Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. At some point, however, we all begin to question our heroes and our need for them. This leads us to ask: What is a hero?

　　Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristics that instruct and inspire people.

　　A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and a community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere fame.

　　Heroes serve powers or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage(电压) transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.

　　The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. Those who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What are they willing to live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?

　　Heroes are catalysts (催化剂) for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., we might still have segregated(隔离的) buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless.

1. Although heroes may come from different cultures, they _______.

　　A. generally possess certain inspiring characteristics

　　B. probably share some weaknesses of ordinary people

　　C. are often influenced by previous generations

　　D. all unknowingly attract a large number of fans

2. According to the passage, heroes are compared to high-voltage transformers in that ____.

　　A. they have a vision from the mountaintop

　　B. they have warm feelings and emotions

　　C. they can serve as concrete(具体的) examples of noble principles

　　D. they can make people feel stronger and more confident

3. Madonna and Michael Jackson are not considered heroes because ________.

　　A. they are popular only among certain groups of people

　　B. their performances do not improve their fans morally

　　C. their primary concern is their own financial interests

　　D. they are not clear about the principles they should follow

4. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are typical examples of outstanding leaders who ___.

　　A. are good at demonstrating their charming characters

　　B. can move the masses with the skill and the charm

　　C. are capable of meeting all challenges and hardships

　　D. can provide an answer to the problems of their people

5. The author concludes that historical changes would ______.

　　A. be delayed without leaders with inspiring personal qualities

　　B. not happen without heroes making the necessary sacrifices

　　C. take place if there were heroes to lead the people

　　D. produce leaders with attractive personalities

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息，请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

在中学生夏令营中，以下同学以其观点组织各自的讨论和交流组。

A． Cao A'min, 18

Xuanhua No 1 High School, Hebei

Keeping pace with teachers is a good way to study．Teachers are experienced and their plans are systematic．But remember to work m a way that suits you．It's also important to team from past mistakes．Keep a notebook to make a record of the mistakes you make - it'll help you avoid making the same ones later．

B．Zhang Zilu, 17

Xinyu No 1 High School, Jiangxi

This time of life may be hard, but you're not alone．You may be busy studying, but you can show your care by calling yow friends or sending a short message．Don't let your friendships die．Some boys and girls in my class were in love, but I'd advise against a relationship at this stage．

C. Zhan Yu, 17

Huanggang High School, Hubei

It’s as important to live well as it is to study well, I think. I went to bed no later than 11:30 pm. It put me in the right mood for the next day. I didn’t follow a special diet (饮食), but I did make sure I ate a nutritious  breakfast each day.

D. Ju Shuntian, 18

Yantai Economic and Technological Development Zone Senior High School, Shandong

The person who plays well, studies well. Having a lot of schoolwork doesn’t mean having to give up on every other activity. I played basketball or took a walk to relax when I felt tired. Time out is not a waste of time but helps you study more efficiently.

E. Zhang Qingzhou, 17

　　Dongtai High School, Jiangsu

Besides taking the big exam, you have other choices for college. I took the independent enrollment (自主招生) exam held by Peking University and some other students even prepared to study abroad. Pay attention to any relevant information you can find, whether it’s from school, the news media or another source.

F. Wu Dandan, 18

Liaocheng No. 1 High School, Shandong

Besides learning from the textbooks, students can also learn a lot from traveling from place to place. In different places you will see different things, meet different people and have different experiences. If you are curious enough, you can explore deeper into the area and obtain more useful information, which serves as your new knowledge.

下面同学各自感兴趣的内容或需要解决的问题，请配对他们最适合参加的讨论组。

1.Zhang Xu is an active and energetic boy who enjoys many sports like swimming, football, badminton, cycling and jogging. He has a lot of friends at school and they often spend a lot of time on rivers, fields and mountains. Is it good to spend so little time in the library? How to allocate time between academic lectures and outing? That's his problem.

2.Xiao Lili has much difficulty m catching up with her classmates m chemistry and physics. But her superiority lies in music and English, so she is dreaming of becoming a professional singer. She hopes that her strong points can help pave her way to future success. "Can I go to a musical college without taking NMET?" she wonders.

3.Guo Jie is a hardworking boy but, unfortunately, he gets low marks in every test. He is always busy with his own study plan. When he didn’t finish his work the earlier day, he will bury his mind in his work to fulfill his plan, ignoring the teacher’s lectures. “How can I raise my marks?” he is puzzled.

4.Song Siwei is a slim and pretty girl, who works hard at all her lessons. But she was so absorbed in her studeies that she is even unwilling to tear herself off at meal times. She is always the last to leave the classroom and the first to arrive. She starts to feel dizzy and have headaches. “What might happen to me?” she wonders.

5.Zhang Lan is a charming girl who is active both in the classroom and on the sports field. She is kind to all her classmates. Some boys in her class tend to talk to her at every possible opportunity and even invite her to meals. That makes her pleased but costs her quite some time. She doesn’t know whether it is right to accept kindness from the boys.

LONDON — Britain awoke on Easter Monday to a period of mourning for the Queen Mother, who died over the weekend after a life spanning a century of noisy and evident change. The 101-year-old royal matriarch died in her sleep last Saturday with Queen Elizabeth, her elder and only surviving daughter, at her bedside. For a woman who was one of the best-known figures in Britain for more than 80 years — from the era of tinted portraits on tin biscuit boxes and cigarette cards to the age of the Internet, the Queen Mother remained an enigmatic(不可思议的) and elusive(躲避的) figure.

She achieved such a respect through aeons(永世, 亿万年) of, first, fawning and, later, intrusive media fascination, by remaining almost entirely silent. Her private thoughts were never paraded(炫耀) in public. What the public saw was a charming and benign elderly lady, adept at winning the admiration of press photographers, whom she always favoured with a particular smile.

CHINA’s third unmanned spacecraft, Shenzhou Ⅲ, landed safely in central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Monday afternoon, after orbiting the earth 108 times in slightly less than a week. The craft, which lifted off from Jiuquan in Gansu Province last Monday night, landed after successfully conducting a chain of flight and scientific experiments over a period of 162 hours.

A powerful earthquake jolted Taiwan, killing five construction workers, authorities(官方) said. Over 200 injuries ware reported across the island, mostly minor, as a result of Sunday’s 7.5-magnitude quake. The quake was centred off Hualien, 180 kilometres east of Taipei. It struck at 2:53 pm and lasted for nearly a minute.

1. Which of the following statements is true according to the news?

　　A. The Queen Mother died on Easter Monday alone.

　　B. The Queen Mother was an attractive person in her political life.

　　C. The British people felt sorry for the death of the Queen Mother.

　　D. The Queen Mother was suffering a lot when she was dying.

　　2. It can be inferred that _______.

　　A. the craft landed in central Inner Mongolia unexpectedly

　　B. it took the craft at least 2 hours to orbit the earth once

　　C. the Chinese scientists did a lot of experiments in space

　　D. China was successful in sending an unmanned spacecraft into space

3. The third news mainly talks about the _______ in Taiwan.

    A. political matters                         B. social problems

　　C. unexpected damage                     D. construction workers

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息，请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。
在中学生夏令营中，以下同学以其观点组织各自的讨论和交流组。
A． Cao A'min, 18
Xuanhua No 1 High School, Hebei
Keeping pace with teachers is a good way to study．Teachers are experienced and their plans are systematic．But remember to work m a way that suits you．It's also important to team from past mistakes．Keep a notebook to make a record of the mistakes you make - it'll help you avoid making the same ones later．
B．Zhang Zilu, 17
Xinyu No 1 High School, Jiangxi
This time of life may be hard, but you're not alone．You may be busy studying, but you can show your care by calling yow friends or sending a short message．Don't let your friendships die．Some boys and girls in my class were in love, but I'd advise against a relationship at this stage．
C. Zhan Yu, 17
Huanggang High School, Hubei
It’s as important to live well as it is to study well, I think. I went to bed no later than 11:30 pm. It put me in the right mood for the next day. I didn’t follow a special diet (饮食), but I did make sure I ate a nutritious  breakfast each day.
D. Ju Shuntian, 18
Yantai Economic and Technological Development Zone Senior High School, Shandong
The person who plays well, studies well. Having a lot of schoolwork doesn’t mean having to give up on every other activity. I played basketball or took a walk to relax when I felt tired. Time out is not a waste of time but helps you study more efficiently.
E. Zhang Qingzhou, 17
　　Dongtai High School, Jiangsu
Besides taking the big exam, you have other choices for college. I took the independent enrollment (自主招生) exam held by Peking University and some other students even prepared to study abroad. Pay attention to any relevant information you can find, whether it’s from school, the news media or another source.
F. Wu Dandan, 18
Liaocheng No. 1 High School, Shandong
Besides learning from the textbooks, students can also learn a lot from traveling from place to place. In different places you will see different things, meet different people and have different experiences. If you are curious enough, you can explore deeper into the area and obtain more useful information, which serves as your new knowledge.
下面同学各自感兴趣的内容或需要解决的问题，请配对他们最适合参加的讨论组。
【小题1】Zhang Xu is an active and energetic boy who enjoys many sports like swimming, football, badminton, cycling and jogging. He has a lot of friends at school and they often spend a lot of time on rivers, fields and mountains. Is it good to spend so little time in the library? How to allocate time between academic lectures and outing? That's his problem.
【小题2】Xiao Lili has much difficulty m catching up with her classmates m chemistry and physics. But her superiority lies in music and English, so she is dreaming of becoming a professional singer. She hopes that her strong points can help pave her way to future success. "Can I go to a musical college without taking NMET?" she wonders.
【小题3】Guo Jie is a hardworking boy but, unfortunately, he gets low marks in every test. He is always busy with his own study plan. When he didn’t finish his work the earlier day, he will bury his mind in his work to fulfill his plan, ignoring the teacher’s lectures. “How can I raise my marks?” he is puzzled.
【小题4】Song Siwei is a slim and pretty girl, who works hard at all her lessons. But she was so absorbed in her studeies that she is even unwilling to tear herself off at meal times. She is always the last to leave the classroom and the first to arrive. She starts to feel dizzy and have headaches. “What might happen to me?” she wonders.
【小题5】Zhang Lan is a charming girl who is active both in the classroom and on the sports field. She is kind to all her classmates. Some boys in her class tend to talk to her at every possible opportunity and even invite her to meals. That makes her pleased but costs her quite some time. She doesn’t know whether it is right to accept kindness from the boys.