For nearly a century before there was such a thing as a space program,a view of space was possible.People could see full views of the Moon,explore Mars(探测火星),and study the outer space beauty.All of this was made possible by a small group of artist-astronomers(天文艺术家) who worked to show people how other worlds in space might look.

Lucien Rudaux,a French artist,was the first to use his artistic ability and his knowledge of astronomy in art.His paintings show a mixture of skilled observations,brilliant imagination and careful attention.As a result,many of his works have come surprisingly close to actual conditions on distant planets.His painting of Mars included moonlike craters(火山口) that were first photographed by the astronauts in 1965.His 1930 painting of a dust storm looks remarkably like a photograph of a storm taken by the astronauts in 1976.

The artist-astronomers,including Rudaux,made people interested in outer space by painting what turned out to be exact portraits of the planets.

The passage tells us _________.

A.the surprising exactness of space artists            B.the popular success of Lucien Rudaux

C.the imaginations of great artists                      D.the likeness between the Moon and Mars

According to the passage,artist-astronomers spent their lives _________.

A.exploring the planets                                     B.studying paintings

C.painting the planets                                       D.producing spaceships

The works of Lucien Rudaux are a mixture of _________.

A.astronomy and mathematics                           B.astronomy and painting

C.photograph and art                                        D.fact and imagination

In 1965,the astronauts photographed _________.

A.a spaceship                       B.a planet             C.craters on the Moon           D.a painting

My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively. For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony of a century’s prosperity. One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.

But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends be needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world. It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.

Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks. It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor, and a fallen Martin Luther King Jr. on the hard balcony of a Memphis motel. When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to posterity from the Eastman Kodak Company.

In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people. Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take stilted pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the sacred and precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.

And it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that familes cherish.  Kodak let the fleeting moments of birthdays and weddings, picnics and parties, be preserved and saved. It allowed for the creation of the most egalitarian art form. Lovers could take one another’s pictures, children were photographed walking out the door on the first day of school, the person releasing the shutter decided what was worth recording, and hundreds of millions of such decisions were made. And for centuries to come, those long dead will smile and dance and communicate to their unborn progeny. Family history will be not only names on paper, but smiles on faces.

The cash flow not just provided thousands of people with job, but also allowed the company’s founder to engage in some of the most generous philanthropy in America’s history. Not just in Kodak’s home city of Rochester, New York, but in Tuskegee and London, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bankrolled two historically black colleges, fixed the teeth of Europe’s poor, and quietly did good wherever he could. While doing good, Kodak did very well. Over all the years, all the Kodakers over all the years are essential parts of that monumental legacy. They prospered a great company, but they – with that company – blessed the world.

That is what we should remember about the Eastman Kodak Company.

Like its founder, we should remember how it lived, not how it died.

History will forget the small men who have scuttled this company.

But history will never forget Kodak.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is to blame for the fall of Kodak?

A.The invention of easy digital photography

B.The poor management of the company

C.The early death of George Eastman

D.The quick rise of its business competitors

2.It can be learnt from the passage that George Eastman         .

A.died a natural death of old age.

B.happened to be on the spot when President Kennedy was shot dead.

C.set up his company in the capital of the US before setting up its branches all over the world.

D.was not only interested in commercial profits, but also in the improvement of other people’s lives.

3.Before George Eastman brought photography to people,             .

A.no photos has ever been taken of people or events

B.photos were very expensive and mostly taken indoors

C.painting was the only way for people to keep a record of their ancestors.

D.grandparents never knew what their grandchildren looked like.

4.The person releasing the shutter (Paragraph 5) was the one        .

A.who took the photograph

B.who wanted to have a photo taken

C.whose decisions shaped the Eastman Kodak Company

D.whose smiles could long be seen by their children

5.What is the writer’s attitude towards the Eastman Kodak Company?

A.Disapproving

B.Respectful

C.Regretful

D.Critical

6.Which do you think is the best title for the passage?

A.Great Contributions of Kodak

B.Unforgettable moments of Kodak

C.Kodak Is Dead

D.History of Eastman Kodak Company

 

Lane waited on the bench nearest the bridge, as he had been instructed.. The strong wind blew straight across the river, and he had to put his overcoat closer about him.

He went over his instructions in his mind. The spy would appear at four o’clock. He would talk to Lane for a while, after which he would get up, leaving his newspapers behind. The plans would be found inside.

A distant clock began to strike the hour. As if from nowhere, a man appeared and sat down beside Lane, placing his newspaper on the seat between them. He was thin and middle-aged, and seemed in need of a good meal. He didn’t look like a successful spy, Lane thought. His talk about the weather was uninteresting.

A few minutes later he got up and continued on his way. Lane picked up the paper which lay on the bench, as if he wanted to read the news. He was excited to see the plans, stuck on the center page. At that moment, however, there was a strong gust of wind which lifted the newspaper into the air, like a kite, and blew it into the river.

1.Which of the following statement is TRUE?

    A. Sitting on the bench, Lane repeated his orders to himself

B. Lane would read about the plans in the newspaper.

C. The man Lane was expecting didn’t arrive on time

D. The man who suddenly appeared was not the one Lane was waiting for.

2.The spy was going to give Lane some important        .

    A. papers           B. information          C. instructions     D. advice

3.Lane found the spy very         .

    A. interesting      B. peculiar     C. ordinary     D. well-fed

4. The spy left the newspaper        .

    A. by the plan  B. by mistake   C. at Lane’s request   D. out of kindness

 

Carmen’s mother Maria had just survived a serious heart attack. But without a heart transplant(移植)her life was in constant   21 

  Both the mother and daughter knew that the chances were very   22  : finding a donor heart that   23  Maria’s blood type could take years.   24  , Carmen was determined to save her mother. She kept   25   hospitals all over the country.

  Days stretched out. By Christmas, Maria had trouble   26  from one end of the room to the other. Carmen lost all hope. She fell into a   27  of the hospital, crying.

“Are you okay?” a man asked.            

Carmen sobbed as she told the stranger her   28  . This middle-aged man was named Frank, whose wife, Cheryl, a tender and devoted mother of four lovely children, had been in hospital with a brain disease and wouldn’t   29  it through the night. Suddenly, an idea came to Frank’s mind. He knew Cheryl had always wanted to   30  something from herself. Could her   31  go to Carmen’s mother?

After reviewing the data, doctors   32  Frank that his wife’s heart was by some miracle a perfect   33  for Carmen’s mother. They were able to   34  the transplant.

That cold night, when Cheryl was   35  dead, Frank came to knock at Maria’s door. She was   36   for Frank’s family as she had been doing every day recently. Though Maria had never met Frank before, they both felt a strange   37  as they hugged and cried.

On New Year’s Eve, Carmen attended Cheryl’s   38  with Frank’s family, who were singing their favorite song “My heart will go on.”

One day later, on New Year’s Day, Maria   39  with Cheryl’s heart. Yes, Cheryl’s loving heart would go on, for it was   40  in another loving mother’s chest.

1.A. change                B. danger               C. disorder                   D. pain

2.A. small                    B. distant                      C. hard                         D. precious 

3.A. matched           B. replaced               C. controlled            D. cooperated

4.A. Certainly            B. Otherwise               C. However                  D. So

5.A. finding                  B. phoning                   C. touring                     D. interrupting

6.A. rolling                B. running                    C. walking                   D. jumping

7.A. corner                  B. bed                         C. man                        D. nurse

8.A. mother            B. story                C. error               D. dream

9.A. put                       B. support                    C. pass                         D. make 

10.A. save                        B. recycle                     C. donate                      D. separate

11.A. heart                       B. brain                        C. husband                   D. spirit                            

12.A. informed            B. warned                    C. congratulated           D. reminded

13.A. copy                       B. fit                           C. variation                  D. baby

14.A. give up                   B. carry out                 C. search after              D. put off

15.A. noticed                   B. predicted                  C. found                      D. declared

16.A. praying        B. begging            C. decorating           D. singing

17.A. belief                  B. love                         C. bond                        D. relief

18.A. funeral                B. operation                  C. performance             D. anniversary

19.A. passed away         B. woke up                  C. left behind                D. dressed up

20.A. active            B. alive               C. necessary                D. changeable

 

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