For years Tom Anderson’s life was withered up(枯萎) by the memory of his part in a fraternity(友爱,互助会) adventure that resulted in the death of one of his classmates. He and his wife separated after six years of marriage. Then the news about Tom changed. His wife Betty came back; he earned a fine position. One day he told me what had changed his life. “I used to think, ‘Nothing can undo what I have done.’ The thought of my guilt would stop me in the middle of a smile or a handshake. It put a wall between my wife and me.”

“Then I had an unexpected visit from the person I was most afraid to see — the mother of the college classmate who died. ‘Years ago’, she said, ‘I found it in my heart, through prayer, to forgive you. Betty forgave you. So did your friends and employers.’ She paused, and then said seriously, ‘You are the one person who hasn’t forgiven Tom Anderson. Who do you think you are to stand out against the people of this town and the Lord Almighty?’ I looked into her eyes and found there a kind of permission to be the person I might have been if her boy had lived. For the first time in my adult life I felt worthy to love and be loved.”

It is only through forgiveness of our mistakes that we gain the freedom to learn from experience. But forgiving our shortcomings doesn’t mean denying that they exist. On the contrary, it means facing them honestly, realistically.

Can a person be all-forgiving and still be human? A scientist I know spent four years as a slave laborer in Germany. His parents were killed by Nazi street bullies; his younger sister and older brother were sent to the gas chambers. This is a man who has every reason to hate. Yet he is filled with a love of life that he conveys to everyone who knows him. He explained it to me the other day: “In the beginning I was filled with hatred. Then I realized that in hating I had become my own enemy. Unless you forgive, you cannot love. And without love, life has no meaning.” Forgiveness is truly the saving grace.

67. Tom Anderson and his wife separated after six years of marriage probably because ______.

   A. he had killed one of his classmates

   B. he had cared more for his adventure than for his wife

   C. his wife looked down upon his poor position

D. his life had been made in a great mess by his deep guilt

68. The key reason for which Tom’s life changed back to normal may be that ______.

   A. his wife Betty came back to him

   B. the mother of his college classmate asked Betty to forgive him for his guilt

   C. he eventually learned to face his guilt honestly, realistically and forgave himself

   D. he earned a fine position and finally made a lot of money

69. The underlined part in the second paragraph means that ______.

   A. the mother of my college classmate permitted me to be a real person

   B. even my college classmate would permit me to be what I used to be

   C. I wouldn’t be a person unless my college classmate permitted me to

   D. I might have been a successful person if my college classmate had lived

70. The best title for this passage could be ______.

A. Forgiveness: the saving grace                                          B. Hatred: unrealistic way of living

C. Love: a meaningful worthy life                                         D. Guilt: unforgivable mistake

Tom was a clever boy, but his parents were poor, so he had to work in his spare time and during his holidays to pay for his education. In spite of this, he managed to get to the university, but it was so expensive to study there that during the holiday he found it necessary to get two jobs at the same time so as to make enough money to pay for his studies.
One summer he managed to get a job in a butcher’s shop(肉店)during the day-time, and another in a hospital at night. In the shop, he learnt to cut meat quite nicely, so the butcher often left him to do all the serving (服务)while he went to the back room to do the accounts(账目). In the hospital , on the other hand, he was , of course , allowed (允许)to do the simplest jobs, like helping to lift people and to carry them from one part of the hospital to another. Both at the butcher’s shop and at the hospital, Tom had to wear white clothes.
One evening at the hospital, Tom had to carry a woman from her bed to the place where she was to have an operation. The woman was already feeling frightened at the thought of the operation before he came to get her, but when she saw Tom, that finished her.
“No! No!” she cried. “Not my butcher! I won’t be operated on by my butcher!” and fainted away(昏厥).
【小题1】Tom made enough money by ________.

A.studying in the university
B.working in a butcher’s shop
C.doing two jobs
D.cutting meat well
【小题2】Tom was a student, but at the same time he was__________.
A.a butcher and a doctor
B.a manager and a doctor
C.an assistant(助手)
D.a manager
【小题3】The woman patient recognized Tom because ____________.
A.he was wearing white clothes
B.he had sold meat to her
C.he was now working in the hospital
D.he was going to operate on her
【小题4】When she saw Tom, that finished her, the sight of Tom _________.
A.plunged her into deep sorrow
B.made her decide not to have an operation
C.broke her heart
D.took all her strength and courage away

When Charles Strattion was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum, and thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled around the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a new name, general Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about two thousand guests. Crowds filled the street of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding carriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon, just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country held Tom Thumb’s weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
【小题1】“the talk of the town” means      .

A.they were in the newspaper
B.people spread many rumors about them
C.they were the most popular things happening
D.they were discussed in a city meeting
【小题2】What does the author think about Tom Thumb’s wedding?
A.People gave it too much of their attention.
B.It helped people cheer up in a dark time
C.It was funny and ridiculous
D.Tom and Lavinia were stupid.
【小题3】Which of the following is the best description of the fact that Tom was smart?
A.He became a billionaire at twenty-five
B.He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.
C.He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon
D.He married a school teacher.
【小题4】It was very funny when Tom danced on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because      .
A.the wooden plate would make it sound as of Tom were tap dancing
B.it made Tom feel taller
C.the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted
D.the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller
【小题5】What does the author imply in the last paragraph?
A.Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine
B.People are always disappointed during wartime
C.Entertainment can serve an important purpose
D.People should be married even if they are small

When Charles Strattion was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum, and thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled around the world together.

He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a new name, general Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.

Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about two thousand guests. Crowds filled the street of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding carriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon, just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.

Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country held Tom Thumb’s weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

1.“the talk of the town” means      .

A.they were in the newspaper

B.people spread many rumors about them

C.they were the most popular things happening

D.they were discussed in a city meeting

2.What does the author think about Tom Thumb’s wedding?

A.People gave it too much of their attention.

B.It helped people cheer up in a dark time

C.It was funny and ridiculous

D.Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

3.Which of the following is the best description of the fact that Tom was smart?

A.He became a billionaire at twenty-five

B.He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.

C.He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon

D.He married a school teacher.

4.It was very funny when Tom danced on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because      .

A.the wooden plate would make it sound as of Tom were tap dancing

B.it made Tom feel taller

C.the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D.the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

5.What does the author imply in the last paragraph?

A.Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine

B.People are always disappointed during wartime

C.Entertainment can serve an important purpose

D.People should be married even if they are small

 

 

                               One of the most popular American singers of the twentieth century was Elvis Presley. He made the rock ”n” roll music popular all over the world, He sold millions of records and made many successful films, and he helped change the direction of popular music in the 1960s.

         Elvis Presley was born in a poor family in 1935, His parents were simple country people who often took him to church, where he learned to sing, and he never forgot the kind of songs that he used to sing in church as a child.

         When he was young, Elvis moved from Toledo to Memphis in Tennessee, where he attended high school, but he was not a good student, His only real interest was singing. He began to sing in the style that is called “country and western”.

         In 1955 he recorded some songs for his mother’s birthday. The people at the recording studio liked his singing and his music. It was country and western music, but it also sounded a little like the music which black people used to sing in the American South. It was called “blues”.

         Shortly after that, Elvis met Tom Parker, who became his manager and arranged (安排) concerts for him across the United States and new recordings as well. Soon Elvis became famous around the country. Later Elvis went to Hollywood and began to appear in films such as Love Me Tender and King Creole.

         But Elvis found it difficult to live with success. Like many other famous people, He began to take drugs and his health started to suffer. When he died at an early age of 42 in 1977,his many millions of fans were shocked, “The King Is Dead!” the newspaper said, But today his memory and his music live on and will always be remembered as the King of Rock “n” roll.

66. From the passage, we can see________________.

         A. the church songs didn’t help Elvis develop his own style

         B. Elvis forgot his church music at a later age

         C. Elvis didn’t get any help from his parents

         D. the church songs helped Elvis’ development in his singing

67. Who was Tom Parker?

         A. A manager of a bank                                        B. A famous singer

         C. Elvis’ manager                                                   D. Elvis’ best friend since childhood

68. What caused Elvis’ death?

         A. His singing too much                                        B. His taking the drugs

         C. His parent’s death                                            D. Tom Parker’s help

69. What was Elvis’ music style like most?

         A. Only country and western

         B. Only country and blues

         C. Both western and church music

         D. Not only country and western but also a bit “blues”

70. Which is the right order of Elvis’ life?

         a. Elvis learned to sing at church

         b. Elvis gave concerts all across America

         c. Elvis recorded some songs for his mother’s birthday

         d. Tom Parker became his manager

         e. Elvis went to high school in Memphis

         f. Elvis was born in Toledo

         A. f; a; e; c; d; b                                                       B. f; a; c; e; d; b

         C. f; e; a; d; b; c                                                       D. f; e; a; c; d; b

 

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