What（)in Iraq？ Have you read the（)news？

ver-whelming reasons why Iraq should not be invaded: there was no proof that Saddam posed an imminent threat; Iraq would be even more unstable as a result of its liberation; and a conflict would increase the threat posed by terrorists. What we did not know was that Tony Blair had received intelligence and advice that raised the very same points.

Last week’s report from the Intelligence and Security Committee included the revelation that some of the intelligence had warned that a war against Iraq risked an increased threat of terrorism. Why did Mr. Blair not make this evidence available to the public in the way that so much of the alarmist intelligence on Saddam’s weapons was published？ Why did he choose to ignore the intelligence and argue instead that the war was necessary, precisely because of the threat posed by international terrorism？

There have been two parliamentary investigations into this war and the Hutton inquiry reopens tomorrow. In their different ways they have been illuminating, but none of them has addressed the main issues relating to the war. The Foreign Affairs Committee had the scope to range widely, but chose to become entangled in the dispute between the Government and the BBC. The Intelligence Committee reached the conclusion that the Government’s file on Saddam’s weapons was not mixed up, but failed to explain why the intelligence was so hopelessly wrong. The Hutton inquiry is investigating the death of Dr. David Kelly, a personal tragedy of marginal relevance to the war against Iraq.

Tony Blair has still to come under close examination about his conduct in the building-up to war. Instead, the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, is being fingered as if he were master-minding the war behind everyone’s backs from the Ministry of Defence. Mr. Hoon is not a minister who dares to think without consulting Downing Street first. At all times he would have been dancing to Downing Street’s tunes. Mr. Blair would be wrong to assume that he can draw a line under all of this by making Mr. Hoon the fall-guy. It was Mr. Blair who decided to take Britain to war, and a Cabinet of largely skeptical ministers that backed him. It was Mr. Blair who told MPs that unless Saddam was removed, terrorists would pose a greater global threat—even though he had received intelligence that suggested a war would lead to an increase in terrorism.

Parliament should be the forum in which the Prime Minister is called more fully to account, but Iain Duncan Smith’s support for the war has neutered an already inept opposition. In the absence of proper parliamentary scrutiny, it is left to newspapers like this one to keep asking the most important questions until the Prime Minister answers them.

第26题：We learn from the first two paragraphs that _____.

［A］ the evidence should have been made available to the Parliament

［B］ the necessity of war has been exaggerated by the Committee

［C］ Blair had purposely ignored some of the intelligence he received

［D］ it was The Independent that first revealed the intelligence

With a series of questions at the end of the text, the author _____.

［A］ feels uncertain of what his own opinion is

［B］ differentiates two conflicting views

［C］ criticizes the Bush Administration

［D］ argues for the US policy on Iraq

s listened to Bush slog(艰难行进) through his familiar pep talk(鼓舞士气的讲话) last Thursday night, the party faithfully knew they were anything but united. Over the last year, they ejected a majority leader, quarreled over morality and spending, and openly criticized the president on Iraq, port security and a Supreme Court pick.

For five years nobody needed to explain the word "united" to Republicans; it was their biggest strength. The president handed his agenda to Congress and the party leaders delivered the votes. They twisted the arms of small-government conservatives to pass education reforms and Medicare drug benefits. They held their ranks together even as the Iraq occupation was losing supports in 2004. And they picked up seats in two election cycles. But now that company has fallen apart. Members of Congress, tired of being taken for granted by a bossy White House, have lost faith in the president's politican touch.

The stress is starting to show. Republicans are beginning to look and sound like their own caricature(漫画)of the Democrats: disorganized, off message and unsure of their identity. Fearful of defeat in November, GOP candidates are uncertain how to pull themselves together in the eight months left before the elections. The toughest question: whether to run, as they have in the past, as Bush Republicans, or to push the, president out of their campaigns. "What I've tried to tell people is that a political storm is gathering, and if we don't do something to stop it, we'll be in the minority a year from now," says Rep. Ray La Hood from Illinois. "But some people still don't get it."

The president won't have an easy time persuading Republicans to stick with him. Second-term presidents often suffer a six-year slump, losing seats for their party at this point. Bush has actually been lucky in one respect. He held his party together longer than most two-term presidents. Johnson kept control for just eight months until he suffered defeat on the issue of home rule for the District of Columbia in 1965, when Democrats took him on—and won.

Some candidates are happy to stand beside Bush, as long as nobody actually sees them together. Locked in a tight race for re-election, Sen. Mike DeWine chose not to accompany Bush on one trip to his home state of Ohio last month. A week later he attended a private fund-raiser with the president in Cincinnati—out of sight of photographers and reporters.

While listening to Bush's pep talk, the Republicans______.

A．were inspired by the president to hold together

B．lost interest in the frequently heard content

C．disagreed with the president on his slogan

D．felt impatient with the slow speech

listened to Bush slog(艰难行进) through his familiar pep talk(鼓舞干气的讲话) last Thursday night, the party faithfully knew they were anything but united. Over the last year, they ejected a majority leader, quarreled over morality and spending, and openly criticized the president on Iraq, port security and a Supreme Court pick.

For five years nobody needed to explain the word "united" to Republicans; it was their biggest strength. The president handed his agenda to Congress and the party leaders delivered the votes. They twisted the arms of small-government conservatives to pass education reforms and Medicare drug benefits. They held their ranks together even as the Iraq occupation was losing supports in 2004. And they picked up seats in two election cycles. But now that company has fallen apart. Members of Congress, tired of being taken for granted by a bossy White House, have lost faith in the president's political touch.

The stress is starting to show. Republicans are beginning to look and sound like their own caricature(漫画) of the Democrats: disorganized, off message and unsure of their identity. Fearful of defeat in November, GOP candidates are uncertain how to pull themselves together in the eight months left before the elections. The toughest question: whether to run, as they have in the past, as Bush Republicans, or to push the president out of their campaigns. "What I've tried to tell people is that a political storm is gathering, and if we don't do something to stop it, we'll be in the minority a year from now," says Rep. Ray LaHood from Illinois. "But some people still don't get it."

The president won't have an easy time persuading Republicans to stick with him. Second-term presidents often suffer a six-year slump, losing seats for their party at this point. Bush has actually been lucky in one respect. He held his party together longer than most two-term presidents. Johnson kept control for just eight months until he suffered defeat on the issue of home rule for the District of Columbia in 1965, when Democrats took him on—and won.

Some candidates are happy to stand beside Bush, as long as nobody actually sees them together. Locked in a tight race for re-election, Sen. Mike DeWine chose not to accompany Bush on one trip to his home state of Ohio last month. A week later he attended a private fund-raiser with the president in Cincinnati—out of sight of photographers and reporters.

While listening to Bush's pep talk, the Republicans______.

A．were inspired by the president to hold together

B．lost interest in the frequently heard content

C．disagreed with the president on his slogan

D．felt impatient with the slow speech

To have the camera installed in the back of his head, Iraqi-born Wafaa Bilal had to undergo a painful surgical procedure to tuck the camera firmly under his scalp.

The camera is at least small - just the size of a thumbnail and less than an inch thick - but it will be switched on 24 hours a day for an entire year.

The camera will take a photograph every single minute, digitally capturing every aspect of Wafaa Bilal's life.

The images will then be beamed from New York, where the artist lives, to the Middle East, where the photographs will be displayed at Qatar's new Arab Museum of Modern Art.

The artist says the project will raise important social, political and artistic questions, and has vowed to go about his daily life as normal.

But he admits some things, like sleeping for example, will be a bit tricky. He now has to sleep sitting upright, and cannot use a pillow. There's also the question of privacy. Wafaa Bilal says dinner party invitations have already started drying up.

21. Where will the camera be installed？______

A. In the back of the artist’s head, inside the cap.

B. On the back of the artist’s head, attached to a cloth.

C. In the back of the artist’s head, outside the cap.

D. In the back of the artist’s head, under the scalp.

22. What will the artist do with the camera？_________

A. To record his life in Iraq.

B. To record his life in another country in the middle east.

C. To record his life in New York.

D. To record his life in Hollywood.

23. Which of the following can be used to describe the artist’s life after the installation？_________

A. Normal but somewhat tricky.

B. Strange and mysterious.

C. Lonely and painful.

D. Popular and outlandish.

24. Which has already been changed in the artist’s life？________

A. Thinking and working.

B. Thinking and photographing.

C. Socializing and sleeping

D. Publishing the photographs

25. Where will the photographs be displayed？__________

A. New York.

B. Iraq.

C. Qatar

D. Iraq and Qatar

Part B

Directions: In the following ankle, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A—G to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET I .

If the 20th century has been the American century, then there are plenty of people saying watch this space: the twenty first century will be different. The distinguishing characteristic of the post-cold-war world is that there is only one super power. 41) _______________.

The military muscle-flexing we have seen from China over the last few years could be an indication of how things are likely to go, although it has to be said that to many people's surprise the Chinese have been quite constructive over East Timor. But I think we must assume that the main struggle in the 21st century will be with China, already the world's largest nation. Happily, the Chinese seem to have no global pretensions. One can't see them interfering in some far-distant conflict, and in both military and economic terms they are still light years behind America.

42) _______________.

Europe is already the largest trading block in the world, 43) _______________. . It' s worth remembering that while Europe spends 60 per cent of what the USA does in defence, it has only 10 per cent of the Americans' firepower.

In the Middle East, in a relatively short space of time, bubbling conflicts have moved closer to resolution. The Arab Israeli dispute has been reduced to its core essentials, while agreement between Syria and Israel remains the strategic prize for peace. Iran is undergoing a slow transformation but the outstanding political issue here is Iraq and Saddam Hussein's extraordinary survival. The international community remains bitterly divided about what to do.

Africa, I fear, is going to remain a disaster area, simply because it does not figure on people's mental maps. Currently there is war raging in six countries around the Congo, yet there's very little sense the international community will do anything about it. There is, though, some good news. If you look back a year ago to Algeria, it was drowning in its own blood. Now it seems to be back on the right track.

44) _______________. For many years the non-proliferation regime actually worked surprisingly well, but India and Pakistan going nuclear has been a great blow to the status quo. And now there are new biological and chemical weapons—undreamed-of horrors—not to mention the whole legacy of the cold war which hasn't been cleaned up, such as Russian nuclear waste in the Arctic.

The fundamental problem is that there are countries that are simply being left behind by the onward march of globalization. Global issues such as the environment and drugs—and perhaps even human rights—are going to come much more to the fore. 45) _______________.

[A] It is called to be an economic giant, especially when the euro has been issued.

[B] but while the euro could help it become an economic giant, and even challenge the dollar, it looks likely to re main a political and military pygmy.

[C] And there's only one candidate on the horizon to challenge the US—China.

[D] As the world shrinks, so we shall have an increasing sense of the need for an international humanitarian order. Globalization may be a good thing, but it has a dark underbelly.

[E] Russia is a powerful country which owns military superiority

[F] We must also assume the continued decline of Russia. It shows how far things have gone (and how quickly) when what was once the second most powerful country in the world is being battered by Islamic rebels from the Caucasus. Now we have a Russian state which simply cannot cope.

[G] I do think arms control will be a big item on the agenda in future.

41._______________

Letter A

support, assure, ensure, sure, convey, respect

Dear Mr．Vice President,

I have the distinct pleasure to(1)to you, on the occasion of your birthday, my most sincere wishes of good health, happiness and joy beside your family and friends, as well as of full success in fulfilling the complex responsibilities of your mission.

I greatly(2)and admire your work and leadership in(3)of the efforts President George W．Bush and the whole US Administration are undertaking to defend homeland security, fight terrorism and threat of weapons of mass destruction, especially those in hands of repressive regimes．I would like to(4)you of the readiness of the Romanian Government to support the United States in its actions to make(5)Iraq disarms and complies with all UN requirements.

Please accept, Mr．Vice President, my warmest congratulations on your birthday and the assurance of my sincere friendship and support.

Sincerely yours,

of high-speed Web. For decades, Americans have anxiously (1)_____ each war through a new communications (2)_____, from the early silent film of World War I to the 24-hour cable news (3)_____ of the first Persian Gulf War.

Now, (4)_____ bombs exploding in Baghdad, a sudden increase in wartime (5)_____ for online news has become a central test of the (6)_____ of high-speed Internet connections. It is also a good (7)_____ both to attract users to online media (8)_____ and to persuade them to pay for the material they find there, (9)_____ the value of the Cable News Network persuaded millions to (10)_____ to cable during the last war in Iraq.

(11)_____ by a steady rise over the last 18 months in the number of people with high-speed Internet (12)_____, now at more than 70 million in the United States, the Web sites of many of the major news organizations have (13)_____ assembled a novel collage(拼贴) of (14)_____ video, audio reports, photography collections, animated weaponry (15)_____, interactive maps and other new digital reportage.

These Internet services are (16)_____ on the remarkable abundance of sounds and images (17)_____ from video cameras (18)_____ on Baghdad and journalists traveling with troops. And they have found a (19)_____ audience of American office workers (20)_____ their computers during the early combat.

A．notified

B．publicized

C．followed

D．pursued