Brave Frenchman Found Half-way Around the World

(NEW YORK)French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.

Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.

He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Scaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dive in after him.

“I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast.”

Duret, an engineer on vacation ,was walking with his girlfriend along the pier(碼頭)when he saw something falling  into the water .He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. In an instant ,he took off his coat and jumped into the water.

When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said . Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.

Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from cookers. Duret caught a train with his girlfriend shortly after.

The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his tale of heroism he was leaving the next morning .

“I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same ting.”

1.Why was Duret in New York?    

A. To meet his girlfriend              B. To work as an engineer

C. To spend his holiday               D. To visit the Andersons.

2.What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?             

A. He was interviewed by a newspaper

B. He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes

C. He went to the hospital in the ambulance

D. He disappeared from the spot quickly

3.Who divide after Duret into the river to save the little girl?        

A. David Anderson   B.passer-by    C. His girlfriend     D. a taxi driver.

4.When was duet most probably found to be the very hero?        

A. The day when he was leaving for home.

B.couple of days after the girl was rescued

C. The first day when he was in New York

D. The same day when he was interviewed.

Writing articles about films for The Front Page was my first proper job．Before then I had done bits of reviewing --- novels for other newspapers, films for a magazine and anything I was asked to do for the radio．That was how I met Tom Seaton, the first arts editor of The Front Page, who had also written for television．He hired me, but Tom was not primarily a journalist, or he would certainly have been more careful in choosing his staff．

    At first, his idea was that a team of critics should take care of the art forms that didn’t require specialized knowledge: books, TV, theatre, film and radio．There would be a weekly lunch at which we would make our choices from the artistic material that Tom had decided we should cover, though there would also be guests to make the atmosphere sociable．

   Tom’s original plan for a team of critics for the arts never took off．It was a good idea, but we didn’t get together as planned and so everything was done by phone．It turned out, too, that the general public out there preferred to associate a reviewer with a single subject area, and so I chose film．Without Tom’s initial push, though, we would hardly have come up with the present arrangement, by which I write an extended weekly piece, usually on one film．

    The space I am given allows me to broaden my argument --- or forces me, in an uninteresting week, to make something out of nothing．But what is my role in the public arena（舞臺）? I suppose that people choose what films to go to on the basis of the stars, the publicity of the director．So if a film review isn’t really a consumer guide, what is it? I certainly don’t feel I have a responsibility to be ‘right’ about a movie．Nor do I think there should be a certain number of ‘great’ and ‘bad’ films each year．All I have to do is put forward an argument．I’m not a judge, and nor would I want to be．

What do we learn about Tom Seaton from the first paragraph?

       A．He encouraged Mark to become a writer．

       B．He had worked in various areas of the media．

       C．He met Mark when working for a film company．

       D．He prefers to employ people that he knows．

The weekly lunches were planned in order to ______．

       A．help the writers get to know each other

       B．provide an informal information party

       C．divide the work that had to be done

       D．entertain important visitors from the arts

What does the author mean when he says that Tom’s plan ‘never took off’ in Paragraph 3?

       A．It was unpopular．               B．It wasted too much time．

       C．It wasn’t planned properly．     D．It wasn’t put into practice．

Which of the following best describes what Mark says about his work?

       A．His success varies from year to year．   B．He prefers to write about films he likes．

       C．He can freely express his opinion．     D．He writes according to accepted rules．

When I was a little girl, every Sunday my family of six would put on our best clothes and go to Sunday School and then church. The __21__ in elementary school would all meet together to sing songs, and then later divide into groups based __22__ their ages.

One Easter Sunday, all the kids __23__ with big __24__ about what the Easter Bunny(復(fù)活節(jié)兔子) had brought. __25__ all of the kids shared their stories with __26__, one young boy, whom I should call Bobby, sat __27__. One of the teachers, noticing this, said to him, “And what did the Easter Bunny __28__ you?” He replied, “My mum __29__ the door by accident so the Easter Bunny couldn’t get __30__ because he hadn’t got a key.”

This sounded like a __31__ idea to all of us kids, so we kept on going with the stories. My mom knew the true story, __32__. Bobby’s mom was a single parent, and she suspected(懷疑) that they just couldn’t __33__ the Easter Bunny.

After Sunday School was over, everyone went off to __34__. But my mom announced that we were going home __35__. At home, she explained that to make Bobby feel __36__, we were going to pretend to be the Easter Bunny, make a basket of our candies for him and __37__ it at church. We all donated some to the basket, and _38__ back to church. There, mom hung the basket over the hanger(掛鉤) and attached a(n) __39__:

Dear Bobby,

I’m sorry I __40__ your house last night. Happy Easter!

Love,

The Easter Bunny

Have you ever simply wanted to give without expecting anything in return? It’s  21  to do. Most look for a reward in some way. I know I did, most of the time, but then a TV program of “Oprah” inspired me. She gave everyone in the audience $1,000 to spend on a complete__22__, accompanied by a video camera to ___23 __ what they did with the money.

   Two sisters from Georgia  24  from the crowd in my mind---they put their money together to give to “My sister’s House”, a  25  that helps battered(受虐的) women and children. Not only did they  26   their money, but they told everyone in their town about the organization. It was amazing that people were crazy to ring and  27  money, baby clothing, and more.

  This story made me realize how often I expect things from others and how  28  I give things in return. I don’t have a thousand dollars to spend on a stranger, but I do have a heart that is full of love and generosity. I now hold doors open for others and  29  at people I don’t know, because a smile is contagious(有感染力的) and I try to bring as much happiness as I can into others’ lives. It’s difficult, but I feel it is really ___30 __.

21. A. hard          B. easy            C. simple            D. hardly

22. A. countrymen    B. stranger        C. acquaintance      D. friend

23. A. show         B. record              C. learn             D. praise

24. A. stood up      B. stood out       C. stood by          D. stood for

25. A. room          B. house           C. village           D. shelter

26. A. spend         B. divide          C. combine           D. separate

27. A. give          B. bring           C. donate            D. take

28. A. often         B. really          C. simply            D. rarely

29. A. sing          B. cry             C. smile             D. laugh

30. A. rewarding     B. awarding        C. expecting         D. giving

Passage Fourteen(Antarctica and Environment)
Antarctica has actually become a kind of space station – a unique observation post for detecting important changes in the world’s environment. Remote from major sources of pollution and the complex geological and ecological systems that prevail elsewhere, Antarctica makes possible scientific measurements that are often sharper and easier to interpret than those made in other parts of the world.
Growing numbers of scientists therefore see Antarctica as a distant-early-warning sensor, where potentially dangerous global trends may be spotted before they show up to the north. One promising field of investigation is glaciology. Scholars from the United States, Switzerland, and France are pursuing seven separate but related projects that reflect their concern for the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – a concern they believe the world at large should share.
The Transantarctic Mountain, some of them more than 14,000 feet high, divide the continent into two very different regions. The part of the continent to the “east” of the mountains is a high plateau covered by an ice sheet nearly two miles thick. “West” of the mountain, the half of the continent south of the Americas is also covered by an ice sheet, but there the ice rests on rock that is mostly well below sea level. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared, the western part of the continent would be reduced to a sparse cluster of island.
While ice and snow are obviously central to many environmental experiments, others focus on the mysterious “dry valley” of Antarctica, valleys that contain little ice or snow even in the depths of winter. Slashed through the mountains of southern Victoria Land, these valleys once held enormous glaciers that descended 9,000 feet from the polar plateau to the Ross Sea. Now the glaciers are gone, perhaps a casualty of the global warming trend during the 10,000 years since the ice age. Even the snow that falls in the dry valleys is blasted out by vicious winds that roars down from the polar plateau to the sea. Left bare are spectacular gorges, rippled fields of sand dunes, clusters of boulders sculptured into fantastic shapes by 100-mile-an-hour winds, and an aura of extraterrestrial desolation.
Despite the unearthly aspect of the dry valleys, some scientists believe they may carry a message of hope of the verdant parts of the earth. Some scientists believe that in some cases the dry valleys may soak up pollutants faster than pollutants enter them.
1.What is the best title for this passage?
A.Antarctica and environmental Problems.
B.Antarctica: Earth’s Early-Warning station.
C.Antarctica: a Unique Observation Post.
D.Antarctica: a Mysterious Place.
2.What would the result be if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared?
A.The western part of the continent would be disappeared.
B.The western part of the continent would be reduced.
C.The western part of the continent would become scattered Islands.
D.The western part of the continent would be reduced to a cluster of Islands.
3.Why are the Dry Valleys left bare?
A.Vicious wind blasts the snow away.
B.It rarely snows.
C.Because of the global warming trend and fierce wind.
D.Sand dunes.
4.Which of the following is true?
A.The “Dry Valleys” have nothing left inside.
B.The “Dry Valleys” never held glaciers.
C.The “Dry Valleys” may carry a message of hope for the verdant.
D.The “Dry Valleys” are useless to scientists.