OLYMPIA, March 24--Luo Xuejuan, a swimming gold medalist at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, became the first Chinese person to relay the Olympic Flame in Greece on Monday, receiving the flame from the first Olympic torchbearer , Greek Alexandros Nikolaidis. Despite her previous experience as a torchbearer in the Beijing leg of the Athens 2004 torch relay, Luo felt honored and proud of being chosen as the first Chinese torchbearer, the Xihua News Agency reported Luo as saying in an interview. She talked about the great responsibility that she felt, as she believed she was representing every Chinese athlete and even Chinese person by running her _ of the relay. Regarding missing the torch lighting ceremony because she had to be in an assigned location to wait for the flame, Luo felt no regret. "Even though I couldn't see it, I was able to feel the flame light and knew that it was happening at a place nearby," she said. Luo expressed her belief that even if people couldn't communicate with words, the Olympic Flame enables the transmission of the Olympic spirit and brings smiles wherever it might go. In Luo's mind, the Olympic spirit represents purity, competition, friendship, enthusiasm, peace and harmony. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? A) Luo Xuejuan was the first Olympic torchbearer in Greece. B) Luo had never been selected as a torchbearer before. C) Luo believed that the Olympic flame helped communication among people. D) Luo felt regretful because she missed the torch lighting ceremony.
C
(Question)
A person who is deaf when he is born is usually dumb as well. There may be nothing wrong with his mouth and tongue, but he cannot speak. This is because he cannot hear people, so he has nothing to imitate . He may try to make sounds himself, but cannot hear his own voice. However, even though he finds it difficult to speak and cannot hear, he can learn to read. Nowadays such persons can also be taught to speak because we have modern methods and equipment, but we did not have these when Helen Keller was born. Even with modern methods and equipment, however, it is not easy for deaf children to learn to speak, though most of them succeed. When a child is deaf and blind as well, it becomes much more difficult, though it is possible. Helen Keller was born in 1880. She became very ill at the age of nineteen months. Medical knowledge was not as great then as it is now. She did not die but lost her sight and hearing. As a result, she became dumb as well. Her parents did their best to teach her, but she couldn't speak by the age of six. Then, in 1887, a teacher, Miss Sullivan, came to live with her. Miss Sullivan herself had been blind. She had been partly cured. Though she could not see very well, she was not blind. Helen was a difficult pupil at first, but in a month Helen had learned how to understand signs and how to make them herself. At last in spite of her great difficulties, Helen learned to read, write and speak, even though she was deaf and blind. She even went to college and had full education. She wrote many books, and though other people have written books about her, her own books are the ones that best explain how it feels to be deaf, dumb and blind. Her best book is The Story of My Life. Perhaps you have read it. Though it was written in 1902, it is still a very interesting book. Even if you have not read it, you may have heard of Helen Keller. How long did it take Keller to understand signs? A) A few days B) Several years C) A moment D) A month
(Answer)
D
Ques: Terrible disasters in the last 50 or 100 years have become increasingly common. Over the last 30 years, the number of weather-related disasters has increased quickly, and the disasters have also affected more people and caused more economic loss. However, much of this could be avoided through disaster risk reduction(DRR). A meeting, held in Sendai, Japan last month, opened one day after Cyclone Pam(Pam)hit Vanuatu, which struck the islands with winds of up to 340km/h and destroyed the island nation. The speech by the President of Vanuatu was given shortly after that. He begged the international community for support and stronger commitment to helping them manage climate and disaster risks. In the face of disasters, it is always the developing countries that suffer most. Damage in these countries is often worse and unluckily, there is limited money and technique to prevent these disasters. In fact, we have seen Asian countries-especially those that have suffered a lot in disasters can't pay the price. Great loss Asia has suffered comes to a total of almost $ 53 billon yearly over the past 20 years. At the same time, studies have shown once again that proper prevention saves lives and damage. With this in mind, people at the Sendai meeting were able to come up with new agreements that effective ways of disaster risk reduction will be carried out in the coming years for those who easily get damaged in disasters. Which of the following can be the title of this news report? A) Proper ways that save lives and damage have come up. B) The Sendai meeting has made new commitments. C) Natural disasters have become more common. D) Some natural disasters can be reduced and avoided.
Ans: D
My father suffered a disease once, but he was an optimist .He wanted to dosomething to keep himself busy, so he became a volunteer at a children's h}pital. Sometimes oneor two kids would die. At this time he would tell the heart-broken parents of the children that hewould be with their children in heaven and that he would look after them there. There was a girl with a disease that paralyzed her from the neck down. She couldn'tdo anything. My dad decided to help her with his true love. He started visiting her, bringingpaints, brushes and paper. He began to put the paintbrush in his mouth to paint. He didn't usehis hands. He would visit her whenever he could and paint for her. "You can do anything onceyou make up your mind to do it,"he said. Finally, she began to paint using her mouth, too. Later, my dad recovered and returned to work. He worked at the volunteer counter in thehospital. One day, he noticed the front door open. In came the little girl who had been paralyzed. She was walking! She hugged my dad tightly and gave him a picture she had done using herhands. At the bottom it read: "Thank you for helping me walk again!" After that my father often said love was more powerful than doctors. Which words best describe the writer's father? A) Patient and funny. B) Strong and serious. C) Busy and hard-working. D) Kind and optimistic.
D