From: Saddam Hussein, in Baghdad Dear President Bush,
Well, you sure ruined (毁掉) my birthday…. OK, you won, and your prize is Iraq. Are you ready
for it? I don?t think so. Truth is, I hope you fail.
Yes, Iraq was the way it was, in part, because I was the way I was---and I was a bad boy. But what you?re seeing now is that I was the way I was, in part, because Iraq was what it is---a very difficult place to rule (统治) without an iron fist (铁拳). You see, I know the Iraq people didn?t want me. And you will soon find they don?t want you. The big
question here has always been: Do they want each other? Can Kurds, Shiite and Sunnis (库尔德人，会叶派，逊尼派) find a way to live together without an iron fist holding them together?
If you want to build a self-governing (自治的)country here, you had better
understand that “shock and awe (威慑)” is not just for war-making. It?s an everyday tool for running this place. Your powerlessness (无能为力)will make people more afraid than your power.
Mr. Bush, I know you are wondering why I didn?t do more to keep away from the war, which ended my political (政治的) life. What in the world was I thinking? Who was I listening to? The answer is: I was listening to myself. Don?t make my mistakes. 1.Who do you think is the real writer of the letter? A. Kurds. B. Saddam. C. A news reporter. D. Bush
2.What ended Saddam?s political life according to the letter?
A.That he didn?t do more to keep away from the war. B.That Iraq was what it is. C.That Kurds, Shiite and Sunnis found a way to live together. D.That Iraq was a very difficult place to rule without an iron fist.
3.What advice (建议) does Saddam give to Bush if Bush wants to build a self-governing country?
A.Bush should know “Shock and awe” is not just for war making. B.The Iraq people want Bush.
C.Bush was only listening to himself. D.Let Iraq be the way it was. 4.The last sentence of the letter “Don?t make my mistakes” suggests (暗示)that _______. A. Bush should not do as Saddam did B. Saddam was correct C. Bush is right D. Saddam was a bad boy (选自2003年湖北省黄石市试题)
【解题思路点拨】这是一篇与时事紧密相连的书信体阅读材料。信中，“萨达姆”向布什总统分析了伊拉克国内的现状，诉说自己在政治上的苦恼，并告诫布什不要重蹈他的覆辙。
1.C。本小题尤其具有迷惑性。由书信开始的“To: President Bush, the White House”、“From: Saddam Hussein, in Baghdad”，好像很容易就能得出结论：这是萨达姆写给布什的一封信。然而，在审题时，一定要特别注意并理解题干中的“real”(真正的)一词，再结合
实际，萨达姆这么强硬的人怎能推心置腹地与势不两立的布什谈自己的真心话呢？由此，可推测这很可能是某一新闻记者以萨达姆的口吻分析伊拉克战争前后的局势。
2.A。根据“萨达姆”的分析，导致他的政治生涯结束的根本原因是，他没有让伊拉克人民摆脱战争的苦难。答案即在短文末段的“Mr. Bush, I know you are wondering why I didn?t do more to keep away from the war, which ended my political life.”这一句话之中。
3.A。本题源自于“If you want to build a self-governing country here, you had better understand that “shock and awe” is not just for war-making.”一句，答案非常明显。
4.A。在分析了伊拉克国内政局和自己从政的失误之后，“萨达姆”给布什提出了一点忠告，即“Don?t make my mistakes”(不要重蹈我的覆辙)。答案显然是A。
中考真题透视(2)“回答问题”式
Passage 1
“Tom? Are you in bed yet?” called Mrs. White. There was no answer. Mrs. White put down her book and went to her 14-year-old son?s room. Tom was sitting in front of a bright computer screen on which a motorbike was running fast.
“Oh, Tom. You?re still playing on that computer. You must stop now, it?s half past eleven. If you don?t go to bed soon, you?ll be very tired tomorrow.” Said Mrs. White. “But I?ve nearly won the game.” Said Tom to Mrs. White. She could see the excitement (激动) on his face. She sat down beside him.
“You?re always playing on the computer. You spend more time on this machine than on your homework.”
Today more and more families have computers. Parents hope computers can help their children improve their study at school. But, many of their children use computers to play games, to watch videos, instead of studying. We often see that computer game houses are crowded with people, especially young boys. They spend a lot of money competing with the computerized machines. The more they lose, the more they want to win. The result is that they don?t want to work or study.
In some other countries, even scientists hate computers. They say computers
cause millions of people to lose their jobs or cause them a lot of trouble. Computer game addiction (瘾) is a serious problem in social life. Something has to be done to solve the problem.
1.What was Tom doing on that late night? ___________________________________
2.How did Mrs. White feel when she saw her son was playing late? ___________________________________
3.What do parents think computers can do to their children? ___________________________________
4.Does the writer agree to spend much money on computer games? ___________________________________ 5.Why do some scientists hate computers?
___________________________________ (选自2003年福建省三明市试题) 【解题思路点拨】短文作者由Tom深夜玩电脑游戏这则故事写起，并由此引发感想：父母亲给孩子购买电脑，本希望能帮助孩子学好功课。结果却适得其反，许多孩子玩游戏、看录像，以致于荒废了学业。有些国家的科学家认为电脑让很多人失业，并使他们陷入了困境。电脑实在是可恨可憎的罪魁祸首。短文最后说，玩游戏上瘾成了社会生活中的一个严重问题，到了非解决不可的地步了。
1. He was playing computer games. 根据“Oh, Tom. You?re still playing on that
computer.”、 “Tom was sitting in front of a bright computer screen on which a motorbike was running fast.”
和“But I?ve nearly won the game.”这三句话可知答案。
2.She felt very worried. 短文并没有直接告诉我们答案，但是通过Mrs. White所说的话语，尤其是“You spend more time on this machine than on your homework.”这一句可以推断：她担心儿子的功课会受影响。显然，其心情当然是十分焦虑不安的。
3. They think that computers can help their children improve their study at school. 本小题属于表层理解题，答案可直接在倒数第二段的开头处找到。
4.No, he doesn?t. 作者说，我们经常看出游戏厅里挤满了人，特别是少年儿童。他们花很多钱与电脑游戏比赛。输得越多，就越想赢。以至于造成了不想学习的恶果。由作者的这番话，我们是不难看出作者对花钱玩游戏这一行为的态度的。
5. Because they say computers cause millions of people to lose their jobs or cause them a lot of trouble. 显然，文章最后一段的“They say computers cause millions of
people to lose their jobs or cause them a lot of trouble. Computer game addiction (瘾) is a serious problem in social life.”这几句话是该题答案的出处。 Passage 2
Kate Holmes was visiting a friend, old Mrs. Sydney. Mrs. Sydney had known Kate all her life. She liked to tell Kate about mysteries (神秘故事) and see whether Kate could solve them.
“You are very good at solving mysteries,” she said to Kate, “but some day I?ll fool you! Maybe I?ll be able to fool you today. Did I ever tell you the story of the Unknown Brother?”
Kate said no and listened. She liked Mrs. Sydney?s stories.
“Well,” Mrs. Sydney said, “Jed Wright was my friend when I was a child. He ran away from home when he was very young and lived for years by doing all kinds of jobs. Finally, in 1927, he went to Michigan, where he found a copper mine (铜矿). He bought the land and ran the mine and became a very rich man. ”
“Jed never married. His parents had died years before, and his only relative was a brother.
“One day Jed knew he was dying. He sent for a good friend, Dan Cole, who had worked for him for years. ”
“Jed gave Dan two envelopes, ?This one is for you,? he said, ?and please give the other one to my brother Alf. He is … while he was speaking, Jed died. ”
“There were his dying wishes in Dan?s envelope. It gave him Jed?s mine and house. The envelope for Alf had some money and business papers in it. Dan and Alf were each to get about half of Jed?s fortune (财富). They would both be rich. ”
“Dan had never seen Alf. He had only two clues (线索). One was an old photo that showed Alf and Jed. But it was taken on their tenth birthday, fifty years ago. The other clue was a post card from Alf. I had no address. It has been mailed in Boston the month before Jed died. ”
“Dan went to Boston. He put an advertisement in the newspaper. It said there was good news for Alf Wright. It told where Dan was staying. ”
“The next day, more than a hundred men came to Dan?s hotel. They all said they were Alf Wright. But though he had never seen Alf, Dan was able to pick him out right away.”
When Mrs. Sydney finished her story, she smiled. “All right, Kate,” she said. “How did he know Alf?”
Kate smiled too. “That?s easy,” she said. “You told me how. The clue was the photo.”
“Yes, it was,” said Mrs. Sydney. “But it was taken when Alf and Jed were boys. How could that help?”
“You said it was taken when both boys were ten years old, so they were…”
Kate gave Mrs. Sydney the answer and she had to admit that Kate Holmes had won again.
根据短文内容回答下列问题，每个小题不得超过5个单词。 1.What made Jed Wright a rich man? The ______ made him very rich.
2.What was in the envelope for Dan? ___________________________
3.Did Dan do what Jed asked him to do? ___________________________ 4.What helped Dan to find Alf?
____________________ and the advertisement. 5.What was Kate?s answer to the mystery? Kate said, “…so they were _______”. 6.Were they brothers or friends?
Kate and Mrs. Sydney were friends; Jed and Alf were brothers; Jed and _______________.
(选自2003年上海市试题)
【解题思路点拨】由于这篇机智故事篇幅较长，其难度也较大。故事的梗概是：Mrs. Sydney 与Kate是好朋友，她喜欢给Kate讲一些神秘故事。聪明的Kate总是能够回答故事中的问题。有一次，Mrs. Sydney想难为一下Kate，就给她讲了这样一则故事：Jed自幼父母双亡，独自一个出去闯荡，后来发现并开采了一座铜矿，随即成为一名很有钱的人。很多年之后的一天，年事已高的Jed快要辞世的时候留下了遗嘱。他将自己的财产一分为二，一半给自己的好朋友Dan，另一半给自己唯一的亲人-----弟弟Alf。可是没等说出自己弟弟的地址，Jed就闭上了眼睛。而Dan并不认识Alf，也不知道他住在什么地方。他只好凭借着一张Jed和Alf兄弟二人小时候的照片和一张前不久Alf寄来的一张明信片去寻找Alf……
1.copper mine. 关于Jed发家致富的原因，Mrs. Sydney在故事的第一段中交待得非常明白。“…he went to Michigan, where he found a copper mine. He bought the land and ran the mine and became a very rich man.”，根据这几句话，显然可知是铜矿让他发了财。 2.There were Ted?s dying wishes. 答案就在“There were his dying wishes in Dan?s envelope. It gave him Jed?s mine and house.”这两个句子中。
3.Yes, he did. 读罢全文，很容易知道Dan遵照遗嘱，利用明信片和老照片这两条线索，来到Boston，最后找到了Alf，完成了Jed托付给自己的任务。所以答案是肯定的。 4.The photo, the postcard. Dan从前不久Alf寄来的明信片上得知Alf住在Boston；接着他张贴广告把所有名字叫做Alf Wright的人招来；最后利用照片所提供的重要信息找到了Alf。显然，这三者对Dan找到Alf起着十分重要的作用，缺一不可。题目中已将advertisement给出，故此得出答案。
5.…twins/twin brothers. 这道题目颇有难度，不仅考查了考生的理解能力，也考查了考生的智力水平和推理判断能力。从“One was an old photo that showed Alf and Jed. But it was taken on their tenth birthday, fifty years ago.”提供的信息中，可知Alf和Jed在过十岁生日时的照片，兄弟俩是同岁，即可推断他们一定是孪生兄弟以及Alf现在的年龄是六十岁。这也正是Dan从那么多人中分辨出来Alf的唯一依据。
6.…Dan/ Mrs. Sydney were friends. 短文的开头交待了Kate与Mrs. Sydney是好朋友。在Mrs. Sydney的故事中，“…and please give the other one to my brother Alf.”也说明了Jed和Alf是兄弟关系。那么Jed还能与谁有朋友或兄弟关系呢？根据“He sent for a good friend, Dan Cole, who had worked for him for years.”，可知Dan与Jed是朋友关系。又由Mrs. Sydney说的“Jed Wright was my friend when I was a child.”这句话可知Jed与Dan或Mrs. Sydney也是朋友关系。由此可得答案。 Passage 3
The way that people allover the world watch films has changed these years. People don?t just go to the films any more. They take the films home! The VCR (录相机), has made this possible, and it has helped change people?s lives.
VCRs make it possible for us to watch films at home instead of the cinema. People can just go to a video store near their houses, rent (租) one or more films for a day or a weekend, and watch them in their own homes. They cost just a few dollars each day. May different films are on videotape, from exciting films to interesting plays.