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When we discussed this on Talking Point a couple of years ago, we received a wonderfully poetic email from a listener in Ireland. “The English language is a beautiful language. Maybe it’s like a rose,” he said. “But who would ever want their garden just full of roses?” Well, I love roses, and I think they make a beautiful addition to any garden. But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you don’t necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, that’s fine by me. 60. By saying “Ask the people of India … and Pakistan”(in Paragraph 4), the author is trying to show that ___________ . A. speaking the same language doesn’t necessarily bring peace B. wars can destroy the relationship between two countries C. English doesn’t kill other languages D. English is widely used in the world 61. What does “rose” in the last two paragraphs stand for? A. The world B. Family C. Language D. The Earth 62. The author would probably agree that ______. A. it’s very hard to plant many kinds of flowers in a garden B. it’s good for people from other countries to learn English C. more and more people like to plant roses in their gardens D. English is easier to learn than other languages 63. This passage is mainly about _______ . A. why English has become a global language B. how many people in the world speak English C. how people in the world learn English as a foreign language D. whether we need to worry about English being a world language C Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. Though he had little school education, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhhorne Clements, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname. Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother’s tender care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble to his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn’t like to go to school, and he ran away from home from time to time. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He was nearly drowned(淹死) nine times. After his father’s death in 1847, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner, during this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full-time writer. In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him a great fortune. Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments(投资) and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died and then three of their children passed away. At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wrote nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910. 64. Mark Twain was ________ in his childhood. A. a naughty boy B. a good student C. a handsome boy D. a strong boy 65. Mark Twain began to write short stories when he _______. A. was at school B. was in the army C. worked for a printer D. was a miner 66. Before he became a full time writer Mark Twain had not been ___ A. a printer. B. a miner C. a tailor D. a soldier 67. Mark Twain’s wife died _________ A.soon after she give birth to three children B.at the same time with her children C.before three of her children died D.after Mark Twain had died 68. Before his death, Mark Twain _________ A.had nothing on B.was in low spirits C.became a white man D.liked to buy all kinds of clothes D I was 9 years when I found out my father was ill. It was 1994, but I can remember my mother’s words as if it were yesterday: “Kernel, I don’t want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him.” AIDS wasn’t something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father’s other children lived far away, so it fell to me to look after him. We couldn’t afford all the necessary medical care for him, and because Dad was unable to work. I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher’s words muffled as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage. I did not share my burden (负担) with anyone. I had seen how people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was too weak to feed himself. I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit National AIDS Support. That day, she kept me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life. (责任编辑：admin) |