Dior was born in Normandy in 1905, and his family's original plans for him included a career in the diplomatic service, but by the time he was twenty-three, with his parents' money, he opened a small art gallery in Paris.By 1931, the money had been used up.Dior's friends in the art gallery , asked him to draw and he took his first step at designing and drawing.His first job was with Lucien Lelong from whom Dior learned his craft(手艺).
In February, 1947, Dior started the New Look in his first major Paris collection.He was backed by a famous textile producer, Boussac , who looked after the dollars, while Dior looked after the fashions.Dior knew nothing about cutting and sewing, but he was good at fashion design.
The New Look started an entirely different look to costume, with a tiny waist, a rounded shoulder and a shapely bust(胸围), usually with a low-cut neckline and a long full skirt.To women who had lived through the war years, the femaleness of the New Look was a great success , for people were tired of extremely plain, wartime restrictive fashions.
It is said that dresses by Dior were "constructed like buildings", but young people were attracted to his design, and all over the western world, manufacturers plunged(投入)into the production of his new style.Dior's revolutionary designs lighted up a whole cycle of fashion , rounded, gentle, feminine, a delight in elegance.A New Look House of Dior opened in 1948
,followed by one in London.Considered as King of Couture(women's clothing)for years, the Diorempire grew until it covered every country in the western world, and included furs, hosiery , jewelry, perfumes, men's wear and on and on.More than 1, 000 people worked at the Paris headquarters then.
His sudden death in 1957 when he was 53 years old did not stop the growth of the House of Dior.Even now, so many years after his death, his name is closely connected with fashion throughout the world, and indeed is one of the most recognized names in the world.His first, great New Look, with its long skirts was an expression of freedom in the late 1940s.
(1)
Which of the following designs is close to Dior's?
[ ]
A.
B.
C.
D.
(2)
According to the passage, in Dior's life, he did NOT ________.
[ ]
A.
make creative fashion designs
B.
work in a diplomatic service
C.
learn craft as his first job
D.
open a New Look House
(3)
We can infer from the passage that ________
[ ]
A.
Dior and his supporter had different interests in business
B.
Dior's New Look had little influence on people then
C.
Dior is only a brand of women's fashion in the western world
D.
Dior's fashion was not accepted at first but at last was successful
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.
[ ]
A.
Escape
B.
Scenes of a River
C.
How to Survive on a boat
D.
A New Experience
阅读理解:
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest.
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.