C
Cancun is a seaside town in Mexico, where most tourists come here to enjoy the beach, water sports and night life. In fact, it is so modern and Americanized that you might think you were in southern California or Florida.
But just a short two-hour hike from the town lie the ruins of the city of Chichen-Itza, one of the capitals of the lost Maya（玛雅）civilization. The center of the ruins of this city is the pyramid of El Castillo. The ancient Mayan religious people climbed this pyramid during festival to honor the Sun god. Tourists today climb it to view the architectural achievements of Chichen-Itza and to prove their fearlessness of heights and steep （陡峭的）climbs. There is a sign in Spanish, admonishing visitors “It’s dangerous to go up.” I gladly ignored it and started my climb.
The climbing was tough. The steps were higher than one might normally take., but the climb was not fearful at all. From the top of the pyramid, I had a wonderful view of the ruins of this Mayan city. What was most striking to me was that just beyond the ruins of splendid structures, gardens, temples and what looks like a modern sports stadium, you could only see forests for miles and miles. It was almost as if some race had mysteriously come out of nowhere, built it up and then suddenly disappeared from the planet, leaving only stones in its space.
The only remains on the top of the pyramid were the Temple of Kukulcan. During the festivals to worship the Sun god, only the high ranks would have the right to enter this temple.
After shooting a few pictures, I realized it was time to go down. Only then did I discover that what people fear about the climb is not the trip going up, but the way going down. I saw a few brave souls who were walking down as if they were in their own house. Looking down at the steepness of the pyramid, I desperately feared this great height. My first desire was to joke with a few people, “Where is the elevator（电梯）?” I figured that a civilization that was this advanced would have had the foresight(预见) to construct an elevator. Lacking such modern equipment, I had to use the chain provided by the Mexican tourist authorities and climb down on all fours.
My climb was complete eventually. I quickly got on the bus back to my comfortable hotel. Leaving the ruined city, I was still wondering what possibly happened long ago. But a few hours later, I was back in the modern world drinking cocktails on the beach, bathing in the sunshine before boarding the plane and waiting for my trip back home to the US, where all the modern things such as elevators are available!
57. Why did the writer pay a visit to the ruined city of Chichen-Itza?
A. He wanted to climb the pyramid of EL Castillo and know about the Mayan civilization.
B. He would got to the Temple of Kukulcan to attend a religious festival to honor the Sun god.
C. He thought the city of Chichen-Itza was quite different from the modern town of Cancun.
D. He was attracted by the ruined ancient buildings there and wanted to take some photos.
58. The underlined word “admonishing” in Paragraph 2 probably means “___________”.
A. urging          B. forcing          C. warning         D. frightening
59. Which of the following best shows climbing the pyramid of EL Castillo is a difficult task?
A. The steps are very high and it is much more scaring to climb to the top.
B. The climbing calls for courage and patience, and also takes a long time.
C. When tourist climb up to the top, there is no elevator to take them down.
D. The pyramid is high and steep, and climbing down is much more fearful.
60. From the last paragraph, we can infer that the writer ______________.
A. had a bad impression of the visit and decided to leave as soon as possible.
B. thought modernization could offer people comforts and conveniences.
C. got tired of the modern life and tried a different one in his own way.
D. enjoyed himself in the climb though it was very tiring and dangerous.

C

Cancun is a seaside town in Mexico, where most tourists come here to enjoy the beach, water sports and night life. In fact, it is so modern and Americanized that you might think you were in southern California or Florida.

But just a short two-hour hike from the town lie the ruins of the city of Chichen-Itza, one of the capitals of the lost Maya（玛雅）civilization. The center of the ruins of this city is the pyramid of El Castillo. The ancient Mayan religious people climbed this pyramid during festival to honor the Sun god. Tourists today climb it to view the architectural achievements of Chichen-Itza and to prove their fearlessness of heights and steep （陡峭的）climbs. There is a sign in Spanish, admonishing visitors “It’s dangerous to go up.” I gladly ignored it and started my climb.

The climbing was tough. The steps were higher than one might normally take., but the climb was not fearful at all. From the top of the pyramid, I had a wonderful view of the ruins of this Mayan city. What was most striking to me was that just beyond the ruins of splendid structures, gardens, temples and what looks like a modern sports stadium, you could only see forests for miles and miles. It was almost as if some race had mysteriously come out of nowhere, built it up and then suddenly disappeared from the planet, leaving only stones in its space.

The only remains on the top of the pyramid were the Temple of Kukulcan. During the festivals to worship the Sun god, only the high ranks would have the right to enter this temple.

After shooting a few pictures, I realized it was time to go down. Only then did I discover that what people fear about the climb is not the trip going up, but the way going down. I saw a few brave souls who were walking down as if they were in their own house. Looking down at the steepness of the pyramid, I desperately feared this great height. My first desire was to joke with a few people, “Where is the elevator（电梯）?” I figured that a civilization that was this advanced would have had the foresight(预见) to construct an elevator. Lacking such modern equipment, I had to use the chain provided by the Mexican tourist authorities and climb down on all fours.

My climb was complete eventually. I quickly got on the bus back to my comfortable hotel. Leaving the ruined city, I was still wondering what possibly happened long ago. But a few hours later, I was back in the modern world drinking cocktails on the beach, bathing in the sunshine before boarding the plane and waiting for my trip back home to the US, where all the modern things such as elevators are available!

57. Why did the writer pay a visit to the ruined city of Chichen-Itza?

A. He wanted to climb the pyramid of EL Castillo and know about the Mayan civilization.

B. He would got to the Temple of Kukulcan to attend a religious festival to honor the Sun god.

C. He thought the city of Chichen-Itza was quite different from the modern town of Cancun.

D. He was attracted by the ruined ancient buildings there and wanted to take some photos.

58. The underlined word “admonishing” in Paragraph 2 probably means “___________”.

   A. urging          B. forcing          C. warning         D. frightening

59. Which of the following best shows climbing the pyramid of EL Castillo is a difficult task?

   A. The steps are very high and it is much more scaring to climb to the top.

   B. The climbing calls for courage and patience, and also takes a long time.

   C. When tourist climb up to the top, there is no elevator to take them down.

   D. The pyramid is high and steep, and climbing down is much more fearful.

60. From the last paragraph, we can infer that the writer ______________.

   A. had a bad impression of the visit and decided to leave as soon as possible.

   B. thought modernization could offer people comforts and conveniences.

   C. got tired of the modern life and tried a different one in his own way.

   D. enjoyed himself in the climb though it was very tiring and dangerous.

He looked like a pirate.

With his handkerchief tied in a knot behind his little nine-year-old head, he looked like a pirate, a sad pirate. The first time little David came to our camp, he was hairless and worn out from medical treatments. He was also very angry.

Paul Newman's camp counselors (指导老师 ) were hoping to fill David's days with fun and laughter. But David stayed inside himself, wanting to be alone, or in a corner of the cabin. At this camp for children with life-threatening illnesses, we had seen some pretty tough children worn out by cancer recover full of energy despite their illness. But we saw little progress in David no matter what we tried with him. Five days into the eight-day session saw a quiet, sad little pirate.

 Then something happened on that fifth night. Something at camp that we would call "huge".

It was cabin night. That's the time when campers and counselors spend lime together in each individual cabin instead of an all-camp activity. Campers love cabin nights because there's always a bedtime snack. On the cabin table that night were bags of potato chips.

David slowly walked over to the table, leaving his comer to join the rest of us. He took one of the bags of the potato chips and started smashing(弄碎) it with his little fists, as all the other campers looked on in disbelief, I wondered what the cabin counselor would do.

The college-age volunteer counselor positioned a bag of chips on die table in front of himself, and he, too, started smashing it with his fist. The campers went crazy as everyone ran to the table to get in on the fun of smashing potato chips with their fists.

Somehow everyone knew, everyone sensed, that anger within him was now being released.

For the last couple days of the session, David was a different kid. He was a little nine-year-old boy again, trying to fill the hours of each remaining day at camp with as much fun as could be possible.

Several days after the session, David came back again. This time, there wasn't anything he wouldn't try to fit in to his day. He sure was having a great time at camp. David asked me if I needed an altar(祭坛)boy when I celebrated Mass in the woods. Sure enough, he was my altar boy. I remembered how carefully he listened to me when I talked about death. 1 said it's only a doorway. You walk through the door and there's the Lord God and behind God a whole line of people waiting to hug you.

After Mass, he said to me, "Hey Fatha, a door, huh?"

A couple more days of fun passed and tonight was the talent show. The tradition is that campers and counselors dress up in costumes, and everyone gets a standing applause for singing and dancing or simply just acting like fools on stage.

 The show had begun: lights, camera, action.

Unfortunately, the only action taking place in our row of seats was little David making his way from counselor to counselor to say an early good-bye to camp. He had become quite ill and had to go to the hospital because of this new crisis.

When this little nine-year-old pirate stood in front of me, he gave me a hug and a big wet kiss on my cheek. 1 was crying. He was crying. A whole row of counselors was in tears. After the hug and kiss, he put his hands on my shoulders, and tears still in his eyes, said: "See you on the other side of the door, Fatha."

71.The camp counselors failed to fill David's beginning days with fun and laughter, mainly because David     .

A.        behaved like a pirate

B.        remained in a bad mood

C.        was left alone at the camp

D.       was teased by other campers

72.Seeing David smashing the potato chips, the counselor did the same thing in response because he     .

A.        would like David to eat more of them

B.        hoped all the other campers would join

C.        found it possible to help David release anger

D.       wanted to show that he was as angry as David

73.What can we learn from this article?

A.        The camp was intended for those talented in singing and dancing.

B.        The purpose of the camp was to give diseased children caring love.

C.        The camp was popular among the children who enjoyed their vacation here.

D.       Medical treatment could be provided to diseased children at the camp.

74.Which of the following does NOT show the change in David?

A.        David came back to the camp for a second session after the first ended.

B.        David had become quite ill and had to go to the hospital because of this new crisis.

C.        David made his way from counselor to counselor to say an early good-bye to camp.

D.       David stood in front of me and gave me a hug and a big wet kiss on my cheek.

75. What do you think the theme of the story is?

A.        Children with deadly diseases are usually difficult to get along with.

B.        People should have patience with children with life-threatening illnesses.

C.        People should tell children with life-threatening illnesses to care nothing about death.

D.       Love and proper guidance can help people look at something negative in a positive way.

My heart sank when the man at the immigration counter gestured to the back room. I was born and raised in America, and this was Miami, where I live, but they weren’t quite ready to let me in yet.

　 “Please wait in here, Ms. Abujaber,” the immigration officer said. My husband, with his very American last name, accompanied me. He was getting used to this. The same thing had happened recently in Canada when I’d flown to Montreal to speak at a book event. That time they held me for 45 minutes. Today we were returning from a literary festival in Jamaica, and I was shocked that I was being sent “in back” once again.

　　The officer behind the counter called me up and said, “Miss, your name looks like the name of someone who’s on our wanted list. We’re going to have to check you out with Washington.”

　　“How long will it take?”

　　“Hard to say…a few minutes,” he said, “We’ll call you when we’re ready for you.” After an hour, Washington still hadn’t decided anything about me.

“Isn’t this computerized?” I asked at the counter, “Can’t you just look me up?”

“Just a few more minutes,” they assured me.

　　After an hour and a half, I pulled my cell phone out to call the friends I was supposed to meet that evening. An officer rushed over. “No phones!” he said, “For all we know you could be calling a terrorist cell and giving them information.”

　　“I’m just a university professor,” I said. My voice came out in a squeak.

　　“Of course you are. And we take people like you out of here in leg irons every day.”

　　I put my phone away.

　　My husband and I were getting hungry and tired. Whole families had been brought into the waiting room, and the place was packed with excitable children, exhausted parents, and even a flight attendant.

　　I wanted to scream, to jump on a chair and shout: “I’m an American citizen; a novelist; I probably teach English literature to your children.”

After two hours in detention (扣押), I was approached by one of the officers. “You’re free to go,” he said. No explanation or apologies. For a moment, neither of us moved. We were still in shock. Then we leaped to our feet.

　　“Oh, one more thing,” he handed me a tattered photocopy with an address on it, “If you aren’t happy with your treatment, you can write to this agency.”

　　“Will they respond?” I asked.

　　“I don’t know—I don’t know of anyone who’s ever written to them before.” Then he added,” By the way, this will probably keep happening each time you travel internationally.”

　　“What can I do to keep it from happening again?”

　　He smiled the empty smile we’d seen all day, “Absolutely nothing.”

　　After telling several friends about our ordeal, probably the most frequent advice I’ve heard in response is to change my name. Twenty years ago, my own graduate school writing professor advised me to write under a pen name so that publishers wouldn’t stick me in what he called “the ethnic ghetto”—a separate, secondary shelf in the bookstore. But a name is an integral part of anyone’s personal and professional identity—just like the town you’re born in and the place where you’re raised.

　　Like my father, I’ll keep the name, but my airport experience has given me a whole new perspective on what diversity and tolerance are supposed to mean. I had no idea that being an American would ever be this hard.

1.The author was held at the airport because ______.

A. she and her husband returned from Jamaica

B. her name was similar to a terrorist’s

C. she had been held in Montreal

D. she had spoken at a book event

2.She was not allowed to call her friends because ______.

A. her identity hadn’t been confirmed yet

B. she had been held for only one hour and a half

C. there were other families in the waiting room

D. she couldn’t use her own cell phone

3.We learn from the passage that the author would ______ to prevent similar experience from happening again.

A. write to the agency?????????? B. change her name??

C. avoid traveling abroad??????? D. do nothing

4.Her experiences indicate that there still exists ______ in the US.

A. hatred???????????????????? B. discrimination?????

C. tolerance?????????????????? D. diversity

5.The author sounds ______ in the last paragraph.

A. impatient?? B. bitter???????? C. worried??????????? D. ironic (具有讽刺意味的)