What is freedom? It seems like such a simple question. Freedom is being able to do what you want to do. Allow me to explain it.
I’m tired of working for a living. I’d rather collect taxes. So that’s what I’m going to do: collect a kind of tax. You are ordered to estimate your income from the past 12 months, and write me a check for 1%. I have provided a mailing address for this purpose on my contact page …
What? You have a problem with my plan? Oh, I see. If you have to send me a check for the tax, then I have hurt your freedom to spend that money as you see fit. We have a conflict! And our basic problem is: we cannot enjoy freedom at the same time; we must settle for a limit. But what limit?
Libertarians (自由论者) believe freedom should be based on self-control. They describe freedom as being able to do what you want to do as long as it doesn’t influence the equal right of others to do what they want to do. That is, freedom is being able to do what you like as long as you do not harm another person’s life, liberty or property.
You can build a set of legal and ethical (道德的) rules on the principle of self-control, and libertarians do. Their request for self-control often becomes more important than common sense, or even freedom itself.
The definition rules out the freedom to steal, murder, and so on. Otherwise, you can do whatever you want. There is no problem until you realize that taxation is theft, that war is murder, and that national service is a form of slavery. Since only the government has a legal right to use force, libertarians focus on making the government smaller, or even going without it. The libertarians’ definition of freedom is thus freedom from the government. Isn’t it ridiculous?

1. 1.

   According to the first three paragraphs, the author’s idea of collecting taxes is _________.

   1. A.
      reasonable
   2. B.
      responsible
   3. C.
      unacceptable
   4. D.
      understandable
2. 2.

   The author takes tax-collecting as an example in the passage to prove that freedom is _________.

   1. A.
      unreal
   2. B.
      unbelievable
   3. C.
      achievable
   4. D.
      limited
3. 3.

   In the opinion of libertarians, freedom is realized mainly by _________.

   1. A.
      the law
   2. B.
      self-control
   3. C.
      ethical rules
   4. D.
      common sense
4. 4.

   Which of the following statements is supported by libertarians according to the passage?

   1. A.
      National service should be canceled.
   2. B.
      People can do whatever they want.
   3. C.
      The government should have more power.
   4. D.
      They should be governed by the government.

A terrible earthquake happened in that district at the end of 2004, ____ many countries in the world paid close attention to this.

A、where    B、when C、which    D、what

A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.

In history books, objective (客观的) information about the political life of a country is presented; that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective: it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May, 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its abuse of power over people.

In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art had been almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that described people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand the Bible stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast (对比), one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues are not holy.

Which of the following statements has the closest meaning to the underlined sentence?

A. General history only focuses on politics.

B. Art history shows us nothing but the political values.

C. General history concerns only religious beliefs, emotions and psychology.

D. Art history gives us an insight (洞察力) into the essential qualities of a time and a place.

Art is subjective in that __________. 

A. it can easily arouse people’s anger about their government

B. it only reflects people’s anger or sadness about social problems.

C. a personal and emotional view of history is presented through it.

D. artists were or are religious, who reflect only the religious aspect of the society.

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? 

A. Francisco Goya expressed his religious belief in his painting.

B. In history books political views of people are entirely presented.

C. For centuries in Europe, painters had only painted on walls of churches.

D. In the Middle East, you can hardly find animal or human figures on church walls.

What’s the main topic of the passage?   

A. The development of art history.   

B. What we can learn from art.

C. The influence of artists on art history.

D. The difference between general history and art history.

A research by the National Center for Health Statistics is seen as an important confirmation of the“Hispanic mortality paradox（西班牙裔死亡率悖论）.”

On average，Hispanics outlive whites by 2.5 years and blacks by 7.7 years. Their life expectancy at birth in 2006 was 80.6 years，compared with 78.1 for whites，72.9 for blacks and 77.7 years for the total population.

The report shows that the Hispanic population has higher life expectancy at birth and at almost every age despite a socioeconomic status lower than that of whites.“Mortality is very correlated with income，education and health care access，”says Elizabeth Arias，author of the report.“You would expect the Hispanic population would have higher mortality，”in line with the black population.

The Hispanic paradox has been documented for more than two decades，but this is the first time the government has had enough data to issue national numbers. Researchers are struggling to explain why Hispanics live longer.

“We don’t know，”says David Hayes-Bautista，director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.“We thought it was a problem in the data，but we can pretty much say this is real.”

Potential factors:

·Culture and lifestyle.  Support from extended family and lower rates of smoking and drinking.Latino groups in particular have very strong family and social ties.

·Migration.  The“healthy migrant effect”argues that healthy people are more likely to emigrate. And when immigrants become ill，they might return home and die there.

    Solving the puzzle may help the nation deal with health care issues because Hispanics use health services less—they make fewer doctors visits and spend less time in hospitals，Hayes-Bautista says.“It’s clearly something in the Latino culture，”he says.

In 2006，Hispanics’life expectancy is           years longer than the average of the total population.

    A. 2.5                 B. 7.7               C. 2.9              D. 80.6

What does the underlined word“outlive”in the second paragraph probably mean？

A. To live longer than…                      B. To live shorter than…

C. To die out.                              D. To expect to live.

What is the main idea of paragraph three？

A. Hispanics were born better than whites.

B. Morality is closely related with health care access.

C. Whites should have longer life expectancy.

D. Even experts can’t explain the phenomenon.

What is Mr.Hayes-Bautista’s opinion about the paradox？

A. He supports there is a problem with the data.

B. He intends to trust the cultural factor.

C. He believes in the“healthy migrant effect”.

D. He thinks health care the most important factor.

Which of the following inferences is true according to the passage？

A. Black people suffer the lowest social status in America.

B. Hispanics might have healthier ways of life.

C. Only healthy people can immigrate into America.

D. White people don’t have strong family ties.

C

By far the most common difficulty in studying is simple failure to get down to regular concentrated work. This difficulty is much greater for those who do not work to a plan and have no regular routine of study. Many students muddle (胡乱对付) along, doing a bit of this subject or that, as the mood takes them, or letting their set work pile up until the last possible moment.

    Few students work to a set timetable. They say that if they did work out a timetable for themselves they would not keep to it, or would have to change it frequently, since they can never predict from one day to the next what their activities will be.

No doubt some students are more willing to accept a regular routine than others. There are many who shy away from a self-controlled weekly timetable, and dislike being tied down to a fixed program of work. Many able students state that they work in cycles. When they become interested in a topic, they work on it attentively for three or four days at a time. On other days they avoid work completely. It has to be admitted that we do not fully understand the motivation (动机)to work.. Most people over 25 years of age have become used to routine, and the majority of real productive workers set aside regular hours for the more important areas of their work. The “tough-minded” school doesn’t fully accept the idea that good work can only be done naturally, under the influence of inspiration.

Those who believe that they need only work and study as the fit takes them have a mistaken belief either in their own talent or in the value of “freedom”. In fact, freedom from control and discipline（纪律）leads to unhappiness rather than to “self-expression” or “personality development”. Our society insists on regular habits, timekeeping and punctuality (准时), and whether we like it or not, if we mean to make our way in society, we have to meet its demands.

The most widespread problem in applying oneself to study is ______.

    A．changing from one subject to another

    B．the failure to keep to a set timetable of work

    C．the unwillingness to follow a systematic plan

    D．working on a subject only when one feels like it

Which of the following is true?

    A．Many students are not interested in using self-controlled timetable.

    B．Many students don’t like being told to study to a fixed timetable.

    C．Most people of over 25 years of age don’t work to a set timetable.

    D．Tough-minded people agree that good job is done naturally

The underlined part “as the fit takes them” in paragraph 4 probably means ______.

    A．when they have the energy   

    B．when they are in the mood

    C．when they feel fit      

    D．when they find conditions are suitable

A suitable title for the passage might be ______.

    A．Attitudes to Study   B．A study Plan

    C．The Difficulties in Studying D．Study and Self-discipline