C

On one of her trips to New York several years ago, Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner. They settled in at a comfortable East Slide cafe and within minutes, another customer was approaching their table.

"Hey, aren’t you from Mississippi?" the elegant, white-haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger. "I’m from Mississippi too."

Without a second thought, the woman joined the Welty party. When her dinner partner showed up, she also pulled up a chair.

"They began telling me all the news of Mississippi," Welty said. "I didn’t know what my New York friends were thinking."

Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine. By the time the group got up to leave, it was pouring outside. Welty’s new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab. Heading back downtown toward her hotel, her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi state reunion(团聚).

"My friends said: ‘Now we believe your stories,’" Welty added. "And I said: ‘Now you know. These are the people that make me write them.’"

Sitting on a sofa in her room, Welty, a slim figure in a simple gray dress, looked pleased with this explanation.

"I don’t make them up," she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years. "I don’t have to."

Beauticians, bartenders, piano players and people with purple hats, Welty’s people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends, from walks through the streets of her native Jackson, Miss., from conversations overheard on a bus. It annoys Welty that, at 78, her left ear has now given out. Sometimes, sitting on a bus or a train, she hears only a fragment(片段) of a particularly interesting story.

1.What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe?

A. Two strangers joined her.

B. Her childhood friends came in.

C. A heavy rain ruined the dinner.

D. Some people held a party there.

2.The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 6 refers to Welty’s _______.

A. readers B. parties C. friends D. stories

3.What can we learn about the characters in Welty’s fiction?

A. They live in big cities. B. They are mostly women.

C. They come from real life. D. They are pleasure seekers.

Art is considered by many people to be no more than a decorative means of giving pleasure.This is not always the case,however,at times,art may be seen to have a purely functional side as well.Such could be said of the sandpaintings of the Navaho Indians of the American Southwest;these have a medicinal as well as an artistic purpose.

According to Navaho traditions,one who suffers from either a mental or a physical illness has in some way disturbed or get in touch with the supernatural—perhaps a certain animal,a ghost,or the dead.To break away from this,the ill person or one of his relatives will employ a medical man called a "singer" to perform a curing ceremony which will attract a powerful supernatural being.During the ceremony,which may last from 2 to 9 days,the "singer" will produce a sandpainting on the floor.On the last day of the ceremony,the patient will sit on this sandpainting and the "singer" will rub the sick or injured parts of the patient's body with sand from a specific figure in the sandpainting.In this way the patient absorbs the power of that particular supernatural being and becomes strong.After the ceremony,the sandpainting is destroyed so its power won't harm anyone.

The art of sandpainting is handed down from old "singers".The materials used are easily found where the Navaho settle: brown,red,yellow,and white sandstone,which is ground(研磨)much as corn is made into flour.The "singer" holds a small amount of this sand in his hand and lets it flow between his fingers onto a clean,flat surface on the floor,with a steady hand and great patience.He is thus able to create designs of stylized people,snakes and other creatures that have power in the Navaho belief system.The traditional Navaho doesn't allow copying sandpaintings, since he believes the supernatural powers that taught him the craft have forbidden this;however,such reproductions can in fact be purchased today in tourist shops in Arizona and New Mexico.These are done by either Navaho Indians or by other people who wish to preserve this craft.

1.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. The Navaho Indian B. The Ancient "Singer"

C. Functions of Art D. The Navaho Sandpaintings

2.How did the "singer" treat the patient according to the passage?

A. By passing his supernatural power on to the patient.

B. By applying a magic substance to the patient's body.

C. By rubbing the patient's sick parts with sand from a sandpainting figure.

D. By destroying the sandpainting figure.

3.The traditional Navsho does not allow copying of sandpaintings because .

A. anything copied has no effect

B. the craft only belongs to the supernatural

C. it's against Navaho belief system

D. the copying may do harm to other Navahos

4.That the reproductions of sandpaintings are now commercially available shows .

A. people have realized the artistic value of sandpaintings

B. patients have benefited from the powerful effect of sandpaintings

C. more people have come to believe in supernatural power

D. modern technology has helped the production of sandpaintings

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项,选项中有两项为多余选项。

Be Your Own Best Friend

Why would you want to become your own best friend? There are a number of benefits of creating your own support system from within rather than relying on your partner, friends or family to be there for you when you’re suffering. We all have it in us to give ourselves what we need, without seeking it from outside. ____1____ Here’s how to become your own best friend.

1. Be nice to yourself.

The first step in becoming a friend to yourself is to treat yourself like you would treat a friend. ____2____ Start by accepting your good qualities, talents and abilities and begin to appreciate yourself.

2. Imagine how you would support a friend in the same situation.

Think about a loved one, a friend, a family member, or someone dear to you and imagine that they are in the same situation you are facing. ____3____ Then consider how to best offer help and advice to them. Allow yourself to feel supported, and give yourself what you need.

Write down the words that you would say to your greatest friend and then say them gently to yourself.

3. ____4____

Following the theme of considering how you would help a dear friend, you need to start taking your own advice and putting your own needs first. Do you need a day off from work? ____5____

Whatever it is that you need, allow yourself to put it at the top of the list rather than the bottom. Use these methods to become your own best friend and start being there for yourself!

A. A long hot bath?

B. Honor your needs.

C. Believe in yourself.

D. Help them first and then they will help you.

E. That means that you need to stop being doubtful of yourself.

F. Think about how they’re struggling, suffering with this problem.

G. Isn’t it far better to know how to support yourself in times of need?

完形填空

I recently heard a story about a famous scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs (突破). He was being interviewed by a reporter who asked him 1 he thought he was able to be so much more 2 than the average person.

He responded that it all came from a(n) 3 with his mother that happened when he was about two. He had been trying to 4 milk from the fridge when he 5 the slippery (光滑的) bottle, its contents running all over the kitchen floor.

When his mother came in, 6 shouting at him or giving him a lecture, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful 7 you have made! I have 8 seen such a huge pool of milk. Well, the damage has already been 9 . Would you like to get down and 10 in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?"

His mother said, "You know, what we have here is a 11 experiment in how to carry a big milk bottle with two 12 hands. Let’s fill the bottle with water and see if you can 13 it." The little boy learned that if he 14 the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful 15 !

This scientist then said that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be 16 to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just 17 for learning something new, which is, 18 , what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment "doesn’t 19 ", we usually learn something 20 from it.

1. A. why B. what C. when D. how

2.A. active B. absent C. creative D. honest

3. A. idea B. experience C. accident D. defeat

4. A. carry B. replace C. remove D. protect

5. A. fell B. lost C. escaped D. dropped

6. A. in honor of B. instead of C. in spite of D. in place of

7. A. picture B. mass C. map D. mess

8. A. rarely B. happily C. frequently D. angrily

9.A. got B. suffered C. done D. received

10. A. jump B. play C. enjoy D. handle

11.A. failed B. successful C. fantastic D. painful

12. A. strong B. tiny C. thin D. expert

13.A. get B. put C. try D. make

14. A. controlled B. analyzed C. broke D. held

15.A. cure B. teaching C. lesson D. instruction

16.A. concerned B. nervous C. athletic D. afraid

17.A. situations B. chances C. times D. turns

18. A. after all B. above all C. first of all D. in all

19. A. do B. finish C. go D. work

20.A. lovable B. severe C. valuable D. interesting

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