It took him ___ to finish his homework.

Nathan Sawaya's childhood was a lot of fun. He drew cartoons, wrote stories, and played with plastic toy bricks (积木). His grandparents bought his first set of toy bricks when he was five years old and he's been building with toy bricks ever since. He even took his building bricks to college with him! Instead of books and a computer, he had a model of Greenwich Village made of bricks on his desk.

     Nathan started as a lawyer but gave up His highly-paid (高薪的) job to become an artist that uses toys in his art. He uses toy bricks to build everything from the Statue of Liberty(自由女神像) to Superman! He has more than 1.5 million colored bricks in his working room in New York which he uses to make pieces of art. He started by building small models but then decided to do something big and created a self-portrait (自画像). It took him two days just to build the eyes.

     Nathan's work has appeared in museums around the world. Children love his art because it is made out of the same toys that they play with at home and adults love his work because it is fascinating. Since it began in2007, Nathan's exhibition "The Art of the Brick" has been very popular with museum visitors everywhere.

     "I'm proud that I took a dream I had as a child, to become an artist, and I have actually made a job out of it," says Nathan. "To do what you love in life is the most important thing."

1.What did Nathan put on his desk at college?

A. The Statue of Liberty.

B. Superman.

C. His serf-portrait.

D. A Greenwich Village modal.

2.Why did Nathan give up his job as a lawyer?

A. Because he made little money out of a lawyer.

B. Because he wanted to make toys for the children.

C. Because he decided to become an artist of toy bricks.

D. Because he was going to work in the museum instead.

3.What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Nathan's work.                 B. Nathan's exhibition.

C. Nathan's art.                   D. Nathan's self-portrait

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

A. The Brick Artist                B. The Brick Exhibition

C. Toy Bricks for Adults           D. The Artist's Childhood

It was yearbook day and we were given an hour to sign each other’s yearbooks in the cafeteria. I was president of the class and I played sports. When I sat down at a table, people started to come over to get their yearbooks signed and to sign __36__.

         Among them, a weak boy with ugly teeth and thick glasses kept shaking. I had seen him around, and I knew he was always laughed at. He seemed __37__ of himself, and was so pale that it __38__ us to look at him.

         He came up and asked me nervously, “Can you sign this?” I took his yearbook but I didn’t know __39__ to write. I saw that there was the name “Ricky Sanders” written on the front of it. So I wrote:

I put down the yearbook and turned around to get some signatures from some of my friends when I __40__ my yearbook was gone. I saw that Ricky had sat down with my yearbook. “What are you doing?” I asked him. He looked up calmly(平静地) and __41__said “Sign!”

My friends broke into a loud laugh, and I saw that he was carefully frying to put a signature in my yearbook. He hadn’t even finished the “R” yet. I thought for a while and __42__ to let him sign.

         It took him nearly five minutes to sign and when I got my yearbook back, there was a very shaky “RICKY”. He hugged(紧抱) his yearbook and __43__. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

         In that moment, my __44__ changed completely.

         I gave him a high five and suddenly everyone at my table wanted his signature. He was asked politely to write in their yearbooks and the signature __45__ of his yearbook were filled up. He was smiling so big that it lit up the whole room.

         I changed school the next year, and I never saw Ricky again. However, I will never forget the day that he became the most __46__ guy in school. Whenever I’m __47__, I still look back at that yearbook.

1.A. mine                   B. his                        C. ours                     D. theirs

2.A. unafraid                  B. unsure               C. proud                   D. tired

3.A. worried                     B. surprised            C. taught                D. hurt

4.A. how                          B. which                 C. where                  D. what

5.A. saw                            B. noticed              C. thought             D. believed

6.A. still                             B. ever                    C. even                   D. just

7.decided                   B. meant                C. began                  D. prepared

8.A. smiled                      B. waited               C. left                               D. rose

9.A. sense                  B. value                    C. attitude              D. idea

10.A. lists                        B. pages                 C. boxes                 D. tables

11.A. different               B. patient                C. popular              D. important

12.A. away                          B. out                               C. behind                 D. down