The novelist, Harriet Beecher Stowe, born 200 years ago, was a poor housewife with six children, and she suffered from various illnesses. Driven by the hatred of slavery, she found time to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which became the most influential novel in American history and caused great change, both at home and abroad.
Today, however, the book has a different reputation, owing to the popular image of its character, Uncle Tom, whose name has become a saying for a cowardly(懦弱的)black man who betrays his race.
But this view is wrong: the original Uncle Tom was physically and morally strong, an inspiration for black people and other oppressed(被压迫的)people worldwide. Indeed, that was why, in the mid-19th century, Southerners attacked Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a dangerously destructive book, while Northern reformers—especially black people—often praised it.
The book was influential overseas too. In Russia it inspired Vladimir Lenin, who recalled it as his favorite book in childhood. It was the first American novel to be translated and published in China, and it fueled anti-slavery movements in Cuba and Brazil.
The book’s progressive appeal was the character of Uncle Tom himself: a strong man who is notable because he does not betray his race; one reason he gives up escaping from his plantation(种植园)is that he doesn’t want to put his fellow slaves in danger. And he is finally killed because he refuses to tell his master where two runaway slaves are hiding.
Unfortunately, these themes were lost in many of the stage versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
The play, seen by more people than those who read the book, remained popular up to the 1950s and still appears occasionally. But in the play, Stowe’s revolutionary themes were drowned.
But it doesn’t have to be that way; indeed; during the civil rights era it was those who most closely resembled Uncle Tom—Stowe’s Uncle Tom, not the embarrassed one of popular myth—that proved most effective in promoting progress. Both Stowe and Uncle Tom deserve our reconsideration and our respect.
【小题1】Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin because she                     . 

A.wanted to earn money to support her family
B.tried to set an example to her six children
C.hated slavery from the bottom of her heart
D.had similar life experiences to Uncle Tom
【小题2】 Which of the following is TRUE about the influence of the book?
A.It was the first American novel to be translated into Russian.
B.It was the most influential book for Vladimir Lenin in his life
C.It also gave rise to anti-slavery movements in faraway Africa.
D.It inspired black people and people who were suffering in the world.
【小题3】What can we learn about Uncle Tom in the book?
A.he helps his fellow slaves to avoid getting into danger.
B.He is a black man who betrays his race.
C.He manages to escape from the plantation.
D.He kills himself instead of giving away the slaves.
【小题4】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A.The themes of revolution and progress in the book were lost in the play
B.There are more people who have read the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, than those who have seen the stage version.
C.The play was very popular and it is still put on from time to time today.
D.It was Uncle Tom in the book that promoted the progress of mankind.


The HOPE IS A GAME--CHANGER PROJECT will deliver unbreakable soccer balls to kids who, all too often, see things horrible, broken and not survive the simplest of circumstances. The project started taking form well before anyone knew where it would lead –which is to test the power of like-minded people working together to turn inspiration into action.
Four years ago Bobby was in Rwanda offering help to the people there and taking photos of a child soldier named Moise with his “soccer ball”,which was a pile of rubbish tied together with a string. This “ball” was the only thing Moise could call his own --- no family, no home, no place to go. Forced to fight in the Congo and having killed three people at the unbearably young age of seven, the boy’s spirit was broken. And Bobby knew, as he took one photo after the next, that he’d never forget him. In fact, he returned the following year to tell Moise he had stayed deep within his heart ---but he was gone.
I recently helped Bobby launch his new book The Power of the Invisible Sun which features a photo of Moise, his ball, and kids from war-torn areas around the world. All of his earnings go towards the HOPE IS A GAME-CHANGER PROJECT for the kids he visited over the past decade. They caught the emotional landscape from heartbreak to joy, but share the undeniable longing for recovery and hope.
Bobby and I share the unchangeable belief that delivering hope is really a game-changer, especially to a child. We believe that each indestructible ball will come to represent a lasting symbol of hope. A light no matter how small---The Power of the Invisible Sun.
This holiday season, I ask you to think about whether you are doing enough to help someone else in the world. Or as Bobby likes to put it, consider “taking a concrete baby step”, which added together, can create transformational change. It’s my great hope that the HOPE IS A GAME-CHANGER PROJECT will change the lives of children in the world over --- one book, one ball at a time.
59.In the first sentence of the passage, the writer implies that___________.
A.kids live an unsafe life in parts of the world
B.the balls sent to kids should be of good quality
C.young kids can not overcome the difficulties
D.kids intend to break their toys into pieces
60. How may Bobby feel about Mosie?
A.He was very proud of Mosie’s bravery.
B.He felt sorry for Mosie’s ruined childhood.
C.He thought money could solve Mosie’s problem.
D.He felt happy to tell him what was in his heart.
61.Which of the following about Bobby’s new book is TRUE?
A.It earned a lot of money to help kids like Mosie.
B.The photos inside reflected the kids’ hopeless life.
C.Its title shows the author’s belief to change the world.
D.It changed the life of the kids recorded in the book.
62.The underlined part in the last paragrph probably means___________.
A.starting the first step as a baby does
B.taking an active action from now on
C.making great changes step by step
D.doing some small but good deeds

Jeans are trousers made of a kind of clothe called denim. For many people, blue jeans represent American culture.
The history of blue jeans usually begins with a man named Levi Strauss. Although he did not invent the jeans, he is considered the first person to produce and sell this kind of clothing in large amounts.
Levi Strauss was born in Bavaria, Germany. In 1847, he and his family moved to the US. He opened a store, first in New York, and then in San Francisco, California. Among the products he sold were jeans. These trousers were especially useful for miners in California who needed clothing made of a strong material.
Levi Strauss partnered with a clothing maker named Jacob Davis, who had invented a process for making rivets(铆钉) for jeans. These metal things helped strengthen the blue jean cloth to make the trousers stronger. In 1873, Strauss and Davis received a patent to officially own this invention. They began producing “ copper-riveted waist overalls(工装裤)”. In 1928 the Levi Strauss company used the word “Levi’s” as the trademark for their products.
The 19th-century workers would probably be surprised to know that their trousers would one day become a fashion object. Today, jeans are worn by people of all ages, incomes and lifestyles. Jeans come in many colors other than blue and in many styles and at many prices.
A national museum in Washington, D.C. has one of the oldest known pairs of Levi’s jeans in its collection. Jeans have come to express different ideas about American culture based on the people who wear them. These include the heroes of the Wild West and famous Hollywood actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando in the 1950s. Writer James Sullivan published a book called Jean: A Cultural History of an American Icon. In the book, he says jeans serve as a sign for two American values, creativity and rebellion (叛逆).
【小题1】This passage is mainly about _______.

A.the life story of Levi StraussB.jeans and American culture
C.why jeans are popular.D.the history of jeans
【小题2】We know from the passage that Levi Strauss _________.
A.was the first person who wore jeans.B.moved to the US from Germany alone.
C.not only sold jeans at first in his storeD.helped Jacob Davis invent a kind of rivet
【小题3】Which of the following statements is TRUE about jeans?
A.Strauss and Davis owned the invention of using rivets on jeans.
B.In California, Levi’s was the only jeans seller in 1928.
C.Jeans were called copper-riveted waist overalls at first.
D.Jeans were originally made for heroes of the Wild West.
【小题4】According to the last but one paragraph,jeans should be best described as _________.
A.strongB.culturalC. popularD.unique

D
When Mary Moore began her high school in 1951, her mother told her, "Be sure and take a typing course so when this show business thing doesn't work out, you'll have something to rely on." Mary responded in typical teenage fashion. From that moment on, "the very last thing I ever thought about doing was taking a typing course," she recalls.
The show business thing worked out, of course. In her career, Mary won many awards. Only recently, when she began to write Growing Up Again, did she regret ignoring her mom," I don't know how to use a computer," she admits.
Unlike her 1995 autobiography, After All, her second book is less about life as an award-winning actress and more about living with diabetes (糖尿病). All the money from the book is intended for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), an organization she serves as international chairman. "I felt there was a need for a book like this," she says." I didn't want to lecture, but I wanted other diabetics to know that things get better when we're self-controlled and do our part in managing the disease."
But she hasn't always practiced what she teaches. In her book, she describes that awful day, almost 40 years ago, when she received two pieces of life-changing news. First, she had lost the baby she was carrying, and second, tests showed that she had diabetes. In a childlike act, she left the hospital and treated herself to a box of doughnuts (甜甜圈). Years would pass before she realized she had to grow up ---again---and take control of her diabetes, not let it control her. Only then did she kick her three-pack-a-day cigarette habit, overcome her addiction to alcohol, and begin to follow a balanced diet.
Although her disease has affected her eyesight and forced her to the sidelines of the dance floor, she refuses to fall into self-pity. "Everybody on earth can ask, 'why me?' about something or other," she insists. "It doesn't do any good. No one is immune (免疫的) to heartache, pain, and disappointments. Sometimes we can make things better by helping others. I've come to realize the importance of that as I've grown up this second time. I want to speak out and be as helpful as I can be."
【小题1】We can know that before 1995 Mary ___________.

A.had two books published
B.received many career awards
C.knew how to use a computer
D.supported the JDRF by writing
【小题2】Mary's second book Growing Up Again is mainly about her _________.
A.living with diabetes
B.successful show business
C.service for an organization
D.remembrance of her mother
【小题3】When Mary received the life-changing news, she __________ .
A.lost control of herself B.began a balanced diet
C.meant to get a treatment D.behaved in an adult way
【小题4】What can we know from the last paragraph?
A.Mary feels pity for herself.
B.Mary has recovered from her disease.
C.Mary wants to help others as much as possible.
D.Mary determines to go back to the dance floor.

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