Benjamin West, the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he did not know about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days, a brush was made from camel’s hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.

The brush did not last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the cat began to look ragged （蓬乱）. His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.

The cat’s lot was about to improve. That year, one of Benjamin’s cousins, Mr. Pennington, came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin’s drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paint and some brushes. He also sent six engravings（版画） by an artist. These were the first pictures and first real paint and brushes Benjamin had ever seen. In 1747, when Benjamin was nine years old, Mr. Pennington returned for another visit. He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift. He asked Benjamin’s parents if he might take the boy to Philadelphia for a visit.

In the city, Mr. Pennington gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings. The boy began a landscape(风景) painting. William Williams, a well-known painter, came to see him work. Williams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home. The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little, having been a poor student. But he later said,＂Those two books were my companions by day, and under my pillow at night.＂While it is likely that he understood very little of the books, they were his introduction to classical paintings. The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.

21. What is the text mainly about?

A. Benjamin’s visit to Philadelphia.

B. Williams’ influence on Benjamin.

C. The beginning of Benjamin’s life as an artist.

D. The friendship between Benjamin and Pennington.

22. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 3 suggest?

A. The cat would be closely watched.

B. The cat would get some medical care.

C. Benjamin would leave his home shortly.

D. Benjamin would have real brushes soon.

23. What did Pennington do to help Benjamin develop his talent?

A. He took him to see painting exhibitions.

B. He provided him with painting materials.

C. He sent him to a school in Philadelphia.

D. He taught him how to make engravings.

24. Williams’ two books helped Benjamin to ________.

A. master the use of paints

B. appreciate landscape paintings

C. get to know other painters

D. make up his mind to be a painter

Getting less sleep has become a bad habit for most American kids. According to a new survey(调查) by the National Sleep Foundation, 51% of kids aged 10 to 18 go to bed at 10 pm or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early. Last year the Foundation reported that nearly 60% of 7- to 12-year-olds said they felt tired during the day, and 15% said they had fallen asleep at school.

How much sleep you need depends a lot on your age. Babies need a lot of rest: most of them sleep about 18 hours a day! Adults need about eight hours. For most school-age children, ten hours is ideal(理想的). But the new National Sleep Foundation survey found that 35% of 10- to 12-year-olds get only seven or eight hours. And guess what almost half of the surveyed kids said they do before bedtime? Watch TV.

＂More children are going to bed with TVs on, and there are more opportunities(机会) to stay awake, with more homework, the Internet and the phone,＂ says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University Medical School. She says these activities at bedtime can get kids all excited and make it hard for them to calm down and sleep. Other experts say part of the problem is chemical. Changing levels of body chemicals called hormones not only make teenagers’ bodies develop adult characteristics, but also make it hard for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 pm.

Because sleepiness is such a problem for teenagers, some school districts have decided to start high school classes later than they used to. Three years ago, schools in Edina, Minnesota, changed the start time from 7:25 am to 8:30 am. Students, parents and teachers are pleased with the results.

25. What is the new National Sleep Foundation survey on?

A. American kids’ sleeping habits.                           B. Teenagers’ sleep-related diseases.

C. Activities to prevent sleeplessness.                       D. Learning problems and lack of sleep.

26. How many hours of sleep do 11-year-olds need every day?

A. 7 hours.                        B. 8 hours.                C. 10 hours.              D. 18 hours.

27. Why do teenagers go to sleep late according to Carskadon?

A. They are affected by certain body chemicals.

B. They tend to do things that excite them.

C. They follow their parents’ examples.

D. They don’t need to go to school early.

FLORENCE, Italy—Svetlana Cojochru feels hurt. The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a caregiver to Italian kids and elderly, but in order to stay she’s had to prove her language skills by taking a test which requires her to write a postcard to an imaginary friend and answer a fictional job ad.

Italy is the latest Western European country trying to control a growing immigrant(移民) population by demanding language skills in exchange for work permits, or in some cases, citizenship.

Some immigrant advocates worry that as hard financial times make it more difficult for natives to keep jobs, such measures will become more a vehicle for intolerance than integration(融合). Others say it’s only natural that newcomers learn the language of their host nation, seeing it as a condition to ensure they can contribute to society.

Other European countries laid down a similar requirement for immigrants, and some terms are even tougher. The governments argue that this will help foreigners better join the society and promote understanding across cultures.

Italy, which has a much weaker tradition of immigration, has witnessed a sharp increase in immigration in recent years. In 1990, immigrants numbered some 1.14 million out of Italy’s then 56.7 million people, or about 2 percent. At the start of this year, foreigners living in Italy amounted to 4.56 million of a total population of 60.6 million, or 7.5 percent, with immigrants’ children accounting for an ever larger percentage of births in Italy.

Cojochru, the Moldovan caregiver, hoped obtaining permanent residence(居住权) would help her bring her two children to Italy; they live with her sister in Moldova, where salaries are among the lowest in Europe. She was skeptical that the language requirement would encourage integration.

Italians always ＂see me as a foreigner,＂ an outsider, even though she’s stayed in the country for years and can speak the local language fluently, she said.

28. Why does Cojochru have to take a language test?

A. To continue to stay in Italy.                                 B. To teach her children Italian.

C. To find a better job in Italy.                                 D. To better mix with the Italians.

29. Some people worry that the new language requirement may ________.

A. reduce Italy’s population quickly                          B. cause conflicts among people

C. lead to financial difficulties                                  D. put pressure on schools

30. What do we know about Cojochru?

A. She lives with her sister now in Italy.

B. She enjoys learning the Italian language.

C. She speaks Italian well enough for her job.

D. She wishes to go back to her home country.

How to Do Man-on-the-Street Interviews

The man-on-the-street interview is an interview in which a reporter hits the streets with a cameraman to interview people on the spot.      31      But with these tips, your first man-on-the-street interview experience can be easy.

●When your boss or professor sends you out to do man-on-the-street interviews for a story, think about the topic and develop a list of about ten general questions relating to it. For example, if your topic is about environmental problems in America, you might ask, ＂Why do you think environmental protection is important in America?＂      32      

●Hit the streets with confidence.      33      Say, ＂Excuse me, I work for XYZ News, and I was wondering if you could share your opinion about this topic.＂ This is a quick way to get people to warm up to you.

●Move on to the next person if someone tells you she is not interested in talking on camera. Don’t get discouraged.

●     34      Each interview that you get on the street shouldn’t be longer than ten minutes. As soon as you get the answer you need, move on to the next person. Make sure that as you go from interview to interview, you are getting a variety of answers. If everyone is giving you the same answer, you won’t be able to use it. A safe number of interviews to conduct is about six to ten.      35      

●If your news station or school requires interviewees to sign release forms to appear on the air, don’t leave work without them.

A. Limit your time.

B. As you approach people, be polite.

C. If you don’t own a camera, you can buy one.

D. For new reporters, this can seem like a challenging task.

E. To get good and useful results, ask them the same question.

F. That number of interviews should give you all the answers you need.

G. With a question like this, you will get more than a ＂Yes＂ or ＂No＂ reply.

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Last October, while tending her garden in Mora, Sweden, Lena Pahlsson pulled out a handful of small   56  (carrot) and was about to throw them away. But something made her look closer, and she noticed a   57  (shine) object. Yes, there beneath the leafy top of one tiny carrot was her long-lost wedding ring.

Pahlsson screamed   58   loudly that her daughter came running from the house. ＂She thought I had hurt   59  (I),＂says Pahlsson.

Sixteen years   60   (early), Pahlsson had removed the diamond ring    61   (cook) a meal. When she wanted to put the ring back on later, it was gone. She suspected that one of her three daughters — then ten, eight, and six—had picked it up, but the girls said they hadn’t. Pahlsson and her husband   62   (search) the kitchen, checking every corner, but turned up nothing. ＂I gave up hope of finding my ring again,＂ she says. She never replaced it.

Pahlsson and her husband now think the ring probably got   63   (sweep) into a pile of kitchen rubbish and was spread over the garden,   64   it remained until the carrot’s leafy top accidentally sprouted (生长) through it. For Pahlsson, its return was   65   wonder.