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Saturday, October 7th, was a marathon of sad tasks for Anna Politkovskaya. Two weeks earlier, her father, a retired official in the department of foreign affairs, had died of a heart attack as he emerged from the Moscow Metro while on his way to visit Politkovskaya’s mother, Raisa Mazepa, in the hospital. She had just been diagnosed(诊断) with cancer and was too weak even to attend her husband’s funeral. “Your father will forgive me, because he knows that I have always loved him,” she told Anna and her sister, Elena Kudimova, the day he was buried. A week later, she had an operation and since then Anna and Elena had been taking turns helping her deal with her grief.
Politkovskaya was supposed to spend the day at the hospital, but her twenty-six-year-old daughter, who was pregnant, had just moved into Politkovskaya’s apartment, on Lesnaya Street, while her own place was being prepared for the baby. “Anna had so much on her mind,” Elena Kudimova told me when we met in London, before Christmas. “And she was trying to finish her article.” Politkovskaya was a special reporter for the small newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and, like most of her work, the piece focused on the terror that can be seen all over the southern republic of Chechnya. This time, she had been trying to report repeated cruel acts done by people faithful to the Prime Minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, who are in favour of Russia. In the past seven years, Politkovskaya had written dozens of accounts of life during wartime; many had been collected in her book “A Small Corner of Hell: reports from Chechnya.” Politkovskaya was far more likely to spend time in a hospital than on a battlefield, and her writing bore frequent witness to robbery, and the uncontrolled cruelty of life in a place that few other Russians—and almost no other reporters—cared to think about.
1. Politkovskaya’s father died of ______.
A. tiredness B. a disease C. an attack D. an accident
2.From the text we know that Raisa Mazepa ______.
A. didn’t love her husband
B. didn’t attend her husband’s funeral
C. was having an operation the day her husband was buried
D. was too sad to attend her husband’s funeral
3.The underlined word “emerged” most likely means ______.
A. came out B. went into C. looked into D. left for
4.How many family members of Anna are mentioned in the passage?
A. Three. B. Four C. Five D. Six
5.Which of the following words can best describe Politkovskaya’s character?
A. curious B. easy-going C. careless D. responsible
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OSLO — Excited with pride, Norwegians sang in the streets of Oslo on Sunday, celebrating Norway’s National Day and the country’s Eurovision Song Contest victory.
Hundreds of Norwegians sang along to Alexander Rybak’s winning song Fairytale as they walked in the country’s traditional National Day parade (游行) celebrating the Norwegian constitution.
Alexander Rybak — called “Alexander the Great” by the Norwegian media — won a great victory in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) by gaining the most votes in its 53-year history in Moscow on Saturday.
Alexander has played violin and piano since he was five years old, and he also composes his own music and sings. In 2006 he won the Norwegian talent show Kjempesjansen with his own song Foolin. Alexander has performed with one of the world’s most celebrated violinists, Pinchas Zukerman, won the Anders Jahres Culture Price and has been the concertmaster for Norway’s largest symphony orchestra (交响乐队) for youths, Ung Symfoni.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said there was clearly something special about the 23-year-old and his folk music. “This is a phenomenal performance by a young and talented musician,” Stoltenberg said in a statement.
Rybak is expected to draw a large crowd of fans to Oslo’s Gardermoen airport when he arrives next Sunday, after having invited all his countrymen from the stage in Moscow.
With Rybak’s win, Norway will host next year’s Eurovision finals, a show that reaches a television audience of over 100 million people. Norway’s Minister of Culture, Trond Giske, promised that Norway would put on a splendid show next year but without spending as much as Moscow, which spent 24 million euros this year. “I don’t think that is necessary,” he told national broadcaster NRK.
The win was Norway’s third. The Nordic country also won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1985 and 1995.
1.What do Norwegians usually do on the country’s National Day?
A. Sing Fairytale. B. Have a parade. C. Hold a song test. D. Watch the ESC.
2.Which of the following statements about Rybak is TRUE?
A. He has a lot of fans all over the world.
B. He is the first Norwegian to win the ESC.
C. He is called “Alexander the Great” when he was born.
D. He showed a great talent for music before this ESC.
3.The underlined word “phenomenal” in Para. 5 means “____”.
A. very unusual and impressive B. too special to be understood
C. with an educational purpose D. able to draw a large audience
4.What’s Trond Giske’s opinion?
A. Norway will host next year’s Eurovision finals.
B. It doesn’t require too much money to win the finals.
C. Norway is determined to win next year’s Eurovision finals.
D. It doesn’t require a lot of money to make the finals splendid.
5.The main idea of the text is that ______________________________.
A. the Eurovision Song Contest belongs to the world
B. National Day is being celebrated in Norway
C. Crazy fans expect to meet their idol at the airport in Norway
D. Norway celebrates a Eurovision win on National Day.
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Even if you are naturally shy, these three tricks will help you to quickly build a new social circle in any new city.
1. Take pictures
One of the great things about taking pictures at an event or party is that it gives you an excuse to get in touch with the person later. Everybody loves seeing pictures of themselves, and it’s very easy after taking a picture to say “If you’d like I can email it to you”. This can be the seed that leads to new connections. The next time you hear about a fun event email your new contacts to let them know about it.
2. Eat alone in public
You might feel self-conscious eating by yourself but it has an important benefit: you are much easier to approach when you are alone. People may be afraid of interrupting you or being rude if you are in a conversation with someone else. Bring a book or newspaper to read (this will make you feel less self-conscious). Plus, having an interesting book with you will give others an excuse to start a conversation if they’ve read it.
3. Join a class, sports team, or club
Yoga, salsa dancing, volleyball, Toastmasters (a public speaking club), a class for work, etc. Take up a new hobby or continue an old one!
These are all great places to meet new people, primarily because you will be forced to see the same people over and over again in the class. You will automatically make friends with them if you have a common interest and are forced to see each other again.
Tips:
* In the beginning, never turn down an invitation from someone, even if it’s something you wouldn’t normally do.
* Email your new friends with fun things to do instead of always asking what their plans are. If they have a better plan you can drop yours and join them. This will help establish you as someone who is contributing value instead of just taking it (people want this in a friend).
* Don’t let little things in life upset you or be a negative person. People don’t want to be around someone like that!
1.____ can give you an excuse to start new connections.
A. Taking pictures of others B. Eating by yourself in public
C. Reading interesting books D. Joining group activities
2.When having meals, you’d better ____ if you want to make new friends.
A. sit on your own in public places
B. start a conversation with those who have friends aside
C. invite others to your apartment to eat together
D. approach others to show conscious friendliness
3.According to the text, which of the following is NOT mentioned as an advantage of joining a class?
A. It helps you find out your interest and take up a new hobby.
B. It helps you find out people who share a common interest with you.
C. It offers an opportunity to meet the same people repeatedly.
D. It is a good way to meet new people and make friends in a new city.
4. Which of the following pieces of advice is a tip from the text?
A. Try to be outgoing and talkative instead of being shy.
B. Never turn down an invitation from your friends.
C. Offer suggestions on how to spend time together.
D. Don’t give a negative response to any request.
5.By writing the text, the author intends to tell us ____.
A. why you should change when you move to a new city
B. why you should make new friends in a new city
C. how you can make new friends in a new city
D. how you can keep in touch with strangers
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Astronauts aboard the space station celebrated a space first on Wednesday by drinking water that had been recycled from their urine(尿), sweat and water got from air. They said "cheers," clicked drinking bags and toasted NASA workers on the ground.
The urine recycling system is needed for astronaut stations on the moon and Mars. It also will have NASA money because it won’t have to ship up as much water to the station by space shuttles or cargo rockets. Besides, it’s important as the space station is about to expand from three people living on board to six.
The recycling system had been brought up to the space station last November by space shuttles Endeavour, but it couldn’t be used until samples(样品) were tested back on earth. So when it came time to actually drink up, NASA made a big deal of it. The three-man crew stood holding their drinks and congratulated engineers in two NASA centres that worked on the system.
“This is something that had been the stuff of science fiction,” American astronaut Michael Barratt said before taking a small mouthful. “The taste is worth trying.”
The new system takes the combined urine of the crew from the toilet, moves it to a big tank, where the water is boiled off, and the vapor(水蒸气) is collected. The rest of the urine is thrown away. Then the water vapor is mixed with water from air, and then it goes through filters (过滤器). When six crew members are aboard it can make about six gallons from urine in about six hours.
“Some people may find the idea of drinking recycled urine distasteful, but it is also done on earth, but with a lot longer time between urine and the tap,” said Marybeth Edeen, the space station’s national lab manager.
The technology NASA developed for this system has already been used for quick water purification after the 2004 Asian tsunami.
1. According to the text, the recycling system is important because ___________.
A. it makes traveling to the moon for the average person possible
B. with it NASA won’t need to ship any water up the space station
C. it can help meet the need for more water after the crew is expanded
D. it protects the environment in space by reducing the amount of waste
2.What’s the RIGHT time order of the following events?
a. The samples of the recycled water were tested on earth.
b. Astronauts celebrated the space first of making water from urine
c. The recycling system was brought up to the space station.
d. The technology for the system was used to quickly purify water.
A. a, d, c, b B. a, c, b, d C. d, a, c, b D. d, c, a, b
3.From Para. 5 we can know ____________.
A. the theory behind the recycling system B. the effect of the recycling system
C. the process of recycling urine D. an opinion on recycling urine
4.What did Edeen say about recycled urine and the recycling system?
A. The taste of recycled urine is not as good as that of common water.
B. The recycling system has made a science fiction story come true.
C. The idea of drinking recycled urine makes astronauts feel unpleasant.
D. It takes a longer time on earth to make water from urine than in space.
5.What is the best title for the passage?
A. The Research of NASA Has Made Great Progress.
B. New Technology Is Used in the Space Station.
C. Drink up: Space Station Recycles Urine to Water.
D. Good News: Water Recycled from Urine Tastes Good
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