A Beautiful Mind

    A mathematician who goes mad is not a subject most directors consider commercially attractive, but then Ran Howard isn’t among most directors. Despite an impressive list of credits, A Beautiful Mind is his most successful work to date, combining a psychological drama with a moving love story to produce a film that is as interesting as it is entertaining.

    The Oscar winning Russell Crowe has put himself in line for further honors with his acting John Nash, the Nobel Prize winning mathematician troubled by schizophrenia (精神分裂癥). A Beautiful Mind pictures Nash as an unusual hero，not just because of his academic achievements but also because of the courage he displays while battling his illness．

    In 1947, Nash was one of many great young minds at Princeton. “To find a truly original idea is the only way to distinguish myself,” the proud and determined student declared. His exploration of such an idea afforded him little time for the normal socializing. His shyness and straight forward approach brought him few friends.

    After finally hitting on a revolutionary new idea, Nash’s career took off and his reputation as secured. He balanced research work with teaching, which is where he met the bright and beautiful student Alicia (played by Jennifer Connelly). Things in his life were going well when his talent for code breaking brought him to the attention of the military that employed him during the early stage of the cold war with Russia. However, the stress of his work made Nash’s illness develop．

    Crowe’s performance is perfect. He and Connelly ignite (make something exciting) the film’s passionate love story and Connelly’s wonderful performance makes the audience moved by Alicia, whose courage, strength and faith in her husband are the primary reasons for his recovery.

This passage is most probably ________．

    A. a book review        B. a movie review       C. a movie poster       D. an advertisement

Which can replace the underlined phrase “hitting on” in the fourth paragraph?

    A. coming up with       B. coming on            C. putting on           D. putting up with

The following statements are true EXCEPT that _______．

    A. John Nash did not go mad totally

    B. Ran Howard is an outstanding director

    C. the stress of the academic work caused Nash’s illness

    D. Nash’s concentration on his work and his shyness brought him few friends

We can infer from the text that _______．

    A. John Nash volunteered to serve in the army in spite of his illness

B. John Nash gave up his career when troubled by schizophrenia

    C. Russell Crowe won another Oscar Award after this movie

    D. without Alicia, John Nash wouldn’t have recovered from his illness

D
　Stonehenge（巨石陣）may have been a prehistoric health center rather than a site for observing stars or a temple in honor of the dead, scientists said yesterday. New evidence unearthed at the World Heritage Site in more than 40 years suggests that the monument was a place where the diseased and injured went in groups, seeking cures.
After a two-week dig, scientists have concluded that Stonehenge was “the ancient healthcare centre of southern England” because of the existence of “bluestones”---the smaller columns of dolerite（輝綠巖）that formed an earlier stone structure.
By dating pieces of remains to around 7330BC, Tim Darvill, of Bournemouth University, and Goff Wainwright, of the Society of Amtiquaries have found that hunter-gatherers were at the site on Salisbury Plain 4,000 years earlier than thought. The first stage of Stonehenge, a round earthwork structure, was built around 3000BC. Professor Wainwright added: “I did not expect the degree of complexity we discovered. We’re able to say so much more about when Stonehenge was built and why---all of which changes our previous understanding of the monument.”
The research reveals the importance of the henge’s famous bluestones. Hundreds of bluestone chips gathered at the site have led the team to conclude that the bluestones were valued for their curing effects---the key reason that about 80 of them, each weighing up to 4 tons and a half, were dragged more than 150 miles from the Preseli Hills to Wiltshire. After years of research, Professors Darvill and Wainwright have concluded that, for thousands of years, the Preseli mountain range was home to magical health centers and holy wells.
Even today there are those who believe in the curing powers of the springs for coughs and heart disease, and people who use crystals and bluestones for self-curing. Radiocarbon tests have also revealed that the construction of the original bluestone circle took place around 2300BC, three centuries later than originally thought. Interestingly, on the same day died the “Amesbury Archer”---a sick traveler from the Swiss or German Alps who had an infected knee---whose remains were discovered about five miles from Stonehenge. The professors believe that he was a devoted religious person who was hoping to benefit from the curing powers of the monument.
63．Stonehenge is recently believed to be a place for people           .
A．to recover from poor health    B．to observe star movements
C．to hold religious ceremonies   D．to gather huge bluestones
64．What can be inferred about Stonehenge from the passage?
A．The springs could cure coughs and heart disease best.
B．The new discovery was the same as what had been expected.
C．Some huge bluestones were not produced at Stonehenge.
D．The original bluestone circle was thought to be constructed around 2000BC.
65．The sick traveler in the passage is supposed to be           .
A．a(chǎn) devoted religious person from Stonehenge
B．one of the earliest discoverers of Stonehenge
C．the first explorer to test the magical power of bluestones
D．a(chǎn) patient trying to cure his infection at Stonehenge
66．Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
A．Stonehenge: A New Place of Interest     B．Stonehenge: Still Making News
C．Stonehenge: Heaven for Adventurers     D．Stonehenge: Still Curing Patients

A disheveled (頭發(fā)凌亂的) man appeared in court Thursday on charges of murdering a Chinese woman whose fight with her attacker was seen on webcam(攝像頭) by her boyfriend in China. Police refused to release any details about the crime or its possible motive.
The body of York University student Liu Qian, 23, of Beijing, was found Friday in her apartment in Toronto a few hours after her boyfriend witnessed the attack, police said.
She was found undressed from the waist down but there were no obvious signs of sexual attack or trauma (創(chuàng)傷) severe enough to kill her. Police say it may be weeks before the results of an autopsy (尸體解剖) are known.
Brian Dickson, 29, stood before the court in a wrinkled white shirt and blue jeans as a charge of first- degree murder was read out. He did not enter a plea. His case was held over until April 26.
Dickson was arrested Wednesday. Police only announced his name and his age and asked the media not to publish any photos of Dickson, saying it could compromise the investigation. Toronto police spokesman Tony Vella declined to respond to the request further.
Liu’s father, Liu Jianhui, who arrived from China after being informed of his daughter’s death, thanked authorities for their quick action.
“I sincerely thank the people concerned with my daughter’s case,” he told reporters after the arrest. “Our daughter was studying very hard.”
Police released no motive or details about Dickson, but one friend described the Toronto man as an aspiring actor.
Patricia Tomasi, a friend of Dickson’s, told The Associated Press that she acted in a play at a local theater in Toronto with Dickson in 2007.
“He doesn’t seem like the type but that’s what they always say,” Tomasi said. “He’s tall with boyish good looks. I don’t know much about him except that he wanted to be an actor.”
Dickson attended York University where he studied global politics, but did not earn a degree from there.
He later worked for the Atlantic Council of Canada (ACC), where he served as an assistant to the president Juilie Lindhout. According to his biography on a newsletter from the Atlantic Council of Canada, Dickson has also been a running instructor and has been involved with Developments in Literacy, a Pakistani aid organization that raises money for children in Pakistan.
A statement from the Atlantic Council of Canada on Thursday said it was not council policy to comment on staff, but it confirmed that Dickson had been an intern(實習(xí)生) with the council from September 29, 2008, until March 27, 2009.
Liu was chatting with her boyfriend, Meng Xianchao, by webcam at about 1 am. Friday when a man knocked on the door, police said.
Meng reported seeing a struggle break out between the two before Liu’s webcam was shut off. Meng contacted other friends in Toronto who in turn called police.
The victim’s father, Liu Jianhui, said his daughter studied at Beijing City University before moving to Canada, where she met Meng.
Liu Qian’s laptop computer, webcam and mobile phone were taken from the apartment the night of the attack, police said. Police said the online chat was on a live streaming camera and was not recorded, though investigators were trying to figure out if there was any way they could recover it.
York University, whose campus is located near one of Toronto’s rougher neighborhoods, is one of Canada’s largest universities with more than 53,000 undergraduate and graduate students. About 3,200 of York’s students come from more than 150 foreign countries, the university’s website says.
【小題1】Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

D
“Up until about five years ago, students at this school could have worn anything they wanted on Halloween,” said Rosemarie Nielson, a sixth-grade teacher at St. Theresa School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx where there is a prohibition on toy weapons.
“When you consider all the horrific things that have happened in recent years, including 9/11, I can’t blame any school for wanting to stay away from anything that might promote violence,” Ms. Nielson said.
Mary Ellen Manniello, whose daughter, Courtney, 9, is a fourth grader at St. Gabriel School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, said she understood why officials had banned weapons with costumes. “They’re learning more about guns from issues in the street than educational issues.”
This year, the school has gone one step further and is prohibiting all costumes at its Halloween festivities. Ms. Manniello said it had become “a chaotic scene,” with parents helping their children change into their costumes at school.
Some parents said the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes went too far and denied children a chance to express themselves.
“Halloween has always been the one day when it was acceptable for our children to be dressed like somebody they are not, like a cowboy or a pirate or a person from outer space, and now we’re taking that away from them,” said Laura Santoro, a nurse from New Milford, Conn., whose 7-year-old son, Johnny, is a second grader at Northville Elementary School there.
Ms. Santoro said that her son would dress as Capt. Jack Sparrow, the character played by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, at the school’s Halloween party, but that he would not be allowed to take a sword — part of a policy that caught her by surprise last Halloween.
“I sent my son to school last year dressed as a special force Power Ranger, and he was told that he couldn’t take along his red laser blaster, which really surprised me, because the laser is red and made of plastic and lights up, and it could never, ever be mistaken for a real gun,” Ms. Santoro said. “I mean, come on, the whole thing is getting really sad.”
53. What do you think is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?
A. To introduce to the public the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.
B. To state parents’ attitudes towards the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.
C. To tell the public that children should bring any weapons for Halloween costumes.
D. To analyse the fact that the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes goes too far.
54. According to the passage, some parents understand the no-weapon policy for Halloween costumes because ____________.
A. schools should take a cautious approach to Halloween to prevent violence.
B. children are buying real guns in the street and there is always violence now.
C. those parents like to help their children change into their costumes at school.
D. children are learning more about guns from educational issues.
55. Which of the following is probably right according to the passage?
A. Children could bring any weapons into school five or six years ago.
B. The parents surveyed are those whose children are in elementary schools.
C. Guns are necessary on Halloween for children to express themselves.
D. Jack Sparrow is an actor who at one time acted as a pirate in a movie.
56. What do the underlined words “l(fā)aser blaster” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. A kind of costume.                           B. A real gun.
C. A toy weapon.                                 D. A kind of plastic.

A disheveled (頭發(fā)凌亂的) man appeared in court Thursday on charges of murdering a Chinese woman whose fight with her attacker was seen on webcam(攝像頭) by her boyfriend in China. Police refused to release any details about the crime or its possible motive.

The body of York University student Liu Qian, 23, of Beijing, was found Friday in her apartment in Toronto a few hours after her boyfriend witnessed the attack, police said.

She was found undressed from the waist down but there were no obvious signs of sexual attack or trauma (創(chuàng)傷) severe enough to kill her. Police say it may be weeks before the results of an autopsy (尸體解剖) are known.

Brian Dickson, 29, stood before the court in a wrinkled white shirt and blue jeans as a charge of first- degree murder was read out. He did not enter a plea. His case was held over until April 26.

Dickson was arrested Wednesday. Police only announced his name and his age and asked the media not to publish any photos of Dickson, saying it could compromise the investigation. Toronto police spokesman Tony Vella declined to respond to the request further.

Liu’s father, Liu Jianhui, who arrived from China after being informed of his daughter’s death, thanked authorities for their quick action.

“I sincerely thank the people concerned with my daughter’s case,” he told reporters after the arrest. “Our daughter was studying very hard.”

Police released no motive or details about Dickson, but one friend described the Toronto man as an aspiring actor.

Patricia Tomasi, a friend of Dickson’s, told The Associated Press that she acted in a play at a local theater in Toronto with Dickson in 2007.

“He doesn’t seem like the type but that’s what they always say,” Tomasi said. “He’s tall with boyish good looks. I don’t know much about him except that he wanted to be an actor.”

Dickson attended York University where he studied global politics, but did not earn a degree from there.

He later worked for the Atlantic Council of Canada (ACC), where he served as an assistant to the president Juilie Lindhout. According to his biography on a newsletter from the Atlantic Council of Canada, Dickson has also been a running instructor and has been involved with Developments in Literacy, a Pakistani aid organization that raises money for children in Pakistan.

A statement from the Atlantic Council of Canada on Thursday said it was not council policy to comment on staff, but it confirmed that Dickson had been an intern(實習(xí)生) with the council from September 29, 2008, until March 27, 2009.

Liu was chatting with her boyfriend, Meng Xianchao, by webcam at about 1 am. Friday when a man knocked on the door, police said.

Meng reported seeing a struggle break out between the two before Liu’s webcam was shut off. Meng contacted other friends in Toronto who in turn called police.

The victim’s father, Liu Jianhui, said his daughter studied at Beijing City University before moving to Canada, where she met Meng.

Liu Qian’s laptop computer, webcam and mobile phone were taken from the apartment the night of the attack, police said. Police said the online chat was on a live streaming camera and was not recorded, though investigators were trying to figure out if there was any way they could recover it.

York University, whose campus is located near one of Toronto’s rougher neighborhoods, is one of Canada’s largest universities with more than 53,000 undergraduate and graduate students. About 3,200 of York’s students come from more than 150 foreign countries, the university’s website says.

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

2.The underlined word in paragraph 8 probably means ______.

3.Why did police ask the media not to publish any photos of Dickson?

4.What can be inferred from the text?