Nathan Phillips, who will formally begin his freshman year at the University of San Diego(USD) on Aug. 31, will arrive on campus in an unusual and philanthropic manner.
Phillips is expected to arrive between 5 p．m. and 6 p．m. Thursday on his bicycle, having pedaled 1,450 miles from Astoria, Ore.
Phillips combined his desire to complete a long bike ride before entering college with his interest in helping the children of Uganda.
He is raising funds for Invisible Children, a San Diegobased organization seeking to end conflicts annoying northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic and stop the use of children as soldiers.
Phillips had raised $1,540 before embarking Aug.11 and hopes to reach $2,000.
Phillips, who is from Redmond, Washington, visited Uganda during high school and worked in an orphanage(孤儿院) there. He was also inspired by a presentation by Invisible Children at his high school.
“I have been to Uganda and personally gotten to know some of the kids affected by the war，” Phillips said in a statement released by the university.“I would do anything to help these kids.”
Phillips' new roommate, Kyle Sharp, has joined him for the last 600 miles of the trip. Students and other members of the USD community are expected to join him for the last 13 miles.
“Nathan's passionate commitment(恪守承诺) to improving the lives of children more than 8,000 miles away resonates(共鸣) with USD's mission to prepare future leaders to change the world for the better，” Pamela Gray Payton, assistant vice president of public affairs at USD, said in a prepared statement.“We are delighted to have Nathan as a member of our campus community.”
Supporters from USD and Invisible Children will greet Phillips and his followers when they arrive in front of Founders Hall on campus. The public is invited as well.Which of the following statements about Nathan Phillips is TRUE?
| A．Nathan Phillips has been a freshman at the university. |
| B．Nathan Phillips is an American. |
| C．Nathan Phillips is an African. |
| D．Nathan Phillips likes riding a bike. |
Why does Nathan Phillips finish riding a bike for a long way before going into college?
| A．He travels to Uganda. |
| B．He practises riding a bike. |
| C．He raises money to help the children of Uganda. |
| D．He wants to take exercise. |
How much more money does Nathan Phillips expect to collect?
| A．$1,540. | B．$460. |
| C．$1460. | D．$2,540. |
Elizabeth’s Second!
In 60 years, the Queen has never put a foot wrong in public. And for the last 24 of them, it turns out she’s had a secret weapon — the nice Ella Slack. The former BBC manager has, unknown to anyone except a handful of key advisers, spent the last quarter of a century acting as the Queen’s official stand-in at rehearsals (排练) for royal events. The 69-year-old has never accepted a penny for her royal service, considering it “a pleasure and an honour” to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the Queen. “How many people in the world have had a chance to sit in a royal landau (马车) or walk onto the dais (讲台) at Windsor Castle even before the Queen has done so?” she said.
While Miss Slack may not resemble the Queen facially, she has a similar figure to the Queen, standing just 5 foot. The Queen is 5 foot 2 inch. She began her remarkable role in 1988, when she was working as manager of the BBC’s sports and events department. A producer asked her if she could stand in for the Queen to check camera angles at a rehearsal — and her second career was born.
Since then, from the State Opening of Parliament (议会) to the 50th anniversary of Victory day, wherever the Queen is on duty Miss Slack is likely to have been there first. She has perfected her own version of the Queen’s clothes, including a black patent handbag she bought in a charity shop for ￡1, and even styles her hair like the Queen. What’s the Queen’s secret weapon?
| A．She often meets people in public. |
| B．She actively attends social activities. |
| C．She has a nice lady to act as herself. |
| D．She and Miss Slack have a lot in common. |
Miss Slack’s words in Paragraph 1 indicate that ___________.
| A．she thinks the job honorable and worthy |
| B．she thinks she can do the job better |
| C．she thinks frequently of her role |
| D．she is determined to carry the job on |
How did Miss Slack get the job?
| A．The Queen invited her to do so. |
| B．The BBC appointed her to finish the job. |
| C．She was invited to have an accidental try. |
| D．The advisers offered her the chance. |
In which section of a newspaper may you find the passage?
| A．Education. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Sports. | D．Health. |
Here’s the travel plan for some museums on our “Museums of the World” tour.
The Museum of Bad Art (Boston, USA) shows what it describes as “art too bad to be ignored”. The museum hopes to bring the worst of art to the widest possible audience and has even published a book of its most “important” works. As part of the visit, we’ll be shown some truly awful portraits, landscapes and sculptures.
The Washington Banana Museum (Auburn, Washington, USA) contains 4,000 objects related to the history of what the museum describes as “the world’s most perfect fruit”. We’ll be given a guided tour around the museum, during which we’ll learn all sorts of interesting things, such as the fact that bananas were introduced to the USA in 1878 in the same exhibition as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and that the banana is now the US’ number-one selling fruit.
The Hair Museum (Avanos, Turkey) is located in a cave in Cappadocia, in Central Anatolia. It contains 160,000 samples of people’s hair. You’ll be offered a chance to add your own hair to the collection. Later in the year, the museum curator selects 10 donors to attend a pottery workshop. If you’re one of them, you’ll be invited to stay in his guest house.
The museum du Slip (Brussels, Belgium) is devoted to underwear. The idea behind the museum is that everyone is equal in their underwear. You’ll be fascinated to know that it has collected samples from all sorts of people, including artists, politicians and pop stars.
The Museum de Carrosses Funebres (Barcelona, Spain) is a museum of funeral hearses (灵车). It takes a look at how local people have been transported to their funerals since the 19th century. During the tour, we’ll be provided with a fascinating insight into how the people of Barcelona viewed death. Among the 1,000 or so exhibits, pride of place goes to a “flap-coffin”, which is a reusable coffin from the 18th century. What is special about the Washington Banana Museum?
| A．You’ll see some examples of awful art. |
| B．This museum includes an exhibit from the 18th century. |
| C．You’ll learn something about the history of bananas. |
| D．It provides the customs of funerals about local people. |
According to the passage, to which museum can you donate your hair?
| A．The Museum of Bad Art. | B．The Hair Museum. |
| C．The Museum du Slip. | D．The Museum de Carrosses Funebres. |
Which of the following words can best describe the museums?
| A．Well-known | B．Traditional |
| C．Ancient | D．Unusual |
Next Thursday, November 27th（the fourth Thursday in November）, Americans will gather with family and friends to share a big meal to celebrate Thanksgiving. They might play games, tell stories or watch football on television together.
Angelo Rosa has more Thanksgiving memories than most people. From Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, the 100-year-old man lives in the same house where he celebrated a great number of Thanksgiving.
But he says it was different when he was a child. Mr. Rosa was just three when his family came to America. “When we were small children, Thanksgiving was never a very big holiday because at the time we actually didn’t pay too much attention to it.” But, also, he says, his parents faced a language difficulty. “They were from Italy and spoke very broken English, because they were the first generation that came over here.”
And the family had little money. There were six children. Mr. Rosa’s father was a coal miner in Pennsylvania. The family was not able to have big, costly dinners, especially during the hard time of the 1930’s. But Mr. Rosa says Thanksgiving dinners became a tradition in his own family after he married and had children.
This Thanksgiving, Angelo Rosa will go to the home of his daughter about twenty minutes away. He will celebrate the day with loved ones, including his great-grandchildren.
On the other side of the country, Cathie Dahlstrom is preparing dishes for a group of 35 to 40 people in Concord, California. We asked Ms Dahlstrom what she is thankful for this year; her first answer is “The election.” She said she is also deeply grateful for her very large family. Ms Dahlstrom has one daughter. She has five younger brothers and sisters. She also has eight stepbrothers and stepsisters. Many of them and their families will be at the Thanksgiving dinner. At Mr. Rosa’s childhood, Thanksgiving was not a big holiday for the following reasons EXCEPT ________.
| A．the family couldn’t afford expensive dinners |
| B．the family couldn’t communicate well with the local people |
| C．the family didn’t recognize it as an important holiday |
| D．during the 1930’s no one could afford expensive dinners |
From Ms Dahlstrom’s words, we can infer that ________.
| A．she is content with both her family, relatives and the society |
| B．she is thankful for her effort in the election and her family |
| C．she has always been celebrating Thanksgiving this way |
| D．her daughter has a large family with stepbrothers and stepsisters |
As a whole, Thanksgiving in America is________.
| A．a happy gathering with family members, relatives and friends |
| B．a grand family dinner party as well as a tourist holiday |
| C．a great social gathering of entertainment and achievement |
| D．a large gathering of people of different generations |
Who probably wrote the passage?
| A．A close friend of Mr. Rosa. |
| B．A journalist for a radio or TV station. |
| C．A university student who majors in history. |
| D．An actress who wants to experience real life. |
IS IT TIME TO GET MP3?
Your computer has been playing music for years, one CD at a time. Now hundreds of songs can be stored in your PC (personal computer) if they’re in the MP3 format.
What is it?
MP3 compresses music into small computer friendly files. You access MP3 music several ways : Music can be downloaded from websites that have converted vast music libraries into MP3. Or you can prerecord CDs into your PC and convert songs in minutes into MP3. Once MP3 music is on your PC’s hard drive, you can play it through your computer’s speakers, “burn” it onto blank CDs or exchange MP3 files with friends using E-mail.
How much?
Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free. It comes preinstalled on most new computers or can be downloaded from many websites, including MP3. com. Some MP3 sites are free. Just type “MP3 sites” into any search engine. The popular MP3 players start at around $50and can hold hundreds of songs. A blank CD on which you can record music costs about a dollar.
Advantages
MP3 turns your home PC into a tape recorder. Tiny MP3 players are the size of a card, making it easy to take hundreds of songs with you.
Disadvantages
You may find that music at many sites is limited. And some only allow you to listen rather than download offerings. Others let you download music that then can’t be copied to MP3 players. And a growing number of new CDs make it impossible to copy songs to a computer. How can you get MP3 music?
| A．By turning your home PC into a tape recorder |
| B．By taking your own music or songs with you |
| C．By copying songs to a PC through the speakers. |
| D．By downloading from websites which have converted music libraries into MP3. |
Which is NOT true to the passage?
| A．Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free of charge. |
| B．MP3 music can be exchanged with friends by e-mail. |
| C．MP3 music can be downloaded for free at any site. |
| D．A greater number of new CDs make it impossible to copy songs to a computer. |
The underlined word “burn” probably means_____.
| A．fire | B．copy | C．download | D．play |
How much will you pay for a MP3 player?
| A．Free of charge. | B．Free downloading. |
| C．At about fifty dollars. | D．About a dollar. |
Being connected to the Internet has become a necessary part of modern life. Some people actually need it as they cannot do their jobs without it, and others simply feel they need it as they cannot imagine life without it.
To think that something that did not even exist 50 years ago has come to play a crucial role in our lives like this in just about 15 years makes one wonder – just what will the future bring?
In 2004, a survey was conducted in the US asking a group of technology experts their opinions on the Internet in the next ten years. 57% of them agreed that virtual classes will be more widely adopted in schools, allowing students to learn with those at the same level and with interests in the same subjects. It’s quite possible that, by the year 2030, every child in every school will do all their schoolwork on their own laptop with all their textbooks available（现成可使用的）on the Internet. No more heavy books to carry around and no more pens and paper!
At work, we already use email to deal with people both inside and outside our offices and video conferencing（电话会议） is occurring more frequently. This means that meetings can be held between offices in different countries without the trouble caused by business travel. Business travel will not exist in the future, and so will offices as people all start to work from home.
It has also become a trend for people to use pocket computers such as Blackberries. With this helpful equipment, people can send and receive emails, surf the Web, and read multimedia files from absolutely anywhere even if we are on a beach holiday.
The Internet will have a revolutionary（突破性的）effect on entertainment in the future. Already we can buy and download music and movies from the Internet but it is still possible for us to buy a CD or go to the DVD stores to rent the latest movies. However, it’s quite possible that in the future, CD shops and DVD rental stores will close and cinemas will no longer exist. Entertainment will become completely virtual although hopefully people will still want to get outside to play sports and entertain themselves in more healthy ways.
With the Internet we need only relax in the rocking chair. The Internet, however, has problems to be solved. The expression “play a crucial role in” can be understood as “_______”.
| A．change a dull role into | B．play an interesting part in |
| C．act a cruel character in | D．have an important effect on |
According to the passage people are satisfied with all the following changes EXCEPT that
_____________.
| A．CD shops and cinemas will shut down as a result of the adoption of virtual entertainment |
| B．virtual classes can make students’ dream of getting rid of their schoolbags come true |
| C．people can be kept informed anytime and anywhere with the help of convenient equipment |
| D．people won’t have to make business travel any more thanks to the video conference |
What will the writer probably discuss after the last paragraph?
| A．The possible school life in the future. |
| B．Bad effects the Internet can have on us. |
| C．More excitements the Internet will bring us. |
| D．The likely ways to solve the problems. |
What is probably the best title for the passage?
| A．Virtual reality, our best friend! |
| B．Goodbye, textbooks and offices! |
| C．What will future life be like with the Internet? |
| D．How can human beings deal with the Internet? |
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