I was born disabled．A difficult birth, feet first, my head  46  in the birth canal（产道）． 47  I was 3, the Hospital in Boston told my father I had cerebral palsy（脑瘫）．A loss of oxygen to my brain had destroyed brain  48  to the right side of my body．But  49  son of my dad’s was going to be disabled．Every day my dad  50  me on the bedroom floor to  51  my right leg．His job was to craft（用手精心推拉） them straight, at any  52 ．Back and forth, up and down, my dad pushed and pulled the muscles into  53 ．But my dad’s help didn’t stop there． 54  my 13^th birthday, he threw me a special party．When everybody was gone, he brought me a set of boxing gloves．We put them on．My dad continued to  55  me mercilessly．Each time I  56  him to stop．He told me I was a man now and things would be extra  57  for me．That same year, I was the only kid in my neighborhood that wasn’t  58  for Little League．Everybody laughed at me．Two weeks  59 , Dad started the Shed Park Minor League．Dad coached the Yankees and  60  me a pitcher（棒球投手）．In high school, I became a football star．The  61  of my dad’s love guaranteed I walked and more．In 1997, a brain doctor in San Jose told me I didn’t have cerebral palsy  62 ．

My dad never knew the whole truth  63  he passed away years ago．But all that  64  is the bottom line．After all his  65 , on this Father’s Day, like every Father’s Day, I’m no longer disabled．

Streit was an experienced safecracker who never used force — either against people or safes. He was a real  11  of his trade and it took him only 19 minutes to open the most difficult   12  he had ever met. In about 10 years,   13   by his brother Stefan, he took about ?33,000,000 —from the safes of 28 banks in Austria. On his last job, he   14  the safe door open and ?80,000 behind. With the   15  was a note, ''We don't need all that much''. A witness   16  his car and Streit was caught by the police. Then he was sent to Austria's Stein Prison to serve a six-year   17  . He boasted (吹嘘) at his trial that he would continue   18  the law, ''I'm a thief and I shall use every opportunity.'' In spite of the   19  , prison officials moved Streit to the prison's blacksmith shop. One day during the week before Christmas,
Streit   20  . Searchers found all his doors were well locked. Streit had   21  to make a set of keys and let himself out. Not to   22  , though. After crossing into Bavaria, Streit   23  the suspicion (怀疑) of German customs police on purpose and got himself   24  . ''I want to be in a German prison, ''he   25  to the surprised police. ''As German courts give much milder (温和的) sentences for   26  like mine and will   27  the time I would otherwise have served in Stein Prison.'' In prison, Streit   28   his keepers to let him telephone his former keeper, Karl Schreiner of Stein Prison. ''I'm sorry   29   I caused trouble. I didn't want to   30  anybody by escaping. Conditions weren't that bad. In fact the food was better than it is here.''

B

A new college guide in the United States compares educational requirements in seven subjects. These include math, science, writing and United States history or government. The other subjects are economics, foreign language and literature.

The free online guide is from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. The council is a nonprofit group that supports liberal arts education.

Its president, Anne Neal, says these areas of knowledge are needed to succeed in a twenty-first century society and an increasingly connected world. Yet she told VOA’s Faiza Elmasry it was surprising how many students can graduate with, in her words, a “thin education.”

Forty-two of the one hundred colleges and universities surveyed received the lowest marks. This meant they required two or fewer of the seven subjects. Five schools received a top grade for requiring six subjects. These were Brooklyn College in New York City, Texas A&M, the University of Texas-Austin, West Point and the University of Arkansas.

Robert Costrell is a professor of education reform and economics at the University of Arkansas. He says many, if not all, of the top American colleges once had a core curriculum —a set of courses required for all students.

But over the years, many have dropped these requirements. Or they have watered them down, Professor Costrell says, into what became known as distribution requirements. This system lets a student choose from a number of different courses to satisfy a requirement.

ROBERT COSTRELL: “And in many cases these courses went too far, I would say, towards the fluffy treatment of serious material, and students could satisfy their requirement by taking such courses.”

Professor Costrell says schools should not only re-examine what they teach. They should also measure what students have learned — for example, through some form of examinations or papers.

A new report this week from the College Board showed that college prices continue to rise. But Anne Neal from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni says higher prices. do not guarantee a better general education. In fact, the group found that the higher the tuition, the more likely that students have to develop their own general education.

The college guide is on the Web at whatwilltheylearn.com. Anne Neal says her group is surveying more colleges. The hope, she says, is to discover what college graduates have really learned, and how ready they are to compete in the global marketplace.

61. Where does the passage probably come from?

A. A scientific fiction.                      B. A research newspaper.  

C. A fashion magazine.                     D. An entertainment newspaper.

62. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni does all the following EXCEPT _________.

A. support liberal arts education

B. concern itself with education in America

C. devote time to helping improve college education

D. make money by helping with college education

63. The words “watered them down” underlined in Paragraph 6 most likely mean “_______.”

A. reduced required courses                 B. improved required courses

C. increased required courses                D. developed required courses

64. In this passage, the new college guide mainly tells its readers that American colleges  should _____.

A. meet the requirements of the new century        B. reduce the number of required courses

C. have different standards on required courses      D. cut down on their tuitions

某网站上组织了一次讨论，其中David, Joe, Sophie, Michael与Bauer的观点颇具代表性。以下是他们各自的观点。阅读下面发表在该网站上的6段留言（A、B、C、D、E和F），选择与其观点一致的表述，并在答题纸上将该项标号涂黑。选项中有一项是多途选项。

1.David believes people shouldn't smoke in public places as it harms others.

2.Joe insists that smokers should put the cigarette ends where they should go．

3.Sophie holds that this question should call for a further argument．

4.Michael thinks cigarette taxes should be raised for free healthcare for nonsmokers．

5.Bauer thinks that victims of second - hand smoking should leave smoking areas to avoid harm．

A

The stupid thing is, I often see people smoking and then they throw the cigarette ends away from them when they have finished, not even stopping them but it just seems like once they have finished, they don't want it near them, perhaps they ought to have to carry their own ash trays in their pockets．

B

In many places, there are no non - smoking bars or restaurants．Unless people refuse to go out with friends who smoke, they cannot avoid passive smoking．Society accepts that adults can decide to harm themselves．so long as they do not harm others．This is why the suggestion is not arguing that people should be banned from smoking in private．Passive smokers do choose to breathe in other people's smoke．If they do not want to smoke passively, they do not need to go to places where smoking is allowed．There is therefore no reason to prevent smoking in public．

C

I'm only for smoking because not only do nice people and many friends and family of mine smoke, but this debate needs someone to take the side of the smoker．Otherwise we're just picking on a set of people．The only comment so far for smoking has been that clever one about how they pay for it．Smoking has its good points, whether it is giving job opportunities to millions of people, or getting extra breaks at work．Anyway, I do have a lot to say against smoking too, but again, debate．

D

What I care about is whether people can get free healthcare．Some people deliberately take dangerous toxins into their bodies because they're "addicted" while there are other people like my uncle who died of lung cancer and he never smoked in his life．It makes you wonder why cigarettes are so cheap．Surely all the taxes from cigarettes ought to go to help people who don't smoke．Perhaps we ought to sort things out．

E

Completely against it．I work in a bar and 1 get so sick of coming home smelling like a bonfire． And if that isn't enough, I'm probably going to get lung cancer from those idiots that decide to excite themselves．However,! do understand that for some older smokers it is a habit because they may have been smoking long before they knew it was bad for them．I do think there's no excuse for my generation to do it though and if they want to die, then go to do it in your own home．

F

Phil and I had a good argument today in the pub．He made the comment, "If he wants to smoke and kill himself, he can!", about which I said "You want to get on your motorbike and risk death, fine", which are basically the same thing．He made the point that he's a good driver and it's not his fault if he gets hurt, but at the end of the day, his fault or not, he knows he could get killed, and he's still taking the risk of being on a bike．I think it's a sick thing to say, being honest! If people want to put something in their mouth and blow on it, they should be allowed without having things like that being said ! It's a free country!

Thanks a Million, Dad
I was born disabled．A difficult birth, feet first, my head stuck．By my first birthday, I couldn't stand or walk．
When I was three, the doctor told dad I had cerebral palsy （脑瘫）．A loss of oxygen to my brain had destroyed brain signals to the right side of my body．
But no son of my dad' s was going to be disabled．Every morning before breakfast and every evening before bed, my dad placed me on the bedroom floor to exercise my right leg．The muscles were shrunk and twisted together．Back and forth up and down, my dad pushed and pulled the muscles into shape．
But my dad' s exercise of passion didn't stop there．For my 13th birthday, he threw me a special party．When everybody was gone, he brought me to open a large box, it was a-set of boxing gloves．We put them on．My dad kept on beating me mercilessly．Each time I tried to get up, leather kissed my nose, eyes and jaw．I "begged him to stop. He said he beat me to get me ready for the tough world.
That same year, I was the only kid in my neighborhood that wasn't picked for Little League. Two weeks later．Dad started the Shedd Park Minor League, and every kid played．Dad coached us and made me a pitcher （棒球投手）．
The power of my dad' s love guaranteed I walked and more．In high school, I became a football star．
In 1997, a brain surgeon in San Jose told me I didn’t t have cerebral palsy after all．He explained how and where the doctor' s forceps （镊子） at birth had damaged my brain.
My dad never knew the whole truth since he passed away years ago．But all that counts is the bottom line．After all his madness, on this Father' s Day, like every Father' s Day, I' m no longer disabled．
【小题1】What caused the author' s disability?