I grew up in a small town. My father raised chickens and ran a construction company. I was barely 10 years old when my dad gave me the responsibility (责任) of feeding the chickens and cleaning up the stable. He believed it was important for me to have those jobs to learn responsibility. Then, when I was 22, I found a job in Natchbill at a country music club called the Natchbill Palace, I washed dishes and cooked from 4: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm and then went on stage and sang until 2:00 in the morning. It wasn’t long before I became known as a singing cook. I had been rejected so many times by record companies that it was hard not to be discouraged. One night, a woman executive (懂事) from a company named Warner Brothers Records came to hear me sing. When the show was over, we sat down and talked and after she left, I said to myself it was one more rejection. A few weeks later, my manager received a phone call — Warner Brothers wanted to sign me to a record deal. Soon after, I released my first record in June 1986. It sold over 2 million copies. My best efforts had gone into every job I’ve ever held. It was the sense of responsibility that made me feel like a man. Knowing that I had done my best filled me with pride. I still feel that way today, even though I have become a well-known singer.

Why was the writer once known as the singing cook?

A. Because he was a cook at a country-music club.

B. Because he sang for guests while he worked as a cook.

C. Because he often sang while cooking.

D. Because he liked singing better than cooking.

Who first recognized his talents and helped make his career successful?

A. Wamer Brothers.                    B. His manager.    

C. His father.                              D. A businesswoman.

What made the writer proud of himself?

A. His ability to live independently.

B. His sense of responsibility in whatever he did.

C. His courage in the face of rejections.

D. His hard work in his early days.


D
I grew up in a small town. I was only ten years old when my dad gave me the responsibility of feeding the chickens and cleaning up the stable (马厩). He believed it was important for me to have those jobs to learn responsibility. Then, when I was 22, I found a job in Natchbill at a country music club called the Natchbill Palace. I washed dishes and cooked from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm and then went on stage and sang until 2:00 in the morning. It wasn’t long before I became known as a singing cook. I had been rejected so many times by record companies that it was hard not to be discouraged.
One night, a woman executive (董事) from a company named Warner Brothers Records came to hear me sing. When the show was over, we sat down and talked and after she left, I said to myself it was one more rejection. A few weeks later, my manager received a phone call — Warner Brothers wanted to sign me to a record deal. Soon after, I had my first record in June 1986. It sold over 2 million copies. My best efforts had gone into every job I’ve ever held. It was the sense of responsibility that made me feel like a man.
68. Why was the writer once known as a singing cook?
A. He was a cook at a country music club.
B. He sang for guests while he worked as a cook.
C. He often sang while cooking.
D. He liked singing better than cooking.
69. Who first recognized the writer’s talents and helped make him successful?
A. His brother.      B. His manager.    C. His father.           D. A businesswoman.
70. It can be inferred from the passage that the ______.
A. writer’s success is partly due to his father     B. writer’s family was very poor
C. writer succeeded easily                   D. writer’s first record was a total failure

Some years ago when I was in my first year in college, I heard Salome Bey sing for the first time. The moment was exciting. Salome’s   21  filled the room and brought the theater to life. I was so   22   that I decided to write an article about her.

I   23   Salome Bey, telling her I was from Essence magazine, and that I wanted to meet her to talk about her career. She   24   and told me to come to her studio next Tuesday. When I hung up, I was scared out of my mind. I   25   I was lying. I was not a writer at all and hadn’t even written a grocery list.

I interviewed Salome Bey the next Tuesday. I sat there   26  , taking notes and asking questions that all began with, “Can you tell me…” I soon realized that   27   Salome Bey was one thing, but writing a story for a national magazine was just impossible. The   28   was almost unbearable. I struggled for days   29   draft after draft. Finally I put my manuscript (手稿) into a large envelope and dropped it into a mailbox.

It didn’t take long. My manuscript   30  . How stupid of me! I thought. How could I   31   in a world of professional writers? Knowing I couldn’t   32   the rejection letter, I threw the unopened envelope into a drawer.

Five years later, I was moving to California. While   33   my apartment, I came across the unopened envelope. This time I opened it and read the editor’s letter in   34   :

Ms Profit,

Your story on Salome Bey is fantastic. Yet we need some   35   materials. Please add those and return the article immediately. We would like to   36   your story soon.

Shocked, it took me a long time to   37  . Fear of rejection cost me ly. I lost at least five hundred dollars and having my article appear in a major magazine. More importantly, I lost years of   38   writing. Today, I have become a full – time writer. Looking back on this   39  , I learned a very important lesson: You can’t   40   to doubt yourself.

1.A.joy              B.voice          C.speech         D.smile

2.A.proud            B.active         C.satisfied      D.moved

3.A.visited          B.emailed        C.phoned         D.interviewed

4.A.agreed           B.refused        C.hesitated      D.paused

5.A.replied          B.discovered     C.explained      D.knew

6.A.seriously        B.patiently      C.nervously      D.quietly

7.A.blaming          B.fooling        C.inviting       D.urging

8.A.hardship         B.failure        C.comment        D.pressure

9.A.with             B.by             C.on             D.in

10.A.disappeared     B.returned       C.spread         D.improved

11.A.compare         B.struggle       C.survive        D.compete

12.A.ignore          B.deliver        C.face           D.receive

13.A.decorating B.repairing           C.cleaning       D.leaving

14.A.disbelief       B.anxiety        C.horror         D.trouble

15.A.subjective B.relevant            C.private        D.reliable

16.A.broadcast B.create               C.publish        D.assess

17.A.recover         B.prepare        C.escape         D.concentrate

18.A.energetic B.endless              C.typical        D.enjoyable

19.A.experience B.success             C.benefit        D.accident

20.A.attempt         B.afford         C.expect         D.pretend

 

 

第二节  完形填空(共20小题;每小题1.5分,满分30分)

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,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

In the United States more than 80 colleges now accept just only women. Most of them were founded in the 19th century. They were set up to   21   women the education they could not get anywhere else. At that time   22   of the universities and colleges   23   only men. In the past 20 years many young women have   24   to study at colleges that accept both men and women. As a   25  , some women’s colleges decided to accept men students, too. Others still refused to change. Now the women’s colleges are   26   again.

   The president of Trinity College in Washington D. C said by the end of the 1980s women had come to   27   that studying at the same colleges with men and women did not mean   28   had the same chance to   29  . The president of Smith College in Massachusetts said “A women’s college  30   women to choose classes and activities  31  . For example, if a woman student wants to learn math, she will be given the chance. So the percentage of students who like to study math in a women’s college is   32   than that in a college with men and women.”

   Experts say men students in the United States  33   have enough courage to speak in class.  34  , women students can’t. In a women’s college, women feel free to say   35   they want to. According to a report, women colleges also   36   leadership ability in many fields. At a women’s college, every   37   office is held by women. Recent studies   38   that this leadership continues after   39  . The studies also prove that it is easier for the American women who went to women’s college to   40   successful jobs later in life. Maybe that is why this kind of college is liked by people now.

21. A. make                  B. elect                        C. offer                    D. call

22. A. some                  B. most                        C. few                      D. none

23. A. liked                  B. accepted                   C. attracted               D. helped

24. A. chosen                B. failed                       C. regretted              D. hated

25. A. goal                   B. model                      C. result                   D. level

26. A. separate                     B. troublesome              C. special                        D. popular

27. A. forget            B. realize                      C. expect                  D. remember

28. A. students                     B. presidents                 C. men                     D. women

29. A. work                  B. visit                         C. choose                        D. survive

30. A. permits               B. forbids                     C. forces                  D. reminds

31. A. obviously            B. freely                       C. exactly                 D. immediately

32. A. smaller               B. more                        C. higher                  D. lower

33. A. usually               B. never                       C. sometimes            D. seldom

34. A. Finally               B. Therefore                 C. However              D. Besides

35. A. how                   B. what                        C. when                   D. where

36.A. bring down          B. bring over                C. bring round        D. bring about

37. A. governing           B. cleaning                   C. serving                 D. booking

38. A. mean                  B. show                        C. warn                    D. conclude

39. A. school                B. work                        C. graduation            D. death

40. A. hold                   B. gather                      C. lose                     D. require

 

I try not to be biased(偏见)but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His social worker assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee. He was short, a little fat, with the smooth facial features and thick-togued speech of Down’s Syndrome(唐氏综合症). I thought most of my customers would be uncomfortable around Stevie, so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.

I shouldn’t have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my regular trucker customers had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot. After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished.

Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home.

That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a heart surgery. His social worker said that people with Downs Syndrome often had heart problems at an early age and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.

A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine. Frannie, my head waitress, did a little dance when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at her and asked, “Okay, Frannie, what was that all about?”

"We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay."

"I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?"

Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed: "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK," she said. "But I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is."

Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables.

After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand.

"What's up?" I asked.

“I cleared off that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting after they left, and I found this. This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup."

She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie".

That was three months ago. Today is New Year’s day , the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work. His placement worker said he had been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back. I took him and his mother by their arms. “To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me.”

I led them toward a large corner booth. I could feel and hear truck customers and the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups and dinner plates, all sitting slightly on dozens of folded paper napkins.

"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said.

Stevie looked at me, and then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed on it.

I turned to his mother. “There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. Happy Thanksgiving!”

While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table.

1.Why did the author have doubts about hiring Stevie?

    A.Stevie was not that reliable.        B.Stevie was mentally disabled

    C.Stevie was too short and fat.        D.Stevie was bad-tempered

2.What made the author not fully satisfied with Stevie’s work?

A.That he made customers uncomfortable.                        B.That he couldn’t pay attention to his duties.

C.That he often spilled cups of coffee.                        D.That he usually cleaned the table too early.

3.By saying the underlined words in Paragaraph3, the author meant that the money she paid Stevie        .   

A.could help Stevie out of the trouble                        B.could send Stevie to a group home

C.couldn’t thoroughly solve Stevie’s problem                   D.could make a great difference to Stevie’s life

4.Why did the author ask Stevie to clean up the mess on the table?

    A.Stevie could pick up the money that was given to him.

    B.The table was so dirty that it needed cleaning.

    C.It was Stevie’s duty to clean the table.

    D.She wanted to congratulate Stevie on his coming back.

5.What made Stevie popular among the staff and customers in the restaurant?

    A.His special appearance.              B.His hard work and optimism.

    C.His funny speeches and actions.  D.His kind-hearted behaviour.

 

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