Throughout his early years, Obama was known at home and at school as “Barry”. Obama’s parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled(登记入读) as a foreign student. They separated when he was two years old and later divorced(离婚). His father received Master’s degree in Economics from Harvard University, then returned to Kenya, where he became a finance minister before dying in an automobile accident in 1982. His mother married another foreign student, Lolo Soetoro, and the family moved to Soetoro’s home country of Indonesia in 1967. Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, from age 6 to 10, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language.
During his time in Indonesia, he first attended St. Francis Assist Catholic school for almost three years. When Obama was in third grade he wrote an essay saying that he wanted to be president. His teacher later said that his reason for becoming president was that he wanted to make everybody happy.
Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his materal(母亲一方的) grandparents while attending Punahou School, a private college elementary school, from the fifth grade until his graduation in 1979. Obama’s mother, Ann, died of cancer a few months after the publication of his 1995 memoir(传记), Dreams from My Father.
In the memoir, Obama describes his experiences growing up in his mother’s middle class family. Of his early childhood, Obama writes, “That my father looked nothing like the people around me---that he was black as pitch(沥青), my mother white as milk .”
Some of his fellow students at Punahou School later told the Honolulu Star—Bulletin that Obama was mature(成熟的) for his age as a high school student and that he sometimes attended parties and other events in order to connect with       African American college students and military service people.
【小题1】When Obama was a child, _________.

A．people used to call him Berry

B．his father died of serious illness

C．his father became a finance minister of America

D．his parents attended Harvard University

【小题2】 Which of the following is TURE about Lolo Soetoro?

A．He got college education in Indonesia

B．He is a person from Kenya in Africa

C．He is Obama’s stepfather and is a black

D．He is a foreign student in America

【小题3】Obama’s mother, Ann, died of cancer in about ________ while his father died in _________.

A．1982; 1967

B．1967; 1982

C．1979; 1967

D．1995; 1982

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Obama’s father was very black while his mother very white

B．Obama’s materal grandparents lived in Honolulu of Indonesia

C．Obama wanted to be president because he liked making people happy

D．Obama’s classmates thought he was mature for his age as a high school student

Very far away from the city lived a poor farmer and his wife. In front of their house was a small dirt road. Very few cars drove on this road because it was so far from the city. On the dirt road, there was a big hole filled with water. The hole was very deep, but drivers on the road didn't know just how deep. Drivers always drove into the hole, but they never drove out.
One day, a man in a new car was driving down the road. He saw the hole with the water, but he didn't think it was very deep. He drove into the hole, but he couldn't drive out. The man saw the farmer on his tractor working in the field, and he signaled to the farmer. The farmer drove over to the man in the new car.
“Is there a problem?”asked the farmer.
“Yes,”said the man.“My car is stuck in this hole. Can you help me?”
“Maybe,”said the farmer.“But I'm very busy.”
“lf you help me, I'll pay you,” said the man.
“OK,”said the farmer. The farmer pulled the car out of the hole with his tractor, and the man paid him a lot of money. The man looked at the farmer and said,“You must. make a lot of money pulling cars out of this hole day and night.”
“Actually, no,”said the farmer.
“Why not?”asked the man.
“The hole is very deep, and a lot of people get stuck and ask for help. But I don't make money day and night because I don't pull cars out at night.”
“At night I'm busy filling the hole with water,” answered the farmer.
【小题1】The reason why few cars drove on the small dirt road was that __________ .

A．there was a big and deep hole	B．the couple was not polite enough
C．it had a long distance from the city	D．drivers were afraid of being in the hole

【小题2】According to paragraph 2, we can know about the man in a new car __________ .

A．he just learned to drive a car	B．it was the first time that he passed there
C．he knew how deep the hole was	D．he knew the farmer in the field

【小题3】What did the farmer usually do at night?

A．He helped pull out cars.	B．He made money.
C．He filled water to the hole	D．He slept at home.

He’s an old cobbler(修鞋匠) with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he at first told me, “I haven’t time. Take them to the other fellow on the main street. He’ll fix them for you right away.”
But I had my eyes on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman(手艺人). “No.” I replied, “The other fellow can’t do it well.”
“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys — without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap(鞋带), you might as well just throw away the pair.
My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled. He wiped hands on his blue apron(围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week.”
I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf.
“See what I can do?” he said with pride. “Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work.”
When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange dusty felt hat, his funny accent and his pride in his craft.
These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption rather than a way to realize their abilities. In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.
【小题1】Which of the following is true about the old cobbler?

A．He was equipped with the best repairing tools.

B．He was the only cobbler in the Marais.

C．He was proud of his skills.

D．He was a native Parisian.

【小题2】The sentence “He was something out of an ancient legend” implies that ______.

A．nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him

B．it was difficult to communicate with this man

C．the man was very strange

D．the man was too old

【小题3】According to the author, many people work just to ______.

A．realize their abilities	B．gain happiness
C．make money	D．gain respect

【小题4】This story wants to tell us that ______.

A．craftsmen make a lot of money	B．whatever you do, do it well
C．craftsmen need self-respect	D．people are born equal

One morning, Charley, a little green frog, was sitting in a pond by the side of the road.
Wanda, the neighborhood witch(女巫), was walking along the road. She was a good witch and dreamt to become a fairy godmother who can save people from trouble with magic powers. Wanda had been learning fairy godmother magic for 103 years. That morning, she decided to try the magic she had learned and bring happiness to others.
Seeing Wanda, Charley cried, “Hi, Wanda.”
“Hi, Charley,” replied Wanda, “I have a surprise for you.”
Then, Wanda waved her wand(魔杖), said a magic word, and Charley turned into a prince!
When Charley-turned-prince looked at himself in the water, he cried, “Hey! You turned me into a prince! It’s a surprise all right, but I don’t want to be a prince! Change me back right now!”
“Oh, dear,” Wanda said. “You shouted so loud that I forgot the way to change you back. But who wouldn’t rather be a prince?”
“I wouldn’t!” cried Charley. “I want to be a frog!” He stuck out his tongue, missing a bug (虫子)flying by the end of his nose. “Look at that, Wanda! I was a good fly catcher. But now, this tongue is too short! Please change me back!”
“I can’t, Charley. But you’ll learn to be happy as a prince.” She waved her wand, and suddenly a castle appeared. Out of the castle dozens of musicians were playing various instruments. “Charley! You’ll have servants, eat delicious foods, and you can sing and dance and snap fingers(弹响指).”
“No!” Charley interrupted, “I don’t want all these! I want bugs!” Charley cried. “I don’t want to sing and dance! And why would I do something as silly as snapping my fingers?”
“Snapping fingers!” cried out Wanda. “That’s what I forgot!” She snapped her fingers, cried “Upsi-doodle!” and the castle and musicians disappeared and the prince became a little green frog.”
Charley looked at himself in the water. “ You did it, Wanda. Oh, happy day! I’m a frog.”
“I must apologize, Charley,” Wanda said, “You are a happy frog. I should know this a moment ago.”
【小题1】Wanda turned Charley from a frog into a prince          .

A．of her own will	B．to play a joke on him
C．at the request of charley	D．to teach Charley a lesson

【小题2】After the little green frog became a prince, he        .         .

A．was grateful to Wanda	B．wanted a great palace
C．couldn’t recognize Wanda	D．became angry with Wanda

【小题3】At the end of the story, Wanda probably felt        .       .

A．satisfied

B．ashamed

C．worried

D．excited

【小题4】According to the passage, which of the following conclusions can we get?

A．Just be yourself	B．Do nothing by halves
C．Helping others is a virtue	D．Where there is a will, there is a way

E
A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute” someone might say, “are you talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”
The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two weeks to prepare, a period I spent searching for briefcase (公文包) and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class. I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.
I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.
“All right then,” I said. “Okey, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit at the edge of the desk, overlooking a forest of hands. Every student would yell. “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. Once at a time, once at a time!”
A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I inspected the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.
【小题1】The author took the job to teach writing because ______.

A．he had written some stories	B．he wanted to be expected
C．he wanted to please his father	D．he had dreamed of being a teacher

【小题2】Before he started his class, the author asked the students to ______.

A．write down their suggestions on the paper cards

B．cut maple leaves out of the construction paper

C．cut some cards out of the construction paper

D．write down their names on the paper cards

【小题3】What did the students do when the author started his class?

A．They began to talk.	B．They stayed silent.
C．They raised their hands.	D．They shouted to be heard.

【小题4】The author chose the composition topic probably because ______.

A．he got disappointed with his first class	B．he had prepared the topic before class
C．he wanted to calm down the students	D．he thought it was an easy topic

(B)
Sixty-year-old grandmother, Fiona McFee, is going to stop working next year and she decided to realize a childhood dream and sail around the coast of Scotland in a small boat. Although the inside of the boat is very cosy it has no running water or electricity. Fiona says she can live without these things but she plans to take her small CD player, her hot water bottle and a bag of books to make sure life isn’t too uncomfortable.
We asked her if she was afraid of being at sea for so long. She said, “Well, I’m going to take a good compass (指南针). Anyway I’m not afraid of death because I love the sea---I just hope it loves me.” Fiona certainly has plenty of energy; in her spare time, she enjoys playing the piano, rock-climbing, canoeing and dancing. Although she is sixty, she doesn’t want to have a quiet and peaceful life. “I’m looking forward to having fun in the rest of my life and that’s exactly why I’d like to be a sailor for a while.”
【小题1】The underlined word cosy in the first paragraph means ____ .

A．bright

B．dirty

C．comfortable

D．dark

【小题2】When Fiona McFee said “---I just hope it loves me.” What she meant was ____

A．Of course , it loves me , since I love it .

B．If I love it , it should love me.

C．I hope it will bring me a safe sailing as a return for my love of it .

D．I hope it will save my life when I am in time of danger .

【小题3】 The reason why she would like to have the sail is that ____.

A．she thinks it will be very exciting

B．she likes sports and enjoys canoeing

C．she has decided to realize a childhood dream

D．she wants to be still active when she gets old

【小题4】What kind of person would you say the old woman is ?

A．Someone who does not show what she is feeling .

B．Someone who is very proud and sure of her success .

C．Someone who doesn’t use her head much .

D．Someone who is open , honest and brave .

【小题5】The best title for this passage is ____ .

A．Life Begins at Sixty	B．A Round Coast Sail
C．An Old Woman Sailor	D．An Unusual Hobby(爱好)

A
This is a talk by a London taxi(出租车)driver.
"I've been a taxi driver for nearly ten years. Most London taxi drivers have their own taxis."
"It's a nice job most of time. You meet a lot of people. I always work at night, because there is too much traffic during the day. I live twenty miles outside London and I go to work at 5:30 in the afternoon."
"I usually go home between 2 and 3 in the morning."
"Some very strange things happened late at night .The other day I was taking a woman home from a party .She had her little dog with her. When we got to her house, she found that she had lost her key. So I waited in the car with the dog while she climbed in through the windows."
"I waited and waited. After half an hour of ringing the bell I decided to find out what was going on .I tied the dog to a tree and started to climb in through the window. The next thing I knew was that the police came. They thought I was a thief.
Luckily the woman came downstairs.She must have gone to sleep and forgotten about me and the dog!"
【小题1】The driver always worked at night because it was easier to _____.

A．make money	B．drive
C．climb in through the window	D．meet a lot of people

【小题2】The woman climbed in through the window because _____.

A．she wanted to have a sleep

B．her husband didn't open the door for her

C．she didn't want to pay the driver

D．she couldn't find her key

【小题3】The story happened _____.

A．early in the morning	B．late at night
C．20 miles outside London	D．near the police station

【小题4】Which of the following is wrong?

A．The driver worked until between 2 and 3 in the morning.

B．The police made a mistake.

C．The woman had no money to pay the driver.

D．The woman had forgotten about the driver and the dog.

【小题5】The driver climbed in through the window to

A．get money from the woman	B．return the dog to the woman
C．phone the police	D．see what was happening in the house

（C）
A Different Roast Every Day
Alan worked in an office in the city. He worked very hard and really wanted to take a holiday.
He usually went to the seaside, but one day he saw an ad（广告） in a newspaper. " Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at Willow Farm. Good food, fresh air, horse riding, walking, fishing. Good prices (价格)."
"This sounds like a good idea," he thought. "I'll spend a month at Willow Farm. I'll enjoy horse riding, walking and fishing. They'll make a change from sitting by the seaside."
Four days later he returned home.
"What's wrong with Willow Farm?" his friend Jack asked him. " Didn't you enjoy country life?"
"Country life was fine," Alan said, "but there was another problem."
"Oh, what?"
"Well, the first day I was there a sheep died, and we had roast mutton (烤羊肉) for dinner."
"Fresh meat is the best."
"I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner."
"Lucky you!"
"You don't understand," Alan said. "On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner."
"A different roast every day," Jack said.
" Let me finish," Alan said, " on the fourth day the farmer died and I didn't dare to stay for dinner!"
【小题1】Where did Alan work? He worked ___.

A．on a farm	B．at a school
C．in a restaurant	D．in an office in a city

【小题2】Where did Alan usually go to spend his holiday?

A．by the seaside	B．in the country
C．in the mountains	D．on an island

【小题3】Why did Alan decide to spend his holiday at Willow Farm? Because ___.

A．he lived near there

B．he had a good friend there

C．he thought it would make a change from sitting by the seaside

D．he wanted to enjoy the fresh air in the country

【小题4】How many days did he stay on the farm?

A．A few days.

B．A week.

C．Three days.

D．Four days.

【小题5】 What made Alan return so soon?

A．He fell ill.

B．The air there was not fresh.

C．The prices were too high.

D．He was afraid that they would have the dead man for dinner.

B
He is a lesson to every boy who ever picked up a basketball and dreamed that it would change his life.
The lights were never brighter and the crowds were never bigger for a homegrown sports hero than they were a quarter-century ago for Ray Hall. But his athletic achievements, as impressive as they are, are to my mind not what is most admirable about the man.
Known as “Sugar Ray” in his teens, Hall was rated among the country’s top 25 high school basketball players. An inner-city kid from a solid family, Hall took on the challenge of lifting Canisius College — still recovering from its failure — back to respectability, rejecting more favorable offers. His status of a savior (救世主) brought more pressure than any 18-year-old should have to handle. However, I watched him mature into the player who led Canisius back to daylight.
After college Hall played professionally in Italy and Greece for over 10 years until a car accident at 32 ended his basketball career. The news that he would never play again shocked Hall but unlike so many others he was ready for life after basketball. When I met Hall — still fit at 46 — for lunch Monday, he wore a cut-sharp gray suit, designer tie and blazing white shirt that screamed Success. “That was always the question — when the cheers end, where do you go? Who do you turn to?” he said. “It starts and ends with that person in the mirror.”
Hall got the concept of academics-first from his parents. He graduated from Canisius a semester early. “No matter how good of an athlete you are, you are just one injury away from losing it all,” he said. “But if you take care of things academically, you are prepared until you leave this earth.”
For the past 14 years, he has been in a computer sales job at Ingram Micro. He married his college sweetheart. They have three kids and a nice house in the suburbs. He figured out early what others learn too late: Athletics is part of a journey, not the destination.
Congratulations, Ray, you made it. In more ways than one.          
【小题1】Ray was regarded as a savior because ________.

A．he liked to take on challenges

B．he helped his team to regain its glory

C．he was faithful to his hometown city

D．he fought hard against failure at a young age

【小题2】According to the writer, which of the following best describes Ray’s success?

A．Unlike other athletes, he was academically superior.

B．He defeated his injury and returned to the playground.

C．He enjoys a successful job and a happy family.

D．He has gained impressive athletic achievements.

【小题3】What’s the right order of the events related to Ray?
a. He was rated among the best high school basketball players.
b. He was in a car accident.
c. He graduated from Canisius College.
d. He started his computer sales job.
e. He gave up his athletic career.

A．a, c, b, e, d

B．a, c, e, b, d

C．c, a, b, d, e

D．c, a, e, b, d

【小题4】We can learn from the passage that ________.

A．Ray was from an academic family

B．Ray was very mature in his teens

C．Ray was once desperate facing the cruel reality

D．athletics was not Ray’s final goal in life

【小题5】What was the writer’s intention in writing this passage?

A．To describe the difficulties of being a professional athlete.

B．To explain the importance of choosing the right college.

C．To emphasize the need for a good education.

D．To warn against playing professional basketball.

Many people watched the lift-off of the space shuttle Columbia on March 21, 1982. But none watched more closely than eighteen-year-old Ted, as Ted’s insects were on board the shuttle.
The Shuttle Student Involvement Program invited students to make a science experiment. The experiment would be done by astronauts on the space shuttle.
Ted had always been interested in space and flight. Insect flight especially interested him. Ted noticed that insects need gravity to take off and land. They need gravity to fly in a straight line. But in space, there is no gravity. Could insects fly in zero gravity? That is what Ted wanted to find out.
Ted made an experiment called “Insect in Flight Motion Study”. He entered his experiment and soon news came that it was a winner.
A large team of scientists and engineers helped Ted get his experiment ready to fly. There were many questions to be answered first. What kind of insects would Ted use in his experiment? The insects would have to be strong enough to live on the shuttle for nine days without much food. What kind of container would hold the insects? Would the insects die during the shuttle flight?
After months of hard work, the “insectronauts” were chosen. A group of moths, flies, and honeybees were put into a special box and put onto the space shuttle. When Columbia flew into space, it was carrying insect passengers.
On March 24, astronauts Gordon Fullerton and Jack Lousma took out the box that held the insects. They began filming the insects with a special video camera.
When the space shuttle landed Ted was able to watch the video film of insects. Just as he thought, most of the insects did have trouble flying in zero gravity. The flies did well. But the moths’ flight seemed “uncontrolled”. They would often just hang in the air. The bees had the most trouble. They couldn’t fly at all! The film showed bees spinning around in all directions. Others were just floating about in the box.
Ted learned the answer to his question about insects’ flight in zero gravity. But he also learned a lot more. He learned about the hard work needed in making a successful experiment.
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence “it was a winner” mean?

A．Ted could fly in space.	B．Ted won a prize.
C．Ted’s experiment was accepted.	D．Ted won in a race.

【小题2】What did Ted want to find out?

A．Whether the insects could fly in space.

B．Whether the insects could fly in a straight line.

C．Whether the insects could land after flying for a while.

D．Whether the insects could take off after resting for a while.

【小题3】Of the three kinds of insects sent into space, which one flew worst in zero gravity?

A．The flies.

B．The honeybees.

C．The insects.

D．The moths.

【小题4】Who did the experiment?

A．Ted himself.

B．Ted’s friend.

C．A large team of scientists and engineers.

D．Two astronauts on the space shuttle.

【小题5】How did Ted learn the answer to his question about insects’ flight in zero gravity?

A．By asking the scientists and engineers.

B．By studying a book written by the astronauts.

C．By going into space and watching the insects’ flight himself.

D．By watching the video film made by the astronauts.