Australia---The vote for euthanasia(安乐死)was finally taken at 3:45 this morning. After six months’ argument and final 16 hours’ hot debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The bill was passed by the vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, the director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on through the group’s on-line service, Death NET. Hofsess says, “We posted it all day long, because this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”
The full import may take a while to understand. The NT Rights of the Terminally III law has left physicians and citizens trying to deal with its moral and practical meaning. Some have breathed sighs of relief, but others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste(匆忙,急忙) of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to for euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes(多米诺骨牌) to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as incurably ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin man suffering from lung cancer, the law means he can get on with living without the fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.
1.According to the text ,which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Australia now is the only country in the world to pass the law of euthanasia.
B. All people in Australia don’t have the same positive attitude to euthanasia.
C. Many patients will ask their doctors for euthanasia because they are afraid of death.
D. According to the law, if a patient requests death, his or her wish will be met after 48 hours.
2.The underlined sentence in Para 2, “observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.” means that observers are waiting to see ___________.
A. the result of the game of dominoes.
B. that people’s attitude to euthanasia will be changed.
C. that the bill about euthanasia in Australia will come to an end.
D. the similar bills will be passed in other countries.
3.Australia was the first country to pass the bill of euthanasia, but not USA or Canada. Which one is NOT the reason ?
A. In Australia, the technology of extending life is advanced.
B. In Australia, it is easy to deal with the moral and practical meaning.
C. In Australia, old people take up great part in the population of the whole country.
D. Australians gradually realize suffering from a terrible disease is worse than immediate death.
4.It can be inferred from the text that _____________.
A. when Lloyd Nickson dies, he will face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia.
B. physicians and citizens in Australia share the same view on euthanasia.
C. other countries are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia.
D. under the bill, patients requesting death are sure to be injected by deadly medicine.
5.What’s the author’s attitude to euthanasia?
A. Negative B. Critical C. Positive D. Doubtful
Today, in many high schools, teaching is now a technical miracle of computer labs, digital cameras, DVD players and laptops. Teachers can e-mail parents, post messages for students on online bulletin(公告，告示) boards, and take attendance with a quick movement of a mouse.
Even though we are now living in the digital age, the basic and most important element of education has not changed. Most students still need that one-on-one, teacher-student relationship to learn and to succeed. Teenagers need instruction in English, math or history, but they also want personal advice and encouragement. Kids talk with me about their families, their weekend plans, their favorite TV shows and their relationship problems. In my English and journalism classes, we talk about Shakespeare and persuasive(富有哲理的) essays, but we also discuss college basketball, the war in Iraq and career choices. Students show me pictures of their rebuilt cars, their family vacations, and their newborn baby brothers. This personal connection is the necessary link between teachers and students that no amount of technology can improve upon or replace.
A few years ago I had a student in sophomore English who was struggling with my class and with school in general. Although he was a humorous young man who liked to joke around, I knew his family life was far from ideal. Whenever I approached him about missing homework or low test grades, he always had the same reply, “It doesn't matter because I'm quitting school anyway.” Even though he always said this in a half-teasing way, I knew he needed to hear my different opinion and my “value of a high school education” lecture. He needed to hear this speech from me. After he left my class, he struggled through the next two years of school. But, he did finally graduate because we kept telling him to hang in there. We’d cared about him finishing school.
Recently, I saw this former student working at a local Italian restaurant. I told him again how proud I was of him. He said that he was hoping to go back to school to become a certified electrician. I encouraged him to get that training.
Students rely on compassionate teachers to guide, to tutor, to listen, to laugh and to cry with them. Teachers provide the most important link in the educational process—the human one.
1.The first paragraph mainly talks about _____________.
A. the variety of modern teaching methods.
B. the wide use of modern technology in education
C. the importance of teacher-parent relationship.
D. the importance of using modern technology.
2.The underlined word “ compassionate” in Para 5 means ____________.
A. ambitious B. knowledgeable C. sympathetic D. generous
3. According to the text, the most important element in education is _________.
A. teachers’ good instruction B. advanced technology
C. teachers’ encouragement D. personal connection
4.The author states his view of education by __________.
A. example B. description C. figure D. comparison
My friend John always has something to tell me. He knows so much that 21 men have to have older and more worldly wise men to tell them, 22 , who to trust, how to care for others and how to live life 23 the fullest.
Recently, John lost his 24 Janet. For eight years she fought against cancer, but in the end her sickness had the last 25 . One day John took out a folded piece of 26 from his wallet. He had found it, so he told me, when he 27 up some drawers at home.
It was a 28 love letter Janet had written. The note could look like a school girl’s scrawls(潦草地写，乱涂) about her dream guy. 29 the letter was written by a woman who had had seven children, a woman who fought for her life and who 30 only had a few months left to live.
It was 31 a beautiful recipe (处方，食谱) for how to keep a marriage together. Janet’s 32 of her husband begins like this, “Loved me. Took care of me. Worried about me.”
“Helped me when I was ill.” The next 33 reads. After that she turned 34 the paper and added “Warmth. Humor. Kindness. Thoughtfulness.” And then she writes about the husband she has 35 with and loved most in her life. “ 36 there when I needed you.” The last words she wrote 37 all the others. I can see her for me when she added thoughtfully “Good friend.”
I stand beside John now, and cannot pretend to know how it feels to lose someone who is as close to 38 as Janet was to him. I need to 39 what he has to say much more than he needs to talk.
“John,” I ask. “How do you stick together with someone through 38 years—not to mention the sickness? How do I know 40 I can bear to stand by my wife’s side if she becomes sick one day?”
“You can.” he says quietly, “ If you love her enough, you can.”
1.A. old B. wise C. young D. foolish
2.A. for instance B. at no time C. in that case D. as a matter of fact
3.A. in B. to C. at D. for
4.A. friend B. colleague C. wife D. sister
5.A. possibility B. chance C. hope D. word
6.A. handkerchief B. cloth C. leather D. paper
7.A. fixed B. looked C. tidied D. put
8.A. small B. long C. descriptive D. talkative
9.A. So B. But C. And D. While
10.A. probably B. surely C. certainly D. definitely
11.A. only B. firstly C. lastly D. also
12.A. imagination B. description C. dream D. expectation
13.A. letter B. note C. line D. paragraph
14.A. away B. down C. off D. over
15. A. lived B. dealt C. quarreled D. argued
16.A. Constantly B. Always C. Never D. Seldom
17.A. take the place of B. get rid of C. take away D. sum up
18.A. me B. Janet C. John D. you
19.A. speak up B. repeat C. discuss D. hear
20.A. why B. where C. if D. when
What a pity. If I had caught that flight, I ____ over the Pacific Ocean now.
A. would fly B. would have flown
C. would be flying D. were flying
I don’t think it easy, even if we work hard, _____ the South Korea and the North Korea to sit down to talk at present.
A. persuaded B. to persuade C. persuade D. persuading
He is considered to be a gifted manager, ____ with a quick mind and good humor.
A. one B. each C. that D. who
