BEIJING, Nov. 26—U.S. dollar hit another record low against the euro on Friday, with the European currency climbing above $1.32 for the first time. The green-back fell to its lowest in nearly five years against the yen the same day.

By 1943 EST, the dollar was trading at US$1.3265 per euro, compared with US$1.3270 in thin late New York trade. It was at 102.55 yen, little changed from New York after touching 102.37, a level not seen since March 2000, in London.

Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki repeated his warning against dollar weakness, threatening to take action against sudden moves, but market participants said such verbal intervention (口头干涉) had long lost its clout.

Traders were expecting market liquidity to remain thin on Friday because of the extended U.S. holiday.

In such thin trading, many said a fall in the dollar past 102 yen and US$1.33 per euro was a real possibility.

Referring to recent currency movements as “brutal”, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, who is the most vocal European policymaker on dollar weakness, is due to make comments in Rio de Janeiro, along with ECB council member and Spanish central bank governor Jaime Caruana.

Introduced in 1999 as the common currency for 12 European countries, the euro initially(最初) dropped against the dollar but has risen some 60 percent since hitting an all-time low of 82 U.S. cents in October 2000.

64. What does “the green-back” refer to in the first paragraph?

A. U.S. dollar                                           B. Another record

C. The euro                                              D. European currency

65. How did Sadakazu Tanigaki feel about dollar weakness?

A. Excited                    B. Puzzled             C. worried                    D. Disappointed

66. The underlined word “brutal” probably means ______.

A. cruelty                            B. help                 C. criticism                   D. apology

67. According to some people, it was possible for the dollar to trade ______.

A. at 1.3265 per euro                                 B. at 1.32 per euro

C. at 1.3270 per euro                                 D. at 1.331 per euro

In 1995, Susan Boyle went to Glasgow to audition（试镜）for My Kind of People, a televised talent show popular in the UK. She was immediately rejected. She was nervous during the audition, and felt she didn’t perform well, but her brother said that she was rejected because of her plain looks. Susan was not discouraged and continued to sing at church and at the karaoke nights in a local pub.

Susan suffered a personal loss in 1997, when her father passed away. After his death, Susan put her big dreams on hold to care for her sick mother, Bridget Boyle. The mother and daughter often talked of Susan’s possible fame. Bridget Boyle encouraged her daughter to take part in singing competitions. “She was the one who said I should enter Britain’s Got Talent. We used to watch it together,” Susan later told reporters. “She thought I would win.”

In 1999, Susan used all of her savings to pay for a professional demo（样本唱片）tape, which she sent to record companies. In 2002, Susan began taking singing lessons from voice coach Fred O’Neil.

In 2007, her mother passed away at the age of 91. A neighbor reported that when Bridget Boyle died, her daughter “wouldn’t come out for three or four days or answer the door or phone”. She lived alone with her cat, Pebbles. For over a year, she refused to sing. But in August of 2008, O’Neil urged her to try out for Britain’s Got Talent. Convinced that the performance would be an honor to her mother, Susan auditioned in Glasgow, Scotland. She sang I Dreamed A Dream, a hit song from the musical Les Miserables（《悲惨世界》）, in the first round of the show, which was aired on April 11, 2009.

The 47-year-old Scottish woman's plain looks provided a sharp contrast（对比）to her powerfully beautiful voice. The performance astonished the audience and the judges. Online videos of her performance totaled over 40 million views within a week. Although she failed to win the final of Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle became globally popular. Her first album I Dreamed A Dream has sold over five million copies.

Bridget Boyle’s attitude towards her daughter’s musical talent can be described as ___.

   A. critical    B. doubtful     C. indifferent     D. confident

From Paragraph 4, we can learn that Susan _____.

A. was slightly discouraged by her voice coac B. entered Britain’s Got Talent to prove her ability

C. decided to give up her singing career    D. was deeply affected by her mother’s death

Which of the following is TRUE about Susan Boyle?

A. Her international fame grew rapidly in 2008. B. Her audition for My Kind of People failed.

C. She has never stopped singing since 1995.  D. She was the winner of Britain’s Got Talent. 

We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. Susan Boyle was convinced by her brother that her plain looks were disadvantageous to her success

B. It was at the age of forty that Susan Boyle established a student-teacher relationship with O’Neil.

C. Susan Boyle was so struck by her father’s death that she shut herself out from the neighborhood.

D. The online views of Les Miserables numbered over 40 million within a week in 2009.

In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to ______.

A. tell us how Susan’s dream come true       B. let us know more about Susan’s personal life

C. show how Susan was influenced by her family D. explain how to enter and win a talent show

It was at the very beginning _______ Mr. Fox made the decision _____ we should send more fire-fighters there.

A．when, which       B．where, that        C．that, that          D．then, so

 

It was at that school _________ he realized his dream _________ he was going to be a teacher.

A. that; that                B. that; which       C. where; that                     D. where; which

 

 

第二节 完形填空（共20小题；每题1．5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-55各题所给的四个选项（A、Ｂ、Ｃ和Ｄ）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

There is a story told about how Neil set about winning over one particular boy．The boy was always causing trouble and clearly regarded all teachers   36  a hostile eye．On one occasion, Neil, out taking a   37 , had just rounded a corner when he came across the boy playing on his own．The boy, not noticing he was no longer   38  , picked up a stone and threw it through one of the school windows．Turning, he saw Neil．Instead of finding himself   39   at angrily as he expected, the boy was   40   to see Neil bend down, pick up a stone and hurl it at another window．The boy had to   41   to get the window repaired, so did Neil．  42   he thought this a small price to pay for   43   a bond between himself and the boy, whose   44  improved afterwards．

 Neil was a remarkable character who knew just when to be   45   and just when to adopt a lighter touch when handling children．Not everyone is so   46  ．Willie Russell, the   47  , likes to talk about the time when he had freshly   48   from teacher training college and had just begun to work as a teacher．On his first day at the school he was left to do playground duty on his own, rather a（n）   49   experience for one so new to the job．Surrounded by children at morning break, he turned to see one of the children throwing a stone at a school window．When the boy saw that he had been   50   by a teacher, his face fell．  51   for this boy, Russell remembered the story about Neil．Stooping down he picked up a stone and propelled(投掷) it through another window．Turning to smile proudly at the boy his satisfaction was suddenly shattered by the sound of dozens of windows being   52   by flying stones．

Unfortunately he had failed to take into account the difference between his   53   and the one which Neil had faced, namely that he and the boy were not alone．It was at this point in his career that Russell decided that perhaps he was not quite cut out to be a teacher． Deciding after this that he was not suited to teaching he left to   54  playwriting．Most of his plays are very imaginative and  55  ．A bit like this story, in fact．

36．A．by       B．in        C．with   D．through

37．A．rest    B．exam C．walk   D．trip

38．A．seen  B．alone C．lonely          D．heard

39．A．shouted     B．stared        C．pointed      D．come

40．A．excited       B．surprised   C．satisfied     D．frightened

41．A．punish        B．pay     C．agree          D．propose

42．A．As       B．While C．Even if        D．But

43．A．breaking    B．making       C．establishing       D．showing

44．A．character  B．behavior    C．condition   D．grades

45．A．still     B．kind    C．calm  D．firm

46．A．humorous  B．strange      C．successful D．clever

47．A．student      B．headmaster       C．playwright D．teacher

48．A．graduated B．walked       C．studied       D．dismissed

49．A．exciting      B．challenging         C．surprising  D．interesting

50．A．blamed       B．stopped     C．met    D．spotted

51．A．Generally   B．Fortunately        C．Obviously   D．Usually

52．A．hit      B．knocked    C．cleaned      D．brushed

53．A．condition   B．position      C．situation    D．occupation

54．A．pick up        B．take up       C．make up     D．put up

55．A．funny B．serious       C．realistic      D．critical