The campaign is over. The celebrations have ended. And the work for US president-elect Barack Obama has begun.
The 47-year-old politician rose to the highest post because of his stand against the war in Iraq and his plans to fix a weak economy. But what will the first 47-year-old African-American president do for race relations.
Obama’s victory appears to have given blacks and other minorities a true national role model. For years, many looked to athletes and musicians for inspiration. As Darius Turner, an African-American high school student in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times.“Kobe( the basketball player) doesn’t have to be everybody’s role model anymore.”
Recent polls also suggest that Obama’s victory has given Americans new optimism about race relations. For example, a USA Today poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites“will finally be worked out”. This is the most hopeful response since the question was first asked during the civil rights revolution in 1963.
However, it’s still too early to tell whether Obama’s presidency will begin to solve many of the social problems facing low-income black communities.
Although blacks make up only 13 percent of the US population, 55 percent of all prisoners are African-American. Such numbers can be blamed on any number of factors on America’s racist past, a failure of government policy and the collapse of the family unit in black communities.
It is unlikely that Obama will be able to reverse(扭转)such trends overnight. However, Bill Bank, an expert of African-American Studies, say that eventually young blacks need to find role models in their own communities.“That’s not Martin Luther King, and not Barack Obama,”he told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s actually the people closest to them. Barack only has so much influence.”
In the opinion of black British politician Trevor Phillips, Obama’s rise will contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations in the US.
52: For years, before Obama was elected president of the US, .
A. Kobe was the only role model for all the blacks
B. blacks could only find role models on the basketball court
C. minorities in America couldn’t find role models in their real life
D. American blacks had no role model who was successful in political area
53. According to Bill Bank, .
A. Obama is not the proper role model for African-Americans
B. young blacks should not be so much influenced by Obama
C. blacks should find other role models because Obama is far from their reality
D. it’s better for young blacks to find role models in those who are close to them
54. What do you think the author is probably going to talk about in the next paragraph?
A. In what ways Obama will contribute to racial relations in the US.
B. How Obama will influence Americans as a national role model.
C. How Obama will contribute to multiculturalism in the US.
D. How to choose a role model in his community as a young black.
55.What would be the best title for this passage?
A. The First African-American President
B. America’s New Role Model
C. Obama—a Successful Black
D. Choosing a Right Role Model
One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the “cashless society” is not on the horizon---it’s already here.
While computer offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how far they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customer for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.
Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.
49.According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to .
A. withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes
B. obtain more convenient services than other people do
C. enjoy great trust from the storekeeper
D. cash money where he wished to
50. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that .
A. in the future all the Americans will use credit cads
B. credit cards are mainly used in the United States today
C. nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash
D. it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before
51. The phrase“ring up sales”most probably means .
A. make an order of goods B. record sales on a cash register
C. call the sales manager D. keep track of the goods in stock
第二节 完型填空(共20小题;每小题 1.5 分,满分 30 分)
阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was 4 o’clock in the morning on June 9, 2003 when I received the phone call. “This is the emergency room calling and your son was just 21 in with severe burns on his face, neck and arms. We have called for a(n) 22 and are going to fly him to the burn unit in Seattle.” Seattle was 350 miles from his college, so we knew immediately this was 23 .
The doctor described the 24 , which caused the burns. At 6 am, our son and his friends decided to barbecue hamburgers in the courtyard of their apartment. When they 25 the charcoal(木炭), it burst into flames because they had sprayed too much petrol. The flames 26 my son’s shirt tail and shot from his waist to well over his head.
27 , one of the boys was quick-minded, grasped my son, and 28 him on the grass. While it saved his life, it was not in 29 to save him from severe burns and the terrible scars.
After he 30 from the treatments, the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery(整容) for 6 months 31 it takes that long for the skin to stop shrinking and wrinkling. So he had to return to college with scars typical of severe burns.
When I was a child, my mother told my sister, who had a 10-inch, very 32 scar on her arm, “Nancy, if you ignore the scar, other people will ignore it. It does not mean they will not 33 it, but it means it will not matter to them if it doesn’t matter to you.”
I 34 this wisdom on to my son. He kept my advice in 35 and returned to school with his head held high--glad he was alive.
By the end of the six-month waiting period, he decided that the scars didn’t 36 , so he made the 37 to give up any plastic surgery.
We all have “scars” that we believe 38 people to keep away from us. And we spend a lot of time thinking that if only we looked differently, or dressed differently, people would like us better.
But you see, people will only judge you by your looks, or your clothes, if you are judging yourself by these same 39 standards. Put your imperfections(缺点;瑕疵) out of your mind and concentrate on what you value 40 yourself, and your beauty will shine through.
21. A. brought B. given C. turned D. showed
22. A. doctor B. hospital C. aircraft D. ambulance
23. A. serious B. terrible C. dangerous D. important
24. A. event B. process C. reason D. accident
25. A. got B. lit C. burned D. moved
26. A. took B. held C. caught D. attracted
27. A Fortunately B. Surprisingly C. Happily D. Slowly
28. A. pushed B. threw C. dropped D. rolled
29. A. shape B. place C. fact D. time
30. A. benefited B. recovered C. suffered D. relaxed
31. A. if B. while C. because D. although
32. A. normal B. violent C. obvious D. popular
33. A. mention B. notice C. laugh D. hide
34. A. sent B. kept C. handed D. passed
35. A. mind B. life C. practice D. heart
36. A. grow B. matter C. exist D. appear
37. A. mistake B. effort C. decision D. request
38. A. invite B. cause C. allow D. remind
39. A. false B strict C. moral D. general
40. A. by B. over C. beyond D. within
--- I’m sorry that I can’t go to your party tonight.
---- ______ ? Haven’t we agreed on it ?
A.What is it |
B.Why don’t you |
C.What do you think |
D.How is it |
I wonder why you don’t do it as ______ and it’s the third time you have done so.
A.told you |
B.be told |
C.told to |
D.you told |
The lad couldn’t ______ even if he ______ in time.
A.have been saved; had been treated |
B.be saved; have been treated |
C.be saved; had been treated |
D.had been saved; would have been treated |