阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

    If cars had wings，they could fly and that just might happen，beginning in 2011.The company Terrafugia，based in Woburn，Massachusetts，says it plans to deliver its car­plane，the Transition，to customers by the end of 2011.

    “It's the next ‘wow' vehicle，” said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh.“Anybody can buy a Ferrari，but as we say，Ferraris don't fly.”

    The car­plane has wings that unfold for flying－a process the company says takes one minute－and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.

    The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies，although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations，and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.

    The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports：You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land，you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don't have to store it at an airport－you park it in the garage at home.

    The car­plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds，including fuel and passengers. Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under the bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界的) conditions.

    The Transition's price tag：$194,000.But there may be additional charges for options like a radio，a transponder or a GPS. Another option is a full­plane parachute.

    “If you get into a very awful situation，it is the necessary safety option，” Gersh said.

    So far，the company has more than 70 orders with deposits. “We're working very closely with them，but there are still some remaining steps，” Brown said.

    “I like photography because it captures amazing things that you might not see again,” Timmy Walsh says. He takes pictures of flowers, sunsets and road signs. But those photos don't usually end up in a scrapbook(剪贴簿) or on his bedroom walls.

    When Timmy was five, he found out that his aunt Bev had lung cancer. He wanted to do something to help her. His first idea was to sell his photos from a lemonade--type stand in front of his house in Pennsylvania. “My mom said it wouldn't work because we were not on a busy street,” Timmy explains.

    His next idea was to have an art show. Timmy decorated his home with candles, flowers, and white lights. Then he arranged his photos. Timmy's mom, Sheila, remembers: “Our dining-room table was filled, the living room—everything was filled with photos.” Friends, family, and Timmy's teachers came to the show. He raised more than $300 for cancer research that night. Aunt Bev was “very happy and excited,” he says.

    After a local newspaper wrote a story about Timmy's photos, a volunteer offered to help him set up a website. As people learned about his cause, called Camera for a Cure, Timmy began receiving invitations to sell his pictures at art galleries and fund-raisers. Since then, his work has appeared in more than 20 shows.

    When Timmy is at a show, he greets each customer and talks about what he was thinking when he took his photos. And he always shares facts about lung cancer. Sometimes donations and sales are slow, but that doesn't bother him. “It doesn't matter how much money we made because we just raised awareness,” he says. Timmy knows that finding a cure for lung cancer will take time and effort. So Timmy will keep doing his part by shooting and selling photos of the things he sees.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    Everyone gathered around and Paddy read out loud, slowly, his tone growing sadder and sadder. The little headline said: BOXER RECEIVES LIFF SENTENCE.

    Frank Cleary, aged 26, professional boxer, was today found guilty of the murder of Albert Gumming, aged 32, laborer, last July. The jury(陪审团) reached its decision after only ten minutes, recommending the most severe punishment to the court. It was, said the Judge, a simple case. Cumming and Cleary had quarreled violently at the Harbour Hotel on July 23rd and police saw Cleary kicking at the head of the unconscious Gumming. When arrested, Cleary was drunk but clear-thinking.

    Cleary was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Asked if he had anything to say, Cleary answered, “Just don't tell my mother.”

    “It happened over three years ago,” Paddy said helplessly. No one answered him or moved, for no one knew what to do. “Just don't tell my mother,” said Fee numbly(麻木地). “And no one did! Oh, God! My poor, poor Frank!”

    Paddy wiped the tears from his face and said. “Fee, pack your things. We'll go to see him.”

    She half-rose before sinking back, her eyes in her small white face stared as if dead. “I can't go,” she said without a hint of pain, yet making everyone feel that the pain was there. “It would kill him to see me. I know him so well—his pride, his ambition. Let him bear the shame alone, it's what he wants. We've got to help him keep his secret. What good will it do him to see us?”

    Paddy was still weeping, not for Frank, but for the life which had gone from Fee's face, for the dying in her eyes. Frank had always brought bitterness and misfortune, always stood between Fee and himself. He was the cause of her withdrawal from his heart and the hearts of his children. Every time it looked as if there might be happiness for Fee, Frank took it away. But Paddy's love for her was as deep and impossible to wipe out as hers was for Frank.

    So he said, “Well, Fee, we won't go. But we must make sure he is taken care of. How about if I write to Father Jones and ask him to look out for Frank?”

    There was no excitement in the eyes, but a faint pink stole into her cheeks. “Yes, Paddy, do that. Only make sure he knows not to tell Frank we found out. Perhaps it would ease Frank to think for certain that we don't know.”

    The question of what children learn, and how they should learn it, is continually being debated and redebated. Nobody dares any longer to defend the old system, the parrot-fashion（way of learning by repeating what others say）of learning lessons, the grammar-with-a-whip（鞭子）system, which was good enough for our grandparents. The theories of modern psychology have stepped in to argue that we must understand the needs of our children. Children are not just small adults; they are children who must be respected as such.

    Well, you may say, this is as it should be, and a good idea. But think further. What happens? “Education” becomes the responsibility not of teachers, but of psychologists. What happens then? Teachers worry too much about the psychological implications（暗示） of their lessons, and forget about the subjects themselves. If a child dislikes a lesson, the teacher feels that it is his fault, not the child's. So teachers worry whether history is “relevant” to modern young children. And do they dare to recount stories about violent battles? Or will this make the children themselves violent? Can they tell their classes about children of different races, or will this encourage racial hatred? Why teach children to write grammatical sentences? Oral expression is better. Sums? Arithmetic? No; real-life mathematical situations are more understandable.

    You see, you can go too far. Influenced by educational theorists, who have nothing better to do than write books about their ideas, teachers leave their teaching-training colleges filled with grand, psychological ideas about children and their needs. They make complicated preparations and try out their “modern methods” on the long-suffering children. Since one “modern method” rapidly replaces another, the poor kids will have well been fed up by the time they leave school. Frequently the modern methods are so complicated that they fail to be understood by the teachers, let alone the children; even more often, the relaxed discipline so necessary for the “informal” feeling the class must have, prevents all but a handful of children from learning anything.

    Inside the Rain Room

    The Rain Room has arrived and local art lovers are taking notice. Is it worth the wait? Yes, I assure you it is. Once inside, visitors find a long, dark room with a high ceiling. A single bright light shines through heavy rain falling around visitors. The mist. The damp air. The noise. It feels like a mighty storm is pouring down. But the storm is inside. And visitors aren't getting wet. Instead, visitors wander in awe, admiring the rain and the artists who created it.

    The Rain Room was created to highlight the connection between humans, nature and technology. With a tracking system that senses movement and stops the rain wherever visitors move, it does just that. Light and sound produce an experience that feels both natural and foreign. The exhibit is moving on to Atlanta next month. I urge you to visit before then. It's time to experience the Rain Room for yourself!

    Welcome to the Rain Room

    The Rain Room features falling water. Please be aware you may get slightly wet. However, visitors wearing raincoat will be turned away.

    This exhibit features advanced technology. To ensure its effectiveness, please avoid wearing dark or reflective clothing.

    Visitors are welcome to take photographs of the exhibit.

    Children must be accompanied by an adult.

    For the convenience of all guests, visits are limited to 10minutes.

When I was three, my parents took me to have an operation in India, which stopped my eyesight from deteriorating(恶化). Several years later we moved to Pakistan, where I received 12 operations within one year and went completely blind. Later, I realized that the doctors used me as an experiment.

I met my husband when he came over from India to study. I wanted to go to India to marry him, but it was almost impossible to emigrate. I made a crazy plan to cross the borders of several countries to get to India. I was arrested in the first country I escaped to. Back in Pakistan, I lost my job and was asked to sign a "never-to-escape" promise. Instead, when I got home, I made a cup of coffee and decided to make a formal application for emigration. The chance was slim, and people who applied to go to India found it hard to find a job in Pakistan while they were waiting. In the end, my husband managed to smooth the way for my emigration. We got married and had children. But after nine years, he died of brain cancer. I was helpless for a while, and then I learned to face reality optimistically. He taught us happiness came from inside us.

Six years ago, I brought home a dog called Moritz from the seeing-eye dog centre. He was short with long ears. No one liked him because of his pathetic(可怜的)appearance. We were almost always together. Moritz could not leave me for even one minute. Now when I walk down the street, not like before, people will come up and say, "What a good seeing-eye dog! ", and have a little chat with me as a normal creature.

I'm now working for the Association of the Blind and I have many good friends, and a special friend in Hamburg. It is a wonderful feeling to speak freely with someone I can't see, to trust one another.