A

VINCOUVER (Reuters)——South Korea’s Kirn Yuna can finally relax and does not need to think about the future after she won the gold medal in the women’s figure skating (花样滑冰)on Thursday.

The 19-year-old was the overwhelming (压倒性的)favorite to finish top of the podium (颁奖台) but said the pressure going into the event was large.

“I feel now as if a huge burden has been lifted,” the Games’ highest-earning female athlete-she makes an estimated $8 million a year —said after her near-perfect program where she nailed all of her 11 jumps.

“I will enjoy this moment and think about things later. I was just thrilled(兴奋的) on the podium and I feel so relieved.I had been running toward this dream of the Olympics and was so happy to be here,” she said.

“Since I have achieved the most important goal in my life. I am going to enjoy this moment for a while and then think about what I am going to do,” a smiling Yuna said.

Japanese rival Mao Asada took silver while Joannic Rochette of Canada grabbed the bronze medal four days after her mother died.

“I still cannot believe I did what I wanted to do at the Olympics.I have been dreaming about this moment and I cannot believe it is not a dream any more.” said Yuna.

Sout h Korea was counting on her to grab their first gold medal in figure skating and the first Winter Olympics gold medal outside short track and speed skating.

“I was just happy to have skated a clean program. It was the first time I had skated two clean programs. During the program when I finished all elements I thought ‘this is going to be yeah...this is it’.”

61. According  to the passage, Kim Yuna_________.

A. had a strong sense of team spirit in the Games

B. won the first gold medal for South Korea in the Winter Olympics

C. had expected she would surely win the gold medal

D. joined in the competition with great pressure from her country

62. The underlined word “ rival” in Paragraph 6 most probably means “__________”.

A. competitor        B. coach          C. judge          D. hostess

63. It is known from the passage that____________.

A. Kim Yuna is a person of great confidence

B. Joannie Rochette joined in the games with great sorrow

C. Kim Yuna is the richest athlete in South Korea

D. Mao Asada took silver medal by accident

B

The iPhone, the iPad, the iPod : each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一时的风尚). Apple has cl everly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A  slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper came out last week under the name “i”

In general, single-letter prefixes (前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.

Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it is no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.

But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i” . Why not use “a”, “b” or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPad, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition ,” he says.

“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便).” adds Thorne.

Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.

Along with “Google” and “Twitter”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.

But as history shows, fads come and go. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend inevitably(不可避免地)disappeared.

64. People use iPlayer to ____________.

A. listen to music                     B. make a call

C. watch TV programs online           D. read newspapers

65. We can infer that the Independent’s “ i ” is aimed at _____________.

A. young readers                     B. old readers

C. fashionable women                   D. engineers

66. Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products that are ______________.

A. advanced                          B. portable

C. recyclable                        D. environmentally friendly

67. The author of the passage would probably agree that _______________.

A. “i” products are often of high quality

B. all “i” products have something to do with Internet

C. the popularity of “i” products may not last long

D. iTeddy is a live bear

C

It may be one of Britain’s most successful exports – Miss World. This 53-year-old event took place in China last week and attracted over 120 women worldwide with knockout looks in a mad struggle for the crown.

Traditional values have long kept the Chinese, especially women, from displaying beauty. But Chinese people have now changed their attitude toward beauty contest(竞赛), although some men will still be shouting that the winner is no more beautiful than his wife or his former girl friend or even his mother in a sour tone. But such men are not shouting for the right reason. The question to be: Why isn’t there a Mr. World Beauty Contest?

And a further question to be asked is: Does taking part in a beauty contest show a woman’s  courage, wisdom and liberation or rather the opposite – a forced choice and a revolting act made under conditions of long-term discrimination?

Organizers of such beauty contests claim that the contestants are judged on qualities other than just their physical appearance. But still no answer is given to why there isn’t a Mr. Beauty or a Mr. World Contest? Or at least, why isn’t that kind of contest popular? Why is it that only women’s “qualities” need to be recognized but not men’s?

Think about who is always standing beside a fancy car on show? Is it a boy or a girl? And this is how “qualities” are judged: if the girl looks good, there is little reason why the car beside her is not of high quality.

The beauty contests go on year after year, with winners enjoying fame which quickly disappears. While such events go on and on, what never changes is the routine practice that in every fancy car show, a girl stands beside a fancy car. What never changes is the need to hold a women’s conference every year to appeal for the promotion of respect for and improvement of women. What never changes is the fate of women as a class. So let’s put more time and resources into trying to change all this rather than holding beauty contests.

68. Which of the following is TRUE to the passage?

A. Miss World Beauty Contest first began in China.

B. Women were not allowed to show their beauty in China.

C. 120 women took part in Beauty Contest last week.

D. Miss World was 53 years old.