题目内容

Erica McElrath calls herself “ The Happy Lady”. And by now, you may have caught her singing and dancing with her mp3 player on any of several city street corners. “ I don’t want money,” said McElrah, 40, of St. Louis. “ I come out here to make people smile.”

McElrah lost her full-time job in January. Since then, she has spent her days doing what she loves-dancing in the street. Her message to people in hard times: do something that you enjoy, no matter what your circumstances. “ Life isn’t that bad,” she said. “ If you’re working 40 hours a week, you shouldn’t be complaining.”

McElrah graduated from parkway Central High School and has spent the past 21 years working as a nursing assistant, She began singing and dancing publicly on her days off a few years ago to help her through the pain of her second divorce.

Her favorite spot is the northwest corner of Chouteau Avenue and South Grand Boulevard near St. Louis University. McElrah’s mp3 player is loaded with hundreds of classic rock hits and 80’s pop songs, including those by Joe Cocker, Tina Turner, Neil Diamond and Toto. But her favorite artist, by far, is Stevie Nicks.Videos of McElrah have appeared on YouTube, a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. “People think I’m crazy, but I don’t care,” She said. “ I can dance a little. I just go with the music.” Even a rude gesture from a passing motorist doesn’t bother her either. “ I just smile and wave,” she said.

McElrah’s show of bravery recently earned her a job opportunity with Liberty Tax Service, which temporarily offered her a job as a dancer Statute of Liberty to promote a new place near Grand Center starting in January.

“ Just be happy and do what you love,” she said. “The money will come.”

1. At first McElrah began singing and dancing in public in order to _____.

A.make a living B.entertain the public

C.rise to fame D.encourage herself

2.Erica McElrah was offered a job because of _____.

A.her beautiful voice B.her positive behavior

C.her lively dancing D.her competitive spirit

3.Which of the following about Erica McElrah is TRUE?

A.She doesn’t care others’ comments on her.

B.Her favorite artist is Joe Cocker.

C.She once worked as a doctor.

D.She has been divorced once.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A.Ways To Be Happy

B.Learn To Do What You Love

C.Happy Lady’s Singing and Dancing Life

D.What Made The Happy Lady Famous?

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My heart sank when the man at the immigration counter gestured to the back room. I was born and raised in America, and this was Miami, where I live, but they weren’t quite ready to let me in yet.

“Please wait in here, Ms Abujaber,” the immigration officer said. My husband, with his very American last name, accompanied me. He was getting used to this. The same thing had happened recently in Canada when I’d flown to Montreal to speak at a book event. That time they held me for 45 minutes. Today we were returning from a literary festival in Jamaica, and I was startled that I was being sent “in back” once again.

The officer behind the counter called me up and said, “Miss, your name looks like the name of someone who’s on our wanted list. We’re going to have to check you out with Washington.”

“How long will it take?”

“Hard to say ... a few minutes,” he said. “We’ll call you when we’re ready for you.” After an hour, Washington still hadn’t decided anything about me. “Isn’t this computerized?”

I asked at the counter. “Can’t you just look me up?”

Just a few more minutes, they assured me.

After an hour and a half, I pulled my cell phone out to call the friends I was supposed to meet that evening. An officer rushed over. “No phones!” he said. “For all we know you could be calling a terrorist cell and giving them information.”

“I’m just a university professor,” I said. My voice came out in a squeak.

“Of course you are. And we take people like you out of here in leg irons every day.”

I put my phone away.

My husband and I were getting hungry and tired. Whole families had been brought into the waiting room, and the place was packed with excitable children, exhausted parents, even a flight attendant.

I wanted to scream, to jump on a chair and shout: “I’m an American citizen; a novelist; I probably teach English literature to your children.” Or would that all be counted against me?

After two hours in detention, I was approached by one of the officers. “You’re free to go,” he said. No explanation or apologies. For a moment, neither of us moved, we were still in shock.

Then we leaped to our feet.

“Oh, one more thing.” He handed me a tattered photocopy with an address on it. “If you weren’t happy with your treatment, you can write to this agency.”

“Will they respond?” I asked.

“I don’t know --- I don’t know of anyone who’s ever written to them before.” Then he added, “By the way, this will probably keep happening each time you travel internationally.”

“What can I do to keep it from happening again?”

He smiled the empty smile we’d seen all day. “Absolutely nothing.”

After telling several friends about our ordeal, probably the most frequent advice I’ve heard in response is to change my name. Twenty years ago, my own graduate school writing professor advised me to write under a pen name so that publishers wouldn’t stick me in what he called “the ethnic ghetto” --- a separate, secondary shelf in the bookstore. But a name is an integral part of anyone’s personal and professional identity -just like the town you’re born in and the place where you’re raised.

Like my father, I’ll keep the name, but my airport experience has given me a whole new perspective on what diversity and tolerance are supposed to mean. I had no idea that being an American would ever be this hard.

1.The author was held at the airport because __________.

A. she and her husband returned from Jamaica.

B. her name was similar to a terrorist’s.

C. she had been held in Montreal.

D. she had spoken at a book event.

2.We learn from the passage that the author would __________ to prevent similar experience from happening again.

A. write to the agency B. change her name

C. avoid traveling abroad D. do nothing

3.Her experiences indicate that there still exists __________ in the US.

A. hatred B. discrimination

C. tolerance D. diversity

4.The author sounds __________ in the last paragraph.

A. impatient B. bitter C. worried D. ironic

请认真阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题纸(卡)上将该项涂黑。

My wife and I have been together 17 years and have always had animals, but when we moved to Abu Dhabi we decided not to have pets. We thought we could ________for it by volunteering for a couple of rescue organizations here in the Middle East. Then Rusty’s sad little face appeared on the ________lists and we both just gave in. He was ours ________ we even met him. We just knew it.

Rusty was a year old when he came to us. He was extremely ________and blind in one eye with missing teeth from a violent ________ he had encountered (遇到) some time in his short life. He was also ________ to straighten his back legs fully, probably from being ________ in a cage far too small for him.

I sat on the floor of the foster carer’s lounge and Rusty came right up to me and ________ down with his head on my knee. It was a(n) ________ moment. His carer had not seen him ________ someone so completely before. We fell in love with him, took him home and set about ________ him into a happier animal.

The first thing we had to do was ________ out what scared him. The answer was simple enough: ________ scared him. I think he was so ________ to bad things happening to him he just figured he lived in a world where only bad things happened.

One of the things that really scared him was ________ , so I began making him less sensitive by giving him a stomach rub with my foot every time I passed. It took a while, ________ he soon came to realize that he would never be ________ again and took to rolling onto his back and wagging his tail to let me know that he was up for a rub. If I didn’t, he would ________ me to my writing desk and crawl under it, gently touching and pushing me to get my attention at my foot until he got what he wanted!

Treating animals with dignity brings back memories of the best part of human ________ . Every time I interact with Rusty and our other rescued pets. I am________ that they have nothing to offer but love and trust. There is no

1.A. make B. compensate C. go D. prepare

2.A. waiting B. shopping C. danger D. adoption

3.A. until B. after C. before D. unless

4.A. tired B. thirsty C. hungry D. thin

5.A. feeling B. beating C. incident D. crime

6.A. eager B. unwilling C. unable D. ready

7.A. kept B. wrapped C. transformed D. spun

8.A. put B. knocked C. lay D. laid

9.A. physical B. mental C. intellectual D. emotional

10.A. believe B. trust C. envy D. adore

11.A. turning B. making C. putting D. translating

12.A. work B. bring C. carry D. rule

13.A. nothing B. something C. anything D. everything

14.A. opposed B. attached C. accustomed D. suited

15.A. legs B. feet C. ears D. eyes

16.A. but B. so C. and D. or

17.A. walked B. kicked C. abandoned D. overlooked

18.A. follow B. guide C. take D. direct

19.A. interest B. nature C. behavior D. welfare

20.A. warned B. informed C. reminded D. persuaded

Many people believe Henry Ford invented the automobile (汽车). But Henry Ford did not start to build his first car until 1896. That was eleven years after two Germans developed the world's first automobile. Many people believe Henry Ford invented the production line that moved a car's parts to the worker, instead of making the worker move to the parts. That is not true, either. Many factory owners used methods of this kind before Ford. What Henry Ford did was to use other people's ideas and make them better. And he made the whole factory a moving production line.

In the early days of the automobile, almost every car maker raced his cars. It was the best way of gaining public notice. Henry Ford decided to build a racing car. Ford's most famous race was his first one. It was also the last race in which he drove the car himself.

The race was in 1901, at a field near Detroit. All of the most famous cars had entered, but only two were left: the Winton and Ford's. The Winton was famous for its speed. Most people thought the race was over before it began.

The Winton took an early lead. But halfway through the race, it began to lose power. Ford started to gain. And near the end of the race, he took the lead. Ford won the race and defeated the Winton. His name appeared in newspapers and he became well-known all over the United States. Within weeks of the race, Henry Ford formed a new automobile company. In 1903, a doctor in Detroit bought the first car from the company. That sale was the beginning of Henry Ford's dream. Ford said: "I will build a motor car for the great mass of people. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for one person to operate and care for. It will be built of the best materials. It will be built by the best men to be employed. And it will be built with the simplest plans that modern engineering can produce. It will be so low in price that no man making good money will be unable to own one."

The Model T was a car of that kind. It only cost $850. It was a simple machine that drivers could depend on. Doctors bought the Model T. So did farmers. Even criminals. They considered it the fastest and surest form of transportation. Americans loved the Model T. They wrote stories and songs about it. Thousands of Model T's were built in the first few years.

1.What do we know about Henry Ford from Paragraph 1?

A. He made good use of ideas from others.

B. He produced the first car in the world.

C. He knew how to improve auto parts.

D. He invented the production line.

2.Why did Henry Ford take part in the 1901 car race?

A. To show off his driving skills.

B. To draw public attention.

C. To learn about new technology.

D. To raise money for his new company.

3.“That sale” in Paragraph 4 refers to .

A. the selling of Ford cars at reduced prices

B. the sale of Model T to the mass of people

C. he selling of a car to a Detroit doctor

D. the sales target for the Ford Company

4.What was Henry Ford's dream according to the text?

A. Producing cars for average customers.

B. Building racing cars of simple design.

C. Designing more car models.

D. Starting more companies.

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