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."
【小题1】 Rearrange the following statements in terms 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; bB.d; e; c; b; aC.c; d; e; a; bD.c; e; d; b; a
【小题2】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.
【小题3】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.
【小题4】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.
【小题5】What’s the best title of the article?
A.The Road to SuccessB.Try It a Different Way
C.A Talented man—MorescoD.Moresco’s Perseverance
【小题6】Which of the following can best describe Bobby Moresco?
A.initiative (主动) and persistentB.shy but hardworking
C.caring and brave D.aggressive and modest

Everybody has one of those days when everything goes wrong. This is what happened to Harry.
He got up one morning very late because he had forgotten to wind up his alarm clock(闹钟). He tried to shave(刮脸)quickly and cut himself. When he got dressed he got blood all over his clean shirt, so he had to find another one. The only other shirt that was clean needed ironing(熨), so he ironed it. While he was ironing it, there was a knock at the door. It was the man to read the electricity meter(表). He showed him where the meter was, said good-bye and found that the iron had burnt a hole in his shirt. So he had to wear the one with the blood on it after all. By this time it was very late, so he decided he couldn’t go to work by bus. He telephoned for a taxi to take him to work. The taxi arrived and Harry got in and began to read the newspaper.
In another part of the town, a man had killed a woman with a knife and was seen to run away in a taxi. When Harry’s taxi stopped outside his office, a policeman happened to be standing there. He saw the blood on Harry’s shirt, and took him to the police station. He was kept till 3 o’clock in the afternoon before the police were sure that he was not the man they wanted. When he finally arrived at the office at about four, his boss took a look at him and told him to go away and find another job.
【小题1】Harry had __________.

A.a lucky dayB.an unlucky dayC.a busy dayD.a good day
【小题2】Put the following sentences into correct order according to the passage.
a. The man who read the electricity meter came.
b. Harry ironed his shirt.
c. Harry got blood all over his clean shirt.
d. There was a knock at the door.
e. Harry wore the shirt with blood on it.
A.a, b, c, d, e B.b, a, d, c, eC.b, a, c, d, eD.c, b, d, a, e
【小题3】Why did Harry wear the shirt with blood on it?
A.The iron had burnt a hole in his clean shirt.
B.The only other needed ironing.
C.He had only one shirt.
D.He cut himself and got blood all over his shirt.
【小题4】Harry was taken to the police station because __________.
A.his taxi stopped outside his office and a policeman happened to be there
B.there was blood on his shirt and he was in a taxi
C.a man killed a woman with a knife
D.the murderer(杀人犯)was seen to run a away in a taxi
【小题5】 His boss told him to go away and find another job because __________.
A.he had been kept by the policeB.there was blood on his shirt
C.he was late for workD.he had killed a woman

The carrunning along the well?lit road now sank in darkness.I broke the ____ on purpose____ that the driver was too tired to drive.“When do you go back home in the evening”“9 o’clock after this ____.” “Then when do you come out in the morning” I ____ another question.“9 o’clocktoo—just as if I worked at an office.” His __ surprised mebecause every time I ride a taxiwhat I ___ from the driver are only complaints that they have to work from morning till nightit’s hard to earn money and they’re often ___ by the policeor that their leaders are seated lazily___ the fruits.But this driver told me“I find it ____ to be a section chief as I was before.I like driving just for ____.It’s fortunate that I hardly drive ____ a passenger.So I earn two or three thousand yuan a month with ease.YesI never ____ an empty taxi.If it goes southwardI go northward.If it goes along a ____I turn into a narrow street.”

His words showed his ____ with his life and the pride he ____ in his job.Such feelings are so rare among people nowadays as oxygen in high ____.As an ancient saying goes“Neither joy in material ____ nor grieve(悲痛) over personal setbacks.” How many people nowadays can show high ideals by ____ living and go far with a calm mindI couldn’t help feeling ____ when finding such a state of mind in a stranger on a cold ___.

1.A.window? Bstillness

Csilence? Dquietness

2.A.on condition? Bfor fear

Cin belief? Din order

3.A.night? Btrip

Ccycle? Dprocess

4.A.threw out? Bgave away

Cmade up Dled to

5.A.character Bconfidence

Cattitude? Deasiness

6.A.suffer?? Brequest

Cbenefit? Dhear

7.A.detected? Bordered

Cfined? Dseized

8.A.keeping? Btasting

Cenjoying? Dchoosing

9.A.exciting? Bdisappointing

Ctiring? Damazing

10.A.freedom? Bpleasure

Chobby? Dcompany

11.A.without Bwith

Cbehind? Dbeside

12.A.follow Badmire

Cenvy Dmeet

13.A.route? Bpath

Crailway? Dhighway

14.A.intelligence? Bsatisfaction

Ccompetition? Dhonesty

15.A.made? Bheld

Ccaught? Dtook

16.A.buildings? Bmountains

Cstandard? Dheaven

17.A.gains? Bconcerns

Csupports? Dlosses

18.A.special? Bhappy

Csimple? Doriginal

19.A.angry Bcontent

Cdangerous? Dcurious

20.A.morning? Bnight

Cmoment? Dseason

 

One night, a little before nine o’clock, Dr Johnson was answering a telephone call. He was asked to go and give an operation to a very sick boy at once. The boy was in a small hospital in Glens Falls, sixty miles away from Dr Johnson’s city – Albany. The boy had hurt himself in a traffic accident. His wife was in danger, but his family was so poor that they could not pay the doctor anything. After he heard all this, Dr Johnson was driving carefully. He thought that he could get to the hospital before 12 o’clock. A few minutes later, the doctor’s car had to stop for a red light at a crossing. Suddenly a man in an old black coat opened the door of the car and got in.

“Drive on”, he said. “I’ve got a gun (枪).”

“I’m a doctor,” said Johnson, “I’m on my way to a hospital to operate on a very sick…”

“Don’t talk,” said the man in the old black coat, “Just drive.”

A mile out of the town he ordered the doctor to stop the car and get out. Then the man drove on down the road. The doctor stood for a moment in the snow. After half an hour, Dr Johnson found a telephone and called a taxi. At the railway station he learned that the next train to Glens Falls would not leave until 12 o’clock.

It was after two o’clock in the morning when the doctor arrived at the hospital in Glens Falls. Miss Clarke, a nurse, was waiting for him.

“I did my best,” said Dr Johnson. Miss Clarke said, “The boy died an hour ago.”

They walked into the waiting room. There sat the man in the old black coat, with his head in his hands.

“Mr. Shute,” said Miss Clarke to the man, “this is Dr Johnson. He had come all the way from Albany to try to save your boy.”

1. From the story we know it took Dr Johnson _________ to get to the hospital.

A.12 hours          B.7 hours           C.only 1 hour        D.about 5 hours

2.Dr Johnson was late because __________.

A.there was something wrong with his car

B.a strange man made it hard to drive

C.a strange man drove his car away

D.the train to Glens Falls was late

3. The man in a black coat __________.

A.hit the boy and ran away

B.took the boy to the hospital

C.was the boy’s father

D.was the real doctor

4.The man in black would feel __________ in the end.

A.happy and pleased                      B.regretful(悔恨) and sad

C.worried and angry                       D.tired and hungry

 

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