Born in 1949, Diana Nyad took an early interest in swimming as a sport and was a Florida State High School swimming champion. Like many young athletes, she had Olympic dreams, but a serious illness kept her from competing in the Games. The disappointment didn’t stop her from going forward. Instead, she became interested in marathon swimming. A brilliant athlete, she was well-conditioned for spending long periods of time in the water. As a long-distance swimmer, she would compete against herself and the obstacles presented by distance, danger, cold, and exhaustion.
For ten years Nyad devoted herself to becoming one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers. In 1970, she swam a ten-mile marathon in Lake Ontario, setting the women’s record for the course. In 1972 she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida. Then she broke a third record when swimming around Manhattan Island in 1975.
Nyad attempted to swim the distance between Florida and Cuba in 1978. Though the span of water is less than 100 miles wide, it is rough and dangerous. After battling the water for two days, she had to give up for the sake of her own health and safety. Even so, she impressed the world with her courage and strong desire to succeed. For Nyad her strength of purpose was just as important as reaching Cuba. That is how she defined success. It did not matter that her swim came up short; she believed she had touched the other shore.
When Nyad ended her career as a swimmer, she continued to try new things---travelling the world as a reporter, writing books and giving public speeches about her life. Diana Nyad works to inspire others, just as she did when she swam the waters of the world.
1. What prevented Nyad from taking part in the Olympic Games? (No more than 5 words)
__________________________________________________________________________
2.What does the underlined word “obstacles” mean? (1 word)
___________________________________________________________________________
3.What achievement did Nyad make in 1970? (No more than 10 words.)
________________________________________________________________________________
4.Why did Nyad believe that she had touched the other shore? (No more than 10 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
Africans see many advantages by uniting the continent into a single nation, or by uniting several small nations of a particular region into a nation. In unity there is strength. Africans often point to the United States, formed by the original 13 states, as an example of this principle. Africa now is divided into many weak nations. United, they would be much stronger. Africans could then more easily deal with foreign efforts to control them. Also it would be easier to plan and carry out big projects like the building of highways and dams.
The considerations for African unity go beyond the practical advantages it brings. As we have seen, one factor is that the feeling of belonging to a particular nation is not strong among Africans. If, for example, you were to ask a man from Paris " What are you?", he would certainly answer " A Frenchman". Ask the same question of a man from Ibadan in Nigeria and he might give one of three answers, or all three, depending on his education and outlook. He might say, " A Yoruba" (his people), or " A Nigerian," or just simply " An African."
Another factor that enters into the desire for unity is that African leaders throughout the continent feel that they all have many things in common. They all lived through the experience of colonial rule. Many of them went to school and university with men who now lead other African countries. They all feel very angry about the way in which they were treated in the past. Compared with these strong bonds (结合)，which overshadow the borders of nations, the idea of building separate nations does not have so much meaning. Some leaders say they are ready, in fact, to give up their separate nations.
Many nations have written into their constitutions(宪法), and they may give up their powers to a Pan-African government that will come into being.
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Title: 1.______ |
Measures |
uniting the continent 2.______________ |
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3._______ |
★4.___________________ ★easier to handle foreign influences ★easier to build5.________ |
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6._________ |
7._______ |
★being weak among Africans ★depending on8._ |
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leaders’ similarities |
9.__________ receiving similar education hoping for unity |
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Results |
Many nations have written into constitutions. A 10.__________will come into being. |
Dear Cary,
I’m writing because I’ve understood you’ve struggled with alcoholism(酗酒)．I’ve been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that，I’ve been more or less useless professionally –I’m a lawyer–and have had to resign from my job because I was discovered passed-out drunk in front of my computer. I’ve taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat. I can manage about a month without drinking，but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking，I start having nightmares of people jumping. After that，it’s a week of not being able to get out of bed.
I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn’t make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room. I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won’t be expecting me to come back for a week or so. Otherwise, they would notice the bump on my forehead and two black eyes．
I don’t really know what I’m asking you．Cary, I need a way out that doesn’t involve causing pain to my family．I’m taking medicine，but I still have these attacks every few months．If there’s alcohol in the house，I can’t stay away from it．It seems that this will never end. I’m afraid of what will happen if something bad happens，like a family member dying, or getting fired again．
Thanks for reading．
Yours T
1.The underlined sentence shows us all the following EXCEPT____________．
A．that the author is a lawyer by profession
B．that the author is a lawyer and he seldom gets drunk
C．the reason why the author had to resign
D．that the author was once discovered drunk as a fish
2.The author writes to Cary in order to____________．
A．offer advice B．tell a story
C．avoid nightmares D．ask for help
3.What is the author worried about?
A．Losing his job B．Missing the conference
C．Bring pain to his family D．Giving up drinking
4.What do we learn from the passage?
A．T’s family members don’t want to see him because of his alcoholism．
B．Getting drunk once prevented T from attending a conference．
C．T will have nightmares when he stops drinking．
D．T never attempted to give up his alcoholism．
5.We know from the passage that Cary____________．
A．likes to talk about the details of his life．
B．is an expert on treating alcoholism
C．is probably a recovered alcoholic
D．never suffered from alcoholism
Many television programmes are very realistic. One who watches TV often feels that whatever happened in the film could well happen to him. With only a little imagination, every man in the street becomes a thief, a spy or a murderer. Jane had been watching a spy film at her friend’s house. In it, a young girl had been followed and murdered. She felt a little frightened, walking to the station. She took a train back to the centre of the city. There were a lot of people traveling with her, so she felt much safer.
A man sitting opposite her, reading a newspaper, glanced at her. She thought nothing of it until she saw him staring at her. Remember the film and feeling very uncomfortable, she got off the train and went to the bus stop. When he got on the same bus as she did, she found that he was following her. As long as she had been with other people she wasn’t frightened. But when she got off the bus, the streets were almost empty. She walked as quickly as she could. She could hear footsteps following her but she didn’t dare to look around. After what seemed to have been hours, she was unable to find them, because she was so frightened. The footsteps stopped behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Instead of feeling hands round her neck, however, she heard a pleasant voice. “I apologize if I frightened you. I’m your new neighbour. I thought I recognized you in the train, but I wasn’t sure.”
1.Jane felt frightened, walking to the station, because ________.
A. she had seen a murder on television
B. she was being followed
C. she had been at her friend’s house
D. she was a girl of rich imagination
2.Jane’s friend lived ______ her.
A. very near B. a short distance away from
C. a long way from D. next to
3.Jane was really frightened because _______.
A. the man who followed her was her new neighbour
B. the man apologized
C. the street was empty
D. she thought she met a murderer
4.The man put his hand on her shoulder. He meant to _______ Jane.
A. kill B. be friendly to C. frighten D. play a joke on
5.A girl will be frightened if ______.
A. she often watches TV
B. she is followed by a stranger for a long time.
C. she meets her neighbour suddenly
D. she feels a hand on her shoulder
Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes(糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin(胰岛素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance.
After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he'd better find a way to fight back. He left Canton, Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar, and created diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones—a place where over 1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.
Jason Swencki’s son, Kody, was diagnosed with type diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online children's forums(论坛) together most evenings. "Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over," says Swencki, one of the site's volunteers. "They know what he's going through, so he doesn't feel alone." Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.
These days, Thomas's main focus is his charity（慈善机构）, Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to people—225 to date—who can't afford a diabetic's huge expenses. Fight-it.org has raised about $23,000—in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in the Caribbean.
Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still doing his full-time job waiting tables. "Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into finding a cure," says Bentley Gubar, one of Rockstar's original members. "But Christopher is the only person I know saying people need help now."
1.Which of the following is true of Christopher Thomas?
A. He needs to go to the doctor every day.
B. He studies the leading cause of diabetes
C. He has a positive attitude to this disease.
D. He encourages diabetics by writing articles.
2.Diabeitcrockstar.com was created for _________.
A. diabetics to communicate B. volunteers to find jobs
C. children to amuse themselves D. rock stars to share resources.
3.According to the text, Kody ______.
A. feel lonely because of his illness
B. benefits from diabeticrockstar.com
C. helps create the online kid’s forums
D. writes children’s stories online
4.What can we learn about Fight It?
A. It helps the diabetics in financial difficulties.
B. It organizes parties for volunteer once a year.
C. It offers less expensive medicine to diabetics.
D. It owns a well-known medical website.
5.The last paragraph suggests that Thomas ______.
A. works full-time in a diabetes charity
B. employs 22 people for his website
C. helps diabetics in his own way
D. tries to find a cure for diabetes
Directions: Complete the following passage by using ONE word that best fits the context.
Dear boys and girls,
It’s a great honor to speak here .I’m really sorry that it will be only ten days 1. you graduate from our school .I have always been feeling honored to have been your English teacher in the2. three years, during 3. I have been greatly impressed by your 4. qualities such as honesty ,diligence, cleverness, unselfishness ,co-operation and so on. 5. in my teaching career have I met such wonderful students as you .
The possibility of enhancing one’s knowledge is limitless .Graduation6. marks a stage of one’s education .Unceasing asking 7. knowledge will unceasingly escalate us to ever higher and higher attainments.
I do believe that your efforts will eventually pay off . I, as well as your other teachers ,am praying that every one of you will be admitted to 8. ideal college.
Love from
Your English teacher
