Barbara Cater speak proudly of her great-great-grandfather because she thought he was a heroic civil-rights fighter and never give up struggling for freedom.（）

A．Because he was too proud to speak to him.

B．Because he was too lazy to say anything.

C．Because he thought they couldn't be on good terms.

D．Because he was a quiet man.

The old lady had always been proud of the great rose-tree in her garden, and was fond of telling how it had grown from a cutting she had brought years before from Italy, when she was first married. She and her husband had been travelling back in their carriage from Rome ( it was before the time of railways ) and on a bad piece of road south of Siena they had broken down, and had been forced to pass the night in a little house by the road-side. The accommodation was wretched of course; she had spent a sleepless night, and rising early had stood, wrapped up, at her window, with the cool air blowing on her face, to watch the dawn. She could still, after all these years, remember the blue mountains with the bright moon above them, and how a far-off town on one of the peaks had gradually grown whiter and whiter, till the moon faded, the mountains were touched with the pink of the rising sun, and suddenly the town was lit as by an illumination, one window after another catching and reflecting the sun’s beam, till at last the whole little city twinkled and sparkled up in the sky like a nest of stars.

听力原文： Today, I'd like to preface my remarks from a story from my own life which I feel highlights our common concerns that bring us here together. Several years ago when my grandparents were well into their eighties, they were faced with the reality of no longer being able to adequately care for themselves. My grandfather spoke of his greatest fear, that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years. Fighting back the tears, he spoke proudly of the fact that he had built their home from the ground up, and that he had pounded every nail and laid every brick in the process. The prospect of having to sell their home and give up their independence, and move into a retirement home was an extremely upsetting experience for them. It was, in my grandfather's own words, like having a limb cut off. He was quite emphatic exclaiming that he felt he wasn't important anymore.

For them and some older Americans, their so-called "golden years" are at times not so pleasant, for this period can mean the decline of not only one's health but the loss of identity and self-worth. In many societies, this self-identity is closely related with our social status, occupation, material possessions, or independence. Furthermore, we often live in societies that value that which is "new" or in vogue, and our own usage of lexicon in the English language often does not bode well older for Americans. I mean how would your family react if you came home tonight elated exclaiming, "Hey, come to the living room and see the OLD black and white TV I brought!" Unfortunately, the word "old" conjures up images of the need to replace or discard.

Now, many of the lectures given at this conference have focused on the issues of pension reform, medical care, and the development of public facilities for senior citizens. And while these are vital issues that must be addressed, I'd like to focus my comments on an underlying issue that will affect the overall success of the other programs mentioned.

23.What is the main topic of this address?

24.What was the speaker's purpose in sharing the story about his grandfather?

25.Which of the following statements did the speaker NOT mention when speaking of senior citizens' "golden years"?

26.Where does this address most likely take place?

(43)

A．The growing crisis of inadequate retirement pensions for the future.

B．The problem of providing adequate medical care for the elderly.

C．The development of public facilities for senior citizens.

D．The need to reevaluate our attitudes towards senior citizens.

Why does he feel proud?

Because he ______.

Once there was a man who could run very fast indeed.He was very proud of this and was always ready to show people how fast he could run.

One day thief broke into his house, took of his things and ran off as fast as he could.The man ran after him shouting, “hey, stop! Don’t you know you can not get away from me?” But the thief only ran faster.The man got so angry that he ran at his top speed.He was soon several miles away from his house.

He was still rushing along when he ran into a friend.“Why are you in such a hurry?” asked his friend.“I am trying to catch a thief.”said the man, who was very much out of breath.“But where is the thief?” asked the friend.“Miles behind!” said the runner, smiling with pride.“He thought he could run faster than I can, but you see, he is quite wrong.”

Answer the following questions according to passage 2.

(1)What does the word “this”(line1) in the first paragraph refer to?

(2)What happened to the man one day? What did he do then?

(3)Why did he become so angry?

(4)What did he do next?

(5)Do you think the main finally got the thief? Explain your answer.