After being held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for six weeks, 21 Koreans finally returned home safely last month. But they are not as relived(释然) as you might expect.

As they came through the airport, the hostages had their heads bowed, looked gloomy and some were fighting back tears.

“We truly fell sorry and thank the whole nation,” one woman said upon her arrival in South Korea. “We went to Afghanistan to help, but ended up giving trouble and anxiety to the Koreans.”

The 21 Koreans were among a group of 23 volunteers who went to provide medical aid to poor Afghans. But the Taliban Kidnapped them on July 19. For over 40 days they were held hostage and two men in the group were killed.

South Korea was divided on whether they should have traveled there. Websites and newspapers in the country have been flooded with messages criticizing the volunteers. The volunteers were blamed for ignoring government warnings about going to Afghanistan.

Not only did they put their own lives in danger, they also put their government in a difficult position.

The South Korean government was criticized internationally for striking a deal with the Taliban. Some worry it will encourage the Taliban to carry out more kidnappings.

“They have damaged the honor of the country,” said Chung Kyung-joon, a 23-year-old man in Seoul.

But not everyone agrees. Some think the volunteers should think the volunteers should not be blamed for unselfishly trying to help poor Afghans.

“They came with the principle of love for our neighbors,” said a Korean Christian organization. They said as other aid workers go to dangerous places, the volunteers did what they thought was right.

“The end of the crisis(危机) should be the beginning for South Koreans to reflect on past mistakes. The crisis raised grave questions about the divide between the responsibility of the country and the responsibility of individuals,” wrote Joongan Ilbo, a leading Korean newspaper.

1．23 Koreans went to Afghanistan because they wanted to ________.

       A．help some Christians there

       B．have an exciting tour there

       C．make a true record of the situation there

       D．provide some medical aid to the poor

2．________ became a burning topic in South Korea since the kidnap happened.

       A．Whether 23 Koreans should have been to Afghanistan

       B．Whether 23 Koreans should have been rescued

       C．Whether 23 Koreans should be criticized for helping the Afghanistan

       D．Whether 23 Koreans should be punished for their careless decision

3．Some people think 23 Koreans should be blamed for what they did because _______.

       A．they worsened relations between Afghanistan and South Korea

       B．they caused their country trouble due to their personal behavior

       C．they put themselves in danger and almost lost their lives

       D．they set a bad image of their country in the world

4．Why did some people think 23 Koreans shouldn’t be blamed for going to Afghanistan?

       A．Because they are Christians and they are also poor.

       B．Because they went there to experience the crisis and danger.

       C．Because what they did has nothing to do with hurting their country.

       D．Because they are adults and they know what they should do.

Early last Tuesday, six men carrying machine guns, a pistol and a hunting rifle got on a four—car electric “ milk train” at the Dutch town of Assen. Shortly after it left Beilen, ten miles away, the terrorists stopped the train and seized the passenger as hostages. As police and Dutch soldiers ringed the train, another group of terrorists stuck in Amsterdam, forcing their way into the Indonesian consulate and taking 41 more hostages, including 16 children. By week’s end the terrorists had murdered three people aboard the train, and four more had been wounded in the raid on the consulate.

The kidnapping, and the subsequent cold—blooded murders, virtually rocked the Netherlands. While the Cabinet met in emergency sessions, television and radio station paused normal programming in favor of solemn music and news bulletins.

The terrorists were Indonesians from the South Moluccan Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and they were demanding that the Dutch help them gain independence from the Jakarta regime.(雅加达政权)

The twin acts of violence were not the first signs of South Molucca anger. Just before a 1970 visit to the Netherlands by Indonesia’s President Suharto, they attacked the Indonesian embassy in the Hague, killing a Dutch policeman. Last week’s kidnappings are two days before the Dutch Appeals Court was to trial 16 South Moluccan’s who were implicated in a plot last April to kidnap Queen Juliana and other members of the Royal family. They planned to storm the palace at Soestdijk after attacking the gates with an armoured car(装甲车).

The Moluccan headache is a heritage(遗留问题) of the old days of empire. A chain of islands at the eastern of the Indonesian archipelago, the Moluccas were once known as the Spice Islands. When the Netherlands gave up its East Indies colonies in 1949, the Moluccans wanted to set up a South Moluccan Republic, some 12,000 islanders were allowed to settle to the Netherlands. Their number swollen by Dutch—born children now reached 35,000. the young Moluccans here are demanding that the Dutch help them gain independence from the Jakarta regime.

1.Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?

2.Why did television and radio stations pause normal programming?

3.The last paragraph __________.

The Golden Compass is the first movie based on the Philip Pullman’s bestselling novel, His Dark Materials. It is a work of imagination that tells us about a young girl who travels to the far north to save her best friend. Along the way she meets strange creatures, like witches and so on. Finally , she saves not only her world, but also ours as well.
Lyra is a young girl among scholars in Oxford’s Jordan College. She spends most of her time with her friend Roger, a kitchen boy. Together, they share a life with no worries. However, when Lyra hears a conversation about a very tiny particle(颗粒), she is thrown into a dangerous adventure. This particle is said to unite different worlds, and is feared by many people who want to destroy it. At the same time , children began to disappear without a trace, including Lyra’s good friend, Roger. As Lyra starts this horrible struggle, and begins to search for Roger, she meets strange creatures both big and small, and bad people who are not what they seem to be. Gobblers(饕餮者) that kidnap(绑架)children appear in the most unexpected places. And a magical compass made of gold will answer any question if one is skilled enough to read it. In unbelievable danger, Lyra doesn’t know that she is doomed to win, or to lose, this battle…
With the movie The Lord of the Rings making New Line cinema over a billion dollars, it’s easy to see why they got the rights to Pullman’s His Dark Materials quickly. The books, sold more than nine million copies in the world, have a different idea from the Harry Potter series. Pullman’s imagination may look suitable for children, but it works far better for adults.

1. 1.

   In the film The Golden Compass, Lyra______.

   1. A.
      is a student in Oxford’s Jordan College
   2. B.
      is a kitchen boy
   3. C.
      hears a conversation of Roger’s
   4. D.
      meets many strange creatures
2. 2.

   The film is named The Golden Compass probably because______.

   1. A.
      the compass is useful enough to help Lyra
   2. B.
      only skilled people can read the compass
   3. C.
      the compass which is made of gold can answer any question
   4. D.
      the compass throughout the whole story is a clue
3. 3.

   From the passage we can conclude that______.

   1. A.
      New Line Cinema won Pullman’s trust through its achievement
   2. B.
      The Lord of the Rings is also based on one of Pullman’s novels
   3. C.
      His Dark Materials is similar to the Harry Potter series
   4. D.
      New Line Cinema made over a billion dollars through the Harry Potter series
4. 4.

   Which group of people will like the film The Golden Compass the best according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Children
   2. B.
      Junior students
   3. C.
      Adults
   4. D.
      Only old people

The Golden Compass is the first movie based on the Philip Pullman’s bestselling novel, His Dark Materials. It is a work of imagination that tells us about a young girl who travels to the far north to save her best friend. Along the way she meets strange creatures, like witches and so on. Finally , she saves not only her world, but also ours as well.
Lyra is a young girl among scholars in Oxford’s Jordan College. She spends most of her time with her friend Roger, a kitchen boy. Together, they share a life with no worries. However, when Lyra hears a conversation about a very tiny particle(颗粒), she is thrown into a dangerous adventure. This particle is said to unite different worlds, and is feared by many people who want to destroy it. At the same time , children began to disappear without a trace, including Lyra’s good friend, Roger. As Lyra starts this horrible struggle, and begins to search for Roger, she meets strange creatures both big and small, and bad people who are not what they seem to be. Gobblers(饕餮者) that kidnap(绑架)children appear in the most unexpected places. And a magical compass made of gold will answer any question if one is skilled enough to read it. In unbelievable danger, Lyra doesn’t know that she is doomed to win, or to lose, this battle…
With the movie The Lord of the Rings making New Line cinema over a billion dollars, it’s easy to see why they got the rights to Pullman’s His Dark Materials quickly. The books, sold more than nine million copies in the world, have a different idea from the Harry Potter series. Pullman’s imagination may look suitable for children, but it works far better for adults.
【小题1】In the film The Golden Compass, Lyra______.