【推荐1】I used to live in Southern Africa and recently went back to Botswana to visit the Central Kalahari Game Reserve with my friend Oscar． Why? Because there's nothing quite like the vast African wilderness...

Our jeep moved slowly along the too-hot-to-touch sand． With no air conditioner and an engine which might break down at any time， it was tough work． The dry heat was fierce and the only break came from using our precious water for brief bucket showers．

With no supplies available within the park—it was a sort of no man's land which was inhabited by the occasional cow — it is necessary to bring all your fuel， food and water with you．

We camped in a small place in the center of the woods． At the height of the dry season， leaves in the trees had all fallen down， shade was in scant supply， so we placed ourselves near a leaf less tree． As the sun set， we drove towards the watering hole a few miles away， and were reminded just why we'd chosen to spend weeks suffering this exercise on ourselves． A lone lion paused his lapping to acknowledge our arrival． He yawned， and then carried on drinking．

That night， sleeping on the roof of the jeep， we felt his shouting as much as heard it ． Those vast African skies offered the only indication that the outside world hadn't come to a state of quietness， as bright satellite whipped across the blackness．

In the morning we saw that the lion had walked in the road overnight， his paw prints pressed into yesterday's tyre tracks．

We set off for another morning inching through the sand; another day of changing landscapes and raw， wild beauty; another night lit by shooting stars．

1. What can we learn about the author?

A．He slept in a hotel at night．	B．He is now living in Botswana．
C．He enjoys the wildness of nature．	D．He didn't take enough food and water．

2. What did they think of their journey?

A．Amazing and hard．	B．Terrible and annoying．
C．Comfortable and safe．	D．Pleasant and easy．

3. What does the underlined word “scant” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Inadequate．	B．unbending．
C．Abundant．	D．Ready．

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Shining Stars and A Lone Lion	B．Travelling in the Southern Africa
C．My Great Escape into the Wild	D．Camping in Too-Hot-to-Touch Sand

【推荐2】To bring the Olympic spirit to developing nations in the late 1990s, the Olympic Committee allowed a small number of “wild card” athletes to join the Games. But because they didn’t have to go through any qualifying rounds to compete, when they arrived, not all of the competitors were prepared. One such athlete was a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea named Eric Moussambani. When Moussambani arrived at the 2000 Sydney Games, he’d only been training for the 100-meter freestyle for about eight months. He’d also never been in an Olympic-size pool and had never raced more than 50 meters. Regardless, he was determined to represent his country.

The three wild-card athletes were given their own race, and Moussambani was next to the other two swimmers from Niger and Tajikistan. When the official called the swimmers to begin the game, both of Moussambani’s competitors were disqualified for false starts. Left to swim by himself, Moussambani dove in and dog paddled, breathing for air and moving his arms and legs. Halfway through the race, the situation looked so serious that the audience seriously worried he was drowning.

When Moussambani finally passed the finish line and pulled himself from the water, the applause thundered. His final time was 1:52.72 - more than twice that of swimmers in the previous race. But Moussambani couldn’t have been happier. He told reporters, “I’ m going to jump and dance all night long in celebration of my personal success.”

Moussambani’s courage and determination made him an Olympic celebrity (名人). He kept training for the 2004 Games and even got his time down to a respectable 57 seconds.

1. What can we infer about “wild card” athletes?

A．They arrive late.	B．They are well-prepared.
C．They are the best athletes.	D．They are from developing countries.

2. How did Moussambani do in the race?

A．He lost in the race.	B．He swam unskillfully.
C．He failed at the beginning.	D．He disappointed everyone.

3. How did Moussambani feel after finishing the race?

A．Extremely excited.	B．Quite ashamed.
C．Very disappointed.	D．Pretty calm.

4. Which words can best describe Moussambani?

A．Smart and flexible.	B．Patient and careful.
C．Brave and determined.	D．Optimistic and modest.

【推荐3】An elderly couple lived far away from their children. They noticed that they were beginning to forget many little things around the house. They were afraid that this could be perilous, as one of them might forget to turn off the stove（火炉）and thus cause a fire. They were so worried that they decided to see their doctor to get some help. Their doctor told them that it was unnecessary to take medicine and that many people of their age found it useful to write themselves little notes as reminders. The elderly couple thought this wonderful, and left the doctor’s office very pleased with the advice.
When they got home, the wife said, “Dear, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? And why don’t you write that down so you won’t forget?”
“Don’t be silly,” said the husband. “I can remember a dish of ice cream!”
“Well,” said the wife, “I’d also like some strawberries on it. You should write that down, because I know you’ll forget.”
“Come on, my memory’s not that bad,” replied the husband. “A dish of ice cream and some strawberries. I can remember that!”
And with that, the husband shut the kitchen door behind him. The wife could hear him getting out pots and pans, and making some noise, preparing the dish. He came out of the kitchen about 15 minutes later.
Walking over to his wife, he presented her with a plate of fried eggs. The wife took a look at the plate, glanced up at her husband and said, “Hey, where’s the toast？”
1. The underlined word “perilous” in the first paragraph can be replaced by “_________”.

A．infectious

B．dangerous

C．exciting

D．amazing

2. The couple was worried about___________.

A．their bad health

B．their lonely life

C．their dangerous stove

D．their poor memory

3. What was the doctor’s advice to the couple?

A．Writing things down.

B．Taking some medicine.

C．Reminding each other.

D．Asking other elderly people for help.

4. What do we know from the wife’s words in the last paragraph?

A．The husband did a good job in fact.

B．The husband forgot to prepare the toast.

C．The wife forgot what she wanted to eat.

D．The wife had a better memory than the husband.

【推荐2】A store that sells husbands has just opened in Ottawa，where a woman may go to choose a husband from many men.
The store consists of 6 floors and the men increase in positive attributes（品质，特点）as the shopper goes up the flights. There is, however, a catch（陷阱. As you open the door to any floor, you may choose a man from that floor, but if you go up a floor, you cannot go back down except to exit the building.
So a woman goes to the shopping center to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1—These men have jobs. The woman reads the sign and says to herself, “Well, that’s better than my last boyfriend, but I wonder what’s further up?”
So up she goes. The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 —These men have jobs and love kids. The woman remarks to herself, “That’s great, but I wonder what’s further up?”
And up she goes again. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 — These men have jobs, love kids and are extremely good-looking. “Hmm, better.”
The fourth floor sign reads: Floor 4 —These men have jobs, love kids, are extremely good-looking and help with the housework. “Wow!” exclaims the woman, “Very tempting. But, there must be more, further up!”
And again she heads up another flight. The fifth floor sign reads: Floor 5 —These men have jobs, love kids, are extremely good-looking, help with the housework and have a strong romantic character. “Oh, mercy me! But just think…, what must be awaiting me further on?”
So up to the sixth floor she goes. The sixth floor sign reads: Floor 6 –You are visitor 3, 456, 789,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. Thank you for shopping Husband Mart and have a nice day.
1. The writer intends us to believe that _____.

A．husbands are hard to shop

B．women are hard to please

C．women think they are better than men

D．women can’t be too careful when choosing husbands

2. Why do women tend to go up the floor until they reach the top floor ?

A．because they think the husbands downstairs are not suitable.

B．because they are sure that the best husbands are on the top floor.

C．just because they think even better husbands may be upstairs.

D．maybe they know the catch very well.

3. What result can we infer from the passage?

A．Women are not good at shopping husbands.

B．Women are more kind than men.

C．Women are romantic.

D．More women will leave the shop alone.

【推荐3】My close friend Stanley died last January from cancer. I witnessed the care he received and, at the time, I thought it was poor. It shocked and hurt me.

While Stanley was sick, I was a medical student. I therefore had an investment (投入) in the medical profession. It gave me an insider's view of the care Stanley received, when most people spending time with a very sick loved one only have an outside view. However, as I see now, it made me judge the care that his doctors and nurses gave him too harshly (严厉地).

We experienced long waits in emergency departments, and doctors were unsure of the particulars of Stanley's case. Near the end, Stanley's senior doctor announced coldly that there was nothing left to try. “All the options have been used,” With that, he left, never to be seen again.

All this affected the way I thought about my studies. Did want to work in a field where people treated patients as if they were numbers on a chart? After I graduated, I took a year out. I simply couldn't face working in medicine.

Eventually, I applied for and got a position as a cancer doctor in a busy clinic. Now I was a cancer doctor myself, and I often had to tell patients bad news. It is a terribly difficult thing to inform someone that they have a grave illness. I also found that I couldn't always answer patients' questions. It wasn't always possible to say whether they could be cured, or how long they would live for.

It was then that I understood what a difficult job health providers do. It made me think back to my experiences with doctors and nurses when Stanley was sick. Perhaps what I had thought was unprofessionalism (没有职业道德) or coldness was just reflection of the demanding (要求高的) nature of the work. Now I was in their shoes-the people who spend every day caring for others.

1. Why was the author upset in hospital?

A．It was too late to cure her brother.

B．The care given was far below her expectations.

C．The treatment was too painful for the author to bear.

D．She couldn't help the doctors with her medical knowledge.

2. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.

A．the insider's view of the care	B．the care her brother received
C．the author's life experience	D．the author's long stay in hospital

3. The author changed her opinion after she ________.

A．took a year out	B．communicated with her classmates
C．met Stanley's doctors again	D．experienced caring for cancer patients

4. The author wrote this article mainly to ________.

A．give advice on how to become a doctor

B．stress the importance of being a caregiver in daily life

C．share how she became doctor after her friend's death

D．explain how her attitude toward being a caregiver changed