Much of the American anxiety about old age is a flight from the reality of death. One of the striking qualities of the American character is the unwillingness to face either the fact or meaning of death. In the more somber tradition of American literature—from Hawthorne and Melville and Poe to Faulkner and Hemingway—one finds a tragic depth that disguises the surface thinness of the ordinary American death attitudes. By an effort of the imagination, the great writers faced problems that the culture in action is reluctant to face—the fact of death, its mystery, and its place in the back-and-forth shuttling of the eternal recurrence. The unblinking confrontation of death in Greek time, the elaborate theological patterns woven around it in the Middle Ages, the ritual celebration of it in the rich, peasant cultures of Latin and Slavic Europe and in primitive cultures; these are difficult to find in American life.

A . Philadelphia B . Plymouth C . Bosto

A . the reappearance of the"powwow" B . the legal steps they are taking to recover land and resources that have been grabbed form them illegally C . their refusal to live on reservations D . None of the above

A . but there is no provision in the Constitution for political parties B . and the Constitution has clear provision C . but the founding fathers had strong apprehension of political parties D . Both A and C

American has always been a land of beginnings. After Europeans 'discovered' America in the fifteenth century, the mysterious New World became for many people a genuine hope of a new life, an escape from poverty and persecution, a chance to start again. We can say that, as nation, America begins with that hope. When, however, does American literature begin？ American literature begins with American experiences. Long before the first colonists arrived, before Christopher Columbus, before the Northmen who 'found' America about the year 1,000, Native Americans lived here. Each tribe's literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land. Another kind of experience, one filled with fear and excitement, found its expression in the reports that Columbus and other explorers sent home in Spain, France and England. In addition, the journals of the people who lived and died in the New England wilderness tell unforgettable tales of hard and sometimes heartbreaking experiences of those early years. Experience, then, is the key to early American literature. The New World provided a great variety of experiences, and these experiences demanded a wide variety of expressions by an even wider variety of early American writers. These writers included John Smith, who spent only two-and-a-half years on the American continent. They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd, who thought of themselves as British subjects, never suspecting a revolution that would create a United States of America with a literature of its own. American Indians, explorers, Puritan ministers, frontier wives, plantation owner -- they are all the creators of the first American literature. What does 'that hope' in the first paragraph refer to？ A．The hope that America would be discovered. B．The hope to start a new life. C．The hope to see the mysteries of the New World. D．The hope to find poverty here.

A.Higher tuition fees for undergraduate studies. B.Admissions approval from the bar association. C.Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in another major. D.Receiving training by professional associations.

A、 AA B、 AC C、 AF D、 AZ

The potato is also from the New World. Around 1600, the Spanish brought it from Peru to Europe, where it soon was widely grown. The potato was the main food at Irish table. Thousands of Irish people starved when the crop failed during the "Potato Famine"(土豆饥荒) of 1845～1846, and thousands more were forced to move to America. There are many other foods that have traveled from South America to the old World. But some others went in the opposite direction. Brazil is now the world's largest grower of coffee, and coffee is an important crop in Colombia and other South American countries. But it is native to Ethiopia (埃塞俄比亚). It was first made into a drink by Arabs during the 1400's. According to an Arabic story, coffee was discovered when a man named Kaldi noticed that his goats were attracted to the red fruits on a coffee bush. He tried one and experienced the "wide-awake" feeling that one-third of the world's population now starts the day with. According to the passage, which of the following has changed the most in the last 500 years？ A．Food. B．Chocolate drinks. C．Potato. D．Coffee.

By this time, the World War II had ended in Europe. But the Japanese refused to surrender, the Americans decided that by dropping an atomic bomb on Japan, they could end the war quickly and save more of their soldier’s lives. Soon after midnight on 6 August 1945, a bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, a civilian target. No warning was given and there was total devastation. Almost all the buildings were destroyed and more than 100000 people died or were horribly wounded. The Japanese military still did not want to surrender so three days later, the Americans dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, killing 45000 people. The Japanese government was discussing ending the war when they heard the news of Nagasaki. Finally, they surrendered and the World War II came to an end. At first, the scientists who had built the bomb were pleased that it had helped to end the war. However, many would come to realize that they had helped to create the most terrible weapon known to man. The first atomic bomb ______. A．was less powerful B．was dropped in Nagasaki C．was a failure D．was tested in desert

An official report concluding that the criminal justice system is failing has added to the government's problems. The Audit Commission, the government's watchdog, says that the police too often charge suspects with the wrong offences, use inaccurate computerized information and face serious inefficiencies in the forensic science (the use of scientific methods by the police) service. Court delays alone are costing taxpayers￡80m ($120m) a year. The result is that few criminals are brought to justice and even fewer convicted. Only 6% of the more than 5m offences recorded by the police last year resulted in a conviction. Hardly surprising, then, that more than half the public believes that the criminal justice system is ineffective. The main purpose of the White Paper published last year is to address concerns that the procedures of the court are weighted too heavily against the prosecution. It includes many sensible and uncontroversial proposals. It asks for more support for witnesses, many of whom are frightened of testifying. A survey of one London court found that, of 140 witnesses called in a two-week period, only 19 actually turned up. Making juries more representative must also make sense. Getting off jury service is too easy. In some London courts, two-thirds of those called for jury service fail to turn up. As a result, juries are often composed of housewives, the unemployed and the retired. The White Paper recommends a check on professionals' getting off service, who can excuse themselves by saying their work is too important, and proposes penalties for those who fail to comply. Other proposed reforms will be more controversial. At present, no defendant can be tried for the same offence twice even if compelling new evidence emerges. The government's plan to scrap that law will be resisted by civil liberties campaigners, as will the proposal that previous convictions should be disclosed in open court if they are relevant to the case being heard. Whether or not such proposals make it into law, the White Paper did not do much to address public concerns. The reason why 94% of crimes do not result in a conviction is that three-quarters of them are not cleared up, and so nobody is charged. That is the fault of the police, not the courts; and that is the part of the criminal justice system that the government needs to focus on if it is to make a difference. [A] use insufficient computerized information. [B] the work of the police, not that of the courts. [C] a short-term solution rather than the long-term causes. [D] the mistaken offences. [E] most of those called for jury duty are absent. [F] to address public concerns. [G] who are afraid of appearing in court. According to the text, the government would pay more attention to ______

David Salt is an expert on plants at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He is working with plants that store large amounts of metals. In recent years, scientists have shown interest in using such plants to clean up harmful waste materials. Professor Salt says such plants also could be used to improve people's diets or even to create foods that fight cancer. Humans need a number of metals in their diets, including iron and zinc. These metals are needed in very small amounts, however. That is why they are called micronutrients. The lack of micronutrients is blamed for health problems in many developing countries. Children and pregnant women are mostly affected. Recently, Mr. Salt announced that he has identified and copied the genes from a kind of plant that stores metals in its tissues. He says his study suggests it may be possible to develop plants that contain minerals needed for good health. For example, the metal selenium is a strong anti-cancer agent. Some wild plants store selenium naturally. Mr. Salt says foods to fight cancer might be created if genes from these plants could be moved into crop plants. Locoweed, which is a common plant in the western U.S., stores selenium. Professor Salt says it may be possible to create cancer-fighting foods from it. He and scientists from a company called Unicycle Therapies have copied the gene that causes locoweed to take up selenium from the soil. Many people take pills to add important minerals or vitamins to their diet. However, Mister Salt notes that most selenium products sold in health food stores are of little use. That is because the human body can only take in and use selenium if it is in the right chemical form. The scientist says his team would like to develop a vegetable crop high in selenium. He wants to create an anti-cancer product in the foods we already eat. According to Pro. Salt, plants that take up large amounts of metal in their tissues can be used to ______. A．clean polluted soil and cure disease like cancer B．clean up harmful waste materials in soil and improve people's diet C．produce large number of micronutrients such as iron and zinc D．create food with important minerals or vitamins

A、James Fenimore Cooper B、Ralph Waldo Emerson C、Thomas Jefferson D、Washington Irving