Ten-year-old Barack Obama was one of only three black students at his school in Hawaii, US. He felt
very different from most other students. White girls wanted to touch his hair. A white boy asked him
whether his father ate people.
     "I lied to them that my father was a Kenyan (肯尼亞) prince. But I kept asking myself who I am," said
Obama.
     However, 37 years later, the boy made history. Last Wednesday Obama became the first black president
in US history.
     Obama was born in 1961, to an African father and a white American woman from a small town in the
US. He grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii. This unusual background made him wonder who he was. He once
turned to alcohol (酒精) to help forget this question.
     With help from his friends, Obama finally turned his life around at college. His hard work made him a
star at Harvard (哈佛大學(xué)). Later, he became only the third black senator (參議員) in US history.
     During his race to the highest post in the US, Obama talked about his background. He called for a United
States of America, rather than a white America or a black America.
     "Obama's success has made Martin Luther King's dream come true. That is: A man should not be judged
(判斷) by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character," wrote ABC news.

1. When Barack Obama was young, _______.

A. his unusual background made him wonder who he was
B. boys and girls all liked him very much
C. his father was a Kenyan prince
D. he felt the same as most other students

2. ________, Obama became the first black president in US history.

A. In his thirties
B. At the age of 47
C. When he was 37
D. In his teens

3. What does this sentence "Obama's success has made Martin Luther King's dream come true" mean?
    It means_______.

A. a man should not be judged by the color of his skin
B. a man should nor be judged by the content of his character
C. a man should not be judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character
D. Martin Luther King could decide everything

     As one of Hollywood's all-time greatest actress, Audrey Hepburn is famous all over the world. When
Hepburn died in 1993, the world mourned the loss of a great beauty, a great actress and a great humanitarian.
     Born in Belgium on 4th May 1929, Hepburn dreamed of becoming a successful ballet dancer. She had
also been a model before she entered the film industry. In 1951, while acting in Monte Carlo Baby, Hepburn
met the famous French writer Colette, who was attracted by Hepburn's beauty and charm. She insisted that
Hepburn was the perfect girl to play the lead role in Gigi, a play based on her novel. That event marked the
beginning of Hepburn's successful career.
     Shortly after, Hepburn was chosen to play the lead role of a young princess in the Hollywood film Roman
Holiday. It was a big success and earned her an Oscar for Best Actress. She also won a Tony Award for the
play Ondine.
     During her lifetime, Hepburn earned four more Oscar nominations. In 1989, she made her final appearance
in her last film Always and played the role of an angel.
     Throughout her acting years, she acted in only one TV series, Gardens of the world with Audrey Hepburn.
By showing us the beauty of nature, Hepburn wanted to remind us that we should protect the environment.
     Hepburn is remembered not just as a great actress, but also as a great humanitarian. She was honoured
with a number of awards because of her efforts in her charity work. In 1992, the President of the United
States presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
     In 1991, Hepburn discovered that she had cancer. In 1993, at the age of 63, she passed away peacefully
in her sleep.

1. Which of the following is the correct order according to the events?
a. People mourned her death.
b. She was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
c. Her successful film career began.
d. She earned an Oscar for Best Actress.
e. She met the French writer Colette.

A. a-e-c-b-d
B. a-e-d-c-b
C. e-c-d-b-a
D. e-c-b-d-a

2. Her successful career lasted about _________ years.

A. 60
B. 50
C. 40
D. 30

3. People remember Hepburn not only as a great actress but also as _________.

A. a kind lady
B. a brave lady
C. a wise lady
D. an attractive lady

     Barack Hussein Obama has made history by becoming the first African-American president in American
history.
     Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. His parents separated when he was two years old
and later divorced (離婚). Obama grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later,
he moved to New York, where he graduated (畢業(yè)) from Columbia University in 1983. Obama met his wife,
Michelle Robinson, in June 1989 and married her on October 3, 1992. The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann,
was born in 1998, followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), in 2001.
     Obama's success is a true milestone (里程碑). It tells of a fact that in America you really do get a chance
to do anything if you have the talent and ability and you work hard enough.
     Obama didn't take office until 20 January, 2009. As a president, he has to face many serious challenges,
including two foreign wars, climate change and what he has described as "the worst financial crisis in a
century". But Obama himself is busy dealing with these challenges.

1. How old was Barack Obama when he became American president?

A. 48
B. 40
C. 37
D. 31.

2. Obama's success tells us that _____.

A. anyone can become president if he works hard
B. black people can achieve anything if they have talent
C. everyone can succeed if he is lucky enough
D. a talented person can succeed if he works hard enough

3. What does the underlined phrase "make history" in the first paragraph mean?

A. 編造歷史
B. 創(chuàng)造歷史
C. 杜撰歷史
D. 改造歷史

4. According to the passage, Obama has to face the following challenges except _____.

A. climate change
B. financial crisis
C. population problem
D. foreign wars

5. The whole passage is mainly about Obama's _____.

A. success
B. family
C. education
D. experience

     I have been a friend of Bill Gates for a long time. I knew him when he was a student at Harvard
University. We were surprised when he left University to set up his own company "Microsoft" and make
his own software. But he was the clever one! He is very good at writing computer languages and almost
all computers now use Microsoft software. The program "Word" is used from Britain to China!
     Of course he has made a lot of money and that makes people very jealous. They want to stop his success.
Even the government is against him and has tried to break his company into two parts. The government says
that it is unfair to other people who want to sell similar software. And what's more, because he fits his new
software free in every new computer, the government says he is stopping other companies from selling their
programs. This is not fair. Everyone should be able to do what they can to make their company bigger and
stronger. Bill Gates has only done what he can to stop other competitors.
     He is very rich, but he is generous. He has given millions of dollars to help the education and health of
many children around the world. You could not meet a better man than Bill Gates.

1. 將文中畫線句子翻譯成漢語(yǔ)。
    _____________________________________________________________________________

2. 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答問(wèn)題。
   What are the two reasons for which the government has tried to break Bill Gates' company up?
   (1)_____________________________________________________________________________ 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
   (2)_____________________________________________________________________________ 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

3. 從文中找出與下句意義相近的句子。
   Each person in the company should try his best to make their business more successful. 
   _____________________________________________________________________________

4. 文中劃線單詞generous的漢語(yǔ)意思是：　
   _____________________________________________________________________________　　　　　　　　　　　　　

5. 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，用四個(gè)形容詞描述一下Bill Gates。
   (1) _________________　　　　 (2) _________________　　　　　　　
   (3) _________________ 　　　　(4) _________________　　　　　　　

     When you see the girl for the first time, you may think she is a boy. She is very outgoing (外向). Who is
she? Wang Meng, the Chinese top skater.
     On the evening of February 26th, 2010, Wang Meng first got to the finishing line in 1 minute and 29.213
seconds in the women's 1000 meters short track speed skating final (短道速滑決賽) at the Vancouer Olympic
Winter Games (溫哥華冬奧會(huì)). After she succeeded in the 500-meter and 3000-meter races, she won her
third gold medal this time. With this one China won four gold medals in the women's short track speed skating.
That helped China first win the team gold medal in Winter Olympics history.
     Just before the final race Wang Meng caught a bad cold and coughed terribly. With the words of "You can,
you can do!" she won at last. She said, "I really feel these three gold medals belong to my team, to China. It
was with the help of my team that I won the prize."
     Though Wang Meng is only twenty-four, she has been the most successful Chinese skater. Chinese are
proud of her and her team. We hope she will be faster in Sochi Olympics in 2014.

1. China won ____ gold medals in the women's short track speed skating.

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5

2. It took Wang Meng 1 minutes and 29.213 seconds to finish the ____ short track speed skating final.

A. women's 1000
B. men's 1000
C. women's 500
D. men's 500

3. In Wang Meng's opinion, ____ made her win the prize at last.

A. a strong body
B. a bad cold
C. her team's help
D. much exercise

4. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Wang Meng is very outgoing like a boy.
B. Wang Meng is the most successful Chinese skater.
C. Chinese people are proud of Wang Meng and her team.
D. China has got the team gold medal twice in Winter Olympics history.

     Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a jungle doctor in Africa. He was born in France. He had learned to play
the piano since he was five and he was a very good musician. He decided to be a doctor when he was 30
years old. Then he studied medicine for eight years. After that, he asked to be sent to Africa in 1913.
     Dr. Schweitzer took big boxes of medicine with him to Africa. He had to go through a lot of dangerous
places. At first the new white doctor was not welcome, but soon the people of Africa understood that he
was their friend and they helped him build his first small hospital near a river. Many people came to the
hospital. Dr. Schweitzer worked day and night.
     When he ran out of money and needed more medicine t he would go back to Europe to make money
by playing music. Then he would return to Africa. Later he built a bigger hospital. He spent most of his life
in Africa, not only helping sick people but also teaching the people how to help each other.
     During World War I, he was sent to prison. He found that war was more terrible than disease (疾病).
When the war was over, he made a speech everywhere to propose (提倡) peace and respect (尊敬) for
lives. In 1952, he was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1. Albert Schweitzer was about ________ years old when he went to Africa.

A. 30
B. 36
C. 38

2. People in Africa were ________ to him when Schweitzer got there at first.

A. kind
B. unfriendly
C. polite

3. Schweitzer's first hospital in Africa was ________.

A. far from rivers
B. built by his friends who came with him
C. built with the help of people in Africa

4. When Schweitzer ran out of money in Africa, ________.

A. he worked for longer hours
B. he went back to Europe and made money by playing music
C. people in Africa helped him

5. Which is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Schweitzer studied medicine for seven years.
B. Schweitzer was born in Africa.
C. Schweitzer was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.