B
It was 1961 and I was in the fifth grade. My marks in school were miserable and, the thing was, I didn’t know enough to really care. My older bother and I lived with Mom in a dingy multi-family house in Detroit. We watched TV every night. The background noise of our lives was gunfire and horses’ hoofs from “Wagon Train” or “Cheyenne”, and laughter from “I Love Lucy”, or “Mister Ed”. After supper, we’d sprawl on Mon’s bed and stare for hours at the tube.
But one day Mom changed our world forever. She turned off the TV. Our mother had only been able to get through third grade. But, she was much brighter and smarter than we boys know at the time. She had noticed something in the suburban houses she cleaned books. So she came home one day, snapped off the TV, sat us down and explained that her sons were going to make something of themselves. “You boys are going to read two books every week,” she said. “And you’re going to write a report on what you read.”
We moaned and complained about how unfair it was. Besides, we didn’t have any books in the house other than Mom’s Bible. But she explained that we would go where the books were: “I’ll drive you to the library.”
So pretty soon there were these two peevish boys sitting in her white 1959 Oldsmobile on their way to Detroit Public Library. I wandered reluctantly among the children’s books. I loved animals, so when I saw some books that seemed to be about animals, I started leafing through them.
The first book I read clear through was Chip the Dam Builder. It was about beavers. For the first time in my life I was lost in another world. No television program had ever taken me so far away from my surroundings as did this verbal visit to a cold stream in a forest and these animals building a home.
It didn’t dawn on me at the time, but the experience was quite different from watching TV. There were images forming in my mind instead of before my eyes. And I could return to them again and again with the flip of a page.
Soon I began to look forward to visiting this hushed sanctuary form my other world. I moved from animals to plants, and then to rocks. Between the covers of all those books were whole worlds, and I was free to go anywhere in them. Along the way a funny thing happened: I started to know things. Teachers started to notice it too. I got to the point where I couldn’t wait to get home to my books.
Now my older brother is an engineer and I am chief of pediatric neurosurgery at John Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. Sometimes I still can’t believe my life’s journey, from a failing and indifferent student in a Detroit public school to this position, which takes me all over the world to teach and perform critical surgery.
But I know when the journey began the day Mom snapped off the TV set and put us in her Oldsmobile for that drive to the library.
46. We can learn form the beginning of the passage that ___________.
A. the author and his brother had done well in school
B. the author had been very concerned about his school work
C. the author had spent much time watching TV after school
D. the author had realized how important schooling was
47. Which of the following is not true about the author’s family?
A. He came from a middle-class family.
B. He came from a single-parent family.
C. His mother worked as a cleaner.
D. His mother had received little education.
48. The mother was ____________ to make her two sons switch to reading books.
A. hesitant               B. unprepared        C. reluctant                   D. determined
49. How did the two boys feel about going to the library at first?
A. They were afraid                                    B. They were reluctant.
C. They were impatient.                               D. They were eager to go.
50. The author began to love books for the following reasons EXCEPT that ___________.
A. he began to see something in his mind
B. he could visualize what he read in his mind
C. he could go back to read the books again
D. he realized that books offered him new experience

When I was eight, I saw a movie about an island that had an erupting volcano and jungles filled with wild animals. The island was ruled by a beautiful woman called Tondalaya, the Fire Goddess of the Volcano. It was a low budget movie, but to me, it represented the perfect life. But through the years, Tondalaya was forgotten.
The week I turned 50, my marriage came to a sudden end. My house, furniture and everything I’d owned was sold to pay debts that I didn’t even know existed. In a week I had lost my husband, my home and my parents who had refused to accept a divorce in the family. I’d lost everything except my four teenage children. I used every penny I had to buy five plane tickets from Missouri to Hawaii. Everyone said I was crazy to think I could just run off to an island and survive. I was afraid they were right.
I worked 18 hours a day and lost 30 pounds because I lived on one meal a day. One night as I walked alone on the beach, I saw the red orange lava(火山岩)pouring out of Kilauea Volcano in the distance. It was time to live my imagination!
The next day, I quit my job, bought some art supplies and began doing what I loved. I hadn't painted a picture in 15 years. I wondered if I could still paint. My hands trembled the first time I picked up a brush. But before an hour had passed, I was lost in the colors spreading across the canvas(画布)in front of me. And as soon as I started believing in myself, other people started believing in me, too. The first painting sold for $ 1500.
The past six years have been filled with adventures. My children and I have gone swimming with dolphins, watched whales and hiked around the crater rim(火山口边缘)of the volcano. We wake up every morning with the ocean in front of us and the volcano behind us. The dream I had more than 40 years ago is now reality. I’m living freely and happily ever after.
【小题1】Why did the writer go to Hawaii?

A.To free herself from trouble.
B.To make a living.
C.To spend her holiday.
D.To realize her childhood dream.
【小题2】Which of the following is the writer’s dream?   
A.Become a successful painter.
B.Live in nature with animals.
C.Get close to wildlife.
D.Live a free and happy life.
【小题3】We can infer from the passage that __________.
A.the writer wasn’t sure whether she could survive in Hawaii at first
B.the writer’s parents encouraged her to divorce
C.the writer’s husband took away most of her money
D.the writer had never done painting before

When I was eight, I saw a movie about an island that had an erupting volcano and jungles filled with wild animals.The island was ruled by a beautiful woman called Tondalaya, the Fire Goddess of the Volcano.It was a low budget movie, but to me, it represented the perfect life.But through the years, Tondalaya was forgotten.
The week I turned 50, my marriage came to a sudden end.My house, furniture and everything I'd owned was sold to pay debts that I didn't even know existed.In a week I had lost my husband, my home and my parents who had refused to accept a divorce in the family.
I'd lost everything except my four teenage children.I used every penny I had to buy five plane tickets from Missouri to Hawaii.Everyone said I was crazy to think I could just run off to an island and survive.I was afraid they were right.
I worked 18 hours a day and lost 30 pounds because I lived on one meal a day.One night as I walked alone on the beach, I saw the red orange lava(火山岩) pouring out of Kilauea Volcano in the distance.It was time to live my imagination!
The next day, I quit my job, bought some art supplies and began doing what I loved.I hadn't painted a picture in 15 years.I wondered if 1 could still paint.My hands trembled the first time I picked up a brush.But after an hour had passed, I was lost in the colors spreading across the canvas(画布) in front of me.And as soon as I started believing in myself, other people started believing in me, too.The first painting sold for $ 1500.
The past six years have been filled with adventures.My children and I have gone swimming with dolphins, watched whales and hiked around the crater rim (火山口边缘) of the volcano.We wake up every morning with the ocean in front of us and the volcano behind us.
The dream I had more than 40 years ago is now reality.I'm living freely and happily ever after.
【小题1】Why did the writer go to Hawaii?

A.To make a living.
B.To spend her holiday.
C.To free herself from trouble.
D.To realize her childhood dream.
【小题2】Which of the following is the writer's dream?
A.Get close to wildlife.
B.Live a free and happy life.
C.Live in nature with animals.
D.Become a successful painter.
【小题3】We can infer from the passage that _____.
A.the writer had never done painting before
B.the writer's parents encouraged her to divorce
C.the writer's husband took away most of her money
D.the writer wasn't sure whether she could survive in Hawaii at first

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