Born in London in 1815, Ada Lovelace was the daughter of Annabella Millbanke and the British poet Lord
Byron. Her parents separated just a month after she was born. Less than a year later, Lord Byron went abroad
and never returned ( he died in Greece in 1824). Ada never knew her father and was raised by her mother. Her mother had mathematical training and insisted that Ada, who was educated privately, study mathematics too.
Ada did well not only in mathematics and science, but also in music and PE.
     In 1833, Ada met Charles Babbage, a famous English mathematician. He was known as the inventor of a
calculating machine called the Difference Engine. They became good friends and began to write to each other
 on the topics of mathematics, logic, and many other subjects.
     Babbage had made plans in 1834 for a new kind of calculating machine ( although the Difference Engine
was not finished),an Analytical Engine. Few people in England would support him with his first machine
unfinished. But he found support for his new calculating machine abroad. In 1842, an Italian mathematician,
Louis Menabrea, published a paper in French on the subject of the Analytical Engine. Babbage asked Ada to
translate the paper.
     When she showed Babbage her translation he suggested that she add her own notes, which turned out to be
three times as long as Menabrea' s. The notes are the source of her enduring fame (不朽的聲譽 ). In her notes, Ada predicted (預(yù)言 )that such a machine might be used to write music, to draw pictures, and would be used
for both practical and scientific use. She was correct.
     After she wrote the description of Babbage' s Analytical Engine,her life was plagued (折磨) with illnesses.
In 1852, she died of cancer and was buried beside her father at Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire, England.
     In 1980, 165 years after Ada' s birth, the US Defense Department announced a powerful new computer
language. They named it Ada in honor of Ada Lovelace' s important role in the history of computing.

1. It seemed that Ada' s mother _____.

A. had little money to educate Ada at home
B. wanted Ada to be a great musician
C. didn't wish Ada to be a poet like her father
D. didn't think Ada was a clever girl

2. Babbage didn' t find support for his Analytical Engine in Britain because _____.

A. his first calculating machine was not finished
B. no one thought the machine would be useful
C. he had moved to Italy and settled there
D. most of his inventions proved useless

3. Menabrea' s paper on Babbage' s Analytical Engine was written in _____.

A. English
B. Italian
C. German
D. French

4. What do we learn about Ada from the passage?

A. She was remembered as a great translator.
B. Her predictions have come true.
C. Her notes were written in computer language.
D. She led a long and fruitful life.

     The afternoon sun was warm on the men who were working on the doors and window frames(框). One of
the workmen was called Adam. He was taller than the other man and could be heard singing above the sound of
the hammer. Now and then some measurement required more concentrated (集中的) attention and the cheerful voice became a low whistle but soon it broke out again and was as loud as before. Such a voice could. come
only from a broad chest and the broad chest belonged to a large-bone muscular (肌肉發(fā)達的) man, nearly six
feet tall, with a straight back and strong arms.

1. The atmosphere in this passage is _____ .

A. peace and calm
B. warm and cheerful
C. quiet and free
D. noisy

2 . Adam might best be described as _____ .

A. strong and happy
B. serious and hard-working
C. rough but funny
D. careless and shy

     Eddie liked music very much when he was at school, but when he went to the university he decided to
study medicine instead of music. When he passed his examinations and became a doctor, he had to work in
a hospital for some time. There he discovered that a lot of patients were happier and caused less trouble if
pleasant music was played to them. When Eddie got an office and began to work for himself, he decided to
keep his patients happy by having a tape recorder in his waiting-room play beautiful music for them.
      But soon after the tape recorder had been put in, Eddie's nurse heard a woman, who was sitting in the
crowded waiting-room one morning, complained,"here we're all waiting to see the doctor, and he's just playing
the violin in his office instead of doing his work."

1. Eddie became a student of medicine at university______.

A. because he had lost interest in music
B. because he thought medicine was more important than music
C. to find out new use of music in hospital
D. for reasons unknown from this passage

2. From the passage we can infer that Eddie ______.

A. didn't do well in his examinations
B. didn't want to work in the hospital
C. was working as a doctor in the hospital
D. was doing some scientific research in the hospital

3. Why did Eddie put a tape recorder in his office?

A. He wanted to help patients waiting to see him pass the time easily.
B. He discovered that music was of help to his patients.
C. He enjoyed listening to music while he worked.
D. He wanted to attract more patients to his office.

4. From the passage we can see that ______ .

A. the woman did not understand music
B. the woman thought Eddie was an unusual doctor
C. the woman did not understand what Eddie meant
D. the woman hated to be kept waiting

     One year ago today, seven patients shared their stories of illness and recovery on the New York Time Well
(a blog), according to a report published in April,2009.
     They were the first Patient Voices, a regular series that offers a first person (第一人稱的) description of
the challenges patients face as they deal with different kinds of health problems. Since the first Patient Voices
appeared, New York Times producer Karen Barrow has continued to give a voice to a lot of patient stories.
     We heard from Jacqueline Castine of Bloomfield Hills, Mich,who had bipolar disorder (躁郁癥), and whose
son also suffered from mental (精神的) illness."I could not save him," she said."I could not fix (懲罰 ) him.
He leaves a beautiful daughter and a very sad mother."
     And there is runner Alyssa Johnson,43,who was training for the Boston Marathon in 2003 when she began
showing the first signs of Parkinson's disease." Sometimes when I'm running I'll come to a long downhill, and
my legs work the way they used to work and my arm swings (擺動) the way it used to. It's like running before Parkinson's, and that's the best feeling.
     And then there's the voice of Robin Grinsted, 50, of Swansea, S. C.,who has H. I. V. She is refused by her
church and feels lonely."They're not accepting," she said." But I know there will be people putting their arms
around me some day."
      To hear more from these patients and the many others wh. have taken part in the series, explore the links (鏈接) below to all the Patient Voices we've heard from in the past 12 months.

1. When did the seven patients begin to share their stories of illness?

A. In 2009.
B. In 2008.
C. In 2003.
D. In 2002.

2. According to the passage, Patient Voices refers to ______ .

A. a series of suggestions from patients
B. a magazine published by patients
C. a series of patients' stories
D. a blog shared by patients

3. From what Jacqueline Castine said, we know her son  _____.

A. might have killed himself
B. died of bipolar disorder
C. was killed in an accident
D. didn't want to stay at home

4. What do we know about Alyssa Johnson?

A. She tried hard to fight Parkinson's disease.
B. She is preparing for the Boston Marathon.
C. She was depressed at the thought of Parkinson's disease.
D. She didn't like running before she had Parkinson's.