A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．
Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．
At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．
Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．
But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to drugs．Her album sales declined and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse(嘶哑的), unable to hit the high notes as she used to．
In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness-Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfreyin2009, Houston admitted： "It(show business)is too much for me and I wanted out．"
Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos, may she rest in peace．
(1)
Whitney Houston died ________．
[ ]
A．
shortly before the Grammy this year
B．
earlier last Sunday
C．
a year ago
D．
at the annual pre-Grammy party
(2)
The underlined word "peerless" in Paragraph 3 most probably means ________．
[ ]
A．
having great power
B．
having no equal
C．
requiring no effort
D．
leaving no impression
(3)
The cause of the fall of Whitney Houston was that ________．
[ ]
A．
her album sales declined
B．
show business was too much for her
C．
her once beautiful voice became hoarse
D．
she had been addicted to drugs
(4)
Whitney Houston's achievements include the following except that．
There is a fine line between a parent who is active and open-minded and one that doesn't know when to let go(放手)．As my daughter, Nicole, prepares to leave home for college, I'm discovering how hard it is to stay on the 1 side of this line．When I hold 2 the apron strings(围裙带)connecting us, Nicole, eager to 3 independence, tries to loosen my grasp．What results is a(an) 4 mother-daughter, push-me, pull-you kind of tango．
For the past two years, it's gone like this：
My question：“Have you thought of taking an advanced placement class(高阶课程)so that you can earn college credit?”
Nicole's 5 ：“No, I'm not interested in that．”……
Two months ago, she was 6 to a great university．However, I was still the mother having a 7 time letting go．The night before the introductory meeting of the university, I had read the course catalog carefully and 8 courses which I thought looked good．We met on the campus the next afternoon, and Nicole's face 9 with excitement．“I have had my entire schedule figured out,” she said．“Already?” I was astonished, 10 she should have discussed it with me．I examined the schedule．Nicole hadn't taken a(an) 11 one of the courses I had suggested．Every course she had chosen 12 suited her interests．Just then I saw a mature, capable young woman with a 13 mind and the ability to shape her future．She no longer needed her mother's 14 every decision she made．I felt proud, though still a bit 15 ．
I 16 the lessons carefully．Nicole has struggled to learn over the past 18 years： 17 , sympathy, and hard work．There have been a few holes along the way． 18 , she is well-equipped and eager to 19 the future．The next step, I recognized, was mine to take：giving my daughter and myself the 20 we both needed．
For years I wanted a flower garden．I'd spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together．
But then we had Matthew．And Marvin．And the twins, Alisa and Alan．And then Helen．Five children．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．
Money was tight, as well as time．Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say,“Do you see a money tree outside?Money doesn't grow on trees, you know．”
Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own．I started thinking again about having a garden．
I wasn't sure, though．I mean, gardens do cost money．Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen when suddenly I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches．Then I put my glasses on and I couldn't believe what I saw．There was a money tree in my yard!
I went outside to look．It was true!There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree．Think of all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars!There was also a note attached：“IOU eight hours of digging time．Love, Marvin．”
Marvin kept his promise, too．He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed(花坛)for me．And my other children bought me gardening tools and books．
That was three years ago．My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did．It feels like they're right there with me．
I live up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short．But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out my window and think of the flowers I'll see next spring in my little garden．I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes－every time．
I'm still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!
(1)
The writer is a mother who ________．
[ ]
A．
wanted a money tree for many years
B．
is now living alone with a beautiful garden
C．
is too busy to grow a flower garden
D．
gave her children whatever they wanted
(2)
What is true about the flower garden?
[ ]
A．
She made the garden in her yard all by herself．
B．
She had some workers help her with the bed and flowers．
C．
Her children did a lot for the garden．
D．
Her family moved to a new house with a nice flower garden．
(3)
Who sent the money tree to the writer?
[ ]
A．
One of her children．
B．
Her husband．
C．
It is still unknown to her．
D．
Her best friend．
(4)
The note on the money tree means ________．
[ ]
A．
this is a gift card on Mother's Day．
B．
Marvin promised to work on a flower garden for his mother．
C．
Marvin returned the money tree he had borrowed from his mother．
D．
I Love You．
(5)
What does the money tree mean to the mother?
[ ]
A．
She can buy all the garden flowers she wants．
B．
She will be able to live on the money growing on the tree．
C．
The tree made her so sad that she missed her children very much．
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher－Mrs．Thompson．She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same．But that was a lie．There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard．He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath．She did not like him．
Then Mrs．Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother．Mrs．Thompson was ashamed(羞愧)of herself．She felt even worse when Teddy brought her a Christmas gift too．It was his mother’s perfume(香水)．
Teddy said, “Mrs．Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to．” After the children left she cried for at least an hour．On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math．Instead, she began to teach children．
Mrs．Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy．The boy’s mind seemed to come alive．The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved．By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class．
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy．He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life．He went to college．Mrs．Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F．Stoddard, M．D．(医学博士)．
The story doesn’t end there．On his wedding day, Dr．Stoddard said to Mrs．Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs．Thompson, for believing in me．You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference．”
Mrs．Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong．You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference．I didn’t know how to teach until I met you．”
(1)
What did Mrs．Thompson do on the first day of school?
[ ]
A．
She made Teddy feel ashamed．
B．
She asked the children to play with Teddy．
C．
She changed Teddy’s seat to the front row．
D．
She told the class something untrue about herself．
Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl．She had one big ambition-to play the drums in a band．But one big obstacle lay in her way．To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people．Many of them are sick．She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves．So, she had tried playing in the strangest places：a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower．But there was always someone it would annoy．
One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air．At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut．
With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble．This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside．All that would be left inside was a drum kit(成套设备)and a chair．Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child．
It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous．Many people came to see her play in her space bubble．Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts．Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey．Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band．
Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said：''If those old people next-door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened．''
(1)
Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?
[ ]
A．
Because she didn't want others to hear her play．
B．
Because she didn't want to disturb others．
C．
Because she didn't have a large house．
D．
Because she liked to play in strange places．
(2)
Brenda started to give concerts ________．
[ ]
A．
after she practiced in her space bubble
B．
when she became part of the unique space journey
C．
after she became a real musical astronaut
D．
when people came to see her in the space bubble
(3)
Brenda became famous because ________．
[ ]
A．
she made a space suit
B．
she became a real musical astronaut
C．
she played drums in her space bubble
D．
she played drums in a band
(4)
Which of the following can be used to describe Brenda?
[ ]
A．
kind, hardworking and clever
B．
brave, kind and hardworking
C．
lovely, brave and kind
D．
nervous, kind and clever
(5)
We can draw a conclusion from the passage that：" ________ "．