President Barack Obama has apologized for a gaffe (失言) in which he described his

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President Barack Obama has apologized for a gaffe (失言) in which he described his bowling skills as akin to participants in the Special Olympics, a sports program for people with intellectual disabilities.
Obama made the mistake during an interview on Thursday night on “The Tonight Show” with host Jay Leno, the first time a sitting U.S. president had been on the show.
Talking about living in the White House, Obama said he had been practicing his bowling in the home’s bowling alley and had scored a 129 out of a possible 300.
It was an improvement on the embarrassing 37 he had rolled during a stop on the presidential campaign trail a year ago. “It’s like—it was like Special Olympics or something,” Obama said.
The Special Olympics is a global nonprofit organization serving some 200 million people with intellectual disabilities, with a presence in nearly 200 countries worldwide.
Soon after the Jay Leno interview, Obama telephoned Special Olympics chairman Tim Shriver to apologize.
Shriver told ABC’s “Good Morning America” television show that Obama had apologized “in a way that I think was very moving” and that he said “he did not intend to humiliate (羞辱) the population, didn’t want to embarrass or give anybody any more reason for pain or kind of suffering.”
Shriver said people should gain a lesson from the incident.
“I think it’s important to see that words hurt. Words do matter. And these words in some respect, can be seen as humiliating or a put-down to people with special needs, do cause pain. And they do result in stereotypes,” Shriver said.
White House spokesman Bill Burton said Obama “made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to look down upon the Special Olympics.”
“He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world,” Burton said.
56. What does the underlined word “akin” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. skillful            B. similar          C. appealing              D. superior
57. Which of the following statements is true?
A. Obama loves sports and is especially gifted at bowling.
B. Obama apologized for his remarks via ABC’s TV show.
C. The Special Olympics are for various disabled people.
D. The Special Olympics don’t intend to make any money.
58. What does Shriver mean by saying people should gain a lesson from the incident?
A. Disabled people cannot be humiliated.        B. One should be careful with his words.
C. An apology for wrong words is wanted.            D. Words matter even more than actions.
59. The passage is mainly about ________.
A. Obama receiving a TV interview                       B. Obama looking down on the disabled
C. Obama apologizing for his gaffe                     D. Obama being attacked for his words

答案

56—59 BDBC

解析

略

举一反三

Modern Manners
Philip Howard answers your questions on contemporary etiquette (礼仪)
Philip Howard,
When my friend and I (two ladies of a certain age) go out to have a meal, she always leaves an extremely large tip. At times, the tip will equal the amount of one of the main dishes—sometimes it comes to about 30 per cent of the bill. I feel 15—20 per cent is adequate for services offered and depending on the type of restaurant. At a cafe I would like to leave 15 per cent or a bit more depending on the service and etc. A larger tip would be appropriate if we are in a big city or a nicer place. My friend says “Well, I am sure they are not driving a Mercedes (奔驰汽车).” Well, neither am I, and how does she know? Who is correct and how can I make changes? I might add I do truly feel tipping should be based on good service, and also if you frequent a place and know the staff a larger tip is OK. I would never hesitate to tip a waitperson. I always leave to the higher side.
     Yours,
                                      Barbara Bade
Barbara Bade,
Americans are more generous tippers than the British. I suspect that 10 per cent for a tip is about normal in the UK. Tipping is a strange survival in our age of supposed equality and minimum wages. Your friend has a generous nature and deep purse. I do not see why you cannot let her tip whatever she wants, and do your own thing. I agree that a tip should be a reward for good service and general good feeling. If the service is rotten and the meal a disaster, we should withhold a tip and explain why we are doing so. Few of us have the chutzpah (厚颜) to do this. Sensible restaurants have a box for tips, so that they are shared out among the staff, including those in the kitchens whom we do not see. (I trust that the management does not receive the money as extra profit.) I look forward to the day when waiters and other servants are paid a good enough living wage, so that they do not have to depend on the generosity of strangers to survive. To wait at table is just as honorable a way to earn a living in this wicked world. If you are pleased with the meal and cheerful service, you should tip as handsomely as your purse affords. I don’t suppose that your waiter / waitress is driving a Mercedes, even in the States.
Yours,
Philip Howard
60. We can learn from the first letter that Barbara prefers ___________.
A. changing her own ideas on how to tip waiters
B. leaving a bigger tip to the familiar waitpersons
C. eating at a café rather than in a nice restaurant
D. saving as much money as possible for herself
61. It can be inferred that Barbara’s friend tips waiters heavily ________.
A. to show that she is well off                           B. because they are thought to be poorly paid
C. to show that she is generous                       D. because they have offered her full service
62. Besides quality of service, Philip regards __________ as principles of tipping.
A. taste of food and amount of one’s money
B. taste of food and the number of servants
C. generosity of strangers and the number of servants
D. amount of one’s money and generosity of strangers

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In tough economic times, school counselors (顾问) don’t just wait for students to come to their offices in search of college brochures, health pamphlets or other help. These days, they are looking for at-risk kids to prevent personal or academic troubles before they arise. Nowadays, students and families need the guidance more than ever.
Counselors play a steadying role in schools as the economy weighs on families, college admission becomes even more competitive, immigration continues to reshape the population and state-testing pressures many students. They use computers to search through attendance data, grades and standardized test scores for kids who might need extra help.
Schlatter, director of guidance and counseling at Prince William County’s Woodbridge Senior High School, has checked attendance records against grades and test results to start peer groups (同年龄群体) for students who are failing classes but not skipping them. She said group counseling is another way to reach more students though it can be difficult. “Kids really do start helping and sharing with each other.”
At Fairfax High School, counselors found through surveys that students who transferred (转学) to the school after ninth grade enjoyed school significantly less than those who had been there all four years. The counseling staff set up a special program and group for new arrivals in response, said Marcy Miller, the school’s director of student services. Counseling staff members also have started small study groups for students to prepare for state Standards of Learning exams, which Miller said have helped raise test scores. She said that some of the newest counselors have had some of the freshest ideas.
63. We can learn from the passage that __________.
A. counselors don’t wait for kids to come to ask for help now
B. counselors are trying to help people with economic problems
C. counselors have made college admission less competitive
D. counselors are trying to reach more kids in need of help
64. The author uses the example of Fairfax High School to show that ________.
A. counseling work is obviously effective
B. many students transfer there for help
C. new arrivals will no longer skip classes
D. counseling means little to new arrivals
65. What would the author most probably discuss in the following part?
A. What assistance they can offer.
B. The significance of their counseling job.
C. Other approaches to counseling at-risk kids.
D. The barriers of counseling the students with troubles.
66. Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?
A. Guiding Hands Find New Ways
B. Small Study Groups Raise Test Scores
C. Transferred Students Need More Help
D. Tough Times See More At-risk Kids

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B
What Is Natural Medicine
Natural Medicine is to use the natural environment, the nature of the material itself to cure diseases and restore the health. It involves bettering one’s breathing way, sunbathing, improving one’s diets and so on, which play an important part in our healthcare.
Start a Rewarding Career Today
The Australian Institute of Applied Sciences College of Natural Medicine provides you with Nationally Recognized natural medicine courses that can be studied in the comfort of your own home, or at our Brisbane campus in the heart of Stones Corner. AIAS College of Natural Medicine has been providing accredited (官方认可的) natural health courses for more than 20 years, and offers accredited certificate, diploma and advanced diploma level natural medicine, beauty and massage (按摩) courses.
Why Study at the Australian Institute of Applied Sciences
With over 36 years of specialized training and 120 courses, our Natural Medicine College is Australia’s longest running and most sought after training provider for Natural Medicine Education. Our state of

the art facilities, highly experienced instructors and friendly support staff make us the first choice for Distance Education and On-campus study.
Studying at Home
All of our courses are available to study at home. We provide all the material and support you will need to successfully complete your course.
Benefits of Studying at Home
●Work at your own pace.
●No need to travel or relocate closer to a campus.
●No interruption to your existing commitments.
●You are still in full contact with the college via Telephone, Email and Post, so you won’t be out of touch with the latest training techniques.
60. You can learn how to ______ at the Australian Institute of Applied Sciences College of Natural
Medicine.
A.

apply science to our life                       B. operate on various patients
C. adjust one’s diet or breath                     D. look after mentally-ill people
61. One of the reasons for your choice of going to the college is that _______.
A. it is the oldest college of this type in Australia
B. it offers more courses than any other college
C. you may find the best art facilities there
D. you will get accredited certificate or diploma
62. If you take the courses at home, you are more likely to _______.
A. focus on your own interests              B. adjust your study schedules
C. get any help from instructors            D. keep up with new techniques

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C
The financial climate, the job market, family tensions, Obama moving into the Lincoln bedroom. Even the climate"s getting in on the list. Yup, change is everywhere in 2009. If you"re not careful, all kinds of strange things might happen in your otherwise ordered life, so it"s best to work at avoiding change whenever it rears its head(出现).
Here are 5 ways to do just that:

1．Ignore any opportunities
How many times have you taken a chance, only for things to go wrong? How many times have you seized an opportunity only/"or it to slip between your fingers?
There"s always another mess waiting for you, so it"s better to stay right where you are. Where you are right now is a known quantity－it"s safe, warm and comfortable. Doesn"t that sound better than going out there, messing up and looking stupid?

2．Set your expectations low
If you"re one of the people out there looking to make a change in 2009 rather than having change made for you, you"d better set your expectations low.

3．Keep on running and don"t look back
The best thing to do is to set things out so that you can do everything. It"s good to be busy and running around after everyone else will mean that everyone"s happy and there"s no room for change to happen. It"s a win－win!

4．Recognize that most changes are too big

Face it; there are some tasks you"re just not up to. Landing that exciting new job, getting a promotion, taking on the "big project" or building a relationship that really works－these are all big challenges and you don"t want to bite off more than you can chew.

5．Ignore that little voice inside
You might sometimes hear a little voice in your head that tells you you"re not happy or that something has to change. This little trouble maker can speak up at any time and throw the Spanner of Confusion in the works, and it has only one thing on its mind－to take you out of your comfort zone and make you change.

Imagine if everyone went around listening to what they really wanted and acted on it－what a mess! No, best to ignore it and carry on with what you"re doing.
49．The purpose of writing this passage is_________.
A．to introduce ways to avoid change in 2009
B．to attract the readers" interest in change in 2009
C．to discuss whether people should change in 2009
D．to tell the readers the news of American New President－Obama
50．Supposing you are safe, warm and comfortable now, you should______.

A．set your expectations low                                   B．ignore any opportunities
C．keep on running and don"t look back             D．ignore that little voice inside
51．The underlined sentence "You don"t want to bite off more than you can chew" implies     .
A．you have big challenges to fight
B．you are too small to eat too much food
C．there are some big challenges you can"t fight
D．you are afraid of challenging some difficult tasks
52．The best way of dealing with that little voice inside is_______ .

A．to change something at once
B．to have a chat with the speaker
C．to discuss it with the trouble maker
D．to ignore it and go on with what you are doing

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D
We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect—but to have no tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in school or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher.
Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them－a form of favoritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an ill－respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well－ respected school. This defense of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and tile bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school"s reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored school.
The opponents(反对者) of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.
53．The underlined word "favoritism" in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that_____.
A．bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs

B．children from well－respected schools tend to have good jobs
C．poor children with certificates are favored in job markets
D．children attending ordinary schools achieve great success
54．What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
A．There would be more opportunities and excellence.
B．Schools for bright children would lose their reputation.
C．Children from poor families would be able to change their schools.
D．Children"s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation.
55．The opponents of the examination system will agree that ________.
A．jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection
B．computers should be selected to take over many jobs
C．special classes are necessary to keep the school standards

D．schools with academic subjects should be done away with
56．The passage mainly focuses on________.
A．schools and certificates B．examination and equality
C．opportunity and employment D．standards and reputation

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