Geena David knew she wanted to be a movie star when she was very young.She was not sure what gave her the idea, but she wanted to look like a movie star.“I have a lot of pictures from my childhood of me wearing sunglasses,” she says.“I used to wear them to watch TV.”

       Early movie actors started wearing sunglasses not because they looked good, but because their eyes hurt.The lights used on movie sets were extremely bright and could cause a painful problem known as “Klieg eyes”.It was named after the Klieg brothers who invented the lights.Actors wore sunglasses to give their eyes a rest.But when movie stars began wearing their sunglasses in public, they quickly became a must.

       Eventually actors started wearing sunglasses in their movies as well as on the street.Audrey Hephburn wore ultra-cool Ray-Ban sunglasses in the 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.As a result, Ray-Ban sunglasses started to appear more and more in the movies.In 1979, Ray-Ban “Wayfarers” were worn by Jake and Elwoo d in The Blue Brothers.Tom Cruise wore Ray-Ban “Aviator” sunglasses in the 1986 hit, Top Gun.Then in 1997, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made Ray-Ban “Predator” sunglasses famous in Men in Black.

       Of course sunglasses aren’t just a fashion statement.The main reason to wear sunglasses is to protect our eyes against UV radiation.UV radiation can damage our eyes, so people now choose their sunglasses carefully.But you don’t have to give up style for safety.The choice of frames and lenses available these days is huge.So you can protect your eyes and still be the coolest person on the beach.

What is mainly discussed in this passage?

       A.The use of sunglasses.   B.The history of sunglasses.

       C.The sunglasses wearing.       D.Why movie stars like to wear sunglasses.

Why did Geena David like to wear sunglasses?

       A.She was a movie star.

       B.She wanted to follow a movie star.

       C.Wearing sunglasses was good for her eyes.

       D.It was good to wear sunglasses when watching TV.

Early actors’ eyes hurt because ______.

       A.they wore sunglasses       B.they went out in the sun too much

       C.the lights on movie sets were too bright D.their scripts were written in very small writing

We may know from this passage that ______.

       A.Audrey Hephburn was a famous film star

       B.Ray-Ban is the name of sunglasses maker

       C.Sunglasses made Top Gun the hit in 1986

        D.Men in Black must be an advertisement of sunglasses

Now people wear sunglasses ______.

       A.just to protect their eyes  B.for fashion and to protect their eyes

       C.because of bright lights   D.because movie stars wear them

About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio(影棚)to take part in a crowd-scene. Although our "act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.

We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in "snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real that it made us feel cold.

The next scene was a complete contrast (对比).The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen. An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water's edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!

Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film “Stars”!

1.Who is the author?

A.A cameraman.                          B.A film director.

C.A workman for scene setting               D.A crowd-scene actor

2. What made the author feel cold?

A.The heavy snowfall.                      B.The film being shown.

C.The low temperature.                    D.The man-made scene.

3.What would happen in the "three minutes" mentioned, in the last paragraph?

A.A new scene would be filmed.

B.More stars would act in the film.

C.The author would leave the studio.

D.The next scene would be prepared.

 

It’s easy to see how to help others, but what about those whose needs aren’t so obvious? This story may have happened a while back, but it was a lesson which has stayed with me and helped me ever since.

It was Thanksgiving and I was volunteering with my parents at a shelter for the poor. We stood behind the counter dishing out hot food to whoever came in. Most of our dinners looked like they had been having hard times, their clothes old, worn and dry. In short, they looked poor!

Then, a man came in, who looked anything but poor. He was well dressed, wearing an expensive suit. I wondered what he was doing there and my jaw dropped in amazement when he joined the line for food. The closer he came to my service station, the more I muttered(咕哝着). What was this man doing? I wanted to know. Surely he wasn’t going to take food.

Then my mother quietly took me to one side. She said, “You have assumed that the needs of the people who come here must be purely physical: hunger, no enough shelter and needs are excitable? What if he needs comfort, friends, or just to be among other human beings?” Her words hit me like a ton of bricks! I felt like I should apologize to the man, but I didn’t.

About a week later the shelter received a large donation from an anonymous(匿名的) source. I can’t help but wonder if it came from that man.

Now, whether I meet others, I remember my mother’s words and try to send kindness and blessings to them, regardless of how they look.

Needs aren’t always visible. But kindness always makes a difference.

1.The task of the author at the shelter was to_______.

A.decide whether dinners looked poor

B.learn life experience there

C.serve hot food to the poor

D.help parents order dishes

2.When the man waited in line, how did the author feel?

A.Surprised         B.Pitiful             C.Excited           D.Angry

3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A.We should show others kindness whatever their needs are

B.Some needs can’t be known clearly at times

C.Needs can always be met by kindness

D.We should find out others’ needs

 

Ellen and Bill County are both teachers. They met in college and became good friends because of their shared love for children. Two years after the couple got married, Ellen saw a huge change in the life of one of her students, a 9-year-old girl. Three years ago both of the little girl’s parents had died and there was no one to take care of her. She was taken away to live in a government office. But finally she was taken in and adopted by a family and became their daughter. Ellen said that she noticed the difference in the child’s life after she was placed in a permanent home and thought that maybe she and her husband could help a child in a similar way.

  They decided to become temporary parents and to take a child into their home on the weekends when the real parents could not take care of him or her. The pair planned to have their own children in a few years, but decided that this would be a way to give to the community in the meantime.

  The couple quickly grew to love one of the children they looked after. When he became legally available, Billy became the first child they took in permanently. Six months after adopting Billy, Ellen was told by her doctor that she was unable to have children naturally. Ellen says she knew then that adoption was the way she was meant to have a family.

  Since adopting Billy, now 17, Ellen and Bill have adopted five more children --- Rose,16; Albert, 11; Joshua, 5 and in June 2003, they added biological brother and sister Tyler and Rylee to the County family.

  The County family has been recognized for their work on adoption, and have received many awards for their efforts. Last June, the family was even interviewed on the television show, “Adoption Stories”.

  Ellen says she would like to encourage other families to adopt children. She adds that the best part of being a mother of six is: “Giving Josh a bath, putting a band-aid on a cut knee or just the everyday mom things, that makes motherhood such an honor and a privilege.”

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. How a couple first met at college                B. Where you can adopt a child

C. The benefits of adoption to the community        D. How adoption created a happy family

2.Why did Ellen and Bill first decide to adopt a childe?

A. Because they had always loved children very much

B. Because they saw the benefits of adoption for a child

C. Because they were not able to have children of their own

D. Because they wanted to receive awards for their community work

3.Which of the children are related to each other by blood?

A. Rylee and Tyler                              B. Billy and Tyler

C. Albert and Joshua                            D. Rose and Albert

4.What can be inferred from this passage?

A. Ellen had thought of adopting a child before getting married.

B. Only kids under 16 can be adopted by a family

C. A loving family is important to a child’s happiness

D. Adopting a child always makes the family become famous

 

Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?

To see whether babies know objects are solid, T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out and touch, and then to show them the illusion. If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for the illusion and found empty air, they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the 16 to 24-week-old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.

Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?

Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to reappear. If the experimenter took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week-old babies did not seem to notice the switch. Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence, while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object.

 

1.The passage is mainly about _____.

         A. babies’ sense of sight          

         B. effects of experiments on babies

         C. babies’ understanding of objects

         D. different tests on babies’ feelings

2. In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, an object ________.

         A. still exists                                B. keeps its shape

         C. still stays solid                        D. is beyond reach

3.What did Bower use in his experiments?

         A. A chair.     B. A screen.       C. A film.          D. A box.

4.Which of the following statements is true?

         A. The babies didn’t have a sense of direction.   

         B. The older babies preferred toy trains to balls.

         C. The younger babies liked looking for missing objects.   

         D. The babies couldn’t tell a ball from its optical illusion.

 

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