The heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors retumed to Congress this week to again ask for federal aid.  Congressional leaders denounced(指责) them two weeks ago after they came in private jets with no clear plans for saving their industry. This time, the chiefs drove to Washington in fuel- saving hybrid vehicles. And their companies presented detailed restructuring plans. The reguest for aid has risen from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines.

G.M. wants almost half of that, and says it needs four billion dollars this month. It warned that without support it cannot continue to operate.

Ford is in a better position, But the sharing of suppliers means it could be affected if G.M. or

Chrysler fails. Ford is asking for a nine billion dollar credit line in case it needs it.

Chrysler is the smallest and most trouble of America's Big Three. It says it needs a seven billion dollar loan by the end of the month.

Two days of congressional hearings began Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee. The chairman, Democrat Chris Dodd, said he would support helping the automakers for the good of the economy.

But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout(贿政援助）．

A main root of the world financial crisis is the weak housing market in the United States. The Trea-sury Department has been under pressure to help troubled homeowners. Now comes news that the depart-ment is developing a plan aimed at reducing interest rates on mortgage loans(汽车贷款) for some buyers of homes. That could be good for homeowners trying to sell.

66.From the first two paragraphs, we know        .

A.the United States is expected to recover soon

B.the depression has lasted more than 16 months

C.the depression is much more severe than expected

D.the depression will last no more than 6 months

67. Why were the automakers refused for federal aid two weeks ago?

A. Because the government had no extra money to help.

B. Because they didn't have a ciear plan to save their industry.

C. Because they had wasted too much on costly new cars.

D. Because they had enough money to save their industry.

68. Which of the following is asking for the largest federal aide

A. G.M.            B. Toyota.            C. Chrysler.            D. Ford.

69. From the passage we may know Richard Shelby         tile automakers' request for federal aid?

A. was for       B. was against      C. didn't care about    D. took no notice of

70. Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The hearings on Thursday agreed on a federal aid to the automakers.

B.The main cause of the crisis is weak housing market in the U.S..

C. The government is taking measures to save t he housing market.

D.The Treasury Department had to help the troubled homeowners.