This is the VOA Special English News Re...

    One of the most unknown youth culture in the United States is that of high school and college runners．Not everyone who has ever been on their school’s track team is part of this culture．To be a part of this culture you need to do a lot Of running，knowing how it feels to race to exhaustion(筋疲力尽)，see no reason why any weather should keep you from running，and be a little crazy．

    I，myseIf，am part of this culture．I ran cross-country，which is running outside over uneven ground，for my high schoo1．I joined this culture when 1 was in ninth grade. As soon  as 1 was on the team it didn’t take very long for me to become very involved and have fun running. As a freshman 1 wasn’t that fast but 1 was giving the effort．It was the effort that makes me part of the running culture．

    There are a few things that set the youth culture of runners apart from the overall  running culture．One of the many differences is that teen runners usually run in large groups，with a lot of conversation and fooling around．Young runners play games and talk to their friends when they run．While adults may run with a friend and have a conversation，you will rarely see twenty of them running through the woods yelling back and forth at each other．Young runners also make up a lot of games．My friends and 1 would throw balls while running and invented a game we called Shockey，which was pretty much soccer on lce.

Most of youth runners run for competition and not for fitness．Young runners want to run in races not to just lose weight like many adults．This means they run a lot faster and tougher generally．To lose weight you can just jog easily but to race you have to really push yourself and run to exhaustion．It’s a completely different style of running and that is what builds this culture .

1．The passage is mainly about __________.

  A．the differerices between youth culture and adult culture

  B．the youth running culture in American schools

  C．youth culture which is mysterious to school students

  D．how to become part of the culture of school runners

2．Which of the following are the differences between young runners and adult runners?

  (1)Adults don’t run long distance．

  (2)Adults don’t play games while running．

  (3)Adults don’t push themselves to the 1imit

  (4)Adults don’t run in 1arge groups．

    A．(1)(2)(3)    B．(1)(2)(4)    C．(2)(3)(4)  D. (1) (3) (4)

3．We can infer from the passage that__________．

  A．the writer is strong--willed

  B．running is exhausting and boring

  C．adult running is not as good as youth running

  D．adults are not as competitive as youths

4．The writer wrote the passage to __________．

    A．criticize adult running

    B．advertise his school track team

    C．introduce something unknown to his readers

    D．tell his readers to get involved in running

第三部分阅读理解(共15小题；每小题2分，满分40分)

第一节{共15小题；每小题2分．满分30分)

    阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填人空白处的最佳

项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。   

  Benjamin Banneker was a farmer，inventor，astronomer writer and antislavery supporter．He created the first American—built striking clock．

    That fall，as usual，Benjamin rode to the nearby town for supplies．He couldn’t wait to get to the end of the road and buy the things his mother wanted．Then he could have a good talk with the folks in town．The truth was，as much as Benjamin loved his mother and father and three sisters，what he really enjoyed was talking about books or math problems or what was happening in other parts of the colonies(殖民地)．

    It was about l0 o’clock by the sun when Benjamin arrived at a store．He ordered a bolt(一卷)of white cloth for his mother and looked around for someone to taik to．Benjamin’s heart jumped like a rabbit when he saw a friend holding a gold watch．Benjamin had always wanted to figure out how clocks and watches worked．The friend saw Benjamin and let him sit down for a good talk．

    Late that afternoon，Benjamin rode home，slowly．He didn’t want to harm the watch that his friend had let him borrow．That nigh after supper，Benjamin carefully laid the watch on the table and pulled the candle closer．“This is a watch，”he said．“A man in fown lent it to me，and now I’m going to take it apart and draw the pieces．Then 1’11 put it back together again．Benjamin held his breath and gently took the back off the watch．

    Every evening for a week，Benjamin sat at the table with the watch．He copied eaeh tiny

wheel and pin．When the week was up，he put the pieces back togelher and returned the watch to its owner．Then Benjamin got a good night’s sleep．

    The next day when the farm work was done，Benjamin went into the woods to 1ook for just the right pieces of wood．Not too old，not too dry，not too green，not too soft．

    For two years，Benjamin farmed all day and worked on his wood pieces at night．In1753，two years after he had borrowed the watch，Benjamin put all the pieces together．Benjamin had made his own clock．

1．The most likely reason the author wrote the passage was to__________．

  A．show the influence Benjamin Banneker’s family had on him

  B．present reasons for Benjamin Banneker’s fascination with clocks

  C．explain Benjamin Banneker’s reason for becoming an inventor

  D．give an example of Benjamin Banneker’s strong will and intelligence

2.Benjamin especially looked forward to going to the store to __________.

 A．avoid work on the farm    B．purchase white cloth

 C．meet interesring people    D．show his new clock to others

3．Why did Benjamin most likely hold his breath when he took the back off the watch?

  A．He feared his friend might want to get the watch back．

  B．He was very nervous about taking apart a precious object.

  C．He wanted to time how long it would take to finish the job．

  D．He was afraid that broken watch parts would fly into his face．

第二节  完形填空(共20小题；每小题1．5分，满分30分)

    阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

We make a living with what we get，but we make a life with what we give．

    ——Winston Churchill

  I am willing to 36  this saying．I have been  37  at the Boston Children’s Hospital every year since 1 was thirteen．At the beginning，I only wanted to go  38  1 would get  39 for entertaining children at the hospital．After giving my time for two 40  months，my  40  changed completely．

    When l first  41  into the waiting room on the ground floor，I was very  42  that I  would be spending my entire summer with kids．As it became  43  for me to show up every day at 8 a．m．，many kids began to  44  me．To my surprise，I began looking forward to seeing their 45  faces as well．They were always enthusiastic about  46  ．My heart warmed every time I heard their 47  voices asking me for a story or an answer to a question．I felt  48  and irreplaceable．(不可替代的)．As I look back，I see the  49  that these special children have had on me．It is because of them that I have  50  a desire to become a psychologist．Recently，I have volunteered for a month．I have been asked to 51 on many different floors besides the waiting room  52  I started．The kids on the floors above are usually there for a longer time．53  their anxiety and desire to get better and go home，they always offer me a(n)  54  smile．I feel renewed after spending a day with them because I realize that there is much more to  55  than money．It is much more important to love and to be loved．

36．A．know    B．believe    C．respect   D．understand

 37．A．1iving    B．studying    C．staying   D．volunteering

 38．A．unless    B．until    C．therefore     D．because

 39．A．praise    B．pay    C．friends       D．prize

 40．A．plan    B．schedule    C．opinion    D．1ife

41．A．1ooked    B．stepped    C．turned    D．appeared

42．A．delighted    B．selfish    C．nervous   D．worried

43．A．work    B．regulation    C．routine    D．experience

44．A．notice    B．expect    C．embarrass   D．amaze

45．A．special    B．bright    C．dirty       D．silent

46．A．smiling   B．sleeping   C．1earning    D．playing

47．A．1oud    B．crazy      C．eager     D．desperate

48．A．valued   B．amused    C．disappointed   D．surprised

49．A．expectation    B．dream    C．influence   D．1ove

50．A．developed    B．remembered   C．worked  D．improved

51．A．help out    B．drop in    C．go around     D．turn out

52．A．what    B．which    C．where     D．that

53．A．With     B．For    C．Against    D．Despite

54．A．willing   B．optimistic   C．sad    D．pitiful

55．A．life      B．work       C．nature  D．family

How do you write a story based on a person__________job you are not familiar?

    A．whose    B．with whom    C．with whose   D．to whom

Owning pets has a positive influence on my life and I think animals __________our protection．

  A．deserve    B．confirm    C．devote    D．remind