Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has formally entered the 2016 race for the White House in a bid to become the first woman US president.

Mrs Clinton launched her campaign website on Sunday, telling Americans she wanted to be their “champion”. She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 but lost to Barack Obama.

The overwhelming Democratic favorite, she had been expected to declare her candidacy for months. In a video on her website, Mrs Clinton declared: “I am running for president”. “Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times,” she said, “but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top. Everyday Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion.” 

The video features a number of Americans talking about their hopes and dreams. It ends with Mrs Clinton saying: “So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote because it’s your time and I hope you’ll join me on this journey”.

Mrs Clinton’s team said she would spend the next few weeks building up grassroots support in the early Democratic primary states. She is expected to hold her first rally, officially kicking off her campaign, in mid-May.

Mrs Clinton has already had the backing of Mr Obama, who told a news conference at the Summit of the Americas in Panama on Saturday that she would make an “excellent president”. And her successor in the post of secretary of state, John Kerry, called her a “good friend”, saying she “did a terrific job of rebuilding alliances that had been torn up over the course of the prior years”.

But the attacks from the Republicans have already begun. Republican presidential contender Rand Paul criticized Mrs Clinton for her handling of a September 2012 attack on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in which the US ambassador was among those killed. He also said questions remained about funds received by a charity set up by Mr and Mrs Clinton.

Jeb Bush, former Florida Governor and brother of George W Bush who is also considering whether to stand as a Republican candidate, tweeted: “We must do better than Hillary.” 

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1.What is mainly talked about in the passage?

A Hillary Clinton wanted to be the first woman US president.

B Hillary Clinton wanted to be the champion on everyday Americans.

C Hillary Clinton declared to enter the 2016 presidential election.

D Hillary Clinton had support from Obama to be president of the US.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据文章第1段Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has formally entered the 2016 race for the White House in a bid to become the first woman US president，结合第二段内容可知，希拉里正式宣布参加2016年总统选举。

2.What does the underlined sentence mean in Paragraph Three?

A The majority of people are showing support to the leaders.

B The ship is crowded with people expecting to have a happy life.

C Many people have expected to have an excellent president.

D People from low classes expect me to be their president.

解析：选A。A 句意理解题。这是一个比喻句，用deck比喻处于基层的人民，用top暗喻领导美国的政府官员。整句意为“美国领导人获得了多数人的支持”。这是希拉里志在参与竞选，当一个被人拥戴的总统的条件。

3.Why does the author include what Obama and Kerry said in the passage?

A To prove that Hillary Clinton can be a great president.

B To tell us that Hillary Clinton has strong support for the election.

C To say that Hillary Clinton’s alliances do not exist any longer.

D To suggest that Hillary Clinton is sure to win the election.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。本文报道了希拉里参加竞选的情况，之所以在文章中加入奥巴马总统对她的评价，意在说明希拉里参加总统选举有着强有力的支持。

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A The American diplomatic policy on Libya was wrong.

B People were doubtful about the money received by Mr and Mrs Clinton’s charity.

C Jeb Bush is very confident in winning the presidential reelection.

D Hillary Clinton has much pressure to win the presidential election.

解析：选D。D 推理判断题。文章最后两段介绍了党内对希拉里的质疑和另一个竞选对手的实力，由此判断，希拉里竞选总统的道路并非一帆风顺，所面临的障碍和压力是巨大的。