北京大学2000年考博题.doc

Passage One It was a normal day in the life of the American Red Cross in Greater New York. First, part of a building on West 140th Street, in Harlem, fell down. Beds tumbled through the air people slid out of their apartments and onto the ground, three people died, and the Red Cross was there, helping shocked residents find temporary shelter, and food and clothing .Then it was back downtown for that evenings big Fend-raiser, the Eleventh Annual Red Cross Award Dinner Dance, at the Pierre. Thats why I have bad hair tonight, said Christopher Peake , a Red Cross Spokesman who had spent much of the day at the Harlem scene, in the drizzling rain. He was now in a tuxedo, and actually his hair didnt look so bad, framed by a centerpiece of tulips and jonquils, and perhaps improved by subdued lighting from eight crystal chandeliers. Definitely not having a bad-Mir night was Elizabeth Dole, the wife of Senator Robert Dole and the president of the American Red Cross. President Dole has chestnut, colored Republican hair, which was softly coifed, and she was wearing a fitted burgundy velvet evening suit (Someone made it for me! I love velvet! she exclaimed, in her enthusiastic, Northern Carolina hostess voice) and sparkling drop earrings. Of course, she hadnt been standing in the rain in Harlem; she had just flown up on the three-oclock shuttle from Washington. Dole is extremely pretty, with round green eyes and a full mouth and a direct personality. She tilts her head attentively when she listens. She was the recipient of the evenings award; previous award winners have included Alice Tully, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan,... and most recently, Brooke Astor. Not exactly a sequence at the end of which you would expect to find Elizabeth Dole, but award givers are famous for having political instincts as well as philanthropic ones. Surrounded by the deep-blue swags and golden draperies of the ballroom were more than thirty-five dinner tables set with groupings o