立新

A

An Indian villager recently traveled over a thousand miles to the BBC office in Delhi to ask for millions of rupees （盧比） he believed he had won in a BBC lottery （彩票）.

Ratan Malbisoi， a 41-year-old unemployed Indian villager， received a message on his mobile phone nearly two years ago. “The message said I had won the BBCs national lottery for 20 or 30 million rupees. I was asked to send my details so that they could send me the money，” he said.

Malbisoi， a poor man with little formal education， was unable to understand that this was a cheating message and that he was being cheated. But Malbisoi got in touch with the cheaters，???? e-mailed them his bank details， and spoke to them several times over the past two years， begging them to send him the promised money.

“The caller said he was the BBCs president. He promised me a large sum of money but said I would have to first send 12，000 rupees so that he could give me the money. I told them I was a very poor man and that I didnt have any money to give them. He said then they couldnt pay me any money but over a period of time， we kept negotiation （談判） and they finally asked me for 4，000 rupees，” he said. Malbisoi said he was unable to pay even that amount.

India is one of the worlds fastest growing mobile phone markets with 890 million mobile phone users. In India， cheaters use more text messages than e-mails to find their victims（受害者）， because the reach of the mobile phones is much wider than computers.

Malbisoi returned home safely， although empty-handed， after two days in Delhi. But he was not sure whether the “BBC president” he had been speaking to was in reality a cheater.

1. Malbisoi traveled to the BBC office in Delhi to ____.

A. get some prize money??????? ?????????? B. ask for support

C. cheat somebody of money???? ???????? D. report a cheat

2. Why do cheaters prefer to use text messages？

A. Because text messages cost less money.

B. Because text messages spread much faster.

C. Because text messages are much more convenient.

D. Because text messages can reach more people.

3. How did Malbisoi probably feel when he left Delhi？

A. Delighted.?? B. Disappointed.? ?? C. Surprised.?? ?????? D. Pleased.

4. What do we learn about Malbisoi？

A. He lived near Delhi.? ??????????? B. He liked buying lottery tickets.

C. He was very simple-minded.? ????? D. He sent 4，000 rupees to the cheaters.

B

After I mastered my first concerto （協(xié)奏曲） at age 14， my parents decided to get me a nice violin. I tried out dozens of instruments before I found my match： a German violin. It was beautiful， but what I liked best about it was its voice. Confident and strong， it was everything I longed to be.

Im not sure how much that violin cost， but my parents made me promise never to let it out of my sight. They didnt understand that carrying a large violin case ran counter to my daily middle school task. I was a strange， absent-minded kid. When I spoke up in class， my comments brought puzzled silence from teachers and wild laughter from students. Like a deer in a wolf group， I tried to be quiet and still.

In contrast， my new violin was almost surprisingly loud. Together， we could play louder than the rest of my middle school orchestra （管弦樂隊(duì)）—which was encouraged， since the other kids made sounds like cats crying. For one happy hour every day， I was paid much attention. Everyone wanted to hear what I had to say.

Between classes， I bent under the combined weight of my violin case and a schoolbag filled with books. My posture （姿勢） suffered， but my confidence grew. With my violin by my side， I found my voice. More and more， I contributed to class discussions and even made a couple of friends.

Today， Im just an amateur violinist with a regular day job. As I sit in my community （社區(qū)）orchestra， sometimes I feel jealous of my fellow musicians instruments with their fine voices. I may not be the best violinist around， but at least Im still the loudest.

1. The underlined part “ran counter to” in Paragraph 2 probably means ____.

A. was similar to??????????????? ?????????? B. went along with

C. had something in common with? ? D. was the opposite of

2. We know from Paragraph 2 that the author ____.

A. was strong and confident???? ????? B. was an excellent student

C. did not fit in at school??????? ????? D. did not attend classes regularly

3. What kind of feeling is expressed in Paragraph 3？

A. Disappointment.??? ? B. Pride.??? ????? C. Anger.??? ????????? D. Regret.

4. What can we infer from the text？

A. The author hated the loud voice of his violin.

B. The violin changed the author in some way.

C. The violin always made the author embarrassed.

D. The author was the best violinist in his community orchestra.