Henry was an office 1. (work) in a big city. He worked very hard and enjoyed traveling in his holidays.

He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw 2. advertisement in a newspaper. “Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at West Hill Farm. Good food, Fresh air, Horse riding, Walking, Fishing, cheap and interesting.” “This 3. (sound) a good idea,” he thought. “I’ll spend a month at West Hill Farm. I think I can enjoy horse riding, walking and fishing. They’ll make a change from 4. (sit) by the seaside and swimming.”

He wrote to the farmer. In the letter he said that he would like to spend all of July there. Then on the first day of July, he left 5.West Hill Farm.

But four days later, he returned home.

“What was wrong 6.West Hill Farm?” his best friend, Ed, asked him. “Didn’t you enjoy country life?” “Country life was very good,” Henry said. “But there was another problem.”

“Oh. What?”

“Well,” he said, “the first day I was there a sheep died, and we had roast mutton for dinner.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Ed asked. “Fresh meat is the best.”

“I know, but on the 7. (two) day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner.”

“How 8. (luck) you are!”

“You don’t understand,” Henry said. “On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner.”

“A different meat every day,” Ed said 9. (loud), “and what are you complaining!”

“Let me finish,” Henry said. “on the fourth day the farmer 10. (dead), and I didn’t dare (敢) stay for dinner!”

Duke Ellington is known as one of the most important composers of his time, and his work has been enjoyed for more than 80 years by music lovers all over the world. During his lifetime Ellington turned musical sounds into many compositions, mostly in the style known as jazz.

The Early Years

Duke Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington D.C. It wasn’t until Ellington was a teenager that his interest in music grew. He taught himself to play the piano by listening to local piano players. Sometime around 1916 Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties. Ellington realized that he enjoyed entertaining people with his music. He soon became a very popular musician playing at parties and other events in the Washington area. Young adults seemed especially to love the modern pieces he composed.

Success in New York

In 1923, when Ellington was almost 24 years old, he joined The Washingtonians, a five-piece group of musicians in Washington, and became the group’s leader in early 1924. In 1927 Ellington and his orchestra (管弦乐队) won an engagement (雇佣期) at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club. For the next three years, his orchestra played at the Cotton Club nearly every night.

The Influence of the Cotton Club

Working at the Cotton Club encouraged Ellington’s creativity. Since the shows changed every six months, he was challenged by the need to develop new material. He had to compose lots of music for the Cotton Club shows.

By 1928 the club began to cover the shows live on the radio. From the live shows, Ellington and his orchestra gained a national reputation (名声).

On the Road

As Ellington’s popularity increased, he realized that his orchestra could do well on concert tours. They left the Cotton Club in 1931 and toured America and Europe almost continually for the next 43 years. During his trip, Ellington made recordings and continued to compose music.

Duke Ellington played the piano, composed music, and led his famous orchestra for more than 50 years, until his death in 1974. Music lovers all over the world agree that his music will be enjoyed for many years to come.

1.What do we know about Ellington from the first two paragraphs?

A.He preferred young adults to elder audience.

B.He could sing as well as he played the piano.

C.He had a natural gift for composing music.

D.He learnt to play musical instruments from a very young age.

2.Which of the following can show us Ellington’s leadership ability?

A.Ellington was very popular at parties in the Washington area.

B.Ellington did live radio shows at the Cotton Club in Washington.

C.Ellington made the orchestra popular and successful for a long time.

D.Ellington continually developed new material and composed more music.

3.What can we infer (推断) from the passage?

A.Ellington loved traveling around the world.

B.Ellington could compose a large number of songs.

C.Ellington’s career became successful just in one night.

D.Ellington made a great difference to the world of music.

4.Which of the following shows the order in which the events happened in the passage?

a. Ellington joined a five-piece group of musicians in Washington.

b. Ellington’s orchestra played at the Cotton Club.

c. Ellington’s orchestra went on concert tours.

d. Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties.

A.d-a-b-c B.d-c-a-b C.a-d-b-c D.d-b-a-c

请阅读下面短文,从每小题所给的A、B、C三个选项中,选出一个最佳选项,并将答案填写到答题卷的相应位置上。

Most people celebrate their birthdays by holding parties and getting gifts.

However, Sydney Coney, 10, chose to give up her birthday for a day of service. She turned into a cook to help the homeless people at the Firehouse Shelter (避难所).She called it a birthday gift to herself.

Sydney came up with the idea after listening to a story. It was about the spirit of giving. Soon after, she decided to cook for the homeless(无家可归的人) on her upcoming birthday. She even used her birthday money to pay for the food.

On her birthday, Sydney arrived early at the shelter to cook a hot meal for over 200 people with the help of her family and friends. They all wore T-shirts with the words "Sydney's Hands to Serve, and Heart to Love".

“It is hard to work in a homeless shelter," said Anne Rygiel, director of the Firehouse Shelter. Seeing a kid like Sydney, however, let me know that everything will be OK. She gives me hope for our future."

“It makes me feel happy to bring a smile to someone’s face. I don't think this will be the last time. It's now a birthday tradition for me. I will never stop helping others,” Sydney said.

Sydney’s act of kindness inspired others to help as well. Her family, neighbors and teachers gave away money, food, clothes and some other things.

1.Sydney Coney got the special idea for her birthday after she________.

A.read a story about the homeless B.learned the spirit of giving C.visited the Firehouse Shelter

2.What did the director of the Firehouse Shelter think of Sydney’s work?

A.Worrying. B.Exciting. C.Relaxing.

3.The underlined word "inspired" probably means "________" in Chinese.

A.支持 B.回避 C.激励

4.What can we infer(推断)from the passage?

A.There are 200 poor people at the Firehouse Shelter.

B.Sydney gave out T-shirts to the homeless on her tenth birthday.

C.Sydney will spend her next birthday helping the people in need.

5.What can we learn from Sydney’s story?

A.To be thankful to those who have helped you.

B.Helping others is helping yourself.

C.Happiness lies in (在于)giving help to others.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网