Georgia was waking up to a new president Monday but it was also getting as its first lady a green?eyed linguist from Holland who has already managed to cast a spell over the little Caucasus nation. Sandra Roelofs is seen by some as the secret weapon which enables her husband Saakashvili to win in this presidential election.

       She runs an investment consultancy（投資咨詢公司）, speaks six languages and some believe she is the real brains behind her husband’s rise to power.

       Roelofs, who is a year younger than her husband, met him in 1993 when he was studying an international law programme in Strasbourg, France. She planed to go from there to Somalis as an aid worker but Saakashvili persuaded her to go with him instead to New York, where he had got a scholarship. They married soon after and when Saakashvili returned to his native Georgia to begin a career in politics, she went with him.

       She has enchanted(使人心醉) many of her adopted countrymen. The mention of her name sends women swooning（神魂顛倒）, and melts the tough expressions of strong Georgian men.“You can really tell that she cares about people,” says a resident of the capital, Tbilisi.“She runs a hunitarian organization. She is smart and pretty and kind and did you hear the way she speaks Georgian? Perfectly!”

      The new first lady’s looks and intelligence play a large part in her appeal. But Georgians are especially taken by her simple manner. She has said that she plans to keep living in the family’s modest flat, even though they have the right to move into a luxurious government residence. “She doesn’t care about fancy houses and cars.” said Malika, a 29?year?old civil servant in Tbilisi.

11. The underlined part “cast a spell over” means_________.

A. cast a shadow over                                B. attract

C. love                                                     D. respect

12. Which of the following can be best used to describe Sandra Roelofs?

A. Proud.                     B. Hard?working.        C. Charming.         D. Humble.

13.What moves Georgians most is that Sandra Roelofs is very ________.

A. pretty               B. modest                     C. intelligent          D. plain

14. Which is the right order in which Sandra Roelofs did the following?

a. Roelofs married Saakashvili.

       b. She planned to go from France to Somalis as an aid worker.

c. Roelofs runs an investment consultancy.

d. Roelofs came from Holland.

e. Roelofs went to Georgia with Saakashvili.

A. d?a?e?c?b                                B. d?a?b?e?c

C. a?b?e?c?d                                       D. d?b?a?e?c

She is quiet, soft-spoken and has a kind face and a strong heart. She is my mom, Lili.
When I was nine, Lili quitted her job and started her own business. She said she didn’t want to stay at home and work as a housewife: “It’s a waste of life.” Lili became so busy that she spent less and less time with me. She didn’t help me with my schoolwork. It was, in her words, “so that you can develop your independence”. We quarreled because she rarely showed up at parents’ meetings.
Like mother, like daughter. I have many things in common with Lili. I want everything to be under control. I want to be perfect and I don’t expect other people to help me. I push myself hard to achieve my goals.
After I started to go to high school, Lili and I were too busy to communicate much with each other.
In biology class I began to be depressed. When the teacher showed us a picture of a butterfly, I was scared and screamed. I had a vision of thousands of butterflies flying toward me.
That night I told Lili about it. The next morning, I saw that she had red eyes with black circles around them.
She took me to see a therapist (治療師). Three hours later, the therapist told Lili that my life was like a wheel spinning (旋轉(zhuǎn)) faster and faster and that was the reason for what had happened to me. I only realized it when my body couldn’t stand the pressure anymore. At these words, Lili burst into tears. “It’s all my fault, she’s just a kid and I didn’t have time to take care of her….” To be honest, I had never seen Lili cry before.
After that, Lili began to spend more time at home, cooking and dragging me to do sports. I realized she was the one who would always be there when I was in real trouble. No mom is perfect, but she is the one who really cares about her kid.
【小題1】Lili quitted her job and started her own business because _________.

A．she wanted to make more money	B．she was not willing to look after me
C．she didn’t want to waste her life	D．she likes keeping busy

【小題2】We quarreled because __________.

A．she began to spend less and less time with me

B．she didn’t help me with my schoolwork.

C．she seldom attended the parents’ meetings in my school.

D．Lili and I were too busy to communicate much with each other.

【小題3】What can we learn from the passage?

A．Most women don’t want to be a housewife.

B．Most children want their mothers to accompany them at home.

C．We need to understand our mothers’ busy life.

D．Although mothers are not perfect, they all love the children

【小題4】Which of the following statements is WRONG?

A．Lili is a quiet, strong-willed woman.

B．Lili began to spend more time at home after visiting the therapist.

C．I was scared and screamed in biology class because I hate butterflies.

D．I only realized my life was like a wheel when my body couldn’t stand the pressure anymore.

【小題5】What is the best title for the passage?

A．Mom Does Care.	B．A Busy but Successful Mother.
C．Change From Mother to Businessman.	D．A Student’s Opinion on Mother.

After a lot of weightlifting and 25 exhausting days training, a 52-year-old woman recently became the first female “gripman” on San Francisco’s historic cable cars.

Fannie Barnes passed her written test and completed a final run under the watchful eye of a supervisor, Municipal Railway spokesman Alan Siegel said.

Deep calluses(繭) are already forming at the base of her fingers and there is a hole in her glove. Two other women quit after a single day with injured muscles. “Now they’re going to have to change the word from gripman to grip person, just because of me,” Barnes said earlier, “I’m so excited.”

After almost a year of serious workouts, Barns can pull more than 61 kilos, only 23 kilos less than her body weight. And she’ll need the muscle, for this is no modern, push-button technology. Every time a car starts up again after making a stop, the gripman must haul back on a lever controlling a device that grips the cable, which runs continuously at 14 kilometers per hour. If the grip slips, so does the car. A second person operates the brakes.

In addition to having to throw her weight around on the job, she’s got to throw out some attitude to men who were hard to convince. The city employs 76 men in the job.

“A lot of men said mean things to me and didn’t want to help train me. But I would like to thank the guys who were against me because they gave me even more inspiration to do it.” she said.

Not all the men were against her. Many of the male colleagues yelled out support as she did her training runs. One of her biggest tests was drizzly December morning. She first went down the Hyde Street Hill, considered the most dangerous incline on the cable car routes. “I had to have the will and I had to believe I could do it,” she said. “It was scary, but as I started going down full grip and felt that I was in control, I knew I was on my way,” Barnes already is a pioneer of sorts. She started working as a cable car conductor six years ago, collecting fares and assisting on the back brake. She is one of only three women to have that job. But she said she always wanted the job up front on the car. (400)

What is unusual about Fannie Barnes getting a job as a gripman?

 A. She is the oldest one to work as a grpman.

 B. She is the first women to work as a gripman.

 C. She is the fattest women to work as a gripman.

 D. She is the most suitable one to work as a gripman.

What did the 52-year-old woman do when she first began working on the city’s cable car?

 A. As a gripman.    B. As a conductor.    C. As a brakeman.  D. As a supervisor.

It can be inferred from the passage that Fannie Barnes is ________.

A. strong and easy-going            B. strong-willed and self-confident

C. popular and humorous            D. considerate and quick-tempered

 

 To my mind, she is the most wonderful teacher that I’ve ever known, _______ is able to get across to her students ______ she really thinks and means.

A. which; that        B. that; as        C. who; what      D. who; that