You must work hard from now on,      ?

 A．can you  B．won’t you C．mustn’t you D．needn’t you

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7 ― At 26, many people haven’t even decided on a career. Luke Ravenstahl, cashing in on his family’s political tradition, is already the mayor of Pittsburgh, the youngest mayor of any major city in the country. Although mayors elsewhere have been younger, Jeff Dunkel was 18 in 2001 when he was elected mayor of Mount Carbon, small towns in New York, and elsewhere have also elected teenagers as mayors. But, Tallahassee, is the only other city with a population over 100,000 that has had a mayor as young as Mr. Ravenstahl. A supporter of Mr. Ravenstahl said concerns about Mr. Ravenstahl’s age would dissipate once the city saw his work ethic.

But now comes the hard part. As he strives to be taken seriously and take charge of a city only recently back from the brink of bankruptcy, the baby-faced mayor said that even the smallest decisions felt weighty, even what to wear in the Steelers game matters.

And another pressing issue is to strengthen the city’s economy. Pittsburgh has lost all its mills, nearly half its population and much of its downtown commercial district in the last several decades. “But Pittsburgh has 50,000 college students, and our challenge is to figure out how to retain them and to increase downtown development.” He said.

But one of the biggest uncertainties is how long he will remain in office. According to the city charter, Mayor Ravenstahl’s term will not expire until November 2009. Some city lawyers, however, have argued that he must face the electorate next year. And residents in Pittsburgh are still withholding judgment on him. Deli, Jimmy Cvetic, a sandwich shop owner, said “I call him Cool Hand Luke. He’ll be all right, but he’s going to need a cool hand to get through this.”

Mayor Ravenstahl said he was still coming to terms with the challenge he faced.

51. About Luke Ravenstahl, which of the following statements is correct?

A．He is the youngest mayor in the U.S.A.

B．His family background has contributed to his successful political career.

C．His young age has won support from media and young voters.

D．He will be mayor of Pittsburgh at least until 2009.

52. The underlined word “dissipate” in the first paragraph probably means________.

A. disappear                  B. appear                      C. spread               D. reduce

53. What can you infer from the article about Pittsburgh?

A. It is a small town in New York famous for steel mills.

B. It has always enjoyed prosperous economic success.

C. Many young college students there are the new hope of the district.

D. It is a major city in the U.S.A with a population slightly smaller than 100,000.

54. Where can you find this article?

A. A magazine                       B. A brochure about politicians

C. A newspaper                     D. An advertisement about some mayor candidates

55. What kind of Challenges will not Luke Ravenstahl cope with?

A. Distrust from his citizens                       B. pressure from other outstanding young majors

C. economical standstill of his city              D. decreasing population in his city

Here is a true story about a famous man who worked in the White House and a criminal. They once faced the same thing: their mother gave them apples when they were young.

The criminal said: one day, my mother brought some apples and asked my brother and me: “Which do you want?” “The reddest and biggest one,” my little brother said. My mother stared at him and said to him angrily: “You should learn to give the good things to others; you shouldn’t always think of yourself.” Seeing this, I suddenly changed my idea and then said to my mother: “Mum, please give me the smaller one and give the bigger one to my little brother.” Hearing my words, my mother was very happy. She kissed me on my face and gave the reddest and biggest apple to me as a prize. From then on, I learned to tell lies, fight, steal and rob. In order to get what I wanted, I played hard. As a result, I was sent into prison.

The famous man from the White House said: One day, my mother brought some apples. She said to my brother and me: “You all want the reddest and biggest one, right? Well, let’s have a competition. Now I divide the grassland in front of the gate into two and I will give one to each of you and you must shear(修剪) it well. And I will give the reddest and biggest apple to him who does it the most quickly and best.”

After the competition, I won and I got the biggest apple. In our family, as long as you want to get the best things, you must take part in competition. I think it is fair. No matter what you want, you must pay lots of efforts.

31．The criminal got the reddest and biggest apple because      .

A. he told the truth that he wanted a smaller one

B. his mother loved him more than she loved the younger brother

C. elder brother should of course have the bigger one

D. he knew how to make his mother happy from her answer

32．We can conclude from the passage that      .

A. it’s important to make children aware that no matter what they want, they must pay work

B. it’s wrong to ask children to choose apples when they are not old enough

C. it’s wrong to ask children not to always think of themselves

D. it’s always necessary to have a competition when we give children apple

33．The writer tells the story by      .

A. organizing it in the order of time

B. making a comparison between two men

C. providing some scientific information

D. describing it in the order of space

34． It is implied in the passage that      .

A. we should always try to win competitions which can bring us a lot

B. in order to get what we want, we should play hard

C. giving children apples will lead them to become criminals

D. a mother’s educational method has a great influence on a child’s growing

Begin doing the work you love as soon as possible, even if you don’t get paid for it, or if you can only work at it part-time. Albert Einstein was unable to get a job as a physics professor. He could have said to himself, “Well, I just don’t have the work relative to physics. I should give up on it and settle for something else.” Instead, he wrote the two most famous papers when he was employed as a patent  clerk. After their publication, there was not a major university in the world that would not have been glad to have him on their staff.

If you want to work as an artist and you are making a living as a waiter, don’t think of yourself as a waiter who hopes one day to become an artist. That puts the work you love somewhere off in the distant future. Rather, think of yourself as an artist, supporting yourself by waiter tables—and paint, or draw as much as you can. It is possible to earn a living wage as a waiter working 24 hours a week. That leaves plenty of time to devote to training or developing your craft（手藝）in the off hours.

While seeking the work you love, it helps to expand your awareness  into the universe of all possibilities. You don’t want to be limited to the ideas of what you should do or what you have done before. Having opened to all possibilities, you can make a final decision and select the work you love as your own.

Doing the work you love requires that you be equally comfortable with the imaginative and the practical. It requires the ability to dream big dreams and the ability to face and master all the little details that make dreams come true.

1.According to the passage, perhaps Einstein once said to himself, “_______.”

A．Well, I just don’t have the work relative to physics. I should give up on it and settle for

something else

B．The job is just what I want, I should work very hard at it

C．I have to support myself by working as a patent clerk now, but I won’t give physics up

D．I must wait until I find my favorite job

2.If a person works 24 hours a week, he can________.

    A．have enough spare time for his hobbies

    B．have no time left to make his dream come true

    C．do nothing else

    D．make a good living

3.Which of the following is not implied in the last paragraph?

    A．Sometimes the imaginative is different from the practical.

    B．We have to take care of a lot of details before we make our dreams come true.

    C．We shall do practical things rather than dream.

    D．We shall dream big dreams and practice as well.

4.According to the passage, the author encourages us to ________.

    A．start work quickly                                 B．select job carefully and patiently

    C．dream often                                        D．make up our minds quickly

Have you ever wished that you could make your little sister’s teddy bear talk to her? Or have you ever wanted to bring a puppet (木偶) to life? If so, you may be interested in learning the art of ventriloquism (腹語術). A ventriloquist can make an ordinary object seem to be alive by giving it a personality, movement, and speech.
Your object can be a puppet, or a doll. Give your new “friend” a name, and then decide on the personality that he will have. The next step is to give your friend movements that agree with the personality you have chosen.
Now you can learn to make your “friend” talk. A ventriloquist will control his mouth and lips so that it will appear that his voice is coming from the object he is using. This will take practice, but you can do it.
First, decide on a voice that is different from your own. It could be higher or lower than yours, or could even have a special accent. Then, find a clean teaspoon and hold the handle between your front teeth. Now, using the voice you created for your friend and holding the handle of the teaspoon tightly between your teeth, look into a mirror and talk. Practicing with the spoon in your mouth will help you learn to keep your mouth from moving. Now try telling a joke in your normal voice and have your friend speak in his voice. Practice those words until you can say them without your lips moving at all.
Ventriloquism is fun. It also requires hard work to become good at it. The most important thing to do is practice. But if you are willing to take the time to give your friend an interesting personality, to practice lively movements, and to work on good mouth control, then you will be well on your way to becoming a ventriloquist!
【小題1】According to the text, a ventriloquist           .