01

There was on shop in the town of Mufulira， which was notorious for its color bar. It was a drugstore. While Europeans were served at the counter， a long line of Africans queued at the window and often not only were kept waiting but， when their turn came to be served， were rudely treated by the shop assistants. One day I was determined to make a public protest against this kind of thing， and many of the schoolboys in my class followed me to the store and waited outside to see what would happen when I went in.

I simply went into the shop and asked the manager politely for some medicine. As soon as he saw me standing in the place where only European customers were allowed to stand he shouted at me in a bastard language that is only used by an employed when speaking to his servants. I stood at the counter and politely requested in English that I should be served. The manager became exasperated and said to me in English， “If you stand there till Christmas I will never serve you.”

I went to the District commissioner’s office. Fortunately the District Commissioner was out， for he was one of the old school; however， I saw a young District Officer who was a friend of mine. He was very concerned to hear my story and told me that if ever I wanted anything more from the drugstore all I had to do was come to him personally and he would buy my medicine for me. I protested that that was not good enough. I asked him to accompany me back to the store and to make a protest to the manager. This he did， and I well remember him saying to the manager， “Here is Mr. Kaunda who is a responsible member of the Urban Advisory Council， and you treat him like a common servant.” The manager of the drugstore apologized and said， “If only he had introduced himself and explained who he was， then， of course I should have given him proper service.”

I had to explain once again that he had missed my point. Why should I have to introduce myself every time I went into a store…any more than I should have to buy my medicine by going to a European friend? I want to prove that any man of any color， whatever his position， should have the right to go into any shop and buy what he wanted.

1.“Color bar” in the first paragraph comes closest in meaning to ___.

A .a bar which is painted in different colors.

B. the fact that white and black customers are served separately.

C. a bar of chocolate having different colors.

D. a counter where people of different colors are served with beer.

2.The writer was， at the time of the story， ___.

A. a black school teacher

B .an African servant

C. a black， but a friend of Europeans

D a rich black

3.The manager of the drugstore shouted at the writer in a bastard language because ___.

A. he hadn’t learned to speak polite English. B. he thought the writer wouldn’t understand English.

C. that was the usual language used by Europeans when speaking to Africans.

D. that was the only language he could speak when he was angry.

4.In the third paragraph，“he was one of the old school” means ___.

A he believed in the age-old practice of racial discrimination.

B. he was a very old man.

C. he graduated from an old，conservative school.

D. he was in charge of an old school.

5.Why didn’t the writer wait at the window of the drugstore like other black African?

A. Because he thought he was educated and should be treated differently.

B. Because he thought，being an important person，he should not be kept waiting.

C. Because he thought his white friends would help him out.

D. Because he wanted to protest against racial discrimination.

2

Look at the keyboard of any standard typewriter or computer. "Q," "W," "E," "R," "T" and "Y"

are the first six letters. Who decided on this arrangement of the letters? And why?

People tried for centuries to invent the typewriter. In 1714 in England, Henry Mill

filed a patent for a machine called An Artificial Machine or Method for the Impressing or

Transcribing of Letters, Singly or Progressively one after another, as in Writing, whereby

all Writing whatsoever may be Engrossed in Paper or Parchment so Neat and Exact as not to be

distinguished from Print. That machine probably didn’ t sell because no one could remember

its name!

The first practical typewriter was patented in the United States in 1868 by Christopher

Latham Sholes. His machine was known as the type-writer. It had a movable carriage, a lever

for turning paper from line to line, and a keyboard on which the letters were arranged in

alphabetical order.

But Sholes had a problem. On his first model, his "ABC" key arrangement caused the keys

to jam when the typist worked quickly. Sholes didn’ t know how to keep the keys from

sticking, so his solution was to keep the typist from typing too fast.Sholes asked his

brother-in-law to rearrange the keyboard so that the commonest letters were not so close

together and the type bars would come from opposite directions. Thus they would not clash

together and jam the machine.The new arrangement was the QWERTY arrangement typists use

today. Of course, Sholes claimed that the new arrangement was scientific and would add speed

and efficiency. The only efficiency it added was to slow the typist down, since almost any

word in the English language required the typist’ s fingers to cover more distance on the

keyboard.

The advantages of the typewriter outweighed the disadvantages of the keyboard. Typists

memorized the crazy letter arrangement, and the typewriter became a huge success. By the

time typists had memorized the new arrangement of letters and built their speed, typewriter

technology had improved, and the keys didn’ t stick as badly as they had at first.

1.We know from the passage that the inventor of the first practical typewriter is_____.

A.Henry Mill

B.Christopher Latham Sholes

C.Sholes’brother-in-law

D.Allbert Einstein

2.The author thinks the machine invented by Henry Mill could not be sold because_____.

A.it was difficult for people to accept new things

B.there were great disadvantages of the keyboard

C.the machine could not be distinguished from print

D.the name of the machine was too long

3.Sholes decided the QWERTY arrangement of the keyboard in order to_____.

A.arrange the letters in alphabetical order

B.cause the keys to jam when the typist worked quickly

C.solve the problem of the keys jamming

D.compete with "ABC" key arrangement

4.It is inferred that the QWERTY arrangement of the keyboard__.

A.is the most scientific arrangement

B.adds speed and efficiency of typists

C.keeps the typist from typing too fast

D.is easy for typists to memorize

5.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A.The Arrangement of The Letters on Keyboard

B.The Story of Christopher Latham Sholes

C.How to Invent The Typewriter

D.The First Practical Typewriter

3

A scientific panel convened by the World Health Organization recommended guidelines on Friday for doctors conducting clinical studies of SARS patients. The panel urged doctors to apply the guidelines in analyzing the masses of potentially useful information about various therapies that were collected in this year’s epidemic. Much of that information has not been published or analyzed.

“It is a matter of urgency to get better analysis and review,” said Dr. Simon Mardel, a WHO official who led the two-day meeting that ended on Friday. He said thousands of potential therapies and compounds had been tested so far as researchers try to determine treatments for SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. “We recognize that having no treatment for SARS is hindering our ability to control an epidemic in so many ways.” He said.

In the epidemic earlier this year, various treatments, like drugs to fight the virus or strengthen the immune system, as well as traditional Chinese medicine, were delivered under emergency conditions, in widely different settings and countries to patients suffering from varying stages of the illness. Those conditions—generally without standardized measurements or controlled situations—have made it hard to interpret results.

Standard supportive therapy like nursing, and in severe cases the use of mechanical respirators(呼吸器)to help patients breathe, is the mainstay(主要支持)of SARS care, and helped many patients survive. But doctors still do not know how best to treat SARS patients who have breathing difficulties. Dr. Mardel said. One method is invasive ventilation. A second method involves blowing oxygen into the lungs through a mask. Both carry the risk of transmitting the virus to hospital employees. Without proper analysis, the panel was unable to say definitively which treatment worked best, or which caused the most harm. “There is a lack of shared information,” Dr. Mardel said, noting that a lot of data have not been published.

The panel also agreed on guidelines that would allow doctors to conduct quick and safe clinical trials, a process that generally takes years to complete. The world Health Organization, a United Nations agency did not release the guidelines. Dr. Mardel said they were flexible because no one knew where, when and in what setting SARS would return. Experts in many countries have already listed the treatments they want to test, and the health agency is leaving these decisions to individual nations.

1. Guidelines recommended by the scientific panel can be used for _____.

A. gathering potentially useful information about various therapies collected

B. conducting clinical studies of SARS patients

C. determining treatment for SARS

D. publishing all the information about SARS

2. According to the passage, it is difficult to interpret the results of certain treatments for SARS because _____.

A. patients were in different countries

B. patients were given medicines in widely different settings

C. patients were at different stages of the illness

D. these conditions had no standardized measurements or controlled situations

3. According to doctors, the two methods to treat SARS patients who have breathing difficulties both _______.

A. carry the risk of infecting hospital employees

B. are effective in curing patients who have breathing difficulties

C. don’t run the risk of transmitting the virus to hospital employees

D. prove to work effectively and cause no harm

4. According to a WHO official, Dr. Mardel, the guidelines were flexible because _____.

A. SARS would reemerge in poor countries

B. no one knew where, when and in what setting SARS would return

C. SARS would not appear in developed countries

D. no one knew whether SARS would return or not

5. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. SARS, a Dreadful Disease

B. No Good Methods to Treat SARS

C. SARS Will Return One Day

D. Health Panel Recommends New Guidelines on SARS