The opera house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is one of the most beautiful in the United States. It is small and open, with one roof over the stage where singers perform and another roof over part of the audience. This opera house in the mountain is one of the best in the country, which may seem surprising because performances are only given during seven weeks in summer, and because Santa Fe is a very small city.

One reason why the Santa Fe Opera is so good is that it attracts many excellent young singers .They all hope to sing in famous opera houses like Metropolitan in New York someday. And they work hard to become well-known during the summer. The musicians and directors are experts who come from the best orchestras(管弦乐队) and operas in the country during their vacations. They enjoy working there because they like to live in Santa Fe, which is near both the mountains and the desert. It is very beautiful there in summer.

The state government of New Mexico advertises the Santa Fe Opera in newspapers all over the country， and a great many tourists come to New Mexico because of the opera ,Still ,most of the audience does come from Santa Fe and other nearby cities. And all the seats in the theater are sold for every show.

There is only one thing that some people do not like about the Santa  Fe Opera, and that is the cold weather .Because the theater is open, performances cannot start before it gets dark at nine o’clock in the evening, and then the mountain air becomes very cool. Sometimes people complain about the cold air ,but because the opera is good , these people come back again wearing warm coats.

1.This passage mainly introduces__________

2.Young singers come to perform in Santa Fe Opera because_______.

3.It seems surprising that Santa Fe becomes famous because______

4.Audience complain because ___________.

A the opera is so good   

B the temperature at night is very low

C there are so many people watching the performance.   

D the text doesn’t tell us

5.From the passage ,we can learn that ________.

I began working in journalism(新闻工作) when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.

“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.

“ None.”

“ Where did you go?”

“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

“ What did you do?”

“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

“ You just stood there?”

“ Didn’t sell a single one.”

“ My God, Russell!”

Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel(五分镍币). It was the first nickel I earned.

Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence(自信), and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

1.Why did the boy start his job young?

    A. He wanted to be famous in the future.

B. The job was quite easy for him.

    C. His mother had high hopes for him.

D. The competition for the job was fierce.

2. From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

    A. excited        B. interested     C. ashamed          D. disappointed

3.What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

    A. She forced him to continue.              B. She punished him.

    C. She gave him some money.            D. She changed her plan.

4.What does the underlined phrase “this battle”(last paragraph) refer to?

    A. The war between the boy’s parents.

    B. The arguing between the boy and his mother.

    C. The quarrel between the boy and his customers.

    D. The fight between the boy and his father.

5.What is the text mainly about?

A. The early life of a journalist.       

 B. The early success of a journalist.

C. The happy childhood of the writer.   

D. The important role of the writer in his family.

Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. At some point, however, we all begin to question our heroes and our need for them. This leads us to ask: What is a hero?

Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristics that instruct and inspire people.

A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere fame.

Heroes serve powers or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.

The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. Those who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What are they willing to live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?

Heroes are catalysts (催化剂) for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., we might still have segregated (隔离的) buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless.

1.Although heroes may come from different cultures, they __________.

A．generally possess certain inspiring characteristics

B．probably share some weaknesses of ordinary people

C．are often influenced by previous generations

D．all unknowingly attract a large number of fans

2. According to the passage, heroes are compared to high-voltage transformers in that _______.

A．they have a vision from the mountaintop

B．they have warm feelings and emotions

C．they can serve as concrete examples of noble principles

D．they can make people feel stronger and more confident

3.Madonna and Michael Jackson are not considered heroes because __________.

A．they are popular only among certain groups of people

B．their performances do not improve their fans morally

C．their primary concern is their own financial interests

D．they are not clear about the principles they should follow

4.The author concludes that historical changes would __________.

A．be delayed without leaders with inspiring personal qualities

B．not happen without heroes making the necessary sacrifices

C．take place if there were heroes to lead the people

D．produce leaders with attractive personalities

在某访谈节目中，五位嘉宾分别回答了来自主持人的五个问题，对少年儿童提出建议。请从下列提问（A, B, C, D, E和F）中选出与嘉宾的回答相匹配的问题。
Questions:

I began working in journalism(新闻工作)when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.

“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.

“ None.”

“ Where did you go?”

“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

“ What did you do?”

“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

“ You just stood there?”

“ Didn’t sell a single one.”

“ My God, Russell!”

Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickle(五分镍币). It was the first nickle I earned.

Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence(自信), and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

56. Why did the boy start his job young?           

   A. He wanted to be famous in the future.               B. The job was quite easy for him.

   C. His mother had high hopes for him.                  D. The competition for the job was fierce.

57. From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

   A. excited                       B. interested                               C. ashamed             D. disappointed

58. What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

   A. She forced him to continue.                            B. She punished him.

   C. She gave him some money.                              D. She changed her plan.

59. What does the underlined phrase “this battle”(last paragraph) refer to?

   A. The war between the boy’s parents.                  

   B. The arguing between the boy and his mother.

   C. The quarrel between the boy and his customers.

   D. The fight between the boy and his father.

60. What is the text mainly about?

   A. The early life of a journalist.                            B. The early success of a journalist.

   C. The happy childhood of the writer.             D. The important role of the writer in his family.