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n. 体育运动，田径
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第一篇 From Ponzi to Madoff
The year was 1920. The country was the United States of America. The man’s name was Charles Ponzi. Ponzi told people to stop depositing money in a savings account. Instead, they should give it to him to save for them. Ponzi promised to pay them more than the bank. For example, a savings account might pay you $ 5 a year for every $ 100 you deposit. Ponzi, however, would pay you $ 40 a year for every $ 100 you gave him to hold. Many people thought this was a good plan. They began to give their money to Ponzi.
How could Ponzi make so much money for people? This is what he did with the money people gave him: He used some of that money to pay other people who gave him money. However, he also kept a lot of the money for himself. Soon he had $ 250 million. This was a kind of theft, and it was against the law. The people who gave him their money didn’t think anything was wrong. Ponzi paid them every month, just like a bank. Ponzi continued this way of working for two years. Then one day, he didn’t have enough money to pay all the people. They discovered his crime, and he went to prison for fraud.
Ninety years later, people began to hear about a businessman in New York named Bernard Madoff. People said he gave good advice about money. They said when they gave him their money, he paid them a lot more than the bank. Madoff helped hospitals, schools, and individuals earn money. Over a period of 40 years, people gave him $ 170 billion. However, no one investigated what he did with the money. The people who gave Madoff their money also didn’t think anything was wrong because he paid them every month.
One day, Madoff didn’t have enough money to pay all the people he needed to pay. That’s when people discovered how Madoff worked: He was taking money from some people to pay other people, just the way Charles Ponzi did. However, this time, instead of losing millions of dollars, people lost billions.
Madoff was accused of fraud, and United States government officials arrested him. He didn’t have to go on trial because he said he was guilty. In 2009, a judge sentenced him to 150 years in prison. Bernard Madoff’s crime was even bigger than Ponzi’s. It was the biggest fraud in history. The lesson of this story is clear. When something seems too good to be true, it probably is!
31．For every $ 100, Ponzi promised to pay people__________.
A．$ 5 a year.
B．$ 20 a year.
C．$ 40 a year.
D．$ 100 a year.
32．What did Ponzi do with the money people gave him?
A．He spent it all on things for himself.
B．He used some of it to pay other people.
C．He deposited it all in a bank.
D．He kept it all to save for a good plan.
33．What was Ponzi’s crime?
A．He robbed the banks of millions of dollars.
B．He gave people more than the bank did.
C．He kept a lot of other people’s money for himself.
D．He did not pay people their interests.
34．How long did Madoffs tricks last?
A．Forty years.
B．Four year.
C．Nine years.
D．Ninety years.
35．Why didn’t Madoff have to go on trial?
A．The officials couldn’t find any evidence against him.
B．He had friends in the government who helped him.
C．He admitted he was guilty.
D．He returned all the illegal money.
第二篇 Puerto Rican Cuisine（菜肴）
Puerto Rico, a Caribbean（加勒比海区）island rich in history and remarkable natural beauty, has a cuisine all its own. Immigration（移民）to the island has helped to shape its cuisine, with people from all over the world making various contributions to it. However, before the arrival of these immigrants, the Taino people lived on the island of Puerto Rico. Taino cuisine included such foods as rodents（啮齿动物） fresh shellfish and fish fried in corn oil.
Many aspects of Taino cuisine continue today in Puerto Rican cooking, but it has been heavily influenced by the Spanish, who invaded Puerto Rico in 1508, and Africans, who were initially brought to Puerto Rico to work as slaves. Taino cooking styles were mixed with ideas brought by the Spanish and Africans to create new dishes. The Spanish extended food choices by bringing cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep to the island. Africans also added to the island’s food culture by introducing powerful, contrasting tastes in dishes. In fact, much of the food Puerto Rico is now famous for—coffee, coconuts, and oranges—was actually imported by foreigners to the island.
A common assumption many people make about Puerto Rican food is that it is very spicy（辛辣的）. It’s true that chili peppers are popular; aij caballero in particular is a very hot chili pepper that Puerto Ricans enjoy. However, milder（微辣的） tastes are popular too, such as sofrito. As the base of many Puerto Rican dishes, sofrito is a sauce made from chopped onions, green bell peppers, sweet chili peppers, and a handful of other spices. It is fried in oil and then added to other dishes.
36．Who lived in Puerto Rico first?
A．The Africans.
B．The Spanish.
C．The Americans.
D．The Taino people.
37．In the first paragraph the word “it” refers to __________.
A．immigration
B．Caribbean history
G. the island’s natural beauty
D．Puerto Rican cuisine
38．What is the main idea of the second paragraph?
A．Taino dishes are important in Puerto Rican cooking.
B．Food imported by foreigners isn’t really Puerto Rican.
C．Puerto Rican cooking has many outside influences.
D．African foods have probably had the most influence.
39．How is sofrito used?
A．It is eaten before meals.
B．It is added to other dishes.
C．It is used where foods are too spicy.
D．It is eaten as a main dish.
40．Which of the following is NOT true?
A．Softito is a type of extremely spicy food.
B．Many people think Puerto Rican food is spicy.
C．Puerto Rican cuisine uses a lot of chili peppers.
D．Aij caballero is a type of chili pepper.
第三篇 The Changing Middle Class
The United States perceives itself to be a middle-class nation. However, middle class is not a real designation, nor does it carry privileges（特权）. It is more of a perception, which probably was as true as it ever could be right after World War II. The economy was growing; more and more people owned their own homes; workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them; and nearly everyone who wanted a higher education could have one. Successful people enjoyed upward social mobility. They may have started out poor, but they could become rich. Successful people also found that they had greater geographic mobility. In other words, they found themselves moving to and living in a variety of places.
The middle class collectively holds several values and principles. One strong value is the need to earn enough money to feel that one can determine one’s own economic fate. In addition, middle-class morality（道德观）embraces principles of individual responsibility, importance of family, obligations to others, and believing in something outside oneself.
But in the 1990s those in the middle class found that there was a price for success. A U. S. News World Report survey in 1994 indicated that 75 percent of Americans believed that middle class families could no longer make ends meet. Both spouses now worked, as did some of the children; long commutes became routine; the need for child care put strains on the family; and public schools were not as good as they once were. Members of the middle class were no longer financing their lifestyles through earnings but were using credit to stay afloat. The understanding of just what middle class meant was changing.
41．This passage gives information about __________.
A．a social and economic group
B．an individual
C．a political organization
D．a government department
42．In the years after World War II, the middle class were __________.
A．overburdened and in debt
B．hard working and doubtful
C．happy and full of hope
D．young and upset
43．One important middle-class value is that __________.
A．people should always have fun
B．children should believe in themselves
C．debt is nothing to worry about
D．they should earn enough to finance their lifestyles
44．In the second paragraph, the word “collectively” means __________.
A．hesitatingly
B．unknowingly
C．weakly
D．commonly
45．The 1994 survey showed most Americans thought the middle class __________.
A．took pleasure in raising children
B．had a regular journey to work
C．could not earn enough money to maintain their lifestyles
D．could easily maintain their lifestyles
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