A severely handicapped teenager who cannot walk,talk or hold a paintbrush has won a place at Oxford to study fine art.

Hero Joy Nightingale,16,who communicates through hand movements,is to be given assistants to paint and sculpt on her behalf.Her mother Pauline Reid “translated for” her daughter during interviews for the place at Magdalen College.

The teenager is the most severely handicapped student ever to be granted a place at Oxford.She suffers from “locked-in syndrome”,a profound apraxia caused by brain damage that renders her body useless and her voice mute.

She is unlikely ever to be able to walk,feed or care for herself but,thanks to the efforts of her mother,she can communicate.When Hero was four,Pauline devised a complicated system of hand gestures that equate to the alphabet.

A spokesperson for Oxford said,“The university welcomes applications from students with disabilities.In cases where students are profoundly disabled,there may be many issues that need to be carefully addressed before an individual can take up a place,such as establishing how the student can best be taught and examined.”

Hero,who suffers almost daily epileptic fits and has a hole in her heart,has not attended school since she was six.She has been taught at home by her mother and father,the pro-vice chancellor of Kent University.

Peter Giles,her art tutor until last year,said she has a genuine talent for art.“She is ferociously gifted.We would sit together and her mother would grab her daughter’s hand and then we would begin work,”he said.

Together,they built several modern sculptures from plaster and metal.“The instructions would take a while to decipher.But eventually,they would come,and eventually make sense.”

Hero’s classes will be held at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art.

Hero communicates with others _________.

A.through common hand movements

B.by typing words on computer

C.through a complicated system of hand gestures devised by her mother

D.by drawing pictures on a board

According to the passage,how does Hero paint or sculpt?

A.She instructs her assistants to paint or sculpt through hand movements.

B.She gives instructions,and her mother paints or sculpts following her instructions.

C.She paints or sculpts with her own hands.

D.She gives instructions,her mother “translates” them,and her assistants paint or sculpt according to the “translations”.

From the story we can infer _________.

A.Oxford welcomes any handicapped student who is good at fine art

B.Hero has not attended school since she was six

C.Hero is gifted in fine art

D.Hero is a strong-minded girl who loves life very much

Which of the following is NOT true?

A.Hero is the most seriously handicapped student ever to be admitted to Oxford.

B.Oxford will admit a disabled student without any requirements.

C.Hero has been taught by her parents at home for10 years.

D.Hero is not able to walk,talk or hold a paintbrush.

A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, D.C．Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended．In a natural reflex （反应）, I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it on her hand without even looking at her．I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar．But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don’t want your money．I just need help finding the post office.”

     In an instant, I realized what I had done．I judged another person simply for what I assumed she had to be．I hated what I saw in myself．This incident re-awakened my belief in humility(谦恭), even though I’d lost it for a moment．

     The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant．I left Honduras and arrived in the U.S．at the age of 15．I started my new life with two suitcases, my brother and sister, and a strong, serious-minded mother．Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other humble jobs, and eventually I became a network engineer.

     In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice (偏见)．I remember a time, at age 17 ----- I worked as a waiter, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me．I have also witnessed the same treatment of my family and friends, so I know what it’s like, and I should have known better．

     But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going．That blind woman on the streets of Washington, D.C., cured me of my blindness．She reminded me of my belief in humility and to always keep my eyes and heart open．By the way, I helped that lady to the post office．And in writing this essay, I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson．

We can learn from the first two paragraphs that __________ ．

       A．the author regretted his act of prejudice

       B．the blind woman needed the money badly

       C．the author was as poor as the blind woman

       D．the author was a native American

According to Paragraph 4, hearing the father’s words, the author was probably _____ ．

       A．rather hurt     B．very excited      C．deeply moved      D．greatly inspired

According to the passage, the author probably agrees that one should ________ ．

       A．be nice to the elderly and the disabled

       B．try to experience different kinds of life

       C．treat others equally with love and respect

       D．think about one’s past as often as possible

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

       A．Learn from your past

       B．How my dream comes true

       C．A belief that will never change

       D．A priceless lesson in the street

A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami（海啸） warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.

There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.

There are also concrete(混凝土) sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami.

Costas Synolakis ，a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said，"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event."

He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.

The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas.

Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves.

Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predicted

Where can this passage probably be adapted from?

    A．A magazine on science       B．A fairy Tale 

C．A scientific fantasy book     D．A newspaper  

Which of the following statements NOT true ?

    A. A terrible earthquake hit the northeastern coast of Japan

    B. It was also the worst earthquake in Japan

C. The 9.0 earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan

D. Japan's concrete sea walls was unable to handle such high waves.

According to Costas Synolakis, why did Japan suffer such a loss?

  A. The country has never experienced any event as big as this one over the past 150 years

B. Japan has the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.

C. There are not concrete sea walls around all of the Japanese coastline

D. The government didn’t announce its first tsunami warnings three minutes earlier.

A new weapon (武器) is on the way in the fight against smoking in Europe. Soon when smokers buy cigarettes they might see a shocking photo of a blackened lung or a cancer patient staring back at them from the packet.

Some boys may think of smoking as cool and sexy. Their friends won’t agree when they see their packets of cigarettes lying on the table. The European Union announced that it had chosen 42 photos that showed the damage cigarettes could do to the body, calling on member nations to put these pictures on packets to discourage smokers. To catch the attention of teenagers, the special packets warn of long-term medical dangers, like cancer. Short-term effects, like bad skin, are also on the list.

“The true face of smoking is disease, death and horror. That is the message we should send to the young,” said David Byrne, an EU health official. “Hopefully these pictures will shock students out of their love for cigarettes.”

The EU head office hoped the pictures would work better than current (当前) written warnings on packs of cigarettes. The warnings included “smoking kills” and “smoking can lead to a slow and painful death”.

So far, Ireland and Belgium have shown interest in the photos. Canada has used similar pictures and warnings on cigarette packs since 2000. The country has recently seen a fall in the number of smokers. According to studies, smoking is the single biggest cause of avoidable deaths in the EU. Every year more than 650,000 smokers die, more than one person a minute.

By saying “a new weapon is on the way”, the writer means the EU is going to have _____ .

   A. the true face of smoking shown everywhere                     

   B. shocking photos printed on cigarette packets      

   C. written warnings printed on the cigarette packs                      

D. pictures put up where cigarettes are sold                            

The pictures chosen by the EU are supposed to mainly work on _____ .

   A. young smokers                  B. smokers in Ireland and Belgium

C. male smokers                   D. young smokers’ friends

What can we learn from the passage?

   A. Canada has been the first to use the EU’s “weapon”.            

 B. Most smokers don’t quite believe the written warnings.  

C. The new form of warning has already been proved to work.

D. Smoking has caused more deaths than anything else in the EU.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

   A. Smoking Is Cool And Sexy.        B. A New Weapon to Fight Smoking.

   C. Young Smokers in The EU.        D. Deaths from Smoking.

A popular student in her small high school, Katie started college expecting to do well in her courses and be best friends with her roommates. But things didn’t turn out that way. Psych 101, the course she thought would be a first-semester favorite, turned out to be a struggle. And her roommates were as different from Katie as the student restaurant’s mystery meat was from her mom’s roasted pork.

Living away from home tends to be the toughest adjustment for first-year students. You may feel homesick in your first weeks or months. It can help to call, write, or email your parents and friends making them know how you’re doing. You can also talk with your roommates. As first-year students themselves, they’re probably experiencing many of the same fears and worries that you’re dealing with.

But what if you don’t get along well with your roommates?

In some cases, it can be a good thing if you and your roommates aren’t much alike. Different views on things may be helpful, so respect your differences no matter what.

If you and your roommates don’t get along well, it can help to find someone who you feel does understand you, which should be easy on a campus with so many people. Many schools have student organization nights where all of the campus clubs gather and promote their organizations, so you can meet people with the same interests there as you. You’ll also meet tons of people in class or in your dorm building.

As homesickness, painful throats, sprained (扭伤的) ankles and wisdom teeth that act up are common among college students, you should check out your student guidebook or your school’s website to find out information about the university health center.

If you think you cannot deal with your problems, make a stop at the school counseling (咨询) center. First-year troubles are something the counselors know well. You can get help there.

From Paragraph 1 we can infer that ____.

A. Katie had been worried about the changes before starting her college life

B. Katie felt satisfied when her college life started

C. Katie wasn’t used to the new environment in college at first

D. Katie has fallen behind in her study after the first semester in college

What’s the author’s suggestion on dealing with homesickness?

A. Adjust to it.

B. Share fears and worries with your parents.

C. Talk to your roommates about it.

D. Get along with your roommates.

Which of the following ways of dealing with roommates is RIGHT?

A. Not trying to change them.

B. Not making friends with them.

C. Developing the same interests as them

D. Not talking with them.

What’s the main idea of the text?

A. Freshmen may meet many problems.

B. Communication is important in college.

C. How you can adjust to your first year in college.

D. How schools help freshmen to get used to college life.