Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England. Her father was a rich sugar businessman at the time. Because her parents thought boys and girls should be equal, Elizabeth received the same education as her brothers.

In 1832, her father’s business was destroyed by fire, so her family moved to New York City. But her father’s business there failed. Then in 1837, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Not long after, her father died. After her father’s death, Elizabeth, at the age of 16, had to go to work.

When she was 24, she visited her dying friend Mary. Her friend said, “You’re young and strong, you should become a doctor.” That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. But she knew this was what she was going to do.

After several rejections from medical schools, she finally was accepted by Geneva Medical College. By studying hard, she graduated successfully in 1849.

After graduating from medical school, she went to Paris to learn more about medicine. She wanted to be a surgeon, but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.

When she returned to America in 1851, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. In 1857, Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides, she also set up the first medical school for women in 1868, where she taught the women students about disease prevention. It was the first time that the idea of preventing disease was taught in a medical school.

Elizabeth Blackwell started the British National Health Society in 1871, which helped people learn how to stay healthy. In 1889, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman doctor in the United States. Most importantly, she fought for the admission of women to medical colleges.

Elizabeth Blackwell died on May 3, 1910, when she was 89.She opened a world of chances for women. She always fought for what was right in all her life. In 1949 the Blackwell medal was established. It’s given to women who have excellent achievements in the field of medicine. She’ll always be remembered as a great woman.

1.According to the passage, Elizabeth Blackwell ________.

A．received bad education in her childhood

B．spent a happy and lucky childhood

C．moved to America with her family at eleven

D．decided to be a doctor due to her father’s death

2.Elizabeth Blackwell could not become a surgeon because ________.

A．she was a woman

B．she had a serious eye problem

C．she went to Paris for further education

D．she didn’t go to medical school

3.Elizabeth Blackwell spent most of her life in ________.

A．the U.S.           B．Paris             C．England           D．Geneva

4.Which of the following is NOT TRUE about Elizabeth Blackwell?

A．She built the first hospital for women and children with others.

B．She became the first woman doctor in the U.S.

C．She set up the first medical school for women in the world.

D．She built a medal for women with excellent achievements in medicine.

Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet.” When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet.” Some people may have more than one skeleton.
As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.
Before 1832, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.
But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.
We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.
After a time, people began to suspect every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase“a skeleton in the closet”took on a broader, more general meaning: to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.
One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man's guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.
Balzac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.
The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.
【小题1】Which of the following situations is now suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet”?

Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England. Her father was a rich sugar businessman at the time. Because her parents thought boys and girls should be equal, Elizabeth received the same education as her brothers.
In 1832, her father’s business was destroyed by fire, so her family moved to New York City. But her father’s business there failed. Then in 1837, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Not long after, her father died. After her father’s death, Elizabeth, at the age of 16, had to go to work.
When she was 24, she visited her dying friend Mary. Her friend said, “You’re young and strong, you should become a doctor.” That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. But she knew this was what she was going to do.
After several rejections from medical schools, she finally was accepted by Geneva Medical College. By studying hard, she graduated successfully in 1849.
After graduating from medical school, she went to Paris to learn more about medicine. She wanted to be a surgeon, but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
When she returned to America in 1851, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. In 1857, Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides, she also set up the first medical school for women in 1868, where she taught the women students about disease prevention. It was the first time that the idea of preventing disease was taught in a medical school.
Elizabeth Blackwell started the British National Health Society in 1871, which helped people learn how to stay healthy. In 1889, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman doctor in the United States. Most importantly, she fought for the admission of women to medical colleges.
Elizabeth Blackwell died on May 3, 1910, when she was 89.She opened a world of chances for women. She always fought for what was right in all her life. In 1949 the Blackwell medal was established. It’s given to women who have excellent achievements in the field of medicine. She’ll always be remembered as a great woman.
【小题1】According to the passage, Elizabeth Blackwell ________.

完形填空

　　Harriet Beecher Stowe had put her heart into her antislavery book, “Uncle Tom's Cabin”. But neither she nor her first publisher thought it would be a big 1 . The publisher was so doubtful that he wanted her to share the publishing costs with him, and all she hoped was that it would make enough 2 for her to buy a new silk dress.

　　But when the 3 5,000 copies were printed in 1852, they were sold out in two days. In a year 300,000 copies were sold in 4 and 150,000 in England. For a while it was sold in 5 quantities than any other book in the world, 6 the Bible.

　　Within six months after it came out, a play was made 7 the book which ran 350 performances in New York and 8 America's most popular play for 80 years.

　　It might appear that “Uncle Tom' Cabin” was 9 popular, 10 this was certainly not true. Many people during those Pre-Civil War days--particularly defenders of the slavery system, considered it as 11 propaganda（宣传）and poorly written drama.

　　Harriet did have strong religious views 12 slavery, and she tried to make people 13 slavery was wrong, 14 perhaps the book could be thought propaganda. But if so, it was true propaganda, because it exactly 15 the wrongdoing of slavery.

　　Though she was born in Connecticut in 1832, as a young woman she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, when her father accepted the office of president of newly founded Lane Theological Seminary（神学院）. Ohio was a 16 state, but just across the Ohio River in Kentucky, Harriet saw slavery in 17 . She lived 18 years in Cincinnati, marrying Calvin Stowe, professor of a college. In 1851, Harriet Beecher Stowe 18 her book.

　　Its vast influence（影响）strengthened the anti-slavery movement and 19 defenders of the slavery system. Today some historians think that it 20 to bring on the American Civil War.

Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England. Her father was a rich sugar businessman at the time. Because her parents thought boys and girls should be equal, Elizabeth received the same education as her brothers.
In 1832, her father’s business was destroyed by fire, so her family moved to New York City. But her father’s business there failed. Then in 1837, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Not long after, her father died. After her father’s death, Elizabeth, at the age of 16, had to go to work.
When she was 24, she visited her dying friend Mary. Her friend said, “You’re young and strong, you should become a doctor.” That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. But she knew this was what she was going to do.
After several rejections from medical schools, she finally was accepted by Geneva Medical College. By studying hard, she graduated successfully in 1849.
After graduating from medical school, she went to Paris to learn more about medicine. She wanted to be a surgeon, but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
When she returned to America in 1851, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. In 1857, Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides, she also set up the first medical school for women in 1868, where she taught the women students about disease prevention. It was the first time that the idea of preventing disease was taught in a medical school.
Elizabeth Blackwell started the British National Health Society in 1871, which helped people learn how to stay healthy. In 1889, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman doctor in the United States. Most importantly, she fought for the admission of women to medical colleges.
Elizabeth Blackwell died on May 3, 1910, when she was 89.She opened a world of chances for women. She always fought for what was right in all her life. In 1949 the Blackwell medal was established. It’s given to women who have excellent achievements in the field of medicine. She’ll always be remembered as a great woman

1. 1.

   According to the passage, Elizabeth Blackwell ________

   1. A.
      received bad education in her childhood
   2. B.
      spent a happy and lucky childhood
   3. C.
      moved to America with her family at eleven
   4. D.
      decided to be a doctor due to her father’s death
2. 2.

   Elizabeth Blackwell could not become a surgeon because ________

   1. A.
      she was a woman
   2. B.
      she had a serious eye problem
   3. C.
      she went to Paris for further education
   4. D.
      she didn’t go to medical school
3. 3.

   Elizabeth Blackwell spent most of her life in ________

   1. A.
      the U.S
   2. B.
      Paris
   3. C.
      England
   4. D.
      Geneva
4. 4.

   Which of the following is NOT TRUE about Elizabeth Blackwell?

   1. A.
      She built the first hospital for women and children with others
   2. B.
      She became the first woman doctor in the U.S
   3. C.
      She set up the first medical school for women in the world
   4. D.
      She built a medal for women with excellent achievements in medicine