“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right", says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people.She firmly believes that there is and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is.In Mollie’s opinion, it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing."If you aren't telling a story, you’re a very dead writer indeed." she says.With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer."I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,’ she says, "This love goes back to early childhood.I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said ‘Nonsense, Mollie; dear, you’ll be a writer.’ So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer."

This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical(自传体的) and gives a picture both of Mollie’s ambition and her struggle towards its achievement.Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免地) brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup(金凤花)meadows and strawberry fields—sadly now covered with modern houses."I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood.I’ll never go back, "she said."Never.When I set one of my books in Scotland” she said, “I can recall my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work.And that’s important because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.”

1.What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?

A.It should not aim at a narrow audience.

B.It should be attractive to young readers.

C.It should be based on original ideas.

D.It should not include too much conversation.

2.In Mollie Hunter’ s opinion, which of the following is one sign of a poor writer?

A.Being poor in life experience.

B.Being short of writing skills.

C.The weakness of description.

D.The absence of a story.

3.What do we learn about Mollie Hunter as a young child?

A.She expected to become a writer.

B.She didn’t enjoy writing stories.

C.She didn’t have any particular life aims.

D.She didn’t respect her teacher’ views.

4.What’s the writer’s purpose in this text?

A.To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter’s book.

B.To introduce Mollie Hunter’s works to a wider audience.

C.To provide information for Mollie Hunter’s existing readers.

D.To describe Mollie Hunter’s most successful books.

I was stuck in O'hare airport on an extremely long weather delay, pacing up and down the waiting hall for some exercise, when I passed a wine bar for the twentieth time or so. But this time there was a young woman behind the piano, playing what I could only describe as absolutely beautiful classical music. She had not been there ten minutes earlier when I passed.

I sat down at an empty table for four very near the piano, and began to be warmed by her music and a bit by the wine! She played so effortlessly and with such beauty in every note. Her music immediately brought a huge smile to my face!

Soon, on a break, I thanked her and she told me that after a long day traveling, and now also facing long weather delays, she "just needed to blow off some steam." Wow! Her version of blowing off steam was a gift to get.

As I sat alone drinking my wine, absorbed in this young woman's celebration of her musical passion, two women approached my table and asked if they could join me. I invited them to sit and we immediately began sharing our love of music and celebrating the happiness the piano music was bringing us at that moment.

The two women and I began to talk about our travels, life journeys, and passions. Hearing that unbelievable piano music, and then meeting such interesting women, who generously shared with me their wisdom, perspectives, and feelings of love for each other, was truly joyous. Faced with an 11-hour travel day — to get what normally takes 45 minutes — could have been physically and emotionally exhausting. Rather, by accident of walking by a wine bar at the right moment, and having a couple of seats open at my table, my life was filled with joy.

I will cherish those moments for some time to come. This experience highlights (突出) the critical need in our lives to stop and listen to the music, to invite others to sit at your life table, to open yourself up to a stranger or two, sharing some of your deepest perspectives and experiences. Be open to noticing, absorbing, and also contributing to the joy around you!

1.What does the underlined phrase “blow off some steam” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A. Reduce anger.

B. Relax herself.

C. Make full use of time.

D. Breathe fresh air.

2.How long was the author’s travel supposed to take without weather delay?

A. 10 minutes.B. 20 minutes.C. 45 minutes.D. 11 hours.

3.How did the author feel about the experience in the airport?

A. Happy and meaningful.

B. Lonely but unforgettable.

C. Boring and meaningless.

D. Long and tiring.

4.The author writes the text in order to encourage people _______.

A. to make the acquaintance of strangers

B. to share your experiences with others

C. to communicate with others more often

D. to notice and enjoy the happiness around you

Until late in the 20th century, most Americans spent time with people of generations. Now mid-aged Americans may not keep in touch with old people until they are old themselves. That’s because we group people by age. We put our three-year-olds together in day-care center, our 13-year-olds in school and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes. Why?

We live away from the old for many reasons: young people sometimes avoid the old to get rid of fears for aging and dying. It is much harder to watch someone we love disappear before our eyes. Sometimes it’s so hard that we stay away from the people who need us most.

Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young.

A reporter moved her family onto a block filled with old people. At first her children were disappointed. But the reporter baked banana bread for the neighbors and had her children deliver it and visit them. Soon the children had many new friends, with whom they shared food, stories and projects. “My children have never been less lonely,” the reporter said.

The young, in turn, save the old. Once I was in a rest home when a visitor showed up with a baby. She was immediately surrounded. People who hadn’t gotten out of bed in a week suddenly were ringing for a wheelchair. Even those who had seemed asleep wake up to watch the child. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure.

Grandparents are a special case. They give grandchildren a feeling of security and continuity. As my husband put it, “my grandparents gave me a deep sense that things would turn out right in the end.”

Grandchildren speak of attention they don’t get from worried parents. “My parents were always telling me to hurry up, and my grandparents told me to slow down,” one friend said. A teacher told me she can tell which pupils have relationships with grandparents: they are quieter, calmer, more trusting.

1.Now in an American family, people can find that ________.

A. children never live with their parents

B. not all working people live with their parents

C. aged people are supported by their grandchildren

D. grandchildren are supported by their grandparents

2.The reason why old people are left alone may be that ________.

A. the old don’t like to live in a big family

B. the young can’t get enough money to support the old

C. different generations have different lifestyles

D. the old are too weak to live with the young

3.The fact that the reporter told us shows that ________.

A. old people in America lead a hard life

B. old people in America enjoy banana bread

C. she had no time to take care of her children

D. old people are easy to get along with

4.Seeing a baby, the old people get excited because ________.

A. they had never seen a baby before

B. the baby was clever and beautiful

C. the baby brought them the image of life

D. the baby’s mother would take care of them

阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项.

We often hear the saying “we often hurt those we love or those closest to us!”

Think of the times that we were ________ or upset with someone or about something that happened. Those emotions are ________ with us when we arrive home. How do we ________ them? We let them out on whoever may be the ________ person in the line of fire. It could be our wife or husband, children and even the dog or cat. ________ this behavior is not respectful, we have all done it.

We understand this part of being ________ and we learn to deal with it. Usually we say sorry for our bad behavior later to the man we hurt. But kids so not get ________! They don’t ________ that it’s just because we are human or it’s just a reaction to something totally unrelated. We may raise our voice, ________, or even slam a door. We may even ________ our child a fool and ask them ________ they are so stupid.

To a kid this is hurtful and ________, which can cause anxiety and a ________ of confidence. The more it ________, the worse the child feels. It can affect their social life, school life and even life at home, causing them to become ________, or turn inward. These emotions ________ much worse behavior if not dealt with.

Children need to be ________ with respect and honesty. Once hurt happens, make sure we ________ to that child, get his full attention and wholeheartedly ________ for our loss of control. Take full ________ for our actions.

1.A. happyB. angryC. excitedD. satisfied

2.A. stillB. yetC. againD. only

3.A. handleB. avoidC. changeD. protect

4.A. lastB. goodC. wiseD. first

5.A. UntilB. AfterC. AlthoughD. Before

6.A. importantB. humanC. specificD. friendly

7.A. itB. themC. one D. those

8.A. realizeB. suspectC. worryD. wonder

9.A. whistleB. laughC. mournD. yell

10.A. nameB. callC. makeD. offer

11.A. whyB. howC. whenD. where

12.A. encouragingB. damaging

C. boringD. interesting

13.A. senseB. lackC. kindD. part

14.A. occursB. growsC. provesD. fails

15.A. honestB. braveC. aggressiveD. active

16.A. break intoB. rely onC. lead toD. result from

17.A. treatedB. cheatedC. controlledD. blamed

18.A. shoutB. goC. comeD. rush

19.A. apologizeB. prayC. regretD. care

20.A. pleasureB. offenceC. pressureD. responsibility

阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从第21—40 各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C 和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。

Sudha Chandran, a classical dancer from India, had to have her right leg cut after a car accident. She was also ________ on her career road.

Though the accident brought her bright career to a ________, she didn’t give up. In the ________ months that followed, Sudha met a doctor who developed an artificial ________ made from rubber filled with sponge (海绵). So ________ she wanted to go back to ________ after she had been fitted with an artificial leg. Sudha knew that she believed in ________ and could realize her dream, and ________ she began her courageous journey back to the world of dancing — ________ to balance, bend, stretch, walk, turn, twist and twirl.

After every public recital (个人表演), she ________ ask her dad about her performance. “You ________ have a long way to go” was the answer she used to get ________. In January 1984, Sudha made a historic ________ by giving a public recital in Bombay. She performed in such a great manner that it ________ everyone to tears and this ________ pushed her to the number one position again. That evening when she asked her dad the ________ question, he didn’t say anything. He just touched her feet as a praise.

Sudha’s comeback was ________ moving an event that a film producer ________ to make the story into a hit film. When someone asked Sudha how she had ________ to dance again, she said quite simply, “YOU DON’T NEED FEET TO DANCE.” ________ is impossible in this world. If you have the will to win, you can achieve anything.

1.A. left aloneB. cut offC. kept outD. put out

2.A. topB. heightC. pointD. stop

3.A. unforgettableB. painfulC. busyD. free

4.A. flowerB. legC. giftD. box

5.A. strangelyB. graduallyC. heavilyD. strongly

6.A. homeB. schoolC. dancingD. walking

7.A. the doctorB. the stageC. herselfD. her dad

8.A. howeverB. evenC. sinceD. therefore

9.A. startingB. rememberingC. wantingD. learning

10.A. couldB. wouldC. shouldD. might

11.A. yetB. everC. alsoD. still

12.A. in returnB. in turnC. in surpriseD. in anger

13.A. changeB. movementC. comebackD. promise

14.A. madeB. movedC. letD. forced

15.A. storyB. performanceC. decisionD. accident

16.A. sameB. newC. normalD. interesting

17.A. suchB. thisC. veryD. so

18.A. allowedB. pretendedC. refusedD. decided

19.A. triedB. managedC. thoughtD. imagined

20.A. NothingB. AnythingC. SomethingD. Everything

On the first day of school I brought my camera to school. I gave the students a piece of 8 ×11 cardboard(纸板), and asked them to write their names on both sides. As they finished, I asked them to get into groups of three to four students and took photographs of them holding their name cards.

After school, I developed the film and printed two sets of photos. That evening, I started to match the names with the faces. I kept one set of pictures at home for about a week so that I could review their names each night. On the second day of school, I put up the other set of photos as a bulletin board, with a title such as "Presenting Room 108, ..."

The kids loved it! After I had learned all of their names I brought the second set back to school and stuck them onto an 8 ×11 sheet of paper. I placed it in the classroom for other teachers.

The cardboard name cards that were made on the first day were collected and put on a shelf. From time to time, they were given back to the students and placed on their desks so that guests or supply teachers could identify all of the students.

I’ve been doing this with my grade 7 students for the last nine years and they liked it. It’s fun to bring the photos out again at the end of the school year to see how much they have all changed in ten months.

1.The cardboards were used to ________.

A. play some kind of game

B. decorate the classroom

C. identify the students

D. print the photos on

2.The writer of the passage might be a ________.

A. head teacher B. monitor

C. photographer D. supply teacher

3.Why did the writer leave the second set of the photos at home?

A. To memorize the students’ names at home.

B. To make cardboard name cards for supply teachers.

C. To make a bulletin board in the classroom.

D. To match the students’ names with their faces

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The students didn’t have to use the cardboard name cards to identify each other.

B. Other teachers couldn’t identify the students without the cardboard name cards.

C. The writer kept the cardboard name cards as a souvenir for nine years.

D. The guests will know the students’ names by reading the cardboard name cards.

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