Moby Dick,or The Whale,of which only 5 copies were sold in the year of its first publication,has been recognized as one of the greatest masterpieces of the twentieth century novels across the world.Yet its author,Herman Melville,was not blessed enough to change his fate as the great work did.

Herman was born into an upper class New York family in 1819,but he had to drop out of school at the age of 15due to bankruptcy (破产)of the family.He struggled for living by working as a clerk at a bank,a farmer and a primary school teacher,but did not manage to hold on quite long to any of the jobs.And in 1841,he turned himself a whaling sailor on a big whaler.

In the next three years,his sailor’s life was torn apart by betrayal,injury,living with anthropophagi(食人族), love,killing,imprisonment,prison break,which did not bear the expected fruit of fortune or being a captain.

At the age of 25 ,Herman returned to America,starting his writing career.During the following five years,he published five novels,among which was Moby Dick,but none of the works brought him any fame or sense of success.

He had to live up with his poor life,supported by regular financial help from his father in-law.Not much changed even after his father-in-law assisted him onto a post at the customhouse(海关).His self-doubt whether he should fight to write as an author disturbed Herman for the rest of his life till his death in 1899,which is suggested in his wife’s diary.And his wife described his several struggles where he fought bitterly back to his desk to pick up his pen.

1.Which of the following statements is TRUE about Moby Dick according to the passage?

A. It came out as a published novel in the twentieth century.

B. It was not recognized as a great work until the twentieth century.

C. It was not for sale until the twentieth century.

D. It was adampted from the passage?

2.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Herman chose his life on purpose to make himself a great writer.

B. Herman’s parents had scheduled those failures in his life to make him a man.

C. Herman did not offer the best of himself to foresee and avoid those series of misfortune.

D. Herman’s insufficient capability to fight problems he was faced with might result.

3.What is the first working element that built Herman up be a most outstanding writer?

A. His rich life experience and perseverance. B. His sharp sense to observe and think.

C. Help from his wife and father-in-law. D. His brilliant language talent and skill.

4.What can we learn from Herman’ life story?

A. There is no much point struggling and working too hard in one’s like.

B. Never invest too much of yourself into what others have the power to judge.

C. Never trust decisions that have been made by others.

D. Never doubt yourself but stick to what you are committed to.

My timing has always been a little off with Elizabeth Strout. I’ve read and pretty much admired everything she’s written, but, for whatever reason, the books of hers I’ve picked to review have been the good ones, like Amy and Isabelle and The Burgess Boys, rather than the extraordinary ones, like Olive Kitteridge, which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize. Anything Is Possible is Strout’s latest book and it’s gorgeous. Like Olive Kitteridge, Anything Is Possible reads like a novel constructed out of linked stories. In fact, it’s hard to know exactly what to call this — a novel or a short story collection. In any case, these stories are animated (栩栩如生) by Strout’s signature themes: class humiliation, loneliness, spiritual and, sometimes, reawakening. When Strout is really on her game, as she is here, you feel like you’ve been carefully lowered into the unquiet depths of quiet lives.

Strout began working on Anything Is Possible at the same time she was writing her novel My Name Is Lucy Barton, which was published last year. Lucy, a dirt-poor child who grows up to become a celebrated writer, floats in and out of these interlocking stories. Some characters catch a glimpse of her being interviewed on TV; one travels to see her at a bookstore. An older Lucy even appears “in the flesh” in one story when she returns home to the small town in rural Illinois where most of these tales are set to visit her troubled brother; but Anything Is Possible also stands on its own. Indeed, a few of the characters here would be ticked off if they thought their stories depended in any way on that Barton girl. Strout’s writerly eye works like a 360 degree camera, so that a character or place that’s on the margins of one tale takes center stage in a later one. This technique sounds contrived, but Strout carries it off lightly.

__ One of the most powerful stories here is called “Dottie’s Bed & Breakfast,” which is an establishment we readers glimpse earlier in the book. Dottie desires to be middle-class and she harbors a grudge (怨恨) against life because she’s had to rent out rooms to make a living. Dottie also possesses a sensitive nose for sniffing out the lower-class origins of some of her guests.

__ “Shoes always gave you away,” comments a woman in a story called “Cracked” about a houseguest’s too-high cork wedges(坡跟鞋). And, in the final story here, called “Gift,” a once-poor man made good says, “The sense of apology did not go away, it was a tiring thing to carry.”

__ But, back to Dottie. When an elderly doctor and his wife come to stay at her guesthouse, Dottie bonds over tea with the wife, Shelley, who shares a story about a long-ago social humiliation.

__ At breakfast the next morning, however, Shelley obviously regrets that confidence and becomes the Doctor’s wife again. She freezes Dottie out and puts her back in her place as the inn-keep.

There’s comic satisfaction in seeing Dottie secretly spitting into the breakfast jam, but the more profound rewards of this story have to do with its recognition of the many varieties of human insecurity — or, as Lucy Barton herself more bluntly puts it, the many ways “people are always looking to feel superior to someone else.”

Other stories have to do with sexual shame, or with the tragic ways close neighbors or family members misread each other; but I’m making Anything Is Possible sound too grim when, in fact, so many of these stories end in an understated (低调的) gesture of forgiveness. Strout is in that special company of writers like Richard Ford, Stewart O’Nan and Richard Russo, who write simply about ordinary lives and, in so doing, make us readers see the beauty of both their worn and rough surfaces and what lies beneath.

1.The author of the article may have reviewed these books EXCEPT_______.

A. Amy and Isabelle B. The Burgess Boys

C. Anything Is Possible D. Olive Kitteridge

2.What can be inferred according to the second paragraph?

A. The book Anything Is Possible depends wholly on that Barton girl.

B. The character Lucy floats in and out of these disconnected stories.

C. An ordinary character in one story can be a leading role in another.

D. Elizabeth Strout isn’t skillful at describing small characters in life.

3.Shelley freezes Dottie out the next morning because _______.

A. she feels she is superior to Dottie

B. Dottie spits into the breakfast jam

C. Dottie desires to be middle-class

D. she regrets the confidence in Dottie

4.The sentence “Indeed almost all of Strout’s characters have sharp eyes and even sharper observations to make when it comes to that great American subject: class.” should be put in ______.

A. ① B. ②

C. ③ D. ④

5.The tone of the article can be described as _______.

A. depressing B. critical

C. appreciative D. indifferent

6.What might be the best title for the passage?

A. Anything Is Possible — unquietness depths of ordinary lives

B. Elizabeth Strout — an outstanding Pulitzer Prize Winner

C. Anything Is Possible — a collection of grim short stories

D. Elizabeth Strout — a writer with clever writing techniques

B

To support and recognize the efforts of parents in bringing up their children, the Parents’ Day had began in USA. Parents’ Day actually gives an opportunity to the parents, their children and all the family members to gather at one place for celebrations. National Parents’ Day is important for all the children of the United States to show their love towards their parents. Apart from organizing a party and arrange some lovely activities, the children get the much required chance to gift cards and flowers to their parents.

5th May is the Children’s Day and 8th May is the Parents’ Day in South Korea. Therefore, it’s a very special month in South Korea. Actually celebrated as Mother’s Day, 8th May, gives the opportunity to the large mass of Korea to show respect and celebrate the efforts of their parents. Flowers are given to their parents. A quality time is spent together for conveying(传递) a message of love and expressing thankfulness to the parents.

Vietnam has a special day which is known as the Parents’ Day. Children grab the opportunity with both hands on 7th July every year to show love to their parents. It’s a day to show how special parents are to their own children. Parents and children enjoy the time as they gather at a place for taking part in different lovely activities. It’s a time to be happy. Parents get the opportunity to go out for the lunch and dinner along with their children. It’s, however, not a National Holiday in Vietnam but it’s a time for the Vietnamese to gift flowers and cards to parents.

The date of the Parents’ Day is different in different countries but purpose of celebrating the day is the same all over the world.

1.According to the first paragraph, we can learn Parents’ Day ______.

A. has its origin in America

B. is only celebrated by the parents

C. gives an opportunity to the parents to have a rest

D. takes place on the same day as the Children’s day

2. Why is May a very special month in South Korea?

A. The parents can stay at home with their kids.

B. Kids receive many flowers from their parents.

C. There are two important days during this month.

D. Every family can get together happily on the weekends.

3.What is the date of the Parents’ Day in Vietnam?

A. On 1st January..

B. On 5th May.

C. On 8th May.

D. On 7th July.

B

Six years ago at the age of 35, I suddenly decided I wanted to learn the cello(大提琴). Straight away I rented an instrument and appeared before Wendell Margrave, professor of musical instruction.

"You can be as good as you want to be, "Margrave said rather mysteriously. On a piece of paper he drew the notes E and F. He showed me where to put my fingers on the neck of the cello and how to draw the bow. Then he entered my name in his book: 10 am, Tuesday. Tuesday followed Tuesday, and soon it was spring.

Thus began my voyage out of ignorance and into the dream. E-F, E-F, we played together—and moved on to G. It was a happy time. I was again becoming something new, and no longer trapped as the same person. Surely the most terrible recognition of middle life is that we are past changing. We do what we can already do. The cello was something I couldn't do. Yet each Tuesday this became less and less true. Riding home on the bus one snowy night and learning the score of Mozart's C-Major Quintet, I felt the page burst into music in my hands. I could by then more or less read a score, and was humming(哼唱)the cello line, when suddenly all five parts came together harmonically in my head. The fellow sitting opposite stared. I met his glance with tears, actually hearing the music in my head for the first time. Could he hear it too, perhaps? No, he got off at the next stop.

As the years slipped by, my daughter grew up, playing the piano well. My goal was that she and I would one day perform together. I also wanted to perform in public with and for my peers, and to be secretly envied. I continued to play, to perform, but it is not the same. Before, when I heard a cello, it was all beauty and light. Now, as the TV camera gets close to Rostropovich's face, I recognize that his smile shows his incredible determination. Even for him, the cello is a difficult instrument that doesn't respect your ambitions. I picked up my cello and practiced. As good as I wanted to be, I am as good as I'm going to get. It is good enough.

1.From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that .

A. the author already knew some cello basics

B. the author went to a cello lesson every Tuesday

C. the author bought a cello after he decided to learn it

D. Wendell Margrave was a famous but mysterious professor

2.The author writes that "it was a happy time" in Paragraph 3 mainly because .

A. he felt very bored with his new life

B. it was beautiful to be able to hear the music in his mind

C. Professor Margrave made learning the cello very easy for him

D. he enjoyed the feelings of growth and getting closer to his dream

3. From the last paragraph, it can be inferred that the author .

A. put on shows with his daughter

B. was determined to catch up with Rostropovich

C. is happy to have kept up his personal development

D. was confident that his peers would envy him for his cello playing ability

4. The purpose of the article is mainly to .

A. show his deep gratitude to his cello tutor

B. advise readers on how to improve their cello skills

C. describe his incredible efforts to overcome difficulties

D. encourage readers that it's never too late to pursue their dreams

There are plenty of beauty schools throughout the country that can help you to start a career in cosmetology(美容业). Nowadays, young people may not be able to afford a four-year college. Students can look forward to attending a beauty school program which will only take a few months to complete and start their career right away to earn money.

There can be many benefits of going to beauty school. The expense is much less than attending a four-year university. Besides, attending beauty school is mostly a hands-on(动手的) experience which appeals to many people. Some students don’t like sitting all day listening to lectures and then having to study at night. What’s more, most beauty school programs keep up with the changing trends and fashion. So you will always be working on different hair types which can be fun and will give you a lot of experience throughout the years of your career.

If you are worried about finding a job after graduation, many beauty schools will offer assistance for immediate job placement and give you peace of mind that you will not be stranded looking for a job. Most colleges and universities are not equipped to do that because of the large number of graduates each year.

Cosmetologists will also make a good salary. The average salary will depend on your location, but you may earn a salary around $3,000--$3,500 a month. This is not including tips which could be $600 or more a month. Not only can young people go to cosmetology school, but people of all ages can start this career. As you can see, there are many benefits of beauty schools that can be the perfect opportunity for anyone to become a great cosmetologist.

1.Some students prefer not to go to college probably because .

A. they are interested in beauty school

B. they don’t have enough money

C. they are not young any longer

D. they are too busy doing something useful

2.How many advantages does the second paragraph introduce to us?

A. Five B. Two

C. Three D. Six

3.We can learn from the third paragraph that .

A. beauty school can help find a job

B. many people don’t go to university

C. lots of students compete for beauty schools

D. going to college costs a large amount of money

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. The types of school for children

B. The benefits of beauty schools

C. The advantages of going to college

D. Going to college or beauty school

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