（Published March 30, 2011）Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity might have a few mistakes—and Jake Barnett has set out to prove it. Between attending college classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and tutoring his fellow students, Jake is also working on a new theory about the creation of the universe. He happens to be 12 years old.
From an early age, Jake showed an extraordinary interest in stars. When he was 3, his parents took him to a space observatory. He tried to learn as much as he could about astronomy. Jake’s IQ measured remarkably high at 170.
As a baby, Jake was found out with Asperser’s syndrome, a form of autism (孤独症). Autism causes difficulties in communication and social abilities. People with autism may also have strong interests—like Jake’s interest in the stars at a young age.
The symptoms of autism can range from mild to extremely severe. Asperser’s is one of the milder forms of autism. Sometimes people with Asperser’s, like Jake, develop extremely advanced skills in science, music or art.
When Jake was in elementary school, his parents worried that the effects of his Asperser’s were worsening. He became quiet. And he was withdrawing from people. So a doctor recommended that Jake’s parents let him study more advanced subjects, like math and physics.
Jake’s mother asked an astronomy professor to let Jake sit in on his class. Now, Jake studies advanced sciences like electromagnetic physics at IUPUI.
But Jake thinks it’s important to have a normal life too. He likes to play Guitar Hero with his friends and watch science fiction movies. He also enjoys playing classical music on the piano.But for Jake, studying physics is the most important thing. Jake’s professor, John Ross, is working on getting a large sum of money for him to do research at the university.
Doctors have said Jake’s autism symptoms have lessened over time. Still, Jake proudly refers to himself as an “Aspy”, or someone with Asperser’s. In an interview with his university student newspaper, he said, “I think the autism is the reason I’m even at IUPUI.”What did Jake want to do at IUPUI?
| A．Get a degree in astronomy. |
| B．Put forward his own theory in physics. |
| C．Become an Albert Einstein in the future. |
| D．Teach his fellow students Theory of Relativity. |
Which of the following is the correct order of the events that happened to Jake?
a. He set out to disprove Einstein’s theory.
b. He was interested in astronomy.
c. He began to study math and physics.
d. He was found out with a mild form of autism.
| A．b-d-c-a | B．d-b-c-a | C．b-a-c-d | D．d-c-b-a |
The underlined sentence in the passage means ______.
| A．he was unable to help others |
| B．he was impolite to other people |
| C．he was afraid of seeing other people |
| D．he was only concerned about learning |
In the eyes of Jake, autism is something ______.
| A．not worth worrying about |
| B．annoying |
| C．not necessary to know about |
| D．embarrassing |
Victor’s hobby was collecting stamps. He had stamps from many countries, like England, Canada and China. On his birthday, can you guess what people gave him? That’s right---stamps.
Victor’s favourite stamps came from France. He had almost every stamp from 1954 to 2004. He only needed one. That was a 1974 special edition*. It was very hard to find.
He looked for it everywhere. He asked his friends and relatives to help him. But nobody could find the stamp. It made Victor very sad.
“Don’t worry. Never give up,” his father said to him. “If you have enough patience, you’ll find it one day.”
“I hope so,” Victor said.
Victor also liked writing. He had a penfriend in France. They wrote to each other every month. Victor’s penfriend, Phillip, usually used new stamps to send letters. Sometimes, his mother gave him stamps to use. Once Phillip’s mother gave him a big, green stamp. It looked old. When Victor received the letter, he was very surprised. On the envelope, he looked carefully at the stamp. It was the 1974 special edition stamp. Victor was so happy. He told his sister, his mother and his father.
“ You see,” his father said. “ You did find your stamp. So, it’s good to have two things in life.”
“What are they?” Victor asked.
“ Friends and patience.” He answered.It was very difficult for Victor to find a special French stamp of _________.
| A．1954 | B．1974 | C．1994 | D．2004 |
What does the underlined word “patience” mean?
| A．勇气 | B．知识 | C．耐心 | D．目标 |
Who owned the special edition stamp at the very beginning?
| A．Phillip. | B．Phillip’s mother. | C．Victor. | D．Victor’s father. |
The passage mainly tells us that ________ is(are) important to people.
| A．a happy family | B．a good hobby |
| C．relatives and friendship | D．friends and patience |
Who is writing the postcard?
| A．Fiona. | B．Janet. | C．Terry. | D．Jacqui. |
Where are they staying now?
| A．North of the Great Wall. | B．In the south of England. |
| C．In a big city. | D．In a village. |
Which one is NOT right?
| A．John is reading a newspaper. |
| B．The children are swimming in the river. |
| C．Terry is lying in the sun. |
| D．Janet is in the house. |
How do they like the holiday？
| A．enjoyable | B．terrible | C．boring | D．bad |
Hans was an honest fellow with a funny round good-humored face. Living alone, every day he worked in his garden. In all the countryside there was no garden so lovely as his. All sorts of flowers grew there, blooming in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower’s place, so that there were always beautiful things to see, and pleasant odors to smell.
Hans had many friends, the most devoted being the Miller. So devoted was the rich Miller to Hans that he’d never go by his garden without plucking a large bunch of flowers or a handful of sweet herbs, or filling his pockets with fruits. The Miller used to talk about noble ideas, and Hans nodded and smiled, feeling proud of having such a friend.
The neighbors thought it strange that the rich Miller never gave Hans anything in return, though he had hundreds of sacks of flour, many cows and sheep, but Hans never troubled his head about these, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to all the wonderful things about the unselfishness of true friendship.
In spring, summer, and autumn Hans was very happy, but when winter came, and he had no fruit or flowers to sell, he suffered from cold and hunger. Though extremely lonely, the Miller never came to see him then.
“There’s no good in going to see Hans while the snow lasts.” The Miller said to his wife, “When people are in trouble they shouldn’t be bothered. So I’ll wait till the spring comes when he’s happy to give me flowers.”
“You’re certainly very thoughtful,” answered his wife, “It’s quite a treat to hear you talk about friendship.”
“Couldn’t we ask Hans up here?” said their son. “I’ll give him half my meal, and show him my white rabbits.”
“How silly you are!” cried the Miller. “I really don’t know what’s the use of sending you to school. If Hans came up here, and saw our warm fire, our good supper, and our red wine, he might get envious, and envy is a most terrible thing, and would spoil anybody’s nature. I am his best friend, and I’ll always watch over him, and see that he’s not led into any temptation. Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me for some flour. Flour is one thing, and friendship is another, and they shouldn’t be confused. The words are spelt differently, and mean quite different things. Everybody can see that.” He looked seriously at his son, who felt so ashamed that he hung his head down, and grew quite scared, and began to cry into his tea.
Spring coming, the Miller went down to see Hans. Again he talked about friendship. “Hans, friendship never forgets. I’m afraid you don’t understand the poetry of life. See, how lovely your roses are!”
Hans said he wanted to sell them in the market to buy back his things which were sold during the hard time of the winter.
“I’ll give you many good things. I think being generous is the base of friendship.” said the Miller. “And now, as I’ll give you many good things, I’m sure you’d like to give me some flowers in return. Here’s the basket, and fill it quite full.”
Poor Hans was afraid to say anything. He ran and plucked all his pretty roses, and filled the Miller’s basket, imagining the many good things promised by the Miller.
The next day he heard the Miller calling: “Hans, would you mind carrying this sack of flour for me to market?”
“I’m sorry, but I am really very busy today.”
“Well,” said the Miller, “considering that I’m going to give you my things, it’s rather unfriendly of you to refuse. Upon my word, you mustn’t mind my speaking quite plainly to you.”
Poor Hans was driven by his friendship theory to work hard for his best friend, leaving his garden dry and wasted.
One evening Hans was sitting by fire when the Miller came.
“Hans,” cried the Miller, “My little boy has fallen off a ladder and hurt himself, and I’m going for the Doctor. But he lives so far away, and it’s such a bad windy night. It has just occurred to me that you can go instead of me. You know I’m going to give you my good things, so you should do something for me in return.”
“Certainly,” cried Hans. He struggled into the stormy night, and got the doctor to ride a horse to the Miller’s house in time to save the boy. However, Hans got lost in the darkness, and wandered off into a deep pool, drowned.
At Hans’ funeral, the Miller said, “I was his best friend. I should walk at the head of the procession.” Every now and then he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. From the passage, we can learn that Hans ______.
| A．was extremely wise and noble | B．admired the Miller very much |
| C．was highly valued by the Miller | D．had a strong desire for fortune |
Hans worked a lot for the Miller because he ______.
| A．was treated as a best friend by the Miller |
| B．owed the Miller many valuable things |
| C．was convinced of the Miller’s noble talk |
| D．intended to show off his unselfishness |
What’s the main cause of Hans’ tragedy?
| A．True friendship between them. | B．Blind devotion to a friend. |
| C．A sudden change of weather. | D．A lack of formal education. |
The author described the Miller’s behavior in order to ______.
| A．warn the readers about the danger of a false friend |
| B．show the friendship between Hans and the Miller |
| C．entertain the readers with an incredible joking tale |
| D．persuade people to be as intelligent as the Miller |
Homeownership has let us down. For generations, Americans believed that owning a home was undoubtedly good. Our political leaders hammered home the point. Franklin Roosevelt held that a country of homeowners was “unconquerable.” Homeownership could even save babies, save children, save families and save America. A house with a lawn and a fence wasn’t just a nice place to live in or a risk-free investment; it was a way to shape a nation. No wonder leaders of all political types wanted to spend more than $100 billion a year on subsidies（补助）and tax breaks to encourage people to buy.
But the dark side of homeownership is now all too apparent: Indeed, easy lending stimulated（刺激）by the cult of homeownership may have triggered（引起）the financial crisis. Housing remains a drag on the economy. Existing-home sales in April dropped 27% from the previous month, worsening fears of a double-dip. And all that is just the obvious tale of a housing bubble and what happened when it popped. The real story is deeper and darker still.
For the better part of a century, politics, industry and culture lined up to create a fetish of the idea of buying a house. Homeownership has done plenty of good over the decades; it has provided stability to tens of millions of families. Yet by idealizing the act of buying a home, we have ignored the downsides. In the bubble years, lending standards slipped dramatically, allowing many Americans to put far too much of their income into paying for their housing. And we ignored longer-term phenomena too. Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods. It fed America’s overuse of energy and oil. It made it more difficult for those who had lost a job to find another. Perhaps worst of all, it helped us become casually self-deceiving: By telling ourselves that homeownership was a pathway to wealth and stable communities and better test scores, we avoided dealing with these frightening issues head-on.
Now, as the U.S. recovers from the biggest housing bust（破产）since the Great Depression, it is time to rethink how realistic our expectations of homeownership are—and how much money we want to spend chasing them. Many argue that homeownership should not be a goal pursued at all costs.Political leaders wanted to spend money encouraging people to buy houses because______.
| A．owning a home was undoubtedly good |
| B．homeownership could shape a country |
| C．houses could save families and America |
| D．homeownership was unconquerable |
The underlined sentence in Para. 2 means ______.
| A．homeownership has quite a lot of bad effects |
| B．there might be another housing breakdown in the U.S. |
| C．the existing-home sales will keep decreasing in the U.S. |
| D．the result of homeownership is much worse than it appears |
It can be inferred from Para. 3 that ______.
| A．Americans choose to live out of urban areas |
| B．it is the way to wealth to have one’s own house |
| C．it is hard for Americans to get a home loan |
| D．homeownership has made many people out of work |
What is the author’s attitude towards homeownership?
| A．Cautious. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Favorable. | D．Optimistic. |
| DONALD SLOAN |
||
| Gates Hall University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045 913-243-1682 |
After May 2009: 46 Clayton Drive St. Louis, MO 63130 314-726-8840 |
|
| Objective |
To work with the client（委托人）population in a social service position. |
|
| Education |
B.A., University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009 Major: Social Services Minor: Applied Psychology |
|
| Experience |
Assistant Activities Supervisor, Fairview Nursing Home, Lawrence, KS, November 2006-present. Help organize and implement recreational activities for nursing home residents. Activities include crafts, dances, day trips, sing-alongs, and visiting performers. Hotline Volunteer, Teen Crisis Center, Lawrence, KS, September 2006- May 2007. Handled crisis calls from teenagers in the community. Dealt with drug use, unwanted pregnancies, failing grades, and the breakdown of parent-teen relationships. Nurse’s Aide, Danyers General Hospital, St. Louis, MO, Summer 2006. Assisted nurses in patient care. Took histories, updated charts, and helped prepare patients for surgery. |
|
| Activities |
University Concert Board. Work with other board members to plan and implement on-campus concerts. Senior Gift Campaign. Help manage the campaign to raise funds for the senior class gift to the university. Residence Hall Programming Board. Planned social events for Eggar Residence Hall. |
|
| Skills |
Fluent in French. Water safety instructor. Skilled at working with people. |
|
| Interests |
Skiing, softball, classical music, and guitar. |
|
This passage is most probably ______.
| A．an advertisement for enrolling new employees |
| B．a school report at the end of an academic year |
| C．a self-introduction meant to apply for a job |
| D．a part of a recommendation letter from a university |
According to the “Experience” section, we can infer that Donald Sloan can be _____ .
| A．a wise leader | B．a skillful performer |
| C．a gifted scientist | D．a good social worker |
From the passage we can learn that Donald Sloan ______.
| A．is good at singing and dancing | B．is about to graduate from a university |
| C．has an interest in being a surgeon | D．specializes in psychology |
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