Bobby Moresco grew up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, a tough working-class neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side. But Hell's Kitchen lies right next door to Broadway, and the bright lights attracted Bobby from the time he was a teen. Being stage-struck was hardly what a street kid could admit to his partners. Fearing their ridicule, he told no one, not even his girlfriend, when he started taking acting lessons at age 17. If you were a kid from the neighborhood, you became a cop, construction worker, longshoreman or criminal. Not an actor.

   Moresco struggled to make that long walk a few blocks east. He studied acting, turned out for all the cattle calls -- and during the decade of the 1970s made a total of $2,000. "I wasn't a good actor, but I had a driving need to do something different with my life," he says.

He moved to Hollywood, where he drove a cab and worked as a bartender. "My father said, 'Stop this craziness and get a job; you have a wife and daughter.' “But Moresco kept working at his chosen craft.

   Then in 1983 his younger brother Thomas was murdered in a mob-linked killing. Moresco moved back to his old neighborhood and started writing as a way to explore the pain and the patrimony of Hell's Kitchen. Half-Deserted Streets, based on his brother's killing, opened at a small Off-Broadway theater in 1988. A Hollywood producer saw it and asked him to work on a screenplay.

    His reputation grew, and he got enough assignments to move back to Hollywood. By 2003, he was again out of work and out of cash when he got a call from Paul Haggis, a director who had befriended him. Haggis wanted help writing a film about the country after September 11. The two worked on the writing, but every studio in town turned it down. They kept pitching it. Studio executives, however, thought no one wanted to see a severe, honest vision of race and fear and lives in collision in modern America.

Moresco believed so strongly in the script that he borrowed money, sold his house. He and Haggis kept pushing. At last the writers found an independent film producer who would take a chance, but the upfront money was too little, Moresco delayed his salary.

Crash slipped into the theaters in May 2005, and quietly became both a hit and a critical success. It was nominated for six Academy Awards and won three -- Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Paul Haggis and the kid from Hell's Kitchen.

   At age 54, Bobby Moresco became an overnight success. "If you have something you want to do in life, don't think about the problems," he says, "think about other ways to get it done."

Rearrange the following statements in term of time order:

a. His work Half-Deserted Streets drew attention as it opened at a small Off-Broadway theater

b. Unexpectedly Crash became both a hit and a huge success.

c. He moved to Hollywood to be a taxi driver and a waiter.

d. He started learn acting in spite of hardness with the belief of doing something diiferent.

e. His younger brother Thomas was killed in conflict among bullies.

A. d; c; e; a; b      B. d; e; c; b; a    C. c; d; e; a; b    D. c; e; d; b; a 

Why Bobby Moresco did not tell anyone that he started taking lessons at age 17?

A. He wnted to give his girlfriend a surprise.

B. His girlfriend did not allow him to do this.

C. He was afraid of being laughed at.

D. He had no talent for acting.

Which of the following sentences is NOT true?

A. His father did not support his work as a bartender.

B. Before he became an overnight success, his life experienced ups and downs.

C. His brother’s death inspired his writing Half-Deserted Streets.

D. Moresco grew up in New York's Hell's Kitchen which is a few blocks east of Broadway.

The Studio executives turned the script Crash down because ______________.

A. they thought the script would not be popular.

B. the script was not well written.

C. they had no money to make the film based on the script.

D. they thought Moresco was not famous.

What’s the best title of the article?

A. The Road to Success              B. Try It a Different Way

C. A Talented man—Moresco          D. Moresco’s Perseverance

Which of the following can best describe Bobby Moresco?

A. initiative and persistent             B. shy but hardworking  

C. caring and brave                  D. aggressive and modest

“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)

     After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, pletely humbled(挫败的),”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”

     Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 

Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.

     As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”

     Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative(暂时的) title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.

The couple signed the contract because _______.

    A. Pat plained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself

    B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest

    C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks

    D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book

It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.

    A. pay a certain amount of money

    B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 

 C. say sorry to his wife

    D. do all the housework for years

What can we learn about Pat Peters?

    A. She was hard-working and selfless.

    B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.

    C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.

    D. She did not love Bob any longer.

Which of the following can best end the news story?

    A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”

    B. “My experience of being a mother.”

    C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”

    D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

对话填空(共10小题,每小题1分,满分10分)

T=Todd    A=Adrienne

T: I was looking at your photos, and I found you can play the violin. Tell

me about it.

A: I really (76) e______ playing the violin. I’ve been playing for many years         76________

since I was a five-year-old girl.

Everyone in my family plays an (77) i_________,                                               77_________

so it’s part of what we do together as a family.

T: So when you were (78) l _________ you practiced every day , didn’t you?         78_________

A: Yes, I did, my mom made me. I didn’t have a (79) c__________.                 79_________ 

T: Did you have a (80) t________ come over to your house?                                 80_________

A: No, I had a lesson at the violin school once a week

and I (81)a__________ group lessons too, so it was once a week with a private       81________

and once a week with a group.

T: When did you stop playing?

A: I haven’t stopped.

T: Oh, you (82)s_______ practice.                                                                             82________

A: Yeah, although I don’t have my violin here in Japan right now.

T: Is it (83) h_______ to be away from your violin?                                             83_________

A: It’s sometimes, I (84) m________ the time when I played with my family.         84_________

T: So are you going to play the violin for me sometime?

A: Sure! If you can (85) f________ a violin, I will.                                             85________

On August 26, 1999, New York City experienced a terrible rainstorm. The rain caused the streets to __36__ and the subway system almost came to a stop.

    Unfortunately, this happened during the morning rush hour. Many people who were going to work were __37__ to go home. Some battled to __38__ a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others faced the __39__ bravely, walking miles to get to work.

    I __40__ to be one of the people on the way to work that morning. I went from subway line to subway line only to find that most __41__ had stopped. After making my way __42__ crowds of people, I finally found a subway line that was __43__. Unfortunately, there were so many people waiting to __44__ the subway that I could not even get down the stairs to the __45__. So I took the train going in the opposite direction, and then switch back to the downtown train. Finally, after what seemed like an forever, the train __46__ my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the increasingly heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was __47__ through, exhausted and __48__.

     My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 pm,I was ready to go home. I was about to turn off my computer __49__ I received an email from Garth, my Director:

    I would like to thank all of you who made the effort and __ 50__ reported to work. It is always reassuring(令人欣慰), at times like these, when employees so clearly show their __51__ to their jobs. Thank you.

Garth’s email was short, but I learned more from that __52__ message than I ever did from a textbook. The email taught me that a few words of __53__ can make a big difference. The rainstorm and the traffic __54__ had made me tied and upset. But Garth’s words immediately__55__ me and put a smile back on my face.

36. A. break                  B. flood                C. sink                  D. crash

37. A. forced                B. refused              C. adjusted            D. gathered

38. A. order                  B. pay                   C. call                   D. search

39. A. climate               B. scenery             C. storm                D. burden

40. A. used                   B. promised           C. deserved            D. happened

41. A. practice                     B. routine                     C. process              D. service

42. A. to                       B. through             C. over                  D. for

43. A. operating            B. cycling              C. turning              D. rushing

44. A. check                 B. carry                 C. find                  D. board

45. A. street          B. ground              C. floor                 D. platform

46. A. paused                B. crossed              C. reached             D. parked

47. A. wet                    B. weak                 C. sick                  D. hurt

48. A. ashamed             B. discouraged              C. surprised           D. puzzled

49. A. while                  B. when                C. where               D. after

50. A. hardly                B. casually             C. absolutely          D. eventually

51. A. devotion             B. donation            C. connection         D. reaction

52. A. accurate                     B. urgent               C. brief                 D. humorous

53. A. promise                     B. appreciation       C. advice               D. guidance

54. A. troubles                     B. signals                     C. rules                 D. signs

55. A. corrected            B. supported          C. amazed             D. refreshed

I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”

    At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket.

    I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth… ?

    She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room – if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”

    Then she turned to me, kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control. ” With that, she left the room.

    After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly.

We can infer from the passage that ________.

       A. the secretary didn’t care about the writer 

       B. the writer was bad-tempered

       C. the agent was not responsible for his own work

       D. the wife of the writer was not sensible

Why did the author shout at the telephone?

       A. He was angry with his agent.          

       B. He was mad at the telephone.

       C. He was impatient with the secretary.  

       D. He was anxious about his wife.

What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?

       A. She was speechless.         

       B. She threw the phone away.  

       C. She shouted at him.         

       D. She called the agent in person and scolded him.

What made the author laugh?

A. His changeable feelings. B. His wife’s suggestion.

   C. His own behavior.      D. His wife’s sweet kiss.

What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?

   A. Smart words      B. Anxious feelings

   C. Surprising looks   D. Unusual actions

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