题目内容

A

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.

I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.

It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published ,

I put it aside.

Then I met an agent(代理商)who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.

The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.

It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding.

1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. I was waiting for good fortune.

B. I was trying to find an admirable job.

C. I was being aimless about a suitable job.

D. I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time.

2.The author decided to write a novel ______ .

A. to finish the writing course

B. to realize her own dream

C. to satisfy readers’wish

D. to earn more money

3.How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A. Disturbed. B. Ashamed. C. Confident. D. Uncertain.

4.What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A. It pays to stick to one’s goal.

B. Hard work can lead to success.

C. She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

D. There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

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More than half a century ago, there were 4, 000 drive-in movie theaters in the United States, and watching a movie from your car was a popular way to spend an evening. But with the number of drive-ins reduced to just a few hundred, outdoor movie has been popping up across the nation. Going to an open-air theater has become a modern summer pastime for an increasing number of movie fans.

In recent years, outdoor movie screenings have come up in parks, vacant lots and shopping malls around the nation. On average, about 1,000 people attend each movie night. It attracts a lot of young professionals, young workers and residents nearby. For some, the outdoor movies bring back the memories of the drive-in theaters of their youths. But for the majorities, they think it is comparable to the atmosphere of drive-ins, as they can bring friends, food, good wine, and watch the movie together.

The returning of Americans’ love affair with outdoor movies makes Stephen Bastas ever busier. His seven-member crew sets up screens in various locations mostly in the Washington area every day throughout the summer. They are doing pretty well and they hope to continue the trend. And it looks like they are going to. That’s because many fans say there is nothing like watching a movie on a breezy summer evening under the stars.

1.In the first paragraph, the author tries to tell us _____.

A. outdoor movies attracts more movie-lovers

B. summer brings back more drive-in movie fans

C. drive-in movie theaters have already disappeared

D. watching a movie from your car is becoming more popular

2.Most people choose to go to an outdoor movie mainly because they can _____.

A. have snacks before the movie

B. cheer up with young friends

C. bring back good old days

D. enjoy the casual atmosphere

3.From the text, we can learn that Stephen Bastas is most probably _____.

A. a movie maker

B. an outdoor movie fan

C. a movie director

D. an open-air theater operator

4.How does Stephen Bastas feel about the future of outdoor movie?

A. Optimistic. B. Amazed

C. Worried. D. Disappointed.

C

Parties and social gatherings no longer excite us the same way they once did. This is not due to a lack of desire to socialize, but the smartphone.

At parties, more people are on their smartphones than on their drinks. According to a recent International Data Corporation study, well over half of all Americans have a smartphone and reach for it the moment they wake up, keeping it in hand all day. In addition, too much of society is using smartphones while driving and as a result getting into car crashes. 34 percent of teens admit to text while driving, and they confirm that text messaging is their number one driving interruption. People's attachment to their smartphones is unbelievably becoming more important than the lives of themselves and others.

Just as drivers dismiss the importance of focusing while on the road, many people also fail to recognize the significance of human interaction. When with their friends, some people pointlessly check or send text messages in the presence of a friend, which sends a message to that friend the person I am texting is more important than you. In addition, relying on our smartphone to make friends does not give us the same advantage as being able to make new friendships in the real world. Face-to-face conversations will give us much stronger communication skills in the long run.

As many people risk their lives and the lives of people around them just to send a text or mindlessly check their massages, smartphones are in many ways more dangerous to people. The quality of this technology is de-advancing societal achievements and weakening the value of communication. Not only is the smartphone affecting our desire to interact (交流) face-to-face but it is also lowering society's ability to communicate.

1.The purpose of this text is to ______.

A. call for an end to use the smartphone while driving

B. appeal to us to pay attention to communication skills

C. express concern about the overuse of the smartphone

D. advise us to be cautious about the addiction to the smartphone

2.The second paragraph is developed by ______.

A. giving examples

B. listing figures

C. comparing facts

D. analyzing the effects

3.The author advocates us to make new friends ______.

A. by using smartphones

B. in a face-to-face way

C. in different ways

D. under a free circumstance

4.Over dependence on the smartphone leads to the fact that ______.

A. parties and gatherings limit their social circle

B. people are more and more narrow-minded

C. people's communication skills are weakened

D. face-to-face communication becomes less important

A

As an old-fashioned explorer, Paul Salopek sets out on foot to circle the world. He is also a modern-day explorer. On top of a few clothes, a small first-aid kit and notebooks, he is carrying a recorder, a video camera, a small computer and a satellite phone — a telephone that connects to a satellite and can be used in many places where cell-phones don’t work.

The journey is long: 21,000 miles! It will take seven years to complete it.

Salopek was born in California and spent his childhood in Mexico. He says he has always liked to travel and doesn’t like to rush. At the age of fourteen, he climbed Mount Whitney in California and crossed the state’s Sierra Nevada Mountains alone. When he was fifteen years old, he walked the length of Death Valley. He once rode a mule 2,000 miles through mountains in Mexico.

A longtime reporter, Salopek has reported from Africa, Asia and Mexico. Now 51 years old, he plans to keep writing. As he travels around the world, he is writing stories about the people he meets and the way they live. He looks for how people find local solutions to big problems such as lack of food and water. He also records the sounds he hears and takes photos of the sky and the Earth’s surface.

The long walk started in the Rife Valley in Ethiopia in East Africa. Many consider East Africa to be home to the first humans, who lived 160,000 years ago.

Salopek is retracing the paths our ancestors took as they left Africa and settled in parts of the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas. As Salopek is walking, he is learning more about himself and all of humankind.

1.The underlined phrase “on top of” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _______.

A. on the top of B. in contrast to

C. in addition to D. on the basis of

2.The author develops the third paragraph mainly by ________.

A. providing examples

B. making comparisons

C. making a careful analysis

D. following the order of time

3.According to the passage, Paul Salopek is a ________.

A. doctor who likes carrying the small first-aid kit

B. journalist who likes traveling, exploring, writing and studying

C. writer who likes traveling, exploring and studying

D. photographer who is good at using satellite communication equipment

4.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Paul Salopek: Following Man’s First Footsteps

B. Paul Salopek: Reflecting People’s Real Lives

C. Paul Salopek: Going for a Seven-year Study

D. Paul Salopek: Looking back upon the Childhood

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