Harvard University named historian Drew Gilpin Faust as its first female president on Sunday, ending a lengthy and secretive search to find a successor to Lawrence Summers.

The seven-member Harvard Corporation elected Faust, a noted scholar on History of the American South and dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, as the university’s 28th president.

“This is a great day, and a historic day, for Harvard,” James R. Houghton, chairman of the presidential search committee, said in a statement. “Drew Faust is an inspiring and accomplished leader, a superb scholar, a dedicated teacher, and a wonderful human being.”

Her selection is noteworthy given the heated debates over Summers’ comments that genetic differences between the sexes might help explain the lack of women in top science jobs.

Faust has been dean of Radcliffe since 2001, two years after the former women’s college was combined into the university as a research center with a mission to study gender issues.

Some professors have quietly groused that the 371-year-old university is appointing a fifth president who is not a scientist. No scientist has had the top job since James Bryant Conant retired in 1953; its last four have come from the fields of classics, law, literature and economics.

Faust is the first Harvard president who did not receive a degree from the university since Charles Chauncy, a graduate of Cambridge University, who died in office in 1762. She attended the University of Pennsylvania.

“Teaching staff turned to her constantly,” said Sheldon Hackney, a former president of the University of Pennsylvania and historian who worked closely with Faust. “She’s very clear. She has a sense of humor, but she’s very strong-minded. You come to trust in her because she’s so solid.”

1.Which might be the best title for the passage?

A．Harvard named its first female president.

B．History of Harvard University changed.

C．Debates on female equality ended.

D．Drew Gilpin Faust, a famous woman historian.

2.Which is NOT true about Drew Gilpin Faust?

A．She is the 28th president of Harvard University.

B．She is a famous scholar from the American South.

C．She isn’t a graduate from Harvard University.

D．She was head of Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

3.The underlined word “groused” in the 6th paragraph means____ .

A．approved         B．commented        C．complained        D．indicated

4.This passage probably appears in a____ .

A．biography         B．personal letter      C．research paper     D．newspaper report

Child labor — the employment of children in industry, often against their will — has been a problem for many years. Over a hundred years ago, Charles Dickens shocked many of his readers when he described the conditions under which young children worked in British factories. The conditions Dickens described continue almost unchanged today in many parts of the world. The only difference is that today employment of children is confined（limited）to small industries and family businesses, such as hotels, restaurants and particularly farms, rather than to large factories.

Girls suffer more from child labor practices than boys. Many of them are forced to start work when they are only ten years old. Although the work they are given to do is often light, it is often harmful to the health. Recently, children as young as six years were found to be working in Asian factories, and the children were working from eight to fourteen hours a day in overcrowded and unhealthy working conditions. Sometimes a whole family group is employed, with the payment going to a parent or older relative. The children not only receive nothing or very little for their long hours of work, but also they are prevented from attending school. Therefore, when they become older they are unable to do any other kind of work.

The solution to the problem of child labor is clearly better laws to protect young children, greater supervision（监督）of industry and heavier fines for those who break the laws. Only in this way can young boys and girls be allowed to enjoy the most valuable time of their lives—childhood.

Which’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A. Children are often willing to work in large factories.

B. Most children are working in British factories.

C. The poor working conditions of child labor in Dickens’ novel.

D. The working conditions for children are similar to those a hundred years ago.

Girls’ work is ____.

A. not harmful to the health though it is heavy

B. not harmful to the health because it is light

C. harmful to the health though it is light.

D. harmful to the health because it is heavy

Young children go to work ____.

A. because they are forced to          B. in order to be skillful in a certain kind of work

C. in order to be paid well             D. in order to earn money for education

To solve the problem of child labor, the writer suggests the following BUT ____.

A. looking over factories more closely

B. raising their payment and improving the system of education

C. improving laws of protecting children’s interests

D. punishing lawbreakers with severer fines

The lights dimmed，the musical hall grew quiet and out walked the conductor (指挥) shiny and white and 4 feet and 3 inches tall.

ASIMO, a robot designed by Honda Motor Co., met its latest challenge Tuesday evening: Conducting the Detroit Symphony (底特律交响乐团), in a performance of “The Impossible  Dream” from “Man of La Mancha”．

“Hello, everyone，” ASIMO said to the audience in a childlike voice, then waved to the orchestra. As it conducted, it perfectly mimicked (模仿) the actions of a conductor,

nodding its head at various sections and gesturing with one or both hands. ASIMO took a final bow to excited shouts from the audience. Later, cellist Yo－Yo Ma joined ASIMO onstage to receive an award for his efforts in music education.

Honda spokeswoman Alicia Jones says it is the first time ASIMO has conducted an orchestra, and it may be the first time any robot has conducted a live performance. But ASIMO has its  limits. ASIMO's engineers programmed the robot to mimic Charles Burke, the Detroit Symphony's education director, as he conducted the piece in front of a pianist about six months ago. But it can't respond to the musicians.

“It's not a communicative device. It simply is programmed to do a set of gestures，” said Leonard Slatkin, the orchestra's musical director. “If the orchestra decides to go faster, there's nothing the robot can do about it. Hopefully, I keep that under control.”

But several musicians also said ASIMO was more realistic than they expected. “The movements are still a little stiff (僵硬的), but very humanlike, much better than I thought，” Hutchinson said.

1.What's the audience's response to ASIMO's performance?

2.Whose conducting was ASIMO made to copy?

3.We can learn from the passage that ASIMO ________.

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

Dear Sir,

Just over six months ago, I saw an advertisement in the Morning Mail for a set of the complete works of William Shakespeare．Your company, Cosmo books Ltd , offered this set （ eight books of plays and two books of poetry） at a “remarkable” price: fifteen pounds and fifty pence, including postage and packing． I had wanted a set of Shakespeare's plays and poems for some time, and these books looked particularly attractive, so I sent for them．

Two weeks later, the books arrived, together with a set of works of Charles Dickens which I had not ordered．So I returned the Dickens books to you, with a cheque for fifteen pounds and fifty pence for the works of Shakespeare．Two more weeks passed．Then there arrived on my door step a second set of the works of Shakespeare, the same set of novels by Dickens and a six book set of the plays of Moliere, in French．Since I do not read French, these were of no use to me at all．However, I could not afford to post all these books back to you, so I wrote to you right away instructing you to come and collect all the books that I did not want, and asking you not to send any other books until further notice．

You did not reply to that letter. Instead you sent me a bill for forty two pounds, and a set of the plays of Schiller, in German．Since then, a new set of books has arrived every two weeks, the works of Goethe, the poems of Milton, the plays of Strindberg; I hardly know what I have．The books are still all in their boxes, in the garage, and my car has to stand in the rain outside．

Please send no more books, send no more bills, send no more angry letters demanding payment．Just send one large lorry and take all the books away, leaving me only with the one set of the complete works of Shakespeare for which I have paid．

Yours faithfully,

SIMON WALKER

1.Simon Walker's main purpose of writing the letter is to              .

A．show his anger to Cosmo Books Ltd．

B．argue about sending him books he had not ordered

C．advise readers not to order books from Cosmo Books Ltd．

D．urge Cosmo Books Ltd. to take away the books he had not ordered

2.The advertisement that Mr. Walker saw in the Morning Mail was for          .

A．unlimited number of Cosmo Books

B．a set of 10 books of the works of Shakespeare

C．fifteen pounds and fifty pence

D．a book containing all the plays and poems of Shakespeare

3.It can be inferred that            .

A．Mr. Walker took some action after receiving the books he did not order

B．several sets of books have been sent to Mr. Walker free of charge

C．Cosmo Books have sent bills for books that they have not sent

D．Mr. Walker hasn't received the books that he ordered

4.The tone（语气）of the letter is that of              .

A．bitterness                             B．respect

C．annoyance                            D．humor

Humans have sewn by hand for thousands of years. It was said that the first thread was made from animal muscle and sinew (腱). And the earliest needles were made from bones. Since those early days, many people have been involved in the process of developing a machine that could do the same thing more quickly and with greater efficiency.

Charles Wiesenthal, who was born in Germany, designed and received a patent on a double-pointed needle that eliminated the need to turn the needle around with each stitch (缝合) in England in 1755. Other inventors of that time tried to develop a functional sewing machine, but each design had at least one serious imperfection. [来源:学,科Frenchman Barthelemy Thimonnier finally engineered a machine that really worked. However, he was nearly killed by a group of angry tailors when they burned down his garment factory. They feared that they would lose their jobs to the machine.

American inventor Elias Howe, born on July 9, 1819, was awarded a patent for a method of sewing that used thread from two different sources. Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point, and it used the two threads to make a special stitch called a lockstitch. However, Howe faced difficulty in finding buyers for his machines in America. In frustration, he traveled to England to try to sell his invention there. When he finally returned home, he found that dozens of manufacturers were adapting his discovery for use in their own sewing machines.

Isaac Singer, another American inventor, was also a manufacturer who made improvements to the design of sewing machines. He invented an up-and-down-motion mechanism that replaced the side-to-side machines. He also developed a foot treadle(脚踏板) to power his machine. This improvement left the sewer’s hands free. Undoubtedly, it was a huge improvement of the hand-cranked machine of the past. Soon the Singer sewing machine achieved more fame than the others for it was more practical, it could be adapted to home use and it could be bought on hire-purchase. The Singer sewing machine became the first home appliance, and the Singer company became one of the first American multinationals.

However, Singer used the same method to create a lockstitch that Howe had already patented. As a result, Howe accused him of patent infringement（侵犯）. Of course, Elias Howe won the court case, and Singer was ordered to pay Howe royalties（版税）. In the end, Howe became a millionaire, not by manufacturing the sewing machine, but by receiving royalty payments for his invention.

1.Barthelemy Thimonnier’s garment factory was burned down because _____________.

A. people did not know how to put out the fire

B. Elias Howe thought Thimonnier had stolen his invention

C. the sewing machines was couldn’t work finally

D. workers who feared the loss of their jobs to a machine set fire

2.Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage???

A. Singer is an American inventor and manufacturer.

B. The Singer sewing company became more practical.

C. The foot treadle helped to make the sewer’s hands free.

D. Singer made improvements to the design of sewing machines.

3.Why did the court force Isaac Singer to pay Elisa Howe a lifetime of royalties?

A. Because the judge was against Singer for his surly attitude.

B. Because Howe had already patented the lockstitch used by Singer.

C. Because Singer had borrowed money from Howe and never repaid it.

D. Because Singer and Howe had both invented the same machine.

4.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

B. The Case between Howe and Singer

C. Patent Laws on the Sewing Machine

D. The Early History of the Sewing Machine