36. Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?

A. She had seven brothers.　　　　　　　　　　 　 B. She felt herself a nobody.

　 C. She was too shy to go to school.　　　　 　 D. She did not have any good teachers.

67．What is the author’s attitude towards Nigel’s actions?

A．He is mildly critical.　　　　 　　　　　 B．He is strongly critical.

C．He is in favor of them.　　　　 　　　　　 D．His attitude is not clear.

答案　 64.D　 65.C　 66.D　 67.A

Passage 9

(08·天津A篇)

Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely-a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “creative voice.”

“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”

Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.

66．Why did Nigel help Alicia finish her robot?

A．He tried to make friends with her.　　　　 B．He was fond of building robots.

C．He intended to help her.　　　　　　　　　　　 D．He didn’t want her to suspect him.　　　

65．Nigel’s original intention of joining the contest was to ___　　　 ．

A．be the top student of the school　　　　　　 B．being great honor to his school

C．construct a robot with the Lego sets　　　 D．wins the thousand-dollar prize

64．What reward did Nigel receive for doing well in his school work?

A．He was offered a part-time job.

B．He was honored with a scholarship.

C．He helped his teachers construct a robot.

D．He helped in the computer laboratories.

75.Which of the following can be inferred from the text?

A.Adults are resource-sucking people.

B.Poe sought help from a youth organization.

C.Kids F.A.C.E.members are from the U.S.

D.Kids are urged to save natural resources.

答案　 72.D　 73.C　 74.B　 75.D

Passage 8

(08·江西C篇)

Topping the class academically was certainly an advantage．Studying was a breeze for 　Nigel．The reward was certainly incomparable to the little effort that he had to put it．It began when he was selected to help the teachers in the computer laboratories．

The peak of his school career came not when he topped the school but when he was selected

for the nationwide competition．Unlike everyone else, Nigel wanted to join the contest because he liked playing with the Lego sets and making something out of them．Nigel spent the next two months rebuilding the robot．It was during the time that Nigel found out about the prizes for the competition as well as another competitor, Alicia, from a neighboring school．His early intentions were forgotten．Getting the thousand-dollar prize was more important than anything else．Nigel decided to befriend Alicia．Unaware of his intentions, she told him all about the robot that she had been building for the competition．He even helped her to put the finishing touches to her robot．He was glad with the way things had progressed．His robot looked even better than Alicia’s and it was able to bounce a ball with its arm, something Alicia had failed to do．

On the day of the competition, he saw Alicia．Everything dawned on her the minute she saw

him among the competitors. She stared at him, puzzled at first, then angry and finally a look of helplessness came over her．

The flashbulbs of the camera exploded in Nigel’s face．The robot had performed actions so

unique and different that the specialists’ judgments were the same．Nigel was so pleased with himself that he did not even notice the girl standing a few feet away from him．Without her, he would never have won the competition．

74.Kid’s Yards is　　　　 .

A.established in a national park　　　　　　 B.started to protect wildlife

C.a wildlife-raising project　　　　　　　　　　 D.an entertainment park for kids

73.What can we learn about Poe?

A.She was awarded a prize in Brazil.

B.She donated billboards across the country.

C.She got positive responses for her efforts.

D.She joined the National Park Service.

72.Kids F.A.C.E.is　　　　 .

A.a program to help students with writing

B.a project of litter recycling

C.a campaign launched by President Bush

D.a club of environmental protection

71.What contributes most to their success according to the author?

A.Learning by trial and error.　　　　 B.Making friends with suppliers.

C.Finding a good partner.　　　　　　　　　　 D.Opening chain stores.

答案　 67.B　 68.A　 69.C　 70.D　 71.A

Passage 7

(08·山東D篇)

Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush.Through her own efforts,her letter was reproduced on over 250 donated billboards (廣告牌) across the country.

The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment (Kids F.A.C.E.) in 1989.There are now 300,000 members of Kids F.A.C.E. worldwide and it is the world’s largest youth environmental organization.

Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a “Children’s Forest” project in every national park.In 1992,she was invited as one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the Future Program.In 1993,she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute.

Since the organization started,Kids F.A.C.E.members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees!Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kid’s Yards－the creation of backyard wildlife habitats (棲息地)－and now Kids F.A.C.E.is involved in the exciting Earth Odyssey,which is a great way to start helping.

“Starting the club turned out to be a way to help people get involved with the environment.Club members started doing things like recycling,picking up litter and planting trees as well as inviting other kids to join their club.”

“We try to tell kids that it’s not OK to be lazy,” she explains.“You need to start being a responsible,environmentally friendly person now,right away,before you become a resource-sucking adult.”