The battle for the leadership of Britain’s Labour Party ended on September 25. Five candidates competed for the top job, but it turned out to be a tale of two brothers. Victory went to Ed Miliband, 40, with his elder brother David, 45, coming a close second. Ed’s Miliband’s job will now be to try to lead his party back into power and oppose Prime Minister David Cameron.
The two Milibands were both ministers in the Gordon Brown government. David Miliband, as Foreign Secretary, held the third most important post in UK politics. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described him as “vibrant and attractive”. Ed, who had a lesser role in government as Minister of Climate Change, was valued for his contribution to policy discussions and for his performance at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change last December.
The Miliband brothers were born to political parents. Their father, Ralph, was a Marxist scholar. He came to Britain from Belgium in 1940, fleeing the Nazis. Ralph Miliband was buried beside Karl Marx in London’s Highgate Cemetery. His wife Marion, the brothers’ mother, remains an active party member at 76.
The two brothers represent different wings of the Labour Party. David supported former Prime Minister Tony Blair; Ed was a follower of Blair’s great rival Gordon Brown, the last Labour PM.
“We’re determined to make sure that family comes before politics, and I don’t think there’s any chance that politics is going to get in the way,” David Miliband said before the vote.
After the result, the two embraced in front of the cameras.
In his acceptance speech, Ed Miliband said to his brother: “David, I love you so much as a brother. And I have such extraordinary respect for the campaign that you ran.”
But some feel their warm words were for the media and for the sake of party unity. There had been reports of anger on David’s part when his younger brother chose to stand against him. David may feel that the leadership was stolen from him-and by his own brother. Ed himself was reported to be concerned that he might have hurt David. According to the Guardian, after the result, Ed’s first reaction was: “what have I done to David?”
Ed suggested that he was prepared to make his brother shadow chancellor. But David has decided it is time to move on. He will not have a role in the Shadow Cabinet in the future.
In effect, he has fallen on his sword for the Party. David Miliband said the priority was to allow his brother to make a success of leading Labour: “I believe this will be harder if there is constant comparison with my comments and position as a member of the shadow cabinet.”

1. 1.

   . Ed Miliband became head of Britain’s Labour Party because ______.

   1. A.
      he played an important role in the previous British government.
   2. B.
      his arguments at political discussions and his performance at an international conference
   3. C.
      Hillary Clinton thought highly of him
   4. D.
      his brother supported him both at home and politics.
2. 2.

   . According to the passage, which is NOT TRUE?

   1. A.
      Ed and David both worked in the government.
   2. B.
      Ralph Miliband came to Britain because of the Nazis.
   3. C.
      Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron are all Labour Party Prime Ministers.
   4. D.
      David Miliband and Ed Miliband’s mother is still alive.
3. 3.

   .What can be inferred from the passage?

   1. A.
      David Miliband and Ed Miliband fought against each other both at home and politics.
   2. B.
      Ed was concerned about David’s feelings after the election.
   3. C.
      David and Ed were born into a political family.
   4. D.
      David and Ed agreed with each other on most of the issues
4. 4.

   .What does the underlined sentence mean?

   1. A.
      David accepted his brother’s invitation to be a shadow chancellor.
   2. B.
      David was determined to fight against his brother.
   3. C.
      David was so upset that he would end his life with a sword for the Party.
   4. D.
      David refused his brother’s offer for him to be a shadow chancellor.
5. 5.

   .Which of the following can best describe the relationship between David and Ed?

   1. A.
      Brothers and political rivals
   2. B.
      Partners in the political campaign
   3. C.
      Partners in public and enemy in private
   4. D.
      Representatives of different wings of Labour Party

Learn to Meet Challenges   

My classmates called me“the alien”,and they avoided me like the plague（瘟疫）.As a young boy, I  1  from a serious skin disease ,which filled my arms with scars. The true   2   of my condition, however, was social : I lived a life of loneliness.

Doctors predicted that I would never fully recover, but my parents encouraged me to hope for the future, teaching me that any difficulty could be overcome. I therefore took a / an   3   role in fighting against my disease, trying many medications and herbs, and my health   4   greatly before I graduated. I realized that my personal   5   had led to this improvement. I regained self-confidence and made many friends at school.

Years later,   6   my personal battle against disease, I learned a great deal about   7   by overcoming difficulties.

    I joined the Culture Club as a Special Event Director. I   8   a group of six students in organizing various activities. I was the most advanced ESL student among the group, so I considered myself the most capable. But I quickly learned my   9  , While preparing for our first presentation, I was   10   with my team members and often rejected their   11  . I performed most of their tasks myself, allowing them to   12   me only with small details. As a result, the presentation was not very successful. The setback   13   me , and I spoke of it to the club’s director. She responded that she   14   my ability to succeed in the future. This comment filled me with   15, for I realized that I had never trusted my own team members. 16   they were weak in English, they had many valuable talents. I immediately   17   my policy, allowing my team members to choose the tasks they desired and to complete them on their own. For our program, we had many meetings, which gave   18   to many good ideas. Most importantly, the atmosphere among us improved dramatically. We were   19   and eager to devote time to the program, and I learned what true leadership is.

    My experiences   20   improved my ability to handle challenging situations.

1．A．judged                  B．suffered              C．prevented            D．separated

2．A．pain                      B．sign                    C．value                   D．meaning

4．A．developed              B．improved             C．increased             D．removed

5．A．joy                       B．goal                    C．will                     D．life

6．A．over                     B．like                     C．for                      D．in

7．A．ability                   B．quality                 C．leadership            D．friendship

8．A．taught                   B．found                  C．managed             D．followed

9．A．mistake                 B．method                C．effort                  D．right

10．A．satisfied              B．familiar                C．patient                 D．strict

11．A．desires                B．talents                 C．ideas                   D．tasks

12．A．remind                B．guide                   C．show                  D．help

13．A．discouraged         B．disturbed             C．encouraged          D．educated

14．A．adopted               B．admired               C．trusted                D．tested

15．A．surprise               B．delight                 C．pride                   D．hope

16．A．As                      B．If                        C．Because              D．Although

17．A．deleted                B．changed              C．regretted             D．considered

18．A．birth                   B．hand                   C．gift                     D．rise

19．A．crazy                  B．happy                  C．successful           D．independent

20．A．instantly              B．indirectly             C．unusually             D．undoubtedly