Cherie Blair has attacked “yummy mummies” who focus on raising their children at the expense of their careers, suggesting their children lack a sense of independence. The wife of the then British Prime Minister also accused some young women of seeking to “marry a rich husband and retire” instead of working.

Mrs Blair, a QC and mother of four, criticized women who “put all their effort into their children” instead of working. Mothers who go out to work are setting a better example for their children, she said.

Some women regard motherhood as an acceptable alternative to a career. Instead, women should strive for both. “Every woman needs to be self-sufficient and in that way you really don’t have a choice-for your own satisfaction; you hear these yummy mummies talk about being the best possible mother and they put all their effort into their children. I also want to be the best possible mother, but I know that my job as a mother includes bringing my children up so actually they can live without me.”

The term “yummy mummy” is generally used to refer to a woman whose husband’s wealth allows her to devote herself full-time to her children and her appearance.

In fact, despite Mrs Blair’s worries about non-working mothers, official statistics show that the proportion of mothers who work has actually risen steadily in recent years. According to the Office for National Statistics, 66 percent of mothers are now in some form of paid work. In 1996, the figure was 61 percent. The number of working mothers is now around 5.3 million, up from 4.5 million in 1996.

Speaking to Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women event in Claridge’s, Mrs Blair appeared to accuse some young women of lacking professional ambition, focusing on their prospective partner’s career instead of their own. Mrs Blair said her view was informed by her own experience of her father abandoning her mother when she was a child. But she insisted that all women should make sure they can provide for themselves: “Even good men could have an accident or die and you’re left holding the baby.”

Often in the headlines during her husband’s premiership, Mrs Blair has taken a more active public role since he left office in 2007, setting up a charitable foundation to support women setting up their own firms in developing countries.

71. If some one is a yummy mummy, she is most likely to ________.

A. start her own company              B. teach her children at home

C. stay at home to raise her children      D. help her husband with his business

72. Mrs Blair might support the women who _________.

A. try to balance their work and their family life

B. try to find rich husbands and make life easier

C. sacrifice their own careers to look after their children

D. devote most of their time to their careers

73. We know from the passage that ________.

A. The number of working mothers has dropped since 1996.

B. Mrs. Blair worked even when her husband was Prime Minister

C. Most women in Britain would like to be yummy mommies.

D. Mrs. Blair was worried about those working mothers.

74. Which of the following statements is true about Mrs. Blair?

A. Mrs Blair didn’t attract much media’s attention when her husband was Prime Minister

B. Mrs Blair must have had a happy and quiet childhood.

C. Mrs Blair hasn’t appear much in public since her husband left office in 2007

D. Mrs Blair has been helping women to be independent.

75. The passage might be taken from _________.

A. a fashion book         B. a text book       C. a newspaper     D. a science magazine

.

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下面文章，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

It was the afternoon of December 24, the day before Christmas, and as the newest doctor in our office, I had to work. The only thing that brightened my day was the beautifully decorated Christmas tree in our waiting room and a gift sent to me by a fellow I was dating(约会)—a dozen long-stemmed red roses. 

As I was cleaning my office, I was told a lady urgently needed to speak with me. As I stepped out, I noticed a young, tired-looking woman with a baby in her arms. Nervously, she explained that her husband—a prisoner in a nearby prison—was my next patient. She told me she wasn’t allowed to visit her husband in prison and that he had never seen his son. Her request was for me to let the boy’s father sit in the waiting room with her as long as possible before I called him for his appointment（约见）. Since my schedule wasn’t full, I agreed. After all, it was Christmas Eve. 

A short time later, her husband arrived—with chains on his feet and hands, and two armed guards as bodyguards. The woman’s tired face lit up like our little Christmas tree when her husband took a seat beside her. I kept glancing out to watch them laugh, cry and share their child. After almost an hour, I called the prisoner back to my office. The patient seemed like a gentle and modest man. I wondered what he possibly could have done to be held under such conditions. I tried to make him as comfortable as possible.

At the end of the appointment, I wished him a Merry Christmas—a difficult thing to say to a man headed back to prison. He smiled and thanked me. He also said he felt saddened by the fact that he hadn’t been able to get his wife anything for Christmas. On hearing this, I was inspired with a wonderful idea.

I’ll never forget the look on both their faces as the prisoner gave his wife the beautiful, long-stemmed roses. I’m not sure who experienced the most joy—the husband in giving, the wife in receiving, or myself in having the opportunity to share in this special moment.

51.What can be inferred from the first paragraph?

A. The writer was a newcomer to her office. 

B. A fellow sent her a dozen red roses as Christmas present.

C. She was in low spirits because she had to work before Christmas.

D. She was at work with a light heart.

52. The young woman came to the writer’s office for the purpose of         .

A. having her baby examined      

B. giving her husband a chance to make his escape

C. having her husband examined  

D. getting a chance for her family to get together

53.The underlined part in Paragraph 3 most probably means “         ”. 

A. to be sent to hospital      B. to be separated from his family

C. to be comfortable             D. to become a prisoner

54. What does the writer learn from the story?

A. The wife experienced the most joy in receiving. 

B. An act of kindness can mean a lot.

C. The prisoner was treated with mercy.      

D. Whoever breaks the law should be punished.

此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行做出判断：如果无错误，在该行右边横线上画一个勾（∨）；如果有错误（每行只有一个错误），则按下列情况改正：

此行多一个词：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉，在该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。

此行缺一个词：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），在该行右边横线上写出该加的词。

此行错一个词：在错的词下划一横线，在该行右边横线上写出改正后的词。

注意：原行没有错的不要改。

A married couple were in a car while the wife turned to       76．__________

her husband and asked, “Would you like to stop for coffee?” “No,         77．__________

thanks．” he answered truthfully．But they didn’t stop．However,    78．__________

the wife, who has indeed wanted to stop, became angry, because          79．_________

she felt her preference had not considered．The husband, seeing that  80．_________

his wife was angry, became frustrated．Why didn’t she just say that        81．_________

she wanted? Unfortunately, he failed in to see that his wife was      82．_________

asking the question, in order not to get an immediately decision,       83．_________

but rather to begin discussion．And the women didn’t realize that    84．_________

when her husband said no, he was just express his preference, not     85．_________

giving an order．

It’s going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won’t be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.

You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777. According to lore, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation’s flag. That’s open to debate, but it’s a story that schoolbooks still tell. Betsy Ross was a seamstress, busy  sewing cushions for chairs in Philadelphia, which was the focus place of the American revolution against British rule. The Declaration of Independence by the colonists was signed there, and so was the new nation’s Constitution after independence was won.

Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia, was killed in a gunpowder explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels’ leader and future U.S. president, George Washington.  According to what some say in history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation’s flag. The story was promoted by Ross grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had “made with her hands the first flag.” She became a role model for girls - a shining example of women’s contributions to the nation’s history. Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag. She’s credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field. But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.  

In a letter, Washington wrote: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her.  And the white stripes shall go down to posterity as representing liberty.”  

1.People would like to go to Ross’s house in Philadelphia to _____.

A. ask Betsy Ross who created the first American flag

B. meet her grandson who wrote a book about flags

C. debate over who designed the first American flag

D. remember her as the creator of the first American flag

2.Which statement is true according to the passage?

A. Betsy Ross was one of the people who signed The Declaration of Independence

B. All are in agreement that Ross designed the first American flag

C. It is almost certain that Ross did sew the first American flag

D. It is George Washington who designed the stars and stripes flag 

3.The underlined the word “seamstress” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.

A. a person who designs flags        B. a person who makes a living by sewing

C. a person who takes part in revolution D. a person who creates chairs

4.What does the last paragraph imply according to the passage?

A. It implies that the U.S. is independent from Britain

B. It implies that Washington liked Ross’s design of the flag

C. It implies that Washington might be the designer of the flag

D. It implies that Ross did have helped with the design of the flag