Prison Break is a huge hit thanks to its handsome star, Wentworth Miller. His character, Michael Scofield, is the engine that drives the show.

Having committed a crime to get into prison and break out with his innocent brother, Michael Scofield is one of the most interesting personalities on TV today. But what about the man behind the character?

Miller, 35, is a hard guy to figure out. He does not come from a normal background and has never lived his life in a typical way.

Miller didn’t take direct path to fame and fortune. He graduated from Princeton University in 1995, not with a degree in theatre of film, but in English. He didn’t even act when he was in college. His only performance experience was in his university’s singing group. Yet, at graduation Miller still decided to make the move to Hollywood.

Miller has always been different. Although he is American, he was in Britain when his father was studying there. His family background is also a special mix of cultures. “My father is black and my mother is white. That means I have always been caught in the middle. I could be either one, which can make you feel out of place,” Miller says.

Following his unusual path, Miller did not start trying out for films and TV shows when he first went to Hollywood. Instead, he worked as a lowly production assistant. Not what you would expect from a Princeton graduate. However, it all paid off for Miller in the end. 

In 2002, Miller played a role in the drama Dinotopia（《恐龙帝国》）. He started as a thoughtful and shy man. Producers remembered his performance when they were casting Prison Break two years later. With a golden globe nomination（提名）and another season of Prison Break on his resume, Miller seems ready to take over all of Hollywood. 

What does the passage mainly talk about?

       A．Michael Scofield in Prison Break.

       B．Hollywood’s recent big hit—Prison Break.

       C．Miller’s unusual path to fame and fortune.

       D．The man who will take over all of the world.

The writer thinks “Miller is a hard guy to figure out” because ______ .

       A．it’s difficult to tell him from others

       B．he is a shy man and hard to cooperate with

       C．he always has ideas hard for people to understand

       D．his family background and life experience are very special

Which is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence “it all paid off for Miller in the end”?

       A．Miller put a lot of extra work for his final success.

       B．Miller gained fame and fortune at last with his first film.

       C．Miller finally succeeded even if he has been in low position.

       D．Miller managed to pay off his debts with his small income in the end.

Which of the following statements is TRUE about Miller?

A．He is chosen to play the Michael Scofield due to his interesting personality.

       B．His performance in Dinotopia makes some contributions to his success.

       C．He has the same experience with the character Michael Scofield.

       D．He is angry about his being born into a mixed-cultural family.

While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
【小题1】
The best title of the passage may be _______.   

III. 阅读理解

William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright (剧作家). Although he died in 1616, people still go to see his plays. Among the most popular are Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ, Ａ Ｍｉｄｓｕｍｍｅｒ Ｎｉｇｈｔ’ｓ Ｄｒｅａｍ and Ｈａｍｌｅｔ — the story of a prince who struggles to respond to the crimes around him.

    Shakespeare, who was born in 1564, was an actor as well as a writer. Most of his ideas for plays were taken from history, people’s conversation, ancient stories, and also from other writers. He wrote not only about kings and queens and princes, but also about friends and ordinary people. He wrote about the cruelty of war and the bravery of heroes, as well as about jealousy, joy, hate, ambition and love. His stories live on. The tragedy Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ was reborn as the musical Ｗｅｓｔ Ｓｉｄｅ Ｓｔｏｒｙ and more recently as the movie Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ with the wonderful performance of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

     He invented a number of great characters: powerful magicians, thrilling witches, smart women and both wise and wicked men. He also invented some great phrases. If you’ve ever said, “Oh, for goodness sake!” you can thank Shakespeare for that. Other examples of common phrases adapted from Shakespeare: “as luck would have it”, “your own flesh and blood”, “too much of a good thing”, “good riddance”, “in one fell swoop”, and “in the twinkling of an eye”. “To be, or not to be: that is the question,” Hamlet says. “Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it is morrow,” says Juliet to her Romeo.

    Don’t be surprised if you don’t understand everything when reading Shakespeare or watching one of his plays because the meanings of many words have changed over the years. And Shakespeare’s characters speak in poetry, so their speeches can be complicated.

    It does help to find out a little bit about the story before reading a Shakespeare play. It’s worth the effort. As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world is a stage.” And in his plays you’ll find that an entire world is waiting for you.

1. Shakespeare created the following characters EXCEPT ________.

A. Juliet             B. Hamlet     C. Claire Danes      D. Romeo

2. From Paragraph 3 we can learn that ________.

A. most of the characters created by Shakespeare were negative ones

B. most of the phrases used today were invented by Shakespeare

C. “Oh, for goodness sake!” is what Juliet says to Romeo

D. Shakespeare contributed greatly to the development of English

3. Which of the following is a reason why it’s difficult to understand some of Shakespeare’s plays?

A. There are many new words in his plays.

B. He wrote his plays using uncommon words.

C. The characters in his plays speak in poetry.

D. Most of the words in his plays are outdated.

4. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. most of Shakespeare’s plays have been made into films

B. language changes with the development of society

C. Shakespeare made lots of money from his works

D. it is more useful to read Shakespeare’s works than to watch them

　　Norman Bethune was a Canadian doctor who lost his life for worthy causes around the world. Bethune first attempted to socialize the medical system in Canada. He then joined the Spanish Civil War, and later travelled to China to assist the Red Army.

　　From 1928 to 1936, Bethune worked as a thoracic（胸的）surgeon in Montreal. He became famous there for his treatment of tuberculosis（肺结核）patients. Although he cured hundreds of cases successfully, many of his poorer patients became ill again when they returned to crowded, unsanitary（不卫生的）homes. Bethune realized they could not be cured without proper living conditions and medical care. He wanted the medical system to provide the same. level of health care for everyone. Bethune, and others with similar ideas, developed a plan for socialized medicine. However, when they presented it to the government they received a strong negative reaction. Bethune became unpopular among other doctors who thought his ideas were too radical（激进的）.

　　In the winter of 1936, Bethune volunteered to help in the Spanish Civil War. He gave up his position as a famous surgeon to establish a mobile blood transfusion service. The service collected blood from donors（捐赠人）and delivered it to hospitals and to soldiers at the battlefront（前线）.On many occasions, Bethune risked his life to deliver blood to the front line.

　　In 1938, Bethune went to China to help Mao. Tse-tung and the Red Army fight the Japanese. He became the Red Army's Medical Chief and trained thousands of Chinese as medics and doctors. He also designed the world's first mobile medical unit despite limited equipment. The unit saved the lives of many soldiers. Unfortunately, Bethune soon lost his life assisting the Chinese. He died on November 12, 1939, from an infection. The world lost a great unselfish hero with Bethune's death.

(1) According to the passage Bethune___________.

[　　]

A．was born in Canada and died in Canada

B．was a Canadian doctor, but lost his life in China

C．went to help the Spanish Civil War in 1935

D．was famous for being able to collect blood from donors

(2) Bethune became unpopular__________.

[　　]

A．because of his idea of establishing a mobile blood transfusion service

B．because he wanted the medica1 system to provide the same level of health care for everyone

C．because he assisted the Spanish Civil War

D．because he left his own motherland and helped other countries

(3) During Bethune's stay in China, he_________.

[　　]

A．helped train thousands of Chinese as medics and doctors

B．designed the world's first mobile medical unit despite limited equipment

C．had been the Red Army's Medical Chief

D．A, B and C

(4) Bethune died___________.

[　　]

(5) Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

[　　]

A．Bethune died in November, 1939.

B．Bethune had helped in the Spanish Civil War.

C．Bethune had also helped in the Chinese Civil War.

D．Bethune lost his life when he helped Chinese people.

  Alexis De Tocqueville，the French political scientist，，historian，philosopher and politician．Is most famous for a four-volume book he wrote called Democracy in America．He came to America in 1831 to study the American form of democracy’and what it might mean to the rest of the world．After a visit of only nine months,，he wrote a remarkable book which is regarded as a classic．De Tocqueville had unusual powers of observation．He described not only the democratic system of government and how it operated，but also its effect on how Americans think, feel, and act, Many scholars believe he had a deeper understanding of traditional American beliefs and values than anyone else who has written about。the United States．What is so remarkable is that

many of these characteristics which he observed nearly 200years ago are still visible and

meaningful today．His observations are also important because the timing of his visit，the 1830s，was before America was industrialized．This was the era of the small farmer，the small businessman，and the settling of the western frontier．It was the period of history when the traditional values of the new country were newly established．In just a generation，some 40 years since the adoption of the U．S：Constitution．the new form of government had—already produced a society of people with unique values．He was，however，a fair observer and saw both the good and bad sides of these qualities．

The first part of Democracy m America was written in 1831—32 and published in 1835．A highly positive and optimistic account of American government and society，the book was very well received．He attempted to get a glimpse of the core of American society．all the while promoting his own philosophy：the equaling of the classes and the unavoidable depth of aristocratic（贵族的）privilege The rest of the book he labored on for four years．and in 1840 the second part was published．This was substantially more pessimistic than the first，warning of the dangers despotism （暴政）and governmental centralization，and applying his ideas and criticisms more directly to France．As a result, it was not received as well as the first part，except in England where it was highly thought of．

What is the passage primarily about?

    A．Alexis De Tocqueville

    B．Democracy in America

    C．The progress achieved in America within about 40 years after adoption of the U．S．Constitution．

    D．The influence of the book Democracy in America

What in the passage is mentioned as being truly remarkable?

     A．Many of his observations are still visible and meaningful today．

     B．The book was so detailed and thorough after only such a comparatively short visit．

     C．That the second volume should be so pessimistic in comparison with the first．

     D．De Tocqueville’s powers of observation．

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage？

     A．The English don’t like the French   

     B．The book was most important because it was the first time that American values had been

clearly documented．

     C． De Tocqueville was a slow writer．   

     D．De Tocqueville was primarily motivated by an interest in his own country．   

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

     A．The visit lasted only five months．

     B．The visit coincided with American industrialization．

     C．The first part was published in 1835；the second part in 1840．

     D．The second part was more optimistic than the first．