A
His first successful fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa. Then, as the first black president, he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS.
On March 19, the 82-year-old former president, hosted his second AIDS-awareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease.
Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918. He was adopted by the chief of his tribe and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life.
But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination. He decided to fight for equal rights for all people in South Africa. Before 1990, under the country’s Racial Segregation Law, coloured and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board.
For his opposition to the system, Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and became the president of the country after the first election was held in which everyone could vote.
Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer and fought in the ring when he was young.
“Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one’s body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat”, he wrote in his autobiography(自传).
As a skilled fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hoped to win another victory against AIDS.
【语篇概述】纳尔逊·曼德拉不仅为黑人争得了平等的权利, 而且当选为第一位黑人总统。他改变了南非人的命运, 也改变了世界。他有自己的爱好, 他曾经为争取与艾滋病斗争的胜利而奋斗过。
1. When was Mandela arrested? ______.
A. In 1963
B. In 1990
C. When he refused to be a chief
D. When he became the president
【解析】选A。理解判断题。从第五段“. . . Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990”可理解计算出答案: 1990-27= 1963。
2. Nelson Mandela succeeded in doing the following except ______.
A. winning the equal rights for the black people in South Africa
B. uniting South Africa
C. organizing a government in South Africa
D. controlling the spread of AIDS
【解析】选D。理解判断题。从第五段 “He was freed in 1990 and became the president of the country after the first election was held in which everyone could vote”. 可知, A、B、C三项, 都是曼德拉做成功的事; 由末段最后一句 “He hoped to win another victory against AIDS. ”可知, 还未取得胜利, 故选D。
3. If Nelson Mandela hadn’t fought against racial discrimination, he ______.
A. could easily have been the president of South Africa
B. could still have lived a happy life
C. could have been in a difficult situation
D. could have been an excellent boxer
【解析】选B。推理判断题。从第三段“He was adopted by the chief of his tribe and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life. ”可知答案。
4. It can be inferred that Nelson Mandela ______.
A. continued to help the black people with the political struggle
B. was taking a position in a music group
C. was carrying on the world’s greatest fight against AIDS
D. was preparing for the next president election
【解析】选C。推理判断题。综合全文可知A、B、D三项错误; 从末段“He hoped to win another victory against AIDS. ”可推断出答案, 因为艾滋病非洲最严重, 故选C。
