There is a long history behind the first T-shirts and today’s colorful outerwear（外套）．

Many stories talk about the first T-shirts and the reason why people wear them．One says the first T-shirts had something to do with war．

Some American soldiers found that European soldiers undershirts’ （汗衫） were cooler and more comfortable．They started to wear the same kind．Because the design of the undershirts was simple and looked like the letter T, Americans called the clothes T-shirts．

By World WarⅡ

Many soldiers started to wear T-shirts as underwear．

In the 1930s, many American students started wearing white T-shirts for playing sport．

In 1951

Marlon Brando, a very famous American actor, wore a tight-fitting（紧身的） T-shirt in a film．After this, many American men started to dress like him．

In the 1970s

T-shirts became the favorite kind of clothing for young people in many countries．At that time, they were a sign of being cool and different from others．

T-shirts started to be hot in China．

Now many young people show their own ideas on their T-shirts: special pictures, funny words…T-shirts are more like artwork than just simple summer wear．

1．From the passage, who do we know wore T-shirts first?

A．American students．                              B．American soldiers．

C．A famous American actor                       D．European soldiers．

2．At the beginning, what did the American students wear T-shirts for?

A．For showing their love towards Marlon Broando

B．For playing sport

C．For being cool

D．For showing their own ideas

3．When did T-shirts become a sign of being cool and different?

A．By World WarⅡ．   B．In the 1930s．       C．In the 1970s．    D．In the 1980s．

4．Why does the passage say T-shirts are more like artwork than just simple summer wear now?

A．They look beautiful．

B．They are very expensive．

C．Young people can put their ideas on their T-shirts．

D．Everyone likes T-shirts and they are popular．

A blind schoolgirl has become the youngest interpreter (口译员) when she is only ten years.
Alexia Sloane is from Cambridge. She was told by the doctor she had a brain tumor (脑癌) when she was on holiday "with her parents in France. After that the two-year-old girl became blind.
Though the little girl can't see anything, she has great talent for languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent (流利的) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese-and is learning German.
Now her dream of working as an interpreter has come true. East of England MEP (欧盟议员) Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament (议会). "Usually a person who enters the European Parliament should be 14 at least. So it was amazing for Alexia to work there at the age of 10. " said Alexia's mother Isabelle. Alexia can speak three languages since birth. As her mum is hah" French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. " She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age. " added Isabelle, who also has a four-year-old daughter Melissa.
Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was six and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year (年度青年成就奖). She asked if she could learn from the interpreters and HEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. " It was fantastic and I decided to become an interpreter, "said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me. "

1. 1.

   How old is the youngest interpreter according to the passage?

   1. A.
      4.
   2. B.
      6.
   3. C.
      10.
   4. D.
      14.
2. 2.

   When did Alexia Sloane become blind?

   1. A.
      When she was born.
   2. B.
      After she had a brain tumor.
   3. C.
      After she became an interpreter.
   4. D.
      When she was on holiday with her parents.
3. 3.

   Who offered Alexia the chance of working as an interpreter?

   1. A.
      Richard.
   2. B.
      Isabelle.
   3. C.
      Melissa.
   4. D.
      Robert Sturdy.
4. 4.

   What is right about Alexia Sloane?

   1. A.
      She can speak five language fluently.
   2. B.
      She is a talented language learner.
   3. C.
      She is the only child in the family.
   4. D.
      She went to France on holiday after she won the award.
5. 5.

   What do you think is the meaning of the sentence "Nothing can stop me. "?

   1. A.
      Never give up.
   2. B.
      Believe in yourself.
   3. C.
      Nothing is impossible.
   4. D.
      Failure is the mother of success.

—When did your daughter go to sleep last night?

    —She didn’t go to bed ______ she finished her homework.

A. before           B. after             C. until              D. then

Born in 1949, Diana Nyad took an early interest in swimming as a sport and was a Florida State High School swimming champion（冠军）. Like many young trainers, she had Olympic dreams, but a serious illness prevented her from competing in the Games. The disappointment didn’t stop her from going forward. Instead, she became interested in marathon swimming.
For ten years Nyad devoted herself to becoming one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers. In 1970, she swam a ten-mile marathon in Lake Ontario, setting the women’s record for the course. In 1972 she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida. Then she broke a third record when swimming around Manhattan Island in 1975.
Nyad attempted to swim the distance between Florida and Cuba in 1978. Though the span(跨度) of water is less than 100 miles wide, it is rough and dangerous. After battling(与---作战) the water for two days, she had to give up for the sake of her own health and safety. Even so, she impressed the world with her courage and strong desire to succeed. It did not matter that her swim came up short; she believed she had touched the other shore.
When Nyad ended her career as a swimmer, she continued to try new things---travelling the world as a reporter, writing books and giving public speeches about her life. Diana Nyad works to inspire others, just as she did when she swam the waters of the world.
【小题1】What was Nyad’s early interest?
【小题2】When did Nyad set the record for a ten-mile marathon swimming?
【小题3】According to the passage, how many times did Nyad join the long-distance swimming?
【小题4】What did Nyad do after she finished swimming?
【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?