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Back in the days when I wrote my first songs, I hated my voice. I saw myself as a songwriter and guitarist but never a singer! I continued to write songs, and to search for the perfect singer. After a few years I did discover a singer, so we started a project together. We held a few concerts, and put a lot of work into it. She forces me to sing some songs at concerts myself, so I started going to a bar to practice them. This was my first, small breakthrough.

One day she came round to my flat and informed me that she could no longer work with me, and also that the bar owner at the open mic venue(麦克风场地) had replaced us at short notice because some New York jazz star happened to be in town, and was available that evening to perform. The first bit of news made me sad and disappointed, but the second made me angry.

However, that same evening, with as much determination as I could muster (集合), I resolved to play three new songs at the bar, just as I had planned before. I was quite nervous, but I dragged myself down to the bar and sang those songs! I never felt so liberated(无拘束的). That night I couldn’t get to sleep. I was simply astonished, hardly believing that I was a person who acted so courageously, and that I’d been able to sing my songs myself.

Since then I’ve begun to encourage others to adopt a similar approach when they aren’t able to see their own potential. One example is an amateur fiddler (小提琴手) who could barely bring herself to lift her instrument to play in front of people. I forced her to ignore her fear, and simply get on with it. Now, a year or two later, she is a passionate, happy performer in front of any crowd!

Once you get the ball rolling in yourself, you can start inspiring those around you.

1.What was the author’s first breakthrough?

A. She found the perfect singer.

B. She started a project with her partner.

C. She started to practice songs at a bar.

D. She was able to sing all of her songs.

2.How did the author feel when she heard that her partner could no longer work with her?

A. Sad and disappointed.B. Sad and angry.

C. Disappointed and angry.D. Astonished and angry.

3.The amateur fiddler is mentioned in the last but one paragraph in order to show that the author ________.

A. has a good relationship with her

B. encourages others to see their potential

C. can perform in front of any crowd

D. is very interested in making friends

4.What’s the passage mainly about?

A. How to work with other singers.

B. The story of the author and an amateur fiddler.

C. How the author became a singer through her fighting spirit.

D. How to write beautiful songs.

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You may have heard of the book Moby Dick(《白鲸记》), written by the American author Herman Melville. You may also know that Moby Dick is considered one of the greatest novels ever written. However, it might surprise you to find out Herman Melville was not always a highly regarded author.

Melville’s first two novels, Typee and Omoo, were widely read and financially successfully. They were both exciting tales of adventures at sea and experiences with people in foreign lands. Melville became quite famous. However, upon the publication of his third book, Mardi, Melville’s popularity began to weaken. He was no longer interested in telling tales of pure adventure, and his writing took on a style that alienated(使疏远) the general reading public of his time.

Melville published Moby Dick in October of 1851. It was an original novel, combining aspects of sociology and philosophy, which confused readers by its complex symbolism. The book sold poorly.

Melville’s next book, Pierre, was almost completely disregarded by the public. Debt frustration and ill health finally forced Melville to take a low-paying job as a customs inspector. Eventually, Melville abandoned prose(散文) and began to write poetry.

The Civil War is the main subject of Melville’s poetry. He and his brother made a trip to the front line, and he published a book of poems, Battle-Pieces and Aspects of War, based on this experience.

Melville died in 1891 at the age of 72. At this point, his work had been completely forgotten by the public. His talent was to go unrecognized for the next thirty years. Then, in 1920s, his reputation began to improve as critics and readers rediscovered his work. Today Moby Dick is one of the best-known novels ever penned by an American author.

1.What were Melville’s first two novels mainly about?

A. His travel experience.

B. His successful communication skills.

C. Adventurous experiences in the front line.

D. Adventurous voyages and foreign experiences.

2.We can learn from the text that Moby Dick ________.

A. sold a little better than Pierre

B. was Melville’s favorite novel

C. was copied from other books

D. made Melville popular again

3.The text may be taken from ________.

A. a writing guide

B. a literary journal

C. a science magazine

D. a critical book on literature

4.What is the text mainly about?

A. The main works of Melville.

B. The skills in Melville’s writing.

C. The ups and downs of Melville.

D. The reason for Melville’s failure.

Nuclear power's(核能的) danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be described in one word: radiation(辐射).

Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected (探测) by human senses. It can't be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can't detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can't sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.

At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being outright by killing masses of cells (细胞) in important organs (器官). But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be significant. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed outright. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in an unusual way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.

This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the knowledge of the person at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(放射治疗) and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak or easy to get serious illness as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.

Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.

1.According to the passage, the danger of nuclear power lies in ________.

A. nuclear mysteryB. radiation detection

C. radiation levelD. nuclear radiation

2.Radiation can lead to serious results even at the lowest level ________.

A. when it kills few cells

B. if it damages few cells

C. though the damaged cells can repair themselves

D. unless the damaged cells can reproduce themselves

3.Radiation can hurt us in the way that it can ________.

A. kill large numbers of cells in main organs so as to cause death immediately

B. damage cells which may grow into cancer years later

C. affect the healthy growth of our younger generation

D. lead to all of the above results

4.Which of the following can be best inferred from the passage?

A. The importance of protection from radiation cannot be overemphasized (过分强调).

B. The mystery about radiation remains unsolved.

C. Cancer is mainly caused by radiation.

D. Radiation can hurt those who do not know about its danger.

I grew up in a nice house in a middle-class area in Boston, England, and had a very happy childhood. My mother ________ herself to bringing me and my siblings(兄弟姐妹) up.

As a child I was hyperactive and ________ in school. I wouldn’t listen to anyone and thought I ________ everything. At home, I was always breaking things and ________ everyone. Dad was worried, so when I was eight, he took me to boxing classes in an ________ to divert(转移) my energy and keep me out of trouble. It made a huge ________ to the way I saw life and taught me discipline. It also taught me respect, because Dad made it clear that if I didn’t ________ properly, I wouldn’t be able to go back to the gym. ________ it hadn’t been for him, there is no doubt I’d have just ________ my life.

Dad was surprised when people at the gym started saying that I had the ________ to be a champion. His ________ had been to keep me off the streets, not to make me a world-class boxer. But he was so proud, ________ when I won a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics. I was only 17 and I know Mum and Dad were ________ for me because I was just a boy, yet I was fighting men.

I don’t have to ________ the business side of my career, because Dad oversees all that. He deals with the lawyers, making sure my fight contracts are all up to date and ________ properly.

Dad’s always at the ringside during my ________ —his main priority is that I’m safe. Mum ________ coming when the fights got harder, because she couldn’t bear to see the blood. She’ll ________ sit at home or in the hotel, waiting until it’s all over.

The boxing world can be a very lonely one, and I’m so ________ every day to have Dad and my whole family behind me. It would be unthinkable if I didn’t have their ________.

1.A. addedB. introducedC. devotedD. adapted

2.A. cleverB. wealthyC. strongD. naughty

3.A. imaginedB. decidedC. knewD. expected

4.A. amazingB. inspiringC. comfortingD. annoying

5.A. analysisB. attemptC. adviceD. honor

6.A. assignmentB. progressC. instructionD. difference

7.A. behaveB. expressC. confirmD. complete

8.A. IfB. SinceC. WhileD. Unless

9.A. begunB. checkedC. wastedD. enriched

10.A. presenceB. practiceC. patienceD. potential

11.A. contractB. intentionC. responsibilityD. ability

12.A. especiallyB. immediatelyC. normallyD. surprisingly

13.A. comfortableB. guiltyC. familiarD. scared

14.A. give upB. worry aboutC. rely onD. take on

15.A. doneB. learnedC. recognizedD. prepared

16.A. fightsB. lessonsC. experiencesD. talks

17.A. rememberedB. promisedC. stoppedD. considered

18.A. justB. yetC. thusD. also

19.A. shyB. awkwardC. gratefulD. elegant

20.A. respectB. hopeC. supportD. knowledge

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项是多余选项。

Finding Your Hidden Talents

●1.________

What sorts of things do you like to read about, watch or do? What are your favorite shows on television? Which column of the newspaper and magazines do you like to read? To know what you are interested in is the first step towards finding your hidden talents.

● Try out different things.

If you want to find out your dexterity (灵巧) in each of the things that interest you, then try them out. 2._________. Locate a safe environment, where you can try out different things without anybody’s interference (干扰).

●Find your passion(激情)

3._________. However, there will be only a thing or two, which you are passionate about. What is the one thing that you love to do the most, with most enthusiasm (热情)? Get the answer to the question and you will come to know what exactly you are passionate about.

●Improve yourself

After you come to know about the areas of your interest, it is the time to improve yourself. Read lots of books and learn from people. One of the best ways to learn something is to teach. 4._________. This will help increase your depth of knowledge. In this process, you will be able to discover all your hidden talents.

●Know your limits

In the process of finding your strengths or talents, you should not ignore your weaknesses as well. 5._________. Know what makes you struggle. You will then come to know about your talents as well as the areas that you need to work on.

A. Find your interests.

B. Know your strengths.

C. Therefore, teach what you have learnt.

D. You may be a person of various interests.

E. Carry out experiments and explore things.

F. It needs observation and analysis (分析)of one’s own self.

G. Find out the things which you are not good at.

The new mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, is a man of the people, ready to listen to their problems, but only until 6 p.m. Then he has to do his homework. Michael Sessions, 18, beat former mayor Douglas Ingles, 51, by just two votes and became the new mayor of Hillsdale. He is America's youngest mayor.

As Sessions was too young to enter the election in the spring of 2005, he registered to vote on Sept, 22, one day after his 18-year-old birthday. The day after that he started his write-in campaign, which means he should persuade voters to remember his name and write it by hand on the voting ballots(选票).

To help get his name known, Sessions earned$700 by selling apples over the summer. He spent the money on posters and put them on the Hillsdale's lawns.

Sessions' month-long campaign included going door to door, explaining his ideas of the town's future in the kitchens of his neighbors. "They'd look at me, and say‘How old are you again? How much experience do you have?' And I say ‘I'm still in high school', " he said. Sessions promised Hillsdale's voters he would renew local economy. “I was hopeful the whole time, ” he explained. One day he spent so long out on the streets knocking on the doors that he ended up in a hospital emergency room.

Sessions said that his schoolwork will not get in the way of his job as a mayor. “From 7:50 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., I'11 be a student. From 3 to 6, I'11 be the mayor of Hillsdale," he said.

“He did a very brave thing that couldn't have been easy for him to do, "said Jack Vettel, a councilman in Hillsdale, a city of 8,200 about 75 miles southwest of Detroit. " He does care about this town. He's been here all his life.”

Sessions will receive $3, 600 a year during this four-year term, and will work out of his bedroom since the town does not provide the mayor with an office.

1.What is TRUE of Sessions' election campaign according to the text?

A.Sessions launched his election campaign on Sept, 22.

B.Sessions worked so hard that he once tried to persuade people in a hospital.

C.Sessions won the election campaign by a very close outcome (结果).

D.Sessions felt disappointed when asked about his age and experience.

2.In order to gain more support from the voters Sessions had to do all these things EXCEPT ________.

A.put up postersB.renew the economy

C.sell applesD.talk to neighbors in kitchens

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A.American mayors usually work from 3 p. m. to 6 p. m.

B.In America, young people are encouraged to get involved in politics.

C.All teenagers are allowed to enter political elections.

D.American mayors receive a salary of 3, 600 a year during their 4-year term.

4.Which of the following would best summarize the text?

A.Schoolboy becomes American's youngest mayor.

B.How to become a teenage mayor.

C.Hard work is the ticket to success.

D.Never too young to shake the world.

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